Is Obama 'reaching out' to evangelicals, or is he kissing their asses?

[Philosoraptor]

I can't decide which with this rick warren bullshit. Why don't they just have jimmy fuckin swaggart do the invocation? Or john fuckin hagee? Or james fuckin dobson FOR CHRIST'S SAKE?

When oh when, will politicians stop kissing the asses of these assholes in public, and pandering to them?

[marylanddem]

1. seems like an ass-kiss to me.

[CTyankee]

2. Oh, I think Obama sees it as reaching out. But I am just an old cynic

when it comes to Warren. I don't think this invitation is going to sway his beliefs one bit. If anything, he'll get even more arrogant with his self importance. There are some people who can't be "converted" and must have their own epiphany. Maybe he will on his deathbed. I'm not holding my breath in the meantime...

[kstewart33]

3. Geez, this anti-Obama stuff is becoming ridiculous.

There are two reverends at inauguration - a black civil rights individual and Warren.

I don't like Warren being there, but Obama is making a point. He is going to do his best to unite ALL of the people in the country - not just the ones he likes and we like.

He is sick to death of all of the internecine partisanship, and this is a good-faith attempt to end it.

So deal with it.

And let's move on to things that are a heckuva lot more important - like the economy.

[Philosoraptor]

5. I guess I just don't want evangelical assholes infesting my government

[EstimatedProphet]

13. I agree in general, but this isn't just partisanship

In this case, picking Warren following the Prop8 vote is at best tone-deaf of Obama. He fucked up on this one.

[Bluenorthwest]

16. Why did he pick

a political activist who just promoted an anti-civil rights bill that passed Nov 4th? How does that speak to unity? Be specific.
It seems Obama is celebrating Warren's victory over gay folk as much as his own victory over McCain.

You are wrong and standing with bigots.

[Robbien]

4. He is promoting bigotry and hatred and saying this is the face of my spirituality

Having this man be the spiritual leader on the day he takes office is saying "This is ME".

It is not pandering. It is promotion.

[bdamomma]

6. maybe he is reaching for those who did not vote for him

maybe that is why he chose Rick Warren.

[Mari333]

17. neo nazis didnt vote for Obama

maybe he can have the Grand Wizard of the KKK speak at the inauguration..same thing.

[bdamomma]

27. maybe it's that whole perception of keeping your friends close

and your enemies closer thing.

[global1]

7. Come On People - Trust Obama - He's Pretty Smart And Knows From His Community Organizing Days That .

the way to begin to get people to come together in their thinking is to make them feel included. I really think that Obama is going out of his way to try and get people from all political persuasions, backgrounds and positions to the table. Once people feel that they are treated decently - they will be more receptive to cooperation and compromise.

Don't be so critical of Obama - give him a chance here to let him do what he does best.

[Fumesucker]

11. And the ony way he can "include" the fundagelicals is by kicking his base in the junk?

Fundies don't do cooperation and compromise, it's their way or the highway, their God said it, they believe it and that settles it.

[Mari333]

18. then he should have Klansmen up there to shore up the neonazi vote n/t

[tsuki]

8. Rick Warren is a FUNDAMENTALIST. End of story.

[RJ Connors]

15. Are you kidding?

You cannot possible understand what a fundamentalist is then.

I understand the frustration that some are feeling right now, and I understand why Obama may have picked Rick Warren for this function. And while I disagree with some of Rick's positions he is still at least a guy who has a semi-connection with reality. That within itself disqualifys him at being a fundamentalist. One simply cannot have any kind of a connection to reality and still be a Christian fundamentalist. It violates some law of the universe or something or another.

Go to any of the conservative web sites and type in Rick's name to see what real fundamentalist think of him.

[tsuki]

26. He is an agent of intolerance who preaches exclusion, punishment,

and the 'gotcha' God.

Because he does it with a folksy charm does not negate the fact that there is little difference that I can see between Swinging Dick and Jimmy the D.

[Redbear]

9. Obama is President of all Americans

even the ones who think in pretty whacked out ways.

[Fumesucker]

12. So why isn't David Duke speaking at the inaugural?

Last time I checked white supremacists were Americans too, why are they being excluded?

[Redbear]

21. Warren's views are respected by a huge percentage of Americans

Duke's by a tiny percentage.

[Fumesucker]

28. So it's apparently a numbers game..

What is the substantive difference between Rick Warren and David Duke, other than the number of bigots who agree with their positions?

[EstimatedProphet]

14. It doesn't matter

The point everyone's missing is that Obama could still have reached out to Warren's followers and/or evangelicals without giving them the promotion that having Warren give the invocation delivers.

[RJ Connors]

10. Not a dime's worth of difference.

"When oh when, will politicians stop kissing the asses of these assholes in public, and pandering to them?"

When it stops producing them votes.

[Mari333]

20. someone didnt do their homework tho

he will lose votes because of this, namely, votes from his base.
the people who didnt vote for him arent going to vote for him in 2012 because of warren.
methinks a lot of obamas advisors are living in the beltway bubble and havent got a clue.

[RJ Connors]

23. 2012 is a long time away though

And Americans are infamous for very short memories.

[Mari333]

25. yes, some of them. Im not one of them

and so again, this move makes no sense. if americans have short memories then why pick warren at all..if that was his tactic as everyone says, to shore up his evangelical votes.
he threw a lot of people under the bus on this, and they wont forget it. no one in my biological family voted for obama, they are too racist, and warren being picked will mean nothing to them.
again, i see a beltway insider crowd completely out of touch with the common people making these decisions. maybe they use graphs and charts. they must live in a bubble.

[Lorien]

22. The thing is that it really doesn't. That's why the GOP never kisses OUR

asses. The GOP panders to it's base, so their base turns out to vote for them and is extremely loyal. The Democrats, by comparison, have a long history of pandering to the republican base while taking the Dem base COMPLETELY for granted. They assume that we'll always vote for them because we care too much to let the other guys win, and that is sometimes true. But pandering to the GOP extremists and hoping that they'll then be "nice" to us because of it never works in congress, the Senate, or anyplace else. It's a losing strategy and always has been.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

19. Top priority for every political hack is to be re-elected. BO is just another sos.

[LWolf]

24. Maybe neither.

Given some of the religious contingent he had on stage during his campaign, I'd say Warren is a good fit for Obama himself.