Vatican Unhappy with Obama Ambassador Picks

Vatican Unhappy with Obama Ambassador Picks
Thursday, April 2, 2009 6:55 PM
By: Edward Pentin

As President Barack Obama continues to focus on his political base and push through policies that are anathema to the pro-life movement, he is having difficulty finding a suitable candidate to represent his administration at the Vatican.

According to Massimo Franco, author of "Parallel Empires," a recently published book on U.S.-Vatican relations, the Obama administration has put forward three candidates for consideration but each of them have been deemed insufficiently pro-life by the Vatican.

One of the few conditions the Vatican places on diplomats accredited to the Holy See is that they hold pro-life views in line with Church teaching.

Franco says the administration is now looking for a professional diplomat rather than a political appointee because finding an authentically pro-life candidate within the Democratic Party is proving impossible. The task is further hampered by the administration’s desire to reward individuals who gave donations to Obama’s campaign.

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Congressman Smith: Mrs. Clinton, choose either Our Lady of Guadalupe or Margaret Sanger

Congressman Smith: Mrs. Clinton, choose either Our Lady of Guadalupe or Margaret Sanger

Washington D.C., Apr 2, 2009 / 01:25 pm (CNA).- In an impassionate address to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Congressmen Chris Smith (R-NJ,) argued that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the speech delivered immediately after, in Houston, Texas, during Planned Parenthood’s Margaret Sanger Award were completely inexcusable.

Smith said that Clinton’s visit to the Catholic Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, where she presented a bouquet of flowers on behalf of the American people, was “a very nice gesture.”

But the gesture was at odds with her speech while receiving the Margaret Sanger Award.

“In her remarks, Secretary Clinton said she was ‘in awe’ --I repeat, ‘in awe’-- of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood.”

“To our distinguished Secretary of State, I respectfully ask: Are you kidding? In ‘awe’ of Margaret Sanger, who said in 1921, ‘Eugenics…is the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political, and social problems’ and who also said in 1922, ‘The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it’?” asked Congressman Smith.

He went on to say that Secretary Clinton in her speech said that Margaret Sanger's “life and leadership” was “one of the most transformational in the entire history of the human race.”

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12 Political Catholic Converts

12 Political Converts to Catholicism—Besides Newt
March 30, 2009 06:12 PM ET | Dan Gilgoff | Permanent Link | Print
By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

Newt Gingrich's weekend conversion to Roman Catholicism got me thinking about how many Catholic converts from the worlds of politics and political commentary have been in the news in recent years. Here's a quick list I came up with:

Robert Bork
Sam Brownback
Jeb Bush
Laura Ingraham
Bobby Jindal
Lawrence Kudlow
Robert Novak
Ramesh Ponnuru

Notice that they're all conservative? A few of the influential opinion shapers on the right who died recently also were Catholic converts:

Richard John Neuhaus
Tony Snow
Paul Weyrich

The one high-profile Catholic convert on the left who occurred to me is former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

At first blush, this wild political imbalance is none too surprising. Religious converts tend to be more orthodox, which means hewing closely to the church's conservative positions on social issues. But in the case of the Catholic Church, once so solidly identified with the Democratic Party, it's a reminder of just how a tradition's politics can shift.

Anyone I'm leaving off any of these lists?

Link

One of the comments on the article mentions Dick Morris which is a huge surprise to me. I just did a quick google on it and found an article from NY Daily News which says he is "overpassionate" about becoming Catholic. I didn't really know you could become overpassionate about being Catholic. I mentioned it to Dad just now because he called as I was writing this and he said, 'well thats the problem with converts sometimes'. My response was, 'what you talkin' bout?' since he's a convert, but I decided not to get into it with him.

I have two political people I would like to see convert, and I have a slight basis for both. George W. Bush, since Jeb is Catholic, and he was very respectful of Catholics during his time in office. And Rush Limbaugh since a week or two ago he accidently said 'Catholic converter' instead of 'catalytic converter'.

Back to being serious about the list though, it just reminded me again of how much I miss Tony Snow. I always really enjoyed hearing his thoughts on current events and politics.

Hillary: Who Painted Our Lady of Guadalupe? Monsignor: God!

I kind of wonder what Hillary's staff is filling her in on before she goes on these trips.



Hillary Clinton leaves flowers for Our Lady of Guadalupe, asks ‘Who painted it?’

Mexico City, Mexico, Mar 27, 2009 / 04:59 pm (CNA).- During her recent visit to Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unexpected stop at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and left a bouquet of white flowers “on behalf of the American people,” after asking who painted the famous image.

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the tilma, or cloak, of St. Juan Diego in 1531. The image has numerous unexplainable phenomena, such as the appearance on Mary’s eyes of those present in the room when the tilma was opened and the image’s lack of decay.

Mrs. Clinton was received on Thursday at 8:15 a.m. by the rector of the Basilica, Msgr. Diego Monroy.

Msgr. Monroy took Mrs. Clinton to the famous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which had been previously lowered from its usual altar for the occasion.

After observing it for a while, Mrs. Clinton asked “who painted it?” to which Msgr. Monroy responded “God!”

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Teleprompter Tosses Obama Under the Bus

Obama In St Patrick's Day Teleprompt Blunder
12:26pm UK, Wednesday March 18, 2009

A teleprompt blunder has led to Barack Obama thanking himself in a speech at the White House in a St Patrick's Day celebration.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen was just a few paragraphs into an address in Washington when he realised it all sounded a bit too familiar.

It was. He was repeating the speech President Barack Obama had just read from the same teleprompter.

Mr Cowen stopped, turned to the president and said: "That's your speech."

A laughing Mr Obama returned to the podium to take over but it seems the script had finally been switched and the US president ended up thanking himself for inviting everyone to the party.

Mr Obama is an accomplished orator but is becoming known in America as the "teleprompt president" over his reliance on the machine when he gives a speech.

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5th District Primary Results

U.S. House - District 5 - GOP Special Primary

571 of 578 Precincts Reporting - 99%

Name Party Votes Vote %

Pulido, Rosanna GOP 979 25%
Hanson, Tom GOP 844 21%
Anderson, David GOP 705 18%
Bedell, Gregory GOP 661 17%
Kay, Daniel GOP 372 9%
Stewart, Jon GOP 365 9%

Source

I'm Finished With This Guy

Remember in My Cousin Vinny when Vinny was done cross examining the one witness he ends by saying, 'I'm finished with this guy' or something along those lines? Thats a pretty accurate description of how I feel about Senator Brownback right now.

Brownback issued a joint statement with fellow senator from Kansas, Pat Roberts, congratulating the Governor.

"It's an honor for the State of Kansas to have an elected official appointed to the president's cabinet," stated the senators. "We are hopeful Governor Sebelius will be a voice for Kansas and rural America at the Department. We look forward to working with her on issues important to the state including a National Cancer Institute Designation at the University of Kansas Cancer Center."

ALL's Judie Brown on Sen. Brownback: "I'll never use 'pro-life' to describe him again"

I had been a fan of Senator Brownback, I supported his (short) run in the primary, and always appreciated his strong pro-life support. I can't understand why he would kiss up to Sebelius like this, she is extremely pro-abortion and is an ally of Tiller the Killer. I guess political expediency is more important than the lives of unborn children.

Republican Candidates for the 5th District

I'm Representive-less at the moment since Rahm Emmanuel took the job with Obama in Washington. We're having a primary election for the spot in March and the general in April.

There are 12 Democrats, 6 Republicans, and 5 Green Party Candidates. With the exception of a few signs in front of houses, I haven't seen a whole lot of info on these Republicans. So I'm taking a look at their websites.

Tom Hanson

This is the first Republican candidate on the ballot. I popped in on his website, and the first thing I see is "Liberal Republican". Well, I'll just say that if I wanted a liberal Republican I'd vote for a Democrat, even if a liberal Republican is the only one that had a chance.



I did take a look at his positions and I will be passing on him.

Abortion Debate
I favor the rights to abortion and will vote for restrictions that are permissible under Roe vs. Wade

Marriage Debate
I favor the idea that same sex couples should be allowed to enter into a legally binding agreement that guarantees them similar benefits as married couples.

The next candidate is Jon Stewart, well at least the first thing on his website isn't Liberal Republican even if there is a picture of him with John McCain.

I'm a little nervous with a couple of the bullet points he has on the front.

The Jon Stewart Guarantee:

• To work steadfastly with President Obama to change our country
• To be fiercely independent in Congress
• Eliminate any contact with lobbyists
• To help my constituents' voices be heard throughout Washington
• Lower taxes for the middle class
• To provide universal, affordable health insurance to Americans
• To change the way Washington works and operates

My fears seem to be justified, I go to his positons and there they are...

• Affordable health care for all Americans
• Protect a woman's right to choose
• End the war in Iraq
• Legalize ALL undocumented, law abidding immigrants

I'm going through these candidates as I write this, I hope that at least one will be worth voting for, even if he doesn't win.

Greg Bedell for Congress

This site is a little more difficult to navigate. It looks like the same format as Team Sarah, although I don't have a problem with Team Sarah's layout, I'm having a greater difficulty in finding out his positions. In his bio Bedell says:

Mr. Bedell, 49, said he is running for Congress to support a return to Republican fundamentals. His campaign is focused on developing creative solutions to the current challenges citizens face – solutions grounded in traditional Republican beliefs of fiscal responsibility and strong national security.

Sounds good so far, but what about the social issues? I had to do a search to finally get to where he stands on abortion.

Abortion:
Pregnancy is an extremely personal issue for a woman. I know the decisions relating to pregnancy and parenthood are rarely taken lightly. My wife and I have two children and I have witnessed the amazing changes, challenges and joys only she could feel. Seeing for the first time the ultrasound pictures of my daughter profoundly affected me; there, inside my wife, was another human being.

I understand that pregnancy forever changes a woman’s life. But, the change is the creation of life and I am opposed to ending it. We must educate to prevent unwanted pregnancies. We must recognize the real life difficulties and emotional dilemmas that woman face and with this understanding help them and provide assistance to those who want to have their babies but fear the costs and consequences of pregnancy and parenthood.

We must do all that we can to decrease the loss of this new human life. I will oppose any effort to permit the barbarous practice of late term abortions, except where the life of the mother is demonstrably at risk. And, I will oppose government funding of abortion.

But, in those instances where a family is faced with the horrible choice of saving the child or the mother, I can only stand by the choice I would make and that is to save the woman I love.

And on gay marriage

Civil Unions:
I am committed to Civil Unions and according to gay and lesbian couples the rights and responsibilities of two people united under the law. These loving relationships must be recognized. A compassionate society should do no less. I do not agree, however, that these unions should be called a marriage which, in our society, is the union of a man and a woman.

Well, he's better than the other two thats for sure, but still really not where I am.

Rosanna Pulido: Conservative for Congress: Common Sense for Illinois District 5

Well thats more along the lines of what I like to see. She doesn't have a lot of her positions up, but she is against illegal immigration and is pro-life.

Pro-LifePosted by tech On February - 8 - 2009One of the measures of a more highly civilized society, is its attitude towards its weaker members. If the poor, the sick, the handicapped, the mentally ill, the helpless are not protected, the society is not as advanced as in a society where they are protected. The more mature the society is, the more there is respect for the dignity and rights of all human beings. The function of the laws of the society, is to protect and provide for all members so that no individual or group of individuals can be victimized by another individual group. Every American has a vital stake in what value system is adopted towards its weak, aged, cripple, it’s helpless intra-uterine members; a vital stake in who chooses life or death.

Do we accept killing a human being because of a temporary, emotional upset? All obstetricians and gynecologists know of many cases where the mother, be her single or married, has spoken of abortion early in the pregnancy and later on, has confessed her gratitude to those who have not performed the abortion. On the other hand, we have all seen women what have been troubled, consumed with guilt and Depression following and because of abortion.

Abortion hurts women!

She is the best one for me so far.

Daniel Kay for Congress

His site is under construction right now, he has a bio page up with information about him, but not really his postions. He says:

With over 6,300 bills introduced to the 110th congress, it would be impossible to elaborate on enough issues. In a nutshell, the district is highly diverse and all parts of it need attention, not just those in the city limits as were the policies of the previous 2 5th district representatives in congress. Much effort had been placed to modernize O'Hare airport to bring in line with others around the nation, however, the majority of the airports viability is in freight and cargo. The infrastructure including federal highway US 12/45, which are vital to the success of the airport and surrounding rail yards, are in gross neglect. Recently the Mannheim Road bridge over the O'Hare rail yard was closed due to the frost heaves launching vehicles onto black ice and causing them to spin out. Because this road doesn't link the airport with downtown Chicago directly, the communities affected didn't have the ears willing to listen. Fairness to all is my basic doctrine. From Lake Shore Drive to County Line Road, and from Lake Street to Touhy Ave. all need their voices heard in Washington.

I will have to look back at him before the election to see what he has to say about the issues that are most important to me.

Finally, Dr. David J. Anderson

He is very outspoken about corruption in Illinois, which is admirable. My personal opinion of what he has written on his site is that he admires BO and agrees with him on various positions to different degrees. He really doesn't include any of his positons on the social issues. Like Daniel Kay I will have to look back before the election to see if he has added anything.

Based on what I have seen so far though, Rosanna Pulido is the best candidate for me.

Oh Kass, How I Love You

One of my favorite people on Earth has to be Mr. John Kass of the Chicago Tribune. When my Dad was in the hospital for most of December at the same time that then-Governor Blagojevich fell into legal problems, I often brought info and little sayings from Kass to Dad in the hospital to brighten his day.

I'd say that Kass leans conservative, but he is critical of the 'combine' in Illinois. The democrats and republicans who work with each other to take advantage of the rest of us. But the thing I mostly love about Kass is the creative writing that he injects into his columns.

The names he gives politicians:

Gov. Blagojevich: Governor Dead Meat or Governor Nosferatu
Rep. DeLeo: (D-How you Doin?)
Sen. Burris: Roland "Tombstone" Burris (D-Lying Weasel)
Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Tomczak)
Rep. John Fritchey (D-Pastries)
House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Lisa's Dad)

And terms like: feditis and hopium.

When I see some of his writing that really gets me going I should just post it, so I have it here for all of time. Today he was in form and really made me laugh.

Sen. Roland "Tombstone" Burris (D-Lying Weasel) hatches his lies by the minute; they bubble out of his mouth like insect larvae from the mud.

Once their wings are dry, they launch from our senator's lips and buzz. Yet with all the buzzing, let's consider a few things.

This was the part specifically that had me laughing, even though I'm in a quiet computer lab.

Even Mayor Richard Daley lies better than Burris. Years ago, when confronted by Tribune reporters about how he'd given $100 million in affirmative action contracts to white guys with Outfit connections whom he'd drink with every Christmas Eve, Daley developed his strategy.

He turned purple, the hair on his temples flying up like the wings of dark angels, and he released his terrifying Mayor Chucky persona. This so frightened timid TV political reporters that they wouldn't follow up on Tribune stories.

Burris is trying to do the same, but he can't intimidate the media, not with that ridiculous Please-Don't-Squeeze-the-Charmin mustache on his lip. He played the race card to get seated in the Senate, but the race card doesn't have muscle now that America elected a black president.

Pope Meets with Pelosi

I was talking to Mom yesterday about the Pope meeting with Nancy Pelosi. I was a little upset by the meeting because I know all Nancy really wants in meeting the Pope is to get a nice photo of her doing so. I know the Pope has to be pastoral and meet with people with whom he disagrees with, because how can he influence them if he never meets with them sort of thing, but Pelosi? A photo with him would just enable her to continue her anti-life, and anti-Catholic policies. Mom remarked that if the Pope was smart he would meet with her in some closet, away from the media. That way she can get her meeting, but no photo. Well, it looks like Mom is a smart cookie, I saw an article this morning detailing the meeting sounding very close to that.

Pelosi could not immediately be reached after the 15-minute meeting, which was closed to reporters and photographers. The two met in a small room of a Vatican auditorium after the pope's weekly public audience.

And the Vatican released a statement on what the Pope told Nancy which included

The Vatican released remarks by the pope to Pelosi, saying Benedict spoke of the church's teaching "on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death." That is an expression often used by the pope when expressing opposition to abortion.

Benedict said all Catholics—especially legislators, jurists and political leaders—should work to create "a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development."

Well now that she's had time to ram through a massive stimulus bill and meet with Pope Benedict, maybe she will find time to meet with her Bishop, which she seems to have put off for several months.


Since there is no photo of this meeting, I'm just adding this one in because I find it funny. It looks like Monsignor Gaenswein is going to catch it in his hand.

I'm Sure This Makes Me a Bad Person

I'm sure posting this makes me a bad person, but I had to laugh.

Pumski?

US First Lady Michelle Obama has a nickname for hubby Barack Obama - 'Pumski'.

I saw this article at Cbabes today, and in a weird way I'm curious as to what this could mean. I know that couples come up with all kinds of cute names for each other, and I tend to come up with lots weird and random names for people and pets. But what could this one mean? I think its very unfair of Michelle to do this to us. But I have come up with my own solution to what it is.

Clearly pum is like a pumpkin. And since the Obamas are from Chicago 'ski' can only refer to the man so loved and yet so unknown to Illinois school children, Polish American Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski.

The equation looks something like this.

Just So We're Clear...

Obama is not God. And I wish everyone would stop portraying him as if he were.

There has to be something seriously wrong with these people. They are either completely delusional, or just plain mean. Either way I'll stick with my comment that there is something wrong with them. It in some ways reminds me of Obama as St. Martin de Porres before the election, but much worse. I have yet to see Obama portrayed as an important figure of another faith, perhaps they can stop with the Christian imagery and try for something else. I'm sure the Muslim world would be thrilled if he were shown as Mohammed (on multiple levels).



Mary and Obama?: Help protest desecration of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Icon in Bend, Oregon

H/T A Catholic Mom in Hawaii

Unity... Finally

Ah the post-racial society we have been promised is upon us...

Benediction at Obama 's inauguration, Rev. Joseph Lowery: 'Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen'...

Drudgereport.com

Maybe its just as well no Catholics were invited to speak.

Catholic Clergy Absent at Inauguration

We suspect Obama’s omission of a Catholic participant was a whole lot more intentional than that. This year’s Democratic National Convention in Denver also notably excluded an invitation to Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, unlike invitations extended at previous conventions to bishops such as Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles at the DNC in 2000 held in that city.

Why the contemporary reluctance among Democrats to grant Catholic bishops a voice at functions they have organized? Perhaps it’s because they fear that virtually any Catholic bishop they invite will call the nation’s attention to the Democratic Party’s failure to respect the sanctity of life of the unborn, because of the party’s formal commitment to the promotion of abortion rights.

In fact, that’s exactly what Cardinal Mahony did by raising the issue of abortion in both the homily and the invocation that he delivered to the Democrats who assembled in his city in 2000. “O God, we trust that you will keep us ever committed to protect the life and well-being of all people but especially unborn children, the sick and the elderly, those on skid row and those on death row,” Cardinal Mahoney prayed in the invocation.

The U.S. bishops have become even more forceful in the intervening eight years in speaking out about the moral obligation of every American in public life to defend the lives of the unborn. And they specifically called Obama to account on this issue following his election, with their Nov. 12 statement decrying the anti-life Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) that Obama has promised to sign into law as president.

So it’s only reasonable to speculate that Barack Obama — who by general consensus is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever elected to the White House — is not eager to afford one of the Church’s American shepherds another high-profile opportunity to remind him that this obligation to respect the sanctity of the lives of unborn Americans applies very specifically to all of Obama’s actions during his upcoming presidency.

Link

More on Fr. Neuhaus

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus dead at age 72
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR., NCR Staff
Published:
Jan. 8, 2009

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, a leading voice of Catholic conservatism in America, and one of those rare theologians and spiritual leaders whose influence vastly exceeded the boundaries of their religious community, has died at 72.

Neuhaus slipped away Jan. 8, shortly before 10 o’clock Eastern time. He never recovered from the weakness that sent him to the hospital the day after Christmas, caused by a series of side effects from the cancer he was suffering.

A priest of the New York archdiocese and a former Lutheran minister, Neuhaus was best known to society at large as an intellectual guru of what came to be known as the “religious right.”

From the early 1970s forward, Neuhaus was a key architect of two alliances with profound consequences for American politics, both of which overcame histories of mutual antagonism: one between conservative Catholics and Protestant Evangelicals, and the other between free market neo-conservatives and “faith and values” social conservatives.

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Blagojevich

I haven't had a chance to write about Blagojevich on here before. I am obviously no fan of Blagojevich, he isn't just a standard Democrat, he has been very hard on the pro-life community here in Illinois. One of my favorite instances of the Bishops getting involved in current issues was when my Bishop, Thomas Paprocki, called out Blagojevich on legislation which would force pharmacists to dispense contraception even if doing so is against their conscience.

I think my family, like a lot of Illinoisans, has been waiting for the downfall of Blagojevich. There have been allegations of wrongdoing from Blagojevich for so long, it was only a matter of time. That being said, I find myself enjoying the show Blagojevich is putting on for the whole nation.

You'd think that I would be embarrassed by the spectacle that Blago is making Illinois into for the country and the world. But lets face it, I've already been thoroughly embarrassed for my state and the city of Chicago the whole time Obama was running for the Presidency. The thing about Blago is that he is being tossed under the bus by all the rest of the crooks in the state. This should prove the old adage that there is no honor among thieves. They've done everything they can to make old Blago go away, even calling him crazy. No way this guy is crazy, he's just a Chicago politician. The rest of the rats are trying to push him off the ship hoping that by dumping him over the edge they can stave off the sinking of the ship. Blago isn't going away easy though.

Some of the things Blagojevich has been accused of are just completely outrageous, the shakedown of the Children's Hospital I think ranks far above the allegations of selling Obama's senate seat. But I don't much appreciate all his old pals throwing him under the bus calling him crazy and saying they haven't talking to him in years. I don't buy it. My biggest hope, for better or worse, is that old G-Rod sticks around long enough to take down all the rest of them with him.

Newt a Catholic?

I've heard the President Bush conversion rumors before, but this is the first I've heard of Newt Gingrich.

I'm not quite sure how that all works, seeing as how he's on his third wife I believe. But we are a church of sinners as one of the comments on AMP said.

St. Barack Obama?

Poor St. Martin de Porres.

Votive Early, Votive Often [Mark Steyn]

A reader took this picture today at a street fair at Hayes and Octavia in San Francisco, of all places:

Mark Steyn

Bitter American