Monday, December 10, 2007

Personal Asides: The CNN GOP YouTube Debate Was Excellent…Andy the Entertainer…Huckabee’s Only in Trouble Unless He Wobbles…Tales from the Lavender Priesthood…Dear “Sun-Times” and Dear “Time” Magazine.

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CNN GOP YouTube Debate.

In contrast to a lot of stuffy old pundits who believe that policy wonks should dominate running of the presidential debates, I think the last Republican showdown, sparked by YouTube questions, was very revelatory. Asking these guys if they believe in the literalness and inerrancy of the Bible was very important and would not have been asked by limp-eyed, world-weary secular journalists with few absolutes other than the run-of-the-mill liberal ones. I got a lot more out of it than having them recite for the umpteenth time the stands they have perfected on boilerplate about keeping the Bush tax cuts etc.



Andy the Entertainer.

My old friend Andy Young whom I knew from civil rights days and when I did a film documentary of his life…minister, former congressman, UN ambassador and Atlanta mayor…has developed a unique way of helping his allies. Speaking in Atlanta the other day in behalf of Hillary Clinton, Andy delved into the fact that the Clintons are “blacker”—especially Bill than Barack Obama. Andy is the only black political preacher-orator with a specific pull to (largely) uneducated, rural southern folk. Urbans seem to prefer Obama; southern black folk listen to Andy.

I wasn’t there but knowing Andy I can imagine what happened. Andy can get more of a rise from a southern, largely rural, black audience with humor than can any other black preacher I’ve heard. Jesse is too ponderous and oracular; Meeks too stentorian; Sharpton is too street-savvy urban hustler. But with largely more conservative, southern, family-oriented black folk there is only one Andy to entertain.

Thus saying the Clintons are blacker than Barry was fine. Finally he crossed the line by saying “Bill Clinton has probably gone with more black women than Barack!” The crowd shouted its approval of such convivial outrage and Andy said he was just “clowning around.” But if it put an emphasis on the Clintons’ personal life…even if speculatively…no harm done with that hugely tolerant black audience, respectful of what it perceives that Clinton did for them. And in the broad context of Andy’s message, to tie a bond closer to Hillary than Obama’s, it was probably non-hurtful, black humor in that group being what it has always been.

Huckabee.

Because the liberal media believe they are the arbiters of political gaffes, viewed from their left-wing prism, statements made by Mike Huckabee years ago when he ran for the U. S. Senate are regarded as near disasters today—but they will only be so if Huckabee attempts to wriggle out of them to please liberals ands thus endanger his base. I refer to his statements about the AIDS crisis requiring carriers to be isolated from the general population and that “homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural and sinful lifestyle and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk.”

The strategy should be to amplify the AIDS comment by illustrating how little was known about the infection when he made the statement and not back away from its essentiality. About homosexuality there should be no restatement. If there is and he weasels, he’s not for prime time. His only concern should be not to please Mark Halperin of “Time” but preservation of his base.

The pardoning factor is irreversible and just one of the things many governors carry around with them: good intentions did not carry through at the end. No qualms or stuttering around should be offered. To those nya-nya-nya handwringers who take a conspiratorial view i. e. what media build up they can destroy, the answer is that Huckabee will gratefully take the buildup rather than not—because before media got interested in Huckabee he had no chance whatsoever. Handling this problem sagely means that he can pass a first minor league problem.

Opposition to Huckabee is growing from white-shoe, country club Uncle Milty (Friedman) Republicans who want a more pristine, 100% pro-free market running-mate so they can feel comfortable that another gilt-edged patrician with maybe Harvard MBA credentials is number two on the ticket…regardless of the fact that 2008 will be like 1974, the Watergate year, for Republicans.

Tales from the Lavender Priesthood.

1. Roger Cardinal Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles, talked with Los Angeles police last week after it was revealed he had told a group of priests he had been assaulted last summer by a man who was angry about the clergy abuse in the Catholic church, the man suddenly coming up on him and pummeling him when he was trying to mail a letter. Why no reporting of it to the cops when it happened? The cops: “he prefers not to involve the police if he doesn’t have to.” Now we see.

2. “Chicago” magazine has as its main spread, the Father Mark Sorvillo

Story. Lavender priest pleads guilty to stealing nearly $200,000 from St. Margaret Mary’s parish on the north side. He gives cars, plane tickets and thousands of dollars in cash to James Sosnicki, a married Louisville man who stripped frequently at gay clubs in Chicago, police said. He had been under suspicion since threatening to close the church’s school because of the parish’s strained finances. He skimmed more than $40,000 from collections, wrote checks from parish accounts to himself and his creditors and charged more than $62,000 at Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s and Marshall Field’s in the parish. Sorvillo will likely serve two years of his four year sentence. While investigating Sorvillo authorities learned the priest and had and insured an Acura inLouisville and discovered the driver was Sosnicki.

Well at least he was doing it with grown-ups. Another reason to thank God for the “gift” of homosexuality as a former rector of Mundelein once invoked.

3. The Twin Cities’ new archbishop, coadjutor John Nienstedt, is a traditionalist with regard to homosexuality—which is getting him fired upon in certain lavender-friendly quarters of the archdiocese. He is waiting to replace the retiring Harry Flynn who has been a quivering pillar of Jello on the issue. Not Nienstedt, formerly bishop of New Ulm, Minn. (one of my favorite towns). Probably the most lavender parish in the diocese is St. Frances Cabrini where Nienstedt was instrumental in canceling a talk by a father and daughter, co-authors of “Are There Closets in Heaven? A Catholic Father and a Lesbian Daughter Share Their Story.” Then Niestedt used the archdiocesan newspaper, the “Catholic Spirit,” to instruct the faithful, referring to a document approved by the USCCB. He went farther than most bishops have in recent years to detail the logical consequences to Catholics who act against this matter of serious moral teaching.

He wrote—correctly in theological terms—“Those who actively encourage or promote homosexual acts or such activity within a homosexual lifestyle formally cooperate in a grave evil and, if they do so knowingly and willingly, are guilty of a mortal sin. They have broken communion with the Church and are prohibited from receiving Holy Communion until they have had a conversion of heart, expressed sorrow for their action and received absolution from a priest.”

He was blasted by an outfit called “Catholic Rainbow Parents” whos convener Mary Lynn Murphy said, “such extreme talk [sic] from the most prominent Catholic leader in our state not only offends Catholics [sic] but all LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] citizens, their families and friends and gives license to hatred and violence against all of us.”

Now comes another outfit, this one founded by Harry Flynn, the “Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities [sic].” Its cofounder and communications coordinator David J. McCaffrey said: “This piece from Nienstedt marks an all-time high in this archdiocese in the level of spiritual violence—actually, it should be called `persecution’—directed at LGBT persons, their families, friends and supporters.”

Persecution…license to hatred and violence. That’s what 2,000 years of Judeo-Christian tradition will do to them. Poor babies.

Dear “Sun-Times.”

I should let you in on a little news. Your coverage of the Henry Hyde funeral by Dan Rozek missed a significant news story. Paragraph 2: “The longtime Republican legislator, who led a successful effort to ban federal funding of abortions and an unsuccessful attempt to impeach President Bill Clinton…” Uh, the attempt to impeach Bill Clinton was successful. On December 19, 1998 the House voted to impeach him. The charges were one count of perjury and obstruction of justice. What you should have said was that Hyde “led a successful attempt to impeach President Bill Clinton” but the Senate with a two-thirds majority needed to convict did not do so. On perjury, the count being 45 votes for conviction and 55 against; on obstruction of justice, 50-50 with five Republicans voting against.

Dear “Time” Magazine.

Just a note to say that your Dec. 3 issue, main article, “What Makes us Good/Evil” missed an important issue. Perhaps you were too hurried to get it to the cover. You say “gorillas and chimps [have] mastered sign language.” They have not as any and all scientific data say. You say that using “tools” like throwing a rock is the same as conceiving and making tools. They are not. But these are not the only errors.

In the article reference either to a meaningful God—or a meaningless god—gets not a single mention. In more than 3,000 words which is supposed to be journalistic—an exploration of good and evil—there is not a single reference to religion, not a smidgeon of hint that any study worth its name could ignore totally a view that has been with man since the beginning of record-making.

That’s about as bad a journalistic feat as has been done in my lifetime that I can recall.

10 comments:

  1. Sneedless to say, gossip columnist Michael Sneed, is a friend of Bill and Hillary. Last week, in a column, Sneed referred to Gennifer Flowers as someone who had "claimed" to have been the mistress of Bill Clinton. Earth to Sneed: Your leader admitted the affair in a sworn deposition, so there is no "claim" about it. Sneed went on to dismiss Tony Peraica as a "perennial" candidate in the same column. Say what you will, I do not think Peraica is in the same class as Ray Wardingly just yet. Last time I checked, Peraica had made six races and won four elections while losing two.

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  2. Sir: Are you suggesting that belief in the Bible should be necessary for the President of the U.S.?

    You have read the Constitution, I am sure.

    You frighten me.

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  3. Mr. Alexander you need not be too frightened. The Constitution says the government shall not impose a religious test as a qualification for office. It does not say that citizens can't take the religious view of a candidate into consideration as a factor on which to base a vote. I only wish the YouTube debate would have had honest Republican questioners instead of caricatures of what CNN defines is the Republican image. Also it came out later that many of the questioners were Democrat activists working for other candidates.

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  4. Political Correctness has been pushing the homosexuals viewpoint and lifestyle on society for about 20 years now. Hate crime laws elevate the lifestyle. The MEDIA has accepted them with sitcoms and movies condoning their views. The "Pride" parades have become nearly the biggest parade in Chicago and in other big cities. AIDS has become the disease with civil rights. Also it has eclipsed other serious diseased in attention and funding.

    Talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh have "given in" on the issue.

    Other churches such as the Episcopal Church have opened the door wide to homosexuality.

    So it is no wonder that the Catholic Church lavender set feels emboldened to take the Church down an EVIL path. They feel that they can get away with it... after all look what they did to Anita Bryant, a religious woman, whose career they ruined.

    The neo-conservatives ignore the issue when the paleo/social conservatives bring it up. The neos only further look down their noses at the traditional conservatives who are against abortion and seek to support traditional family values.

    Then there are the "Log Cabin" Republicans who push the agenda and allude to the idea that maybe Abe Lincoln was gay.

    I believe that the Catholic Church Lavender set will bide their time and WILL GET THEIR WAY because there will not be enough people to stand up to them. Political Correctness is taking its wicked toll.

    Unfortunately it is the good traditionally conservative people who are being labeled, marginalized, and scorned these days by the glib intellectual promoters of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS who use victimhood as a whip.

    Now who started this PC Victim business?

    I'll give you one guess! BUT if I say it then I will have another label thrown on me..... after all Tom Roeser said I should be in a "cage" for expousing my traditional conservative "paleo" views!
    I guess one could call Tom Roeser a "compromising purist"!

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  5. While Bishop Nienstedt surely has his work cut out for him in the Twin Cities, we can also be assured that he has experience at clean-up jobs. In the Diocese of New Ulm, he succeeded Bishop Raymond Lucker (one of the most liberal bishops ever appointed in the United States)who, no doubt, left a fine mess for him to fix.

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  6. I was almost about to agree with you on almost everything, when at the last great climax you hit on Tom Roeser, on who's forum you slink up under a cloak to pronounce your almost messiantic (sic) views. The phantom of the blogs, I guess. A lot of people would join hands with you on 90% of your beliefs, IF you could shed your vitriol AND IDENTIFY YOURSELF as the rest of us do. Until then, you are a mere COWARD.
    Cordially,
    The Great Geezer

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  7. I think it is a direct result of Political correctness. I knew a guy who once told a joke at a certain seminary in Wisconsin (the second career place) and the joke was raunchy but cute. He got told about it because "homo-sexual seminarians would be offended." This was in the mid 1980's. I hope we have come a long way since then.
    Three Cheers for John Nienstdt. May you have a long reign in the Twin Cities.

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  8. I could care less if you agree with me or not. When Roeser is wrong, he is wrong. He is the one who has compromised his traditional conservatism at the neo-con alter. If you don't get that then you are STUPID! Tom can't have it both ways. Either he is a traditional conservative or he is neo-con compromiser. Can't your brain handle deep political thought? But then Tommy is your special buddy because he showers you with praise when you answer his old song quizzes. If that is the case, then you can be bought cheap.... throw you a little praise and you jump up like a little puppy and beg for more!

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  9. Larry Baby-
    You are funny when you get mad (which is all the time).
    I own and still use a 1951 Webster's New World Dictionary that I used to struggle to educate myself and make a bean thereafter. I quote:

    PALEO: 1-Ancient 2-Primative 3- Before vowels.

    PALEOLITHIC: Designating the period of the Stone Age between the eolithic and the neolithic, characterized by the use of stone tools.

    Paleolithic Man: Any of many types including Cro Magnon, Heidelberg (That's you!), and Neanderthal.

    So here is an admited descendant of a knuckle drager calling another person who was trying to suggest that you had some good ideas, if you would just lay off and let it rest/soak.

    You call me IGNORANT. I have made mine, and given a lot away, and still live comfortably.

    I call you STUPID.

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  10. The lack of anything profound or relevant in your post proves that you lack any depth of knowledge on political issues. You enjoy getting "personal" and angry without any meaningful discussion of the the issues. I can only assume that you are ignorant. A thinking person would discuss the issues. Why not stay in CT and deal with your own politics?

    You obviously have no concept of the Neo-con vs Paleo-con debate. You keep acting like scorned Archi Bunker and seek to lower the debate to a personal back yard brawl. If Tom's ego needs a thug like classless groupie like you, then I pity him. If that is so, then he is more desperate for "friends" than I thought! After all this is a political forum which regularly brings up tough issues.

    Believe it or not, Tom is very Paleo on the social issues such as abortion. I really differ with him on the economic trade issues, his apparent soft stand on illegal immigration, and his neo-con approach to foreign policy. It is my belief that the neo-cons have perverted the foreign policy with their proactive war/nation building approach. I do not believe that this is "conservative". Gutting this country's industrial base on the alter of "trade" is also wrong and has led to a mammoth trade deficit that is ruining the value of the dollar and turning the industrial heartland of the US over to the democratic party. The neo-con love of open borders has been a disaster that has benefited some with cheap workers at a high budget busting cost. Remember cheap labor is never cheap.... someone always pays for it in the end... I just don't want it to be the taxpayer! The neo-cons have brought us BIG government conservatism that is a budget buster and flies in the face of limited spending and a limited government. The neo-cons have taken the Republican party down the wrong path which is a loser at the polls......

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