Being
surprised about it. Maybe you think it's a huge deal, a small deal, nothing at all, or even something really great. But why should it come as a surprise?
I'm shocked, shocked that Rick Warren will be Obama's invocation speaker!No one could have anticipated that a candidate who signaled —
since before his campaign officially started — that he was going to cater to the
Rick Warrens of the world would give a
God-exploiting bigot like, say,
Rick Warren a
bully pulpit from day one of his presidency!
How could you not be "
profoundly disappointed" when something like that comes out of left field? It's "
a bit of a surprise." "
This one puzzles"! "
What?!" "
WTF?" "
Really?!?!"
It's not like
Obama has promised to let faith-based groups "help set our national agenda," right?
It's "
inconceivable" that Obama would make such a
homophobic choice.
He surely wouldn't treat Warren's big-ass church as an
essential campaign stop, would he? Well, if he did, he'd never say something like this there:
"I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman (big applause), now for me as a Christian, it's also a sacred union, now God's in the mix (applause).
I suppose I'd start to worry if he said things like
"`What role does faith play?' I say, `It plays every role.'"
or
"I just want all of you to pray that I can be an instrument of God...."
or
"I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth."
or
"My job is to try to draw a connection between the values that I express to the church and the challenges and issues that we face in politics."
orWe first need to understand that Americans are a religious people... substantially more people believe in angels than do those who believe in evolution
or
...the discomfort of some progressives with any hint of religion has often prevented us from effectively addressing issues in moral terms.
or
Our failure as progressives to tap into the moral underpinnings of the nation is not just rhetorical. Our fear of getting "preachy" may also lead us to discount the role that values and culture play in some of our most urgent social problems.
or
It is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as a consequence of muttering
the phrase "under God;" I certainly didn't.
So, don't make anything out of this
uncharacteristic decision.
Obama's
got his feet on the ground, and unlike the outgoing president, he's simply not going to
mix religion and politics!
UPDATES:
John Aravosis is caught flat-footed by this shocking and thoroughly unpredictable development!
He's got huge approval ratings, after all. Maybe we're expendable now. Obama's brain trust has decided he needs new friends. So have fun with Rick Warren. If he's there on January 20th, I won't be. And, unlike Rick Warren, I actually worked hard to get Obama elected. It's weird and disturbing. I'd expect George Bush to have a homophobe on the stage. But Obama? That's not the kind of change I expected, and it's not change I can believe in.
Late-blooming Obama believer
Taylor Marsh observes:
It's like Obama decided purposefully to give liberals the finger.
Matt Stoller suggests
uncloseting these impulses:
Hey, I Have an Idea!
Let's keep poking liberals with a stick!
In the eye!
Yeah!
... I got another idea. Why doesn't Obama double-immunize telecom companies for their warrantless wiretapping? That doesn't even make any sense, but I bet liberals wouldn't like it!