Mr. Obama Disagrees

[IndianaGreen]

Mr. Obama Disagrees

Paul Jenkins

Barack Obama's choice of Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration is dreadful. His explanation is, if possible, even worse. He shrinks Warren's grotesque comparisons down to a "disagreement," as if we were talking about ethanol subsidies. But we are not. In fact, we are not even talking about marriage rights, we are talking about demonizing an entire group of Americans for the purpose of religious indoctrination, political gain and financial profit. Or doing so out of sheer hatred and idiocy. Or both.

During this year's primary, Obama suddenly realized after 20 years that his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, said things that were so beyond the pale that it was worth throwing him under the political bus, and shunning him forever. What those things were, besides loud snippets taken out of context, is not clear, but I am pretty sure Wright has never falsely accused anyone of pedophilia, rape, incest and bestiality, no matter how over-the-top his style may occasionally be. But Wright was scary to lots of people, most of them white, whose fear of a black planet overrode any rational analysis (starting with the fact that if the bourgeois Obamas attended Trinity, that in itself was a pretty sure bet that the church was not fomenting an Afro-centric revolution.) But Obama did what he had to do not to lose too badly in Pennsylvania and Ohio, kicking Wright to the curb, ostensibly because he was "outraged" by the pastor's comments.

That Wright appears to have been replaced by Warren in Obama's heart says a lot about the president-elect's rootlessness and shifting identity. Within a year, he has gone from relying on the advice of a virulently progressive African-American pastor in a Chicago church, to being "friends" with an arch-conservative, bigoted, white pastor from Orange County, and handing the latter the most visible platform a religious leader in America can behold, the presidential inauguration.

Obama's inclusiveness was always conditional, as evidenced by the Wright affair. Obama says we have to "create an atmosphere where we can disagree without being disagreeable;" but is there anything more disagreeable than being called an incestuous rapist pedophile? There are plenty of people who are not invited to the inauguration, are not part of Obama's circle, and are certainly not asked to give the invocation. If not, we would all be howling at the presence of the good people from the Aryan Nation, the Nation of Islam and sundry other groups. But these groups make the mistake of not only being deeply homophobic, but also of spewing hatred towards a whole slew of other segments (women, Jews, African-Americans, Catholics, Christians, white people, etc). Were they to stick to vilifying gay people, as Warren does, they would be golden, and may even find a place at the all-inclusive Obama table. There is clearly no group in America, perhaps besides Muslims, who could be vilified so openly and officially, and be told to get over it in the name of agreeing to disagree.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-jenkins/mr-obama-disagrees_b_152382.html

[Hissyspit]

1. Obama's logic is reminiscent of the idea that evolution and intelligent design should be taught

side by side in science classes. He knows better.

[WeDidIt]

2. Fox News Fair and Balanced Syndrome

Take one stance and make sure you put somebody up there to defend the opposite, no matter if the only way they can defend it is by lying their fucking ass off.

And Obama has fallen for Fox News Fair and Balanced Syndrome hook, line, and sinker.

[IndianaGreen]

3. "The ultimate political betrayal"

Et Tu, Obama?: The Choice of Rick Warren Is Unacceptable

Geoffrey Dunn

Warren, the evangelical founder of Saddleback Church in conservative Orange County, California, was a staunch supporter of Proposition 8, which reversed a celebrated court decision on gay marriage in California. You can watch his duplicitous account for supporting it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o4QqGbQmU0

It's unacceptable. A political blunder. But most importantly and bottom line, it is morally reprehensible. It goes counter to everything that Obama stood for along the road to the White House. I am more than disgusted by it; I am utterly and thoroughly disenchanted.

Moreover, I'm tired of reading that it's the "gay and lesbian communities" who are upset by this selection. I'm straight, I'm white and I have a head of white hair. And trust me, I am bristling with anger over this selection. Bristling. It is the ultimate political betrayal.

It has stripped away all the joy and hope I had in Obama's victory and it has ruined for me what should have been a celebratory and joyous event on January 20. I will not watch. And I will not celebrate.

The passage of California's Proposition 8 was the one damper on the November election. It was a vicious assault on basic civil rights. It left a group of citizens outside the basic human covenant of American politics. There's no wiggle room on this one. None whatsoever.

Warren actually suggested that Obama agreed with him in his support of Prop 8. And Obama never distanced himself from these remarks. Nor did he do much to counter them. He had California in the bag, so we only saw him here briefly during the campaign when he needed to solicit contributions at high-end dinners. There were some phone messages recorded about Prop 8, and that was about it. He didn't throw his body down. He didn't want to lose middle-of-the-road swing voters in the rest of the country, so no he never raised it on the campaign trail. It was a cold and calculated decision.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-dunn/et-tu-obama-the-choice-of_b_152165.html