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That Wright appears to have been replaced by Warren in Obama's heart says a lot about the president-elect's rootlessness and shifting identity.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

[tsuki]

1. I hate to break it to Paul Jenkins, but gays are not the only

group Warren vilifies.

[IndianaGreen]

2. Jews will burn in Hell, according to Warren

Women must submit to male authority, according to Warren.

[Triana]

8. He also vilifies and dehumanizes women. n/t

[Phredicles]

3. Speculation: Obama just doesn't take very seriously what comes out of

the mouths of peachers, and for that reason he gets caught flat-footed when other people do. I mean, the parallel Jenkins draws with Wright is instructive. So I hope before too long he'll take the hint and just keep away from 'em.

[jonnyblitz]

4. Obama will do whatever is politically expediant, like when he

threw Rev Wright under the bus.

[MNBrewer]

5. And, the "gays"

[IndianaGreen]

6. "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

[RetiredTrotskyite]

7. I Don't CARE What the Homophobes Here At DU Think...

We were royally SCREWED by Obama. We helped to elect this man on the premise that he was a president for ALL Americans. That hope was dashed with the selection of Rick Warren as the Invocator at the Inauguration. I will not celebrate the Inauguration, for I know now that Obama is NOT my president, nor is he the President of millions of GLBT Americans. I honestly expected better from an African-American president, given the history of the African-Americans' oppression. But well, he's got what he was after and to hell with "teh gays". No, I say to hell with Obama unless and until he does something concrete for GLBT Americans!

[MJJP21]

9. I really think

this one fell through the cracks. It got by Obama and correcting it would cause more harm than not. This will probably not be the last of "disappointments" as their are simply many many people charged with getting things done that may make serious blunders in executing their duties. The invocation will be over in a few minutes and Warren is not getting a cabinet post. I willing to pass on judging this one.