Obama Was Right About Rick Warren

Pardon me for feeling just a wee bit smug this morning. Not only did I see a man inaugurated yesterday who repudiated, literally and beautifully, everything George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have done in the past 8 years... but once again, my instinct to stay silent on a controversial decision of his turned out to be the correct one.

When Rick Warren's name popped up as the one who would deliver the invocation at the Inauguration, I was just as infuriated and shocked and gut-punched as anyone else... But I had decided, months before, that my track record of second-guessing Barack Obama's decisions was pitiful -- and that henceforth I would remain silent and let events unfold until something truly hideous made me break my moratorium on public keening and wailing.

(Which is not to say I will not make public my opinion on policy and action. Like prosecuting torture. Stay tuned.)

Yesterday, events unfolded in such a way that vindicated Obama's decision.

Obama won points for inclusiveness; Warren was exposed to the world over the past several weeks as a bigot -- and, yesterday, as a boring, banal, lame-ass schmuck who cannot even rise to an occasion as momentous as the Inauguration of the first black President of the United States of America. Seriously -- "Our Father, who art in Heaven?" THAT'S the best Scripture you could find? You bland, vanilla, waddling fool.

And, in case you haven't figured it out yet, it was not a greater honour to bestow on Rick Warren the slot of invocation and a lesser one on Joseph Lowery the benediction. To the contrary - as we all might have known, and as especially those of us who have spent years in the world of entertainment should have known, it is always better to have the last word.

And what a last word Joseph Lowery had. His entire benediction was miles -- light years -- above the milquetoast, forgettable crap that Warren delivered (in fact, the only thing that I DO remember about Warren's invocation is the fact that he just HAD to ply the entire watching world with HIS Jesus Christ, never mind that most of the rest of the watching world doesn't worship HIS Jesus Christ) .

And by the way, within Lowery's benediction, some of us couldn't help noticing the Reverend repudiating, literally and beautifully, quite a bit of Rick Warren's version of Christianity when it comes to the gay community:

"And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance."

And yeah -- about that last word...

...help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right.

Let all who do justice and love mercy say Amen and say Amen and Amen."

Rick WHO?



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Mexicos Oil Production Declines the Fastet Since
WW2

Bloomberg:

Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico’s state oil company, will probably report its fastest drop in production since 1942, eroding revenue as plunging crude prices limit the amount of cash available to drill for new reserves.

Pemex last year likely extracted 2.8 million…

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January 20, 2009

January 20, 2009 will go down as one of the most momentous days in American history. It's not just[...]

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Koreans to sell US Treasuries

Bloomberg:

A rally that sent U.S. Treasuries to their best year since 1995 is coming to an end, South Korea’s National Pension Service, the country’s biggest investor, said.

U.S. government efforts to combat the recession will prompt the Federal Reserve to…

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The Best of the Inaugural: Obama, Seeger and
Springsteen

What was the best event at the Inaugural celebration? Of course just watching Obama take the oath[...]

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http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2009/01/the_best_of_the_inaugural_obam.html

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Cheney's Inaugural Appearance In A Wheelchair Had
No Irony Deficiency -- Verse-Case Scenario by Tony Peyser

The man who secretly called all the shots
Who terrified everyone & his brother
Bookmark/Search this post with: buzzflash | delicious | digg | yahoo | technorati Technorati Tags: Tony Peyser

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Food Price Hike Suggests Inflation Is Higher Than
Our Government Reports

Prices for food in U.S. grocery stores jumped 6.6% last year - the biggest spike since 1980 - underscoring yet again that inflation is a much bigger problem than government officials, or most economists, say it will be.

Of all food…

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Fox News anchors harp on oath story that experts
reportedly say is insignificant

During Fox News' coverage of President Barack Obama's January 20 inauguration, Chris Wallace, host of Fox News Sunday, asserted, "I'm not sure that Barack Obama really is the president of the United States, because the oath of office is set in the Constitution." Wallace later claimed, "I wasn't at all convinced that, even after he tried to amend it, that [Chief Justice] John Roberts ever got it out straight and that Barack Obama ever said the prescribed words. I suspect that everybody is going[...]

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http://mediamatters.org/items/200901210002

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Sen. Reid defends lobbyists: ‘They work for
a living.’

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who helped pass legislation in 2007 to limit the influence of lobbyists, invited top lobbyists to join him for an inaugural brunch Monday where he pledged that he will still do plenty of business with them:

“And there’s nothing wrong with that,” said Reid. “And Obama will be meeting with them too.” When asked to clarify his remarks, given Obama’s promises to change that part of Capitol culture, Reid responded that lobbyists are part and parcel of the job.

“People should understand that lobbyists, per se, are someone’s father, mother, son, daughter,” said Reid. “They work for a living.” The Democratic leader’s sons and a son-in-law have worked as lobbyists.

Lobbying shops that have been previously dedicated to serving conservative interests are now turning bipartisan. “Barack is a bipartisan, nonpartisan type of guy,” said Morris Reid, BGR’s new managing director and a longtime Democratic operative. “It’s important for the lobbying business to take its cue from the White House and become a bipartisan shop.” But still, ?there?s a collective griping,? said a Democratic lobbyist, questioning the continued dominance of Republicans on K Street.

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Barack Obama earns Wings of Justice for taking us
on a journey away from the toxicity of the previous administration

WINGS OF JUSTICE

Barack Obama

Like any career, success in politics is due to skill, luck, and tenacity. Barack Obama is blessed with all three.

He is one of the most unlikely presidents in our history. He was virtually unknown outside of his home state -- our home state at BuzzFlash -- until he delivered a mesmerizing, energizing, hopeful speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. A U.S. Senator for just over two years, he announced his candidacy to lead America as its CEO in February 2007.

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