Cardinal Raymond Burke gave an extended interview with Christopher Altieri for "Thinking With the Church" about matters of controversy among Catholics. Burke's interview was recorded as a podcast and the transcript was published in the Catholic World Reporter. The Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta expressed anguish that some consider his request to the Holy See for clarifications (dubia) about the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (2016) are motivated to create a schism in the Catholic church.
Cardinal Burke is concerned that the interpretation and application of Amoris Laetitia contradict long standing traditional teachings on the Sacrament of Marriage. While Cardinal Burke scrupulously avoided ideological labels in his Altieri interview, he noted the Bishop of Malta's innovation regarding irregular second marriages, which clearly are progressive in nature.
One of the characteristics of Pope Francis' reign is the injection of secular progressive politics into papal pronouncements. In Laudato Si'(2015), Pope Francis implored world leaders to approve the Paris Climate Change Accords. Pope Francis' visit to the Mexican-US border was a pointed ploy to champion open borders, counter to the platform of then candidate now President Donald Trump. Even Pope Francis' annual announcement for World Communication Day railed against "fake news".
Pope Francis' advocated a journalism of peace, which the Holy Father defined as:
“A journalism created by people for people, one that is at the service of all, especially those – and they are the majority in our world – who have no voice,” A journalism less concentrated on breaking news than on exploring the underlying causes of conflict, in order to promote deeper understanding and contribute to their resolution by setting in place virtuous process. A journalism committed to pointing out alternatives to the escalation of shouting matches and verbal violence."
A true faith ought to be challenged and should not be confined to the sanctuary of the Church. There is the danger , however, that the Catholic faithful are being shepherded to take sides on secular political issues which are outside of the aura of competency of the Petrine office) and sometimes seem counter to traditional church teachings). Those who object to this progressive polarization and stand fast to the Magisterium have increasingly been scorned, ostracized or dismissed as getting with today's program, even if the innovation is not magisterial.
For example, Chicago's Archbishop Blase Cardinal Cupich interpreted Amoris Laetitia as being a development of doctrine which the Petrine office has loosened requirements when pastorally addressing irregular marriages. But the apostolic exhortation did no such thing.
Paragraph 3 of Amoris Laetitia indicates that the document was not doctrinal and was intended to start the conversation. The controversy over Amoris Laetitia involves footnote 351 regarding Paragraph 305 which suggests that there might be some pastoral means of curing irregular second marriages. But Pope Francis has refused to answer dubia's regarding the implementation. And progressive powers in the Church are attempting to steamroll their will, in a jesuitical manner, speaking with great force but not having the facts on their side.
As we grapple with the politicization of Church life, we ought to heed 16th Century Lutheran theologian Peter Meiderlin's wisdom that we ought to have "[U]nity on necessary things, liberty on dubious things and charity in all things."
Dr. Ben Carson, the retired chief of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, has experienced a meteoric rise in conservative political circles since he upstaged President Barack Obama with a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2013. Carson’s mild mannered delivery of critiques of the Obama-nation coming from a faith filled physician with a compelling personal story stole the show.
Just after the Exploratory Committee announcement, Dr. Carson was drawn into a debate on CNN’s “New Day” with Chris Cuomo on whether homosexuality is a choice. Carson commented that convicts "go into prison straight -- and when they come out, they're gay. So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question," This view syncs with Dr. Carson’s Seventh Day Adventist background and traditional marriage premises but did little to advance his candidacy.
Shortly afterwards, Carson backtracked on the statement saying "I realized that my choice of language does not reflect fully my heart on gay issues." Later, Carson declared that he would no longer speak about gay issues. But the damage had already been done. Glenn Beck called this quote “the dumbest thing I’ve every heard”, which led Beck to declare that Carson’s candidacy was over just as it begun. That may have been hyperbole, but it was unwise for Dr. Carson to touch today’s third rail of politics in a wonton way. Carson squandered his wider introduction to the public by allowing himself to be painted a bigot for a peripheral point.
As part of the media barnstorming effort, Dr. Carson engaged in a thoughtful radio interview with Hugh Hewitt, a politically center right Salem Radio host who prides himself on not conducting ambush interviews. Since the 2016 Presidential Campaign cycle may well pivot on foreign policy issues, Hewitt asked about Russian provocations and Western response. When asked how NATO should respond if Putin made a move on the Baltic States would we go to war, Dr. Carson responded: “Well, if we have them involved in NATO. We need to convince them to get involved in NATO and strengthen NATO”.
Hewitt later followed up on an inference that Carson did not seem aware that the Baltic States were part of NATO. Dr. Carson rejoined: “Well, when you were saying Baltic state, I thought you were continuing our conversation about the former components of the Soviet Union. Obviously, there’s only three Baltic states.” Unfortunately that clarification was as clear as mud as Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were former components of the Soviet Union and have some ethnic Russian speaking communities still residing there (which was the pretext for Russia effectively seizing Crimea and try to take the Donbass). Hewitt is known for in-depth interviews and going into the proverbial weeds to explore military issues. Carson’s ignorant answers on defending our Baltic State NATO partners exposes a serious chink in his campaign armor and exhibited a lack a preparation.
Dr. Carson granted a long form interview with GQ magazine which was conducted at Armstrong Williams abode. The resulting piece from Jason Zengerle : “What if Sarah Palin were a brain surgeon?” frames Dr. Carson as the Tea Party’s great White House hope, while sliming him with the Alinsky inspired animus associated Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK). The pull quote from Carson’s GQ interview involved Armstrong Williams egging on Ben Carson to opine on Obama’s optics. The soft spoken Dr. Carson pronounced: “Like most psychopaths--that’s why they’re successful. That’s the way they look. They all look great...he's trying to sell what he thinks is not true. He’s sitting there saying, ‘These Americans are so stupid, I can tell them anything.’”
Dr. Carson is a renowned neurosurgeon, not a psychiatrist, so taking a swipe at President Obama as a psychopath is off the mark. Such a distant diagnosis from Charles Krauthammer (who was trained as a psychiatrist) seems reasonable, but from Dr. Carson it seems like a harsh characterization. Part of Carson’s political charm is his mild mannered air of authority. Being bombastic by characterizing the Obama obsession with optics and fooling “idiotic” Americans sacrifices this strength. Moreover, this pugilistic “psychopath” trope was nothing new and unlikely to garner much new support.
Ben Carson has proudly declared: “I'm not a politician and that I never intend to become a politician. Even if I'm elected to office, I'm not going to be a politician because they tend to do things that are politically expedient. And I'm not trying to do things that are politically correct.” In this day and age, not being considered a Beltway Establishment politician is an advantage to base voters who tire of political lies and political correctness.
However Dr. Carson is making plenty of rookie mistakes in on the political field. Allowing a Draft movement to exploit donations which never really make it to the actual campaign may dismay donors. Opining on hot button issues like homosexuality without successfully connecting it to preserving traditional marriage, which should really be an ancillary campaign issue in the first place. Taking partisan pot shots like labeling the incumbent a psychopath which mars his soft spoken demeanor and popular appeal. Giving extensive access to media outlets like CNN and GQ on the proto campaign roll out which would play gotcha journalism. Then there is the sin of going on friendly media like Hugh Hewitt unprepared, exposing a key weakness of the candidacy, namely foreign policy chops.
That perspective may be provocative and perspicacious as a pundit, but it sounds like another thing altogether on the campaign trail, especially with spin coming from other campaigns' opposition research laundered through the compliant press.
As Dr. Carson continues to move closer to declaring his candidacy for the Republican Presidential nomination, he has come out swinging for the fences. Unfortunately, he seems to be off balance for some of the pitches and creating lots of wind. To mix sports analogies, the off balance stance on the campaign hustings makes him prone for sucker punches from the Lamestream Media.
Dr. Carson could make great contributions to shaping the campaign conversation in the 2016 Cycle. His tremendous personal story shatters the liberal labeling of Republicans as the party for old white men. Dr. Carson’s faith history underscores a potential appeal to evangelical voters, which would be key to victory in the Iowa Caucuses. As a physician, he would be given great credence for critiquing Obamacare. So Dr. Carson should eschew some of his ardor against being a politician and get good advice which best represents his brand as a thoughtful outsider who will not abandon promises because it is politically expedient.
During a breakfast at the Capitol Hill Club in which the House Majority Caucus spent a half hour strategized about fundraising procedures to restore recently cut benefits for military veterans with the debt ceiling vote. But it became clear to House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-OH 8th) that he would not have the votes to pass the Leadership's initial debt ceiling deal with just GOP votes.
So instead of linking the military cuts with the debt ceiling, Speaker Boehner opted to put forth a clean debt ceiling through 2015 for a vote. To avoid adding to the deficit, this plan pretends to apply cuts in the eleventh year of a ten year budget, which is fictitious, as the cuts will never happen and prior Congresses can not bind future Congresses.
In order for a clean debt ceiling to be voted upon, the House Majority violated the informal "Hastert Rule" where legislation needed to get a majority of the majority's vote. In the 221-201 clean debt ceiling vote, it seemed that most of the Republican votes came from House Leadership, including Speaker Boehner, House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA 7th), House Majority Whip Rep. Kevin McCarthy R-CA 23rd) and most Republican Committee Chairmen, save House Budget Chair Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI 1st), House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA 5th), GOP Policy Chair Rep. James Lankford (R-OK 5th) and House Majority Transition Chair Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR 2nd). It seems that the Cocktail Party was keen on keeping power quietly and threw in with the Democrats.
While the House's clean debt ceiling vote may be characterized as a rare instance of bipartisanship by the Lamestream Media, the move was not well received among conservative activists and veterans.
The House's clean debt ceiling vote was characterized as "complete capitulation" by Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin. Moreover, failing to fix the military retirees cut was a call to arms by Hugh Hewitt and other veterans supporters.
So before the House adjourned for the Washington's Birthday recess (often mistakenly referred to as President's Day), House Leadership scrambled to vote on a Veterans' COLA fix. Since the legislation had not gone through regular committee process, the legislation needed to earn two thirds majority vote on the Suspension calendar. While top House Democrats signaled they they would oppose the fix, the bill easily passed the House in a 326-90 vote. Then the House went into recess for ten days, which meant that the Senate would either approve their versions of the clean debt ceiling and veterans' COLA or Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) would have to explain why he let the US "default" and why he wants veterans to suffer.
However, there may not be a quick and quiet way to placate the politicos. According to Mark Levin, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was willing to pass a clean debt ceiling on a simple majority vote. such a process would allow for Congressional kabuki theater. The Senate has 55 Democrat votes Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is a self-described democratic socialist and Senator Angus King is a Maine Independent yet both caucus with the Majority Senate Democrats. Several Democrats, however, have tough re-election campaigns in Republican leaning states. So a majority vote allows a few of them to feign being fiscal hawks and the bill passes 51-49.
Once again, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) will not countenance the Congressional two step. Sen. Cruz questions the future cuts in the Clean Debt Ceiling bill and will require cloture (requiring 60 votes) to cut off debate. The Byrd rule for simple majorities on budget bills does not apply to the debt ceiling. Essentially, Sen. Cruz is threatening to filibuster the debt ceiling.
This gets complicated. A significant snowstorm is threatening to hit Washington Wednesday evening, which could ground Senators from doing their "In District Work Sessions". But if changes are made to the Clean Debt Ceiling bill, the House is on recess so the alleged debt ceiling deadline would be missed and supposedly the US would go into default. While this may be as fictitious as the monument closures during the government shutdown, it would give the financial markets jitters and look quite bad in an election year.
The pressure will be placed on Senator Cruz not to require a Cloture vote. Aside from his principles, Senator Cruz may be motivated to stand tall for a prospective 2016 Presidential run. But if a filibuster is engaged, expect the junior Senator from Texas to be villified by the press and partisans for holding up progress just as Cruz was in September 2013 over Obamacare fixes quasi filibuster.
According to Senator Lindsey Graham's two calls to Hugh Hewitt, it is 99% certain that the Senate will bring the House passed Veterans' COLA fix to the floor and passed. It is only $6 billion over ten years and should not be an onerous fix. But when can the revenue enhancement be hidden?
It is lamentable that many of the problems in Washington have a causal nexus with the go-along-to-get-alone attitudes of elites in the Cocktail Party. Problems are rarely really addressed aside from short burst of rhetoric for the supposed rubes. So insisting that real cuts are made instead of the fiction of future cuts which will never happen will be the cause celebre of the Left and the Cocktail Party.
No wonder conservatives are fighting for new leadership.
One of the nicknames for the city of Boston is “The Hub” as Bostonians consider themselves living in “The Hub of the Universe”. Alas, after the Boston Marathon Bombing, it has become the hub of strange activity. The race of government investigators to find those responsible for exploding two IED bombs that currently have killed three people and severely injured at least 150 has been conducted over a strange path indeed. On the one hand, it is wise to remember in breaking news stories that initial reports are often wrong and the fog of war can obscure the truth. Yet on the other hand, the Fort Hood shootings and the Benghazi bungle has shown how the Obama Administration will consciously publicize false stories, obstruct the truth and deny responsibility when it comes to linking the White House to foreign inspired terrorism during President Obama’s watch. Initial reports indicated that along with the two bombs that exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, officials reported that there were five undetonated bombs scattered throughout the marathon route. Officials later denied that report. Additionally, Boston Police were tipped off to look for a Yellow Penske Truck with unidentified drivers but dark skinned wearing black clothes which attempted to deliver medical supplies earlier in the day but had been turned back. Police later dismissed that tip. In its quest for information about the Boston Bombings, the media focused on one of the two hospitals treating terror victims which had a significant cordon of security. Reports centered around a young Saudi man as a “person of interest” who was being treated for burns on the hand. These injuries were different from other blast injuries which involved lacerations to the lower extremities. There were reports that the “person of interest” was cooperating with authorities. The police conducted a search in Revere, Massachusetts (where several of the 9/11 bombers lived) and several bags of evidence were taken. There was some controversy about labeling the individual as a “person of interest”. Commentators with police background noted that once a person is categorized as a suspect, it tips off others who are involved and begins to institute legal protections for the suspect which can kill cooperation and inhibit a quickly moving investigative dragnet. Since the Saudi person of interest comes from a prominent Saudi family, the tortured lexicon in not calling him a suspect may be to avoid embarrassment to these international elites, the Saudi government or an embarrassment to the Obama Administration. Yesterday was a strange day in the Lamestream Media. Major news organizations like CNN and Fox News were reporting at 1:30 EDT from tips from high placed police sources that a suspect in the Boston Bombings was going to be arrested. CNN’s John King reportage revealed that it was a “dark skinned man, but he did lingustical gymnastics so as not to report that he was foreign or a Muslim. The media expected a 1 PM FBI briefing on the impending arrest that was delayed five times then cancelled. It is strange that two prominent media sources were burned with this explosive information. But putting these strange events in the Hub can best be understood by breaking the Bostonian conceit that it is the Hub of the Universe. Events our nation's Capital, the District of Calamity (sic) may have severely impacted the Boston Bombing investigations. On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry had a photo op scheduled with a Saudi counterpart. At the last minute, the meeting became a closed door meeting and the photo op was explained away as a scheduling mistake. It is strange that Foggy Bottom would have set up a photo op for a scheduling mistake. On Wednesday, President Barack Obama had an unscheduled meeting with the Saudi Ambassador. It was a “walk by” meeting, so as not to have it on the White House schedule. The procedure is for a lower level Executive Branch official to have a meeting with an open office door and the Chief Executive walks by and notices someone and then has a closed door meeting. What makes these instances of Executive Branch minutia relevant is how the story changed in Boston. Sudden, there was no suspect that was going to be arrested. In fact, the Saudi who had been a person of interest was suddenly slated to be deported.
This repatriation to the Saudi Arabia for 20-year-old Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi was being framed as being close to his family. But Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi comes from a prominent Saudi family which may be supporters of Wahabbism (the sect of Sunni Islam that inspires Al Qaeda). So the young Saudi with powder mark burns on his hands would be an embarrassment to the Saudi Kingdom and might cause a diplomatic fissure with the United States. Such a white glove treatment for suspicious Saudis is not unprecedented as President Bush let bin Laden family members flee America immediately after the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001
A hospitalized Abdul Rhaman Ali Albabi [photo: Okaz]
When Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi was considered a person of interest, an event file was created. According to ICE, the reason is under section 212 3B — “Security and related grounds” — “Terrorist activities”. Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi ‘s visa had been revoked and he had submitted to voluntary departure. But before these public papers were classified and he was quietly shuffled off to Saudi, The Blaze exposed the situation and officials are reconsidering their strategy. But the Saudi newspaper Okaz reports that the Saudi consulate has been assured that all Saudis have been cleared, including Alharabi and Nura Kahlid Saleh al-Ajaji The Lamestream Media has been openly rooting for the Boston Marathon Bombings to be attributable to a White Male or the Tea Party. Soon after the dust settled on the terror attacks, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews allowed speculation that the violence is linked to the right wing since it was Tax Day and Patriots Day. Salon had a headline that “Let’s Hope the Boston Bomber Is a White American” because it would set back the cause of liberalism for amnesty and gun control. So if the reports about the linkage with the Saudis and dark skinned males are accurate, it does not fit the narrative which the Obama Administration would approve. The Fort Hood shootings in November, 2009 where 13 people were killed and by US Army Major (and self proclaimed Soldier of Islam) Abdul Malik Hassan who shouted “Allahu Ackbar” (God is Great) during the attack was simply an instance of workplace violence since terror only happens during President George W. Bush’s Administration. This convenient conceit keeps those killed and injured from being given Purple Hearts or qualifying for combat benefits. And the attack the US Benghazi Consulate on September 11, 2012 was due to a YouTube video because the Obama Administration had Al Qaeda on the run in the run up to re-electing President Obama. Although officials are publically poo-pooing leads about the other undetonated bombs and the rogue Yellow truck lead, those do fit into a pattern typical of Palestinian terrorism. Walid Shoebat, a former Palestinian terrorist turned Evangelical Christian, suggests that Boston Bombing had the hallmarks of a knockout terror attack. It uses IEDs to inflict maximum human suffering. The staggered explosions to stampede, terrorize and injure the innocent when killing first responders. And the turned away Penske truck with medical supplies mimics Hamas tactics to target first responders and use ambulances as tactics of terror. Before jumping to conclusions, it would be wise for the facts to shake out. Unfortunately, experience has taught that the Obama Administration and the compliant Lamestream Media are happy to shun inconvenient truths. And the hub of strange activity around the Boston Bombing has done nothing to dispel this perspective. Strange days indeed.
President Obama and his family walked across Lafayette Square to attend Easter Sunday service at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. The presider was the Reverend Luis Leon, who also gave the closing benediction at President Obama’s second inauguration.
Mr. Obama & Rev. Luis Leon at DC's's St. John's Episcopal Church
Unlike at the ceremony on the Mall, where Leon’s stated goal was to bring people together, Leon chose to preach politically partisan on the holiest day of the Christian calendar. Leon preached from the pulpit:
The captains of the religious right are always calling us back, back back. For blacks to be back in the back of the bus, for women to be back in the kitchen, for gays to be in the closet and for immigrants to be on their side of the border...What you and I understand is that when Jesus says you can’t hang onto me, he says you know it’s not about the past, it’s not about the before, it’s not about the way things were but about the way things can be in the now.
Really? Please cite some contemporary examples of captains of the religious right calling blacks to be at the back of the bus. Leon did not do so during his Easter sermon. As Luis Leon was not able to flee Cuba until 1961 when he was 12 years old, maybe he had already been indoctrinated in the Church of the Poisoned Mind. But it was Republicans who were intrinsic to passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which the illustrious intellectual Senator J. William Fulbright (D-AR) filibustered for 57 days along with former KKK grand kleagle Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Vice President Albert Gore Jr.’s father Senator Albert Gore, Sr. (D-TN) also opposed. In fact, Republican President Eisenhower proposed a substantial Civil Rights Bill in 1957, but the reality was that the voting rights bill it was opposed by then Senate Majority Leader (and future President) Lyndon Baines Johnson (D-TX) and then Senator (and future President) John F. Kennedy (D-MA). After the longest filibuster in Senate history of 24 hours and 18 minutes by then Democrat (future Republican) Senator Strom Thurmond (D-SC), the bill which passed was so watered down to effectively kill it. In comparison, Senator Rand Paul's (R-KY) recent blockbuster filibuster only lasted just over 13 hours. Oh, but the clerical bully pulpit alluded to the “religious right”. OK, since Rev. Leon is playing the prophet, then it should be easy to name the wrong-doers. C.L. Bryant made a documentary Runaway Slave (2012) in which he urges blacks to run away from manipulation by governmental, clerical and media sources that shackle them as victims on the political plantation. The Right Reverend Leon’s unspecific indictment of the “enemy” during the Feast of the Resurrection would probably be considered as leading people astray and perhaps even prostituting an entire people for the sake of power by the Runaway Slave documentarians. It would be nice if the story was simply a photo op of a lovely First Family dressed in their Easter best clothes. Or a cynic could chuckle that Mr. Obama walked the one block to church instead of taking a 20 car motorcade six blocks to the Jefferson Hotel for a dinner party with Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John McCain (R-AZ) et ali. as he did a few weeks ago. But President Obama has a tumultuous history with his professed Christian faith. Obama attended Trinity United Church of Christ on the South Side of Chicago, but pretended that he never heard (or perhaps paid attention to) the provocative and divisive black liberation theology spouted by the now emeritus pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright. During the 2008 transition, Mr. Obama made a big deal about church shopping in the District of Calamity. Even though the President took the holy Eucharist at St. John’s Episcopal, he has not made any choice for a local church after four and a half years. Then again, unauthorized Obama biographer Edward Klein quoted Reverend Wright in "The Amateur" (2012) that church was not their [the Obamas'] thing" but that the Trinity United pastor acknowledged that church was an integral part of politics because Mr. Obama "needed that base.". So Mr. Obama chose Reverend Leon for both the Easter Service as well as the Inauguration. That is telling. Leon was the backup benediction giver after Mr. Obama's initial choice of Reverend Louie Giglio was forced to withdraw after it came to light that in the mid-1990s Giglio advocated ex-gay therapy and cautioned against acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle. Reverend Leon represents President Obama's new public orientation, as Obama came out in favor of same sex marriages only last May. Leon's uniting rhetoric in the inaugural benediction suggested that: "With the blessing of your blessing we will see that we are created in
your image, whether brown, black or white, male or female, first
generation or immigrant American, or daughter of the American
Revolution, gay or straight, rich or poor." With blessings like that, no wonder the second inauguration public ceremonies were panned as being the most divisive in our nation's history. But to be fair to Leon, the Episcopal Church has been blessing same-sex civil unions since 2006 and now Washington National Cathedral will be performing same-sex marriages, which are legal in the District of Columbia. Therefore Episcopalians no longer connect scriptural prohibitions against sodomy and same sex relations as sinful. This might explain why many bible believing Anglo-Catholic churches are swimming the Tiber and joining the Catholic Church's Anglican Ordinariate, like St. Luke's in Bladensburg, MD or aligning with traditional Anglican bishops in Africa, like The Falls Church Anglican in Virginia.
So when President Obama is not on vacation or flying to Florida to have Sunday golf matches with Tiger Woods and he chooses to hear a controversial, confrontational Easter Sunday sermon, it is significant. The Easter message can be understood with its parallel to the Jewish Passover. The children of Israel were freed from their slavery in Egypt by Yahweh’s power and they were put on the path to the Promised Land. Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on the Cross conquered the ultimate wages of spiritual slavery to sin–death. It might be worth considering if Rev. Leon’s sermon was truly uplifting or perpetuating continued political bonds dressed up in Easter finery or spurious scriptural sanction. The answer may be found in Runaway Slave. Alas, the message might not be a revelation as much as a lamentation.
Of late, the Obama 2012 campaign has been seizing on puerile political memes. The killing Big Bird soundbite from the first debate. When threats of a Million Muppet March proved to have no political legs, the Obama Ad Hominem Express shifted to the “Binders of Women” meme from the townhall debate. Little good that did, as Republican Presidential nominee Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) erased the previous 16% gap with women.
How could the wunderkind braintrust from the Chicago office top this? They did not want to wait for the “horse and bayonets” trope from the third debate to play out. So they released: “The First Time” with performance artist Lena Dunham waxing poetically about her first time...voting for Barack Obama.
The sad part of this “First Time” campaign is that it isn’t even original. Barack’s boys copied ads for Russian President Vladimir Putin. So once again, Obama copies European lefies.
Aside from the unabashedly adolescently vulgar appeal for the youth vote, it is astounding how Obama’s campaign seeks the female vote by consistently degrading women. The Binders of Women memo probably produced Beavis and Butthead chortles, as if it was President Bill Jefferson Clinton’s little black book. In reality, the “Binders of Women” referred to outreach that Romney had to qualified female candidates to be part of his gubernatorial administration in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Then there was the Tumblr posting “Vote like your Lady Parts depend on it (because they do)". It was quickly withdrawn after public hue and cry. Consider the objectification involved in the “Lady Parts” appeal. To use the parlance to make a point, I believe that wise women vote with their lady smarts rather than just their lady parts.
Now in its final days, the Obama Campaign comes up with an innuendo ad prompting women to make their first time a good one.
No wonder why the Obamas have been urging everyone to vote early, including your knucklehead friends, per First Lady Michelle Obama.
The puerile politics displayed in their outreach, as well as the Dear Leader labeling his opponent a bullsh**ter in Rolling Stone are signs of serious presidential campaign imploding.
Salvific History sand sculpture by Randy Hofman, Ocean City, MD 2009 [photo: BD Matt]
Randy Hofman, a 61 year old Ocean Pines, MD, has been making biblical sand sculptures to vacationers on the Delmarva shore since 1974 and Hofman has been doing it singularly since 1981. From the beginning of April to the end of October, it is Hofman's mission to bring the Christian message to the Ocean City boardwalk. During the winter, Hofman concentrates on his paintings, but also does wood carvings and prints.
Randy Hofman works on a Sand Sculpture
Hofman estimates that it can take up to 15 hours to construct his elaborate biblical sand sculptures as he only uses a square shovel and a crab picking knife. This is remarkable for a sand canvas that can be 10 feet tall and 40 feet long. Over the years, Hofman has done well over a thousand spiritual sand sculptures.
Hofman never abandons a project and can sometimes work until dawn to complete the work. While he does put a coating of Elmer's glue to give the sand sculpture some longevity, it is still prone to the elements and can be marred by a heavy rain or a crass carousing delinquent.
Hofman made Christian themed sand sculpting into a full time ministry in 1981. He also became an ordained minister in 1985. He will occasionally evangelize as he works with the shifting grains of sand and will also engage with inquisitive passers-by.
Hofman seems to revel that his handiwork prompts kids to ask their parents what it is all about. The artist opined: ""I want it to click so that even someone who is spiritually ignorant can understand."
Divine Forgiveness by Randy Hofman (2009) [photo: BD Matt]
Gratitude for Sacrifice on the Cross by Randy Hofman (2009) [photo: BD Matt]
Glorified Resurrected Jesus by Randy Hofman (2009) [photo: BD Matt]
The Obama 2012 Re-Election effort launched a campaign to contrast how Americans lives would be different under a Romney Administration compared to Obama’s stated policies. To illustrate this complete life cycle, Obama-istas proposed “The Life of Julia".
Alas, this campaign broke at the same time there was controversy concerning the use of composite characters in Obama’s first autobiography “Dreams From My Father.” Fine print in “Dreams From My Father” does warn readers in fine print that some characters may be composites and time may be compressed, this is technique is highly unorthodox in auto-biographies, but hardly raises eyebrows in hagiographies.
Nevertheless, the inconvenient truth that the Obama campaign used a composite character to sell their message, much like the author of “Dreams From My Father”, it has inspired conservatives to have their own comedic comebacks with different framing.
It makes you wonder if Barack’s composite New York girlfriend was named “Julia” or something sounding similar.
It would be nice to be privy to hypothetical correspondences with Barack’s composite squeeze. May they be as interesting as “The Juliet Letters” by Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet.
As the Obamacare cases are now being deliberated by the Supreme Court of the United States, it is worth considering judicial ethics and proper public policy.
Associate Justice Elena Kagan refused to recuse herself from hearing the Obamacare cases, even though she was President Obama's first Solicitor General and her office formulated Obama Administration’s legal defense of the legislation. During her confirmation hearings before the Judiciary Committee, then Solicitor General Kagan swore that she abide by federal recusal standards (28 USC 455(b)(3)) which requires recusal when a person has “served in governmental employment and in such capacity participated as counsel, adviser, or material witness concerning the proceeding or expressed an opinion concerning the merits of the particular case or controversy.”
Testimony during confirmation hearings suggested that Kagan was protected by an intellectual firewall which protected her from the case, as the DOJ anticipated Kagan's elevation to the High Court. However, an e-mail exchange from Kagan and Lawrence Tribe on the day the House passed Obamacare states “I hear they have the votes, Larry!! Simply amazing,”. Participants claim that this was not relevant hangs on the thin reed of the ambiguous title of the email “Re: fingers and toes crossed today!”
In February, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) observed: “Justice Kagan’s involvement in the preparation of the government’s defense of the health-care law began at least as early as January 2010, four months before her nomination and two months before the bill became law. That she would not follow the same course in the health-care case is dubious. These facts require recusal.” Even liberal leaning George Washington Law Professor Jonathan Turley urged Kagan to recuse herself from hearing the case, but he extended the call for recusal to also include Associate Justice Clarence Thomas because of Justice Thomas's wife, who involvement with Tea Party inspired activism. But Chief Justice Roberts opined that the Supreme Court is not bound by the same ethical standards as lower courts.
It is curious as to what cases Justice Kagan recuses herself. During her first term on the Highest Court in the land, Justice Kagan recused herself from 21 of 39 cases. This term, Kagan readily absolved herself from hearing the Arizona SB 1070 Immigration Case, yet she obviously observed no compunctions against hearing the Obamacare cases. It would be enlightening to understand what are Kagan’s personal parameters for recusal. Are they knowledge of details of the controversy, taking a side on a matter or how politically important is her vote? Considering her juridical leanings as well as history serving as the Solicitor General for the Obama Administration, it would not be surprising if she is just a SCOTUS Proxy for Presidential progressivism.
During the oral arguments on Obamacare, Kagan’s questions could be construed as more like cheerleading for Obamacare than an elevated appellate examination of the law.
But conduct during Supreme Court oral arguments is not always indicative of the Justice’s final vote. Justice Thomas usually says nothing, but from his 1991 confirmation hearings and twenty years of opinions reveal an adherence to natural law.
In Liberty and Tyranny, Mark Levin notes that many who served on the nation’s High Court would not be considered legal luminaries. And as 1987 Borking of Robert Bork showed, there is more to confirmation than being an outstanding legal intellect.
Since the Supreme Court refused to consider the merits of Kagan recusing herself from the Obamacare, the only Constitutional remedy is impeachment. But impeachment by the U.S. Senate is about as rare as rocking horse’s manure. There might have been a campaign in the late 1950s and the 1960s to impeach Chief Justice Earl Warren, but the Senate has never conducted a trial of a Supreme Court Justice. So it is inconceivable that trying to impeach Kagan for bad conduct would be successful.
What is warranted is taking Constitutional duties seriously. First, there is the Advice and Consent of the Senate. Kagan’s nomination to the Supreme Court was approved by Congress in the summer of 2010 by a 63-37 margin. Granted, Democrats held 60 seats at the time, but this was going into a Teanami election cycle which was devastating to Democrats. Republicans should have held then Socitor General Kagan’s feet to the fire, rather than demur questions that basically deferred to the party in power. Moreover, Kagan’s nomination as well as other court nominations should have been a major campaign issue. Secondly, the Executive Branch must exert its authority before enacting constitutionally questionable laws. There is a famous instance that President George W. Bush signed the McCain-Feingold Act but he also issued a signing statement noting that he had serious constitutional concerns about limiting political advertising but that he would let the courts decide. Thirdly, if the Supreme Court loses its authority as being an impartial admistrator of justice and more like a Judicial Super Legislature, we must learn to narrowly construe their rulings to corollary cases rather than as an expansive social vangard.
How fitting that Johann Sebastian Bach was born on the first day of spring (at least on the old style calendar). J.S. Bach was born in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach (Thurgia) in 1685. Johann was the eighth child born into a very musical family.
While J.S. Bach was widely acclaimed as an accomplished organist during his lifetime, his reputation declined as the Baroque style of music became considered old fashioned with the advent of the classical period. However, there was a revival of J.S. Bach’s reputation in the early 19th Century, and Bach became acclaimed as the quintessential Baroque composer. Some compare Bach as the musical equivalent of the literary genius of Shakespeare or the mathematical teachings of Isaac Newton.
JS Bach was known his fervent Lutheran faith as expressed in his compositions. Much of his music became part of the Lutheran hymn book. Along with his acclaimed organ works, Bach wrote famed cantatas, chorals and sacred songs, including: St. John Passion, the St. Matthew Passion, and a Christmas Oratorio.
Bach was also prolific in his parenthood. Bach fathered twenty children, four of which became famous as musicians. Despite assertions to the contrary, PDQ Bach is no relation, but a musical parody vehicle for musicologist Peter Schickele during a five decade career.
The musical genius of JS Bach had a two track revival in the late 20th Century. Orchestras committed to playing period piece reveled at playing the master of Baroque composition. Moreover, Wendy (ne Walter) Carlos transformed many rock listeners into unwitting Bach boosters with her groundbreaking Moog synthesizer Switch On Bach series in 1968. The original Switched on Bach was the first classical album which sold more than 500,000 copies.
And then there was Virgil Fox’s Heavy Organ, where the flamboyant classically trained organist would play before hippies at the Fillmore East (in Greenwich Village, NYC) and the Fillmore West (San Franciso, CA).
In that spirit, let us celebrate J.S. Bach’s 327th birthday, with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull pipping the Bach prelude in C minor.
It is amazing that in just over 37 months of the Obama Administration, unemployment rates have been officially above 8% during that entire time period (and significantly higher if one includes discouraged workers that dropped out of the workforce). Congress passed a $837 Billion Stimulus (a.k.a. "Porkulous") package to abate the rising unemployment rate to no avail, while raising the National Debt by over $4 Trillion in just three years. Moreover, since President Obama was elected, gasoline prices have more than doubled nationally. But the Obama energy policy has generally prohibited drilling on federal lands or off-shore and rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline from Canadian petroleum sources . Instead, the Obama Administration continues to bolster green energy initiatives, which results in wasteful subsidies for mature but inefficient alternative energy producers, or making bets on new technologies that supplement crony capitalism, a la Solyndra.
Despite these damning facts, Obama continues to poll support in the low 40s%, which roughly corresponds to the number of registered Democrats. Some cynical political observers liken Obama's undying support to being akin to an Obama Cult of Personality. There was the meme in 2008 of treating Barack Obama as the Chosen One or a political messiah.
Right wing partisans have long recognized Barack Obama's 2008 campaign of Hope and Change as cult of personality propaganda. Viral videos capitalized on the funky hard rock fusion sounds of Living Color to score their point.
Glenn Beck went further, by composing an Obama Anthem to the tune of the Soviet National Anthem (Song of Stalin).
But the American people spoke in November 2008 and sent the candidate whose claims to fame were being a community organizer and a United States Senator for two years to the Oval Office.
Even after three years of Obama in power, Obama seeks to blame shift to his predecessor while banking on a perpetual campaign of class warfare to gain re-election. These themes can be seen in director David Guggenheim's adoring campaign video "The Road We've Traveled" (narrated by Tom Hanks).
While promoting his upcoming campaign agiprop film, Guggenheim was asked by CNN's Pierce Morgan on whether his film reveled any negatives about Obama. Guggenheim's response was that there were too many positives to put into a 17 minute film. This laughable response was followed by Guggenheim's admission that the director was in awe of Obama.
This star eyed response seems proto-typical of the block of Obama's invincibly ignorant who love the ideas espoused in the candidate of Hope and Change, but never consider the facts. People may choose to believe in what they want, but that blind faith is aided by the Lamestream Media, which never seriously vetted Barack Obama and which serve as the White House stenographers instead of being a Press Corps.
There are several things which voters need to do to survive the onslaught of Obama-Zombies. Firstly, do not give up hope, as it is not Zombieland-USA. The Lamestream Media is wont to report polling in ways that are favorable to their interests. Many of the polls cited probably have skewed questions or over-sample Democrats (or under-sample Independents)
Secondly, do not allow the opposition to succeed in Saul Alinsky tactics of framing the argument by smearing your opponent. For instance, the HHS Contraception mandate is now being spun by Obama sycophants as being a war on womens' health with Georgetown Law School student/political agitator Sandra Fluke as its martyr. The argument against the Obamacare HHS Qualified Health Plan Mandate should continue to be presented as an unprecedented and unconstitutional attack on the First Amendment's right of religious liberty.
Thirdly, Republicans must not allow themselves to be sidetracked by ad hominen, wedge issue attacks like outlawing contraception. This is really a false flag attack by the media which deserves some response, but by lingering on the issue drives candidates off point and colors the candidate. For instance, former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) is being tarred by the Contraception questions which give casual spectators of political theater the impression that he is just a social issues candidate, when he really has a strong blue collar Conservative economic platform that gets shunted to the side. Not everyone can be as convincingly combative as Newt Gingrich during debates, but Gingrich's slap-down of Meet the Press host's David Gregory's extraneous lead question can generate earned media and inspire others to straighten up and fly right.
Lastly, keep hammering home the shortcomings of the Obama Administration. The curtailment of basic liberties to accommodate Obamacare, the real pocket-book effects of encroaching environmental policies, the diplomatic fecklessness of Obama's State Department may not convince the invincibly ignorant to your camp, but they may not be motivated to go to the polls on election day. But by contrasting the Obama Administration's dubious record with a concise, concrete and positive platform, Independents can be inspired to walk over broken glass to exercise their franchise. While Republicans are engaged in an intense Presidential Primary fight, there can be a sense of disunity. But disgruntled conservative partisans ought to remember Benjamin Franklin's entreaty: "We must all hang together or else we will all hang separately" in November as we contemplate FOUR MORE YEARS OF THIS?
One of the characteristics of Pope Francis' reign is the injection of secular progressive politics into papal pronouncements. In Laudato Si' (2015), Pope Francis implored world leaders to approve the Paris Climate Change Accords. Pope Francis' visit to the Mexican-US border was a pointed ploy to champion open borders, counter to the platform of then candidate now President Donald Trump. Even Pope Francis' annual announcement for World Communication Day railed against "fake news". 
Paragraph 3 of Amoris Laetitia indicates that the document was not doctrinal and was intended to start the conversation. The controversy over Amoris Laetitia involves footnote 351 regarding Paragraph 305 which suggests that there might be some pastoral means of curing irregular second marriages. But Pope Francis has refused to answer dubia's regarding the implementation. And progressive powers in the Church are attempting to steamroll their will, in a jesuitical manner, speaking with great force but not having the facts on their side.
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