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12/22/2008
Biden on board: Veep hands Rick his latest undeserved pass
This from tonight's "Larry King Live":
KING: There has been much controversy over the selection of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the inaugural.
He's been a guest on this show an awful lot, and he supported California's Proposition 8, a measure that outlaws gay marriage. He is also very opposed to abortion. I know the gay community in America appears to be up in arms. What do you make of this?
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BIDEN: Well, I'd make of it [as] Barack Obama keeping his commitment.
Barack Obama said you've got to reach out. You've got to reach a hand of friendship across the aisle and across philosophies in this country.
We can't continue to be a red and blue country. We can't be divided like we have been. And he's made good on his promise.
And I would say to the gay and lesbian community, they have nothing to worry about. Barack Obama, every aspect of his life, every aspect of his public life, and every commitment he's made relating to equality for all people, will be things that he will stick with and that they should view this in the spirit in which he offered the opportunity to -- to Mr. Warren.
***
Alright, so this is pretty much what we would expect him to say. What's Biden gonna do, go on CNN and call the move ill-advised? No. We're not even sure Tammy Baldwin would do that if she was in Obama's number two position. So no, we're not at all shocked by Biden's decision to go along with the Warren fiasco.
But that being said, we have GOT to keep addressing the idea that this invite is simply an instance of Obama "reaching out." We have to challenge the thought that this is a "hand of friendship" and that our differences with Rick Warren are simply a matter of varying philosophies. Just to again rehash the issues at hand:
-There's the polygamy, pedophilia, incest comparison .
-Then there is the little fact that Rick Warren's church has an explicit policy that bans gays from membership.
-Also, let's not forget the revelation that his church supports an "ex-gay" program.
-Oh, and in the Ann Curry interview, there was that little matter of Rick Warren saying that we should not be active homos, even if our sexual orientations are proven to be biological. Plus, there were the continued comparisons between gay love and a slutty straight dude who wishes to sleep with any vagina-possesor that enters into his midst.
-There are also the lies Warren has told about marriage equality targeting pastors' free speech. Those who understand civil liberties and TRUE religious freedom should have a major problem with that easily debunkable fallacy.
-And THEN there's gay marriage. And it's not that he's just against giving gays that word (something even Obama is, at this point, publicly against). It's that he AGGRESSIVELY campaigned for Prop 8, injecting a major religious force into this civil matter. This is both unreasoned and un-American.
So this isn't just "red" vs. "blue": This is a man who doesn't think gay people should "act" on their "desires" vs. a community of human beings who are f***ing sick of having their lives and loves debated! It's a community who has again been bruised, black and blue vs. the sort of dangerous rhetoric that leads others to draw queer blood!
We do still believe, as Biden says, that Barack Obama is mostly committed to our equality (with obvious exceptions), and that we will get past this. But quite honestly, the hurt has not stopped. The affront has not lessened. We are still not sure how we will react to this inauguration. And if the Obama transition team really wants to get past this, they are going to have to start taking a little more responsibility for this decision. The Warren fiasco is one thing. The refusal to see anti-LGBT bias in the same serious light as other biases speaks to a larger, more pervasive, more frightening societal problem!
VP-Elect Joe Biden Tonight! [Larry King Live]
Your thoughts
"We're not even sure Tammy Baldwin would do that if she was in Obama's number two position."
Yeah... and it didn't even take being number 2. Simply inclusion on the Honorary Inaugural Co-chair list was enough to buy off Baldwin.
Posted by: Timothy | Dec 22, 2008 6:01:30 PM
Jeremy,
Don't forget all of Warren's anti-gay activism in Africa and the Church of England.
Bishop Akinoya in Nigeria may be the most homophobic Anglican on the planet. Warren wrote a tribute.
Posted by: Timothy | Dec 22, 2008 6:01:55 PM
Nothing seems to be easier than seeing someone whom you can help but not helping.
I suggest we start giving it a try. Give love to the ones that need it.
God will appreciate it.
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What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books.
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Posted by: ShaMAN | Apr 20, 2009 3:20:21 PM
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