A very pathetic statement from the Obama people on the issue of Rick Warren via Ben Smith:
A spokeswoman for President-elect Barack Obama defended the choice of Rick Warren to give the invocation, saying it reflects Obama’s desire to have “the most open and inclusive inauguration in history.” Obama's selection of Warren drew heated criticism from gay activists Wednesday.Actually, this statement is such an insult, it makes the situation worse. Warren's concern about global warming trumps his hateful rhetoric on gays? Not really, Linda Douglass. This statement is another major fail and another affront. I think we need to publicly hear Obama reject all of Warren's "Issues around the LGBT community."
“Warren has been a passionate advocate on behalf of the poor and has really led evangelicals to champion the interest who suffer from HIV and AIDS and been an outspoken voice on issue of global warming,” said Linda Douglass. “President-elect Obama has made it clear that he doesn’t agree with Warren on issues around the LGBT community.” Douglass said it’s notable that Joseph Lowery, a pro-gay minister who was a close friend of Martin Luther King, is giving the benediction.
This is really weak. You know how this happened. One of the geniuses on Team Obama came up with the idea and sold it by chortling, "What are the gays going to do? Not support you?" That just has the ring of so many D.C. consultant types who will sell allies down the river for a good photo op. In other words, this was a calculated decision made to elicit just these angry reactions from us. Makes them seem so much more centrist, which is apparently the gold standard for Democratic consultants these days.
What the geniuses on Team Obama don't understand is that we're living in a different world after Prop 8. Rick Warren and his allies worked to take away the rights of gay and lesbians. They eliminated rights. We had rights in California, now we don't. It's hard for many Americans to grasp the concept of losing rights. But, when it happens, it's a frightening feeling. And, when our new president puts one of the leading gay bashers on the stage at the inauguration, he's making a statement that can't be undone by a pathetic quote from Linda Douglass. But, then again, the Obama camp doesn't want this undone. They really think this makes them look good.
