This isn’t about who’s “worthy,” for Hade’s sake (though people like me have been treated as unworthy by both parties for years now), and frankly, it’s not about the wounded and bruised fee-fee’s of bigots. We’ve been giving these folks plenty of credibility, space to speak their minds, and sympathy since at least Bill Clinton was in office, and it’s not as if they have come to the conclusion that us bitches or queers are human beings. These folks have had the mike (as Piny put it) for years now, and it’s only served to legitimize their bigotry and embolden them.

You want to engage folks like Warren at roundtables and public debates and the like? Hey, have at it. But engagement does NOT mean we give them (yet *again*) a platform to further bolster their credibility. Even if Obama yells from the rooftops that he does not agree with Warren, he will legitimize Warren’s vile and hateful views by giving him this platform and this place of honor.

We can certainly agree to disagree, but I’ve got the election results on my side. I don’t know if you remember, but we have had both Huckabee and Palin candidacies. Huckabee lost the primary to the man who pretended he was a moderate conservative. That man proceeded to attach himself to Palin, and she helped cost him the election. The man who defeated him by running as a moderate liberal just shocked the nation by asking a reactionary to bless his office. Warren does not represent the ascendant political power players in this country. Playing to that “base” was a stupid, self-defeating strategy for the party of racist misogynist troglodytes; their nemeses will get absolutely nowhere in service to it.

“‘That was solely the choice of the president-elect,’ said Gil Duran, a spokesman for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who chairs the congressional committee. Obama’s staff sent explicit orders for whom to include in the inaugural ceremony up to Capitol Hill, since Congress is, technically, in charge of that part of the day. ‘Sen. Feinstein obviously disagrees with the views of Rev. Warren on issues that affect the gay and lesbian community,’ Duran said. ‘However, Sen. Feinstein respects the president-elect’s prerogative to select a cleric to deliver the invocation.’ (That one doesn’t need any translation — Feinstein’s office was politely, respectfully, throwing Obama under the bus.)

Warren’s spokesman, A. Larry Ross, told Salon Obama had contacted Warren to invite him, not the other way around.”

If anyone is treating others like subhumans, it’s them.

I believe I specifically stated that. They aren’t good people. Not even a little. Of course they aren’t sweating it. They don’t care about other people. Should we join their philosophy that only some people are “worthy”?

Believe me…I know the rights they spend their time trying to strip away. I grew up with them telling me I couldn’t wear pants! Pants are sinful. Its ridiculous the level they’ll sink to in order to control everyone in their congregations.

If we underestimate them too much, we’ll get Palin/Huckabee in 2012.

Vomit. My mom actually has a Palin 2012 bumper sticker… The Stupid….It Burns!

Yeah, I know. As I said, I experience a disconnect with many, many people when it comes to assessing the actual influence of the Religious Right. If we underestimate them too much, we’ll get Palin/Huckabee in 2012.

“I think we’ll just have to agree to disagree on the size and power of the evangelical movement. I think we may have different experiences that lead us to be our opinion that Warren is centrist or radical in that movement. In my experience…he’s center left.”

Yes.

Yeah, I don’t agree that the right strategy is to just be nicer to the Religious Right. That will facilitate their ascendancy, not weaken their base.

I only mean nicer in the sense of not treating them as non-humans. Besides if the Religious Right isn’t running this country I’ll eat my hat. But I don’t mean nicer in the baking them cookies sense. Personally, I like annoying them with disgusting stories from the bible…like how Lot got his get out of destruction free card (hint, rape) or how God is like Dick Cheney: Job and waterboarding.

I’m not saying we don’t point out that they’re wrong. Absolutely we point out their wrong. But this idea of non-engagement…it doesn’t work. The evangelical movement isn’t 3 guys in a basement.