"Blessed with Anger"

In Robinson's invocation yesterday, which I only read on blogs since it was not carried by the HBO broadcast, he said:

Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against
refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian,bisexual and
transgender people.

Boy, am I ever blessed. I just heard Robinson interviewed on NPR's Talk of the Nation, where Robinson reported that he only learned yesterday morning that his invocation was scheduled for 2:25pm and not the 2:30pm time when it would be televised on HBO.

Robinson guessed that HBO felt that its audience would not be as interested in a prayer as all the entertainers, but the Huffington Post has reported that

"a spokesperson for HBO stated that decisions regarding the timing and presentation of Robinson's remarks were made by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, and that Robinson was "not a part of our show from the start."

and

"A spokeperson offered AfterElton.com much the same response: "The producer of the concert has said that the Presidential Inaugural Committee made the decision to keep the invocation as part of the pre-show."

So ultimately, the responsibility for this "surprise" when America expected Robinson to open this concert is at the feet of the Obama inauguration team. When Robinson's selection was apparently to counter-balance the Warren mistake, this is yet another slap in the face. How easy does Obama think we are to placate?

I call on LGBT and allied leaders to be as blessed with anger as I am. I call on Obama to make up for this mistake by giving Robinson a real microphone during a real TV program during the inauguration ceremonies. Ironically, Robinson was shut out of the program "We are One."

How will Obama explain this one?