progressive involvement

Here we go again

Kansas' Roman Catholic Archbishop says that Governor Kathleen Sebelius should not take holy communion until she confesses her sins, offers a public apology, and promises to make her "scandalous behavior" right somehow.  No word on whether or not she has to wear a scarlet "A" for the rest of her life. 

Sebelius had vetoed a bad bill which would have given district attorneys the power to go on fishing expeditions against abortion providers, and compromised the privacy of patients by requiring abortion providers to provide extensive details to the state on why the person got an abortion.

We had a similar thing in Colorado in 2004.  The Catholic bishop of Colorado Springs, Michael Sheridan, had said that any Catholic who voted for Kerry should not come to communion, a view also expressed by Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput.  It caused quite a kerfuffle for a few days.

It so happened that our Congressional District Assembly, which would choose delegates for the 2004 Democratic National Convention, took place shortly after Sheridan's remark.  There were about 60 candidates that year--for five slots.

It so happened that I'd had a funeral earlier in the day and showed up for the meeting wearing my clerical collar, which is occasionally good for a parking space here and there, but of no utility whatsoever at a Democratic meeting.

The meeting progressed with various items of business.  When the time came to elect national delegates, the hour was getting late, and it was decided that each candidate would say their name and one sentence.  Standing there in all my ecclesiastical-ness, I said, "Democrats are welcome to take communion at my church."

Those nine words turned out to be the most effective speech I've ever given.  People clapped and hollered.  A couple of people stood up on chairs to applaud.  One person corraled me and said, "That's why I left the Catholic church thirty years ago."  I wound up winning a delegate slot on the basis of those nine words.

A couple of years later, I used that episode as a sermon illustration.  As I said at the time, "I didn't mention this earlier because I know that at least a couple of you are Republicans and I didn't want to make you mad."

My point wasn't partisan.  (From the pulpit, it never is.)  Rather, it was to show that here was a case where the ultimate "insider"--the bishop!--was trying to keep people from the communion table.  People take this to heart.  Their expression of approval at my little speech showed the depth of their hurt at being rejected by some pontificating insider who was being more than a little hypocritical.  (They never make this kind of remark about people who support the death penalty or the dang war, even though these are supposedly issues of "life" as well.)

On the other hand, from a personal point of view, Bishop Sheridan's remarks backhandedly redounded to my benefit.  I suspect the same will be true for Governor Sebelius.

The National Cathedral, lit up for Pentecost

Photo:  National Cathedral

The McCain Plan on Iraq, Illustrated Version

Geography lesson for Bob Schaffer

From a letter sent from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to Bob Schaffer:

Read the whole letter.  Nice to see our side having some fun for a change.

Oregon is probably Obama country, which is another reason to be for Hillary

Through 1968, the only election ever lost by any member of the Kennedy family was when RFK lost the Oregon primary to Eugene McCarthy.  The diffident and cerebral Eugene McCarthy, coming from the Adlai Stevenson wing of the party, seemed to fit the Oregonian electorate more closely than the hot and confrontational Kennedy.  Oregon has few minorities, and is relatively affluent.  As RFK remarked after his loss, "I do better with people who have problems."

Other than African-Americans, the RFK constituency--people with problems--is mainly behind Hillary.  The McCarthy constituency mainly supports Obama.  In Oregon, there are more of the latter than there are those of the former, which is why Oregon will likely go Obama.  (Demographics has truly been destiny in this campaign.)

This is one of the main reasons I'm for Hillary.  Poor people support her, the working class supports her, people with problems support her.  If the Democratic Party is not about helping the poor and the working class, what good is it?    

Oh, they always say that

CNN:  "We have heard this foolish delusion before," Bush said in remarks to Israel's parliament, the Knesset. "As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."

People saw this as an attack on Obama, which it may be, but it seemed to me to be more directed to all Democrats, and especially Jimmy Carter.  Ho-hum.  The man hasn't been terribly relevant for about a year or so.

Donations to NARAL soon to take a pretty big nose-dive, would be my guess

NARAL follows their endorsement of Joe Lieberman for Senate in 2006 by endorsing Sen. Obama for President this year, which is roiling the organization, may actually prove helpful to Hillary.  The more the Democratic establishment--Kennedy, Pelosi, Brazile, Dean, other muckety-mucks--supports Obama, the more the people themselves are likely to push back.

Bob Schaffer poses in front of a pic of Mt. McKinley--which is in ALASKA!--and calls it "Pike's Peak"

Jesus joins John Edwards on the Obama campaign trail

The Obama campaign seems a tad spooked by their narrow 41-point loss in West Virginia.  The cry went out:  Who can save us from the pestilence of working class voters?  They brought John Edwards on board to endorse Obama--something about poverty, he said--the day after the primary in the poorest state in the union.  (Add in his 7% and Obama's loss in West Virginia is now only 2-1!)

Edwards, however, was clearly not enough.  Something more was needed.  Flyer making the rounds in KY:

Somebody put Tabasco Sauce in his oatmeal

John Aravosis at americablog.com:

IT'S NOT CLOSE. YOU FREAKING LOST THE NOMINATION, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?

Good God. What is wrong with her? The Clintons and their campaign staff don't give a damn that they are now hurting our electoral chances in the fall against McCain and against the Republicans in Congress.

Yeah, like the McCain campaign would have never thought about experience, or national security, or working class voters unless Hillary told him.  He's old, sure, but he's not stupid.

The other quote of the day

Edwards just sent me an email (I'm on the Obama email list) asking for a donation to what sounds like a very worthy college scholarship program he is behind. Seems his endorsement might have been to get access to the Obama email list? I think the cause is wonderful, and I'm glad he sent it, but it does suggest there was some bargaining for this endorsement.

Anonymous poster at politico.com

Quote of the Day

"For Barack Obama, I think he ought to kiss Johnny Edwards on the lips to kill this 41-point loss."

David "Mudcat" Saunders

classless

NY Times:  "Mr. Edwards spent several minutes praising Mrs. Clinton, which was met by loud boos..."

Still not cheap

Find the cheapest gas in your neighborhood here.

"That part about calling you a bunch of sleazoids and scumbuckets, Jew-haters and whores? I'm real sorry if you took offense."

John Hagee apologizes to Catholics.

GOP in a world of hurt

Democrat Wins House Seat in Mississippi

Quote of the Day

The narrative of the racist southern and/or working class white voter serves disappointed liberals by giving them a way to cope with rejection, and it serves Republicans by reassuring them that people can still be easily manipulated by racial bias.

A. Serwer, The American Prospect

Winning ugly

No, not Hillary.  Her win in West Virginia was pretty impressive.  It's supposed to be over, you'll remember, yet she beat the "presumptive" nominee by 2-1.  For all I know, Hillary might want to get out of the race, but that's hard to do when you keep winning.

No, it's the Obama campaign that needs to take a step back--if indeed he is the "presumptive" nominee--and take a good look at what not only is the right thing to do, but also the smart thing politically:  doing everything it can to unify the Democratic Party.

Senator Obama himself seems to be aware of this--also the higher levels of his campaign, most of the time--but the word hasn't filtered down to the blogosphere, the grass roots, or the Obama network, NBC.  Chris Matthews called Hillary "the Al Sharpton of white people" tonight.  It hasn't even filtered down to leading members of Congress.  Ted Kennedy dissed Hillary yesterday by saying she wasn't enough of a leader to be Vice President.

Hillary is going to finish up essentially tied with Sen. Obama in the popular vote.  Half the Democratic Party supports her.  Treating her like the enemy--read a few of the comments at dailykos or TPM or Huffington Post--and the Obama campaign invites disaster upon itself.  Calling her supporters "racists" and "Archie Bunkers" isn't exactly the most brilliant move either.

Just for the record, it isn't just the "white working class" that supports Hillary.  With the exception of African-Americans, it's the entire working class--whites yes, and also hispanics and asians.  At least some of the Obama supporters--the triumphalists--seem to enjoy the thought of purging the Democratic Party of these lesser beings and replacing them with "all the new people we're bringing in." 

That would be the path of electoral catastrophe.  It wouldn't even be "winning ugly."  It would be "losing ugly."      

Lectionary blogging: The Holy Trinity, Matthew 28: 16-20

This is Holy Trinity Sunday, the only day of the church year dedicated specifically to a doctrinal position.  In reality, of course, all church holidays are about some aspect of doctrine.  Christmas, for example, is not at all the "birthday of Jesus," but a holy day of the church dedicated to the incarnation, a doctrinal teaching which counters the heresies of gnosticism and docetism.

The lection is likely chosen because of its reference to "the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."  The saying is anachronistic for the time of Jesus, who, bereft of seminary education, would likely have been thoroughly mystified by something called "trinitarian theology."

   

Administration thinks food safety no big deal

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration on Friday urged a federal appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority.

The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas customers in Japan and elsewhere.

But Creekstone attorney Russell Frye contended the Agriculture Department's regulations covering the treatment of domestic animals contain no prohibition against an individual company testing for mad cow disease, since the test is conducted only after a cow is slaughtered. He said the agency has no authority to prevent companies from using the test to reassure customers.

"This is the government telling the consumers, `You're not entitled to this information,"' Frye said.

Chief Judge David B. Sentelle seemed to agree with Creekstone's contention that the additional testing would not interfere with agency regulations governing the treatment of animals.

Let's try to get this straight.  A private company tries to go above-and-beyond-the-call in making sure its products are safe, and the government doesn't want them to do it?