Everyone is having a damn hissy fit and ASSUMING that the President-Elect is in charge of the actual Inaugural Events.
In fact, the Inauguration is strict protocol, down to even SELECTING WHO GIVES THE INVOCATION. Sure, the President-Elect is asked for whom he wants, but in the end it is the Joint Congressional Committee who has the final say.
Let us start with the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.
••
This is what the Joint Congressional Committee does:
The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) plans and executes all Inaugural activities at the United States Capitol, including the Inaugural swearing-in ceremony of the President and Vice President of the United States and the traditional Inaugural luncheon that follows.
Let us break this down.
The committee comes to Obama and asks what he wants by giving him a list. The committee negotiates with potential participants for the President-Elect, in the end it is the committee that selects the participants of the program.
People remember, Barack Obama does not have a "home church" any longer. Does anyone on here remember someone by the name of Reverend Jeremiah Wright? If so, then you know that this slot was probably left open and the committee, which is bi-partisan and picked by the current Vice-President of the United States, selected Rick Warren.
Folks, protocol.
Let's reiterate again, that the whole program was selected by the Joint Congressional Committee, with input by the President-Elect, but in the end SELECTED by the Committee.
Just like after the Inaugural Address by President Barack H. Obama, he must then sit down for the Inaugural Luncheon which will be held as Statuary Hall.
On January 20, after the newly elected President has taken the oath of office and delivered his Inaugural address, he will be escorted to Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol for the traditional Inaugural luncheon, hosted by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC). While this tradition dates as far back as 1897, when the Senate Committee on Arrangements gave a luncheon for President McKinley and several other guests at the U.S. Capitol, it did not begin in its current form until 1953. That year, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mrs. Eisenhower, and fifty other guests of the JCCIC dined on creamed chicken, baked ham, and potato puffs in the now-restored Old Senate Chamber.
I am indifferent to Rick Warren and could care less, but this is not an issue to get angry about. Warren was probably just a name on a list and we don't know if Obama even gave the committee a list of names for the invocation. He may have just let them select on their own, and this is very plausible.
For more information on Inauguration Day Events, please click here.
Finally, Inauguration Day is about protocol. The events are strictly adhered too, as it should be. C-Span is currently running a series on The White House and they will re-run a series on the protocol for Inauguration Day, check your local listings.
Hope this helps.
[UPDATE]: Obama did request Warren, but this is about the JCICC coordinating the Inaugural Events, not Barack Obama. And for the record, my indifference towards Rick Warren is that I don't like him and could care less about him. One thing we must remember is that Barack Obama is not going to make everyone happy, he did not do it through the primaries/election and he won't do it as POTUS.
[UPDATE]
Many have forgotten these words of Obama on election night:
"Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long"
He also said,
"And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too."
I guess we are already forgetting how it feels to have an Administration that was not all inclusive.
••
Cross-posted @ Daily Kos
Home Page
Share
