Laudato Si (Praised Be)... Popey-cock (sic) or a Hot Mess?

The laity have been anxiously awaiting the release of Pope Francis’ first solo encyclical Laudato Si (2015) which was presumably about Climate Change.  Community Organizers  polled attendees at a DC Green Festival if they were optimistic about the upcoming bull.  Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) was chary about Pope Francis commenting on Climate Change.   Former Senator and 2016 GOP Presidential candidate  Rick Santorum (R-PA) questioned if the Holy See should use the Church's moral authority on Climate Change as there are more pressing issues facing the world.



After  La Repubblica leaked an advance copy of the Vatican document, the mainstream media was quick to report that the New World’s Holy Father unquestionably embraced man-made Climate Change and frowned upon fossil fuels. Some skeptics have quipped that Pope Francis’ pronouncement as Al Gore wearing white robe  and miter.  It also seemed to copy from Hillary Clinton’s speeches that humanity need to change to allow new beliefs, attitudes and lifestyles (para. 202).  Yet such secular caricatures ignores the several anti abortion allusions in the encyclical.

Climate Change this was only a small part of Laudato Si, encompassing only several paragraphs of the encyclical, including the unreferenced preamble. The main natural ecological section was paragraphs 165-175 which urged abandoning fossil fuels, imposing renewable energy and the urgent need to establish a true world political authority to stop pollution, manage Sustainable Development and eradicate poverty (para 175).  When reading a rough translation from the Italian of the leaked  187 page, 245 paragraph papal document, this writer took 23 pages of typed notes. The phrase "global warming" (riscaldamento globale) only appeared twice and variations of riscaldamento only appeared 10 times in the entire encyclical.




Pundits have been quick to presume that the faithful must accede to this encyclical.  However, Laudato  Si was not a Thomistic scholastic pronouncement like the Baltimore Catechist but akin to a Vatican II document which is meant to convince and spur dialog. Moreover, if it is not centered on faith and morals, an encyclical is at best an advisory document.



A leitmotif of this encyclical is the linkage between perceived environmental crisis and poverty. Laudato Sii highlights the intimate relationship between the poor and the fragility of planet.  Pope Francis postulates that there should be sustainable development in an ecological manner in tandem with a preferential option for the poor.

Many prior interpretations of the Creation story take it that God put man in charge to dominate the Earth while being fruitful and multiplying. Pope Francis understands the lesson from the Genesis creation story is that humanity was created in God’s image and entrusted to grow and keep the garden of the Earth. This Jesuit Pontiff channeled his inner Franciscan through the title of Laudato Si from the Canticle of St. Francis of Assisi which poetically alludes to  Sister Earth.  To wit, being human recognizes the relation to being created in the image and likeness of God and our relation to the Earth.

Had the encyclical applied this theological take on Creation and correlated it with environmental problems like global warming and pollution it would have been understandable.  However, Pope Francis included brief critiques of technology, labor, bioethics, economics, finance, ecology, GMOs,  anthropology, art, architecture, transportation, infrastructure, culture, trade, polity, animal testing, human trafficking, selling endangered species pelts and man’s raison d’etre as part of an integral examination of the environment.

Laudato Si tried to treat both natural and human social degradation.  In Pope Francis’ estimation:

They are two separate crisis, an environmental and other social, but a single and complex socio-environmental crisis. The guidelines for the solution require an integrated approach to fight poverty, to restore dignity to the excluded and in the same time to take care of nature. 

At times, it was a strain to discern the relation some subjects had to an encyclical supposedly about the environment. Such an collection of short treatments on diffuse issues did not read like a compendium but more like a hot mess of Popey-cock.

It seemed like more an encyclical on Social Justice than it did a treatment on the environment. Ironically, that may be the point. Pope Francis seemed intent on a North-South transfer of wealth as a part of environmental remediation (para. 51).  Furthermore, Pope Francis lamented that we did not use the 2008 Financial Crisis (para 189) as a time to reset the economy to a new ethical principle. Perhaps in achieving progressive social justice through environmental issues.  The sections which tried to relate the sacraments to nature (para. 235-237 ) along with including the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph (para. 241-242) to the natural tableau seemed tacked on and tenuous.

Aside from the impulse to especially emphasize the linkage and adverse effect of environmental degradation on the poor, other marks of Pope Francis’ pontificate was collegiality and ecumenism. The Bishop of Rome was careful to cite passages from a half dozen national conferences of Catholic Bishops which were woven into the encyclical.  Moreover, Pope Francis devoted three paragraphs to the Orthodox First Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (para. 7-9) on environmental damage. In addition, Pope Francis offers a paeon to the elemental  beauty in the within Eastern rite mysteries or what we in Western Christianity call sacraments   demonstrating that the Vatican is serious about aligning more with other lung of Apostolic Christendom, the Eastern Orthodox Churches which are not in communion with Rome.

Pope Francis predicated his commentary of the ecology by citing encyclicals of his predecessors over the last 65 years.  The inclusion of Pope St. John XXIII had little to do with the environment but the cri-de-coeur against nuclear arms tangentially showed concern for man made pollution and commenting on contemporary political topics.  Laudato Si quoted Pope St. John Paul II 21 times as well as Pope (now Emeritus) Benedict XVI a similar amount of citations.  It reminds the faithful that Pope Francis was preceded by two theological scholarly giants from whom we will be benefitting for years to come.

Despite invoking the modern tradition, Laudato Si lacked many references to early Church fathers.  Of course, the title of the encyclical came from St.  Francis of Assisi. There were brief quotations from St. Thomas Aquinas (para. 88), St. Benedict (para. 126), and the Little Flower St. Therese of Lisieux (para. 221) et ali but nothing from those who practiced “The Way”or the early Patriarchs of the Church .  Moreover, the New Testament scriptural backbone seemed weak.  The claim that Jesus was in harmony in nature (para. 98) sounded spurious. The fact that Jesus taught using agricultural and  natural parables (para. 97) was an odd justification for environmentalism. Noting that Jesus was the model for might not making right (para. 82 cf Mt 20.25 to 26) only relates to environmentalism in so far as there is a nexus between the meek and environmental degradation.

While the curia certainly helped draw up this draft, the language seemed slanted to reflect Pope Francis’ animus against Capitalism with a prejudice against profit and privatization.  When listing misusing technology causing environmental degradation, leading the list was America's use of atomic bombs, followed by communism's exploits and then fascism (para. 104). Much to the chagrin on many Western Progressives, Pope Francis repeated condemns the culture of consumerism and technology which depletes precious resources.  So Climate Change enthusiasts should be willing to sacrifice their i-Phones (para. 47), their own cars (para. 153) as well as their A/C (para. 55).

Although there are several references to differences in opinion and approach to the environment, Pope Francis’ peroration refers to Christians committed to prayer who make a mockery of environmental concerns with the pretense of being realistic or pragmatic (para. 217),  This embodies progressive intolerance of dissent.  One wonders if mollifying mockery about man made climate change goes both ways, as Vice President Joe Biden just jibed that: “As hard as it is to believe, many of these same people continue to deny the reality of climate change. They also deny gravity."

 This prima facia critique of Laudoto Si will not dwell in details about competing data disputing anthropogenic global warming, but the so called consensus is in dispute and scandal from the East Anglia hockey stick model show how data was manipulated for the profit of further investment in climate change studies.

Despite spending hours reading the rough translation from Italian, it is prudent to withhold final judgment on the piece until the official translation into English is released. Aside from ensuring that the leak genuinely reflected the substance of the encyclical, a better translation might ameliorate some of the rough edges of the purported Vatican document.

Upon an initial reading, some of Laudato Si’s segments seem rather long-winded and obtuse.  For instance, paragraph 106 on technology leading to a homogeneous one dimensional paradigm is 267 words long and intially reads like word salad.  Some passages like the opening of paragraph 228 sound like a bromide in rough translation: “Caring for nature is part of a style of life that involves the ability to live together and communion”. Such a lengthy encyclical may yield later blossoming fruit, particularly if meaning is lost in translation.

This leads to how the faithful ought to eventually consider Laudato Si. A non-Catholic friend inquired if Catholics needed to intellectually march lock step when the Pope says something. Explanations about the rare ex cathedra statements on faith and morals are difficult for non Catholics to grasp, and many believers will blindly follow their faith leader’s pensee.
 
 Pope Francis made clear, however,  that: “The Church does not claim to define the issues scientific, nor to replace politics, but invitation an honest and transparent debate”. (para. 188).   So Catholics need not bow down to the beliefs in Laudato Si but prayerfully consider the message and participate in the debate.  The manifold political prescriptions which the pontiff proffered were interesting and from the heart but not within his proper sphere of influence.  It is novel to stress a linkage between the poor and environmental degradation, but some of Pope Francis’ solutions of relying on renewable power will cause energy prices to skyrocket, directly hurting the poor.

While Pope Francis’ asceticism is admirable, his proscription of “Less is more” (para. 222)  is questionable for the masses, especially as a response to an asserted ecological crisis. It also leads to the prickly particular of who decides how much is enough. In Laudato Si, Pope Francis encouraged people to do little things, like use covers instead of turning up the heat, not because it will solve problems but for a conversion of heart (para. 212).  There may be a special place in heaven for such symbolic sacrifice, but it runs counter to policy condemnation of fossil fuels and excoriating buying green credits.

This philippic against pollution, environmental and social, is certainly well intended.  The unfocused nature of the encyclical makes it challenging to catachetize among the faithful, much less the world at large. It would seem that Laudato Si fuses Sustainable Development with Social Justice. By progressively engaging in political subjects outside of the Holy See’s spiritual authority, Pope Francis may have alienated good will among non-progressive faithful. Furthermore, the policy prescriptions in Laudato Si seem founded on third way intellectualism, which has few real world successes and is rife for polemic exploitation. What was proposed as an invitation for honest and transparent dialog on the environment is also presented as a rush to consensus due to exigency, which stifles the discernment of unpopular opinions to “Do something now”.

There have been other Catholic teaching documents which have broached on public policy pronouncements, like the USCCB pastoral letter  “The Challenge of Peace” (1983) on nuclear weapons (around the deployment of the Pershing Missiles in Europe) which was not universally well received among the faithful.

Pope Benedict’s encyclical Caritas in Veritas (2009), which the New York Times characterized as “ a puzzling cross between an anti-globalization tract and a government white paper.”  University of Dayton theologian Vincent J. Miller noted that Caritas in Veritas intentionally juxtaposed “paragraphs that sound like Ayn Rand, next to paragraphs that sound like ‘The Grapes of Wrath”.  Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s call for one world government based on European Social Democracy did not have the resonance to stay in the public mind for long, yet Pope Francis cited it for the urgent New World Order. Considering that much of Laudato Sii sounds like the Holy Father is singing from the Progressives’ hymnal, this encyclical may be used to enviro-shame opponents of radical green solutions, as the left conveniently forgets about the condemnation of consumerist culture and not valuing unborn life.

It is regrettable that Laudato Si was not more tersely cogent to challenge the faithful on natural problems.  It was awkward to have a religious document from a spiritual leader proscribe public policy solutions (get rid of fossil fuels and opt for renewable energy) with a pastiche of spiritual anchors.

Mining Nuggets from the Nabobs of the Nerd Prom

The White House Correspondents' Dinner has been an annual event since 1921 when the press corp rubs elbows with the Administration in a social, cocktail fueled supper.  Some serious journalists, like New York Times columnist Frank Rich have refused to go to the dinner as  it "illustrates how easily a propaganda-driven White House can enlist the Washington news media in its shows."

In recent years, the White House Correspondents' Dinner has drawn increased public attention and glamour as  the guest list has grown to be "more Hollywood". The event has evolved from a humble one night affair into a  week long celebration by celebutards, power players and the press.  The WHCD attendees certainly ate well, unlike many DC Dinners of rubber chicken.

Patrick Gavin, a reporter formerly of Politico and the Washington Examiner, produced the film "Nerd Prom" (2015) which documented the pomp and circumstance of the 2014 White House Correspondence Dinner.  The title derives from the face that most of the reporters would not have been the cool kids  in secondary school, so the White House Correspondents' Dinner is a replacement prom.  

As a political animal residing in the District of Calamity (sic), I appreciate opportunities to make light of my favorite contact sport--politics.  But knowing that the press corps is overwhelmingly liberal and  the timidity of inquiries during Presidential press briefings of late, it is unreasonable to expect that the jokes would be evenly divided.  But by mining the nuggets from the nabobs of the Nerd Prom from  Celebrity in Chief President Barack Obama and keynote comedienne Cecily Strong one can discern some interesting insights.

Cecily Strong  was the keynote speaker. While Strong is a Saturday Night Live cast member, she was not a marquis name.  Strong self-deprecatingly quipped that she was the vaguely ethnic woman featured in college recruitment brochures. Strong reveled that she was the first female host of the White House Press big bash in years.  Strong also noted: “I’m also the first straight woman to host this in 20 years, so, we finally made it, straight people.".  Thus the routine was going to be packed with progressive identity politics with an emphasis on female power and gay glory.

It was clear from the material that Strong was not a Washington insider.  She wanted to play up sex scandals in the Capital City, so she segued “It is great to be here at the Washington Hilton… is something a prostitute might say to a congressman.” Then Strong pivoted to the point by musing: “The Washington Hilton you guys. If these walls could talk. They’d probably say ‘clean me.’”  Kind of funny, but when a District of Calamity denizen associates hotels with scandals,  toe sucking at the Hay Adams (by then Clinton adviser Dick Morris) and the Mayflower (where Democrat NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer rented room 941 with his Empire Club call girl) or maybe DC Mayor Marion Berry's drug bust at the Vista.  The Capital Hilton is remembered as the Hotel where President Reagan was shot in 1981. But why let reality get in the way with a funny quip.

Strong played up the progressive press pieties by jabbing that Memories Pizza from Elkhorn Indiana would not be catering because of a rumor that Barney Frank would be attending thus they could not taste that world class Indiana Pizza.  A triple play in a homage to the homosexual lobby, a fly-over country jab and massaging the egos of Nerd Prom.  Of course, the family pizza joint does not cater (but got caught up in a media made mess over RFRA and same sex weddings in INDIANA), Rep. Frank left Congress over two years ago and these media nabobs would never be caught eating pizza in public.  Strong worked in hits on Hobby Lobby being anti-women with opposing contraception (for employees of a faith based corporation), even though that was a Supreme Court decision nearly a year old. 

Some of Strong's ziggers were sharp, but her delivery was weak.  Her stand-up did not pack a strong punch (sic).  It might have hurt that she kept looking down to read her one liners, which accented her exaggerated fake eyelashes.  It seems that she could not get use of TOTUS (Teleprompter of the United States).

Strong seemed more successful when using props and slight physical comedy.  For example, Strong scourged Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL 18th) with a slide show mocking his travels and surfing while implying infidelity. That was less than courageous comedy as Schock announced his resignation six weeks ago over funding improprieties (not sexual harassment) and left town a month ago.    When Strong chose to savage Mr. Obama about being weak on ISIS, she could not utter his name but did an eye roll towards the President. 

Where Strong seemed equal opportunity in her irreverence was towards the media.  Strong zinged CNN over its Ebola obsession, MSNBC for being long winded and showing prison documentaries and lamenting over FoxNews losing viewers ("May they rest in peace") and being like a party scene from Weekend at Bernie's (1989) full of hot women and old guys. Strong did not spare NPR  or the Huffington Post's alliance with AOL.

 Initially, Strong said that she could not say anything about Brian Williams since  she worked for NBC.  But during the Shock and Aw surfing slideshow, Strong said sotto voce "Brian Wiliams, come on--you weren't there.".  The camera panned to a black female reporter who had a priceless look of disgust on her face. 

 It was telling how the room gravitates towards the camera, as Strong joked that print media was serving the tables and there was appreciative laughter.  It was funny when Strong spoke to CSPAN viewers in their native tongue "Meow".

Strong slammed law enforcement by claiming that the Secret Service it was the only law enforcement agency that would get in trouble if a black man was shot was edgy while fueling the police brutality narrative.  Strong's quip that Mr. Obama's hair had gotten so white that it could talk back to the police also reflected the racial divide and the false hands up don't shoot narrative.  

These "jokes" were delivered as there was civil unrest occurring in Baltimore, forty miles to the north. When the Mayor of Baltimore holds Orioles fans in their seats because there are rioters outside of Camden Yards, this ceased to be funny even for black satire. It  just shows how the Amtrak corridor elites are out of touch as well as pushing a progressive narrative.  

Vice President Joe Biden was the butt of several stinging observations.  Strong noted that her Amtrak experience was augmented by a Biden massage seat, alluding to his creepy tendency to manhandle women standing next to him.  Later, Strong quipped that our national treasure Joe Biden could be found in a ball pit at Chucky Cheese.  So much for the boomlet of Biden for President in 2016.

Strong was unabashed in her support for Hillary Clinton's White House run.  It seems that it was important to put a "real woman" in the White House, not a right woman like Carly Fiorina. No surprise from a celebrity waxing politically.  Strong did joke about foreign entities getting more favorable treatment by contributing to the Clinton fund. But Strong tried to be serious by chiding the press not to comment on Hillary's appearance, which garnered modest applause.  But the press has already been told how to cover Hillary and they know that going against these demands will cause them to loose access, get minders following them or be locked in a holding cell during events.

[L] Keegan Michael Keys at "Luther" the Anger Translator & [R] Barack Obama as  the 44th President 

of the United States at the 2015 White House Correspondents' Dinner 

As for President Obama, he always does well at these political-press love fests.  His writing was better than Mr. Obama's misplaced jocularity at the recent reception of Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots at the White House. 

Some feel the President Obama demeaned the office by the puckish slideshow which included a picture of the President swimming in a White House fountain. However, Mr. Obama already demeaned the prestige of the Presidency by granting an extended interview with an internet phenom whose claim to fame was bathing in a tub of Fruit Loops and milk. So when Mr. Obama opined that his new policy methodology rhymed with "Buck it", it fit right in with the vulgar values of a Daily Show and Reddit audience. 

That being said, Mr. Obama displays an odd sense of humor in public.  One wonders why he continually goes back to birther jokes-- is this a political dog whistle, a psychological perseveration or a healthy sense of humor?  And his comment that he needed as much money as the rumored $1 Billion that the Koch Brothers will contribute to the Presidential campaign in this election as he has a middle name of "Hussein" seems strange and in your face to the American electorate.  Mr. Obama's writers had a clever quip based on Bernie Sanders that: "We could put a pot smoking, socialist back in the White House-- an Obama third term.".  Is that reductio ad absurdum humor or epater le bourgeosie?

Part of President Obama's shtick was assisted through an anger translator played by Keegan Michael Key.  This skit culminated by Mr. Obama feigning losing his cool over racial issues and his "anger translator" holding him back.  This segment had been preceded by allusions to Blackish.  This obsession with race contradicts Mr. Obama's first forays  onto the public scene as a post-racial President.  More alarmingly, playing up internalized anger over racial strife seems to fan the flames of Fergusion which are now burning in Baltimore.  

The Lame Duck President could afford to take some jabs at the Presidential field.  Obama unleashed a few stingers at Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) which shows who liberal elites seem to fear.  While Mr. Obama mocked much of the Republican field, I do not recall any snide snips against Governor Scott Walker (R-WI).  Surprisingly, President Obama gave a towel snap to his former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-AR NY).  Mr. Obama joked about a friend living in a van in Iowa, which alluded to Hillary in the "Scooby" Mystery Machine during her brief Iowa listening tour. This reveals the reality that there is not much love lost between the Clinton and the Obama "dynasties". 

All in all, the writing for the 2015 White House Correspondent's dinner was better than most Saturday Night Live political skits.  Unfortunately, Strong's delivery lacked a punch.  Mr. Obama showed his snarky side, which was smooth but not flattering.  Even his attempts at self depricating humor about being self absorbed were not endearing. But at least First Lady Michelle Obama let the crowd enjoy roast before these self important nabobs at the Nerd Prom are condemned to consume cake.  

No wonder some serious journalists refuse to make spectacles of themselves in self congratulatory ceremonies.  The only thing missing from the White House Correspondents' Dinner from entertainment awards shows is an array of lucite trophies beng awarded. It has been said that "Politics is Hollywood for ugly." But Patrick Gavin is right that the White House Correspondents' Dinner is not Hollywood for the ugly, it's a Nerd Prom.  The only trouble with this analogy is that Nerds are capable of making useful contributions (despite their social awkwardness), whereas today's crop of White House Correspondents seem like either stenographers for their Dear Leader or "jo-whore-nalists" for a progressive cause.

Should PTSD Signify "Plagiarists' Thesis Shucking Disorder" in the District of Calamity?

When President Obama chose six term Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) to be the Administration's new Ambassador to the Peoples's Republic of China in February 2014, there was a short term appointment into what had been the world's greatest deliberative body, as that seat needed to face the voters in November 2014. Montana Governor Steve Bullock (D-MT) appointed his Lieutenant Governor John Walsh (D-MT) to the position, as he was already running for the seat and incumbency might help Walsh's chances in a uphill year for Senate Democrats, especially in "purple" states.  

The people were not able to fully vet now Senator John Walsh (D-MT) until the campaign was in full throes.  Unfortunately for Senator Walsh, this increased scrutiny exposed an embarrassing chink in his political armor.

Part of an elective appeal for John Walsh is that he spent 33 years in the Montana National Guard, rising to the level of Adjunct General.  Walsh led the 1st Battalion 163rd Infantry Regiment into combat in Iraq and is the first Iraq War veteran to serve in the US Senate.. The 53 year old freshman Senator made his military service a major Walsh had made it major selling point of his candidacy. 

But the New York Times recently reported that in 2007 when Walsh wrote his "strategic research project" (akin to a Masters thesis)  at the United States Army War College,  he seemingly plagiarized substantial portions  of the 14 page project on American Mid East Policy.  The New York Times analysis indicates that a quarter of the quotes from “The Case for Democracy as a Long Term National Strategy" were borrowed from other authors without attribution.  The Washington Post points out that Walsh "borrowed" from a paper written by a Harvard scholar in 1998.  

This was more than sloppy scholarship on the part of Walsh.  Walsh concluded his thesis by offering six recommendations that were lifted nearly word-for-word from  2003 Foreign Affairs piece by Thomas Carothers from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  

Some scholarship.  Some honor. At West Point, the cadet honor code is "A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do." Cheating includes plagiarism defined as presenting someone else's ideas, words, data, or work as one's own without documentation.

When this plagiarism problem popped up in the press, Senator Walsh's campaign spokeswoman  Lauren Passalacqua tried to quickly shoot down the scandal by saying:  “This was unintentional and it was a mistake.”  When that quick quip did not fly, Senator John Walsh told AP:  "I don't want to blame my mistake on PTSD, but I do want to say that it may have been a factor.  My head was not in a place very conducive to classwork and an academic environment."  Walsh maintains when he wrote the thesis, he had PTSD, was stressed at a fellow veteran's suicide and was on medication. Anonymous Walsh campaign staffers  pointed to drugs to treat PTSD to give a context for Walsh's circumstances.  

Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome is a serious consequence of modern warfare, in which may not take as many lives or limbs but leaves mental scars.  PTSD is often manifested by recurring flashbacks, hyperarousal, and avoidance or numbing of memories of the event. Plaigiarizing a master's thesis does not really seem to fit PTSD. 

Other politicians have plagiarized and survived.  Then Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) plagiarized British Labor Leader Neil Kinnock rise from humble roots (and later Robert Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey), which forced him out of the race for the 1988 Democrat Presidential nomination, but he bounced back and is now the Vice President of the United States.  What is more memorable than sloppy scholarship is a propensity to blame others and play for sympathy. 

Citing PTSD as an excuse for academic dishonesty demeans PTSD, dishonors Walsh's military valor, and smacks as a play for sympathy votes.  The Walsh Senate campaign's tactic of employing underhanded excuses to invoke pathos makes one wonder if PTSD should signify "Plagiarist Thesis Shucking Disorder" in the District of Calamity. 

Gauzy Gun Grab Gambits

After the Navy Yard shooting , many are troubled at another massacre in America.  This has inspired progressive politicos to renew efforts to “do something”. 

[L] Gabrielle Giffords [R] Mark Kelly testifying before Congress Feb. 2013

One such source for grabbing guns is the “Americans for Responsible Solutions”, the gun control pressure group created by former Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ 8th) and her husband Mark Kelly.  Giffords  who was critically shot in the head in an assassination attempt in Tuscon, Arizona in January 2011.  Since then the couple has sought to “support the Second Amendment” while “keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people like criminals, terrorists, and the mentally ill.”.

Gabby and Mark’s letter reads in part:

We have disturbing problems - gun crime, mental illness, and the easy access that dangerous people have to guns. But our public officials seem more interested in political theater and special interest threats than in leadership. Congress, you must lead. Come together, take a sober look at the problem, and pass laws that protect our families and communities. Please act. 

How could anyone oppose that?

But as Oscar Wilde observed: “It is always with the best of intentions that the worst work is done.”  Digging deeper into to discern the policy prescriptions,  one discovers that the Americans for Responsible Solutions advocate:

• universal background checks

• limiting the sale on “assault” weapons

• limiting high capacity magazines

• stopping gun trafficking

Thus the bromides from Gabby and Mark’s open letter were translated into policies which are political non-starters that are also gauzy gun grabbing forays. 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA)  scary gun show and tell

The Assault Weapons Ban bill  which Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) championed in the Senate this Spring included all of those elements to varying degrees.  But S-150 was defeated in the Senate by a 40 to 60 vote.  Even after the Navy Yard shooting, Feinstein is "iffy" on reintroducing the Assault Weapons Ban legislation.  Apparently, Feinstein  thinks that even stricter gun would past the muster.   Feinstein was just one of several pro gun control legislators who used the Navy Yard Massacre as a platform for their political ends.   Alas, several of them pushed their pro-gun control proposals as the Navy Yard incident was still underway. 


While a universal gun background checks  may sound benign, it has a couple of  real world problems, as it won’t work and these universal background checks would evolve into something more sinister. 

 Since 1998, Federal Law requires licensed  gun dealers to do instant background checks and prohibits firearm sales to  criminals, domestic abusers, the seriously mentally ill, and other dangerous people.  What gun control advocates seek is to close the private sale or gun show loophole.  Giffords and Kelly cite Federal statistics that claim that 80% of all inmates got their guns by private means. 

The Federal Government’s report “Firearm Use By Offenders” reveals that nearly 40% of all crime guns come from black market street gun dealers and criminals don’t feel the need to register to be street legal.  Around the same percentage of friends or family members of gun owners commit firearm crimes, similarly circumventing universal background checks.  The amount of guns used in crimes that stem from gun show transactions today is a staggeringly low 0.7%.   

The other problem is the reality that universal background checks will become universal gun  registration.   Obamacare now requires doctors to enquire about guns in a household for many medical check-ups.  As the recent Minnesota data snafu showed, we know how secure this health information is when it goes on your permanent electronic record.  

Attempts to curb prohibited persons such as felons and the mentally infirmed, like the California Armed and Prohibited Persons System (APPS) pilot program seem to have morphed into gun confiscation efforts on ordinary citizens without due process or preventing “scumbags” from possessing firearms.  

The APPS program pounced on people who had not been declared mentally infirmed by the courts, but do you want to argue the point when you have ten armed law enforcement officers unexpectedly at your front door?   Former soldiers are concerned that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder may be used as a justification for depriving them of their Second Amendment rights, even if it was not formally diagnosed or just used as a means to get more VA support when returning from the battlefield.  

Another category of prohibited persons from passing gun checks are “domestic abusers”. One wonders if the false 911 call from George Zimmerman’s estranged wife was a tactic to gain advantage in an unamicable separation thereby depriving her husband of his notorious firearm while ingratiating herself  with the media. 

The vibe from liberal social media circles after the Navy Yard shooting was “Not again” and “Do SOMETHING” which is typically translated to more gun control, because passing a law shows that one cares.  Of course, there is the inconvenient truth that of the 15,700 fugitives that tried to buy guns in 2010, the Obama Administration only prosecuted 44 cases.  If only we would utilize the laws currently in effect instead of pining for panaceas in new legislation.

Another Americans for Reasonable Solutions platitude is about grappling with guns in the hands of the mentally ill.  Instead of concentrating on the weapon, those who are fighting gun violence might focus on a prospective root cause–video games.   What do the mass shooters at the Navy Yards (2013), Sandy Hook (2012), Aurora (2012), Tucson (2011), Virginia Tech (2007) and Columbine (2000) have in common?  The answer is mentally unstable individuals hooked on playing violent video games. What can be done about it?  That’s a good question. 

 When Vice President Joe Biden met with Hollywood and Gaming representatives, he noted that the nexus of video games and gun violence  was a complex problem and there was no “silver bullet”. Considering the 23 initiatives the Obama Administration boasts about taking after Sandy Hook, none dealt with this issue. It’s less problematic to take away Second Amendment rights from law abiding Americans than a politically costly assault on the First Amendment rights of violent video games.  After all, Grand Theft Auto made $800 million on its first day of sales recently.

Even after the Supreme Court Heller decision (2008) , it is almost impossible for an ordinary citizen to own firearms even if one wishes.  Living in the midst of the District of Calamity (sic), one is exposed to shootings on a periodic basis close to home, despite it being a strict gun control jurisdiction.  Of course, it would be worse in Chicagoland.    The Navy Yard shootings were no abstraction as this author knows several people in the line of fire at NAVSEA. 

But in my estimation, clamoring to do just “Do SOMETHING” is imprudent.  While dialoguing with an Americans for Responsible Solutions proponent, I noted that the Remington 870 pump shotgun  which the Navy Yard shooter used was one that was exempted from Senator Feinstein’s "modest proposal" as it is a popular hunting rifle.  My interlocutor interjected “That proves my point–we need to do better”.  It seems that the Swiftian allusion was not well appreciated. But it seemed like no contrary opinions were acceptable for one so convicted.

If the government wanted to do something, then for starters this Administration (and future ones) could enforce the gun laws already on the books with due process not by showy tactical teams in low risk situations.  Alas, after that,  there are not easy answers.  So it is worth having real debate on causes and solutions.  However, Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN 9th) goes on MSNBC and slandered Second Amendment supporters as being "Murderers Row", this does not seem like respectful or introspective civic discourse.  And refusing to respond to point by point challenges on the root causes of mass shootings or the consequences of the “Do SOMETHING” impulse makes it seem like the issue is being cynically stoked to fire up bases for partisan wedge issue politics at the expense of innocents. 

h/t: Nate Beeler

Servicemens' Selfies Skeptical of Syrian Strike

After news of a chemical weapons  in Syria on August 21st , American President and 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Barack Hussein Obama and his Administration rattled the sabre about striking Syria, claiming that Syrian President Bashar-al-Assad had crossed "the red line."  But after the British House of Commons rejected supporting military action  in Syria and the American people were reminded of Mr. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden's hypocrisy about imperial presidencies,  Mr. Obama has shilly shallied and will let Congress vote. 

Now there is a phenomenon on social media which seems new and surprising-- Servicemen posting selfies.  Thankfully, it is not as revolting as Geraldo Rivera's recent Twitter  self expose, as they are pictures with a public policy purpose that are skeptical about American involvement in the Syrian Civil War. 

Unlike convicted Wiki-Leaker "I Want to Change My Privates" Bradley (a.k.a. Chelsea) Manning, he did not want to shame the military.  And the military members are not rebelling like convicted Ft. Hood shooter Nidal Hasan who did not want to deploy in Muslim countries so he killed 13 and wounded 34 in a so called  "workplace violence"  incident.  

Normally, our brave voluntary members of the Armed Forces salute smartly when the Commander-in-Chief speaks.  Why would they risk prosecution under Article 88 of the UCMJ which prohibits contemptuous words against "the President, Vice-President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense" et ali. Moreover, they could also be pursued under the catch all Article 134 which prohibits acts of speech "that are prejudicial to good order and discipline or that could bring discredit upon the Armed Forces"?

While President Obama has claimed that he has decided to respond to the chemical weapons attack, he deferred to Congress.  Multiple leaks from the Obama Administration indicated that it was going to be a short (two to three day) aerial assault to degrade deployment capabilities and not aim for regime change.  

While it may be a questionable geopolitical objective to be the world's policeman, waiting for so long before action while leaking what the US was considering doing certainly gave the Assad regime time to hide the munitions and move innocents into place so a Tomahawk Cruise Missile strike would look like an American atrocity. 

As that President Obama has supposedly deferred to Congress without calling them back into session means at least another fortnight's delay.  Would a limited strike do any good?  What will the Obama Administration send to Congress?  

Even if the limited strike does what was intended, degrading the Assad regime's capabilities throws US into a Syrian Civil War supporting rebels that includes actual cannibals and Al Qaeda elements who remain at war with US. 

These social media postings show that some servicemen have gotten the picture in Syria. Will Congress and the American people, or will we continue to be seduced by the bluster and balderdash from this Administration?

Editor's Note 9/02/2013 22:30 EDT

The answer to why servicemen risked so much to posted skeptical signs about the Syrian strike is for propaganda purposes.

The Syrian Electronic Army hacked and hijacked the Marines.com for several hours on Labor Day  and used the striking servicemens' collage.  This suggests that the photos were staged and meant to stoke up anti-war sentiment or that a prospective enemy is capitalizing on organic opposition.  

While the spoofing cyber-attack may be an astro-turf opinion shaping, the message about involvement in an international civil war deserves vigorous debate by Congress.  Our government should conduct a cost/benefit analysis, discern if it is truly an American national interest and if the objective can be easily accomplished by a short strike or if our involvement would complicate the situation without solving the crisis. 

Sotomayor Sabiduría -- Weighing the Wisdom of the "Wise Latina"

In May 2009, President Barack Obama named Sonia Sotomayor as his choice to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court.  One bump on her way to achieving a 68-31 Confirmation vote by the Senate was dealing with a ““Wise Latina”” line that Sotomayor had been dropping into public speeches between 1994 and 2003.  Sotomayor clarified during the hearings to a sympathetic Senate Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) that “[w]hile life experience shapes who one is, "ultimately and completely" a judge follows the law regardless of personal background.

That statement seems somewhat ironic as Vice President Joe Biden’s official swearing in ceremony on January 20th 2012 was moved from Noon as is directed in the US Constitution to 8:15 a.m. so that Associate Justice Sotomayor could maintain her other obligation, a book signing appearance in Manhattan that afternoon for her autobiography “My Beloved World” (“Mi mundo adorado”).

Justice Sonia Sotomayor swearing in Vice President Joe Biden, January 20, 2013 8:15 a.m.

Other sitting Supreme Court Justices have published best-selling books while sitting on the Nation’s High Court, as Associate Justice Clarence Thomas had in 2007  with his memoirs “My Grandfather’s Son”.  But these extracurricular activities should not impede on the duties which accompany the public office which one has been entrusted.  It seems troubling to rearrange constitutionally  set schedules to accommodate a personal P.R. appearance.

As part of her publicity tour for "My Beloved World", Sotomayor has been granting interviews with the Lamestream Media and they have recriprocated by writing puff pieces which promote her hardscrapple memoirs of the self described “Nuyorican”, as well as touting how down to earth and accessible Sotomator is.  To shatter the cloistered status quo for sitting SCOTUS Justices, Sotomayor's charm offensive included dancing some salsa with  Univision’s Jorge Ramos in her Supreme Court chambers.




It was fascinating to find the supposed newspaper of record, the New York Times, fawn over Sotomayor with the cyber headline “Book Tour Rock Star Sotomayor Seeks An Even Higher Calling.”  The caption for the Old Grey Lady’s video attached to the Sotomayor article is titled “The Sonia Show”.  One revelation from the piece was Associate Justice Sotomayor’s raison d’etre:

 “It is my great hope that I’ll be a great justice, and that I’ll write opinions that will last the ages. But that doesn’t always happen. More importantly, it’s only one measure of meaning in life. To me, the more important one is my values and my impact on people who feel inspired in any way by me....Serving as a role model is the most valuable thing I can do.”

This is an odd admission for one of nine people who determine the law of the land.  In her four terms on the court, one can find noted Sotomayor dissents and a couple of concurring opinions but not majority opinions.  Of course that may be attributed to her lack of seniority or not having a domineering Liberal majority on the High Court.

Assoc. Justice Bader Ginsburg

All of that being said, it is shocking that Sotomayor seems content to have the “Wise Latina” choice be her legacy.  While a conservative may be ideologically opposed to the Liberal Jurisprudence of Thurgood Marshall on the bench, he was not defined by being the first Black Supreme Court Justice, as Marshall was the NAACP lead lawyer for Brown v. Board of Education (1954).   Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg may have Liberal leanings during her tenure on the Supreme Court, but as ACLU Lead Counsel and Columbia Law professor she authored the first case book on sexual discrimination law.   These credentials seem to bring more distinction and resonance than being a celebrity Latina role model.

It is questionable wisdom and a break from precedent for a Supreme Court Justice to cultivate a celebrity appeal and consider being a role model the most valuable thing that she can do, especially when her nomination seemed like motivated by her Hispanic background .  It seems to be a shortcoming of society to exalt externalities and celebrates celebrity on the High Court rather than honoring  jurisprudential achievement and legal insight.  It just does not seem very wise thing to do.

h/t: William Warren

Biden's Bluster Before the NAACP

Vice President Joe Biden at NAACP 2012 Convention  [Photo via AP]

Today, Vice President Joe Biden addressed the NAACP at their annual convention in Houston on behalf of his boss, President Barack Obama. Mr. Obama excused his absence at the NAACP convention due to a scheduling conflict, but CNN reports that aside from his normal closed door meetings and an interview with Charlie Rose, there is nothing else on the President’s schedule. But the Democrat Presidential candidate tried to redeem himself by a video greeting where Obama announced that “I stand on your shoulders.”

Vice President Biden strayed from his typical campaign speech to argue that Republicans are trying to make it harder to vote and not easier. Since Biden was in Texas, he could have consulted with Victoria Rose Rodriguez’s parents, as their daughter just testified that she could not get an official ID to vote as her parents could not drive her to the DMV.

To ingratiate himself to the audience, Biden claimed to be a lifetime member of the NAANCP (sic) and you go home with the one who brung you to the dance.  But what is a Biden public speech without some gaffes.



Still the substance of the speech is an unsubtle attempt to drive a racial wedge  between the black electorate and Republicans.  Presumptive Republican nominee Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) was painted as being stuck in the 1950s when there was a cold war and snubbing civil rights of minorities were countenanced.

The interesting part of the speech was a small throw away line.  Most will be amused to the shout out to “Mouse” in the Delaware delegation.  But what really caused ideological antennas to go up was the homage that Biden gave to meeting with the Reverend Wright and Mouse to desegregate the a couple of theaters.



 To be perfectly fair, this was likely to be a different Reverend Wright than Mr. Obama’s controversial pastor at Trinity United in Chicago, Illinois, but it was a tantalizing morsel.

There was somewhat of a mixed message from the optics of the speech. As the Vice President sought to conclude, he was booed.



 This seems to be because the crowd did not want him to stop. However, amazingly enough there was plenty of empty seats for our National Treasure's NAACP stand up routine. Organizers excused the sea of empty seats due to a torrential rain storm in Houston.  As for excuse, it calls to mind the bromide “Any port in a storm.”

Empty seats for VP Biden's 2012 NAACP speech   [photo via CBS News]

Biden Gets a Clue or Two

L. -V.P. Joe Biden, R.- Jeopardy host Alex Trebek

Vice President Joe Biden appeared on a special Teen Tournament edition of Jeopardy! The Obama/Biden razzle dazzle extended to the venerable game show with Alex Trebek, where the second in line to the Presidency was reduced to giving video clues about automobiles to those too young to exercise their franchise.


 

 Since the topic was about automobiles, this was probably intended as being a subtle contribution to the Obama 2012 Re-Election Campaign as it emphasized one of the accomplishments of the Administration, which was "saving" G.M. and Chrysler from bankruptcy by structuring a bankruptcy which gave a significant interest of both companies to the United Autoworkers union and in Chrysler's case, also to a foreign company like Fiat at a taxpayer discount. It reminds viewers of the mantra which Biden introduced "Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive." To again echo Biden: "It was a Big F***ing Deal."

 Pundits can be amazed that Biden actually had a clue for a short while. If only he would not give away clues so quickly. Biden's brash pronouncements on Meet the Press forced President Obama to stop his cynical charade of opposing same sex "marriage" too early, instead of just before the Democrat National Convention in Charlotte this September.