That is the judgment of Frances Kissling, she of Catholics for a Free Choice, now rebaptized Catholics for Choice, on the appointment of Alexia Kelley as Director of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the Department of Health and Human Services. Kelley has been Executive Director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, a lay-led social justice ministry associated with the “Religious Left” that also seeks common ground as well on abortion and other topics.

But evidently Kelley and CIACG are not “left” enough for Kissling et al, or perhaps too “common ground.” (Isn’t that the right’s line? Ah, extremes do tend to touch when they go far enough.)

CFC executive director Jon O’Brien had earlier called Kelley an “antiabortion advocate” and Catholics in Alliance “antichoice” and said her appointment “would be a defeat for reason and logic and calls into question whether President Obama’s administration is serious about reducing the need for abortion.” (Huh?)  

In Salon yesterday, Kissling weighs in with “Obama’s poor choice for faith leader,” claiming again that Kelley and her former organization are “firmly planted on the far right” and that Kelley “believes abortion should be illegal and opposes contraception.”

It’s a major venting, but perhaps good evidence that Obama is still making the right moves.  

H/T: MSW at “In All Things.”