Links for 03/16/16 | National Catholic Reporter

Links for 03/16/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Its not Cecile Richards I fear with an HRC presidency, its the influence of Bill Clinton (and Larry Summers) - who helped start an expansion that taxed the rich and made the middle class better off - even though some of his other policies tried very hard to go the other way - and did.  As far as Trump, its not the GOP that's the problem per se, its the members, including Catholics, who have been emboldened by the anti-immmigrant feelings of much of the party - including Catholics like James Sensenbrenner - and those GOP Tea Party members who denied the legitimacy of our nation's first black president.  Working class Catholics, while formerly the victims of discrimination, still are quite capable of overt bigotry.  This is just another example.



As a judicial prospect, the pro-life movement died the second that Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito voted with Justice Kennedy to uphold the partial birth abortion law on the basis of the Commerce Clause, rather than joining Scalia and Thomas in doing what was on the pro-life agenda - using the case to overturn Roe.  Robert Christian is being funny in hoping that the GOP would support a pro-life Democrat (whatever that is) to prove they are not the handmaids of the GOP.  They obviously are. (and, no, the GOP will not retain the Senate)  Indeed, being pro-life is like being pro-apple pie - at least until people start defining what they mean by "protecting" the unborn.  Until they argue for specifics, the movement is all public relations.  Of course, with a 7-1 pro-Roe majority on the Court, the pro-life movement must win in Congress (not state legislatures) - and even with a majority, it won't get specific on what anti-abortion legislation looks like.  Until it does, it really is only a GOP recruitment tool.



Trump is winning.  It would not be so easy for him if others had not whipped the GOP into a racist frenzy.  He started on Third Base and thinks he hit a triple, the story of his life.  While he could start really cleaning up (or losing), he will probably be close enough for a few unpledged delegates to give him a first ballot victory.  It all depends on how his rivals deal with their delegates - when they release them and whether they release them to someone else.  Who the delegates are makes a difference as well.  If they are party regulators, then on the second ballot, they just might listen to establishment opinion and go with Kasich, although my guess is that Cruz won't release his in that way - and everyone is unpledged on the second ballot.  We will see who goes to Trump or how many go away from Trump if he does not win a first ballot victory.  He still has the bandwagon effect going his way - but will the non-Trump delegates be moved? We won't know until Cleveland.