Perhaps Obama's selection of a bigot was intended to highlight their bigotry

[Fire Walk With Me]

and that as a result, we may further the cause of freedom and equality.

If so, I'd say that it's working. He's gotten us into "I scream, you scream, we all scream" more effectively than Bush ever did, through all his bad acts. Perfect timing, it is.

[hulklogan]

1. Our President Elect has never been afraid of claiming a Sister Souljah moment.

I think that's the real reason behind the selection.

[skooooo]

2. I still don't understand what a Sister Souljah moment is..

..so I don't understand your post consequently.

[QC]

4. here you go!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Souljah_moment

[skooooo]

5. got it!

Thanks!

[QC]

3. Perhaps there is a pony in here.

[IndianaJones]

6. I see Jesus. nt.

[katandmoon]

7. And if a bullfrog had wings it wouldn't bump its ass on the ground

[WeDidIt]

8. I can only believe it was intended to legitimze Warren's positions n/t

[tabatha]

9. It was an attempt to unite - and to make those other voters

not to feel alienated. If they are alienated, then the reasoning I guess was that they may have more open minds.

Unfortunately, when getting all people under the tent, there is still going to be division under the tent.

DU is a big tent; just look at the divisions.

But, hidden, secret division is worse than open division - where people can try to come to grips with it.
That is, talk about it, listen and understand others.

[xchrom]

15. even a tent has walls -- no matter how big. nt

[WeDidIt]

17. And to fit this bastard into the tent

a lot of people had to be pushed out of it.

[Maven]

44. Well put.

[JVS]

32. I think that might be overly pessimistic.

[WeDidIt]

34. I look at it as being realistic. n/t

[JVS]

35. Yeah sure, because when Obam runs against whoever the Republican nominee is in 2012, he'll...

certainly want to have a public that is much more religiously conservative than this time around. That would sure fix the Republicans' wagons. :crazy:

[WeDidIt]

36. I'll ALWAYS vote for the lesser of the two evils

Doesn't mean I'd donate canvas or phonebank like I did in 2008.

It also doesn't mean I wouldn't support a primary challenge against an incumbent president.

[patrice]

10. Is it possible for those who reject any and all commonality on the Values to ask for an

Apology?

[Fire Walk With Me]

11. My thought is that we -must- now all work together to fix the country.

And we elected Obama not only because he is "our" candidate, but because he is smart and perceptive. If he is smart and perceptive, then there is a reason for his choice. It may be as stated here, to unify, or perhaps, a backhanded outing of unacceptable ideation, for the purpose of bringing it to light (which is the only place such things may heal).

One way or the other, we may have to trust the man, in spite of initially unacceptable, perplexing initiative.

Of course, I could be wrong, and in that case, we're all just fucked. What do you want to believe?

[AllentownJake]

12. Nah it was his way to tell his base

You know all that shit when I said its about you....well it is and it isn't now prepare for Clinton III fooled you!

[prostock69]

13. I agree with you. He did this on purpose. He knew we scream and that

is exactly what he wanted. The selection of Rick Warren and the immense amount of push back that the American people are giving has made world news. I thinks it's great. Rick Warren is feeling the heat just as well. His supporters don't want him blessing the President, who is pro-life and supports gay rights! They are just as furious! Obama is having one of the most influencial leaders of the American Taliban bless his presidency. It's a brilliant move and before I throw the baby out with the bath water, I am going to sit back and see what happens.

I know one thing that Obama will NOT do and that is change his position on Gays and abortion. It would be political suicide. The only reason to reach out to Warren is to get him and his followers to come out of the 1st century and into the 21st century. I believe, of all people, Obama can do this.

[Fire Walk With Me]

16. Two further items may reinforce this:

-The country is currently outraged over the stealth approval of Proposition 8 in California and other states. This may not have escaped Obama's notice.

-The man and his family are African-American. They -might-, -perhaps- know something about bigots and bigotry, and the fight for equality and truth. And the nation's direction regarding equality and truth...

:hi:

[Frustratedlady]

21. Thank you! I agree wholeheartedly.

It amazes me that we can't keep the faith. We brought Obama all this way, we can't let him down now.

He is leading and teaching at the same time. To bring these two thoroughly divided groups together in discussion -- public discussion -- is powerful. Now, work with it.

I'm backing Obama all the way. I know he will do something along the way that I don't agree with -- maybe even vehemently disagree with -- but what a good feeling to know that I will soon be seeing the inauguration of two men I can call MY president and MY vice president. It's been a long time since I've claimed the holders of that office, and it makes me proud.

Go, Obama/Biden. Let's get to work.

[jberryhill]

14. I doubt it - BUT - one result is that Warren's unseemly views are getting attention

I do not believe the choice is appropriate, and should be withdrawn.

HOWEVER, if it is not withdrawn, then the spotlight on his bigotry may be helpful.

[Fire Walk With Me]

20. Finding himself standing in a brilliant spotlight, with millions screaming at him,

there is a chance that he might enter into some level of internal debate regarding his beliefs and their veracity.

Peer pressure sucks, but when it is regarding freedom and equality, it must happen. We can only hope that good may come of this process. I'm willing to watch and see what happens, and make further decisions based upon the results. (I hadn't been aware of Saddleback's bigotry until two days ago, through DU posts- I have read at least half of The Purpose-Driven Life and enjoyed it; it didn't reveal their bigotry, and I am unhappy to have learned of their exclusionist principles, which go against my own beliefs.)

[jberryhill]

26. The problem

I tend to be an optimist like you.

However, the power of self delusion is powerful, and the internal dialogue can go in a lot of directions.

It's a lot to hope for, and the investment in this particulary bigotry is very deeply rooted.

If he stays on the track of doing charitable work long enough, then exposure to the broader world can cause enough conflict over time.

This particular event may seem more of an affirmation than an opportunity for self examination.

I see what you are saying, but I'm coming to doubt it.

[Fire Walk With Me]

30. Believe me, I'm no optimist. I tend to be a fatalist, regarding people and their overall creations

of society and culture (at least, Western people).

I think that you are right, he can go in several different directions from having had this experience, but at minimum, the voice of dissent has been brought to him with vast strength and clarity. There are two typical responses to this: to harden one's beliefs, knowing they're wrong, or to question them, even very eventually, and perhaps change your ways, even minutely.

You know which one I'm hoping for. Cheers.

[sundog]

18. stretch

[Fire Walk With Me]

25. That's what I do.

I enjoy synthesizing trends into some sort of big picture, as I'm interested in the overall direction, which only recently appears (hope against hope) to have shifted to something increasingly positive (I believe that we exceedingly narrowly missed the worst possible future, although due to the pendulum nature of things, the one always seems to demand the other).

The positive trend requires unification and equality, love and acceptance instead of judgement and division. This means from the level of resources through the interpersonal. Things are pretty damn bad right now, and we have to unify in order to repair them. If Obama is selecting people for their strengths regardless of affiliation, and even in order to cross affiliation boundaries, it is because this is the only way we are going to make it through the mess we've created (through both greed on the part of some and inaction on the part of others). If he's smart, we have to go along with him to a certain extent, unless these choices prove baseless and destructive, without redeeming qualities.

I'll remove the rose-colored glasses now ;)

[Solon]

19. The problem is that too many people seem to think this bigotry is a reasonable point of view. n/t

[Fire Walk With Me]

40. You're right. Too many maintain this viewpoint, without being effectively challenged on it.

Until now. It's a national spotlight issue.

Would Obama truly be so naive to enlist a known bigot, immediately after Proposition 8 and the resulting public outcry? He promised change for the better. He may be forcing the issue into prominence, where it must be dealt with at a national level, or he is incredibly dumb. I'll wait until all the information is tallied before making a conclusion on that...and I'm willing to be wrong, and to say so, although on this issue, it would be awful to be wrong..

[boomerbust]

22. You may be correct, Peake

Obama being a Christian there is one Bible verse that might explain Obama's dilemna. Matt. 5:44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you... Obama may be following the teachings of His Christian faith, or by allowing Warren to give the invocation he is forcing Warren to follow this very difficult Christian belief and exposing him on a national stage for his bigotry and hate.

[Warren Stupidity]

23. You are so totally the first person here to come up with that excuse.

Well except that is for the other 87 OPs making the exact same and equally lame explanation for Obama's Awful Choice.

[Fire Walk With Me]

27. I've been ducking and covering in The Lounge, so apologies regarding not having noted the others...

...have the other similar posts made any sense regarding the potential for positive outcome?

Edit: I am in no way supporting Saddleback's bigotry and was sad to learn of it. I'm just wondering if, considering the heat surrounding Proposition 8 and similar items, if Obama is doing this purposely. It's hard to imagine that he's made a purely stupid move and will stick with it no matter what. That's Bush territory. Have we become so used to that modus operandi?

[jberryhill]

29. Well, I agree with you, but it certainly has focused a lot of attention on the topic

Some people are trying to find a silver lining - that's what people do.

I think it would be best if Warren were persuaded to self-withdraw from the invitation "because the focus should not be on a controversy about me."

[Warren Stupidity]

33. So would a public execution for sodomy.

I'm not a big fan of that line of argument either.

[jberryhill]

41. Hmmm.... well... Given the position of the US on the decriminalization resolution...

...maybe that was someone's idea of something worth trying.

A few years ago, the RW tried to push through a parental consent bill in Delaware as a stalking horse to limit choice. A group of legislators introduced an amendment requiring every teenager to get parental consent prior to becoming pregnant, using the same arguments as the other side.

In some states, one wonders what the vote would be on a "death penalty for teh gay" referendum.

[polichick]

24. Unless he introduces him as an unrepentant bigot, I doubt it.

[Marrah_G]

28. All it did is legitimize a hate leaders views.

[JVS]

31. I think that might be overly optimistic

[Fire Walk With Me]

38. I'm not an optimist.

When the republicans were fucking everything up, I attempted to figure out what they were doing and why. Now that Obama is attempting to fix everything up, I want to figure out his what and why.

Because, you see, we're at the crux of either a new world, or a New World Order...

[leftofthedial]

37. these rationalizations are getting more and more far fetched people.

he invited Warren to speak because the Obama doesn't give a shit about equality for any minority more oppressed than he is. He has contempt for those to his left on any issue. He got his, so he's pulling up the ladder.

[Fire Walk With Me]

39. So we're all completely fucked, and Bush 1's "New World Order" is imminent?

The world economy is not doing well. Those who seek power and domination know that what can be broken, may be reassembled into their own design.

Or repaired into something positive. Which will it be? I'm trying to figure it out. If Obama is wrong on this, and it remains a destructive choice with zero resulting benefit, then I'm willing to admit that we're all screwn. Or that the trend indicates that, barring further information.

[jberryhill]

42. Mr. Obama personally has never encountered racial discrimination

FWIW.

If he has, he sure left it out of his autobiography.

[Quixote1818]

43. It's opened my eyes at what a bigot Warren really is and I think the world is seeing it

I actually think some of the networks have been pretty good at going after Warren.