Buncha evil lib’rulz all bent out of shape over Obama’s pick of Rick Warren - author of “The Purpose-Driven Life” - to give the invocation at Obama’s inauguration. Saying, correctly, that Warren has been a major foe of gay marriage, his Saddleback Church in California was a major backer of Proposition 8, he’s likened gay marriage to incest and abortion to the Holocaust. Yet he’s considered a “moderate” because he thinks evangelicals should also be worried about AIDS, poverty and climate change.

Pastor Dan has a pretty comprehensive take on it (in which he calls Warren a “slick weasel” - I suppose a fellow man of the cloth can get away with that?). And I dunno. Maybe PD’s right in saying Obama knows the guy, likes him, and that was a rationale or the rationale for picking him. But this smacks of pure politics. The idea being, if Obama can convince conservative evangelicals that he’s not too hostile to their beliefs - you know, maybe he even secretly agrees with them! - then what reason do conservative evangelicals have to vote for the GOP? If you can peel off at least some of them, it might further weaken the Republican Party.

Still, it seems like Obama is trying to have it both ways - calling himself a “fierce advocate” for equality for gays, then tapping someone to take center stage who most certainly isn’t. It’s reminiscent of JFK’s stance on Civil Rights, isn’t it? Cautious and attuned to “political realities” at the expense of the profesed principle. It may be a smart political move. That doesn’t make it the right one.