Yeah, but the difference is -- I don't get a parade!

Good point. I think I'll refuse to do any actual work today until someone throws me a parade.

Just because we all have our cranky buttons: The Other Guy, not just some guy, founded the SCLC with Dr. King, led the Selma march, etc etc etc many decades of etc.

That's what I was thinking. He's not just an old-school orator; he's old school period in the civil rights movement. We're fortunate to hear him a lot in Atlanta, and he's used that brown-yellow-red thing before. He's also the one who said this at Coretta Scott King's funeral:

We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there. But Coretta knew and we know that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war billions more but no more for the poor!

JZ, I'm glad to see I was in good company standing at my desk for the National Anthem.

I didn't mind Warren's invocation at all, mainly because I didn't feel like he was speaking to me or for me. He was addressing Obama, and Obama is a Christian and believes in Jesus, and God, and the New Testament, and the power of prayer. While Warren should have taken care not to say anything offensive (which i don't think he did), I don't see why he should take care not to say anything he wouldn't have said in his own church, or in a private prayer session with Obama.

Had Obama been Muslim, or Jewish, or Hindu, or Atheist, I expect he'd have had an Imam, or Rabbi, or Brahmin, or a well-respected Humanist give the invocation, which could include the relative religious references (or non-references) without offense as well.

Yeah, but the difference is -- I don't get a parade!

Good point. I think I'll refuse to do any actual work today until someone throws me a parade.

That's the spirit!

Warren's invocation felt just kind of oddly tone-deaf. He's got every working day of his life to speak to people who share his specific faith, culture, history. It didn't kill Graham to soften and open his choice of words on that one day on which he had just a few minutes to speak to everyone; it wouldn't have killed Warren.

He was asked to give the invocation. He couldn't be blamed for thinking they wanted an invocation he would give.

Or rather, instead of being inclusive by trying to bring in everyone's traditions, it felt inclusive by subsuming everyone's culture into Christianity.

Yes! This is what I was trying to say but couldn't figure out how to phrase.

a parade might inspire me to go to work.

I love Obama's sense of humor. It's kinda' Buffista-ish, huh?

Obama takes first actions in office

Shortly after delivering his inaugural address, President Obama took his first official actions in office. First, he signed a document declaring today a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation. Then he signed off on his cabinet nominations.

After signing off on the first document, Obama carefully put down the pen, folded his hands and dead-panned: "I was told not to swipe the pen, which I often do." He stood up to leave, but was reminded he had more documents to sign. The new president said: "That's true, I guess I have to have a Cabinet, don't I? Yeah, I forgot about that."

As Obama wrote his name on the documents, CNN's Wolf Blitzer provided this commentary: "His penmanship, I must say, is excellent."

I have done some work today, but I am not gonna kill myself to get stuff done. I mean, my boss is not here. I would liek to get lunch at some point, but also do not want to miss stuff. Maybe I can ask someone to get me stuff.

I will emphasize what Matt said about the Warren/Graham comparison. Graham may or may not have been more conservative than Warren. (Depends on the issue. I don't remember Graham saying women should stay with men who beat them, but maybe I missed it, not being exactly a Graham fan.) But Warren used language that specifically stirred up hate (not today, in general), something Graham mostly avoided. I'm much more concerned with Warren going out of his way to stir up anti-gay emotions, especially when there is already a real problem with gays being beaten, raped and murdered at a higher rate than the general population.