A bridge too far

Much has been written about the insult that is Rick Warren giving the invocation at the inauguration of a Democratic president and de facto leader of a political party that is supposed to honour the civil and human rights of all, not just the civil and human rights of straight, preferably white, men.

No one, however, has in my opinion put it as well as Katha Pollitt in her piece in the LA Times today:

To understand how angry and disappointed many Democrats are that Barack Obama has invited evangelical preacher Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inaugural, imagine if a President-elect John McCain had offered this unique honor to the Rev. Al Sharpton — or the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

I know, it’s hard to picture: John McCain would never do that in a million years. Republicans respect their base even when, as in McCain’s case, it doesn’t really return the favor.

Only Democrats, it seems, reward their most loyal supporters — feminists, gays, liberals, opponents of the war, members of the reality-based community — by elbowing them aside to embrace their opponents instead.

She goes on to detail all the ways Warren’s particular brand of Christianity stands in stark contrast to what Democrats are supposed to stand for and what many Americans happen to actually believe themselves.

She finishes with this:

In a news conference Thursday, Obama defended the choice of Warren: “It is important for the country to come together even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues.” That’s all very well, but excuse me if I don’t feel all warm and fuzzy.

Obama won thanks to the strenuous efforts of people who’ve spent the last eight years appalled by the Bush administration’s wars and violations of human rights, its attacks on gays and women, its denigration of science, its general pandering to bigotry and ignorance in the name of God.

I’m all for building bridges, but honoring Warren, who insults Obama’s base as perverts and murderers, is definitely a bridge too far.

Truer words have never been written down. Warren is an insult to the base of the Democratic party and to Americans in general.  Obama should be ashamed of himself.