Rick Warren was chosen to deliver the invocation at the inauguration. Ok, ok, I don’t care so much about this person being a delusional woo; one person’s superstitious BS is pretty much the same as another. But the message I am hearing is that this sort of attitude is acceptable to Barack Obama:
As we’ve pointed out several times before, in 2004 Warren declared that marriage, reproductive choice, and stem cell research were “non-negotiable” issues for Christian voters and has admitted that the main difference between himself and James Dobson is a matter of tone. He criticized Obama’s answers at the Faith Forum he hosted before the election and vowed to continue to pressure him to change his views on the issue of reproductive choice. He came out strongly in support of Prop 8, saying “there is no need to change the universal, historical defintion of marriage to appease 2 percent of our population … This is not a political issue — it is a moral issue that God has spoken clearly about.” He’s declared that those who do not believe in God should not be allowed to hold public office.
Frankly, I see this as the enabling of bigotry. I can not support the President Elect on this one. Warren is a disgrace, not an example.
Yes, he has done some good things (AIDS, poverty relief) but then again, so has Hamas.
On the other hand, where I’ve been critical of some of Obama’s choices. But I’ve been ecstatic over others; from Science Debate 2008:
We want to congratulate President-elect Obama on continuing to assemble an outstanding science team.
A few days ago we told you about the appointment of Steven Chu as Energy Secretary.
Today we have two more outstanding appointments to announce:
1. We have learned that John Holdren will be President Obama’s Science Advisor. John has an excellent knowledge of science policy, and a deep understanding of how the public needs the government to engage on science policy issues. He is a recent past president of the AAAS and an early and ardent Science Debate 2008 supporter. You can watch a 1-minute video he did for us last February, promoting a primary science debate at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
2. Jane Lubchenco, we’re told, will head up President Obama’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admninistration (NOAA). She is an outstanding choice with a deep background in marine biology. Jane is also a past AAAS president, and also an early supporter of Science Debate 2008. When we issued candidate invitations to an Oregon debate, Jane was a close advisor. Here’s a 1-minute video of her.
Why are these choices so important? Here is a 1-minute video President-elect Obama’s transition chief, John Podesta, did for us earlier this year that answers that. Clearly, this is a man who gets it, working, it seems, for a president who gets it.
There is widespread hope that these excellent picks (in science) will continue.
In all, I haven’t educated myself on all of his picks, though I’ll do so over the weekend. Here are my initial impressions:
* Department of Agriculture
Tom Vilsack: I am leaning favorable here.
* Department of Commerce
Bill Richardson: I am very happy; smart and multi-talented
* Department of Defense
Robert Gates: Yes, a Bush holdover but he appears to be smart and competent.
* Department of Education
Arne Duncan: Chicago area superintendent; I don’t know much.
* Department of Energy
Steven Chu: Nobel Laureate in Physics; head of the Livermore lab, passionate and out of this world brilliant.
* Department of Health and Human Services
Tom Daschle: lean favorable but I’ll have to learn more; I didn’t follow his Senate career all that closely though he was minority leader at one time.
* Department of Homeland Security
* Department of Housing and Urban Development
Shaun Donovan: really don’t know other than he is from New York.
* Department of the Interior
Ken Salazar: mixed; he has political skill and is the Colorado Senator; from reading the stuff he wrote I don’t get the impression that he is all that intellectual. Here is an example.
* Department of Justice
Eric Holder: I don’t know all that much about him.
* Department of Labor
Hilda Solis: so far she appears to be a good pick; workers unions like her and she makes the fat cat crowd uneasy.
* Department of State
Hillary Clinton: Love the pick. She is sharp, knowledgeable and well respected around the world.
* Department of Transportation
Ray LaHood: Barf; this guy is a mediocrity where I think excellence is needed. But one commenter at Prairie State Blue said:
Politically speaking. LaHood will help deflect some of the inevitable Republican criticism of these massive spending projects. And it’s not the job of a Cabinet Secretary to come up with fresh, imaginative solutions to complex problems. In fact, someone too in love with his own ideas could easily become a liability.
That is probably the best defense of this pick that I’ve seen.
* Department of the Treasury
Tim Geithner: seems sharp, creative and full of energy. I like the pick, but we’ll wait and see.
* Department of Veterans Affairs
Eric Shinseki: love this pick; he is best noted for falling from the grace of the Bush administration by telling the truth about how hard the Iraq occupation would be.
For more about Obama's science team:
I am happy with this.
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