Ok, so we all know Obama is all about change, and that "this is not red states and blue states, this is the United States", blah blah blah, but inviting a bigot to speak at his inauguration? There's his much-fangled "post-partisan" style of leadership, but there's also pandering... And this is just pandering to the bigots and idiots out there. It's inclusivity for someone who believes in exclusivity.
Obama Defends Warren Choice
By Brian KnowltonPresident-elect Barack Obama was asked Thursday at his news conference about the furious reaction from some gay-rights groups to his decision to ask Rick Warren to play a role in his Inauguration.
The choice of Mr. Warren, pastor of a megachurch in Orange County, Calif., set off a round of criticism by gay rights groups angered by his support for California’s ban on same-sex marriages. Mr. Warren is an outspoken opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage — litmus-test issues for Christian conservatives.Mr. Obama defended the decision as part of his effort to involve a broad range of Americans in the nation’s business without sacrificing civility.
“I think that it is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans,” Mr. Obama said.
He noted that he had been invited by Mr. Warren to speak at his church a few years ago — despite their obvious differences — and added that “that dialogue, I think, is part of what my campaign’s been all about; that we’re not going to agree on every single issue, but what we have to do is to be able to create an atmosphere where we can disagree without being disagreeable.”
“That’s part of the magic of this country,” said Mr. Obama, “is that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated.”
So far in his post-partisan policies, we have seen Obama stretch so far to reach out to the Right that he could very well replace Mr. Fantastic in the Fantastic Four. But it seems this 'reaching out' is extended only to conservatives. The left/liberals? Nada. Left to feast on scraps. As if they're supposed to support him because..... well, because!
Also, by giving Warren a platform, Obama is implicitly legitimizing his stance, however wrong he might think it is (which I don't even know if he does really). So you crave open dialogue, Sir, but would you ever think of inviting a racist or an anti-Semite to speak? Yeah, thought so.
Add this to the long list of Clinton loyalists whom Obama has chosen for his administration, and you really wonder: Change? What change? (Incidentally, Emanuel Rahm, his choice for Chief of staff, is a Sarah Lawrence alum.)
But to be fair, the most important thing Obama needs to do is fix the economy. So, the jury's still out on that. And his choice of Steven Chu, someone's who actually a scientist as opposed to a bureaucrat, for energy chief, is certainly reassuring. But it seems like he is going to be disappointing a lot of people along the way.
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