https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/links-13119
Fox does not like people proving them wrong. What will their viewers think? Unless there has been a decision to tell the truth, it is that we won't see Trumka on again. Maybe they thought there as a P in front of the K?
There are some who refuse to ignore our Lord's command to not swear on his name, although I doubt that this was the motivation of the Chair. It is not important, especially for the election. It might even gain votes.
As for Brisbee, don't give Trump any ideas.
The rest comes from comments I have already tweeted.
It is time to arrest Trump. He has to be a foreign agent to go after his own spymasters, unless this is all an act. Maybe Herman Cain was regailling him with stories of his campaign and Trump responded "Hold my beer." Can anyone really be that stupid? Enquiring minds want to know. Many of us can distinguish between entertainment and reality, but Enquirer and Fox viewers, especially Trump, have not gotten the joke. Sadly, some in the Border Patrol have not either.
As everyone says, when Trump is convinced of something, it is impossible to change his mind. This is also true of Puerto Rico, which I am sure he thinks is a foreign country. Give it Statehood and he will notice six additional electoral votes against him.
I answered Krugman's tweet. It shows he, like MSW, seems to be carrying Warren's water. Be that as it may, I did comment there. I said that there are two sides. One is that we need to shift to consumption taxes exempt for the upper-middle and upper classes and dedicate this funding to war (nuclear, sea and overseas, which are often debt funded), net interest on the debt (because to get out of a hole, stop digging) and debt reduction, starting with the Social Security Trust fund.
This will lay bare the fact that only tax increases will get us out of the debt long term and that owing debt is only possible because of the income tax. We do not have a head tax, so debt liability is a function of taxes paid,. The current ratio is that one dollar of income tax translates into thirteen dollars of debt. This will make it apparent that they can pay off the debt now or let their children do it (and not mine).
The other option is to do a wealth tax and pay the debt off very fast, taking all wealth over 13 times the income tax levy, with a floor on this tax. Allow debt held and cancelled to be considered a tax payment, giving refunds to those whose bond equity is more than their obligation. Sady, most of the wealthy could simply write a check.
Howard Who? Of course, if this goes around, he might use it as a slogan.
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Kamala Harris is a candidate operating in the pre-Trump mode
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/kamala-harris-candidate-operating-pre-trump-mode
Most campaigns need to start with name recognition. She has certainly done that. In time, most candidates face the issues and develop policies they did not need before this. As long as people are writing Kamala instead of Kamela, she has done her job. That Michael Sean's opposition comes mostly from the haters is unfortunate. The fact that there is so much information means that the usual suspects fear her more than anyone else. She is certainly the Democrat who asks the tough questions during hearings. That scares the powers that be.
Circumstances being what they are with Trump, she is likely auditioning to be Biden's pick for VP if Pelosi vacates the Speakership and installs him to take over, assuming Pence is indicted and resigns. She could not do this for Pelosi for Electoral College reasons (which could be dealt with). Senator Warren does not balance a Pelosi on age, so she is out. If the goal is to have a ticket that can smoothly win in 2020 (so God forbid she tap Hillary). Harris does that.
Most campaigns need to start with name recognition. She has certainly done that. In time, most candidates face the issues and develop policies they did not need before this. As long as people are writing Kamala instead of Kamela, she has done her job. That Michael Sean's opposition comes mostly from the haters is unfortunate. The fact that there is so much information means that the usual suspects fear her more than anyone else. She is certainly the Democrat who asks the tough questions during hearings. That scares the powers that be.
Circumstances being what they are with Trump, she is likely auditioning to be Biden's pick for VP if Pelosi vacates the Speakership and installs him to take over, assuming Pence is indicted and resigns. She could not do this for Pelosi for Electoral College reasons (which could be dealt with). Senator Warren does not balance a Pelosi on age, so she is out. If the goal is to have a ticket that can smoothly win in 2020 (so God forbid she tap Hillary). Harris does that.
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Links for 1/29/19
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/links-12919
Trump is not being impeached because he is a bad leader or a thumb fingered idiot (both are true) but because he committed obstruction of justice in order to cover himself for something and continues to do so (if unwittingly - and he is witless - then he should be censured and removed if he knew what he was doing), campaign irregularities to cover up infidelity (which could have been settled quickly with a fine), violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by dealing with unsavory oligarchs and becoming a Russian Asset, again unwittingly, as I am sure he thought he was controlling Putin when the reverse was true. Whether Tom Steyer's ads hurt or help getting rid of Trump is immaterial. If he is a criminal, his popularity is irrelevant/ An unpopular president is easier to remove, but that is not why you remove him (hear the echo? If anything, leadership is too cautious, as is Mueller. If he is a Russian Asset and there is proof, he needs to be arrested now.
I am shocked, shocked I say, that rich neo-liberals would think that they know better than the public on whether they should be taxed. More seriously, low tax rates on the CEO and Mega-owner class give them an incentive to get even richer by saving labor costs. If that savings were taxed away, This eventually cuts purchasing power so much that the economy requires large worker debt loads to grow. More importantly stil, at least for them, because the tax used to pay back the debt without crashing the economy is the income tax (FICA goes to an insurance fund, although it is borrowed from)
Because we finance war with deficit spending, to get out of debt we must make the rich pay,. The same is true for reimbursing the Baby Boom in retirement (in other words, now) and in shifting from rolling over interest payments to new debt. Payment of an income and inheritance surtax on all income received over $100,000 to fund these things while adopting a Goods and Services Tax and an Employer paid VAT for discretionary and social spending,will demonstrate why the rich need to pay more now,..We do not have a per capita direct tax. It was never actually implemented though written into the Constitution.
The Sixteenth Amendment allowed a progressive income tax, which provided a revenue stream that could handle a larger debt. The liability for the debt, therefore, is not per capita but a function of income tax paid. Currently, $1 paid means $13 owed in debt. $10,000 paid means owing $130,000 in debt. $100,000 paid means a debt load of $1,300,000, etc. If the rich do not pay this, their children will; not the entire next generation - just their progeny (with interest). That should provide enough incentive for adequate taxation. This is a better alternative to the Wealth Tax proposed by Senator Warren.
Sadly, unless Pelosi picks Warren or Senator Harris to take over the Speakership should Pence resign under indictment, Warren will not be on the ticket in 2020. The youth of Harris balances the age of Pelosi, Biden or, God forbid, Clinton. That Pelosi and Harris are both from the Bay Area means Biden is the best candidate to succeed Trump after impeachment, with Harris, not Warren, as the VP. Of course, if Pence stays on, Warren would be the ideal candidate in 2020, with Harris as VP,
Political Scientists do not suggest strategy (regrettably for designing fiscal policy solutions). They merely interpret the facts on the ground. They do a good job with elections. Don't blame the messenger. Of course, they are not known for out of the box thinking either, nor is the media or the legal profession. The truth is that Trump will be in jail (or dead from the shame) for every reason cited above. We will have either Pence (who has a Gerry Ford problem, even if there is no pardon) or an incumbent Democrat. As long as the new president performs well and it is clear why Trump had to go (I would hope being a spy is enough reason for all but the MAGA devotees), he or she can skate to a win (but will make it look like a close race to get out the vote). That the Senate will change hands is an easy call. The House fell to the Democrats even without saying the word impeachment because the voters did. Democracy works.
The reason Hillary lost to Obama in 2008 and to Trump in 2016 is because her entire campaign message was that it was her turn. There was no vision other than empowering Democratic women, even though it is their turn. Her other mistakes were flubbing the Partial Birth Abortion question (and Trump's readiness to raise it and the Bishop's to exploit it - almost as if she was hacked - and ignoring the demographics of the Obama win, which mobilized Black men in record numbers and did not get excited by either Clinton or Tim Kaine. Had either one of those things changed, we would not have a Trump problem. If the Mueller probe reveals Russian assistance on Partial Birth Abortion, then the Pro-Life Directorate of the USCCB has a big Trump problem. Things which are done in the dark are revealed in the light.
One student wearing a MAGA hate says nothing about the movement. A group of them wearing such headgear is a sign that the pro-life movement has always been about electing Republicans and enriching fundraisers. It has nor can it do anything for the unborn. Pro-life Democrats need to drop the idea of criminalizing abortion and stress relying on tax incentives or direct aid for parents to provide for the living wage mandated in the Magisterium. Of course, such a stance is unwelcome in the rest of the movement, which is all we need to know, even without MAGA hats. Move the March to April 15 to show that attempts to overturn Roe are futile.
Labor is resurgent because the lot of workers is worse and people want unions, probably in spite of the efforts of Republican Administrations to deny union rights. Some are turned off by their association with the Democrats and their teacher union base, especially those who serve as delegates to the national conventions. Labor and Catholic candidates and officials need to educate members, voters and the Church about the nature of the GOP pro-life movement, with or without MAGA hats.
Brooks and Winters reference to turn of the last century's ethicists is the height of obscurity. Jesus made clear that self-reliance has no place in the Kingdom of God, either hear or on Earth when he spoke about the rich being as unlikely to understand it as it is to get a camel through the gate called the Eye of the Needle. Doing so requires joint efforts and trust in God for the camel to behave. The only reason that is also obscure is a failure of interpretation by theologians, priests and bishops (especially the latter) who like self-reliance so that they don't get it either.
Speaking of obscurity, the American press does not cover Africa and political science and history curricula rarely mention the motherland. The BBC, however, does a much better job. The election of Obama, whose father was a noted Kenyan revolutionary figure (despite his personal demons) likely got people noticing that Africa is big and complicated and merits our attention I had the advantage of several close continental African friends and currently have a Ghanan roommate who I mourned with when Kofi Annan died. I actually know who Charles Taylor was because I pay attention. Most don't.. My hat is tipped to those that do as well.
Trump is not being impeached because he is a bad leader or a thumb fingered idiot (both are true) but because he committed obstruction of justice in order to cover himself for something and continues to do so (if unwittingly - and he is witless - then he should be censured and removed if he knew what he was doing), campaign irregularities to cover up infidelity (which could have been settled quickly with a fine), violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by dealing with unsavory oligarchs and becoming a Russian Asset, again unwittingly, as I am sure he thought he was controlling Putin when the reverse was true. Whether Tom Steyer's ads hurt or help getting rid of Trump is immaterial. If he is a criminal, his popularity is irrelevant/ An unpopular president is easier to remove, but that is not why you remove him (hear the echo? If anything, leadership is too cautious, as is Mueller. If he is a Russian Asset and there is proof, he needs to be arrested now.
I am shocked, shocked I say, that rich neo-liberals would think that they know better than the public on whether they should be taxed. More seriously, low tax rates on the CEO and Mega-owner class give them an incentive to get even richer by saving labor costs. If that savings were taxed away, This eventually cuts purchasing power so much that the economy requires large worker debt loads to grow. More importantly stil, at least for them, because the tax used to pay back the debt without crashing the economy is the income tax (FICA goes to an insurance fund, although it is borrowed from)
Because we finance war with deficit spending, to get out of debt we must make the rich pay,. The same is true for reimbursing the Baby Boom in retirement (in other words, now) and in shifting from rolling over interest payments to new debt. Payment of an income and inheritance surtax on all income received over $100,000 to fund these things while adopting a Goods and Services Tax and an Employer paid VAT for discretionary and social spending,will demonstrate why the rich need to pay more now,..We do not have a per capita direct tax. It was never actually implemented though written into the Constitution.
The Sixteenth Amendment allowed a progressive income tax, which provided a revenue stream that could handle a larger debt. The liability for the debt, therefore, is not per capita but a function of income tax paid. Currently, $1 paid means $13 owed in debt. $10,000 paid means owing $130,000 in debt. $100,000 paid means a debt load of $1,300,000, etc. If the rich do not pay this, their children will; not the entire next generation - just their progeny (with interest). That should provide enough incentive for adequate taxation. This is a better alternative to the Wealth Tax proposed by Senator Warren.
Sadly, unless Pelosi picks Warren or Senator Harris to take over the Speakership should Pence resign under indictment, Warren will not be on the ticket in 2020. The youth of Harris balances the age of Pelosi, Biden or, God forbid, Clinton. That Pelosi and Harris are both from the Bay Area means Biden is the best candidate to succeed Trump after impeachment, with Harris, not Warren, as the VP. Of course, if Pence stays on, Warren would be the ideal candidate in 2020, with Harris as VP,
Political Scientists do not suggest strategy (regrettably for designing fiscal policy solutions). They merely interpret the facts on the ground. They do a good job with elections. Don't blame the messenger. Of course, they are not known for out of the box thinking either, nor is the media or the legal profession. The truth is that Trump will be in jail (or dead from the shame) for every reason cited above. We will have either Pence (who has a Gerry Ford problem, even if there is no pardon) or an incumbent Democrat. As long as the new president performs well and it is clear why Trump had to go (I would hope being a spy is enough reason for all but the MAGA devotees), he or she can skate to a win (but will make it look like a close race to get out the vote). That the Senate will change hands is an easy call. The House fell to the Democrats even without saying the word impeachment because the voters did. Democracy works.
The reason Hillary lost to Obama in 2008 and to Trump in 2016 is because her entire campaign message was that it was her turn. There was no vision other than empowering Democratic women, even though it is their turn. Her other mistakes were flubbing the Partial Birth Abortion question (and Trump's readiness to raise it and the Bishop's to exploit it - almost as if she was hacked - and ignoring the demographics of the Obama win, which mobilized Black men in record numbers and did not get excited by either Clinton or Tim Kaine. Had either one of those things changed, we would not have a Trump problem. If the Mueller probe reveals Russian assistance on Partial Birth Abortion, then the Pro-Life Directorate of the USCCB has a big Trump problem. Things which are done in the dark are revealed in the light.
One student wearing a MAGA hate says nothing about the movement. A group of them wearing such headgear is a sign that the pro-life movement has always been about electing Republicans and enriching fundraisers. It has nor can it do anything for the unborn. Pro-life Democrats need to drop the idea of criminalizing abortion and stress relying on tax incentives or direct aid for parents to provide for the living wage mandated in the Magisterium. Of course, such a stance is unwelcome in the rest of the movement, which is all we need to know, even without MAGA hats. Move the March to April 15 to show that attempts to overturn Roe are futile.
Labor is resurgent because the lot of workers is worse and people want unions, probably in spite of the efforts of Republican Administrations to deny union rights. Some are turned off by their association with the Democrats and their teacher union base, especially those who serve as delegates to the national conventions. Labor and Catholic candidates and officials need to educate members, voters and the Church about the nature of the GOP pro-life movement, with or without MAGA hats.
Brooks and Winters reference to turn of the last century's ethicists is the height of obscurity. Jesus made clear that self-reliance has no place in the Kingdom of God, either hear or on Earth when he spoke about the rich being as unlikely to understand it as it is to get a camel through the gate called the Eye of the Needle. Doing so requires joint efforts and trust in God for the camel to behave. The only reason that is also obscure is a failure of interpretation by theologians, priests and bishops (especially the latter) who like self-reliance so that they don't get it either.
Speaking of obscurity, the American press does not cover Africa and political science and history curricula rarely mention the motherland. The BBC, however, does a much better job. The election of Obama, whose father was a noted Kenyan revolutionary figure (despite his personal demons) likely got people noticing that Africa is big and complicated and merits our attention I had the advantage of several close continental African friends and currently have a Ghanan roommate who I mourned with when Kofi Annan died. I actually know who Charles Taylor was because I pay attention. Most don't.. My hat is tipped to those that do as well.
Monday, January 28, 2019
New Boston College report on the priesthood addresses pressing need
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/new-boston-college-report-priesthood-addresses-pressing-need
New Boston College report on the priesthood addresses pressing need via @ncronline I like what can be inferred about sexuality of priests (unconsciously asexual) & need to interact with women (I would ordain them & end sacred continence).
New Boston College report on the priesthood addresses pressing need via @ncronline I like what can be inferred about sexuality of priests (unconsciously asexual) & need to interact with women (I would ordain them & end sacred continence).
Friday, January 25, 2019
National unity is a reason Joe Biden could run for president again
https://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/distinctly-catholic/national-unity-reason-joe-biden-could-run-president-again
Everyone does love Joe and he may be Speaker for a time if Pence is indicted and resigns (and flips on Trump), if Speaker Pelosi does not want to be President. As wikileaks demonstrated, the DNC has its finger on the scales, like it did for Clinton and for Kerry (a DNC staffer told me in early 2003 that Kerry would be the nominee). It is Joe's turn. Joe as sitting President will face no opposition.
The DNC does not care what MSW thinks. There will be no Unity ticket. Americans Elect is dead and we tried a unity ticket with Lincoln-Johnson. It did not go well. That implies one-party rule. Not now, not ever.
Catholics will line up behind Joe, including the bishops. I hope after 2020 he will explain to them exactly why Roe was correctly decided. They need a public lesson other than a reiteration of Dignitatis Humanae. If he only plans on a single term, he has nothing to lose.
Everyone does love Joe and he may be Speaker for a time if Pence is indicted and resigns (and flips on Trump), if Speaker Pelosi does not want to be President. As wikileaks demonstrated, the DNC has its finger on the scales, like it did for Clinton and for Kerry (a DNC staffer told me in early 2003 that Kerry would be the nominee). It is Joe's turn. Joe as sitting President will face no opposition.
The DNC does not care what MSW thinks. There will be no Unity ticket. Americans Elect is dead and we tried a unity ticket with Lincoln-Johnson. It did not go well. That implies one-party rule. Not now, not ever.
Catholics will line up behind Joe, including the bishops. I hope after 2020 he will explain to them exactly why Roe was correctly decided. They need a public lesson other than a reiteration of Dignitatis Humanae. If he only plans on a single term, he has nothing to lose.
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Links for 1/24/19
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/links-12419
The first three paragraphs of Monday's comments also cover MLK's legacy, also by mentioning what happened next in the movement (especially the move to DC), especially what the next generation is doing (DC Statehood).
It is good that Tim is catching capitalism in the act. It only succeeds if its true nature is hidden because it survives on the myth that it is the only answer. Ascension is only changing course because it got caught publicly.
Senator Warren is simply doing the right thing, not attempting to win the Puerto Rican vote.
The Covington kids have over-stayed their fifteen minutes.
I still blame the bishops in the Midwest for the Trump win. My question is, how did the campaign know that HRC would respond stupidly to a partial both abortion question. The core of the RTL movement has always been the GOP. The Trumpificatiom of the GOP simply shows the movement's true nature. So does the dominance of the Knights by the GOP, which has caused it to be an old MAGA club. Not even the Covington boys can save it. When they get to college they will discover women and goodbye Knights.
Francis knew the extent this true, he would call them on the carpet.
The first three paragraphs of Monday's comments also cover MLK's legacy, also by mentioning what happened next in the movement (especially the move to DC), especially what the next generation is doing (DC Statehood).
It is good that Tim is catching capitalism in the act. It only succeeds if its true nature is hidden because it survives on the myth that it is the only answer. Ascension is only changing course because it got caught publicly.
Senator Warren is simply doing the right thing, not attempting to win the Puerto Rican vote.
The Covington kids have over-stayed their fifteen minutes.
I still blame the bishops in the Midwest for the Trump win. My question is, how did the campaign know that HRC would respond stupidly to a partial both abortion question. The core of the RTL movement has always been the GOP. The Trumpificatiom of the GOP simply shows the movement's true nature. So does the dominance of the Knights by the GOP, which has caused it to be an old MAGA club. Not even the Covington boys can save it. When they get to college they will discover women and goodbye Knights.
Francis knew the extent this true, he would call them on the carpet.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Worldview boils down to 'fixed' and 'fluid' folks, though most are mixed
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/worldview-boils-down-fixed-and-fluid-folks-though-most-are-mixed
This dichotomy is a lot like prescription in Douglas and Wildavsky's Grid-Group Theory. Their second axis is Group. This creates 4 ways of life: Hierarchy, Despotism, Libertarianism and Egalitarianism. Any society (or party) has a mix of these to be healthy. Without a mix, tyranny results.This is useful in all social sciences, including economics.
This dichotomy is a lot like prescription in Douglas and Wildavsky's Grid-Group Theory. Their second axis is Group. This creates 4 ways of life: Hierarchy, Despotism, Libertarianism and Egalitarianism. Any society (or party) has a mix of these to be healthy. Without a mix, tyranny results.This is useful in all social sciences, including economics.
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Links for 1/22/19
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/links-12219
If Trump does not end this shutdown soon, he should be arrested. Indeed, even if he does end it. Mueller is focusing too much on investigation and not on action. Romney is no profile in courage, but he also must represent his state. Trump is trying to become the American Oligarch. He is playing with a busted flush. SCOTUS is not going to hear the Dreamer case objecting to the program. If Trump does not end this shutdown, he is either wittingly or unwittingly a Russian Agent. For all of these things, it is time to open Pandora's Box and change the narrative to whether and how Trump could be arrested and then do so.
Speaking of jail, the premise that life in prison without parole is just the death penalty by slow torture is not also capital punishment must be added to the argument, especially because inmates see is as such. If given the choice, many, if not most would choose to be killed. By these rules, no children or mentally ill or challenged convicts should be given life either. Most need literacy and treatment, not death by either means. Even Trump.
It would have been helpful to say what views they dislike in the lead, especially because there is a paywall. Confirmation is an adult sacrament, but no so adult that it should not be given at age ten rather than fourteen. By fourteen, young people may say no to the experience because it requires projects that are best undertaken AFTER the sacrament, not in preparation. It is a gift, not something to earn your way to or require unquestioning belief to receive. Especially when the Church is wrong.
I suspect Winters and Arroyo agree on many things having to do with preserving the Patriarchy and resisting democracy at the parish level and representation to elect bishops. I disrespectfully disagree.
I thought Anthony was lost objects and Francis of Assisi was pets? I hope such blessings were outside. Of course, blessing does nothing for the animal or the person, it is a sign to others of the blessedness that already exists. Does this mean that all dogs really do go to Heaven? Mediums seem to think so. They say that even after death, a faithful dog will watch over the owner. That gives a new twist to the concept of Guardian Angels, but then, isn't blessing angels redundant?
As I wrote yesterday regarding the article that did not make it to the NCR Facebook page. If the transformation to the GOP into MAGA completes the exodus of moderate and wealthy Republicans (same thing?), the result may be two Democratic Parties, one DLC and one DSA. Warren would like be more DSA if we can get her to run on our side.
The Green New Deal has more involvement by globalists and less eco-socialism than I would like, Because it is amorphous it is more easily co opted. Remember that the New Deal was used to marginalize socialism and get buy in from capitalism.
Trump is only playing a pro-lifer on TV. Of course, I still believe that the entire movement has more to do with Republican activism than the unborn. As for Archbishop Naumann, Pope Francis, please call your office (and end his).
If Trump does not end this shutdown soon, he should be arrested. Indeed, even if he does end it. Mueller is focusing too much on investigation and not on action. Romney is no profile in courage, but he also must represent his state. Trump is trying to become the American Oligarch. He is playing with a busted flush. SCOTUS is not going to hear the Dreamer case objecting to the program. If Trump does not end this shutdown, he is either wittingly or unwittingly a Russian Agent. For all of these things, it is time to open Pandora's Box and change the narrative to whether and how Trump could be arrested and then do so.
It would have been helpful to say what views they dislike in the lead, especially because there is a paywall. Confirmation is an adult sacrament, but no so adult that it should not be given at age ten rather than fourteen. By fourteen, young people may say no to the experience because it requires projects that are best undertaken AFTER the sacrament, not in preparation. It is a gift, not something to earn your way to or require unquestioning belief to receive. Especially when the Church is wrong.
I suspect Winters and Arroyo agree on many things having to do with preserving the Patriarchy and resisting democracy at the parish level and representation to elect bishops. I disrespectfully disagree.
I thought Anthony was lost objects and Francis of Assisi was pets? I hope such blessings were outside. Of course, blessing does nothing for the animal or the person, it is a sign to others of the blessedness that already exists. Does this mean that all dogs really do go to Heaven? Mediums seem to think so. They say that even after death, a faithful dog will watch over the owner. That gives a new twist to the concept of Guardian Angels, but then, isn't blessing angels redundant?
As I wrote yesterday regarding the article that did not make it to the NCR Facebook page. If the transformation to the GOP into MAGA completes the exodus of moderate and wealthy Republicans (same thing?), the result may be two Democratic Parties, one DLC and one DSA. Warren would like be more DSA if we can get her to run on our side.
The Green New Deal has more involvement by globalists and less eco-socialism than I would like, Because it is amorphous it is more easily co opted. Remember that the New Deal was used to marginalize socialism and get buy in from capitalism.
Trump is only playing a pro-lifer on TV. Of course, I still believe that the entire movement has more to do with Republican activism than the unborn. As for Archbishop Naumann, Pope Francis, please call your office (and end his).
Monday, January 21, 2019
'Transformation' or no, Gillibrand's candidacy is underwhelming
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/transformation-or-no-gillibrands-candidacy-underwhelming
I had hoped that Michael Sean would have taken the day off in observance of the King Holiday, or at least had done a column about Dr. King or the movement he left behind, which includes the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. He hear little from the SCLC, except in hagiography and the members of SNCC are dying off,. They continue with the mission that Dr. King left them.
When he was assassinated, he was on his way to DC, where and Marion Barry and Walter Fauntleroy had an office at 14th and U Street to prepare for him. Dr. King's movement was multi-racial and was going to include both opposition to the Vietnam War and the Poor People's March (which went on without him). He was about justice, not identity politics.
Marion and Walter were joined by Eleanor Holmes Norton and Lawrence Guyot. Norton carries out the work as a Delegate in Congress and Walter, who was our first delegate, is working on employee ownership issues. Brothers Guyot and Barry have left us. Their lives are now the stuff of hagiography Their work is being carried on by the Metro DC Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, whose most visible member national member is Representative Ocaso-Cortez (who needs a bit of seasoning before seeking national office).
The last battle of the civil rights movement was not the election of Barack Obama, it is freedom for the District of Columbia from the whims of Congress, particularly its conservative members. DC seems to be their favorite whipping boy, to use a term loaded with race, but is nonetheless applicable.
The next generation of SNCC, Stand Up! for Washington, DC, can be found today on MLK Avenue, Marching for Statehood for New Columbia. I am a Charter Member (I was one of Mayor Barry's representative to it) used to attend the parade, but it is too cold today for these old bones. It would have been worth a column today. Indeed, it always is, despite our demand for Congress to stay out of the bodies of DC women.
That being said, on to Senator Gillibrand. Michael Sean focused on her neo-liberal positions in the interest of her donors (who even without their money, are prominent in the New York area and have more than a tinge of the neo-conservatism in their support of Israel, which includes Michael Sean). As for her conservative past, she represented a district in up-state New York. She deserves credit for actually representing her constituents. Last I checked, it was part of her job. Still, I could care less about Kirsten's Excellent Adventure. Her glee at being on Stephen Colbert's show gives the impression that this is about her or her gender, not about any particular policy agenda.
We have already had a campaign where a Senator from New York sought to break the last glass ceiling and whose only political statement was that it was her turn, after standing by her man when most would have left. President Obama did not run on his race, but on his vision, which many shared in the primaries and many more shared that November.
If you compare Obama's accomplishments with his successor, the Donald is not even close. Trump's chief ambition was to undo all things Obama, which seems to include restoring respect for America in the world, which he has trashed through sheer incompetence and his allegiance to Russia. He probably believes that they work for him, when, as Clinton said in the debates, Trump is Putin's puppet. If Gillibrand is on an Excellent Adventure, Trump (to use another Bill and Ted reference) is taking us on a Bogus Journey.
For better or worse, Obama was a symbol of progress for African Americans (which he was by courtesy, his descendancy was American heritage that goes back to Jamestown and Plymouth (as is mine and many of our other presidents) and an actual African. Trump made his political bones as a racial reactionary, carrying the dreams of White Backlash.
Hillary put one of the whitest men in the Senate as her running mate to counteract that, but she should have chosen Senator Booker of Governor Patrick to keep the interest of the constituency in America that is most firmly Democratic. Her pandering to its other major constituency, pro-choice women, on the issue of partial birth abortion, activated the shameful support of Trump by Catholic bishops, which sealed her fate.
Identity politics is nothing new in America. Our founding in Plymouth was based on the perceived Romanism in the Anglican Church, while the conquest of Central and South America began by planting a Cross on the beach, which continued the identity politics of Catholicism that was finally repudiated with Garibaldi in the unification of Italy, which intensified the backlash against all things modern. This lasted until the Second Vatican Council, which undid the Anachronistic papacies of Pius IX and St. Pius X. The resemblance to Trumpism is astounding.
All politics is, to some extent, based on identity politics. Ancient Egypt had two concurrent dynasties in the north and south, likely relating to skin color, although it evolved into one of the most ethnically diverse portions of the Roman empire and the Coptic Church. Even Jesus focused on the Jews and was crucified as its King. Only the time of the Judges, which was a reaction to the God-King of Canaan, accepted all comers from the Hittites to the Jews.
Trump is not the first nor the last tyrant who depended on a cult of personality. Comrade Stalin was more a nationalist than a socialist. Indeed, he and Hitler were to the right of Attila the Hun. Libertarians like to include Naziism in Socialism because of this, but in truth, both were fascists, even more so than Trump. Real socialists can be found in Europe's ruling coalitions (both the Social and Christian Democrats) and in the campaigns of Eugene Debs and Bernie Sanders and the writing of DSA co-founder Michael Harrington. I am to the left of them.
As discussed last Monday, Senator Warren's entry in the race is not about her gender. She actually has something to say, as does Senator Harris, who has good policy chops.. Whether either Warren, Harris or Gillibrand can even get their campaigns off the ground depends on whether Vice President Pence was walled off of Trump's corruption or, like Sgt. Schultz of Hogan's Heroes saw :nothing, nothing." If he is not indicted, he will be the Republican nominee and Vice President Biden is his likely opponent (it seems to be his turn).
If Pence is indicted, then Speaker Pelosi becomes President if she wants to be, or can put in someone else as Speaker (one need not be a Member) so that they can be President. She knows better to not put in Clinton, so Biden would be the likely incumbent if Pelosi does not wish to serve, leaving Lindsey Graham the putative favorite for a dying Republican Party. This leaves the Democrats with a problem. A dying GOP, who will shed it's Wall Streeters and support Biden, and if he has one gaffe to many, possibly Gillibrand.
The Bernie contingent would likely create its own ticket headed by Sanders, Warren or a real socialist more akin to leftist politics. Such a party would love to have the Junior Senator from New York and her cult of personality as its opponent. She is our prefect foil. Bring her on! I even have some theme music for her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xxgRUyzgs0
I had hoped that Michael Sean would have taken the day off in observance of the King Holiday, or at least had done a column about Dr. King or the movement he left behind, which includes the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. He hear little from the SCLC, except in hagiography and the members of SNCC are dying off,. They continue with the mission that Dr. King left them.
When he was assassinated, he was on his way to DC, where and Marion Barry and Walter Fauntleroy had an office at 14th and U Street to prepare for him. Dr. King's movement was multi-racial and was going to include both opposition to the Vietnam War and the Poor People's March (which went on without him). He was about justice, not identity politics.
Marion and Walter were joined by Eleanor Holmes Norton and Lawrence Guyot. Norton carries out the work as a Delegate in Congress and Walter, who was our first delegate, is working on employee ownership issues. Brothers Guyot and Barry have left us. Their lives are now the stuff of hagiography Their work is being carried on by the Metro DC Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, whose most visible member national member is Representative Ocaso-Cortez (who needs a bit of seasoning before seeking national office).
The last battle of the civil rights movement was not the election of Barack Obama, it is freedom for the District of Columbia from the whims of Congress, particularly its conservative members. DC seems to be their favorite whipping boy, to use a term loaded with race, but is nonetheless applicable.
The next generation of SNCC, Stand Up! for Washington, DC, can be found today on MLK Avenue, Marching for Statehood for New Columbia. I am a Charter Member (I was one of Mayor Barry's representative to it) used to attend the parade, but it is too cold today for these old bones. It would have been worth a column today. Indeed, it always is, despite our demand for Congress to stay out of the bodies of DC women.
That being said, on to Senator Gillibrand. Michael Sean focused on her neo-liberal positions in the interest of her donors (who even without their money, are prominent in the New York area and have more than a tinge of the neo-conservatism in their support of Israel, which includes Michael Sean). As for her conservative past, she represented a district in up-state New York. She deserves credit for actually representing her constituents. Last I checked, it was part of her job. Still, I could care less about Kirsten's Excellent Adventure. Her glee at being on Stephen Colbert's show gives the impression that this is about her or her gender, not about any particular policy agenda.
We have already had a campaign where a Senator from New York sought to break the last glass ceiling and whose only political statement was that it was her turn, after standing by her man when most would have left. President Obama did not run on his race, but on his vision, which many shared in the primaries and many more shared that November.
If you compare Obama's accomplishments with his successor, the Donald is not even close. Trump's chief ambition was to undo all things Obama, which seems to include restoring respect for America in the world, which he has trashed through sheer incompetence and his allegiance to Russia. He probably believes that they work for him, when, as Clinton said in the debates, Trump is Putin's puppet. If Gillibrand is on an Excellent Adventure, Trump (to use another Bill and Ted reference) is taking us on a Bogus Journey.
For better or worse, Obama was a symbol of progress for African Americans (which he was by courtesy, his descendancy was American heritage that goes back to Jamestown and Plymouth (as is mine and many of our other presidents) and an actual African. Trump made his political bones as a racial reactionary, carrying the dreams of White Backlash.
Hillary put one of the whitest men in the Senate as her running mate to counteract that, but she should have chosen Senator Booker of Governor Patrick to keep the interest of the constituency in America that is most firmly Democratic. Her pandering to its other major constituency, pro-choice women, on the issue of partial birth abortion, activated the shameful support of Trump by Catholic bishops, which sealed her fate.
Identity politics is nothing new in America. Our founding in Plymouth was based on the perceived Romanism in the Anglican Church, while the conquest of Central and South America began by planting a Cross on the beach, which continued the identity politics of Catholicism that was finally repudiated with Garibaldi in the unification of Italy, which intensified the backlash against all things modern. This lasted until the Second Vatican Council, which undid the Anachronistic papacies of Pius IX and St. Pius X. The resemblance to Trumpism is astounding.
All politics is, to some extent, based on identity politics. Ancient Egypt had two concurrent dynasties in the north and south, likely relating to skin color, although it evolved into one of the most ethnically diverse portions of the Roman empire and the Coptic Church. Even Jesus focused on the Jews and was crucified as its King. Only the time of the Judges, which was a reaction to the God-King of Canaan, accepted all comers from the Hittites to the Jews.
Trump is not the first nor the last tyrant who depended on a cult of personality. Comrade Stalin was more a nationalist than a socialist. Indeed, he and Hitler were to the right of Attila the Hun. Libertarians like to include Naziism in Socialism because of this, but in truth, both were fascists, even more so than Trump. Real socialists can be found in Europe's ruling coalitions (both the Social and Christian Democrats) and in the campaigns of Eugene Debs and Bernie Sanders and the writing of DSA co-founder Michael Harrington. I am to the left of them.
As discussed last Monday, Senator Warren's entry in the race is not about her gender. She actually has something to say, as does Senator Harris, who has good policy chops.. Whether either Warren, Harris or Gillibrand can even get their campaigns off the ground depends on whether Vice President Pence was walled off of Trump's corruption or, like Sgt. Schultz of Hogan's Heroes saw :nothing, nothing." If he is not indicted, he will be the Republican nominee and Vice President Biden is his likely opponent (it seems to be his turn).
If Pence is indicted, then Speaker Pelosi becomes President if she wants to be, or can put in someone else as Speaker (one need not be a Member) so that they can be President. She knows better to not put in Clinton, so Biden would be the likely incumbent if Pelosi does not wish to serve, leaving Lindsey Graham the putative favorite for a dying Republican Party. This leaves the Democrats with a problem. A dying GOP, who will shed it's Wall Streeters and support Biden, and if he has one gaffe to many, possibly Gillibrand.
The Bernie contingent would likely create its own ticket headed by Sanders, Warren or a real socialist more akin to leftist politics. Such a party would love to have the Junior Senator from New York and her cult of personality as its opponent. She is our prefect foil. Bring her on! I even have some theme music for her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xxgRUyzgs0
Friday, January 18, 2019
Liberal Catholics have work to do to support consistent ethic of life
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/liberal-catholics-have-work-do-support-consistent-ethic-life
Yesterday, I covered the prospects for Roe (settled), how positive and negative rights fit into the debate and the behavior of the bishops. There will be no transfer of power back to the states. While there could be a Congressional action, it would surely codify the status quo, although if Democrats are strong enough (and they may be after 2020, since the GOP will be decimated), they could increase the child tax credit to living wage levels as part of tax reform, as long as Catholic Democrats make them.
The March itself should be moved to April 15th to signify Tax Day and take the focus of of Roe and onto living wages. Of course, that would have economic libertarians compete for attention on their opposition to income taxes. Hopefully, they would not crash the March. I hope the March is both orderly and neat, as Court personnel and Park Rangers are on furlough and have enough problems already.
Both sides actually do love the March. NARAL always has a fundraiser sometime close to the March. Thank you for your support. Nothing really happens because of either the choice and life movements. There is a quote from That Scottish Play which covers the significance of both sides of the debate:
Sadly, Catholic Democratic elected officials rely on not imposing their consciences on citizens while being personally pro-life. It looks good for their Catholic supporters. In reality, because many have law degrees, they understand how federal supremacy on equal protection and due process are important. It is a pity they don't explain that position to the Church, although arguing with the bishops may lose Catholic voters, even if they are telling the truth.
They could also say that they are not required to make the nation Catholic and therefore pro-life. While Dignitatis Humanae does not change teaching on the issue, it is part of the Magisterium too and applying it to Catholic politicians is a natural extension of its teaching. Still, I would wish Catholic Democrats would show some backbone and tell the truth about these issues, if only to be honest in the debate.
There really is no upside to be publicly Pro-Life and Catholic. Not only will you be primaried, unless they have the courage to explain why Roe is good law and argue that a Child Tax Credit is more pro-life than overturning Roe. The truth will not dissuade Right to Life Catholics or the Susan B. Anthony Fund from putting truth before partisanship, so there is no reason to bother. See MacBeth quote again.
Yesterday, I covered the prospects for Roe (settled), how positive and negative rights fit into the debate and the behavior of the bishops. There will be no transfer of power back to the states. While there could be a Congressional action, it would surely codify the status quo, although if Democrats are strong enough (and they may be after 2020, since the GOP will be decimated), they could increase the child tax credit to living wage levels as part of tax reform, as long as Catholic Democrats make them.
The March itself should be moved to April 15th to signify Tax Day and take the focus of of Roe and onto living wages. Of course, that would have economic libertarians compete for attention on their opposition to income taxes. Hopefully, they would not crash the March. I hope the March is both orderly and neat, as Court personnel and Park Rangers are on furlough and have enough problems already.
Both sides actually do love the March. NARAL always has a fundraiser sometime close to the March. Thank you for your support. Nothing really happens because of either the choice and life movements. There is a quote from That Scottish Play which covers the significance of both sides of the debate:
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. After hearing that his wife has died, Macbeth takes stock of his own indifference to the event. ... The candle is perhaps the soul, and the prospects for Macbeth's are grim.The current climate is not grim for the fundraisers and party partisans on both sides, but still is for the unborn. Party conventioneers depend on both movements. NEA members always fill out the Democratic contingent and they are rabidly pro-choice, mostly because the GOP still raises the issue. Strengthen the call for a living wage for families (fight for $15 - inflation adjusted to 2013 and a $1000 per month per child tax credit), which is required of Catholics to support under the Magisterium of Pius XI and the Democrats will be with you, especially if you drop the insistence on repealing Roe (which is impossible anyway).
Sadly, Catholic Democratic elected officials rely on not imposing their consciences on citizens while being personally pro-life. It looks good for their Catholic supporters. In reality, because many have law degrees, they understand how federal supremacy on equal protection and due process are important. It is a pity they don't explain that position to the Church, although arguing with the bishops may lose Catholic voters, even if they are telling the truth.
They could also say that they are not required to make the nation Catholic and therefore pro-life. While Dignitatis Humanae does not change teaching on the issue, it is part of the Magisterium too and applying it to Catholic politicians is a natural extension of its teaching. Still, I would wish Catholic Democrats would show some backbone and tell the truth about these issues, if only to be honest in the debate.
There really is no upside to be publicly Pro-Life and Catholic. Not only will you be primaried, unless they have the courage to explain why Roe is good law and argue that a Child Tax Credit is more pro-life than overturning Roe. The truth will not dissuade Right to Life Catholics or the Susan B. Anthony Fund from putting truth before partisanship, so there is no reason to bother. See MacBeth quote again.
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Links for 1/17/19
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/links-11719
It is good to know the history, but there are a few steps in modern history that need to be noted as well, such as Ecumenical Patriarch Melitios and their Synod recognizing the validity of Anglican orders, which implies their status as a Church and not a Sect and their practice of ordaining not only female deacons, but female and married priests. One trip to their Communion line is enough to see that such Orders are valid as well. The question needs to be not if but when. The deeper question is might elected Lay Deacons (non-celibate, non-sacred continent, obedience only to parish or diocesan organization) might be better and more historic, with these deacons and priests together electing the local ordinary.
I would rather the DC Federal Magistrates not get the flu and that Mueller present any evidence of probably cause to arrest the Citizen Trump to him for a warrant to have the protective detail move him to a more secure location for our protection. A 90 day psychiatric hold will also do. It seems our President has and Adderall problem.
Lindsey is easy. He anticipates both Trump and Pence being removed and a Democratic Speaker being the 2020 nominee. This puts him in a good position to become the Republican nominee.
At this point, Theissen and his ilk in the vast right-wing conspiracy make it more, not less, likely that Trump will be removed, and even arrested first. They empower their opponents more than their base.
Strobe is correct. The relationship between Trump and Putin is different. It is also espionage. Usually spies are arrested before they are indicted. Then we can send the Trump family back to Russia, where I don't think they will be treated well. They don't look kindly upon spies who are caught.
Speaking of tyrants, Erdogan as Hitler is a correct meme. The question is whether the NATO Charter requires us to come to the assistance of the Kurds in both Turkey and Syria and the Turkish people generally? His association with a known Russian Asset provides another justification for action.
My views on the politics and legality of abortion are known to most NCR commentators and Facebook followers, but they bear repeating as this issue still comes up. The March for Life needs to forget about repealing Roe v. Wade and pick another date, say during Cherry Blossom season, for their annual gathering. With six documented pro-Roe justices (Chief Roberts, Breyer, Ginsberg, Kagan, Sotomayor and Alito) and two others that are likely (Gorsuch, Kavanaugh), there is no longer a reason to believe a Republican president can or will appoint a pro-life justice. Anyone young enough to be appointed from an Ivy League law school knows why privacy is a real right of due process and equal protection and why 14th Amendment jurisprudence forever makes state action on abortion an impossibility. Changing hearts and minds on abortion itself is fine, as long as changes in law are no longer a goal.
The negative right to life means the government cannot execute a pregnant woman or force an abortion. That right is already recognized. Protecting the child from its mother is a positive right, which only the US Congress can impose. This is more unlikely than changing the Court - and much more than a pro-life Amendment. There is no way the state can use police power to investigate first trimester pregnancies and not investigate every miscarriage. It is why the Life Amendment was proposed. Supporting such amendment is code to donors that nothing will happen on this issue - ever.
There is no justification, therefore, for Republican bishops or laity to consider supporting legal abortion to be at all sinful. It is simply impossible not to without both self-delusion and selling one's soul the Republican Party. The only way to really limit abortion is what Pius XI demanded, a living wage sensitive to family size, which if it cannot be required of employers, as to be provided by the government. Few Republican right to lifers would ever stand for such communism, thus dooming most of the unborn to death. Reversing this opposition must be the focus of pro-life Catholics.
It is good to know the history, but there are a few steps in modern history that need to be noted as well, such as Ecumenical Patriarch Melitios and their Synod recognizing the validity of Anglican orders, which implies their status as a Church and not a Sect and their practice of ordaining not only female deacons, but female and married priests. One trip to their Communion line is enough to see that such Orders are valid as well. The question needs to be not if but when. The deeper question is might elected Lay Deacons (non-celibate, non-sacred continent, obedience only to parish or diocesan organization) might be better and more historic, with these deacons and priests together electing the local ordinary.
I would rather the DC Federal Magistrates not get the flu and that Mueller present any evidence of probably cause to arrest the Citizen Trump to him for a warrant to have the protective detail move him to a more secure location for our protection. A 90 day psychiatric hold will also do. It seems our President has and Adderall problem.
Lindsey is easy. He anticipates both Trump and Pence being removed and a Democratic Speaker being the 2020 nominee. This puts him in a good position to become the Republican nominee.
At this point, Theissen and his ilk in the vast right-wing conspiracy make it more, not less, likely that Trump will be removed, and even arrested first. They empower their opponents more than their base.
Strobe is correct. The relationship between Trump and Putin is different. It is also espionage. Usually spies are arrested before they are indicted. Then we can send the Trump family back to Russia, where I don't think they will be treated well. They don't look kindly upon spies who are caught.
Speaking of tyrants, Erdogan as Hitler is a correct meme. The question is whether the NATO Charter requires us to come to the assistance of the Kurds in both Turkey and Syria and the Turkish people generally? His association with a known Russian Asset provides another justification for action.
My views on the politics and legality of abortion are known to most NCR commentators and Facebook followers, but they bear repeating as this issue still comes up. The March for Life needs to forget about repealing Roe v. Wade and pick another date, say during Cherry Blossom season, for their annual gathering. With six documented pro-Roe justices (Chief Roberts, Breyer, Ginsberg, Kagan, Sotomayor and Alito) and two others that are likely (Gorsuch, Kavanaugh), there is no longer a reason to believe a Republican president can or will appoint a pro-life justice. Anyone young enough to be appointed from an Ivy League law school knows why privacy is a real right of due process and equal protection and why 14th Amendment jurisprudence forever makes state action on abortion an impossibility. Changing hearts and minds on abortion itself is fine, as long as changes in law are no longer a goal.
The negative right to life means the government cannot execute a pregnant woman or force an abortion. That right is already recognized. Protecting the child from its mother is a positive right, which only the US Congress can impose. This is more unlikely than changing the Court - and much more than a pro-life Amendment. There is no way the state can use police power to investigate first trimester pregnancies and not investigate every miscarriage. It is why the Life Amendment was proposed. Supporting such amendment is code to donors that nothing will happen on this issue - ever.
There is no justification, therefore, for Republican bishops or laity to consider supporting legal abortion to be at all sinful. It is simply impossible not to without both self-delusion and selling one's soul the Republican Party. The only way to really limit abortion is what Pius XI demanded, a living wage sensitive to family size, which if it cannot be required of employers, as to be provided by the government. Few Republican right to lifers would ever stand for such communism, thus dooming most of the unborn to death. Reversing this opposition must be the focus of pro-life Catholics.
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Hooray for Carlson, but let's keep expectations in check
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/hooray-carlson-lets-keep-expectations-check
Tucker was talking about market failure due to crony capitalism, as well as the political failure inherent in the concentration of wealth. He did not attack the essence of capitalism, which is the alienation of workers from the product of their labor, the authoritarianism of the modern workplace (even among some employee-owned firms which still demand you conform or be fired), and the use of workers as living machines. Marx excepted both rising standards of living and social welfare but cautioned that they would also preserve Capitalism (especially after a middle class has been created - a departure from the Marxist elevator speech in the Manifesto - sadly Stalin know the Manifesto but not Capital).
Ross simply does not understand the argument between capital and socialism. Neither do Catholic theologians. The answer will not come from Rome. It will come from Catholics who read Marx and who (and this is a new thing) will start by helping ESOPs to Occupy Capitalism and proceed from there to destroying it from within, especially the financial kind. Pius XI already spoke authoritatively in his Magisterium in his otherwise quaint encyclical Casti Connubii when he championed the traditional family (the quaint part) and living wages to fight abortion (the Marxian part). Benedict XVI's Caritas in Veritate linked sexual teaching to social insurance and development. Francis lays the ground work for the spirituality that must eventually lead to equality, but he is no economist, although some of his Curia in the Communio movement (started by Benedict) which seemed to have a Marxian tinge.
Tucker was talking about market failure due to crony capitalism, as well as the political failure inherent in the concentration of wealth. He did not attack the essence of capitalism, which is the alienation of workers from the product of their labor, the authoritarianism of the modern workplace (even among some employee-owned firms which still demand you conform or be fired), and the use of workers as living machines. Marx excepted both rising standards of living and social welfare but cautioned that they would also preserve Capitalism (especially after a middle class has been created - a departure from the Marxist elevator speech in the Manifesto - sadly Stalin know the Manifesto but not Capital).
Ross simply does not understand the argument between capital and socialism. Neither do Catholic theologians. The answer will not come from Rome. It will come from Catholics who read Marx and who (and this is a new thing) will start by helping ESOPs to Occupy Capitalism and proceed from there to destroying it from within, especially the financial kind. Pius XI already spoke authoritatively in his Magisterium in his otherwise quaint encyclical Casti Connubii when he championed the traditional family (the quaint part) and living wages to fight abortion (the Marxian part). Benedict XVI's Caritas in Veritate linked sexual teaching to social insurance and development. Francis lays the ground work for the spirituality that must eventually lead to equality, but he is no economist, although some of his Curia in the Communio movement (started by Benedict) which seemed to have a Marxian tinge.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Links for 1/15/19
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/links-11519
I have written about what Peter wrote. Most of these cases are both long settled and reviewed and bishops have been responding to current pressure by releasing the names of abusers publicly. It is about time. Of course, most of these priests are retired or about to be. The horse is dead. Quit beating it.
I commented on America on the Faggioli article. Direct election of bishops would be unwise. Direct election of lay (non-celibate) deacon(ness)es with a vow of obedience to the parish is the level that direct democracy needed. Whether they should select their pastors (which can be translated as bishop) is within the bounds of tradition, although they should be ordained. All clergy and lay deacons should elect their bishop (although bishops could select the Archbishop and Patriarch).
The unborn are not legal persons, as per the Constitution and the Supreme Court, unless the are viable. Assisted viability is an issue Congress (and not the states) should address. First trimester abortions can only be investigated if miscarriages are as well, which means not at all. The intrinsic worth of a post-gastrulation embryo should be protected by a guaranteed family income sensitive to family size, as the Magisterium of Pope Pius XI dictates (although he also thought abortion should be illegal, which is not any Pontiff's call). The left must make insist on the adequacy of the child tax credit, which is way too small currently The idea that families should be self sufficient is anathema to the Kingdom of God, which demands faith in God. That faith must include an adequate income for the poor through government. Criticizing the pro-life movement is better than entering the argument on the intrinsic worth of the child. The GOP has made it clear that it owns the movement (or at least the Susan B. Anthony fund has). Even Democrats for Life know this is true and they should speak accordingly.
Unless Trump is lying, he did not want to go to the border. Of course, I am not sure Trump knows whether he was or not.
Uku benefited from a prior amnesty. There were no hurdles to jump through then and their should not be now. Indeed, with open borders and closed shops, immigration will be limited to what our economy can support and will protect the economic and human rights of these migrants.
Miranda is a good son of Puerto Rico, which needs more champions, especially as many don't think it is part of America or populated with Americans. Would that we gave the same liberties to the American Nationals in our Pacific colonies. No one reports that Samoan football players are not allowed to vote under our current laws (unless the individual state allows it).
Krugman is correct on the economics of Ocasio-Cortez. I wish both would stress that high rates are not about collecting money but about limiting the income of the CEO/donor class by taking away their incentive to limit employee wages and benefits and take a cut of that savings in salary. It presumes that taxing such income away will prevent it from such economic rent.
FDR was able to push back on the rich because a they perceived a threat from a strong socialist movement. Such a movement is rising again, as the election of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez indicates, which is an outgrowth of the Sanders candidacy. You're welcome.
I would be amazed if Carlson, and indeed most Democrats, have any idea what is wrong with Capitalism, which is that it is both economically and socially exploitive of workers who are considered machines or slaves at work. Authoritarianism at work needs to be ended, which is the primary goal of those scary socialists like Rep. Ocasion-Cortez and others like her (and me)..
I have written about what Peter wrote. Most of these cases are both long settled and reviewed and bishops have been responding to current pressure by releasing the names of abusers publicly. It is about time. Of course, most of these priests are retired or about to be. The horse is dead. Quit beating it.
I commented on America on the Faggioli article. Direct election of bishops would be unwise. Direct election of lay (non-celibate) deacon(ness)es with a vow of obedience to the parish is the level that direct democracy needed. Whether they should select their pastors (which can be translated as bishop) is within the bounds of tradition, although they should be ordained. All clergy and lay deacons should elect their bishop (although bishops could select the Archbishop and Patriarch).
The unborn are not legal persons, as per the Constitution and the Supreme Court, unless the are viable. Assisted viability is an issue Congress (and not the states) should address. First trimester abortions can only be investigated if miscarriages are as well, which means not at all. The intrinsic worth of a post-gastrulation embryo should be protected by a guaranteed family income sensitive to family size, as the Magisterium of Pope Pius XI dictates (although he also thought abortion should be illegal, which is not any Pontiff's call). The left must make insist on the adequacy of the child tax credit, which is way too small currently The idea that families should be self sufficient is anathema to the Kingdom of God, which demands faith in God. That faith must include an adequate income for the poor through government. Criticizing the pro-life movement is better than entering the argument on the intrinsic worth of the child. The GOP has made it clear that it owns the movement (or at least the Susan B. Anthony fund has). Even Democrats for Life know this is true and they should speak accordingly.
Unless Trump is lying, he did not want to go to the border. Of course, I am not sure Trump knows whether he was or not.
Uku benefited from a prior amnesty. There were no hurdles to jump through then and their should not be now. Indeed, with open borders and closed shops, immigration will be limited to what our economy can support and will protect the economic and human rights of these migrants.
Miranda is a good son of Puerto Rico, which needs more champions, especially as many don't think it is part of America or populated with Americans. Would that we gave the same liberties to the American Nationals in our Pacific colonies. No one reports that Samoan football players are not allowed to vote under our current laws (unless the individual state allows it).
Krugman is correct on the economics of Ocasio-Cortez. I wish both would stress that high rates are not about collecting money but about limiting the income of the CEO/donor class by taking away their incentive to limit employee wages and benefits and take a cut of that savings in salary. It presumes that taxing such income away will prevent it from such economic rent.
FDR was able to push back on the rich because a they perceived a threat from a strong socialist movement. Such a movement is rising again, as the election of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez indicates, which is an outgrowth of the Sanders candidacy. You're welcome.
I would be amazed if Carlson, and indeed most Democrats, have any idea what is wrong with Capitalism, which is that it is both economically and socially exploitive of workers who are considered machines or slaves at work. Authoritarianism at work needs to be ended, which is the primary goal of those scary socialists like Rep. Ocasion-Cortez and others like her (and me)..
Monday, January 14, 2019
Despite the hurdles, I can imagine Elizabeth Warren in the White House
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/despite-hurdles-i-can-imagine-elizabeth-warren-white-house
Warren's best chance is in a second major party made up of Bernie folks now in DSA. She would face Pence (as POTUS) or Graham (if Mueller fingers Pence) as a minor party and Biden or Pelosi (if she is POTUS or whomever she puts in as Speaker to ascend if Pence out) in the Wall Street Dems (with GOP refugees).
Friday, January 11, 2019
Religious voices are the voices of reason on migration 'crisis'
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/religious-voices-are-voices-reason-migration-crisis
1. Let's first concede that Trump is a two-bit thug, meaning he is both a brutish criminal and an idiot who believed what he saw on Fox News and Howard Stern, especially about himself. He had too much money from a racist father, so he could be a comfortable failure. He never should have or thought he could win and was unprepared for the scrutiny of his past or the deep seated inferiority complex that drives his every move.
2. His campaign team did its job too well. They gave him a mnemonic that he could handle, gave him an non-issue that the Bishops could run with (Partial Birth Abortion) and correct estimated the Black vote while Hillary cooperated by playing to her base on abortion rather than humiliating the Donald for bringing up a settled issue and by over-estimating the black vote, thinking she would get Obama margins instead of Clinton margins. Among Trump's handlers are ersatz racists (including his former Chief of Staff) who know how to manipulate public hatreds to keep the base riled up, especially with an assist from Fox News, who were created to capitalize on these impulses
3. We must also concede that this problem has deep roots. The first is the bad treatment of Latinos in East Los Angeles by law enforcement and government. The civil rights movement never got there, nor did adequate remedial education programs - at least not enough to fit the need. Add Nixon and then Reagan's War on Drug Users and you have the perfect storm for MS-13 members (who were lawful refugees thanks to Reagan's Central American policies) to thrive and then expand. Finally, immigration law mandated that MS-13 members be returned to their countries of origin rather than rehabilitated, starting with ESL and adult literacy courses. Repatriated refugees to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras put their gang skills to use and took over their homelands or simply blended in with the already existing brutish governments still on the CIA payroll.
4. When paragraphs one through three mesh they justify the fear of the other and the hidden racism found in some of the aging Baby Boomers (and older) who miss the bad old days of racial division. They could not express such feelings toward the Black population until Trump gave them permission to hate Obama. Add these things together with the constant blather from Fox News. They included their children in this racism, but not to the extent that they received it, but enough to keep it alive as they died out. Many of these people are ethnic Catholics who are unaware of the racism they were met with as immigrants and the anger that this brought, which they redirected to the others (who, sadly, were also Catholic and were taking over their parishes, one Mass at a time).
In other words, we have met the enemy and it is ourselves.
1. Let's first concede that Trump is a two-bit thug, meaning he is both a brutish criminal and an idiot who believed what he saw on Fox News and Howard Stern, especially about himself. He had too much money from a racist father, so he could be a comfortable failure. He never should have or thought he could win and was unprepared for the scrutiny of his past or the deep seated inferiority complex that drives his every move.
2. His campaign team did its job too well. They gave him a mnemonic that he could handle, gave him an non-issue that the Bishops could run with (Partial Birth Abortion) and correct estimated the Black vote while Hillary cooperated by playing to her base on abortion rather than humiliating the Donald for bringing up a settled issue and by over-estimating the black vote, thinking she would get Obama margins instead of Clinton margins. Among Trump's handlers are ersatz racists (including his former Chief of Staff) who know how to manipulate public hatreds to keep the base riled up, especially with an assist from Fox News, who were created to capitalize on these impulses
3. We must also concede that this problem has deep roots. The first is the bad treatment of Latinos in East Los Angeles by law enforcement and government. The civil rights movement never got there, nor did adequate remedial education programs - at least not enough to fit the need. Add Nixon and then Reagan's War on Drug Users and you have the perfect storm for MS-13 members (who were lawful refugees thanks to Reagan's Central American policies) to thrive and then expand. Finally, immigration law mandated that MS-13 members be returned to their countries of origin rather than rehabilitated, starting with ESL and adult literacy courses. Repatriated refugees to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras put their gang skills to use and took over their homelands or simply blended in with the already existing brutish governments still on the CIA payroll.
4. When paragraphs one through three mesh they justify the fear of the other and the hidden racism found in some of the aging Baby Boomers (and older) who miss the bad old days of racial division. They could not express such feelings toward the Black population until Trump gave them permission to hate Obama. Add these things together with the constant blather from Fox News. They included their children in this racism, but not to the extent that they received it, but enough to keep it alive as they died out. Many of these people are ethnic Catholics who are unaware of the racism they were met with as immigrants and the anger that this brought, which they redirected to the others (who, sadly, were also Catholic and were taking over their parishes, one Mass at a time).
In other words, we have met the enemy and it is ourselves.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Links for 1/10/19
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/links-11019
The Right Reverend Lord Monsignor took us back to the people's responses of his youth. Let a few more right-wing bishops die and the left will get our Mass back (and also with you).
Racism among old people on the right, many of whom pine for the days of segregation and that old time religion (and with your spirit), is widely known among MAGAts. They will mostly be dead soon. There are not a lot of young people at Trump rallies (except the Temps).
Warren's candidacy is based on Sanders getting to old to run and my not succeeding just yet in radicalizing workers into controlling the means of consumption (including management) and ending Capitalism. Upper Class Liberal is another way to say Neoliberal. Reaction to their rise is why Senator Warren may just have a chance at the nomination.
Carbon emissions will go up until fusion and workers controlling the means of consumption ends all manner of polution. Then we will overcorrect and enter into a period of glaciation. We will have to switch to coal to survive.
I don't like BDS, even to help Palestine. I would rather have George Soros buy up Israeli industry and impose equality on Israeli society. Nothing succeeds politically like bringing the disadvantaged into the middle class and letting them demand the right to vote. Even Neoconservatives like MSW can't stop such developments. Of course, a middle class Palestine won't demand that Israel be driven into the sea, they will simply buy up Jewish land and have babies until Israel becomes a secular society (as promised from the beginning).
That Mueller has bad lawyers (and Trump too) is no surprise. If the writing is on the wall that the government will take all your assets when you lose, the best lawyers won't touch you (especially if you habitually stiff them anyway).
The Right Reverend Lord Monsignor took us back to the people's responses of his youth. Let a few more right-wing bishops die and the left will get our Mass back (and also with you).
Racism among old people on the right, many of whom pine for the days of segregation and that old time religion (and with your spirit), is widely known among MAGAts. They will mostly be dead soon. There are not a lot of young people at Trump rallies (except the Temps).
Warren's candidacy is based on Sanders getting to old to run and my not succeeding just yet in radicalizing workers into controlling the means of consumption (including management) and ending Capitalism. Upper Class Liberal is another way to say Neoliberal. Reaction to their rise is why Senator Warren may just have a chance at the nomination.
Carbon emissions will go up until fusion and workers controlling the means of consumption ends all manner of polution. Then we will overcorrect and enter into a period of glaciation. We will have to switch to coal to survive.
I don't like BDS, even to help Palestine. I would rather have George Soros buy up Israeli industry and impose equality on Israeli society. Nothing succeeds politically like bringing the disadvantaged into the middle class and letting them demand the right to vote. Even Neoconservatives like MSW can't stop such developments. Of course, a middle class Palestine won't demand that Israel be driven into the sea, they will simply buy up Jewish land and have babies until Israel becomes a secular society (as promised from the beginning).
That Mueller has bad lawyers (and Trump too) is no surprise. If the writing is on the wall that the government will take all your assets when you lose, the best lawyers won't touch you (especially if you habitually stiff them anyway).
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
A Russian Bot named Gene responded to the last entry as follows: "what does abortions do?" My response:
Gene, how does that fokking apply to the use of the work Fokk. In this context, which was having the right to call someone else a motherfokker, I first jumped into the pro-life movement in college and had devised a way for the Holy See to "adopt" all the unborn as Vatican citizens and then get Reagan to make an agreement recognizing that fact, thus allowing states to ban abortion. It was politely ignored with a letter from the Apostolic Delegate.
I also wrote an unfortunate article in my college paper calling women who had abortions sociopaths. Lucking, I was in DC at the time as an aid to pro-lifer Roger Jepsen, so I avoided being castrated by female classmates. My next trick was having Congress interpret the 14th Amendment to give citizenship rights to the unborn as per Section 5 of the Amendment. This would actually work. Indeed, Justice Thomas tried a similar approach to use judicial authority delegated to the Court by the Civil Rights Act of 1875 *not a typo). Four Republican justices were not buying it (Roberts, Kennedy, Scalia and Alito). I was told that protecting the unborn would be a long slog to change hearts and minds.
The pro-choicers seem to be winning that argument over time, as everyone who has ever gone to law school considers Roe to be settled law. I agree because Privacy is neither an eminassion or a penumbra. It is the bedrock behind the concept that there are some issues, particularly group class issues, where the moral minority (or majority) must leave individuals alone, thus prohibiting the tyranny of the majority against Latinos, Women, Gays and Catholics by the states. Strike one.
I have noticed that most of the action of the pro-life movement is in raising funds and volunteers for the Republican Party and its network of donors - with the only actions above that trying to look busy by getting actions before the Court, even though they have to know that Roe is not going anywhere. Strike Two.
When I was a doctoral student, I was reviewing films for a class I was leading a seminar in. It brought me to a Dateline special called "The Abortion Clinic." One of the doctors demonstrated why he does not like doing late term abortions, they showed one without being graphic, but felt he had to because the result in terms of female mortality would be unacceptable. He also made it clear that punishing doctors and not women would have the same effect. They also showed the result of a few first trimester abortions. No fetus to be found - they looked just like the results of a period - this is 90% of the cases. Strike Three, one out.
The reality is that any attempt to regulate first trimester abortions would require criminal investigation of not only perceived abortions but also miscarriages. Having been married and having to pick up the pieces after two miscarriages, the thought of that kind of power for the state sickens me. Pop (or pope) fly to center field. Two outs.
I have a radio show online, although I do not do any shows (the meds are working). I have had more than a few discussions on the show and on Facebook about ending abortion by increasing the child tax credit to living wage levels ($1000 per child per month, distributed with pay - an idea I still support). Ardent pro-life Republicans would have none of it, even though Pope's Leo XIII and Pius XI say that is exactly what must be done to stop abortion. It turns out that pro-life Republicans don't want to subsidize the sexuality of families - so the pro-choice movement is correct - the movement really is about controlling the sexual activity of women. Strike Three - swinging!
The inning is over, as is the game (and the inherent hellenistic misogyny infusing Catholic sexual teaching since the Church was given over to asexuals who think that their personal oddity is a sign of holiness gets the manager THROWN OUT.
So, after my mental journey over thirty five years I have the chops to say, go away Troll - and I did not even have to call you an ignorant....well, I won't risk getting this post thrown out, even if I only use the German vulgarity rather than the English equivalent. I will use the term on my own blog, however.
Gene, how does that fokking apply to the use of the work Fokk. In this context, which was having the right to call someone else a motherfokker, I first jumped into the pro-life movement in college and had devised a way for the Holy See to "adopt" all the unborn as Vatican citizens and then get Reagan to make an agreement recognizing that fact, thus allowing states to ban abortion. It was politely ignored with a letter from the Apostolic Delegate.
I also wrote an unfortunate article in my college paper calling women who had abortions sociopaths. Lucking, I was in DC at the time as an aid to pro-lifer Roger Jepsen, so I avoided being castrated by female classmates. My next trick was having Congress interpret the 14th Amendment to give citizenship rights to the unborn as per Section 5 of the Amendment. This would actually work. Indeed, Justice Thomas tried a similar approach to use judicial authority delegated to the Court by the Civil Rights Act of 1875 *not a typo). Four Republican justices were not buying it (Roberts, Kennedy, Scalia and Alito). I was told that protecting the unborn would be a long slog to change hearts and minds.
The pro-choicers seem to be winning that argument over time, as everyone who has ever gone to law school considers Roe to be settled law. I agree because Privacy is neither an eminassion or a penumbra. It is the bedrock behind the concept that there are some issues, particularly group class issues, where the moral minority (or majority) must leave individuals alone, thus prohibiting the tyranny of the majority against Latinos, Women, Gays and Catholics by the states. Strike one.
I have noticed that most of the action of the pro-life movement is in raising funds and volunteers for the Republican Party and its network of donors - with the only actions above that trying to look busy by getting actions before the Court, even though they have to know that Roe is not going anywhere. Strike Two.
When I was a doctoral student, I was reviewing films for a class I was leading a seminar in. It brought me to a Dateline special called "The Abortion Clinic." One of the doctors demonstrated why he does not like doing late term abortions, they showed one without being graphic, but felt he had to because the result in terms of female mortality would be unacceptable. He also made it clear that punishing doctors and not women would have the same effect. They also showed the result of a few first trimester abortions. No fetus to be found - they looked just like the results of a period - this is 90% of the cases. Strike Three, one out.
The reality is that any attempt to regulate first trimester abortions would require criminal investigation of not only perceived abortions but also miscarriages. Having been married and having to pick up the pieces after two miscarriages, the thought of that kind of power for the state sickens me. Pop (or pope) fly to center field. Two outs.
I have a radio show online, although I do not do any shows (the meds are working). I have had more than a few discussions on the show and on Facebook about ending abortion by increasing the child tax credit to living wage levels ($1000 per child per month, distributed with pay - an idea I still support). Ardent pro-life Republicans would have none of it, even though Pope's Leo XIII and Pius XI say that is exactly what must be done to stop abortion. It turns out that pro-life Republicans don't want to subsidize the sexuality of families - so the pro-choice movement is correct - the movement really is about controlling the sexual activity of women. Strike Three - swinging!
The inning is over, as is the game (and the inherent hellenistic misogyny infusing Catholic sexual teaching since the Church was given over to asexuals who think that their personal oddity is a sign of holiness gets the manager THROWN OUT.
So, after my mental journey over thirty five years I have the chops to say, go away Troll - and I did not even have to call you an ignorant....well, I won't risk getting this post thrown out, even if I only use the German vulgarity rather than the English equivalent. I will use the term on my own blog, however.
New members of Congress need to deploy self-discipline
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/new-members-congress-need-deploy-self-discipline
Any publicity is good publicity, especially for a back bencher, if they spell your name right. For Congresswoman Tlaib, that is hard to do without looking at it in the article. She is still a back bencher and spellcheck will recognize Tlaib but not Tlaib's.. Rep. Ocasio y Cortez is not doing much better, especially because people hyphenate her name rather than use the correct Spanish form, which I have done. The difference is Rep. Tlaib's fifteen minutes of fame have probably ended. Rep. Ocasio is just getting started, although she also has a long way to go.
Rep. Tlaib's comments were not profane, just vulgar. (I still want to type Tailb and spellcheck still does not recognize it.) The word vulgar has the same root as vulgate, as in the Latin Vulgate Bible. It means the common tongue. People often say pardon my French when it is used, but the word is not a French word, it is German, derived from the word Fokken, which is to penetrate, although there is nothing penetrating about the mind of Trump. It is only vulgar in the english speaking world because of immigration and World War I. I will not validate the ban on these words because doing so would only abet such racism. I will use the german rather than dashes and see if it is flagged. If not, I will fokking sue Facebook for discrimination based on national origin. As for George's list, only four five and six can no longer be said on TV, and four and five are only bad because they are not Politically Correct as a slur against women and gays.
If Tlaib had called him a G_ddamn Motherfokker, she would have been using profanity, however she would still be inaccurate. Trump is a Motherfokking Idiot with delusions of G_dhead. (note my treatment of the name of G_d). He is totally incompetent to do the job he ran for, so his party is full of enough motherfokking fools who nominated him. He was never a good negotiator, unless asking your father for money (who was also a motherfokking racist) or selling out your country to a crypto-commie bastard are considered making a good deal. Trump is also four and five, by the way.
If being well salted lets one be salty, then I must qualify to use the term motherfucker, since I have been around Washington for way too long, having first walked into the Capitol 35 years ago today as an intern. As an intern, if I had used the term motherfucker, Senator Jepsen would have sent me home to Iowa, which has enough Germans to make use of the word Fokk a colloquialism. I am now an expert on tax policy and if I do not make comments on the Tax Policy Center web page, people would wonder where I was. In tax policy circles, I am considered a though leader and I would still not use vulgarity on their site (and if I don't clean this screed up on Facebook, I will get flagged. Indeed, MSW's article may be flagged for even mentioning the word.
Rep. Tlaib's only sin was using the term with the camera on. At least Senator Romney did not think he was being taped by a waiter when he talked about the 47% of non-taxpayers who would never vote for him - and he was right because he broke the 13th Commandment - Thou shalt not get caught. It was an open secret that the Clintons cuss like sailors, until the books Primary Colors and Game Change (I had to look this up, but that is likely a senior moment) outed them officially, but not on tape. This represented a lack of professional decorum, more on the part of the authors than the media. Nixon also used such vulgarity and he was no idiot, but still had the same delusions of G_dhead as Trump, although Trump is much worse and (to repeat myself) is an idiot.
Any publicity is good publicity, especially for a back bencher, if they spell your name right. For Congresswoman Tlaib, that is hard to do without looking at it in the article. She is still a back bencher and spellcheck will recognize Tlaib but not Tlaib's.. Rep. Ocasio y Cortez is not doing much better, especially because people hyphenate her name rather than use the correct Spanish form, which I have done. The difference is Rep. Tlaib's fifteen minutes of fame have probably ended. Rep. Ocasio is just getting started, although she also has a long way to go.
Rep. Tlaib's comments were not profane, just vulgar. (I still want to type Tailb and spellcheck still does not recognize it.) The word vulgar has the same root as vulgate, as in the Latin Vulgate Bible. It means the common tongue. People often say pardon my French when it is used, but the word is not a French word, it is German, derived from the word Fokken, which is to penetrate, although there is nothing penetrating about the mind of Trump. It is only vulgar in the english speaking world because of immigration and World War I. I will not validate the ban on these words because doing so would only abet such racism. I will use the german rather than dashes and see if it is flagged. If not, I will fokking sue Facebook for discrimination based on national origin. As for George's list, only four five and six can no longer be said on TV, and four and five are only bad because they are not Politically Correct as a slur against women and gays.
If Tlaib had called him a G_ddamn Motherfokker, she would have been using profanity, however she would still be inaccurate. Trump is a Motherfokking Idiot with delusions of G_dhead. (note my treatment of the name of G_d). He is totally incompetent to do the job he ran for, so his party is full of enough motherfokking fools who nominated him. He was never a good negotiator, unless asking your father for money (who was also a motherfokking racist) or selling out your country to a crypto-commie bastard are considered making a good deal. Trump is also four and five, by the way.
If being well salted lets one be salty, then I must qualify to use the term motherfucker, since I have been around Washington for way too long, having first walked into the Capitol 35 years ago today as an intern. As an intern, if I had used the term motherfucker, Senator Jepsen would have sent me home to Iowa, which has enough Germans to make use of the word Fokk a colloquialism. I am now an expert on tax policy and if I do not make comments on the Tax Policy Center web page, people would wonder where I was. In tax policy circles, I am considered a though leader and I would still not use vulgarity on their site (and if I don't clean this screed up on Facebook, I will get flagged. Indeed, MSW's article may be flagged for even mentioning the word.
Rep. Tlaib's only sin was using the term with the camera on. At least Senator Romney did not think he was being taped by a waiter when he talked about the 47% of non-taxpayers who would never vote for him - and he was right because he broke the 13th Commandment - Thou shalt not get caught. It was an open secret that the Clintons cuss like sailors, until the books Primary Colors and Game Change (I had to look this up, but that is likely a senior moment) outed them officially, but not on tape. This represented a lack of professional decorum, more on the part of the authors than the media. Nixon also used such vulgarity and he was no idiot, but still had the same delusions of G_dhead as Trump, although Trump is much worse and (to repeat myself) is an idiot.
Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Links for 1/8/19
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/links-1819
The Holy Sisters bought into unholy capitalism, not just corporatism. They need to impose their culture, not bow to capitalist norms. It is time to make a stand against celebrity CEOs and this is the perfect place to start. Of course, CEOs want more because we pay doctors more than nurses and some of the doctors are well paid. Perhaps we should start with them in controlling pay - which means more pay and educational benefits at the low end with all med students becoming nurses first. Capitalism relies on Self-reliance, which is absolutely at odds with the Kingdom of God.
Just to clarify for readers, the podcast (and presumably the talk) is about the State of the Church. My guess is that it covers the same ground as recent posts.
Trump was the Manchurian candidate and is now the Manchurian president. Sadly, Pence is not doing his duty and removing him for just that reason.
The problem for Hillary was that she carried Bill with her and many felt betrayed by welfare reform, capital gains tax cuts, her not putting an African American on the ticket and her failure in dealing with partial birth abortion. The other problem is the grudging report by some media (who now blame other other Never Trumpers) and a prejudice by some against ever voting for a women.
Trump won his presidency by dragging the country into the gutter and governing from there. A little vulgarity is appropriate. Of course, for some of us, it is simply good German (as in, not pardon my French). This word is objectionable precisely because of anti-German sentiment due to both immigration and WWI. Get over it.
The Church needs to abandon Hellenism, both in dealing with sexual ethics, the ordination of women and the preservation of Sacred continence and in adopting the Gentile structures that elevate leaders. The martyrs from Jesus Maccabees to the victims of Diocletian died resisting it and we have been spitting on their graves ever since. There is more than enough evidence for this proposition, although because of the fact that we renew all things with every generation, it should not take too long to reverse this Abomination. Gradualism simply repeats the sin. It is the same sin as Capitalism.
The Democrats still accept the belief that some level of tax cutting for the rich leads to growth and investment. This is utterly wrong. Growth comes from government purchases, consumption by employees beneficiaries nd contractors and subsequent consumption by the private sector. and finally business investment. Tax cuts on the rich only lead to asset inflation. So far, deficit spending and bond sales have crowded out such inflation. Until the tax cuts are revoked, deficit spending is absolutely essential. The Democrats seem to have drunken the capitalist Kool-Aid as well when they go along with spending cuts.
Holding people responsible for mistakes rather than malice is all part of the fetish the world (and capitalism) has for self-reliance. There is no place for that in the Church. It is alien to the Kingdom of God, which teaches radical forgiveness as the way to be forgiven. This does not excuse bad behavior, but it is the only way to get beyond it.
The Holy Sisters bought into unholy capitalism, not just corporatism. They need to impose their culture, not bow to capitalist norms. It is time to make a stand against celebrity CEOs and this is the perfect place to start. Of course, CEOs want more because we pay doctors more than nurses and some of the doctors are well paid. Perhaps we should start with them in controlling pay - which means more pay and educational benefits at the low end with all med students becoming nurses first. Capitalism relies on Self-reliance, which is absolutely at odds with the Kingdom of God.
Just to clarify for readers, the podcast (and presumably the talk) is about the State of the Church. My guess is that it covers the same ground as recent posts.
Trump was the Manchurian candidate and is now the Manchurian president. Sadly, Pence is not doing his duty and removing him for just that reason.
The problem for Hillary was that she carried Bill with her and many felt betrayed by welfare reform, capital gains tax cuts, her not putting an African American on the ticket and her failure in dealing with partial birth abortion. The other problem is the grudging report by some media (who now blame other other Never Trumpers) and a prejudice by some against ever voting for a women.
Trump won his presidency by dragging the country into the gutter and governing from there. A little vulgarity is appropriate. Of course, for some of us, it is simply good German (as in, not pardon my French). This word is objectionable precisely because of anti-German sentiment due to both immigration and WWI. Get over it.
The Church needs to abandon Hellenism, both in dealing with sexual ethics, the ordination of women and the preservation of Sacred continence and in adopting the Gentile structures that elevate leaders. The martyrs from Jesus Maccabees to the victims of Diocletian died resisting it and we have been spitting on their graves ever since. There is more than enough evidence for this proposition, although because of the fact that we renew all things with every generation, it should not take too long to reverse this Abomination. Gradualism simply repeats the sin. It is the same sin as Capitalism.
The Democrats still accept the belief that some level of tax cutting for the rich leads to growth and investment. This is utterly wrong. Growth comes from government purchases, consumption by employees beneficiaries nd contractors and subsequent consumption by the private sector. and finally business investment. Tax cuts on the rich only lead to asset inflation. So far, deficit spending and bond sales have crowded out such inflation. Until the tax cuts are revoked, deficit spending is absolutely essential. The Democrats seem to have drunken the capitalist Kool-Aid as well when they go along with spending cuts.
Holding people responsible for mistakes rather than malice is all part of the fetish the world (and capitalism) has for self-reliance. There is no place for that in the Church. It is alien to the Kingdom of God, which teaches radical forgiveness as the way to be forgiven. This does not excuse bad behavior, but it is the only way to get beyond it.
Monday, January 7, 2019
Cross Posted from the Christian Left Blog: Catholic Sexuality: Hellenism and Self-Reliance
Last Friday, there was a comment storm on the National Catholic Reporter site about news that some want to reconsider priestly celibacy. It had the usual anachronists who thought that because Christ did not anoint female priests (he anointed no priests at all), that we could not do so now. Everyone agreed that celibacy stared in the fourth century after Constantine mandated Catholicism for the Empire (although he left Rome out of the great Councils because it was an Aryan backwater).
I brought up that the issue was not celibacy so much as Sacred Continence, which came from the stoic ideal of asexual friendship as being superior to marital relations. Sacred Continence, which forbids any priest who has had sex with his wife recently from celebrating Mass. Doing so was considered unclean. Indeed, this view dictated Augustine's contention that Original Sin came through birth by women. It is why Christ had to be both asexual and born by a perpetual virgin. The attachment to this gives us the attachment to the Eden myth as reality rather than what it is, a parable about blame. This also led to an asexual bias in Christian morality, so that obvious observations in natural law are ignored because they conflict with the ideal that sexuality for its own sake is wrong and that asexuality is a form of innate holiness, with celibacy merely the discipline to apply that holiness socially.
There is nothing particularly Christian about an asexual bias. although St/.Paul seems to have been an asexual (he was probably not gay). He was a Jew from Tarsus, not Palestine, so this type of Hellenism was easy for him to teach to those he converted to Christianity. He wrote this way before any major persecution of the Church since his own. Anyone who pays attention to my posts on asexuality in Catholic sexual teaching, and its misogynistic overtones (which also lead to not ordaining women) have heard this all before. Here is the new point.
From Jesus Maccabees to Jesus of Nazareth to the Martyrs for Christ through Nero (666) and Diocletian, the question was the imposition of Hellenistic philosophy on the people of God (first against Judah and then against the Church). It is ironic that after the Church became the religion of the Empire, it fully embraced its Hellenistic sexual ideal. By doing so, it essentially spits on the tombs of all of the martyrs who resisted it, including our Lord. This is a more powerful argument than simply attacking the asexuallity of the clergy, although both have their roots in Hellenistic misogyny. The only way out of this is to ordain women.
Today's debate was about abortion, with one of the usual trolls saying that one cannot be Catholic and pro-choice. I offered the usual arguments on negative and positive rights, the impracticality of regulating first trimester abortions and the dependence of both parties on keeping the issue alive. I will not repeat them here. There are a few new points, however.
There is no longer a Catholic vote, so one cannot say that it is non-Catholic to vote Democratic. The argument is settled on Roe. All eight Justices after Thomas consider it to be settled law. All but a few who have passed the Bar Exam know the reasons why this is the case. The base pro-life vote in the Church is about 43 percent. The base pro-choice vote is about the same. 16% are the mushy middle which jump between parties based on how abortion is dealt with.
If partial birth abortion is the focus of the day, the middle goes Republican (as when Hillary defended the practice to rally her base rather than showing this as another issue where Trump is ignorant - as PBA is already illegal). The middle goes Democratic when it is reminded that the pro-life movement is the GOP at prayer and there is more than just a little opportunism in how they frame the issue. That is how Obama won the Catholic vote in 2008, largely at my urging. Hillary ignored my earlier advice to her and lost the vote for that reason and because she did not take care of Obama voters who won't vote for an all-white ticket.
The antidote for dealing with Roe is to deal with preventing abortion through economic means. So far, nothing new. What is new are my my comments on how the Kingdom of God cannot abide self-reliance.
The Kingdom of God, as Jesus talked about it was not about going to Heaven but bring Heaven to Earth. Jesus said that it was difficult for a rich man to accept the kingdom. It would take the kind of contortions that camels would have to make to go through "the eye of the needle" which was a gate in the city wall where a camel would sit on a sled in a certain way and be pulled through.
Jesus did not have an income ceiling to be saved. What he stressed was faith in God to provide in all things. The primary characteristic of wealth is self reliance. It is hard to accept the Kingdom of God when you rely on yourself. Recall the story of the rich man who finally had his barns fool of grain and died the next day. He was not a fool for having wealth but for depending on it. There are no U-Hauls following hearses.
The Magisterium is very clear about society acting when employers and the free market cannot provide for families. Casti Connubii 119-122 are quite clear that the antidote for abortion is a living wage freely paid or social welfare if the market cannot provide. Charity is a one-time thing. Continuing income supplements are a matter of the public purse (even if granted through tax subsidies like the Child Tax Credit put in originally by Gerald Ford or a Negative Income Tax as described by Milton Friedman. The question is no longer whether such things are good, only if the amounts are adequate. They are not, which is the major driver in abortion - roughly 72 percent of the time.
The question for pro-lifers is not whether a family supplement is enacted. It is already in place. The question is whether it should be adequate to achieve relative social and economic equality for most families. The USDA estimates that it takes $1000 per child per month to live decently (not including daycare). This would essentially end the need for three-quarters of abortions. Not providing such a support level while banning abortion would be considered cruel by most civilized people. The question for pro-lifers is whether they support an adequate level or whether you believe in the kind of self-reliance that Jesus condemned?
I brought up that the issue was not celibacy so much as Sacred Continence, which came from the stoic ideal of asexual friendship as being superior to marital relations. Sacred Continence, which forbids any priest who has had sex with his wife recently from celebrating Mass. Doing so was considered unclean. Indeed, this view dictated Augustine's contention that Original Sin came through birth by women. It is why Christ had to be both asexual and born by a perpetual virgin. The attachment to this gives us the attachment to the Eden myth as reality rather than what it is, a parable about blame. This also led to an asexual bias in Christian morality, so that obvious observations in natural law are ignored because they conflict with the ideal that sexuality for its own sake is wrong and that asexuality is a form of innate holiness, with celibacy merely the discipline to apply that holiness socially.
There is nothing particularly Christian about an asexual bias. although St/.Paul seems to have been an asexual (he was probably not gay). He was a Jew from Tarsus, not Palestine, so this type of Hellenism was easy for him to teach to those he converted to Christianity. He wrote this way before any major persecution of the Church since his own. Anyone who pays attention to my posts on asexuality in Catholic sexual teaching, and its misogynistic overtones (which also lead to not ordaining women) have heard this all before. Here is the new point.
From Jesus Maccabees to Jesus of Nazareth to the Martyrs for Christ through Nero (666) and Diocletian, the question was the imposition of Hellenistic philosophy on the people of God (first against Judah and then against the Church). It is ironic that after the Church became the religion of the Empire, it fully embraced its Hellenistic sexual ideal. By doing so, it essentially spits on the tombs of all of the martyrs who resisted it, including our Lord. This is a more powerful argument than simply attacking the asexuallity of the clergy, although both have their roots in Hellenistic misogyny. The only way out of this is to ordain women.
Today's debate was about abortion, with one of the usual trolls saying that one cannot be Catholic and pro-choice. I offered the usual arguments on negative and positive rights, the impracticality of regulating first trimester abortions and the dependence of both parties on keeping the issue alive. I will not repeat them here. There are a few new points, however.
There is no longer a Catholic vote, so one cannot say that it is non-Catholic to vote Democratic. The argument is settled on Roe. All eight Justices after Thomas consider it to be settled law. All but a few who have passed the Bar Exam know the reasons why this is the case. The base pro-life vote in the Church is about 43 percent. The base pro-choice vote is about the same. 16% are the mushy middle which jump between parties based on how abortion is dealt with.
If partial birth abortion is the focus of the day, the middle goes Republican (as when Hillary defended the practice to rally her base rather than showing this as another issue where Trump is ignorant - as PBA is already illegal). The middle goes Democratic when it is reminded that the pro-life movement is the GOP at prayer and there is more than just a little opportunism in how they frame the issue. That is how Obama won the Catholic vote in 2008, largely at my urging. Hillary ignored my earlier advice to her and lost the vote for that reason and because she did not take care of Obama voters who won't vote for an all-white ticket.
The antidote for dealing with Roe is to deal with preventing abortion through economic means. So far, nothing new. What is new are my my comments on how the Kingdom of God cannot abide self-reliance.
The Kingdom of God, as Jesus talked about it was not about going to Heaven but bring Heaven to Earth. Jesus said that it was difficult for a rich man to accept the kingdom. It would take the kind of contortions that camels would have to make to go through "the eye of the needle" which was a gate in the city wall where a camel would sit on a sled in a certain way and be pulled through.
Jesus did not have an income ceiling to be saved. What he stressed was faith in God to provide in all things. The primary characteristic of wealth is self reliance. It is hard to accept the Kingdom of God when you rely on yourself. Recall the story of the rich man who finally had his barns fool of grain and died the next day. He was not a fool for having wealth but for depending on it. There are no U-Hauls following hearses.
The Magisterium is very clear about society acting when employers and the free market cannot provide for families. Casti Connubii 119-122 are quite clear that the antidote for abortion is a living wage freely paid or social welfare if the market cannot provide. Charity is a one-time thing. Continuing income supplements are a matter of the public purse (even if granted through tax subsidies like the Child Tax Credit put in originally by Gerald Ford or a Negative Income Tax as described by Milton Friedman. The question is no longer whether such things are good, only if the amounts are adequate. They are not, which is the major driver in abortion - roughly 72 percent of the time.
The question for pro-lifers is not whether a family supplement is enacted. It is already in place. The question is whether it should be adequate to achieve relative social and economic equality for most families. The USDA estimates that it takes $1000 per child per month to live decently (not including daycare). This would essentially end the need for three-quarters of abortions. Not providing such a support level while banning abortion would be considered cruel by most civilized people. The question for pro-lifers is whether they support an adequate level or whether you believe in the kind of self-reliance that Jesus condemned?
Who's saying 'Never Trump' now?
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/whos-saying-never-trump-now..
The never-Trumpets were the canaries in the coal mine. They largely succeeded in keeping donations down and were not why he won.
Hillary put the whitest man in the Senate in the VP slot, which led many African American leaders to lukewarm support. They did not encourage high turnout, largely because of Bill's triangulation on racial and economic issues. They never thought Trump would win.
This would not have mattered had Hillary not flubbed the partial birth abortion response. Instead of responding that partial birth abortion was both illegal and rare, she played to the base. This activated the pro-life movement, especially the bishops, and caused a Luke warm response by pro-life Democrats, inflating Trump's numbers in the places where black voters stayed home.
A perfect storm that surprised the biggest never-Trumper of all, Trump himself. Winning bumped up his ego enough to want the job rather than resigning quickly and letting Pence have it.
Of the never Trumpets, I blame the Luke warm pro-life Dems the most, like MSW. Sad he should be deflecting.
Friday, January 4, 2019
Good times aren't ahead for US church
https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/distinctly-catholic/good-times-arent-ahead-us-church
No one ever remembers good times. Indeed, when they occur it is usually because some fundamental truth is being ignored, as in the 1950s when Triumphalism gripped the Church, who had become the moral leader of American culture. All the while, children were being raped and the hierarchy swept it under the rug, with a compliant Church covering it up. Those times gave us these times, from female emancipation and the sexual revolution to the present crisis.
To quote the Chinese curse, we live in interesting times. When these occur, interesting people are sent by the Spirit to be a voice to set things right. They will be unexpected and outside the normal authority structures. They will face opposition, but that opposition will be overcome, although it may lead to bad times for those who speak for God (see Jesus, Ghandi and Martin Luther King). We are in the worst of times, but these are also be seen as the best of times.
No one ever remembers good times. Indeed, when they occur it is usually because some fundamental truth is being ignored, as in the 1950s when Triumphalism gripped the Church, who had become the moral leader of American culture. All the while, children were being raped and the hierarchy swept it under the rug, with a compliant Church covering it up. Those times gave us these times, from female emancipation and the sexual revolution to the present crisis.
To quote the Chinese curse, we live in interesting times. When these occur, interesting people are sent by the Spirit to be a voice to set things right. They will be unexpected and outside the normal authority structures. They will face opposition, but that opposition will be overcome, although it may lead to bad times for those who speak for God (see Jesus, Ghandi and Martin Luther King). We are in the worst of times, but these are also be seen as the best of times.
Thursday, January 3, 2019
Links for 1/3/19
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/links-1319
The problem is not Marsh, it is capitalism and the fact that what Marsh did has not been made illegal. If Marsh were employee-owned, the employees would be the shareholders, provided the ESOP debt had been paid, although if such companies and their debt were insured, everyone would get paid. Until there are enough such companies, the needs of the workers will always be secondary.
Dignitatis Humanae Institute is another horrible misnaming, like Acton and Susan B. Anthony Fund. If your name is a lie, chances are everything you say is as well and you are best ignored. That they have linked to Ray Burke shows their partisanship (and his). Raymond Arroyo is simply best ignored. Except for broadcasting Masses and Rosaries, EWTN should also be ignored (not just here, but the world over). Then again, so should Burke. Francis does a good job of that. We should follow his lead.
The Catholic Golden Age was the period of Triumphalism where the American Church could impose its values in censoring dissent, which it did within the Church in its fight against Modernism (the ideology that never existed), as well as modernity. Vatican II put the kibosh on that, although they likely were following the trend in society that fits nicely with the emergence of the baby boomers as a cultural force. Triumphalism also explains the ability of the Church to cover up the rape of children. There is nothing golden about that age, although it did get a reprise under St. John Paul. (Makes you wonder if canonization is simply identity politics).
The Catholic Herald will have a naming problem in the U,S., since that is also the name of the Arlington Diocese' newspaper. Stay tuned for a trademark fight.
Globalism is part of Capitalism. It was so when Marx penned Capital and it still is. The only antidote is employee-owners in the U,.S. acting in solidarity with the workers in their foreign subsidiaries and supply chains. Internationalism will follow. This is another way that Marxism beats Liberalism.
The New Republic(an) has no idea what identity politics is. It is actually a form of the old ethnic politics and it usually targets economically disadvantaged groups. Once the Irish were not the poor Irish, they ended their usefulness as a voting bloc. That the African-American vote is monolithic shows that, even among their middle class, they face real discrimination, from being suspect (and shot) to voter intimidation. They were Republican by and large, but became Democratic with the emergence of workers from the white working class, who constantly vote against their economic interests by voting Republican, due mostly to endemic racism.
There used to be a Catholic vote. The Democrats did not lose it, rather Catholics became economically, socially and even morally diverse. Accept for the hierarchy's affect on the mushy middle on abortion, they are no different from society a large (although this is likely true with many Protestants). Jews are no longer monolithic for the same reason, although they are almost universally zionist, although some of us have a decent respect for the rights of Palestinians.
Identity politics is simply an attempt to take care of groups that identify with your brand. Women are becoming an identity group, although to a lesser extent. That they have forced both parties to have equal representation by gender is primarily due to NEA members in the Democratic Party, with the Republicans trying to keep up. Why any woman would vote Republican, save for economic class, is vexing, since the women's movement (misnamed the sexual revolution) can be seen as the cause for economic empowerment, although there is much work to be done. Hillary was a symbol of this and might have won had she taken care of the Black vote and not ticked off the mushy middle Catholics by arguing for partial birth abortion rather than attacking the pro-life movement as the GOP at prayer and a scam.
As for the Christian Left, we ar hardly monolithic although we do reach across faith boundaries. We are economically liberal and socially libertarian (although the last point is not true for many Black pastors). If (ok, when) the GOP becomes the KKK voting, we are assuredly to follow the Bernie crew, who may go for Warren or someone else. It could be that younger voters have also begun a monolithic phase, since life for them is worse for their parents and worse than their parents.
The problem is not Marsh, it is capitalism and the fact that what Marsh did has not been made illegal. If Marsh were employee-owned, the employees would be the shareholders, provided the ESOP debt had been paid, although if such companies and their debt were insured, everyone would get paid. Until there are enough such companies, the needs of the workers will always be secondary.
Dignitatis Humanae Institute is another horrible misnaming, like Acton and Susan B. Anthony Fund. If your name is a lie, chances are everything you say is as well and you are best ignored. That they have linked to Ray Burke shows their partisanship (and his). Raymond Arroyo is simply best ignored. Except for broadcasting Masses and Rosaries, EWTN should also be ignored (not just here, but the world over). Then again, so should Burke. Francis does a good job of that. We should follow his lead.
The Catholic Golden Age was the period of Triumphalism where the American Church could impose its values in censoring dissent, which it did within the Church in its fight against Modernism (the ideology that never existed), as well as modernity. Vatican II put the kibosh on that, although they likely were following the trend in society that fits nicely with the emergence of the baby boomers as a cultural force. Triumphalism also explains the ability of the Church to cover up the rape of children. There is nothing golden about that age, although it did get a reprise under St. John Paul. (Makes you wonder if canonization is simply identity politics).
The Catholic Herald will have a naming problem in the U,S., since that is also the name of the Arlington Diocese' newspaper. Stay tuned for a trademark fight.
Globalism is part of Capitalism. It was so when Marx penned Capital and it still is. The only antidote is employee-owners in the U,.S. acting in solidarity with the workers in their foreign subsidiaries and supply chains. Internationalism will follow. This is another way that Marxism beats Liberalism.
The New Republic(an) has no idea what identity politics is. It is actually a form of the old ethnic politics and it usually targets economically disadvantaged groups. Once the Irish were not the poor Irish, they ended their usefulness as a voting bloc. That the African-American vote is monolithic shows that, even among their middle class, they face real discrimination, from being suspect (and shot) to voter intimidation. They were Republican by and large, but became Democratic with the emergence of workers from the white working class, who constantly vote against their economic interests by voting Republican, due mostly to endemic racism.
There used to be a Catholic vote. The Democrats did not lose it, rather Catholics became economically, socially and even morally diverse. Accept for the hierarchy's affect on the mushy middle on abortion, they are no different from society a large (although this is likely true with many Protestants). Jews are no longer monolithic for the same reason, although they are almost universally zionist, although some of us have a decent respect for the rights of Palestinians.
Identity politics is simply an attempt to take care of groups that identify with your brand. Women are becoming an identity group, although to a lesser extent. That they have forced both parties to have equal representation by gender is primarily due to NEA members in the Democratic Party, with the Republicans trying to keep up. Why any woman would vote Republican, save for economic class, is vexing, since the women's movement (misnamed the sexual revolution) can be seen as the cause for economic empowerment, although there is much work to be done. Hillary was a symbol of this and might have won had she taken care of the Black vote and not ticked off the mushy middle Catholics by arguing for partial birth abortion rather than attacking the pro-life movement as the GOP at prayer and a scam.
As for the Christian Left, we ar hardly monolithic although we do reach across faith boundaries. We are economically liberal and socially libertarian (although the last point is not true for many Black pastors). If (ok, when) the GOP becomes the KKK voting, we are assuredly to follow the Bernie crew, who may go for Warren or someone else. It could be that younger voters have also begun a monolithic phase, since life for them is worse for their parents and worse than their parents.
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
What's ahead for US politics in 2019?
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/whats-ahead-us-politics-2019
Trump and Pence know what Mueller has or they are fools. The question is whether Trump is shown the door today so that Ryan or someone they put in from a vacated Speakership becomes POTUS before noon tomorrow when Pelosi becomes queen maker and Hillary becomes POTUS when Trump resigns and Pence is indicted. The other option is Pence and the Cabinet hearing about one tantrum too many, leaving Trump in a locked ward in Walter Reed and Pence as acting POTUS. If he is indicted and resigns, see Nancy or Hillary as acting POTUS until the Senate removes him.
If Trump is not prosecuted, he will be the nominee. There is no chance of him not going down. The sitting or acting POTUS will be the standard bearer of their party. If it is a Democrat then the GOP field will all say they are pro-life, even if they are not. The question is whether any will call for an openly racist candidate to quit the race - or if being an openly racist candidate takes over for abortion as the main issue. The GOP is about to become a minor party and go the way of Federalists. They will reemerge as a whiggish party and may take the Clinton Democrats with them into power.
The Democrats will cleave into the Clinton and Bernie forces and the party may not last the year. Unless social media is still bot-heavy, that there are two camps that will never work together again is almost a certainty. The question is where the identity politics voters go as to who will win in 2020.
Things will happen with an acting or succeeding Democrat as POTUS, as those who vote to impeach will scramble to the Democratic Party to save themselves. Where they fall when the party flips is an interesting question. Will that help the Clintonians win? No. They will all be considered damaged goods and DINOs. If they are nominated in 2020, the party will surely split.
Abortion will not be an issue in either Democratic camp and the GOP, or what is left of it, will focus on maintaining the overt racism of its base as its self-destruction. Good riddance to the issue. Late term abortions, which are decidedly rare, are seen as an act of violence. Most abortions are as violent as having a period or a miscarriage in the public mind. Most women have had at least one of these, so the issue has lost its legs. Unless the Catholic vote demands large subsidies to families to stop abortion, it is a dead issue entirely. The question is whether the Sanders crowd will go Zero Population Growth or the more Marxian to each according to their need. The Hillary crowd will not consider any change to the status quo.
The purpose of prayer is not so much intercession as letting God work through the supplicant. Few will pray for Trump, unless they are praying that he find eternal rest as soon as possible. Trump has brought out Old Testament wrath in most people.
Trump and Pence know what Mueller has or they are fools. The question is whether Trump is shown the door today so that Ryan or someone they put in from a vacated Speakership becomes POTUS before noon tomorrow when Pelosi becomes queen maker and Hillary becomes POTUS when Trump resigns and Pence is indicted. The other option is Pence and the Cabinet hearing about one tantrum too many, leaving Trump in a locked ward in Walter Reed and Pence as acting POTUS. If he is indicted and resigns, see Nancy or Hillary as acting POTUS until the Senate removes him.
If Trump is not prosecuted, he will be the nominee. There is no chance of him not going down. The sitting or acting POTUS will be the standard bearer of their party. If it is a Democrat then the GOP field will all say they are pro-life, even if they are not. The question is whether any will call for an openly racist candidate to quit the race - or if being an openly racist candidate takes over for abortion as the main issue. The GOP is about to become a minor party and go the way of Federalists. They will reemerge as a whiggish party and may take the Clinton Democrats with them into power.
The Democrats will cleave into the Clinton and Bernie forces and the party may not last the year. Unless social media is still bot-heavy, that there are two camps that will never work together again is almost a certainty. The question is where the identity politics voters go as to who will win in 2020.
Things will happen with an acting or succeeding Democrat as POTUS, as those who vote to impeach will scramble to the Democratic Party to save themselves. Where they fall when the party flips is an interesting question. Will that help the Clintonians win? No. They will all be considered damaged goods and DINOs. If they are nominated in 2020, the party will surely split.
Abortion will not be an issue in either Democratic camp and the GOP, or what is left of it, will focus on maintaining the overt racism of its base as its self-destruction. Good riddance to the issue. Late term abortions, which are decidedly rare, are seen as an act of violence. Most abortions are as violent as having a period or a miscarriage in the public mind. Most women have had at least one of these, so the issue has lost its legs. Unless the Catholic vote demands large subsidies to families to stop abortion, it is a dead issue entirely. The question is whether the Sanders crowd will go Zero Population Growth or the more Marxian to each according to their need. The Hillary crowd will not consider any change to the status quo.
The purpose of prayer is not so much intercession as letting God work through the supplicant. Few will pray for Trump, unless they are praying that he find eternal rest as soon as possible. Trump has brought out Old Testament wrath in most people.
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