Well, I'm still waiting for the Obama administration to meet with the ACLU, Americans United for the Separation of Church & State, and People for the American Way.

Dialogue is all well and good, but you dance with the one that brung ya.

Well, as long as the Obama administration doesn't succumb to pressure to make it more difficult for same-sex couples to adopt and foster children, then it will be nice for the White House to give it a try.

I can't imagine Obama could visualize Malia and Sasha having anything to do with those Focus scorpions. Why allow such abuse on other poor innocent children?

As I was reading this post I thought, great, now when is Obama going to meet with groups to his political left? But I now see that John B. beat me to the punch.

One thing I would expect to see from all this outreach is a thorough examination of Focus on the Family's books and an accounting for how they use public monies to place children in foster care. I don't object at all to freestanding adoption/foster care services or even their bigotry but there is no reason to take their probity, honesty, or good intentions for granted. Foster care and fake adoption services in this country are a gold mine, for some. The Obama administration had better be very, very, careful how they let themselves be used by fly by night anti abortion/anti gay groups. The social services wing of the religious right is a pure religious scam meant to (and used to) funnel children and money into evangelical communities. If they want to work with the government, or receive government monies, they need to offer complete transparency financially and also conform to all laws and regulations regarding discrimination on the basis of religion, culture, creed, sexual orientation. If they were actually held to any standards the Obama administration wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole.

aimai

I think that the issue is not how this cooperation can be used to strategically--you don't have to justify getting a foster kid a permanent home by pointing to ways in which this advances the presidential agenda. That's why this is such a deviation from the past. Bush wouldn't have met with the ACLU because it would have meant a "win" for them without guaranteeing that they wouldn't trash him later. The Bush administration couldn't see the intrinsic worth of using the office of the president to achieve positive results if those results didn't help consolidate power. The hallmark of Rovian politics is increasing power for power's sake. What makes the Obama administration's move laudable is that it puts the well-being of foster kids before bullshit infighting. And if that helps the broader agenda, great. But if it just gives a few kids a real home, that's meaningful success.

"Any chance the religious right, appreciative of productive outreach like this, will be less hateful and vicious towards the president?"

NO! Unless it gets them a clear shot.

Now if we could just get him to meet with some of the soldiers who've served their country honorably and are now being kicked out of the services under DADT. He made some campaign promises that he hasn't been keeping.
He could really stand to have a couple of these get-togethers with the GLBT community. Wonder when he'll do it?

Yeah, I think that Obama will profit from whichever way it is that he chooses to doublecross the people who voted for him. (Gay adoption will probably be the issue here -- he'll find a "compromise".) Democrats have nowhere to turn.

If the right can viciously attack Obama, and the result is that Obama meets with them and moves part way in their direction, why shouldn't they keep it up? They will just conclude that their tactics are effective: stake out an extreme position and then "compromise".

"Any chance the religious right, appreciative of productive outreach like this, will be less hateful and vicious towards the president?"

No.

This has been another edition...

How irresponsible of Obama to spend his time like this. Doesn't he realize there are two wars on?

If Obama is interested in working across traditional political lines, he should get on the marijuana regulation/taxation bandwagon.

He'd get libertarian support (almost by definition), support from people with common sense who realize the war on marijuana is a costly, 40-year failure that succeeds only in enriching violent drug cartels and overwhelming our criminal justice system instead of putting money in the pockets of our states, etc.

41% of the public already supports outright legalization. It has potential allies in Ron Paul, Dana Rohrbacher, Barney Frank, Jim McDermott, Jim Webb, etc.

Krista Tippet of American Public Radio did quite an interesting interview with Obama's head of the "Faith Based" outreach on "Speaking of Faith" this morning.

Joshua DuBois articulated quite well the whole concept of understanding where the common beliefs are within our diverse social, ethnic and religious groups. Worth tracking down on the web site if you didn't hear it.

I can't wrap my head around the concept of any public office, supported by tax dollars, having the word "faith" in it, let alone "outreach." Can't we all just follow the law? In this case, the First Amendment's prohibition against government money being spent in any way to aid any establishment of religion?

What I really like is that in the same week he laughed at gay people who merely ask him to keep his promise, he follows up with outreach to Focus on Family.

To John B. and others who have raised the point: I recall that Obama met at least once with civil liberties groups (including ACLU): Before his speech about Gitmo. They weren't pleased with what he said about the detentions, but they were there in the White House. And I also think similar visits happened before, but I couldn't say with certainty.

I'll be curious to see what the response of Focus on the Family is, if any, to the murder of Dr. George Tiller.

Just because they're insane bigots doesn't mean we can't find common ground.

In one post the tragic murder of a women's rights Dr. and the next heralding the inclusion of a group virtually responsible for cultivating the murderer's mentality by the WH.

If only that Dr. would have been gay it would all be completely justified. More of the focus on 'Approved' families, please.

Sory but I'm as upset about that Dr's. murder as I was when some winger walked into the office of the head of the dem party in Arkansas and shot the Head dead. Then the police found all the books of hate radio hosts Hannity, Coulter, O'Reilly in his apt., Cultivated to kill liberals by these people yet they are allowed to continue their venom...and I equate them and him with F on the 'Approved' Family's insanity.
I know Obama is trying to do what is good but I do wish he'd stop trying to appease republicans and start trying to appease the people who got him elected. I'm still waiting for all his good intentions to materialize.

Now this is the kind of outreach to the righties that I like to see, as opposed to, you know, suppressing torture evidence, refusing to prosecute torturers, dropping charges against AIPAC spies, refusing US entry to innocents we've illegally held for 7 yrs, and nominating conservatives to SCOTUS.

Fellow progressives, your snark is shallow, self-serving and pointless. Barack is the most progressive president this country has ever had, and he's attempting to meet head-on the most daunting challenges the country faces. He's just getting started, and he deserves our support and our encouragement.

Is he doing everything I would like as soon as I would like? Of course not, because that's not the way the world works. Is he fulfilling all of the intentions he articulated in his campaign? Many, certainly, but not all right this minute. It's been FOUR MONTHS, people. Will he continue working towards his articulated intentions? Again, certainly he will, but given the brilliant politician he is, he will do it in ways that give him the best chance of success, and in many cases it will take years.

Here's an example. Should Cheney, et al, be in jail for the rest of their lives? Of course they should. Would there be any chance of addressing climate change or univeral health care if we were in the midst of an administration-led effort to put them in jail? Of course not: the political storm would be unprecedented and completely obfuscatory of all other govermental efforts. Only the blindest person could argue that prosecutions should take precedence.

Everybody just relax. Obama's got this. Sometimes it seems like he's the only one that sees that his outreach is productive on multiple fronts. There's a real chance of getting concrete things done. There is political benefit down the road to having built bridges where they can be built, in the form of potential conservative support for at least some of his legislative goals. There is also political benefit to being seen as inclusive, in terms of votes in 2012--you don't really see anyone in the Republican sphere you want as president, do you? And there is also just the possibility, ambitious goal that it is, that he can change the political climate somewhat, where folks actually look for ways to work together. Or are you among those who close their ears when he talks about the uselessness of demonizing people with differing points of view?

Yeah I know which Focus on the Family you mean -- the one AKA Focus on the Anus.