Pope Francis Should Win This Year’s Nobel Peace Prize | National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis Should Win This Year’s Nobel Peace Prize | National Catholic Reporter by RC.  MGB: Awarding the prize is as much about shaming the opponents of peace as it is rewarding those who stand for it.  This would be a good award.  Of course, some one has to nominate him.

Bernie Sanders is wrong: Pope Francis is no socialist | National Catholic Reporter

Bernie Sanders is wrong: Pope Francis is no socialist | National Catholic Reporter by Hale.  MGB: Christopher Hale seems to be as ignorant of Sanders as he accuses Sanders of being with the Pope, who many do believe is a follower of liberation theology.  Sanders is a Democratic Socialist, as is this pope, Pope Benedict and pretty much every pontiff since Leo XIII.  One need only look at Caritas in Veritate and its treatment of public programs to see this.  Sanders is on the same page, he was not suggesting that Francis was a state capitalist, aka bureaucratic authoritarian socialist.  Neither is Sanders.  Anyone who says differently is red baiting, and there is no place in civilized politics for such tactics.  One thing you can also be sure of, Hillary is not on the Democratic Socialist page.  She is a neoliberal, through and through.

Why Christian Republicans insist Donald Trump is a good Christian | National Catholic Reporter

Why Christian Republicans insist Donald Trump is a good Christian | National Catholic Reporter by Millenium.  MGB: Protestants for Trump should have no trouble identifying with him religiously - or at least those who believe that wealth is a sign of God's favor, as the believer's in the prosperity gospel agree. To them, Trump is probably a prophet, rather than a profit.



As for the Catholics, the partisanship analysis seems to be correct - especially for those who identify with abortion as the single most important issue (even though, because there are no real viable active proposals - the one that the movement counted on - overturning Roe - died with Scalia) - and that includes many bishops and clergy.



If they were more Catholic about their pro-life sentiments (and sentimentalism is what it is), they would be all for huge refundable increases in the child tax credit - which Cruz does favor - although not nearly by enough. Trump would never go there. He relies on keeping low wage workers hungry - an adequate salary by any means gives his enterprises huge payroll problems.

Links for 02/23/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/23/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I never knew that Chaput was a member of the Federalist Society, with its flawed views that put the desires of the majority over the rights of the individual.  Of course, Chaput has great confidence in the Church's ability to move local majorities.  I have little faith in its respect for individual rights, especially the right to be left alone in one's moral choices.



If the American Spectator questions the Popes actions on a strategic basis, I have to conclude that he did the right thing in his characterization of Trump and his actions at the border.  Of course, the author got one thing right - that American business likes low wage immigrants - almost admitting that they benefit from undocumented immigration.



Politico shows that any Catholic bishop who gets in bed with the GOP is likely to be considered a member of the harlot.  The reason we need to not discount rights of individual conscience is that there are many places that still think the Pope is anti-Christ - especially in the red states.



The interesting thing is that the British accent as we now know it came over with William and Mary of Orange and their germanic monarchs.  Before that time, the accents were common.

Rubio is No GOP Savior | National Catholic Reporter

Rubio is No GOP Savior | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Rubio (and Cruz) are performance art to mock Barack Obama, who was a one term senator of ethnic background.  Trump is just bipolar performance art.  With Jeb gone and Carson the new Herman Cain, without the Sims, this leaves only Governor Kasich.  Let's see which way he takes of on Super Tuesday - as in if he does not get some serious support as the sane white guy in the race, he will likely leave the GOP to its festering boils, ready to be popped by either HRC or Bernie.

Links for 02/22/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/22/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: This is good news, at least partially, that the motion to pay the hedge funds first has been overturned.  Of course, a U.S Court stipulating that Argentina overturn a law on paying vulture capitalists is a bit overboard.  We should not be making foreign law any more than we should be using it.  Ideally, Argentina will unite with its South American Spanish speaking neighbors into one large state with a single debt and income tax.  That should give them enough leverage to print their way out of such debts.



The Zika virus has actually been linked to the birth defect.  The Zika DNA has been found in the children.  Should this lead to abortion?  No.  These children will survive childbirth, so their gestation poses no risk to the mother.  Should those who oppose abortion of these children (or infanticide) pay for their moral high ground with higher taxes to pay for massive assistance to the parents?  Absolutely.



Our friends at Democrats for Life should either put language in the platform saying what remedies they would use to end abortion or they should end their bumper sticker movement.



The debate on immigration is as loud as it is so that it remains illegal.  Undocumented immigrants work in the shadows, unable to demand fair wages, unionization and fair working conditions - even respect in the workplace.  One phone call gets rid of any factory immigrant uprising, or even just insubordination, and DHS enforces discipline.  Get rid of the whole concept of documentation - and right to work to boot - and migrants will come for jobs because they really need doing - not to undercut native or union labor.  As for the Pope's visit - I like the optics of the Mass at the border being on the Mexican side, rather than the U.S. side.  It shows where the Church needs to identify.

Clinton & Trump Are on Their Way to the Nomination | National Catholic Reporter

Clinton & Trump Are on Their Way to the Nomination | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: President Dewey agrees with your analysis.



Super Tuesday is the next big test, Sanders is essentially ceding South Carolina.  He is fighting hard for Super Tuesday.  If he only wins Vermont, he's out.  If he wins more states than that and has good margins where he loses, the real test is New York.  Bernie was born there and Hillary was their Senator. It has constituencies both can relate to.  If Sanders wins, however, it will be seen as more of a crushing blow.  The betting window stays open until the Empire State's votes are counted.



On the GOP side, while I like Kasich, perhaps 2020 is his year.  Trump has a ceiling and I can't see him not finding it once Kasich leaves the race (Carson won't, but he won't be getting votes either and Cruz will run out of money).  This is probably Rubio's year - not that a Cubano helps that much with the Latino vote, although with Obama out of the race, trying for an ethnic first seems hollow for the GOP.  May money is still on Kasich.

Links for 02/20/1 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/20/1 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I disagree with Ms. Clark.  Mass extinctions happen every so often when either the natural world or a dominant species changes life for the other creatures.  They are not good or evil, they just are.  We have been in the middle of one for over 100 years.  Extinction is part of the life cycle of every species.  Our first victim was Neanderthal, who partially lives on in non-African people, but is not found on its own anywhere.  You either reproduce and find enough food, or you die. Even modern humans will be extinct one day, probably at the hands of a better version of ourselves.



If Massachusetts had an idiot for an Archbishop, the court ruling might have forced them to close schools, or at least stop lunch - however Sean O'Malley is no idiot.  In reality, same-sex civil marriage is just marriage - or civil marriage - and if heterosexuals in civil marriages are employed by the Church than any action against the gay ones is absolutely bigotry.  There is no other word for it, since we are as committed to the fact that civil marriage is not sacramental as we are to opposing gay marriage, which I do not oppose.  Indeed, we should let gays get married in Church, overturning was is essentially a middle school understanding of homosexuality in the Magisterium and in bishops.



Interesting list, but sometimes you have to stand for something, although people stand for different things.  Francis would stand for immigration rights.  The Catholic bishops think abortion (and apparently voting Democrat) is an intrinsic evil.  I totally agree with 4 and 5.  Doubt is absolutely essential, especially if one is sure one is right (like the Bishops and their supposed monopoly on natural law - which is a perversion of the entire concept).  Specify is essential in the pro-life debate.  The pro-life argument usually falls apart, at least politically, if one starts to specify real actions to be taken (for example, going after doctors but not mothers - which would actually be unconstitutional and would lead to self-induced abortion, as is happening where Trap laws are being enforced).  Sadly, on abortion, keeping the conversation - or at least the dueling monologues - going is how each side does its fundraising.  If compromise were reached on second trimester abortion policy and means to use government funds to prevent most abortions, neither side could raise much money.

Pope Francis & Donald Trump | National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis & Donald Trump | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: If ISIS attacked the Pope, he would willingly accept martyrdom and solidarity with their other victims.  Trump certainly does not know either this pope or the Christ.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis by MSW. MGB: Francis actually said that being a political animal (not necessarily a partisan one) is essential to being a human being - so he thanks Trump for acknowledging his humanity.



Francis left no doubt on how he feels about immigration policy, although its not his job to deal with details of the policy (for example, Sanders voted no on the Senate compromise because the guest worker provisions amounted to slavery - a legitimate position) or the election.  It has not gotten to the point where he will excommunication Trump voters, but he certainly did drop a hint on Trump and the entire anti-immigrant wing of the GOP.  Indeed, he might not even be happy with neo-liberal Hillary Clinton's stances.



Interestingly, he mentioned abortion not at all - and again - there are more nuances than most Democratic pro-lifers are willing to admit.  Being pro-life is a nice feel good label for some, but it is in the details that the problems begin - especially how you propose to protect unborn life and who has to talk to the police when you do?  Once you specify details, only the most rapid authoritarians keep using the label.  Once you start having to investigate miscarriages (and if you protect first trimester embryos, you do), support for doing so goes south quickly.



It will be interesting to see, if Trump is nominated, what happens with these statements around election time.  I wonder if Catholic Republicans will notice either now or in November - and whether the Bishops will be at all moved - or do they like being seen as being among the "winners?"

Links for 02/18/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/18/16 | National Catholic Reporter  by MSW. MGB: Justice Scalia brought the Federalist Society agenda to the Court.  He believed that state legislators were a better source of law than federally enforced equal protection principles.  Its a very conservative, rather than a democratic, view because local legislatures are often dominated by the local elites, like the Church, for example.



Archbishop Scicluna gets it right - as the problem was not just the cover-up but the muscular denials and legal muscle.  Thank Heaven Cardinal O'Malley has sent the lawyers packing, although they are still involved in the ham handed cases to deny their workers contraception.  They never learn.  When the lawyers and authoritarian bishops act together, no good can come of it, including for the bishops,.



There is a trailer for the Acton Institute's movie, if you want to see how low Catholic conservatives can go on economic issues.  I did not preview it, because my eyes would burn in my head.

Pope Francis v. the GOP | National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis v. the GOP | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The one place it would have been good for Francis to have visited on his U.S. trip was any meat processing plant employing large numbers of Latino workers.  He would have found that quite a few of them are not here legally, were brought here and sold to the plant by coyotes and would be arrested by the local sheriff if they tried to leave.  The reason for illegality is not to keep workers from coming in, but to keep them in bondage while they are here - and this is all so American consumers can buy chicken or bacon for a cheaper price.  This is what the Pope was talking about at the border.  While capitalists do benefit from the profits generated by this activity, it is the American consumer that is the biggest beneficiary of the pain of migrants - just like it is not the pimp who benefits from trafficked women, but the Johns who can rent and discard them, body and soul.



The GOP has an interesting problem - as do the bishops if they continue to use the excuse of abortion to maintain ties with the Republican elite.  The elites like their cheap workers.  While some would be fine with some kind of agricultural labor program with enough restrictions on workers to keep them in line, the majority like illegality because it has stronger tools.  Meanwhile, the GOP xenophobes and racists just want them out, as the illegality of their presence is more important to them than the morality of how they are being treated.  Of course, the Democrats are pussyfooting around the issue because their constituents like cheap food and they like campaign contributions as well.  What they should be arguing for are open borders and an end to right to work laws.  We will see how much immigrant labor is needed when both American and Mexican workers are paid a full union wage.

Links for 02/17/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/17/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The Vatican says the border Mass is moral, not political.  Perfect tone.  Also perfect was that he said the Mass on the Mexican side rather than on the American side.  He is identifying with the right side and it should make everyone think.  American Catholics like to think they own the pope.  Nope.



One important distinction from Ethics Class is that we are bound to be moral, not followers of the law  - especially when the Law is an Ass, which is the case on immigration and right to work.



Bishop Seitz gets it right, by focusing on the people who are on the move and whose rights are most important because their lives are in peril.  You can't call yourself pro-life and want a bigger wall.

The Collapse of the GOP | National Catholic Reporter

The Collapse of the GOP | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The GOP is imploding, although if the country follows the lead of New Hampshire, eventually John Kasich will be the nominee - at least for Vice President - and that means Ohio will be in the GOP column.  Cruz is horrid, Trump is a joke, Carson is worse and Rubio is not ready for prime time.  Kasich, like Sanders, is not a big outside the Beltway name - put that is why we spend months on primary contests.  Of course, experienced that he is, and even though he raised taxes in Ohio, he is also strongly linked to the anti-gay marriage and pro life publicity stunts.  As a reasonable public, I have no doubt that these are stands that he takes for convenience, while being personally friendly to gays and probably as agnostic about abortion as most men, unless he has daughters.  Without the social issues, he could compete with Hillary Clinton for leadership of a Wall Street friendly right of center party.  In some ways, these two are closer than Clinton and Sanders.



The contention that Sanders cannot win is ridiculous.  The states that elected the first African American president would surely also vote for a socialist (with the possible exception of Ohio if Kasich were the nominee).  That would make in closer, but would not make it impossible for Sanders.  Indeed, the obvious red baiting - or worse the fear of red baiting - should be called out as a thing of the past.  The kind of radical change (and Sanders is far from radical) that electing Sanders represents is likely just what this country needs.  When we got Social Security and recognized the Soviets diplomatically, we had FDR as president.  He was the first triangulator.  In those days, the labor movement was far more Marxist (as opposed to Catholic worker) and the Depression had caused the Marxists to be more aggressive in their advocacy, which FDR used to threaten Wall Street into supporting Social Security when the result could have been nationalizing industry.  Wall Street geeked.  Sanders will make them geek again - Wall Street will make Hillary geek - indeed, she will likely go to Goldman Sachs for another Treasury Secretary.  We tried that.  We got 2007.



We will always have two parties, but they may be a Democratic Leadership Party and a Democratic Socialist Party.  Both will be pro-choice, although that won't be an issue, as on Saturday we are burying the only justice who believed Roe should be overturned in such a way as to let the states decide the issue.  the hope for a SCOTUS victory is slim and will die with Justice Thomas, and with it abortion as a political issue will be consigned to fringes.  If abortion as an issue defines the GOP then the GOP is essentially dead.

Links for 02/16/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/16/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Didn't we eventually get Brennan out of the Fortas deal?  The GOP should be careful what it wishes for.



Scalia ruled against peyote use because he was an authoritarian - he believed that state democracy trumps individual rights unless that right is constitutionally listed.  It was really a tragic position.  The extant contraception case, however, is not about religious liberty (if it were, it would apply to the employees).  It's about religious power.  I am sure Scalia voted for the latter.  I am not sure Kennedy did, so this may still be settled law - but not in the way Silk or Winters want it to be.



Its long been an issue that Catholic colleges have taken in students who were not predicted to do well.  Sometimes they thrive but a lot of times they wash out.  Not sure why Newman wanted to make the wash out go faster (unless he was refunding tuition or freeing dorm space), but the heavy handed manner in which he went about it - and his insistence that he stay on is unworthy of a Catholic college president.  He needs to be fired.  It would be nice if we saw some ;arge scale student and faculty protest, just to underline the point.

The Consequences of Justice Scalia's Death | National Catholic Reporter

The Consequences of Justice Scalia's Death | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Deciding how the Court was voting based on who said what in arguments is an exercise fraught with peril.  Its not Scalia's vote that matters as much as Kennedy. Many cases may be 5-4 and will be 5-3 now.



On the union case, the anti-union forces don't know it, but they have just put forth the clinching argument for a closed shop in all cases.  If only that were an option in this case.



Evenwel might now be 4-4, but that would be because Scalia would have been in the five to support stare decesis.  I suspect this would be a unanimous decision.



Texas v. U.S. would not be close either.  The existing law is fairly clear and the GOP side loves executive power.



Zubik is an interesting case because it tests the boundaries between religious liberty and religious powe.  It also would not have likely been 5-4, but we will have to see the opinions.



The corporate power majority seems to be unanimous now.  Race seems to be 5-4, with Kennedy with the conservatives.  Gender idendtity was 8-1, with Scalia being the 1.  Overturning Roe was 7-2, with only Scalia and Thomas in the 2 and Roberts, Kennedy and Alito voting a centrist pro-Roe but anti-abortion as a right.  Still, I don't see anyone but Thomas and possibly Alito upholding trap laws.



McConnell is all bluster - because Hillary and Bernie may just appoint Obama and with an upcoming Democratic majority in the Senate, he will be confirmed and on the bench by inauguration day.  He might even swear in the new VP.  Facing that prospect, Mitch will geek and let someone be confirmed.  Note that it is the rhetorical prospect that will force him to reasonableness.



Roe did politicize the Court - but so did race - and it was the right wing who organized around extremist views in both cases.  While Bork was zapped for his paper trail, for the most part Democratic Senates have confirmed Republican justices.  The Appeallate courts have been where the controversy reigns - and both sides are guilty of holding up nominees who, for the most part, are quite similar anway.  Only rarely does an appelate judge who would overturn Roe slip through.  Today, Scalia would not even be on the appelate bench and his writings were a bit too over the top to not be consigned to oblivion, unlike some dissents that later became majority opinions - his won't.  Of course, he was both a leader and a reflection of right wing judicial activism, as typified by the Federalist Society. We won't see his kind again - thank Heaven.  Individuals are now just a bit safer from the tyranny of state majorities - including and especially those engineered by our Catholic bishops.

Links for 02/15/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/15/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The network of the nones is the Democratic Party.  As for the declining number of evangelicals, their do what a lot of people do - quit going to church after they leave home.  The second factor is that many hard core evangelcials are dying.  Its why the Florida primary in 2012 had fewere Republican voters than in 2008.



Trump's preacher as a child talked of branding and success - it was the Prosperity Gospel of his age and that he attracts believers in that heresy - which can also be called Christian Brahminism, is no surprise.



Any patina of Catholic respectability Donohue had has departed when he chose Trump over the Pope.  What is in his heart that he cannot see that? His version of the prosperity gospel has to do with the religious power of the Church - and I suspect Francis is raining on his parade by not diving into abortion and contraception questions with both feet.  One wonders how he would react to a Palestinian Jewish day laborer preaching about love above law?

Justice Antonin Scalia's Legacy | National Catholic Reporter

Justice Antonin Scalia's Legacy | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Re: Heller: One thing about the Second Amendment.  It was never about arming citizens against the government.  It was about Arming citizens against the Canadians.  That did not go so well in the War of 1812.

Justice Antonin Scalia's Legacy | National Catholic Reporter

Justice Antonin Scalia's Legacy | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: In Democracy Reborn, which concerns the passage of the 14th Amendment, Garrett Epps skewers Justice Scalia by name for his anemic understanding of this most important part of the Constitution.  It really means what it says about individual rights vs. state governments and is not just about freemen.  Nino totally gets it wrong on the history and intent - as does anyone who yearns for the easy answer of overturning Roe v. Wade and sending the matter back to the states.  The hope that Alito, Thomas, Roberts and Kennedy (or a Justice to be named later) would share such an awful and ahistoric view has kept the pro-life movement spinning its wheels on a fairy tail that only the Federalist Society believes.  The death of Scalia means that in fact the number of Justices favoring the Fedearlist Society option is now zero.  That is a good thing for the movement to realize.



The Right to Life movement has little else in the way of strategy, since there are enough states who would pass liberal abortion laws to stop any Human Life Amendment.  Trap laws, like the one in Texas, are about to be overturned by the four liberals and Justice Kennedy, so the only hope for any kind of abortion law modification is federal - and the need to compromise limits any such action to the second and third trimesters and will likely include a health objection.  I would suggest that the health objection be limited to those cases where the child is certain to die before natural birth - so that termination may be as soon as possible for the health of the mother - and then only through induction. Of course, such a compromise would end the debate at all but the fringes and it would kill the movement's ability to either fundraise or get out the vote for the Republicans.  That is why you will never see the GOP pass anything that is not an attempt to get the issue back before the Court - which is now an entirely useles strategy. Frankly, it always has been.

Links for 02/12/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/12/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I am wondering what the Donald's widely reported remarks on Francis and abortion will do to his Catholic vote? If it changes nothing, then all of those pro-choice Democrats need to follow suit and explain why Roe should never be overturned - and who the pro-life movement would never want a legislative solution - more because of its fundraising than the fact that there is no way equal protection principles would allow banning first trimester abortion to be easy (complications from miscarriage).



Not only are Camosy's comments on abortion and the Zhika virus not funny, but they miss the point of being pro-choice - abortions are neither prohibited nor mandated.  That is why, to her credit, Hillary Clinton went to a conference in China and condemned the One Child Policy.  It is hard to explain choice to those with a hierarchist or authoritarian frame of reference.  If the virus caused miscarriage - and sometimes it does - then abortion is safer for the mother than a full term stillbirth.  Because it does not always to this, however, the children should be allowed to be born - but the society must then be willing to lay out massive amounts of money to care for these short-lived children.  (Trump, at this point, would likely counsel infanticide).



I think Vlad and the Occupy committees that provided massive comments to Dodd-Frank implementors would disagree with Mark Silk's comments about Occupy being leaderless or ephemeral.  There was some follow-up by disaffected Wall Streeters who put in some hours on these projects.  What I find more exciting is that Move-On, the organization that pushed the left and formed the backbone of Obama for America, has also endorsed Sanders. Trump is a huckster using the rhetoric of the day.  Sanders means it, and that is a "huge" difference.  While this election could come entirely back to earth and feature Kasich v. Clinton, I hope it is more likely to feature Kasich v. Sanders.

Last Night's Dem Debate in Wisconsin | National Catholic Reporter

Last Night's Dem Debate in Wisconsin | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: What Wall Street money buys is a restriction on a belief in what is possible, which means no free tuition, no single payer health care (Wall Street likes the ACA as it is) and now write downs or cram downs on underwater mortgages.  The latter is where Sanders should be making some promises and contrasting this with how Clinton Secretary of the Treasury/Obama economic advisor(and Wall Street apparatchuk)  Larry Summers recommended against doing so, even though the Fed could easily buy up mortgage bonds, write down the debt amounts to market and reissue them.  It would be the one best thing that could be done for the middle and Sanders should do it and promise it, because Clinton would never do either.



As far as being pro-government or anti-government on abortion rights regarding party, MSW makes no sense.  Does he really want the kind of pro-government consistence that dictates who should be permitted to have a child?  Not the government's business - except to take away the economic reasons for having an abortion - like worries about going to college (free college tuition - including daycare services) and paying for food and housing (larger child tax credit).  I would trust a Democratic Socialist much more with these issues.  It turns out our secular Jewish candidate is the most Catholic.



Of course, the argument on abortion is a general election, not a primary argument - and someone needs to explain to the bishops - and to MSW - in legal detail why Roe v. Wade is soundly reasoned - and more importantly - even if you wish to give rights to the uborn - how repealing it is not a good idea.  He or she also needs to point out how much the pro-life movement is a Republican front, which demands much from its supporters and delivers nothing to the unborn.



Sanders knock out blow is nothing he can say in debates - the fact that Bill Clinton will likely have a West Wing office.  That is more a surrogates comment, to be soft pedaled but once its out there, its out there.  That opens the door to how welfare reform and mandatory minimums screwed over the African American community disproportionately.  Whether these matters come to the fore before the South Carolina primary or not is questionable - but no one is thinking any more that Senator Sanders and his movement will slip away if he does not do well there - except maybe some of the Clinton supporters and campaign staff.  They are sadly mistaken. Indeed, the African American support issue opens the door the Mr.Clinton's record and how he can't stop himself from acting like a white southern male sometimes.  Its not a positive for HRC, no matter how well her husband emotes.



Of course, HRC is more like the first President Bush than her husband - every qualified, not so good with that "vision thing."

Links for 02/11/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/11/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: There are a few issues here.  The first is whether the hospital has the right to say no to doing a procedure for ethical reasons.  It probably does - although it is usually the OB/GYN that makes these calls, they are so routine - so it is a quesiton of who gets privileges in a hospital.  Being a doctor is not being a minister, so Hossanah Tabor does not necessarily apply, but the ACLU is likely going to far on a case it is more likely to lose than win.



The next issue is whether the Church is right or not.  There are two main reasons for tubal ligation.  The first is because getting pregnant again could kill the mother - and having no sex on a regular basis is the only oher option.  Because marriage involves not fecundity but functionality, the Church is essentially ending the marriage by not permitting the procedure (in the unlikely event that the woman obeys the Church, which she should not).  The second is that the family just does not want any more kids.  Again, fecundity is not a requirement of marriage, functionality is.  In this case, though, economic reasons may predominate.



The Church needs to stop worrying about sex and instead fight for a large enough child tax credit (refundable with pay, of course) so that each new child is welcomed.  This is another case where an all male celibate priesthood is not up to the task of sorting these issues out.



On the Gilded Age question, the frame of reference is entirely wrong - it should be the advantages of the rich, not the organization of the poor.  Most industrial questions have been exported to Mexico, China and India - as well as Central America.  In many of these regions and countries, strong governments prevent the kind of organization found in late nineteenth century America.  There is little industrialization here and much of it is in southern factories employing undocumented workers who are keeping their heads down.  On the workers side, this is worse than 120 years ago.



On the golden side, advances in standards of living give everyone air conditioning, refrigeration, washers and dryers and indoor plumbing.  Almost everyone shares these advances - as well as smart phones and multiplex movies.  While there are differences in square footage between classes, there are few golden coated plumbing fixtures.  The difference, again, is power - which is as true now as then - and the number of the moderately rich has grown as the middle class has shrunk (the poor has also grown).  There is a political donor class and everyone else - and Bernie Sanders knows that quite well, thank you.

The Conscience of Marie Collins | National Catholic Reporter

The Conscience of Marie Collins | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Not to minimize the horror of priestly abuse, but it is complicated by the bad treatment and secrecy forced on them by the Church's lawyers, who serve the hierarchy and not the Church at large. This is what must be reformed.

Links for 02/10/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/10/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I was not aware that there were any modernist ecclesial structures in the Roman Church in the DC area.  Pity that, as if the bishops continue to take political positions on our behalf, we either need to be electing them or they should at least ask us what we think and why.  Some of the embarrassing gaffs on abortion, contraception and gay marriage might have been avoided.



The value of poetry, the criticism of it and of aesthetic issues as a whole is that there are no real right answers.  You find your tribe.  That means if you like Sci-Fi, you marry someone who likes it to, or at least tolerates it (the latter condition being necessary because it is a mostly male avocation - although those who have it are the Alpha Males of the future - an evolutionary conundrum).



Iowa Evangelicals, who are very conservative, are very different from New England Evangelicals, who are liberal congregationalists - like my ancestors.  Indeed, I am sure many of them are related to me in some form.  Not a lot of Pentecostals, which is what you will find in Iowa.



Relatives once rented Union Station for a Bat Mitzvah, which is the opposite of renting out a Cathedral.  Sadly, the rent is likely necessary to keep the lights and heat on, although I hope this does not happen at Catholic Cathedrals.

Trump Wins NH; Millions of Catholics Cover Their Heads in Ashes | National Catholic Reporter

Trump Wins NH; Millions of Catholics Cover Their Heads in Ashes | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Many of us did think Sanders would catch on.  The desperate red baiting coming from the Clinton camp justified it.  Hillary's entire agenda cannot be a historic milestone.  Unlike Obama, that would be an affirmative action victory - and she brings Billy Boy back to the White House with her.  Eight years of him was nice, but it is enough.



Trump support will keep going until a more rational voice is found.  My bet is that this voice will be Kasich.  Rubio and Cruz are not ready for prime time and no one wants a third Bush in their lifetime.  I'd rather have his nephew Billy of Access Hollywood. Of course, SC is perfect for Cruz, but there are some big state primaries coming up where Kasich should start shining.  He is the only adult in the GOP room.

Links for 02/09/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/09/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I wonder how many of the New Hampshire "nones" are former Catholics - as well as New York transplants.  I bet some are also Jewish.  Being a none seems to be like being an independent.  The reality is, however, that most independents vote with their old parties in the general election and most nones go back to their native faith to mark marriages and deaths.



The Whole Life Movement looks suspiciously like the Seamless Garment of Life that Cardinal Bernardin preached.  Of course, if one accepts that the pro-life movement as currently constituted is a branch of the Republican Party - and always has been - it is both an improvement and an equivocation.  Can the pro-life movement be saved from its current associations by going Whole Life?  I really doubt it, since the two have never been separate.



Regardless of the prioritizing of finance over service, the main fault in Flint was the lack of scientific rigor in making the switch to Flint River water.  Either the hydrologist in charge was incompetent or he warned the politicians what would happened and was shouted down (or knew and let it happen without raising his voice - which would be even worse). I will be interested to see which it is.  As far as responding - the obvious need is to fix it - even if the majority of the cost is debt serviced and added to the next 50 years of water bills.  Its not like the lead pipe did not need replacing anyway.  Control boards are often cover for these types of expenses and fiscal reorganizations - to not do so is authoritarianism for its own sake.



That conservative elites have disdain for working class voters is not new.  What is sad is that those working class voters are also conservative and are being manipulated with social issues, like abortion (see above) to get them to ignore that disdain extends to treating them like the control board treats Flint.

McElroy on Faith

McElroy on Faith by MSW. MGB: Everything is an act of discipleship.  It would be wonderful if state based solutions to poverty and mental illness actually worked and did so compassionately - but because they are not so perfect, the Church must enter into that arena - either as a provider or a complete alternative.  Getting to that point should be the goal of both political and ecclesial reform (including using lay deacons to administer services and more democracy overall).



Faithful citizenship implies solidarity - for to be a citizen is to be part of the group.  Citizenship also means, however, to have a sphere where solidarity need not exist - where the citizen is free to make his or her own decisions, like whom to marry and even who to sleep with.  The Church needs to really understand that or American citizenship will always vex it.  Note that is something is outside the public sphere, there is no justifying it - its simply off the table.



The bishop's analysis on the cooperation with intrinsic evil parallels August Fagothy's treatment of whether one may withhold taxes because abortion is allowed (or funded).  Fagothy says that because the impact is remote, tax evasion is not only not required, I seem to remember that it is not allowed.  Of course, the extent to which some bishops have prostituted themselves to the Republican Party by distorting this teaching for its political benefit is the extent that they are lying, which is an intrinsic evil.  As I have said before, abortion is not an issue (and no one is talking mandatory assisted suicide).  Poverty is still the ultimate life issue, as it should be - although I can't see voting Republican if you accept that.



I agree with MSW that Bishop McElroy is a rock star.  I hope that America reprints his article closer to election time.

Links for 02/08/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/08/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: As a left-libertarian commentator, I have always advocated for employee-owned firms and the Church to take over most governmental functions - not just for ideology but because they work better and are more accountable that way - of course I also favor a more humanistic morality and more democratic Church.  I would love it if more of my fellow lefties agreed with me.



Not exactly sure why NARAL Pro-Choice America would be offended by the Doritos ad, which seamed to win the day.  Fetuses do react, though not to Doritos.  I don't think Frito-Lay was making a claim for fetal intelligence, though it seems the fetus self-aborted for a snack.  As for the Kevin Hart commercial, you have to be a father of a daughter to see why its funny.



Thanks to Camosy for pointing out what I would have after I published my post on Longnecker, that the ETWN voters guide is not dogma.  Of course, I went further and explained why abortion is not really an issue at all, since most GOP efforts are made to draw a SCOTUS case to repeal Roe - and the votes simply are not there to do so (there are only two anti-Roe justices and they are old).  Any real change involves compromise and any compromise really ends the issue and pro-life fundraising (including Priests for Life). Of course, I am sure Senator Sanders appreciates the shout out - I hope we can bring it to his attention.  Whomever wins the Democratic nomination should really point out the hucksterism in the pro-life movement, which is made people like Richard Viguery wealthy and saved few embryoes from abortion.

Congress Wrestles with Puerto Rican Debt | National Catholic Reporter

Congress Wrestles with Puerto Rican Debt | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Bernie Sanders would certainly beat Donald Trump, Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio - and the capacity for Hillary Clinton to blow a lead has already been demonstrated, so a Sanders victory is not impossible.  Sadly, Puerto Rico needs help today - but so do under-water borrowers in the U.S. whose mortgages exceed the value of their homes.  Both deserve relief - which makes it hard for P.R. because the bill suddenly becomes very controversial.  The best thing P.R. can do is not pay the debt, which invites a control board to be set up.  Control Boards can be manipulated to solve the basic problems of a political economy.  Marion Barry played the Control Board over Washington like a violin (I know, I was part of the government).  The President will likely put someone on the board who will be sensative to the human concerns.  Whether that person is more than a token voice depends on how they view their job.  Hopefully President Obama can find someone with the courage to push back, but default is the only way to get things moving.

Links for 02/05/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/05/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Why do you give sites like Patheos the time of day while ignoring equally obscure characters on the left?  As for Fr. Longnecker's screed, he could have ended the sentence starting with "Abortion is not" with the word "issue" because it isn't one.  Aside from various unconstitutional Trap Laws that will soon be repealed by the SCOTUS, there really are no legitimate debating points on abortion - hence no issue.  Indeed, sites like Patheos would scream and holler if Obama and the Democrats compromised on second and third trimester questions - as it would be impossible for the entire right to life movement to fundraise or raise the issue in elections.



Roe will never be overturned - doing so would require undoing all equal protection law - including law that protects the Catholic Church in the South.  Of course, it also protects contraception, private sodomy and gay marriage, so I can see how some Catholics and Federalists would love all that progress to go away - but it won't and it shouldn't.  There are seven justices on the Court keeping Roe and equal protection in place and the Republic would be better off if the other two were to die and not be replaced with Justices like themselves.  Roberts and Alito were thought to be pro-Roe, but it did not turn out that way.  No Justice who is not could ever be confirmed, so from a presidential standpoint, there is no abortion issue.



Treasury and the Fed could do more to bail out Puerto Rico, but the essential pieces are the Control Board (sadly, like Flint) and bankruptcy reform (which could also include allowing cram downs on first mortgages).  Hopefully Bernie takes this up - I don't see Hillary challenging Wall Street and the vulture capitalists who give her money.  If PR went strong for Bernie, she might get the message that she is doing something wrong.  I actually think he is their only hope - so if you are concerned about P.R., feel the Bern!



Click on the appropriate link to see something nice for a Holocaust Hero.  Sadly, there were few such Heroes for the Porajmos (the Roma Holocaust).

Last Night's Dem Debate in NH | National Catholic Reporter

Last Night's Dem Debate in NH | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: On Sanders, free tuition and single payer health care are not necessarily moral issues - they are practical concerns.  We have assisted tuition and health insurance which meets the moral necessity argument.  Now, if Sanders went after the part of the ACA which had the Department of Education offer student loans directly - and pointed out that their generous forebearance options allow former students to build up debt based on capitalized interest - and that he would forgive that capitalized interest because it can probably never be paid - that would be a moral argument.  If he made financiers write down underwater mortgages, that would be a moral argument.  We are trying to get him to say that.



As for Clinton, she likes Wall Street types and likes taking their money.  If she were to call them devils, that would be a lie.  Love her or hate her, she is a neoliberal elitist.  The real elephant in the room is Bill Clinton back in the White House.  They promise he will stay out of the Oval, but does anyone really believe it, given the fact that he let her in?  Sanders should stress that too.  If he makes this election a referendum on Clinton policy, he wins the vote of all poor people.  As to suggestions on how she might win - I would never dream of making them.

Links for 02/04/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/04/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: A book is a great time to both share and work out thoughts for an author - even the Pope.  Sadly, while he goes to great lenghts to point out mercy in forgiveness, I suspect he misses the point that mercy can include realizing things are not sinful, like gay love, when other less merciful beings insisted that they are.  I think he does, however, get the point that mercy for the many may involve condemning the few who exploit them - and calling the few out is also a mercy to them.



Linking the Ordinate of an Anglican break away diocese to the Chair of St. Peter is rubbing their nose in it.  Frankly, I think we as Church have more to learn from that part of the Anglican Communion they are running from - especially on whom we ordain.



I think Notre Dame is overdoing it.  This is not the Pope's first trip to Latin America.  Still, he will be treated like a rock star and certainly has a large list of issues he can mention, since Mexico is going through tough times right now, many due to the illegality of the American drug market (how many liquor shoot ups have we had since prohibition ended?)  May God keep him safe.  I think he will, since there is much yet for him to do.



I wrote separately about the Puerto Rican gun case.  Here is what I said 3 weeks ago on this case: Puerto Rico is sovereign because it can leave. On the financial issue, if it leaves, it can have its own currency and print money to pay back its creditors - or default without a control board. Until it leaves, however, it is linked to the U.S. the same way Canada is linked to the U.K. - with the Congress having more say in our relationship than Parliment does over Canada, although the Canadian head of state is the representative of the Queen - the governor of Puerto Rico has no connection to presidential appointing power. The interesting case in parallel is the District of Columbia, which is the only territory that cannot decide to unilaterally kick the U.S. out. In DC, the prosecutor is the U.S. Attorney, so all cases are essentially federal - allowing no separate local trial for the same offense

MSW v. the Catholic Left | National Catholic Reporter

MSW v. the Catholic Left | National Catholic Reporter  by MSW. MGB: Catholic politicians who are pro-choice should not be defended.  They should speak for themselves rather than hiding behind some pseudo-constitutional commitment to pluralism.  In truth, whatever you feel about abortion, repealing Roe v. Wade is not the route to diminish it.  Catholic politicians who are usually also lawyers should explain that to the bishops publicly and in great detail, regardless of any fear that Catholic voters may rebel against what would look like an act of disrespect - when instead it would be an act of political courage.  Don't expect non-Catholic pro-choicers to wade into this if the Catholic ones won't talk honestly with their own bishops.



On gay marriage, only fecundity, which is not a deal breaker in marriage, is missing for gays - and they can adopt or have often had kids previously.  My neice is a step child of my brother when he married his husband, for example.  Thinking their sex life is icky is not a moral argument.



As I stated yesterday, liberal Catholic morality does come from our view of Calvary as a vision quest rather than a blood offering to an angry God.  It is for us, not for God's benefit.  Of course, this does not justify abortion - but justifying abortion and permitting it because a criminal approach - even a fetal rights approach (which brings with it a crimial approach) is simply not a good idea.  There is nothing in the gospel that mandates a police state on any isue, from alcohol prohibition to abortion.  Indeed, the Torah mandates abortion when adultery is suspected - because adultery was as much a property crime as it was a sexual offense.



It seems that abortion has taken its place among those who would regard women as property - and rejecting that impression is the reason many are adamant about abortion as a right.  Still, you don't have to agree with them to think criminalization won't work - while throwing money at families with kids likely would.  Of course, it is at this point that the pro-lifers start talking about personal responsibility for paying for your own children - at which point the pro-choicers yell "Checkmate!"



Don't talk about solidarity unless you include solidarity with a woman who has decided she must have an abortion - and that it is not about the inconvenience of pregnancy.  Don't talk solidarity until you are willing to defy Rome about ordaining women - as the suitable vessels argument is purely sexism.  Until a woman priest - indeed a married lesbian woman priest - is the voice of the pro-life movement, it will continue to be regarded as sexist.



Of course, the fun debates occur when we talk about essential late term abortions.  This is where the hierarchy is not even open to a therapeutic abortion when the child is doomed - never to survive pregnancy - while the woman cannot live - or even would be better off if the pregnancy were ended now.  Prelates sometimes seem that God will strike them head if they ascent to the reasonableness of abortion in such circumstances - or maybe they are worried about retribution from fellow prelates.  Either way, their God is an Ogre - not because they believe God would damn the woman but because they believe God would damn them.  Their thoughts on God are not worthy of God - and certaily not of Jesus.



Of course, there are those who think even publicly disputing this is mortally sinful.  They are wrong.  I go to Communion and Jesus is perfectly happy with me doing so.

Links for 02/03/1 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/03/1 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Pilate was an imperialist who deserves Hell, however Christ desiring their salvation does not overcome their ability to reject it.  Whether the cosmic drama, as people call it, give the damned a second chance is something for our future - though it is all but a moment in the eyes of God.



I am not sure why one is afraid when people who have been suffering for thrity years and who are dependent on parents who are probably soon to die themselves might want to join their parents rather than having to live where they cannot cope - unless one believes God is Ogre who will damn them for it.  Its not like their parents or the government are mandating their extinction - now that would be scary.  Should they have to jump through some hoops, including trying a new mode of living in semi-autonomy, before they take such a step - but its their step.  Punishing them for trying to end their lives on their own by criminalizing suicide - now that is scary unless it just leads to treatment.  Autism is not depression, however - and if they are not diagnosed as bipolar, again, its their call and none of MSW's business.



I am sure that today's statement from Chicago has elicited howls from Rigali -wherever he is hiding for eventual justice - and his successor in Philadelphia. Bravo to the priest in question who trusted in the judgment of his Archbishop.  Of course, I would allow that priest a husband while still fulfilling his duties.

Kaveny v. First Things | National Catholic Reporter

Kaveny v. First Things | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: First, let me repeat what I wrote in response to Kaveny: The politicization of the Church predates Francis by a long way, including the suppression of liberation theology and the one man orthodoxy team named Rigali back in that era. Of course, one can always look back from there - all the way to the Book of Revelation - which was a reaction to the Council at Jerusalem and the whole Judasization controversy in the early Church.



Of course First Things would rebel against Kaveny.  They would like what I say worse.  We have our fights - indeed in ancient times they sometimes became blood feuds over basic beliefs.  We have mostly gotten past that. For some, moral politics is part of the political order without morals, as Reno demonstrates.  Of course, Reno may be compartmentalizing - with all of First Things - for political but not moral ends - but that gives the wrong impression to those of the faith who take their words seriously on moral matters.  On abortion and the GOP's Catholic project this means undertaking the appearance of a moral crusade but never wishing to carry it out - which is using the pro-life movement as an instrument of politics and deceipt.  That's really slimy.  Like the Cruz campaign.



 I will agree that all moral issues lead back to Calvary - but the main issue is whether or not God is an Ogre.  If we are afraid that doing the wrong thing for the right reason (such as allowing a late term abortion when the child could never be born anyway) - or worse that allowing such a thing will be damnable then God is an Ogre who demanded a blood sacrifice to save humanity.  I suspect First Things falls into that camp.  If, however, you believe that Calvary was God abandoning himself on the cross in moral agony because that is what it took for the deity to feel like one of his creatures - in other words that it was a vision quest - and that morality is meant to serve human happiness in this world - including letting the fetus die, or even inducing labor very early - so the mother may live - then perhaps what you say is morally useful for both ethics and worship.

Links for 02/02/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/02/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: That is good advertising in Flint for the plumbers, who stand to gain big from a crash program to swap out all lead pipe from mains to meters.  This should actually be done everywhere and be funded both by disaster money and bonds to be redeemed with future water bills over a long period of time.  Sometimes solidarity must meet good public finance.  OK, all the time.



That there is really no issue to be dealt with on abortion is where journalism has abrogated its responsibility.  Roe is going nowhere.  Of the three justices that might be replaced soon, two are of the opinion that Roe should be overturned - the other seven won't do so.  Abortion is, therefore, a general election issue only - and the only issue there is whether something can be done to add some time limits to the nascent partial birth abortion ban (now there is a story - a SCOTUS decision and not one prosecution since) and to apply the same hard limits to other procedures - using the proper 14th Amendment language to justify it.  Of course, all of that would bring a real end to the issue (the recent Trap Law cases will likely be reversed by the Court under the undue burdens test - proving the entire recent abortion effort was about looking busy for the movement).  Obama actually promised to deal with this issue.  Now that he has no more elections ahead of him, perhaps he will - although the Right to Lifers will run away quickly - since settlement hurts their fundraising.



I am sorry, but adding Eucharistic piety simply confuses the discussion on climate change.  Indeed, it is one step away from asking God to fix what we have broken - which we can and can't do.  God is not going to work a natural miracle here - what He will do is to give us the strength to work together through Him in the Eucharist.  Of course, we seek God's help for our common work for the environment OUTSIDE the Eucharist as well, since more than the the Church is needed for this effort.  I have no problem with God providing inspiration to an atheist to help the common work, even without seeking the conversion of that atheist, who can make up his own mind and demonstrate his Love (which comes from God, even if he does not know it) through his actions.

The Iowa results: Clinton wins small, the GOP has a three-way race | National Catholic Reporter

The Iowa results: Clinton wins small, the GOP has a three-way race | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Cruz won by pointing out the ugly truth that Donald Trump is pro-choice - and Trump did not flip-flop on this, much to his credit.  Still, pandering to the pro-life lobby works well in Iowa and the South and has some effect in New Hampshire, but there are a lot of Republicans who say they don't like abortion but won't do anything about it and none of them will be voting for Cruz.  Not sure they will be voting for Rubio either, who takes on those voters on the conservative side who don't think Cruz is a nice man.  He also tries to be the establishment guy.  Not sure he can make both work,.  Also not sure if one of the lesser candidates won't surprise us all in New Hampshire.  I am not sure why anyone would get out so soon after putting so much in.  Of course, if Thompson had gotten out before South Carolina in 2008, Huckabee might have been the nominee, winning SC and Florida.



Four county convention equivalents out of almost 1400 is not a loss.  It's a tie and it produces the same number of state delegates.  A loss by four is no less fatal for Sanders than a win by him is to Clinton in New Hampshire (or New York - actually, if HRC lost New York, she should hang it up).  Bernie won the right to fight for as long as the grass roots keep coming to hear him speak and work the polls for him on primary or caucus day - and that could be a long time.  I just mailed my voter registration to cancel out MSW's vote for Hillary about an hour ago.

Links for 02/01/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 02/01/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The politicization of the Church predates Francis by a long way, including the suppression of liberation theology and the one man orthodoxy team named Rigali back in that era.  Of course, one can always look back from there - all the way to the Book of Revelation - which was a reaction to the Council at Jerusalem and the whole Judasization controversy in the early Church.



I don't think reactionaries start off being reactionary - it is when people demand change that the cultural wars start - although the resistance to change by reactionaries is certainly the reason it happens.



I fully expect HRC, if elected, to have Treasury Secretary from Goldmann-Sachs.  If I thought she would make Elizabeth Warren the Treasury Secretary, I might not be voting for Jill Stein if Bernie loses.  The other key post in this is the Attorney General, who can also obstruct prosecutions - or pursue them.  Elliot Abrams, scandals or not, comes to mind.

Countdown in Iowa | National Catholic Reporter

Countdown in Iowa | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: That Hillary is still regarded as the front runner is evident from the fact that MSW does not do a similar analysis of the Sanders campaign.  By the way, Sanders has grass roots campaigns in every state - and will contest them all the same way Obama did.  The questions for her really are whether she is contesting them all as well and how voters think about having Bill Clinton back in the White House - especially since progressives don't really look back at his presidency with the nostaligia that some Democratic Party officials do.  If they think that Bill will be anywhere near the Oval Office in her administration, her campaign is doomed.  If she wants to hang his welfare reform around her neck, her vaunted African American support may just move somewhere else.  Same for Wall Street.



On Trump and Cruz - the former is an authoritarian - which is why he leads among Iowa Republicans, especially in Steven King territory.  Cruz is a whacky libertarian - known mostly for shutting down the government is a libertarian publicity stunt which would have been worse for them had Iowa farmers not gotten crop support payments in time.  Rubio voters probably voted for Cruz in Iowa - and if he wins he will take voters from Cruz, not Trump.  The real surprise candidate would be John Ellis Bush - who could benefit from the Trump - Cruz feud (I can't see how that Iowa voters, given a Florida former governor and a Florida former House Speaker from the same era would not pick the Governor).



The lesson from 2004 was that in 2003, I spoke with a DNC staffer on the train who said Kerry was going to be the nominee.  I am sure there is some RNC staffer in the know about this who knows who the precinct leadership will be picking.  By the way, I have a friend in Dubuque who is a precinct leader who is backing Bernie - but he may be an outlier.  Film at 11.