Should we be disappointed at Obama?

[OrlandoMike]

Obama has chosen Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the inauguration. Frankly I don't know much about Mr. Warren. Anyone here have any insight? In the little bit of reading I just did on the Internet, I found he was in favor of Prop 8, but has done some great work in the HIV area....

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16693.html

 

[Holly]

Surprised, no. A little disappointed, yes.


Like I said in the other thread, Rick Warren is an improvement over the older face of the evangelicals like Falwell, Robertson, Dobson, and Hagee. He's kinder with his words and seems to try hard to stay away from preaching hatred against the LGBTQ community as the others did/ do.


That being said, he was a big supporter of Prop 8 and opposes equal marriage. That means that he is opposed to *me* having rights equal to other Americans.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

I'm trying to believe that Obama is trying very hard to move to the left without alienating the right. I don't know if that's true or not. I know I want it to be true.

I don't know much about Warren, either... I'll try to focus on his not being a right wingnut...

Really would have preferred someone to come right out and be completely accepting of ALL Americans without reservation, without judgment of any single group's "worthiness."

One step at a time, one step at a time...that's the mantra for the day, I guess.

 

[OrlandoMike]

One step at a time, one step at a time...that's the mantra for the day, I guess.

And he does have a second election to think about, right?

I am hopefull about Obama!

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

I'm hanging on to the hope too...

 

[rpmdfw]

Here's how I'm looking at it: Sometimes Bush had to ally himself with people that we liked. Same deal here. Obama will sometimes have to ally himself with people we dont' like.

I'd have hoped for a better choice here, but as long as Warren donesn't mention the "sanctity of marriage" in his invocation, I'll let the rest slide.

 

[wallyb]

I'm going try to keep the faith!
Hope he doesn't let me down.

It's not pretty when I'm disappointed.

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

The choice of Rick Warren, imho, was a a pretty significant and danged insensitive misstep. Here is a quote from Barack's website.

“While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It’s about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect.”

— Senator Barack Obama

There are about a million ways to express opinions on this to the inaugural comittee -- Facebook, Myspace, Twitter...

 

[OrlandoMike]

Hey, at least he knows what Stonewall is. I can see the blank stare on W's face now if asked about it!

 

[Uncle Remus]

Yeah, it's a shame Obama didn't choose a religious figure who supports the inclusion of the LGBTQ community into the American dream of equal liberties 'n rights.
Hopefully, he'll do more towards legislation, didn't he say he supports the repeal of DADT 'n DOMA?

 

[OrlandoMike]

Honestly, and it kills me to say this....But Obama has so much on his plate, Thanks W!, that I think we may have to just be a little patient for a while. This may be one of those situations where we all have to pull together for a while, get this country back on track, then we can worry and work on our own issues....

 

[rpmdfw]

Hey, at least he knows what Stonewall is. I can see the blank stare on W's face now if asked about it!

Isn't a stonewall what he drove his car into back in his Cocaine and alcohol days?

 

[OrlandoMike]

Isn't a stonewall what he drove his car into back in his Cocaine and alcohol days?

With a Judy Garland 8-track turned up full blast!

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

I feel the need to say this, too.

We can't sit back and expect Obama to change the world for us. We have to lead the way, and encourage him to condone and support what WE do.

No one is going to give us anything. We have to work for equality and never expect someone else to do for us what we aren't willing to do for ourselves.

 

[wallyb]

With a Judy Garland 8-track turned up full blast!

 

[Chuck S]

Hey, at least he knows what Stonewall is. I can see the blank stare on W's face now if asked about it!

W would probably say something like "Stonewall? Oh yeah, Reagan brought that down in Berlin, right?"

 

[ConcKahuna]

While I may not like the person he choose, I think it was a good choice for the future of the Democratic party and the country in general.

For the past few decades, the presidency has been like a pendulum. It keeps swinging right, than left, and each president is going further and further to the side. It's turned people against each other, and given the religious right a firm hold over the Republican party while demonizing the Democrats.

At first, it looked like Obama would just bring the swing further to the left. While that may have helped us in the short-term, I have no doubts it would have hurt the cause of equality long-term. Obama has worked hard to become more of a centrist than a liberal, and I think that's what we need right now.

He's doing a good job of bringing both sides together, and I think that will help foster an atmosphere of unity and acceptance.

 

[rosiep]

I was very disappointed when I first saw the headlines; but I feel better after hearing Obama talk about it. He has a great point when he says that one of the first things we need to do is learn how to respect one another when we disagree...you know why? Because you're more likely to listen to, and consider what the other person is saying when you respect them -you then try harder to find that middle ground.

Obama said that Warren asked him to speak at his church even though he knew they disagreed on many things, Obama also said that other people speaking at the inaugeration have vastly opposing veiws to Warren as well.

I'm still hopeful.

 

[zulemara]

it certainly has to be a delicate balance. In 2000 the country was doing fine and therefore the right wing, specifically the religious right was able to take over and get Bush elected. Even though he did not win the popular vote, he won where it counted unfortunately. Now, because of the economy and national policy issues, people stepped up in great numbers and said we don't want your right wing religious crap, we want to fix our economy! So while we fix the economy, we want to make some progress on the LGBT rights issue. Personally as I've said before, if he repeals DODT, DOMA, and approves the Mathhew Shepard act, I will consider it to be a great victory for one term. he does have the second election to always be thinking about and if he goes too radical, the right will just get more motivated at the next election, oust him from office, and then we'll really be in trouble.

 

[Uncle Remus]

it certainly has to be a delicate balance. In 2000 the country was doing fine and therefore the right wing, specifically the religious right was able to take over and get Bush elected. Even though he did not win the popular vote, he won where it counted unfortunately. Now, because of the economy and national policy issues, people stepped up in great numbers and said we don't want your right wing religious crap, we want to fix our economy! So while we fix the economy, we want to make some progress on the LGBT rights issue. Personally as I've said before, if he repeals DODT, DOMA, and approves the Mathhew Shepard act, I will consider it to be a great victory for one term. he does have the second election to always be thinking about and if he goes too radical, the right will just get more motivated at the next election, oust him from office, and then we'll really be in trouble.