Let it also be noted that VERY few people clapped for him in the crowd.

The benediction was, without a doubt, the best prayer of the weekend. The use of the negro spiritual at the beginning, the playful poem at the end, the repitition of the “amen” to incorporate the crowd. Brilliant.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I don’t think it justifies it. I’m just saying that’s why it’s happening.

I haven’t met or heard one person who thinks that. In fact the opposite is true: people seem to realize that this is a step on a journey that will take hard work and perseverance. What I see in this Rev. Robinson flap is people that need instant gratification and are whining when they don’t get what they want, when they want it.

BAC
BAC | Homepage | 01.20.2009 – 01:01 am | #

good! then they’ll lose 2 in a row.

BAC

As you acknowledge, there are a myriad of reasons why it was a mistake for Obama to invite Warren.

I’ve met Gene Robinson, and I can attest he is a wonderful and thoughtful person — much more in keeping with what I hope our new president wants for us.

BAC

We are celebrating as though the mere election of a black president solves all of our problems. I promise you that Obama will be the first to tell us (tomorrow at noon) that his election in itself solves nothing. It is certainly the realization of a dream, but there is a LOT of work ahead. There are a LOT of problems to address. That’s what Robinson’s prayer was about. This election better not be a giant pat on the back that lulls us into complacency, it better be something that fills us with a righteous anger and an enthusiasm to MAKE change happen in more places than simply the voting booth. I, for one, was very impressed with Robinson’s prayer.

TaylorMarsh | Homepage | 01.19.2009 – 11:20 pm | #

What’s your point, Taylor? That Warren deserves a more prominent place in line because he reaches more people, even though his message is of hate? Bishop Gene Robinson gets the leftovers, even though his story IS the struggle for equal rights for all people, with a message of love and inclusion, that needs to be heard. A message that needs to be heard, especially after the last eight years.

Is this your point, Taylor?

Look, I’ve made my opinion about Warren speaking clear, though for more reasons than his homophobia, which is just the opener. But Robinson has not accumulated the megachurch and megamovement that stands behind Warren. This is not up for debate. Warren is a economic behemoth, reaching millions. Let’s keep the comparisons equal.

So let me get this straight. It’s less about the actual prayer, but more important that Robinson be on camera? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Ridiculous.

Any generic D candidate probably would have won. But I am not sure another candidate could have won in quite the same way. The breadth and sweep of his victory was and is awe-inspiring. There is much more to Obama’s appeal than simply that he is not Bush.

Sidenote to Olbermann? It’s a frikkin’ RUG, Keith. Get over it.

BAC
BAC | Homepage | 01.19.2009 – 8:25 pm | #

amen

And there is another way to look at this. What did many of us complain about during the primary season — sexism. Homophobia couldn’t exist without sexism — so as feminists we are linked to this issue.

Obama won because African Americans, women and the lesbian and gay community overwhelmingly supported him.

Tomorrow will be a glorious day, in spite of Rick Warren, as it will be the end of GWB.

BAC

GeoT, formerprosecutor is absolutely right. I’ve been saying the same thing.

If JFK had a black preacher give the opening prayer for the inaugural celebration and then in the re-hash of the events everyone acted like the prayer never happened, the black community would have been outraged. (Of course, to make this metaphor fitting, he would have chosen an outspoken KKK member to give the invocation to his inauguration).

It’s just getting REALLY old that nobody gives a damn except for the individuals who are themselves persecuted. The Robinson issue is just one more reason for the GLBT community to finally start speaking out.

But heck. I wouldn’t want to ruin this picture perfect moment for anyone..

we’ll just shut up and take our seat in the back of the bus.

Source said Obama may use the occasion to reverse the “Mexico City policy” reinstated in 2001 by Bush

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/19/sources-obama-may-use-executive-order-reverse-abortion-policy/

Then stop your “caterwauling”.
TheRealist1 | Homepage | 01.19.2009 – 5:55 pm | #

I’m almost positive I was not caterwauling although I’ll have to look it up :=)

on HuffPo

It is also about LEGAL protection; Obama is a Con Law scholar; he knows what the rest of us in the legal profession do; including Gay lawyers. We will have to change the legfal definition of “immutable” to include homosexulaity as a protected class. That will have to be accomplished through the legilsative process and hearings just as the civil rights act was done. Evidence and testimony as to the need for protection will be heard and laws changed. Give the process a chance. Now that the Dems have some control ove the lawmaking and we have an executive that won’t veto; all we have to worry about is the Roberts court.

Then stop your “caterwauling”.

That leaves Obama staffer. The site you guys referred me to mentions a Josh DuBois, whom I’d never heard of before today. If he or a similar staffer is responsible, they should be fired. Because it’s really a travesty to promote a “We Are One” concert and then exclude “the gay.”

you’re not ruining my celebration in the least.

Sorry about calling foul when all the misogyny was being thrown around, only to have it be called “caterwauling” when we called foul for ourselves.

Sorry about speaking up about all the other injustices, while “waiting our turn” to be recognized as contributing, law abiding citizens.

Sorry. Just sorry…

Second, we are celebrating because Bush ands Cheney gone. That point requires no explanation.

Third, and most important, we are celebrating because of the particular person who is about to become our President. The world joins in our celebration — as Katty noted yesterday, BBC is broadcasting five hours of inaugural activities tomorrow — because they recognize Obama as someone whose life and experience are both uniquely American and uniquely global. They know that the man whose middle name is Hussein brings with him an empathy and understanding of different cultures that past Presidents (especially the immediate past President) cannot hope to have. And they also know that, precisely because things are so FUBAR as a result of the past eight years, Obama’s background and persona offer hope that this country can once again heed its higher angels.

As Obama noted in his speech on race, “I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible. It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts – that out of many, we are truly one.” I mean no disrespect to anyone else, but who else could have made this claim? Electing Obama sent a message to the world — AMERICA IS BACK!!

That’s why the festivities are not over the top. But TM’s point about not deifying Obama is a fair one. And, to come full circle on this, guess who recently addressed it? Yep, Robinson: “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.”

Now excuse me while I go put some more champagne on ice

If you want to see what GeoT and I are talking about. Check out some of the comments at

http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/obama-wed-always-intended-for-hbo-to.html#disqus_thread

This is the howling we are talking about.

ogenec | 01.19.2009 – 5:14 pm | #

but Obama did it on purpose to piss off the gay community and he and his staff are homophobes… or at least that’s what I’m reading.

I’m beginning to see that too.

there are wingnuts on the left and right I’m beginning to see that.