I'm disappointed that a very outspoken handful of Democrats fight to get others to shut up

[Sarah Ibarruri]

I’m looking in the mirror and realize how wrong I have been. For the longest time I’ve attacked Nader and Kucinich. I said their followers didn’t know what they were doing, that their followers were going to sell out Americans by refusing to vote for the Democratic Party, and that their votes for Nader and Kucinich would deny votes to Democrats, thereby fracturing the Democratic Party.

Problem is, the Democratic Party is unwell and resembles the Republican Party more than it resembles the party of equality and fairness. It NEEDS TO BE HEALED, but it is not yet healed.

I’ve read about the 60s and the ideals of equality. I understand we’ve been through decades of Republican ideology. I understand many Democrats got lost in that wave and even began to agree with Republicans. But we need to return to our ideals of equality, NOT continue to sink lower into the sick ideals of Republicans. Case in point, Rick Warren, whom some VERY outspoken Democrats are continually asking everyone to just shut up about. We’re told by these people to accept that he’s going to represent Americans in OUR inauguration, or even worse, that there’s NOTHING wrong with having this man represent Americans in OUR inauguration.

Well, there IS something wrong in having a bigot and homophobe representing Americans and no amount of prodding that we all just shut up about it is going to change the fact that it is wrong. This is OUR inauguration. WE Democrats elected this man, Obama. HE was not elected by Republicans. An inauguration is not a time to celebrate bigots and homophobes. WE Americans should not be either prayed for or spoken to by someone who is an amoral bigot and homophobe, who wants to change our constitution to one that a theocratic bill of evangelically-interpreted bullshit.

This individual, Rick Warren has been piggish enough to:
1) EQUATE American gays with incest, pedophiles and polygamists;
2) ANNOUNCED that he loves gays because he organizes people to help with their “AIDS” problem.
3) PRONOUNCE that women should have no right to their own uterus;

But SOME very very outspoken Democrats are trying to force me and others to shut up about it and be happy. Instead of fighting to remove this disgusting individual from the inauguration, they’re saying it’s really “unimportant.” They’re saying that there’s nothing wrong with this man being honored by Obama. They say that, well, it’s not *really* an honor to have SELECTED HIM to pray for us and speak to us. They’re saying that OUR PARTY MUST be inclusive of people who want to deny civil rights to others, people who ridicule the very existence of others, and people who want to deny women rights to their very own body.

All I have to say is I’m amazed, and that I finally understand what followers of Nader and Kucinich meant all along. I apologize to Nader and Kucinich followers. You were right. I was wrong.