A brief apology.

[Occam Bandage]

The failure to schedule Rev. Robinson's prayer in the televised portion of the concert is, in my eyes, a public relations disaster. It undoes every bit of good will that the Obama team might have hoped to garner, and I imagine it was done purely so HBO could have its pretty concert without a prayer, without a second's thought as to what kind of message that might send to the GLBT community.

I've not beat about the bush at all in regards to my belief that the Rev. Warren fiasco does not constitute anything more than a minor and unimportant political miscalculation over a, yes, two-minute speech. I don't regret having done so. However, tonight I approached the Robinson issue from entirely the wrong emotional place. I may disagree (and do so strongly) with many over the ultimate importance of Robinson/Warren and what they signify going forward, but I cannot disagree with the emotions that others feel over them, and it was entirely inappropriate of me to attack those feelings instead of talking about the issue.

I apologize, and do so openly and honestly. I'm sorry, DU. I was wrong, I was offensive, and I shouldn't have been.

[Occam Bandage]

1. kick to ensure the people who ought see this do.

[Bonobo]

2. Some people don't want to see prayers no matter what the sexual orientation of the prayer is.

But I thought the Gay Men's Choir was an important addition to the events and not one likely to have been seen in a Republican's inauguration concert.

But I guess we can write that off as meaningless since they were just 'entertainers'. There's always another thing to be negative about, as long as you're looking hard enough.

[Cha]

8. Which one was the

Gay Men's Choir? Were they at the Concert today?

[Bonobo]

9. Yes, but I forget what they sang along with at the moment....

They were unidentified as was every other choir singing backup.

[Cha]

23. I did see a practically

all White Male Choir I wondered who they were. It's on again at 11:30pm..I've seen it twice:) And will go do it again.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[NMDemDist2]

11. holy crap!!! that picture needs a graphic warning

:puke:

I sincerely hope that is not your sigline

[ZombieHorde]

14. Its just a jolly scene from the movie Zombie Holocaust.

Just some artists having fun.

[NMDemDist2]

15. whew

OK

thanks

:hi:

[QueenOfCalifornia]

16. get rid of the image.

it is inappropriate.

[ZombieHorde]

17. Its not real, its just artists being goofy with makeup and a camera.

[polmaven]

25. It actually looks

a lot like I felt the first few weeks after I quit somking......

[ZombieHorde]

26. lol That is why I used that pic.

[cliffordu]

4. K&R.

[Cha]

5. I think there should be a letter campaign

to know exactly what happened and why Robinson wasn't filmed.

Haven't we had enough of projecting our motives on others and taking corporatemedia articles as fact?

Nice heartfelt apology.

[ThomCat]

6. That is cool

and very nice of you. Even if you disagree with us, at least you acknowledge and understand what this means to us.

Someone at HBO fucked this up. People will be pissed. It would have been nice if, for once, someone somewhere had considered the LGBT community and done something considerate.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

7. wow....

just wow. :)

[Balderdash]

10. Wow, color me surprised

but happy to except your apology, pretty decent of you. :)

[polichick]

12. Just watched the concert and didn't even realize they had done that...

Was anything else left out?

[NYC_SKP]

13. K&R

I'd like to join you in this very articulate expression.

:toast:

[mrs_p]

18. npr said this morning that it was going

to air the celebration today. does anyone know if the prayer was on the radio?

[Kali]

20. Yes, I heard it.

[JohnnyLib2]

19. K & R and for your penitence,

email the text in all directions. :thumbsup:

[grantcart]

21. I wasn't even aware that it wasn't part of the transmitted part

I didn't see your reply but your apology sets the issue out clearly.

[sandnsea]

22. I'll wait for the explanation

Maybe it was not a campaign decision.

[Marrah_G]

24. I saw your remarks. They were extremely offensive

At least you had the nerve to actually apologize.

Yes- many of us are VERY angry, and with good reason.

This was another in a line of slaps across the face without apology.

They have made thier view loud and clear: They expect us to turn the other cheek, to just take it.

Not more. No more volunteering, not one more dime, not one more hour, towards ANY candidate that is not 100% for equal rights.

And NO, Obama is not. Sadly most of our Dem candidates are NOT. Not when it counts.

They are no better then politicians who pandered to racists back in the day.

Fuck that.

[Usrename]

27. Your display of class more than makes up for your lunacy.

:headbang:

[sundog]

28. can we at least agree

that obama's glbt pr team is doing a lousy job?

all of us are reacting to these missteps in varying degrees

some people are pissed, some upset, some indifferent

but i don't think anyone can deny missteps have been made by obama's team in terms of glbt public relations

i don't think it's a smart strategy to diminish or dismiss anyone's frustration/upset

only a person living in complete denial would refute that pr with a chunk of his base IS in fact being mishandled

i'd venture to say that his glbt outreach team is currently asleep at the wheel

i'm not expecting obama to know every detail of when a speaker goes on stage & when every camera for hbo starts to roll... but for shit's sake, get some people together who ARE aware & follow through & somehow formulate response to what's going on in the community

anyway, good you aren't taking issue with what people are feeling about the matter - that is appreciated, as lack of empathy has been driving many flamewars of late

several posters would rather blame the glbt du community for "poutrage" than simply admit that obama's team is not currently doing a good job in terms of glbt public relations

[Control-Z]

32. While I would prefer

there be absolutely no religious, god, jesus, etc. representation at any political event, in light of what I believe to be a huge mistake with Warren, it shouldn't take an outreach team for Obama, himself, to understand how important this counter message would have been. I'm sorry, but it was scheduled for a reason, and it should have been the most important message of the day, imo. It's hard to understand why Obama wasn't on top of this one, personally.

'i'd venture to say that his glbt outreach team is currently asleep at the wheel

i'm not expecting obama to know every detail of when a speaker goes on stage & when every camera for hbo starts to roll... but for shit's sake, get some people together who ARE aware & follow through & somehow formulate response to what's going on in the community'

[Fran Kubelik]

29. Hey wow.

:pals:
That means a lot.

[Chulanowa]

30. Was it a decision made by the Obama team, or by HBO?

[Occam Bandage]

34. We don't really know. We know the Obama team had a part in it at minimum,

since they scheduled the prayer at 1:20 when the broadcast started at 1:30 (and that was known days before the prayer was scheduled). However, we don't know whether they did that of their own accord, did that at the request of HBO, or did that thinking that HBO would appreciate it.

[ecstatic]

31. Maybe it was never meant to be televised but for the benefit of the concert goers

Did Bishop Robinson say he was going to be televised? Surely he knew his scheduled time and the time HBO coverage would pick up??

[Occam Bandage]

35. Maybe. However, given the response to the Warren invocation, anyone with

a quarter of a brain would realize that GLBTs saw Robinson as an apology or reassurance of sorts--and many people think that Robinson was deliberately intended to be such a reassurance. To then not have him be broadcast was disappointing to say the least.

[yardwork]

38. Robinson was shoved in our faces as a stfu by a lot of people here on DU.

For the same people to be claiming that there's no big deal now is the height of insult.

I appreciate your apology. Unfortunately, your attacks were only drops in the ocean of attacks that have been dumped on his here today.

[Occam Bandage]

41. I agree. Robinson may not be

the type of issue that will be considered important in the history books, and may well signify nothing as regards the Obama administration's gay-rights outlook, but both of those, even if true, are cold excuses for comfort. People have been hurt in a very real, immediate way by the Warren choice, and the promised salve was revoked without so much as a by-the-way. You and I may disagree on the causes for and ultimate significance of that move, but I don't think there should be any disagreement anywhere about the fact that it was a hurtful thing to do, and that people have the right to justified anger.

[racaulk]

33. Wow!

Thank you for this, OB. Really. Very well stated.

:pals:

[Neshanic]

36. "I don't regret having done so." Is this in episodes? The apology I mean.

[Occam Bandage]

37. Not at all.

I don't believe that holding or expressing an opinion about the meaning or impact of a future event is grounds for an apology. I do, however, think that the way one goes about expressing that opinion certainly can be.

[Neshanic]

39. Oh, Ok, so just blue skying here, you are apologizing for how you are telling people they are wrong

[Occam Bandage]

40. No. I'm apologizing for telling people that *how they feel* is wrong in my eyes,

when that is inappropriate and shameful behavior. I'm not apologizing for telling people that *what they think* is wrong in my eyes.

[Neshanic]

42. Ok. Sounds good to me.

[Undercurrent]

43. Nicely said Occam.

Side note: I was heartened to see the Gay Mens Chorus of Washington doing the back-up for Josh Groban and Heather Headley when they sang "My Country 'Tis of Thee".

[Vanje]

44. Thank you

that was graciously stated.

[Raster]

45. Wow.

:thumbsup:

[mtnester]

46. Very nice, thank you

not for the apology, but for the reason for it that you understand now...and that is more important.

:)