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Sorry Joe, Bishop Robinson is on MSNBC right now via phone, and he is not feeling that way. And only has praise for Obama.

I wish you’d reword that…

Days Hrs Mins Secs

http://primepuzzle.com/runlog/inaug-graphic.html

LMAO. Now THAT’S what I’m talking about! It reminds me of the Thanksgiving I invited my friend and her folks to dinner. Her 65 year old dad was scared to try my collard greens, and by the end of the day, it eat more of them than anyone, and even took a plate home.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=50632298

from my experience doing productions chances are the cameras were rolling during his invocation and they have it on tape (or some more up to date storage medium). Hopefully they will release it if they did record it.

I added the prayer because I hadn’t seen it here and the sentiments expressed were just wonderful.

This was all over the Americablog.com site yesterday. I won’t repost some of the really nasty toned comments. Which since the Rick Warren fiasco, the comments section has started to sound more and more like NoQuarter.com

But I will point out two things. Robinson gave his prayer, and then there was a 10 minute delay before the next portion of the program. I cannot imagine any producer at HBO filming a LIVE show with a 10 minute gap of blank space. And, this was a HBO decision.

Secondly, when I first read about this, I looked up Robinson’s actually prayer.

http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/faith_and_politics/gene_robinsons_prayer_for_pres.html#more

I have to wonder if the last paragraph had something to do with it. Praying for the safety against assassination for Obama, Michelle and the girls, would have had a profound affect on the huge crowd and the Obama’s. Would the whole event, that was very upbeat and exhilarating to all of us, have had the same affect, if it had started with those words? Or would we have seen tears of pain, fear and sadness on the 500K faces in the crowd?

It’s not the same but here’s a video of Rev. Robinson giving the invocation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWWAnitUCw4

So it was a publicity stunt that they purposely censored? So they wanted to quiet “people like you” by doing something that pissed you off? That doesn’t make sense. More likely HBO screwed up.

No, I mean not just ‘being around’. But has your family had Thanksgiving dinner or Xmas dinner or church service, or birthday, graduation parties, etc.. with other races. That is what I was talking about. Personal events, where people discuss their kids, their dreams, their lives. Through these things, they can learn that we all have more in common than we have differences.

Thanks for posting this, however, I must include this information:

Robinson’s invocation was CENSORED from the event itself (see IN THE NEWS) and from the HBO special.

The sound was turned off except for the monitors right up at the stage and it was not shown on HBO. Only a few people at the event, who were standing up close, could hear the his invocation.

The inclusion of Robinson was just a publicity stunt to quiet the uproar from BO’s use of Warren for the inaguration.

Thanks BO – I was wondering if the speeches that referred to civil rights for ALL Americans included me – now I know from your organizations actions that it is indeed “just words”.

BTW, for those who think it was a microphone malfunction – try to find another 4 minute tech problem in this production.

What you experienced, I believe is the key to racial tolerance in this country. It is much harder to misunderstand, stereotype, or hate another race when you don’t ‘personally’ know them. When you don’t have personal interaction with other races, its easier to have a ‘us’ vs ‘them’ mentality.

Growing up with a multi-racial family and atmosphere, it still seems normal to me, but many people still have not experienced it. Many people still don’t have multi-racial gatherings or holiday dinners or church events. When this begins happening, not as a choice, but as the ‘norm’, we will all see true tolerance and unity in this country.

By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire

Opening Inaugural Event
Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
January 18, 2009

Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.

O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…

Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.

Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.

And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.

Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.

AMEN.

Hero Pilot And Family Invited To Inauguration

An aide to President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday evening that all five members of the Flight 1549 crew have been invited to the inauguration Tuesday.

http://www.mercurynews.com/presidentelect/ci_11485823

I often wonder what MLK would be advocating for today if he were still alive. W.E.B. DuBois wrote that “the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line.” Today, in this 21st Century, I believe that the problem is the “class line.” That is not to say that racial problems don’t persist. But it is to say that the most bedeviling issues we face today don’t have a racial aspect to them. Lack of quality education affects the poor everywhere, whether you are black in Anacostia, white in Appalachia, or Native American just about anywhere.

So to echo Smiley once more, just as Frederick Douglass pushed Lincoln and MLK pushed JFK and LBJ, it’s up to us to push Obama to complete MLK’s vision. That includes advocacy on behalf of the poor, like JimR correctly notes. It includes health care for all, and improving our educational system. These, I believe, are the things that MLK would be fighting for today. And, luckily, I believe that these are the things that Obama cares deeply about.

After meeting with a certain group of reformers trying to persuade him to support their goals, FDR said “You’ve convinced me. I want to do it. Now MAKE me do it.” That is our task with Obama, and we must never shirk from it.

That raises an interesting question of how one agitates for change: violently, incessantly and aggressively; or patiently, constructively, and respectfully? In the spirit of MLK, I prefer the latter approach. Everyone has their favorite MLK quotation, but mine is: “Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”

Sorry for the heavy tone, but I get very reflective on MLK Day. Have a blessed day, everyone.