The current controversy over Obama's choice of Rick Warren brings up an interesting question of responsibility.
As you know, Obama took a stand on California's Proposition 8 that was so careful one can hardly call it "taking a stand." Forced to address a topic that he probably would have preferred to ignore, he reiterated his opposition to gay marriage. Yet -- paradoxically -- he refused to support a proposition that outlawed gay marriage, claiming that there was no need to change the state constitution.
On the other hand...
...when Barack Obama’s voice was used in robocalls to tell his supporters in California to vote for Proposition 8, where was Mr. Obama’s protest? Why did he not vigorously state that using his voice in that context was wrong?
Which brings us to a simple but hard question: At what point does a refusal to state "vigorously" your opposition to something being done by your supporters translate into an
endorsement of the questionable activities of your supporters?
That question was at the heart of my falling away from Obama, and from the party, during the 2008 primaries.
Daily Kos and the other progressive blogs, acting as instruments of the Obama campaign, assailed Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin with the filthiest, most unforgivable propaganda barrage in the history of American political odium. Barack Obama did not
personally spread filth except on a few occasions, as when he extended his middle finger to the former First Lady. But he said not one word against the filth-peddlers who ran his cult of personality.
Can he really escape responsibility?