On Thu, December 18, 2008 11:59 am, LuKreme wrote: > On 18-Dec-2008, at 08:07, Roger Howard wrote: >> Wow... errr, wtf? >> >> http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/17/obama.warren/index.html > > While I despise most everything Rick Warren stands for, I don't see > what all the hubbub is about. Yes, he is anti-gay anti-abortion, but > he is also (at least as I understand it) focusing his church's efforts > n things like reducing poverty and increasing education and reducing > consumtion. He's a proponent of the green movement, at least to some > degree.
Working and living in the general region that his church is in - actually, I work quite close - I've never seen that side... if there was ever a group of more self-indulgent, un-green, SUV-driving, wealth/might makes right, Christers its right here in Orange County, with Saddleback as the center. They give lip service to some causes not traditionally associated with the far right, sure, but I've never gotten the feeling it's much more than that. Ok, so my concern is this - I get all the cliches about reaching across the aisle, about being inclusive, etc. In practice, in the US, this typically means the left is more than happy to move center, even right, giving up lots of ground, while the right is unbudging. We reach across the aisle, but in the end at best we get the reach-around. Then again, I've not been a star-struck fanatical Obamite, and have been generally quite impressed with his political savvy - he won, handily, afterall - so I'm more than willing to cut him some slack. On a personal level I couldn't give a crap who gives the invocation - anytime people start talking about God I tend to tune out. What does strike me is the wholly predictable outrage from the left (whether justified or not) and the fact that, in this case (and others), Obama chose to ignore it. He's definitely taking his "base" for granted, and I hope he walks that line carefully. > Cynically, he is a fundie evangelical that is at least somewhat in > sync with a lot of issues on the traditionally 'left' side of the > political spectrum and this is a way for Obama to try and move some of > those less-wacky fundies out of the GOP camp. This decision is all > about 2012's election. Cynical is right. >> The campaign is over - why the hell would he spoil this event for so >> many of his supporters by putting a man like this front and center? > > I would not say the invocation is exactly front and center. Do you > know who did the invocation in any inaugural? ever? He's giving him a national audience - he's in all major press today, all over the radio, and you can bet he will get plenty of coverage during/after the event - unlike most other invocation-givers. -R _______________________________________________ OSX-Nutters mailing list | [email protected] http://lists.tit-wank.com/mailman/listinfo/osx-nutters List hosted at http://cat5.org/
