Obama and the Scorpion

Barack Obama gave his first interview to an Arab media source. Sounds pretty stupid for an American President to give his first interview not in America but Obama's got his plan and I don't understand it. I don't think I've ever seen a President so consumed with his legacy so early in his Presidency.

But come on, there's something really stupid about giving your first interview and start denigrating America. I mean, hoe goes on Al Arabiya and essentially blames America first. That's when it hit me. Obama believes what he said during the campaign. And that scares me. I thought he was just throwing red meat to his base. But it's worse than that. He really does believe he can reshape the world to his will.

Obama actually believes America's at fault for the problems in the Middle East.
Obama actually believes it's George W. Bush's fault.

And now Obama's sending letters to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and establishing talks with Captain Crazy over there. And what does Obama get for reaching out:

US President Barack Obama's offer to talk to Iran shows that America's policy of "domination" has failed, the government spokesman said on Saturday.

"This request means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed," Gholam Hossein Elham was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.

"Negotiation is secondary, the main issue is that there is no way but for (the United States) to change," he added.

After nearly three decades of severed ties, Obama said shortly after taking office this month that he is willing to extend a diplomatic hand to Tehran if the Islamic republic is ready to "unclench its fist".

In response, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh tirade against the United States, demanding an apology for its "crimes" against Iran and saying he expected "deep and fundamental" change from Obama.

Iranian politicians frequently refer to the US administration as the "global arrogance", "domineering power" and "Great Satan".

This reminds me of the story about the scorpion and the frog where the scorpion asks a frog to carry him across a river. The frog is afraid of being stung, but the scorpion reassures him that if it stung the frog, the frog would sink and the scorpion would drown as well. The frog agrees but about halfway across the scorpion stings him, killing the two of them. When asked why, the scorpion explains, "I'm a scorpion; it's my nature."

So, note to Obama, the world is full of scorpions. And they're not all in America.

Today On CMR - January 30, 2009

Salon: Pope is Sick and Evil
—Online magazine attacks Pope.

Child Taken From Grandparents for Gay Adoption
—This is the most outrageous story you'll read today.

Pelosi Prevaricates ... And The Some
—Speaker defends millions for STD's ... sorta.

Traditional Anglicans To Get Personal Prelature?
—Breaking News! Report that the Traditional Anglican Communion will be granted a personal prelature!

Accept Gay Marriage or Die!
—Gay advocates wish to condemn millions of Africans to death in the name of compassion.

Best Example of Media Bias... in Days
—Obama makes a rookie mistake...but don't worry it's the Republican's fault.

Creative Minority Reader

Shark Shoes at the Doctor's Office
—Tell me I'm not the only one who has days like this. Anyone?

The Vatican Could Learn from Hamas
—No organization has mastered the art of media manipulation than Hamas. The Catholic Church could learn a few things.

Dominicans On Display
—Beautiful Photo Essay from Time. Radical Love.

Salon: Pope is Sick and Evil

Salon.com had a column today calling a world leader "sick and evil" for "making nice with an anti-semitic Holocaust denier." And they're not talking about Barack Obama sending love letters to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. No. Of course they were talking about the Pope.

OK, Bill Donohue, just get the inevitable over with and call me anti-Catholic. Once again a pope has decided that enhancing the authority of the Vatican justifies turning a blind eye to vicious anti-Semitism, and I'm saying it's one more example of a long-standing and unresolved problem within the Catholic Church. It is not merely discouraging or problematic that Pope Benedict XVI is making nice with a Holocaust denier, or mending fences with a splinter group of ultraconservative anti-Semites, it is sick and evil. No matter how often the church issues statements condemning anti-Semitism, or holds papal concerts to commemorate the Holocaust, or says no, the Jews didn't kill Christ, the Vatican always seems caught off-guard and surprised that some people think it has a Jewish problem.

Of course, the writer throws everything at the wall including disproved myths about Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust. But in this case he's talking about the comments of Bishop Richard Williamson who seems to be a holocaust denier. But it's not like the Church has turned a blind eye to it. It took Williamson's comments very seriously and Bishop Fellay essentially put a gag order on Williamson, prohibiting him from talking about politics and history. Essentially, they said "Stop the crazy talk." But I guess that's not enough for Salon.
Salon should be embarrassed by this piece. It is nothing short of hateful, anti-Catholic, and most of all misinformed.
Idiocy like this almost leaves no room for argumentation. Is the Church supposed to throw out anyone who has a kooky idea? Anyone who sins? We'd be a pretty small Church, wouldn't we? But maybe that's what Salon wants.

Child Taken From Grandparents for Gay Adoption

The latest evidence I submit to you, dear reader, that the world is upside down is this topsy turvy tale from jolly ol' England.

Two grandparents just had their grandchildren whom they adored ripped away from them so the state could give the child to a homosexual couple to adopt. You see, we must remember that the highest good here is not the child's welfare but making a politically correct social point.

Says the Daily Mail:

Two young children are to be adopted by a gay couple, despite the protests of their grandparents.

The devastated grandparents were told they would never see the youngsters again unless they dropped their opposition.

The couple, who cannot be named, wanted to give the five-year-old boy and his four-year-old sister a loving home themselves. But they were ruled to be too old - at 46 and 59.

For two years they fought for their rights to care for the children, whose 26-year- old mother is a recovering heroin addict.

They agreed to an adoption only after they faced being financially crippled by legal bills.

H/T Stop The ACLU

The final blow came when they were told the children were going to a gay household, even though several heterosexual couples wanted them.

When the grandfather protested, he was told: 'You can either accept it, and there's a chance you'll see the children twice a year, or you can take that stance and never see them again.'

The man said last night: 'It breaks my heart to think that our grandchildren are being forced to grow up in an environment without a mother figure. We are not prejudiced, but I defy anyone to explain to us how this can be in their best interests.'

Social workers themselves have admitted that the little girl is 'more wary' of men than women.

One of the things that jumps out at me in this tale is that even though the grandfather is having his grandchildren torn away from him he still feels the need to assure everyone he's not prejudiced against gays. Dude, you've got a right to be pretty damn outraged. Two children are being taken away from you so some jerk with a social welfare degree can pronounce himself a hero for standing up for alternative lifestyles.

In a sane world, a movie would be made of this from the poor grandparent's perspective. In this mad mad mad world, a movie will be made about the young social worker standing up to the system. It'll probably get some awards.

Pelosi Prevaricates ... And The Some

stim⋅u⋅lus
 
Physiology, Medicine/Medical. something that excites an organism or part to functional activity.

Well that about sums it up. Stimulus is defined today as anything that excited your organism. The Democrat Congress, in particular Speaker of the House and self proclaimed Catholic and theologian, has provided a whpping $335,000,0000 for STD prevention. Can't let anything get in the way of exciting your organism after all.

The [pick your adjective] disingenuous, insidious, deceitful, dishonest, or underhanded Speaker defends this whopping sum of money as economic stimulus. Well, actually she doesn't. She says, well actually doesn't really say anything. Well anything other than I am a liar.


Do you know what liars do? They lie. That is what they do. Yes. The fact that liars lie should come as no great surprise. What is surprising I suppose is the undisguised inartfulleness of it. Bravissima Madame Speaker.

Nothing quite exposes the lunacy of liberalism as limpingly loquacious.

Today on CMR - January 29, 2008

Traditional Anglicans To Get Personal Prelature?
—Breaking News! Report that the Traditional Anglican Communion will be granted a personal prelature!

Accept Gay Marriage or Die!
—Gay advocates wish to condemn millions of Africans to death in the name of compassion.

Best Example of Media Bias... in Days
—Obama makes a rookie mistake...but don't worry it's the Republican's fault.

The Vatican Could Learn from Hamas
—No organization has mastered the art of media manipulation than Hamas. The Catholic Church could learn a few things.

Some Churches Save Souls, Some Save Lives
—This guy didn't hit bottom before turning to the church.

Dominicans On Display
—Beautiful Photo Essay from Time. Radical Love.

Shark Shoes at the Doctor's Office
—Tell me I'm not the only one who has days like this. Anyone?

Creative Minority Reader

Bishop Fellay Does The Right Thing
—Bishop Fellay apologizes for Williamson and institutes gag order. Hoorah!

Fr. Barron on the Catholic "Commentariat"
—Another great video from Fr. Barron.

Gays Good. Catholics Bad?
—In: Gay Rights. Out: Catholic rights.

Don't Ask —Don't Tell — Clean
—Policies have consequences!

Two Headlines: I See a Link
—This is the least important thing you'll read today.

Traditional Anglicans To Get Personal Prelature?

It is being reported in an Australian Catholic weekly that the CDF is prepared to recommend that the Traditional Anglican Communion, a group of continuing Anglicans seeking unity with Rome, be granted the status of a Personal Prelature. From The Record

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has decided to recommend the Traditional Anglican Communion be accorded a personal prelature akin to Opus Dei, if talks between the TAC and the Vatican aimed at unity succeed, it is understood.

The TAC is a growing global community of approximately 400,000 members that took the historic step in 2007 of seeking full corporate and sacramental communion with the Catholic Church – a move that, if fulfilled, will be the biggest development in Catholic-Anglican relations since the English Reformation under King Henry VIII.
TAC members split from the Canterbury-based Anglican Communion headed by Archbishop Rowan Williams over issues such as its ordination of women priests and episcopal consecrations of women and practising homosexuals.

The TAC’s case appeared to take a significant step forwards in October 2008 when it is understood that the CDF decided not to recommend the creation of a distinct Anglican rite within the Roman Catholic Church – as is the case with the Eastern Catholic Churches - but a personal prelature, a semi-autonomous group with its own clergy and laity.

Opus Dei was the first organisation in the Catholic Church to be recognised as a personal prelature, a new juridical form in the life of the Church. A personal prelature is something like a global diocese without boundaries, headed by its own bishop and with its own membership and clergy.

Because no such juridical form of life in the Church had existed before, the development and recognition of a personal prelature took Opus Dei and Church officials decades to achieve.

An announcement could be made soon after Easter this year. It is understood that Pope Benedict XVI, who has taken a personal interest in the matter, has linked the issue to the year of St Paul, the greatest missionary in the history of the Church.
The Basilica of St Paul outside the Walls could feature prominently in such an announcement for its traditional and historical links to Anglicanism. Prior to the English Reformation it was the official Church of the Knights of the Garter.

The TAC’s Primate, Adelaide-based Archbishop John Hepworth, told The Record he has also informed the Holy See he wants to bring all the TAC’s bishops to Rome for the beatification of Cardinal Henry Newman, also an Anglican convert to the Catholic Church, as a celebration of Anglican-Catholic unity.

If this report is accurate this is potentially earth shattering news! This would be an absolutely huge development not only for the Catholic Church but for the Anglican community as a whole. A personal prelature would give the Traditional Anglicans a way of being protected from interference by Bishops not keen on their inclusion.

This potential news, following on the heels of Pope Benedict's dramatic overture toward unity with the SSPX, illustrates the Pope's dedication to authentic Christian unity.

Again, if this news is true, this could be an absolutely momentous year for the Church.

Stay tuned!

Accept Gay Marriage or Die!

This is pretty terrible. You think that gay advocacy groups will stop at nothing to get their way? Well get this.

The European Union’s Committee on “gay rights” has demanded that all foreign aid to Nigeria be suspended after that country’s House of Representatives voted to prohibit attempts to create legal “gay marriage.”

Mind you, Nigeria depends on foreign aid to battle high rates of "HIV/AIDS, infant mortality, infectious diseases such as typhoid fever, malaria and yellow fever, Lassa fever and meningococcal meningitis" according to Lifesite.

So, because Nigeria is holding to their religious beliefs, this "gay rights" group wants to commit millions to death.

So next time someone's arguing with you about tolerance, drop that one on them. What they mean by tolerance is that you do what they say. They cry for compassion while acting like tyrants.

Today On CMR - January 28, 2009

Best Example of Media Bias... in Days
—Obama makes a rookie mistake...but don't worry it's the Republican's fault.

The Vatican Could Learn from Hamas
—No organization has mastered the art of media manipulation than Hamas. The Catholic Church could learn a few things.

Some Churches Save Souls, Some Save Lives
—This guy didn't hit bottom before turning to the church.

Dominicans On Display
—Beautiful Photo Essay from Time. Radical Love.

Shark Shoes at the Doctor's Office
—Tell me I'm not the only one who has days like this. Anyone?

Bishop Fellay Does The Right Thing
—Bishop Fellay apologizes for Williamson and institutes gag order. Hoorah!

Fr. Barron on the Catholic "Commentariat"
—Another great video from Fr. Barron.

Creative Minority Reader

Gays Good. Catholics Bad?
—In: Gay Rights. Out: Catholic rights.

Don't Ask —Don't Tell — Clean
—Policies have consequences!

Two Headlines: I See a Link
—This is the least important thing you'll read today.

Pelosi: Birth Control Boosts the Economy
—Margaret Sanger would be so proud.

This Pitcher is a Champion
—Pretty amazing story about a World Series Champion who spent his Christmas...not at Disneyworld.

Best Example of Media Bias... in Days

This is truly one of the clearest examples of media bias I've seen in a long time...at least since last week, anyway.

President Barack Obama walks into a window because he thought it was a door. If the media had any sanity left they'd leave it as just a humorous moment. But guess what - the NY Daily News feels the need to point out that it was the Republicans fault that Obama walked into the window. And besides, they say, Bush once tried to open a locked door:

It looks like President Obama hasn't gotten acquainted to his White House surroundings. On the way back to the Oval Office Tuesday, the President approached a paned window, instead of the actual door -- located a few feet to his right.

Doors didn't open automatically for Obama’s predecessor either. While making a hasty exit from a 2005 press conference in Beijing, former President George W. Bush tugged on the handles of a door, only to find it locked.

Bush laughed off the blunder, but the pictures still live on as part of Bush's lame duck legacy. However, there was little note taken of Obama's rookie mistake.

Obama, who was returning from meeting with Congressional leaders, may have been distracted by Republicans' icy reception to his $825 billion stimulus package, which is poised to pass on Wednesday even without a groundswell of Republican support.

So Bush tried to open up a locked door (which had the advantage of actually being a door) and it's emblematic of his legacy. But Obama tries to walk through a window and it's because of the Republicans icy reception.

Nah. No bias in that story. Nothing to see here. Move along.

The Vatican Could Learn from Hamas

I love the Catholic Church. But the Vatican stinks at handling press. I mean stinks.

Take the recent issue with the SSPX. Pope Benedict XVI revoked the excommunication of four of the bishops of the SSPX and suddenly a media star was born in Bishop Richard Williamson.

You see, currently Bishop Williamson is the most popular Catholic in the media. Type in "Bishop Williamson" into Google News and you get 3,542 news stories.

To compare - Type in "Bishop Fellay," who actually is the head of the SSPX and you only get 525 hits.

So journalists hit their macro "Holocaust denying sede vacantists" and erased Mel Gibson's name and just put in Williamson's.

That means the media is not getting the story right. It means the media is controlling the story. And as someone who has been both a journalist and a p.r. hack, you do not want the media controlling your story.

The New York Times headlined Bishop Williamson's suspicion that 9-11 was an inside job. Well that has about as much to do with his standing with the church as his opinion on the price of arugula. And the media could've known that if they'd translated L'Osservatore Romano. But today's media is not known for their work ethic. Their news angles show up in their email inbox. With all the staff cuts at media organization, reporters are assigned to write a few stories each day. They like it easy. They need it spoon fed to them.

And we know that most reporters just don't do religion so their reflex is typically suspicious of any religious institution (other than Islam.) The Catholic church is so often misreported it is a surprise when a secular media source gets it right. Remember when the Church's International Theological Commission said limbo reflected an "unduly restrictive view of salvation." Could the media have taken that more out of context?

Amy Welborn wrote recently:

But the folks in the Vatican, despite their website, radio, television and YouTube channel, are still not grasping the RAPIDITY of communications in the modern world and how intense and deep the dispersal of information is and what power the means of communications beyond traditional venues like wire agencies and such have in pushing stories and determining storylines.

We’ve talked about this before in relation to other issues - other documents and decisions. The Vatican releases it, maybe has a press conference with a few experts, Father Lombardi is available…and that’s it.

As of now, The Vatican issues a press release and the journalist in need of a quote calls the dissident Catholic they have on speed dial who will explain why the Vatican might be very very wrong about this. Often, media offices of the Church don't even return phone calls and the reporters are left calling parish priests. Fr. Fay Blake of Saint Mary Magdalen recently wrote:

Again and again I have English journalists ringing me, a parish priest with a blog, for background information because the Bishops Media Office are unavailable, or not able to speak to them or simply don't know. I think it is a scandal, especially as most of the negative news stories seemed to have originated in the English Media.
Could it be better not to have a Media Office?

With this SSPX story, the media has found its hook in this story and the only thing the media's clear on is that the Pope has "de-excommunicated" (their word) a holocaust denier. That's how they've distilled this story into a soundbyte.

The theological and canonical weeds are thick enough to intimidate journalists but boy oh boy do they understand holocaust denier. Heck, they were probably just surprised that all Catholics aren't Holocaust deniers.

So I'm thinking that the Vatican needs a course in how to manipulate the media. So who could teach them? Barack Obama? Yeah, he played the media but he had the media at "above my pay grade." He never really had to work for it.

No. We need an organization that is awful and deadly who has gotten the media to love them. I know, I know. Obama fits that too. But I'm thinking we need Hamas to teach the Vatican about media manipulation. Look, it's this simple: The Church prays for Jews they get in trouble. Hamas lob 800 rockets into Israel killing innocent civilians and they're portrayed as innocent rubes who just want peace.

Hamas, while employing an unceasing war to drive Israel into the sea has played the victim card every time Israel strikes back. And it's worked. The media treats Hamas as the misunderstood victims of an aggressive Israel.

When Hamas fires from school buildings and uses the civilian population of Gaza as a human shield, the media blames Israel for forcing them to do it.

Hamas then parades out video of their fake dead for the cameras and it leads off the nightly news worldwide. And everybody pretends not to notice that the corpse is smiling and breathing.

When Hamas denies the Holocaust, it's not a source of outrage it's a sign of the need for more education funding for the poor dears.

Now that's some media manipulation. The Vatican could learn a thing or two from these guys.

Dominicans On Display

A Photo Essay on the Dominican Nuns of Summit New Jersey from none other than Time. Beautiful.

Some Churches Save Souls, Some Save Lives

A German motorist missed a bend in the road, broke through a barrier and hurtled up a bank, crash-landing on a church roof in eastern Germany, police said on Monday.

The bank acted like a springboard, propelling the black Skoda about 35 meters (115 ft) forward and straight into the church's roof frame, where it remained wedged 7 meters off the ground, police said in a statement.

"We've never ever had a case of a car landing in a church before," said Frank Fischer, a spokesman for Chemnitz police in the state of Saxony.

The 23-year-old driver suffered serious injuries. The damage to the car, which was extracted from the roof by a crane, amounts to about 10,000 euros ($13,000), police said. The cost of damage to the church has not yet been estimated.

Police said speed was a possible cause for the accident, which happened late on Sunday.

OK. If I'm this guy I'm figuring I just got saved because a church broke my fall, the second I get out of the hospital I'm heading back to that church and going in the front door and saying a few prayers.

Shark Shoes at the Doctor's Office

The front room was a mess. A big mess. And I'd specifically told the five children not a half hour before not to throw everything around the room. I was just about to scold them when the phone rang.

Thus began the adventure.

I walked into the kitchen to get the phone and saw what I first thought was a pretty impressive pile of garbage teetering above the garbage can. But as I got closer I saw that it was much more than impressive. It was miraculous. The can was full and the children, instead of just getting a new bag or even just asking me to get a new bag, had precariously perched a heap of garbage at least two feet above the rim of the can in a way that science couldn't explain. I considered calling Architectural Digest but figured they'd treat me as rudely as the Guinness people did when I called them about the purple stuff in my baby's diaper. (She really hadn't eaten anything purple)

Anyway, it was my wife on the phone and she does a little small talk and then she offhandedly asks if I was leaving soon.

? (insert silence here)

"The doctor!" she says.

"Uhhh...What doctor?" I cleverly retort.

She says that on the calendar it says the baby has an appointment at 3:45. I look on the calendar and there it is. And what makes it worse is that it's in my own writing. It's already 3:08 and it typically takes about 40 minutes to get there.

Not good.

Hang up the phone, start screaming for children to get dressed, fill sippy cups with milk, pack diapers, tell everyone to get shoes (Mind you, that will be important later on), wrestle some children into coats, ask the nine year old to help wrestle others into coats, take the boy's shirt off because it's on inside out, sigh at the mess in the playroom which, once again, I'd specifically asked them not to make, hurdle baby who's following me too closely, run outside to warm up the van, pick up an awful scent, change the baby because she stinks, wrap three scrunchies around my wrist to throw girl's hair into ponytails, hurdle baby again, turn off the television, upstairs to turn off the bedroom lights, wet the baby's hair to make her look not homeless (somewhat?), tell everyone to get in the van, put two plates in the sink, buckle the baby, and throw myself into the van.

3:13. Not too bad.

Look in rear view. Six year old in tears. Why? "Dad, everyone brought a stuffed animal but I forgot Puddles and now they're going to play the whole ride and...."

I'm out of the van, running through the living room, grabbing Puddles by the ear (sorry Puddles), jumping into van, and tossing Puddles to a now whimpering six year old.

And we're off. 3:14. Not too too bad. Yellow lights meant little. Speed limits meant less.

It's 3:45 and I can see the buildings of the hospital over the trees. I'm congratulating myself silently for my excellent abilities to respond to a crisis when my nine year old says, "Uh, Dad."

This is the kind of "Uh Dad" that precedes something she finds funny and I'll find not so funny. I look in the rear view and she's raising her eyebrows in a comical way. And then she drops the hammer. "Uh, I just noticed there's a little snow on the ground and that's why I'm thinking it might be helpful if the boy had shoes."

(Reminder: talk to the nine year old about time and place for sarcasm)

"Uh, boy. Do you have your shoes on?"

? (Insert silence here)

"Where are your shoes?" I ask.

"I put them away," he cleverly retorted.

"Where?"

"In the closet," he says.

Now, to be clear he's looking at me as if he deserves congratulations for putting his shoes away for the first time in his life. The girls in the back seat are guffawing, clapping and asking the boy if he thinks he's Mowgli from The Jungle Book while I'm bending the steering wheel.

I'm still traveling along at 40 miles per hour. But I'm frozen. I simply don't know what to do. I'm wondering if there's a store nearby that sells children's shoes. But let me tell you something. I don't notice children's shoe stores. I just don't. If you told me I lived next door to a children's shoe store I'd believe you. (Sadly, I know there's a Wendy's just up the road near a 7-11.)

So I pull into the parking lot, jump out and start rooting around the trunk for anything. I wouldn't have cared if I'd found baby shoes or clown shoes. I would've settled for shoe boxes and some string.

And then there they were. Under the girl's back bench was one blue beach shoe with orange stripes. You know, the kind of rubber shoe that kids wear on the beach. I stare at it. Shhh. I'm deciding if this will be noticeable to all the responsible parents in the waiting room. That's right. A 40 year old man is deciding whether scuba gear is an appropriate clothing option for a doctor visit.

I root around some more and there's the other one. I chalk it up to divine intervention rather than blaming myself for never cleaning out the van. I present them to the boy. "Yay. Shark shoes." We called them shark shoes because during our summer trip to the beach the boy was afraid of sharks, mainly because the seven year old told him that three year old boys were an oft consumed delicacy to sharks. So I'd told him that sharks are allergic to these special "shark shoes" so they never come near.

So I put the shark shoes on the boy in the parking lot of the hospital and try to pull his pant legs down a little to cover them but then it just looked like he joined a gang so I pulled them back up.

Then the six year old volunteered to switch shoes because she thought the shark shoes looked kind of cool. The nine year old quickly said, "OoooKaay. It's clear your fashion sense hasn't kicked in yet."

We walk into the doctor's office at 4:11. We waited a half an hour and let me tell you something I've definitively proved. Shark shoes are very very noticeable. I watched each and every person see them on our way to the elevator, in the hallway, and in the waiting room. I think it was the orange stripe which surprisingly turned out to be brightly reflective under fluorescent lights. Here's how it went: The responsible adults look at children, they look at the boy, they see the shark shoes, cover their eyes from the blinding orange reflective glare, and then look disapprovingly at me. I pretend not to notice as I'm pretending to read Ms. Magazine.

So the baby got two shots and I had to hold her down. Isn't there someone else who can do that? Just have some thug nurse's assistant come in, hold the child down, and then leave so you can come in as the conquering hero. I mean it's a little confusing. Dad holds baby down while lady stabs baby in leg with needle and then Dad expects baby to hug Dad as consolation.

But anyway, when we return home I start making dinner but I take a moment and remember where I was when this whole thing started. The garbage is still teetering precariously two feet above the garbage can. It looks even more amazing to me now than when I left. I walk into the front room, call all the children in and point to the mess in the playroom.

Angry father: I thought I told you not to throw all those things all over the floor.

Innocent Six year old: We didn't. We placed them.

Checkmated Father: Oh...

I walked over to the closet and there were the boy's shoes. I thanked him for putting them away.

Today On CMR - January 27, 2009

Bishop Fellay Does The Right Thing
—Bishop Fellay apologizes for Williamson and institutes gag order. Hoorah!

Shark Shoes at the Doctor's Office
—Tell me I'm not the only one who has days like this. Anyone?

Fr. Barron on the Catholic "Commentariat"
—Another great video from Fr. Barron.

Gays Good. Catholics Bad?
—In: Gay Rights. Out: Catholic rights.

Don't Ask —Don't Tell — Clean
—Policies have consequences!

Two Headlines: I See a Link
—This is the least important thing you'll read today.

Pelosi: Birth Control Boosts the Economy
—Margaret Sanger would be so proud.

Creative Minority Reader

This Pitcher is a Champion
—Pretty amazing story about a World Series Champion who spent his Christmas...not at Disneyworld.

The President's Pockets
—Among the trinkets, a treasure.

Where Do We Go From Here?
—What comes next for the SSPX?

Bishop Fellay Does The Right Thing

In my post of a few days ago on Bishop Williamson's Holocaust denial in advance of the lifting of the excommunications, I expressed my fervent desire that Bishop Fellay would do something about Williamson lest he impugn all adherents to the Society or even all Traditional minded Catholics with his nonsensical rantings. I wrote:

In recognition of all the Pope has done and is trying to do and in the name of all the good people in the society and those who are aligned with it, the SSPX should immediately censure or even expel Richard Williamson. He is a very troubled man in need of our prayers, but he should not be a Bishop or in any leadership position.

I am so pleased to report that Bishop Fellay has done the right thing. He apologized to the Pope and perhaps even more importantly put a gag order on Bishop Williamson.

[NCR] Statement of His Excellency Bernard Fellay, Superior of the Fraternity of St. Pius X

We have become aware of an interview released by Bishop Richard Williamson, a member of our Fraternity of St. Pius X, to Swedish television. In this interview, he expressed himself on historical questions, and in particular on the question of the genocide against the Jews carried out by the Nazis.

It’s clear that a Catholic bishop cannot speak with ecclesiastical authority except on questions that regard faith and morals. Our Fraternity does not claim any authority on other matters. Its mission is the propagation and restoration of authentic Catholic doctrine, expressed in the dogmas of the faith. It’s for this reason that we are known, accepted and respected in the entire world.

It’s with great sadness that we recognize the extent to which the violation of this mandate has done damage to our mission. The affirmations of Bishop Williamson do not reflect in any sense the position of our Fraternity. For this reason I have prohibited him, pending any new orders, from taking any public positions on political or historical questions.

We ask the forgiveness of the Supreme Pontiff, and of all people of good will, for the dramatic consequences of this act. Because we recognize how ill-advised these declarations were, we can only look with sadness at the way in which they have directly struck our Fraternity, discrediting its mission.

This is something we cannot accept, and we declare that we will continue to preach Catholic doctrine and to administer the sacraments of grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Menzingen, January 27, 2009

Amen! Amen! The fact that Bishop Fellay has publicly apologized, publicly repudiated the noxious opinions of Williamson, and implemented a long overdue gag order are the best signs yet that the SSPX and its leadership are serious about dialog and reconciliation. My hat is off to Bishop Fellay and my prayers are with you and the society.

Gays Good. Catholics Bad?

The European Parliament has voted 401 - 220 in favour of a report which calls for same-sex marriage and/or civil unions to be recognized across all EU states, says the Sydney Star Observer.

OK. So hypothetical question here: Because of laws precluding a British royal from marrying a Catholic, if Great Britain's Prince William married..say... the gay Catholic Andrew Sullivan, Prince William would be ineligible to take the crown, not because he married a man but because Sullivan was Catholic?

Yeah, this European Union thing is working out great.

Don't Ask —Don't Tell — Clean

See what happens when you get rid of "Don't ask, Don't Tell?"



ht NRO

Today on CMR - January 26, 2009

Two Headlines: I See a Link
—This is the least important thing you'll read today.

Pelosi: Birth Control Boosts the Economy
—Margaret Sanger would be so proud.

This Pitcher is a Champion
—Pretty amazing story about a World Series Champion who spent his Christmas...not at Disneyworld.

The President's Pockets
—Among the trinkets, a treasure.

Where Do We Go From Here?
—What comes next for the SSPX?

Ex-Communication Lifted
—It's Official

Why Were UFO's at the Inauguration?
—Video evidence and CMR's explanations of the visit.

Creative Minority Reader

New Age of Bipartisanship?
—It's the cockiness, stupid.

Judge Bans 'Secondhand Jesus'
—Federal judge now outlaws moment of silence because someone might try to pray.

Williamson In A NUTshell
—The only paragraph you will ever need to read on the Bonkers Bishop.

Fr. Barron on the Catholic "Commentariat"

Two Headlines: I See a Link

Ok. These two stories happen in the same week? You don't need to be Columbo to figure out a connection. Reuters says:

Police in Nigeria are holding a goat on suspicion of attempted armed robbery.

Vigilantes took the black and white beast to the police saying it was an armed robber who had used black magic to transform himself into a goat to escape arrest after trying to steal a Mazda 323.

Yeah. Ok. Simple enough but the story doesn't end there. According to Reuters:

An exotic goat in Canada's Calgary Zoo accidentally hanged itself after it became entangled in a rope and then fell off a log, CTV television reported on Sunday.

Home video of the accident on Friday showed the Turkmenian markhor hanging lifeless from the rope in its enclosure.

Accidentally, eh? Accident, my hoof! I think he was in on the "Great Goat Mazda Heist" and maybe he knew too much, see.

Pelosi: Birth Control Boosts the Economy

Your favorite grandmother Nancy Pelosi defended the inclusion of millions of dollars being spent on birth control in Obama's new economic "stimulus" package by claiming "contraception will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government."

So that's what you are folks. You are a cost to the state and federal government. You are not a product of love, an immortal being with a soul. You are the product of a cost/benefit analysis.

Here's the exact exchange on ABC's THIS WEEK. (H/T Drudge)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. How is that stimulus?

PELOSI: Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So no apologies for that?

PELOSI: No apologies. No. we have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy.

Now this just might explain why Obama and Pelosi are so vehemently pro-abortion. It's because they're so worried about the economy.

But here's the thing. Most people are not a drain on the economy. In fact, middle class and wealthy people put far more dollars into the federal government than they receive. So when Nancy Pelosi is talking about people who sap the Treasury she's talking about poor people.

And rich people can afford their own contraception. Poor people ostensibly can't. So what Nancy Pelosi is really saying here is the federal government must give out contraception in order to prevent poor people from reproducing because they're a drain on the economy. Margaret Sanger would be so proud.

This Pitcher is a Champion

O.K. We all know the horror stories about athletes gone wild. But ESPN has a spectacular story about an extraordinary family. Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer went to Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. It seems they might have taught him something there:

The man at the dump seemed to know a little bit about baseball and seemed to understand what it meant to be a champion baseball player, but Jamie and Karen Moyer aren't certain all that was clear to him. What was clear to them this past Christmas Eve was that the man, who lives on the edge of Guatemala City, was thankful for what he had.

He had two sons, and they lived together at the dump in a tin hut with two mattresses. "This is what the Lord has given us," the man said, "and we make the most of it."

The Phillies pitcher and his wife took their seven children with them for Christmas break and made the most of it. Their youngest child, 26-month-old Yennifer, was orphaned in Guatemala before coming to the Moyers 16 months ago in need of special care.

Earlier last year, the Moyers had been undecided about where to spend Christmas, and it occurred to Karen that they could travel to Guatemala for a weeklong mission.
"We talked to the kids, and they were very unselfish about it," Karen Moyer recalled.

The Moyers wanted to take Christmas to the orphanage, partly so that Yennifer's American siblings could see where she came from, and partly to help. Before leaving for Guatemala on Dec. 19, Karen had e-mailed friends and family a list of items the Moyers hoped to take with them. They delivered 32 boxes.

They spent a lot of time at the orphanage where Yennifer had once lived, a place run byHannah's Hope, an orphan care ministry dedicated to rescuing and caring for children around the world.

For Jamie Moyer, the journey to the dump "was life-changing." The family drove there with an escort, bearing bread and candy canes filled with M&Ms, and they spoke with the families that were foraging on the edge of the dump. That's where they met the man who lives there with his sons.

"The smell was just so repulsive," Jamie Moyer said. "I had a hard time keeping it together emotionally."

But the man was cheerful, and the eyes that greeted the Moyers were bright and hopeful. He showed a spirit they saw constantly during their trip.

"They were so happy and full of faith," Karen Moyer said. "For our kids, it was a great reminder of all the blessings that they have."

The children at the orphanage called Karen and Jamie Moyer "Momma" and "Poppa," and they gave piggyback rides and spent hours playing outside. During the past couple of years, the Moyers had befriended an 11-year-old girl named Nayeli. They took her to a local store to pick out a pair of shoes -- which she had never done before -- and were touched by her wonder.

On Christmas Eve, there were marshmallows and hot chocolate, and at midnight, Guatemala City lit up with fireworks. After the Moyers slept in Christmas morning, they went to the orphanage and decorated cookies. Karen Moyer -- who kept a journal -- asked her children what they would remember most about the week.

"Their consensus was that they loved seeing the kids' faces when they decorated cookies or opened presents," she said. "It was a really neat way to spend Christmas. … We'll keep these kids in our hearts."

The President's Pockets

I came across this photograph of Obama showing what he keeps in his pockets...


Did you notice the Miraculous Medal among the trinkets and charms? Pray it does him some good.

Weekend on CMR - January 24-25, 2008

Where Do We Go From Here?
—What comes next for the SSPX?

Ex-Communication Lifted
—It's Official

Why Were UFO's at the Inauguration?
—Video evidence and CMR's explanations of the visit.

New Age of Bipartisanship?
—It's the cockiness, stupid.

Judge Bans 'Secondhand Jesus'
—Federal judge now outlaws moment of silence because someone might try to pray.

Williamson In A NUTshell
—The only paragraph you will ever need to read on the Bonkers Bishop.

Benjamin Gump Or Forrest Button?
—This is pretty hilarious.

Creative Minority Reader

Terrorists to Pennsylvania?
—Close Gitmo and send them to Pennsylvania?

Irony is An Obama Baby Boom
—Hey! Wait, shouldn't it be called a "blob of tissue" boom?

Life, Potential Or Not
—ProLife video generating heat with ProLifers.

Where Do We Go From Here?

So now that the decree of latae sententiae excommunication has been lifted on the four Bishops of the SSPX, where do we go from here.

This is certainly not the end of the saga with the SSPX, but most assuredly just the beginning. Many question need to be answered before they are in full and visible communion with the Church.

Bishop Fellay, in response to the lifting of the ex-Communications, keys in on just this point.

Besides our gratitude towards the Holy Father and towards all those who helped him to make this courageous act, we are pleased that the decree of January 21 considers as necessary “talks” with the Holy See, talks which will enable the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X to explain the fundamental doctrinal reasons which it believes to be at the origin of the present difficulties of the Church.

There are many issues that need to be discussed, not the least of which are the real and difficult problems of the views of the Society toward Jews. Besides the very disturbing (holocaust denying) antics of screwball in residence Williamson, there are real differences between how the Society views the Jews and how the Church says we should view the Jews.

- Jews are “directly responsible for the crucifixion,” Jews are cursed with the "blindness to the things of G-d and eternity" [Source]

- Jews as a people stand "in entire opposition with the Catholic Church" [Source]

- "Christendom and Jewry are designed inevitably to meet everywhere without reconciliation or mixing"; that Jews "should neither be eliminated from among us … nor given equality of rights." [Source]

Besides the obvious lengthy discussions ahead on this and other topics, this presents other problems besides doctrinal. It creates public relations problems as well. The Simon Wiesenthal center issued this just today.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is calling on His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to declare that the group known as the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) cannot function within the Catholic Church while mocking Church doctrine on anti-Semitism.

Pope Benedict, a champion of Church unity, is reportedly poised to lift the excommunication of four bishops from the Society, which had been operating outside the authority of the Vatican. While the group, which has tens of thousands of Catholics followers worldwide, has apparently agreed to accept the authority of the Pope, its teachings remain completely at odds with the positions of openness and improved ecumenical relations that were born out of the Church’s Second Ecumenical Council. One of the landmark rulings from the Council, also known as Vatican II, denounced anti-Semitism as a sin. Pope Benedict, then Father Joseph Ratzinger, was one of the theologians involved in drafting these new positions.

“According to media reports, Bishop Williamson, one of the Society’s leaders, gave an interview just last week denying Jews were murdered in gas chambers, hardly an indication of a change of heart or mind”, charged Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center. “Beyond the Holocaust denial of one bishop looms the larger issue of the virulent anti-Semitism of the group as a whole,” he added.

This is by no means to suggest that the Holy Father should not have lifted the ex-communication. This was a specific (and automatically incurred) sanction for a specific reason. It is not a punishment for any doctrinal or public relations problem. But the problem is real. The media is likely to hang this around the neck of the Pope for some time to come.

As stated, this is just the beginning for the SSPX. They must come into line on many things to enjoy full communion and the talks will be long and hard. It remains to be seen if the Society can survive at all in the face of any concessions on their part in the future. Williamson might lead the wacko wing into a full break from the Society and the Church. I hope not but this seems a real possibility.

I believe that the lifiting of the ex-communications is a very good thing for those in the Society and for its adherants. It is also a potentially good thing for the Church as a whole. But we are not there yet.

In his letter to the Pope requesting the lifting of ex-communication Bishop Fellay, writing for all their Bishops said "We are always firmly determined in our will to remain Catholic and to place all our efforts at the service of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Roman Catholic Church. We accept its teachings with filial disposition. We believe firmly in the Primacy of Peter and in its prerogatives, and for this the current situation makes us suffer so much."

Now it is time to find out if they mean it.

Ex-Communication Lifted

Decree of the Congregation for Bishops

By way of a letter of December 15, 2008 addressed to His Eminence Cardinal Dario Castrillón Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Mons. Bernard Fellay, also in the name of the other three Bishops consecrated on June 30, 1988, requested anew the removal of the latae sententiae excommunication formally declared with the Decree of the Prefect of this Congregation on July 1, 1988. In the aforementioned letter, Mons. Fellay affirms, among other things: "We are always firmly determined in our will to remain Catholic and to place all our efforts at the service of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Roman Catholic Church. We accept its teachings with filial disposition. We believe firmly in the Primacy of Peter and in its prerogatives, and for this the current situation makes us suffer so much."

His Holiness Benedict XVI - paternally sensitive to the spiritual unease manifested by the interested party due to the sanction of excommunication and trusting in the effort expressed by them in the aforementioned letter of not sparing any effort to deepen the necessary discussions with the Authority of the Holy See in the still open matters, so as to achieve shortly a full and satisfactory solution of the problem posed in the origin - decided to reconsider the canonical situation of Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta, arisen with their episcopal consecration.

With this act, it is desired to consolidate the reciprocal relations of confidence and to intensify and grant stability to the relationship of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X with this Apostolic See. This gift of peace, at the end of the Christmas celebrations, is also intended to be a sign to promote unity in the charity of the universal Church and to try to vanquish the scandal of division.

It is hoped that this step be followed by the prompt accomplishment of full communion with the Church of the entire Fraternity of Saint Pius X, thus testifying true fidelity and true recognition of the Magisterium and of the authority of the Pope with the proof of visible unity.

Based on the faculty expressly granted to me by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, in virtue of the present Decree, I remit from Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta the censure of latae sententiae excommunication declared by this Congregation on July 1, 1988, while I declare deprived of any juridical effect, from the present date, the Decree emanated at that time.

Rome, from the Congregation for Bishops, January 21, 2009.

Card. Giovanni Battista Re
Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops

via Rorate Caeli

Why Were UFO's at the Inauguration?

So lots of folks out there are pretty disturbed by a UFO attending the Inaugural. CMR thinks there are several reasonable explanations:

10) They were actually looking for Dennis Kucinich but he was wearing his tinfoil hat so he couldn't be reached.

9) They had a fee-vah and the only cure was Hopenchange.

8) They were aiming their "Lower your Enemies IQ" ray-gun at Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. (I think they got a direct hit)

7) Obama is really an alien that was born 47 years ago but they didn't want to be punished with a baby so they dropped him off...in Kenya. (What? You thought that wouldn't come up?)

6)They had seen pictures of Obama and thought a Vulcan was being made President. (We think it had something to do with the ears.)

5) They were really ticked that Sarah Palin wasn't invited and were considering blowing up D.C. in retaliation. (What? You think they're immune to her charms?)

4) They were confused about what Obama meant about immunity for aliens.

3) They'd heard media reports that 2 million people attended the Inauguration. The aliens were simply looking for the invisible 1 million.

2) They were circling low to shoot their "leg-tingle" ray at the media. (Direct hit)

1) Like the rest of us, they just couldn't wait to see what Michelle would wear.

Bonus Reason: After a late night of partying, they were dropping off Henry Waxman for his Walk of Shame.

New Age of Bipartisanship?

So this must be the new age of bipartisanship everyone's talking about. The only thing Obama left out was the Touchdown Shuffle. Now, just imagine yourself that George W. Bush had said this to congressional Democrats. The screams of indignation from the media about his cockiness and partisanship would be unceasing. But the media seems to be suffering a fit of giggles over this.

According to The Politico:

President Obama listened to Republican gripes about his stimulus package during a meeting with congressional leaders Friday morning - but he also left no doubt about who's in charge of these negotiations. "I won," Obama noted matter-of-factly, according to sources familiar with the conversation.

First, note that according to the media, Republicans have "gripes" with Obama's plans while Democrats always had "grave concerns" over Bush's plans.

I must tell you that for me, Obama's presidency is not getting off to a great start. His handling of the media and now this makes him seem like a bully -which I fear is exactly what he really is.

Today On CMR - January 23, 2009

Judge Bans 'Secondhand Jesus'
—Federal judge now outlaws moment of silence because someone might try to pray.

Williamson In A NUTshell
—The only paragraph you will ever need to read on the Bonkers Bishop.

Benjamin Gump Or Forrest Button?
—This is pretty hilarious.

Terrorists to Pennsylvania?
—Close Gitmo and send them to Pennsylvania?

Irony is An Obama Baby Boom
—Hey! Wait, shouldn't it be called a "blob of tissue" boom?

Life, Potential Or Not
—ProLife video generating heat with ProLifers.

Desperate Williamson Denies Holocaust
—Unhinged "Bishop" of the SSPX will do anything to stop reconciliation.

Applauding Obama?
—Catholic school teachers applauding Obama is uncool, right?

Creative Minority Reader

Is This What You Call Change?
—Funny video points out that rhetoric changes depending on who is speaking.

What Do You Risk?
—Moving video of what some risk to be Christian.

Obama Makes Comedians Rethink Careers
—Obama kills comedy, comedians look into becoming mimes.

Leg Tingle Epidemic Stresses E.R.'s
—Thousands report disturbing symptoms -journalists hardest hit.

Judge Bans 'Secondhand Jesus'

A federal judge, clearly responding to an urgent threat of "Secondhand Jesus" infecting young people today, ruled that a state law requiring a moment of silence in public schools is unconstitutional, saying it crosses the line separating church and state.

The country is finally taking some much-needed steps to protect our children from the ravages of secondhand Jesus which have been known to infect children with ideas about abstinence, tolerance, and charity.

Young children are especially susceptible to the effects of "Secondhand Jesus." Recent studies have indicated that there is no risk-free level of "Secondhand Jesus" exposure and even brief exposures can be harmful to children.

According to the Associated Press:

"The statute is a subtle effort to force students at impressionable ages to contemplate religion," U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman said in his ruling Wednesday.

The ruling came in a lawsuit designed to bar schools from enforcing the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act. It was filed by talk show host Rob Sherman, an outspoken atheist, and his daughter, Dawn, a high school student.

Judges are essentially ruling that you cannot mention God or refer to Jesus in public under threat of law for fear of contaminating happy atheists with secondhand Jesus.

Sometimes I wonder, if atheists are so happy why are they always filing lawsuits?

Williamson In A NUTshell

Over the past tow years I have written many times about Bishop Richard Williamson of the SSPX. I have expended many words and used up many pixels on many screens voicing my concern and dismay over his actions. Most of these words were a terrible waste. I know this because Fr. Ray Blake was able to sum up the whole sorry situation with Williamson more brilliantly in one paragraph than I have in all my ramblings. After describing the general situation with a possible reconciliation with the SSPX Fr. Blake says:

What concerns me is the occasionally brilliant but often loony Bishop Williamson. He is an Englishman, received into the Church in 1971, immediately sought to join the London Oratory, after a few days he was asked to leave. He then went to the SSPX seminary at Econe, was ordained priest in 1976 and has spent the rest of his life denying the holocaust and denouncing the Sound of Music, inventing conspiracy theories, slagging off the Pope and appearing on Youtube. I suspect this man, who has increasingly been pedalling a sede vacantist position, will end up leading the rump of the SSPX into a complete break with Rome.

In a NUTshell. I ought to have my blogging license revoked for a deplorable lack of pith. Fr. Blake has fortunately taken care of it for me.

Benjamin Gump Or Forrest Button?

The Curious Case of Forrest Gump - watch more funny videos

This is pretty hilarious. It's also pretty embarrassing for the folks who made the Benjamin Button movie. These two movies seem pretty darn similar and they're written by the same dude. Not good. Especially because Benjamin Button just received 13 Oscar nominations. Ah, that won't stop Hollywood from patting itself on the back for another movie not that many people are interested in seeing.

Today On CMR - January 22, 2009

Terrorists to Pennsylvania?
—Close Gitmo and send them to Pennsylvania?

Irony is An Obama Baby Boom
—Hey! Wait, shouldn't it be called a "blob of tissue" boom?

Life, Potential Or Not
—ProLife video generating heat with ProLifers.

Desperate Williamson Denies Holocaust
—Unhinged "Bishop" of the SSPX will do anything to stop reconciliation.

Applauding Obama?
—Catholic school teachers applauding Obama is uncool, right?

Is This What You Call Change?
—Funny video points out that rhetoric changes depending on who is speaking.

What Do You Risk?
—Moving video of what some risk to be Christian.

Creative Minority Reader

Obama Makes Comedians Rethink Careers
—Obama kills comedy, comedians look into becoming mimes.

Leg Tingle Epidemic Stresses E.R.'s
—Thousands report disturbing symptoms -journalists hardest hit.

Who Am I? Who Cares....
—The best laid plans of ex Vice Presidents and men often go awry.

He Did It Already!
—Obama performs wonders on his first day!

Terrorists to Pennsylvania?

President Obama seems like he's going to close down Gitmo. So what to do with all the captured al-Qaeda? Lunatic Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Jack Murtha has now volunteered to house them in his district.

I'm not sure Obama's going to think that Pennsylvania is a place to put all these very bitter religious types who cling to their guns. Oh wait...

Irony is An Obama Baby Boom

The Daily Mail offers this without irony:

The outpouring of euphoric optimism currently gripping the U.S. following the inauguration of Barack Obama may yet result in a baby boom towards the end of this year.
An 'Obama baby boom' may sound unlikely but it isn't as unrealistic as it at first appears.
Consider that the mood sweeping America is a potent combination of hope and optimism for the future and you have an almost certain increase in pregnancies.

So the most pro-abortion President ever is inspiring a baby boom? What's wrong with these people?

Shouldn't the press more accurately call it a "blob of tissue" boom since the decision as to whether it's a baby or not should be left to the mother...I mean woman, right?

If the world were sane, the story would be that many people in their euphoria over Obama's election may just jump into bed with a stranger, become pregnant, and then abort the baby thus stimulating themselves and the economy in one fell swoop.

Life, Potential Or Not

This video is generating a bit of steam in some parts. I was emailed a link to it and asked to comment. Watch it and then we can discuss.

Some people seem to think, and I sympathize with them to a point, that using Obama in a pro-life ad is at best bad taste and at worse, well worse.

I think that the video makes some good points. Many try to pre-judge the quality of a life these days to determine if that life is worth living. Using Obama's story as the background, it would have been easy for someone to think that the unborn Barack never had a chance in this world. He obviously did.

Now of course, what really makes some upset is that Obama would deny others the right to live based on similar circumstances to his own. It is this juxtaposition that I believe is the point of the producers of this video. Whether that point is made artfully can be judged by the individual viewer.

The point I would make if I were to have a point is that I object to the notion the right to life is in any way tied to some perceived quality of life or some vague notion of potential. A life is sacred because it is a life, not because that life may one day be notable or valuable in the eyes of others. A life is valuable and sacred simply because it is is a life, a gift from God. This goes for all children, potential or not. Even baby Barack.

Desperate Williamson Denies Holocaust

Have you heard about the drama going on right now with the SSPX? Amazing. Rumor has it that Pope Benedict may have already lifted the decree of ex-Communication on the Bishops of the SSPX incurred after their illicit consecration in 1988. This action, following the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, is a major step toward bringing the SSPX back into the fold. There is one person who is apparently determined to throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing. Richard Williamson, one of those on whom the ex-communication would be lifted, will do anything to stop it.

First the skinny on what is happening. Rorate Caeli has been reporting (and now corroborated by other sources)

All signs now seem to indicate that the removal, withdrawal, or annulment of the excommunications of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (+ 1991), Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer (+ 1991), and of the four Bishops consecrated by them for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX) in Ecône, Switzerland, on June 30, 1988 is imminent. The Papal act on the matter has almost certainly been signed, and it will be made public shortly:

This follows upon a secret visit of Bishop Fellay to the Pope delivering a bouquet of a million or more rosaries. If this rumor turns out to be true it would be a great occasion of joy for almost everyone. Almost everyone.

It seems that every time that a possible rapprochement between the SSPX and the Holy See draws nearer, "Bishop" Richard Williamson does everything he can to disrupt and destroy that possibility. Back in June of last year when the Pope, through Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, asked the leaders of the SSPX to agree to certain pre-conditions Williamson did his best to create confusion and distrust. In a series of statements then he poked his finger in the eye of the Pope and offered that he would rejoice if the SSPX were declared in formal schism. At the time it seemed clear to some observers that Williamson does not want reconciliation and would break from the SSPX if need be.

It seems, if the rumors are true, that Bishop Fellay and the Pope did not allow his antics to antagonize them or disrupt their plans. In October, the Society launched the rosary crusade that resulted in the bouquet of a million rosaries.

As disgusting and un-Christian as Williamson rhetoric was in the past, it seems that is nothing compared to what he is doing now in a last ditch effort to derail reconciliation. This comes from Ruth Gledhill at the Times Online.

Bishop Richard Williamson is a hardline ultra-conservative bishop of the Society of St Pius X. He faces possible prosecution for Holocaust denial in Germany after an interview with a reporter from Stockholm TV in which he claimed that six million Jews did not die in the Holocaust, merely a few thousand, and that the gas chambers did not exist. CathCon has the translation of the Der Spiegel report. In an earlier story in the Catholic Herald, Bishop Williamson, former Anglican and a Cambridge graduate, was exposed as endorsing the forgery, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

The timing of these monstrous statements is not coincidental. Williamson has a vested interest in maintaining his schismatic status. Inside the Church he is an unhinged nobody. Outside, he is a somebody or so he thinks. He is desperate to maintain the status quo because he has nowhere else to go.

In recognition of all the Pope has done and is trying to do and in the name of all the good people in the society and those who are aligned with it, the SSPX should immediately censure or even expel Richard Williamson. He is a very troubled man in need of our prayers, but he should not be a Bishop or in any leadership position.

Please Bishop Fellay, if you and the society truly seek reconciliation, expel Richard Williamson.