For a good ten minutes, I puzzled over why President-elect Barack Obama would select an anti-gay conservative preacher, Rick Warrant, to give his invocation speech. Several reasons occurred to me. Perhaps Obama wanted to distance himself from Bill Clinton, who began his presidency on a pro-gay note by loosening restrictions on gays in the military. That didn’t turn out well for Clinton, so Obama may be taking a different tack. Maybe Obama enjoyed the controversy over his last pastor, Jeremiah Wright, so much that he wanted another brouhaha. After all, that contretemps led Obama to give a moving and well-regarded speech on race in America; maybe we’ll get a gay rights speech this time. Or possibly the soon-to-be President wanted to prove that he could pander to conservatives as well as John McCain. Watch out: If Biden gets tired of the vice-presidency, maybe Sarah Palin will get her chance after all.
Why Obama Picked Rick
Why Obama Picked Rick
Why Obama Picked Rick
For a good ten minutes, I puzzled over why President-elect Barack Obama would select an anti-gay conservative preacher, Rick Warrant, to give his invocation speech. Several reasons occurred to me. Perhaps Obama wanted to distance himself from Bill Clinton, who began his presidency on a pro-gay note by loosening restrictions on gays in the military. That didn’t turn out well for Clinton, so Obama may be taking a different tack. Maybe Obama enjoyed the controversy over his last pastor, Jeremiah Wright, so much that he wanted another brouhaha. After all, that contretemps led Obama to give a moving and well-regarded speech on race in America; maybe we’ll get a gay rights speech this time. Or possibly the soon-to-be President wanted to prove that he could pander to conservatives as well as John McCain. Watch out: If Biden gets tired of the vice-presidency, maybe Sarah Palin will get her chance after all.