2 Cor 1:3 as Theological Berakah

We're reading a section fro Fee's book "Pauline Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Study" now for my 2 Corinthians class. On page 170 Fee discusses the Christology of 1:3 which says "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort." Against the idea that the kai here functions as a way to set the statement in a form of mini chiasm, Fee states:

"[G]iven the way the berakah finally plays out, we are to understand the kai not as conjective but as ascensive, intended to give Christian definition to the God to whom Paul is now offering praise. Thus it means something like "blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." That is, the God who is blessed in a variety of ways in the Jewish synagogue is now to be blessed as the God who is singularly known through revelation as 'the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,' who is also known to us as 'the Son of God,' which is precisely what is picked up by Paul in v. 18, in the explanation of his changed itinerary with which the letter properly begins."

The chiasm that Fee refutes was (a) God and (b) Father... (b') the Father of mercies and (a') God of all comfort. Fee believes that this leads to an uneasy reading where the Father is also the God of our Lord Jesus Christ (although cp Eph 1:17). Taking Fee's lead by seeing the kai as ascensive, the entire verse now could be read "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, even the God of all comfort." This avoids the theological problem, but also in a way directs the attention back this statement's use as a berakah or Jewish praise to God. The ascension feature of praise displayed by this reading is better for both the grammatical and theological purposes that it presupposes.