You know, sometimes I wonder if Obama gets a kick outta tweaking “the left,” just to watch us get all pissed off (kind of like Sam baiting Marc, in hopes of getting him going). The latest example, of course, is picking the homophobic, anti-choice, pro-Capitalist (he calls people who espouse true Christian values like feeding the poor “Marxist”), mega-Church pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at the Presidential inauguration in January.

Not that I really buy into that whole invocation thing. You might as well have Linus there to offer up a prayer to the Great Pumpkin for all I care. But we all know Obama is a smart dude, and we all know he knew exactly what he was doing when he made this decision. And it was totally unnecessary. He didn’t need to choose Bishop V. Gene Robinson to give the invocation, but he certainly could have picked somebody who didn’t actively campaign for Prop 8. Better yet, why not choose somebody like Rev. Barry Lynn?

I personally don’t think it matters in the least in terms of what this means for Obama’s political agenda. I don’t think he’ll suddenly move to throw gay people into reeducation camps (though he opposes gay marriage, which I suspect is on political grounds rather than moral, legal, or Constitutional ones) or outlaw abortion (or appoint anti-choice judges to the courts). But Obama knows this is a slap in the faces of an awful lot of people out there – especially gay people, and especially in light of Prop 8 – and he should know that nothing he does will make the Kristian Kracker Koalition love him, so you really gotta wonder why he does shit like this.

Before you feel compelled to make excuses for Obama, just imagine the shit we’d all – rightfully – have given a President-elect McCain for doing this. Except we should expect – make that demand – more out of Obama.