There are some other factors to consider. Obama's choice of Warren for the invocation puts the kibosh on the 'secret Muslim' smear; it exorcises the ghost of Jeremiah Wright; and it lets him appeal to evangelicals, further eroding the GOP base. And just imagine how Warren's 2012 sermons will be affected by a closer relationship to the Obama White House.

Taking a long-term view, Warren may turn out to be a brilliant opening strategy, but even more important than the partisan effect of this pick is the healing effect it can have on relations with the evangelical movement. To all those Warren-haters out there, I have to ask: do you REALLY want a schism in American society? Do you REALLY want the religious-conservative movement to draw in its head and legs? Do you WANT that separation? Because it's exactly the wrong strategy for gay rights (and Darwin, and rational sex education, etc) in the long run. In the 1960s Israelis used to think that Hasids and other conservative branches of Judaism were doomed to fade because they lived separate from mainstream society. But today they are stronger than ever, warping the political fabric of Israel and pressing for expansion of settlements. And it is precisely that insularity -- from science, society, and the larger culture -- that makes them so rabid and powerful today.

Warren is one tiny step to defusing that potentiality in America.