"Quick, someone find a gay religious dude to make up for that Warren crap."

[originalpckelly]

"Will a gay Elvis impersonator work if he's holding a Bible?"
"I don't know, I don't think he's licensed, they don't like the gays to impersonate Elvis."
"Damn, it would have worked too."

[cali]

1. did you know that Gene Robinson was an Obama advisor?

they hardly rushed out to find him. he's been advising Obama for some time.

[originalpckelly]

5. That's probably why Obama supports gay marriage, isn't it?

[Occam Bandage]

9. Obama has literally thousands of advisors.

That's why I think the "OMG DID YOU KNOW THIS OBAMA ADVISOR IS A WALL STREET SHILL" posts are silly, as are the "BUT OBAMA HAS THIS ADVISOR WHO IS PROGRESSIVE" rebuttals. Obama's policy-making process is about consensus among experts, as opposed to the Bush model of "one guy grabs your ear and then you do everything he tells you to."

[cali]

30. uh, nice red herring.

what does my trying to inform you that Gene Robinson wasn't randomly picked to speak have to do with Obama's position marriage equality? And yeah, that's marriage equality, not gay marriage.

[originalpckelly]

45. It implies that this guy's voice is not strong enough to really influence Obama...

and that voices against/or don't give a shit about gays are stronger.

[Freddie Stubbs]

39. Is gay marriage the only issue a gay man is qualified to advise about?

:shrug:

[WI_DEM]

48. how many politicians support gay marriage?

[kdpeters]

35. Gene Robinson is that and much much more

Yet this clown compares him to an Elvis impersonator.

[muntrv]

2. How does Archbishop Gene Robinson of NH work for you?

[jonnyblitz]

6. yeah, we know. there have been about 10 threads started to tell

us.

[Donnachaidh]

3. hey -- let's throw the gay community a bone

Maybe this will get them to shut up about the bigot we like.

[kestrel91316]

14. If you hate Obama you are in the WRONG place.

[originalpckelly]

16. I tend to think being a Democrat is more than supporting a politician...

and more about supporting ideas.

[Donnachaidh]

31. tell me -- how does hate figure into my post?

Oh right -- dissent is now wrong. Sorry -- didn't get my rules have changed handbook. :sarcasm:

[MADem]

4. And we'll put him at the LINCOLN MEMORIAL...like, er, Marian Anderson!!!!

WATCH this video--note the HEADLINE at the start:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQnzb0Jj074

Now it's time to tolerate those gays!

[Occam Bandage]

7. "Quick, someone find a gay religious dude who has been advising us for months."

[originalpckelly]

8. "Hey, wait a second, problem solved, we've got one of those gays hanging around here."

"And it turns out he's been advising us for months."
"I wonder why he didn't say something about Warren?"

[Occam Bandage]

10. For all we know, he did.

In fact, I'd be utterly shocked if not one of Obama's advisors wrote him and said, "hey, dude, Warren is a bad idea." I think it's pretty clear, though, that the team decided that:

1. Warren's history of anti-poverty efforts would blunt his history of anti-gay rhetoric,
2. Warren's invocation would be countered by the benediction,
and most importantly,
3. The activist wing of the party would not choose to make its first stand over a two-minute speech.

They miscalculated spectacularly. In a way I'm irritated that such a fuss was made over such an ultimately insignificant event, but in a way I'm quite glad that the activist wing of the party was able to make such a stand. While I worry about the cumulative effect on wolf-crying, this bodes very, very well indeed for the coming fights over health care and economic policy. It's nice to have a vocal (and respected) activist left again. The news stories were more "Hey, could this be a concern for Obama?" than they were "loony lefties squawking again;" that's far more heartening than the perpetual blind eye the media gave the activist left during the Bush years.

[originalpckelly]

11. "such an ultimately insignificant event"

Really odd how people would be scalping tickets to such a throwaway event. :eyes:

[Occam Bandage]

18. They are not scalping tickets to see Mr. Warren.

Mr. Warren's invocation is an insignificant event that few would have been aware of, and that none would have remembered, had this fight not been fought. Nobody remembers a word of the last five invocations, to say nothing of who gave them, to say even less of what those people's positions were on various issues. The invocation is utterly without significance, on both a practical and a symbolic level. I admire the fight over the invocation as a fight for fighting's sake, for an early show of muscle-flexing is always a good idea. However, claiming that the fight over the invocation actually has any meaning is a scrabble for justification for the emotion that such fighting requires.

[cliffordu]

23. I absolutely agree.

[originalpckelly]

24. It's just a symbol of being used for political gain when it's convenient...

then thrown aside when it's not.

[Ocracoker16]

25. FYI- He did say something about Warren

from the New York Times- December 20


V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, whose consecration caused a painful divide in his church because he is openly gay, said that when he heard about the selection of Mr. Warren, “it was like a slap in the face.”

Bishop Robinson had been an early public endorser of Mr. Obama’s candidacy, and said he had helped serve as a liaison between the campaign and the gay community. He said he had called officials who work for Mr. Obama to share his dismay, and been told that Mr. Obama was trying to reach out to conservatives and give everybody a seat at the table.

“I’m all for Rick Warren being at the table,” Bishop Robinson said, “but we’re not talking about a discussion, we’re talking about putting someone up front and center at what will be the most watched inauguration in history, and asking his blessing on the nation. And the God that he’s praying to is not the God that I know.”

[originalpckelly]

26. I wonder how he feels being a pawn?

[Occam Bandage]

27. It sounds like he was pretty clear about how he feels there. nt

[originalpckelly]

29. And you might take his words into consideration...

and now he's still a pawn with this most recent development.

[Occam Bandage]

28. It sounds like he was pretty clear about how he feels there. nt

[bullwinkle428]

19. If he's been advising them for months, then it's a shame they didn't

consider what would have been his obvious input on the Warren issue.

[Occam Bandage]

20. It is, but it seems they calculated that there would be no Warren issue.

It's hardly unreasonable. After all, how many invocations in the past were the subject of any interest of any sort whatsoever?

[stray cat]

12. your statement is an insult to the bishop

Do you really insist his only qualification is the fact that he is gay?

[originalpckelly]

13. Yes.

That and being a religious dude.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. Bashing Bishop Robinson, eh?

Is that the level you've reached?

[originalpckelly]

17. Is he particularly gifted at religious BSing or something?

I thought his main claim to fame was being gay?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

21. I suppose in the sense that Rosa Park's main claim to fame was being black.

:shrug:

[kwassa]

34. Far more gifted than you, apparently.

but you could improve with education.

Read and learn. Robinson is on his way to becoming a historic civil rights figure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Robinson

The Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson (born May 29, 1947) is the ninth bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.<1> Robinson was elected bishop in 2003 and entered office on March 7, 2004. Prior to becoming bishop, he served as assistant to the retiring New Hampshire bishop.

Robinson is best-known for being the first openly gay, non-celibate priest to be ordained a bishop in a major Christian denomination believing in the historic episcopate. His homosexual feelings were privately acknowledged in the 1970s, when he studied in seminary, was ordained, married, and started a family. He went public with his sexual identity and divorced in the 1980s. When delegates to the Episcopal convention were voting on the ratification of his election, he was a controversial figure. His election was ratified 62 to 45. After his election, theologically conservative parishes have aligned themselves with bishops outside the Episcopal Church in the U.S., a process called the Anglican realignment. His story has appeared in print and film.

..............................

Robinson's appointment prompted a group of 19 bishops, led by Bishop Robert Duncan of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, to make a statement warning the church of a possible schism between the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, stated that " will inevitably have a significant impact on the Anglican Communion throughout the world and it is too early to say what the result of that will be." He added: "It is my hope that the church in America and the rest of the Anglican Communion will have the opportunity to consider this development before significant and irrevocable decisions are made in response."<12> Retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu stated that he did not see what "all the fuss" was about, saying the election would not roil the Church of the Province of Southern Africa.

Other senior bishops of the church, like Archbishop Peter Akinola of the Church of Nigeria and head of the Global South, have made Robinson a figurehead in their dispute with the Episcopal Church. Some disaffected Episcopalians have disaffiliated from the Episcopal Church and formed the Convocation of Anglicans in North America with the support of the Nigerian church.

[muriel_volestrangler]

49. Does that phrase have, in the US, the slang meaning it has in the UK?

ie "bashing the bishop"?

[Cleita]

22. Melissa Eldridge is an ordained minister. n/t

[Captain Hilts]

32. Whew! Now it's okay to have Warren deliver the speech being watched globally. nt

[mitchtv]

42. I'd reccomend your post if I could

perfect reply:toast:

[NJmaverick]

33. I found a picture in the lounge that is PERFECT for this thread

[Javaman]

38. Brilliant! nt

[eridani]

36. And, what's wrong with that, I ask?

Sounds like a great idea to me.

[Javaman]

37. Stop being reasonable okay? what did I tell you about that? nt

[Javaman]

40. there will be the people who like Obama no matter what...

there will be the people who don't like Obama no matter what.

there will be people who sort of like Obama but have issues with some of his issues.

there will be people who sort of hate Obama but won't have issues with some of his...um, issues.

there will be people who will find reasons, when there are none to be had, to like Obama.

there will be people who will find reasons, when there are plenty to be had, to like Obama

then there are finally, those who will find reasons good or bad to like or hate Obama because it allows them to feel important regardless of what has been said, what will be said and what may have been said by Obama because it allows that person to feel a complete sense of self importance when there is no reason to have any.

[Cha]

41. Yeah, you sound like you're

always sure of what you're talking about whether you know jack shit or not.

[anonymous171]

43. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

I was personally hoping for another McClurkin concert.



:sarcasm:

[originalpckelly]

44. See, if he was really interested in being sensitive to gays...

Warren wouldn't be speaking in the first place. Why didn't they announce this at the same time as Warren? Why isn't this guy giving the invocation if they're gung ho for gays?

[anonymous171]

46. I agree with your sentiment. nt

[ThomCat]

50. Exactly! Excellent points.

[noel711]

47. My take on this is Obama engaged Robinson to pray first...

then spoke to Warren to do his thing;
Warren's name was released to give the religious right
some 'relief,' and then Bishop Robinson was announced.
But the fundies can't say a damn thing...
their guy was first. And I think this was done this way
on purpose.

If you remember the Campaign, OBama has a unique and
political way of handling things. He's nobody's fool..