Links for 01/18/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 01/18/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Both Pope Francis of last week and Richard Trumka in 2010 essentially called for a renewal of FDR's vision and accomplishment of Democratic Socialism - which is supported in Catholic Doctrine where the Church bemoans the diminishing of social security systems - what we would call welfare.  I could turn each address into a campaign speech for Bernie Sanders with very little effort (even though the reality is there are more poor - but also more rich as the result of the 2000s - and the new rich are not so quick to go back to any form of socialism).  I am fairly sure that Democratic Socialism is necessary but not sufficient.  Some form of cooperative socialism should be our eventual goal - and not the model in Distributism that would roll back industrial and scientific advance.  Indeed, and cooperative socialism must be more like Star Trek than the high middle ages, even if individuals grow their own food as part of it.



I see nothing new from Cupich abortion, which is a shame.  The pro-life movement is full of self-justified platitudes about the babies but no realistic agenda (i.e., one that does not become the poster child of the Federalist Society) - and as long as that is the case, most elected officials on both sides can either safely ignore it or join in the pro-life group hug supporting actions that are either of no consequence or that are clearly unconstitutional under Justice O'Connor's undue burdens test - one that Justice Kennedy and his middle of the road friends Roberts and Alito will continue to uphold.  There have been no new right winger's on the court and it is likely that the next of them will replace Scalia and Thomas - but with justices more like Kennedy.  In other words, some kind of legislative compromise that either brilliantly deals with first trimester abortions without burdening families facing miscarriage or ignores them because no equal protection solution is possible, is really what is required.  Obama said he is willing to go there - at least in the last and probably the middle trimester - but it is the pro-liferes who won't void their meal ticket.  Ideally, the solution should be more like Democratic Socialism, with more benefits and no criminal penalties - but that will neverf come with the GOP.