Obama invites transgender showboats, gay Episcopal bishop to pope's White House visit

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air asks a really good question: "When the Saudis visited the White House this month, did Obama invite women's-rights activists to dinner with them? Did Obama invite Ayaan Hirsi Ali to discuss the need for reform in Islam?" The answer: Of course not. Because Obama wouldn't try to score cheap political points at the expense of his Islamic friends. Bring in the most high-profile Christian leader in the entire world, however, the Obama White House is going to go into overdrive on the grandstanding front. Needless to say, the Vatican is extremely unhappy about this, and it remains to be seen if the White House will have to backtrack and change the invite list before the event comes off - if, that is, it's going to come off at all:

Bishop Gene Robinson, who has also been invited to the pope's welcoming ceremony, is a former Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire and the first openly gay Episcopal bishop in the U.S. He is also an ex-spouse in a same-sex marriage. He didn't respond to a request for comment. Another guest, Mateo Williamson, is a former co-head of the transgender caucus of Dignity USA, a group for LGBT Catholics. He said the Vatican's disapproval of his presence at the ceremony "speaks to the necessity for continued dialogue" between transgender Catholics and the church hierarchy. "This is really not so much of a political statement as it is the reality that there are so many LGBT Catholics and family members of LGBT people who would really benefit from this message coming from the White House," he said. Mr. Williamson, who is transgender, said he would be attending the ceremony as a guest of Vivian Taylor, a transgender woman who was invited by the White House and who formerly served as executive director of Integrity USA, an LBGT advocacy group in the Episcopal Church.

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The presence of these figures is especially irritating, the Vatican official said, because it isn't yet clear if the White House has invited any representatives of the U.S. anti-abortion movement, traditionally a high-priority cause for the U.S. bishops. I have my share of disagreements with this pope - OK, I have my share of disagreements with any pope, which is why I'm Protestant - but if I had to guess I'd say he'll be gracious, show up and pull off the event without having a snit about Obama's highly disrespectful attempt to use his presence in the service of causes the pope expressly opposes. Even so, can this White House be any more obnoxious? There's such a thing as statecraft, and it involves playing your role as head of state with the understanding that you're representing the nation, not your ideological side. Obama understands nothing about this. Everything he ever does is in the service of left-wing politics, and if that means insulting the pope by inviting homosexual and transgender activists to his White House visit (but no anti-abortion activists, which is a cause the pope actually supports), Obama won't even give it a second thought. It's how he rolls. I doubt the mainstream media will push Obama very much on this because they are completely sympathetic to all the people on the invite list. They too have completely lost sight of the importance of statecraft. It would be nice if our next president would be interested in bringing it back.