Writing at Catholic Advocate, Matt Smith comments on the decision by Federal District Judge Joseph L. Tauro that the Defense of Marriage Act violates the Constitutional Right of married, same-sex couples to equal protection before the law. The decision was a classic case of a judge legislating from the bench: This court has determined that … Read more
Writing at Catholic Advocate, Matt Smith suggests, “One Document Elena Kagan Might Want to Re-Read This Weekend.” Commenting on Kagan’s promise to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) that she would take another look at the “The Federalist Papers,” Smith writes, The Federalist Papers were written after the Constitutional Convention as part of what today would be … Read more
Writing at Catholic Advocate, Matt Smith suggests, “One Document Elena Kagan Might Want to Re-Read This Weekend.” Commenting on Kagan’s promise to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) that she would take another look at the “The Federalist Papers,” Smith writes, The Federalist Papers were written after the Constitutional Convention as part of what today would be … Read more
A conversation overheard at the White House… Rahm Emmanuel: Mr. President, you need to toughen up about this oil spill, because you look like a *****. A little, pigtailed, tea-party dress wearing, oversized lollipop licking *****. President Obama: I see. And what would you suggest? Rahm Emmanuel: Well, Cupcake, I’d suggest you pretend Michelle married … Read more
The United States is in the midst of a realignment as the private sector gives way to the government as the nation’s primary employer. We’re not there yet, but the direction is clear. Of the 431,000 new jobs the Labor Department just announced, a full 390,000 of them are with the government (primarily, short term … Read more
Here’s Pat Buchanan on the significance of Rep. Joe Sestak’s claim that he was promised a White House job if he ended his primary race against Arlen Specter. If Sestak was offered a high government post to get out of the Pennsylvania race, it would appear an open-and-shut case that a felony was committed by … Read more
Time for your Friday morning link round-up: Candidate Obama promised greater government transparency, but has he delivered as president? Sharon Theimer at the Huffington Post doesn’t think so. NASA celebrates Hubble’s 20th anniversary by releasing some stunning new pictures from the telescope. Woody Allen’s atheism: In an interview with Commonweal magazine, Allen talks frankly about … Read more
Good Friday morning! A few links to get the day rolling: A Rasmussen poll this week shows President Obama neck and neck in a hypothetical 2012 match-up against…Ron Paul? If it sounds too good to be true, it is, says Nate Silver, whose own number crunching shows no Republican doing better against Obama than an … Read more
The Washington Examiner reports that yet another top government aide has moved over to K Street — the lobbying and consulting corridor in Washington, D.C. Damon Munchus, former aide to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, will now work for Cypress Group, which counts among its clients some of the nation’s largest banks. I’ve written before about … Read more
Now this is interesting: American foreign policy is handicapped by a narrow, ill-informed and “uncompromising Western secularism” that feeds religious extremism, threatens traditional cultures and fails to encourage religious groups that promote peace and human rights, according to a two-year study by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The council’s 32-member task force, which included … Read more
Time for a few Friday links: Rhode Island Representative Patrick Kennedy has announced that he won’t be running for reelection. No word on whether it’s because he’s tired of tangling with Bishop Tobin. President Obama appears ready to shut down Constellation, NASA’s manned space exploration program. Some say that the cost-benefit analysis simply makes sense, … Read more
This has not been a good week for the University of Chicago. One of its prize manuscripts — the Archaic Mark, a magnificent copy of Mark’s Gospel thought to have been from the 14th century — was just proven a forgery.  The ongoing debate as to the codex’s authenticity re-ignited in 2006 with its … Read more
This has not been a good week for the University of Chicago. One of its prize manuscripts — the Archaic Mark, a magnificent copy of Mark’s Gospel thought to have been from the 14th century — was just proven a forgery.  The ongoing debate as to the codex’s authenticity re-ignited in 2006 with its … Read more
President Barack Obama gave his first State of the Union address last night. With his popularity in a steady decline over the past six months, Obama needed his speech to rekindle the enthusiasm for his leadership that elected him in the first place. Thus far, there is no evidence to suggest he was successful. If … Read more
Last Saturday night, President Barack Obama spoke to the nation’s leading homosexual-rights lobbying group, the Human Rights Campaign, in Washington, D.C. Among the several promises Obama made were “to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act” and “to pass an inclusive hate crimes bill.” As I reported a few days ago, the USCCB has … Read more
Yesterday, President Obama held a 45-minute meeting in the Roosevelt Room at the White House with some members of the Catholic press. According to the Catholic News Service, those present included writers from National Catholic Reporter, America, Commonweal, Catholic Digest, Vatican Radio,as well as a (non-Catholic)religion writer from the Washington Post. Rev. Owen Kearns was … Read more
The scandal of President Barack Obama receiving an honorary degree at Notre Dame yesterday pales in comparison with the ongoing scandal of Catholics in Congress. Of the 161 Catholics presently serving, only 26 have 100 percent pro-life voting records, while 28 have a zero percent rating. Sixty-five have less than a 20 percent pro-life rating … Read more
If you’re like me, you can’t wait for Barack Obama to speak at the University of Notre Dame — if only because it will put a stop to the flurry of news stories and commentaries about the scandal. (Such as . . . the one you’re presently reading. And my piece from two weeks ago … Read more
 A popular pastime among Catholic commentators lately could be called “counting the bishops.” In the last election, we counted the bishops who spoke out regarding their document on voting, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” or on the qualifications of Barack Obama as a Catholic candidate. With the latest controversy over the upcoming Notre Dame … Read more
 As we noted last week, the Catholic tradition of catechesis has tended to break up Exodus 20:17 into two commandments. The ninth commandment bids us not to covet our neighbor’s spouse; the focus of the tenth commandment is on coveting his stuff:  You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet … Read more