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Re: Obama skips statement on Easter; has commemorated all Muslim holidays...

By: oldCADuser in FFFT | Recommend this post (0)
Tue, 26 Apr 11 9:49 PM | 83 view(s)
Boardmark this board | Food For Further Thought 		Msg. 28561 of 65535
(This msg. is a reply to 28548 by Decomposed)
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President Obama Didn't Do Enough To Celebrate Easter, Critics Say

by Jason Linkins

04/25/11

One of the things that's a "thing" today is that people, driven by a Fox Nation story, are complaining about the Obama White House's failure to issue a proclamation about Easter. The White House, of course, hosted an Easter Egg Roll, and the president also hosted an Easter-themed prayer breakfast, at which he said this:

"I wanted to host this breakfast for a simple reason -- because as busy as we are, as many tasks as pile up, during this season, we are reminded that there's something about the resurrection -- something about the resurrection of our savior, Jesus Christ, that puts everything else in perspective.

"We all live in the hustle and bustle of our work... But then comes Holy Week. The triumph of Palm Sunday. The humility of Jesus washing the disciples' feet. His slow march up that hill, and the pain and the scorn and the shame of the cross. And we're reminded that in that moment, he took on the sins of the world -- past, present and future -- and he extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through his death and resurrection.

"In the words of the book Isaiah: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

"This magnificent grace, this expansive grace, this 'Amazing Grace' calls me to reflect. And it calls me to pray. It calls me to ask God for forgiveness for the times that I've not shown grace to others, those times that I've fallen short. It calls me to praise God for the gift of our son -- his Son and our Savior." 

But see, none of that counts, because we didn't have a "proclamation", a tweet from @presssec reminding us about the holiday, or a fundraising letter from Jim Messina that read: "He is risen -- to donate the legal maximum amount for the Obama/Biden re-election campaign!" (White House Press Secretary Jay Carney actually had to field a question on this at today's White House press briefing, to which he responded: "LOL.")

Of course, lost amid this nonsense, which Washington Monthly's Steve Benen calls a "garbage story," is the fact that Obama's predecessor didn't "proclaim" anything Easter-related either. Had Obama issued an Easter proclamation, it would have been the first time since at least 1980 that a president had done so. 

Still, one can never underestimate the amazing value of a presidential proclamation. Three years ago today, for example, President George W. Bush issued a proclamation in support of Malaria Awareness Day, which is why we are all now totally aware of malaria.

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The above is a reply to the following message:
Obama skips statement on Easter; has commemorated all Muslim holidays...
By: Decomposed in FFFT
Tue, 26 Apr 11 6:27 AM 		Msg. 28548 of 65535

What? No Easter Greeting?

by Keith Koffler
whitehousedossier.com

on April 25, 2011, 11:11 am

Updated 8:00 pm ET

Just when I thought the current team running the White House might have used up all its allotted mistakes comes word that President Obama failed to issue either an Easter or a Good Friday greeting to the nation.

Now, let’s forget for a moment that these greetings, which presidents issue on many holidays and commemorations of events, are largely perfunctory and symbolic gestures that nobody cares about.

Until there’s a problem with them.

Fox News first caught the blunder and put it into context that makes the omission insulting to Christians. The mistake is odd enough to call into question just what Obama’s priorities are.

By comparison, the White House has released statements recognizing the observance of major Muslim holidays and released statements in 2010 on Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hajj, and Eid-ul-Adha.

The White House  . . . did release an eight-paragraph statement heralding Earth Day. Likewise, the president’s weekend address mentioned neither Good Friday or Easter. *

Obama, Fox notes, did head out to church yesterday and held an Easter prayer breakfast at the White House last week.

Obama is on a roll for religious holiday greeting screw ups. Fox News writes:

In 2010, Obama was criticized for releasing an all-inclusive Easter greeting. He reached out to Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and people of no faith at all in a statement about a holiday that is uniquely Christian.

And as I noted last week, the president released a Passover greeting this month that compared the ancient Jewish exodus from Egypt to the Arab political awakening this year, which would be a beautiful thing if most Arabs didn’t seek Israel’s destruction.

The president is, of course, hosting the Easter Egg Roll at the White House today. But Easter isn’t really about rolling eggs on a manicured lawn, now is it?

UPDATE: Asked during this afternoon’s briefing about the issue, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney suggested Obama’s “high profile” visit to a church Sunday should suffice.

“I’m not sure if we put out a statement or not, but he obviously personally celebrated Easter with his family,” Carney said, adding ”the president took his family out to church in a very high-profile way.”

Carney added that Obama is a “devoted Christian.”

* Fox News is incorrect. Obama does mention Easter in his weekend address, though he does so only briefly and not as a message or greeting to Christians celebrating the holiday.

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