Rick Warren and Barack Obama - Los Angles Times Parses Words or “How the Press Turns”

With all the brouhaha surrounding Obama’s choice of Rick Warren to give the inaugural invocation, especially from gay activists and those who opposed California’s Proposition 8, it is curious that those who decry intolerance are themselves intolerant – especially when it comes to opposing viewpoints. What is interesting is that Obama’s choice of spiritual leaders is being dissected by the press, more than his association with Reverend Wright. The problem that Gay Activists and the left have with Warren is that he opposes Gay Marriage, and defines Marriage as that between one man and one women (additionally he is an evangelical Christian Leader – strike one, so to speak), a sentiment that is shared by the President-Elect.. However, theses detractors assumed that since the President Elect was in favor of gay rights, his opinion would transfer to the issue of marriage – there is a difference between civil unions (which offer all the benefits of marriage, and is an option that most American’s would approve) and traditional Marriage (which has religious connotations).

The basis of an article posted yesterday was an article from the LA Times, which closed as follows;

Earlier this month, in an interview with reporters from the Los Angeles Times, Obama answered a question about his current spiritual advisor by telling reporters he had found inspiration in a "prayer circle" of supportive clergy leaders who include Bishop T.D. Jakes of the Dallas-based mega-church the Potter's House, the Rev. Joseph Lowery of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Warren.

From that article, one would surmise that Mr. Obama specifically chose three clergy to be his spiritual advisors. This is not the case. From a transcript of the L.A. Times original interview one understands that Obama is not specifically choosing these three men as his advisors, rather, they are part of a larger group of spiritual leaders who have “prayed for him”.

Q: Do you have a spiritual advisor now? Many presidents have had them.

O: You know, one of the wonderful things that we did during the campaign was to set up sort of a prayer circle across the country, of pastors who, from all denominations, all religious faiths, who would every morning, a few of them would get on the phone and pray for me.

Sometimes I'd get on the phone. And, you know, they're made up of people as diverse as, you know, T.D. Jakes, Rick Warren, Joseph Lowery, just a wonderful collection of people and, by the way, across the political spectrum. I'm not even sure that all of them voted for me.

But they were willing to pray for me. And that's something that was wonderful.

The Times, whether intentionally or not, changed the entire meaning of the first interview, giving an impression (isn’t that always the way), of something more “dubious” in Obama’s choice of “Warren” (additionally they chose not to use the Pastors first name, dismissively.)

Now, as the “Warren Controversy” is being played out on every Network and Newspaper, Blog or otherwise across the country, it is important to put into context the following: Obama had stated from the beginning that he was a Christian, his choice of Reverend Wright aside, (as well as his views on abortion), never wavered. When the “Wright” controversy exploded, Obama, as a candidate was in no haste to name a new spiritual advisor, being human, it is a personal choice that takes time. Additionally, should he have chosen Jakes, Lowery or Warren, for that matter, it would be his personal choice, one that is a guarantee of the Constitution.

Therefore, those that feel they have “bought into” the Presidency by way of support (whether financial or by the pen), feel they are owed some sort of allegiance from the President, and somehow have the ability to affect the choices he will make. They are not disillusioned, they are delusional. As the President Elect has made additional choices that have angered left leaning activists (including your local daily paper’s editorial board), prior to his inaugural, it is apparent that should he continue on this centrist path, the romance that once was, will become an assault. The only possible good that could come from this is job security for those employed by a media who has, up until this point, been losing readers and viewership faster than residents are leaving California and Massachusetts. (Those states can’t blame the Internet) Perhaps the 50 percent of the country who are consistently incensed by the editorial content within the main news of the aforementioned, and have cancelled subscriptions or tuned out, will have a change of heart. It is certainly not fair to Barack Obama, nor was it fair to “name the Republican”, that said – Prediction: Shocking Headline 2010: “New York Times Now Accepting Applications!”

Obama’s Choice of Pastors and the Angry Left.

Pastor Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church will deliver the invocation at President-Elect Obama’s inaugural, which is not sitting well with gay and lesbian activists and those who opposed California’s Proposition 8 (Defining Marriage as being between a man and a woman) (The Teachers Union comes to mind). In an article today, The Los Angeles Times , noted that the anger arises because Warren endorsed Proposition 8.

“Goff Kors, executive director of Equality California, a gay rights organization that worked against Proposition 8, called the decision to include Warren in the inauguration ceremony a "slap in the face to millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who donated for, worked for and helped elect Barack Obama president."

Was Mr. Kors not paying attention when Barack Obama noted that he was a Christian? (Understandably, there are different brands of Christianity, but those that have developed a quasi-acceptance of non-Biblical practices, from a Catholic-Evangelical point of view, cannot seriously be considered “Christian”) It is traditional that an invocation occurs at the Presidents inaugurations; - also the stance of the majority of Christian Church Leaders against Gay Marriage and Abortion (we’ll address that shortly) is also known. Therefore, the President-Elect would be hard-pressed to find one that did support Marriage defined as anything but between a man and a woman. (He did) Additionally, lending support to a campaign does not automatically mean that every single left (or right for that matter) group will be allowed to foist their agenda on that elected official.

All that aside, what is most interesting in this article is the closing, where the Times talks about an earlier interview with Mr. Obama, where he was asked about his current spiritual leaders:

“Obama answered a question about his current spiritual advisor by telling reporters he had found inspiration in a "prayer circle" of supportive clergy leaders who include Bishop T.D. Jakes of the Dallas-based mega-church the Potter's House, the Rev. Joseph Lowery of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Warren.”

T.D. Jakes,, who supports gay marriage, Rev. Joseph Lowery (who co-founded the Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King and will also pray at the Inauguration and supports Gay rights and finally Rick Warren who is one of the most celebrated American Christian Leaders and takes a hard line on both Marriage and Abortion. (T.D. Jakes, abortion support undefined, Lowery, pro-abortion. Therefore, as long as Obama associates with Pastors that approve of both Gay Marriage and abortion, the left is happy. Obama’s inclusion of Warren has sent them into a spasm (never mind his Cabinet choices!) and Obama’s choice of Warren to lead the invocation may speak volumes. Obama could easily have given that post to either of the aforementioned “spiritual advisors”, yet, he chose Warren. It will be interesting, indeed, to watch the development of the relationship between Mr. Obama and these three men over the course of the next four years.

Obama and Arne Duncan – It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood ?

Barack Obama chose friend and neighbor, Arne Duncan to fill the post of Education Secretary yesterday - to mixed reviews. Duncan, a reformer, is receiving raves from the right and cautious “acceptance from the teachers unions”.. His philosophy on managing the Chicago schools is similar to that of Mike Huckabee. Huckabee, in his 10plus years of Governor of the state of Arkansas, introduced sweeping reforms in education:

Arkansas' ACTAAP system is widely hailed as one of the nation's best school accountability programs. Huckabee has pushed through reforms in Arkansas that have significantly expanded the availability of college scholarships, increased the number of charter schools and established new approaches to workforce education.

It goes without saying that Huckabee had his share of problems with the Teachers Union, and so has Duncan:
from “Substance News”, an organization defining itself as “Defending The Public Schools for over 30 years”:

Duncan attacks union schools, Stewart signs “solidarity” letter to Duncan

The most dramatic weakening of the union became evident in December 2007. Immediately prior to the December Chicago Board of Education meeting, Chief Executive Officer Arne Duncan announced that he was going to close or reorganize somewhere between 147 and 175 schools because of what he called “underutilization.”

Despite widespread demands to know both the criteria for “underutilization” and the names of the schools, Duncan ignored the facts, kept the lists secret, and allowed the system’s 48,000 workers to go into the Christmas holidays with huge questions about their futures. For four weeks, speculation in the schools and on blogs that discussed CPS business ran wild. More than 100 separate bloggers posted to the largest CPS blog (District299.com) between the day of the Board of Education meeting and the beginning of the new year. But while teachers and other staff working in the schools were left to wonder whether their holiday presents would include the loss of their jobs, as had taken place when the school financial crisis had been declared in November and December 1979, the leaders of the CTU were mired in what even their own supporters have called “massive office politics.” During the Christmas holidays of 2007, union members across Chicago were worrying about whether their schools would be closed. They didn’t hear from their union, but Arne Duncan did. Marilyn Stewart was very busy. She was securing her position as “Chief Executive Officer” of the Chicago Teachers Union, beginning a purge of her own ranks, writing an unprecedented letter to the chief of the school system —completely ignoring the looming attack on the union’s 31,000 members embodied in the “underutilization” claims of Arne Duncan. In December 2007, Stewart issued two remarkable documents (both reprinted in this issue of Substance). Neither of them dealt with the crisis approaching for the union’s members. One was dramatically friendly to CEO Arne Duncan, the boss who was planning to destroy the jobs and careers of hundreds of CTU members this school year and more in years to come, while even more dramatically hostile to one of the elected leaders of her own union. The other revealed more between the lines than it admitted in print. One came out the week before Christmas, the second the day after Christmas. Neither has been publicly acknowledged by the union itself, but the authenticity of both have been verified to Substance by union officials and to blog leader. On December 17, Stewart circulated a memo to union staff entitled “Changes in Day-to-Day Operations of the Administrative Office.” A complete copy of that memo is reprinted on Page Eight of this Substance.

That said, Duncan’s coming out of Chicago as a reformer, which, given the history of Chicago in general, that’s one serious accomplishment.

It is no wonder then, that some on the right are applauding Obama’s latest cabinet choice. For many, the role of educator has been defined for the past forty years as Union member first, educator second. A case in point from the recent article at Aaron Proctor’s blog:” 25 Wrongs Don’t Make A Right”. Proctor minces no words when describing the state of the Philadelphia School System and 25 teachers who recently participated in the “Call Out Gay” day to protest California’s proposition 8, (which was heavily supported by the teachers unions to the tune of $1,000,000) - thereby placing the union’s agenda above the needs of their students. Again, that is just one story, in one school district, in one state – however, similar stories, different issues and different agenda’s, can be found across the country – It is not the public school system per se, that needs reform, it is that the teacher’s union needs to take a more active role in education, rather than political agenda’s.

This is the second cabinet choice that has made this moderate conservative feel more secure with the incoming administration. (Clinton as Secretary of State was the first – she had a stellar national defense record in her tenure in the Senate). So much for neighborhood associations - for all intents and purpose, Duncan appears to be Ayers polar opposite. Great call on the part of Mr. Obama – one has to give credit where credit is due.