Populism, Chavez & Obama | National Catholic Reporter

Populism, Chavez & Obama | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Chavez can be understood better if you look at his enemies and who was assisting them. While his populism went too far against what we understand as civil society, the banana republic dictators the CIA would have set up would not have been any better - and likely would have been worse.

As far as Obama, sometimes events force action - like with Sandy Hook Elementary. As for the Continuing Resolution, MSW is a victim of bad timing. The House passed one today on a bipartisan basis (with the Budget Control Act in force, they cannot move too far from the imposed spending caps - although they did give the Pentagon its full budget).  It looks like the sequester is in for good, but recall that the Bishops worked with congressional leaders and the White House a plan to fence in certain programs for the needy so that they will not be cut.  Sometimes, its just time to do the math and vote.  This is one of those times.

As far as same sex marriage, I don't see him as its strongest champion.  He has largely been on the sidelines.  I don't expect MSW will agree with his new position, which is sad because the anti-equality position is sloppy reasoning and relies on authority rather than truth.  If my 64 year old uncle Carl (now deceased) could marry a 54 year old woman in the Church, with no possibility of fecundity - the argument that sex must have generative intent is out the window.  Further, if God makes marriages rather than the Priest (which is what they tell us in pre-Cana class) than that truth is as true for gays as it is for the rest of us.  Finally, marriage is the basic adult right to abandon your family of origin and become one flesh (legally one person) in the forming of a new family.  Without such a right, under the law the gay person is a perpetual infant in times of extremis.  Note that the one-flesh language comes from the Bible and it is about more than just sex.   As luck would have it, everyone younger than our generation sees no problem with gay marriage.