I am not gay, but was enraged by Barack Obama's selection of Rick Warren for a place in his inauguration ceremony. To give such an anti-woman, homophobic bigot a place of honor before the nation is a slap in the face to everyone who has ever worked for human rights.
Why did our sensitive, constitutional scholar Obama do such a thing? Could the reason stem from some psychological weakness in our brilliant, usually politically astute, president elect?
Thinking about it, I wonder if Obama's attachment to Rick Warren might not be a result of Obama's abandonment by his father. That abandonment has been a central theme in his writing, in his life. Obama's very strong demand that men not abandon their children stands out as almost a personally anguished cry.
Previously, Obama had an almost father and son relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, but was forced to break off from him. Then he appears on stage with Reverend Rick Warren.
Is Obama still seeking a father figure; is that what Warren represents to him? Warren certainly holds himself out as the all knowing, authoritarian putative Christian father figure. Is that why Obama is blind to his hateful bigotry?
I'm not usually interested in psychological explanations for political acts, but Obama's gross insensitivity to the impact of his selection of Warren on gays and women rises to the level of emotional pathology.