Rick Warren

I've been debating returning to blogging for the past weeks--getting started again seems a huge effort and there's too much to report to put it all in but there are also a lot of interesting events in the future and it's worth writing about them.

But I'm pushed today by what I heard at Obama's press conference yesterday and what most of the press seem to have heard. I listened to the conference because it was about some important regulatory appointments, including the SEC but what struck me was the one off-topic question from a reporter. That was about the choice of the conservative pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at the inaugural--why was it and what did Obama have to say to his disappointed and in some cases angry supporters.

I thought Obama's answer was thoughtful and important--he talked about the areas where he and Warren disagreed (gay rights and abortion), described his appearance at Warren's church two years ago despite those disagreements, pointed out that Warren's wasn't the only point of view represented at the inauguration and then went on to say that this kind of inclusiveness was what he had been talking about throughout the campaign:

And that's how it should be, because that's what America's about. That's part of the magic of this country, is that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated. And so, you know, that's the spirit in which, you know, we have put together what I think will be a terrific inauguration. And that's, hopefully, going to be a spirit that carries over into my administration.

I found that very telling. But I've been stunned to find that the major media folks that I watch and read seem to have completely missed the point. CNN ignored the discussion above and focused on the controversy; the papers this morning, except for the Wall Street Journal, did pretty much the same. I had to Google to get the quote (credit to the Chicago Sun-Times) that I remembered.

He really is telling us something different about how he plans to run the country. I guess it's going to take everyone, especially the press, a while to get it.