Pam's House Blend: The invisible, inaudible Bishop Gene Robinson ("We can't hear you!")

[Bluebear]

As Blender David Hart noted on his blog and a diary, if you were channel surfing to HBO's inaugural concert on the National Mall to catch openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson's appearance at today's inaugural festivities at the Lincoln Memorial, you didn't see him.

Remember, this was the supposed salve on the wound to the LGBT community for the upcoming high-profile appearance of Rick Warren at the actual inauguration on Tuesday, which will be seen by millions and will float out there on YouTube in perpetuity. I had no illusions that Robinson's appearance would reach the same level of exposure as Warren's, but damn -- no broadcast of it at all? That's just freaking rich...

Kenny Yum of the Canada's National Post was liveblogging the event and reported that many there couldn't even hear Robinson (mic problems?) and were shouting "We can't hear you."

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/

[IndianaJones]

1. whats the big deal...I heard the guy from The Office just fine. nt.

[Bluebear]

2. It's just Pam's House Blend's latest "poutrage"

[QC]

4. She's bitter over not getting her pony. n/t

[Solon]

3. Holy shit, you mean I wasn't lying in my OP? Who woulda thunk it, huh?

I expect an apology any day now from my detractors. :eyes:

[Bluebear]

6. Don't hold your breath, purple is not your color. nt

[Joe the Revelator]

5. Your last thread on this didn't go as well as you hoped?

[Solon]

7. Your picture is ironic considering you are spamming every single thread dealing with GLBT people...

right now. Why not take your own advice and just shut the fuck up already. We get it, you don't care, so why reiterate it, time and again, to lord over your superiority as a staight person. I know you enjoy it, but really, all it is does is illustrate how much of an asshole you can be.

[Joe the Revelator]

8. Here's where you are wrong...I do care, a great deal

There is a small but vocal group of people on this board, encompassing all genders/races/sexual identification, that will harp on anything to take the joy out of Obama becoming President. I care about calling that type of immature nonsense out when it becomes as apparent as some of you make it.

[girl gone mad]

9. You just don't get it.

By choosing a bigot to pray for him, Obama took a lot of the joy out of the inauguration for a vast group of people.

[Solon]

10. Exactly, frankly I wanted to be joyful, and I was silent on most of his cabinet appointments...

now I'm just cynical again.

[Bluebear]

12. And that's the point these folks will never get, because they just don't care.

[Raster]

14. oh no. some of them get it just fine. The problem is they don't get it like you or I do.

There is a concerted effort by a pack of haters to antagonize and harass. And unfortunately some of the good folks here at DU keep their mouths shut so the pack of jackals doesn't turn on them.

[Bluebear]

26. I'm reaching my fill. The antagonizers have totally changed the tone of this board beyond repair.

It's a damn shame how the DU experience has "changed" within the last six years.

[Raster]

28. yes it has

[monmouth]

31. Couldn't agree more. I don't enjoy much here lately..n/t

[Joe the Revelator]

13. Oh I get it. I diagree with the choice, but know why he did

and if a prayer can make you less joyful about a democrat taking office, then you're strung a little too tight.

[Solon]

15. No you don't get it, its a reminder of being a second class citizen...

think of it, its an inauguration, for crying out loud, and while Warren's participation in it is brief, he represents a faction of America that wants to perpetuate that second class status. I don't see why you don't think that wouldn't take the joy out of an inauguration.

[Joe the Revelator]

16. Because your getting a President who doesn't agree with those views into office

That in itself should be more joyful then focusing on a short prayer by a person completely outed as a bigot.

[bluedawg12]

23. Our views? When did civil rights become OUR views?

When did the President Elect not support civil rights?

[dsc]

11. She is just a PUMA

no wait, she supported Obama in the primaries. Nevermind.

[bklyncowgirl]

17. That part about "We can't hear you" is true. I was there. I don't know if it was some antigay plot

The sound system sucked when they were running videos before the Bishop came on. I couldn't hear Elmo the Muppet either.

We just assumed they'd turn it up before the live performers started and frankly, I was surprised to see the Bishop on the screen and the sound so muddled. That's when the crowd started changing "We can't hear you". Someone got the message towards the end of the Bishop's speech, they turned the full system on and you could hear him perfectly well.

From where I was standing--around 50 yards away from the stage but unfortunately out of sight range of the performers and speakers--it seemed like someone forgot to plug something in.

[NYC_SKP]

18. It is not uncommon at the beginning of an event for there to be problems

with the sound system. That there were troubles leading up to the invocation indicates that nothing was nefarious about the poor sound quality.

Why anyone would be this upset is beyond me. It's a shame that it didn't work well but shit happens, it has nothing to do with the sexual orientation of the speaker.

Thanks for providing your ear-witness account! :toast:

[yardwork]

19. We're upset for two main reasons - one, we always felt that the last-minute inclusion

of Gene was a sop to get us to stop complaining about Warren. And to have it handled this carelessly adds to the insult.

But mostly, we're really angry because of the WAY WE'RE BEING TREATED ON DU AGAIN.

[NYC_SKP]

21. It's a mess.

It was messy and sloppy, no doubt.

Here it's mean and that's sadder than messy.

I think the high tension feeds on itself, I don't think that people here, on either side of this issue, are anywhere near as mean as they seem, and it's beginning to bother me because some folks really feel more hurt about the comments than is realized.

:thumbsup:

[yardwork]

24. I've wasted my time here. I'll never read or post on DU again.

[NYC_SKP]

25. I hope not...

You and I have had our exchanges but while I have at times overreacted, I think I've also been moved toward trying to be more understanding, it has to be frustrating as hell when this shit happens and you get piled on.

I know you read this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8103465

Hang in there, yardwork... :hug:

[Bluebear]

29. not far behind you, love

[Bonobo]

35. Goodbye.

[crispini]

32. Shit, I get why people are upset. It just takes some empathy.

Try being someone who has already been told that they can't get married, the Warren BS and that gospel guy BS. I'm sorry, but these incidents are really making it seem like the incming admin is not placing the importance they should on our gay allies n

[bklyncowgirl]

33. To be perfectly honest, the audience didn't much care until the Bishop came on.

Everyone around me was saying thing's like, "Who's the minister?" and "Has it started, I can't hear a thing."

We'd all been talking about the crappy sound during the videos and hoping that it would bet better during the acts. Many thought the good Bishop was just one of the videos. When they realized he was live people began chanting "We can't hear you."

If HBO's feed for the invocation was also compromised that may explain the decision to cut him.

[ecstatic]

30. There are others who were there and heard it clearly

And there's a video of it too!

[bklyncowgirl]

34. There were also banks of speakers throughout the grounds. Perhaps some didn't get the feed.

I can understand why people are upset about this and I'm not dismissing anyone's complaints. I just know what I personally heard--or didn't hear.

If half of 250,000 people didn't get the sound and the other half did, it's still a glitch. Thousands of people don't chant "I can't hear you" for nothing.

[Occam Bandage]

20. It was indeed disappointing, and I think the result of a stupid miscalculation.

I do not believe malice was intended, but I think it's inescapable that the decision was at minimum deeply inconsiderate. I think the absolute best case scenario for the Obama team is that the scheduling times regarding TV were authorized by a different committee than the one that brought Robinson aboard, and that the people signing off on the schedule somehow escaped notice as to the importance of Robinson. This would be incompetent and embarrassing, but is better than the alternatives.

[ecstatic]

39. the calculation was that TV viewers would prefer an extra song

to a prayer. Has nothing to do with who was or wasn't gay.

[Bluebear]

40. Calculation is the word.

[Bluenorthwest]

22. Off topic:

DU is driving me mad. good night.

[Bluebear]

27. seeya

me too

[Starry Messenger]

36. It's incredibly disappointing.

Rev. Robinson's words should have been preserved and cherished. They were spoken from the heart. Everyone would benefit from seeing and hearing them from this wonderful man.

When things like this are lost, we all lose out. I'm truly sorry.

[Born_A_Truman]

37. Preserved here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWWAnitUCw4&eurl=http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2009/01/gay_bishop_kick.html&feature=player_embedded

[Starry Messenger]

38. I did see that earlier. Thank you for the link.

It just doesn't have the same impact as a fully-archived event. But I'm glad someone got even a little piece of it. I was thinking of this footage when I wrote my post actually. I was comparing it in my mind to some of the archived footage of past Inaugural events played yesterday. Sorry I wasn't more specific.