Ixnay on Ickray

On this eighth Sunday of the Obama Administration, props to NYT's Laurie Goodstein for ferreting out the pastors that the still churchless president prays with on a regular basis: Caldwell, Hunter, Jakes, Moss, and Wallis. Conspicuous by its absence is the name of Rick Warren, the inaugural invocator who three months ago seemed to be bidding fair to replace Billy Graham as presidential pastor-in-chief. Either Obama is no longer checking in with Warren or he still is and Goodstein couldn't discover it. As noted in this space a couple of weeks ago, the Sachem of Saddleback seems to have dropped out of public view since the Inauguration, at least so far as national affairs are concerned. Since the serial presidential "debate" at his church last summer, his encounters with Obama have produced more controversy than harmony. I'd say the relationship has cooled.