Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Lie Clocks

A man died and went to heaven. As he stood in front of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him. He asked, 'What are all those clocks? St. Peter answered, 'Those are Lie-Clocks Everyone on Earth has a Lie-Clock. Every time you lie the hands on your clock will move. 'Oh,' said the man, 'whose clock is that? 'That's Mother Teresa's. The hands have never moved, indicating that she never told a lie. 'Incredible,' said the man'. And whose clock is that one? St. Peter responded, 'That's Abraham Lincoln's clock. The hands have moved twice, telling us that Abe told only two lies in his entire life.'Where's Obama's clock?' asked the man.

Obama's clock is in Jesus office.............................. He's using it as a ceiling fan.

study

A study worth sharing with friends both male and female:

A study conducted by UCLA's Department of Psychiatry has revealed that the kind of face a woman finds attractive on a man can differ depending on where she is in her menstrual cycle.

For example:

If she is ovulating, she is attracted to men with rugged and masculine features.

However, if she is menstruating, or menopausal, she tends to be more attracted to a man with duct tape over his mouth and a spear lodged in his chest while he is on fire.

Archbishop Burke says Democrats risk transforming into the party of death


From CNS:


"That does not surprise me much," the archbishop said. "At this point the Democratic Party risks transforming itself definitely into a 'party of death' because of its choices on bioethical questions as Ramesh Ponnuru wrote in his book, 'The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts and the Disregard for Human Life.'"

Archbishop Burke said the Democratic Party once was "the party that helped our immigrant parents and grandparents better integrate and prosper in American society. But it is not the same anymore."

Pro-life Democrats are "rare, unfortunately," he said.


Monday, September 29, 2008

From Today's Morning Prayer

O God, you are my God, I wait for you from the dawn.
My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you.
I came to your sanctuary,
as one in a parched and waterless land,
so that I could see your might and your glory.
My lips will praise you, for your mercy is better than life itself.

Thus I will bless you throughout my life,
and raise my hands in prayer to your name;
my soul will be filled as if by rich food,
and my mouth will sing your praises and rejoice.
I will remember you as I lie in bed,
I will think of you in the morning,
for you have been my helper,
and I will take joy in the protection of your wings.

My soul clings to you; your right hand raises me up.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

Must watch video Maxine Waters

Maxine Waters: "We do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac and particularly Fannie Mae under the outstanding leadership of Frank Raines


Here is a quick look into 3 former Fannie Mae Executives who have played big on Wall Street being forwarded throughout the internet.

Franklin Raines was a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Fannie Mae. Raines was forced to retire from his position with Fannie Mae when auditing discovered severe irregulaties in Fannie Mae's accounting activities. At the time of his departure The Wall Street Journal noted, " Raines, who long defended the company's accounting despite mounting evidence that it wasn't proper, issued a statement late Tuesday conceding that "mistakes were made" and saying he would assume responsibility as he had earlier promised. News reports indicate the company was under growing pressure from regulators to shake up its management in the wake of findings that the company's books ran afoul of generally accepted accounting principles for four years." Fannie Mae had to reduce its surplus by $9 billion.

Raines left with a "golden parachute valued at $240 Million in benefits. The Government filed suit against Raines when the depth of the accounting scandal became clear. http://housingdoom.com/2006/12/18/fannie-charges/ . The Government noted, "The 101 charges reveal how the individuals improperly manipulated earnings to maximize their bonuses, while knowingly neglecting accounting systems and internal controls, misapplying over twenty accounting principles and misleading the regulator and the public. The Notice explains how they submitted six years of misleading and inaccurate accounting statements and inaccurate capital reports that enabled them to grow Fannie Mae in an unsafe and unsound manner." These charges were made in 2006. The Court ordered Raines to return $50 Million Dollars he received in bonuses based on the miss-stated Fannie Mae profits.

Tim Howard - Was the Chief Financial Officer of Fannie Mae. Howard "was a strong internal proponent of using accounting strategies that would ensure a "stable pattern of earnings" at Fannie. In everyday English - he was cooking the books. The Government Investigation determined that, "Chief Financial Officer, Tim Howard, failed to provide adequate oversight to key control and reporting functions within Fannie Mae,"

On June 16, 2006, Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., asked the Justice Department to investigate his allegations that two former Fannie Mae executives lied to Congress in October 2004 when they denied manipulating the mortgage-finance giant's income statement to achieve management pay bonuses. Investigations by federal regulators and the company's board of directors since concluded that management did manipulate 1998 earnings to trigger bonuses. Raines and Howard resigned under pressure in late 2004.

Howard's Golden Parachute was estimated at $20 Million!

Jim Johnson - A former executive at Lehman Brothers and who was later forced from his position as Fannie Mae CEO. A look at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's May 2006 report on mismanagement and corruption inside Fannie Mae, and you'll see some interesting things about Johnson. Investigators found that Fannie Mae had hidden a substantial amount of Johnson's 1998 compensation from the public, reporting that it was between $6 million and $7 million when it fact it was $21 million." Johnson is currently under investigation for taking illegal loans from Countrywide while serving as CEO of Fannie Mae.

Johnson's Golden Parachute was estimated at $28 Million.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

FRANKLIN RAINES? Raines works for the Obama Campaign as Chief Economic Advisor

TIM HOWARD? Howard is also a Chief Economic Advisor to Obama

JIM JOHNSON? Johnson hired as a Senior Obama Finance Advisor and was selected to run Obama's Vice Presidential Search Committee

Karl Rove on the No Vote

94 Democrats voted no.


With all the people who owe their job for Nancy Pelosi, many of them voted against her after her moronic leadership today?

Twelve out of thirty-six on Barney Frank's own committee?

Democrats the the Mess

Check out this video on the crisis.

Bailout, Schmailout

What a crew.

And to think there are actually people in this country worried about Palin lacking the experience of this group of wizards in Washington?

Nancy Pelosi used the moment to pontificate and the Repugs got off the bus!

What a boneheaded move when both parties spent the weekend putting a package together that they could live with. She destroyed the entire initiative!

I can't honestly say I'm unhappy the Barney Blank Check bill didn't pass muster but the consequences to the stock market were dire today.

Officials close to Paulson are privately painting a far bleaker portrait of the fragility of the global economy than that advanced by President George W Bush in his televised address last week.

One Republican said that the message from government officials is that “the economy is dropping into the john.” He added: “We could see falls of 3,000 or 4,000 points on the Dow [the New York market that currently trades at around 11,000]. That could happen in just a couple of days.

“What’s being put around behind the scenes is that we’re looking at 1930s stuff. We’re looking at catastrophe, huge, amazing catastrophe. Everybody is extraordinarily scared. It’s going to be really, really nasty.”

I realize we've got to come up with something but I don't see 700 billion being anywhere near enough money and unless they've got a grip on reality before they disperse it, we'll be bailing out the bailout before too long snd we'll all be under the control of Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi.

Peter Spencer, economic adviser to the Ernst & Young Item Club, said: “This is the time you have to bail people out and ask questions later. It is very difficult to see how the US banking system would survive without that.This has the potential to make 1929 look like a walk in the park.”

Dude, I don't think we're up for that. Or, as Thad McCotter put it:

Let me put this in the simplistic terms for people like me to understand. Now the Wall-Street crony capitalists have put a 700-pound billion dollar bag of dung on taxpayers’ doorsteps, rung the bell, and expect you to thank them when you answer it. I think the American people will believe otherwise."




Here's some good news amidst the turmoil.

The Federal Reserve and foreign central banks moved Monday to pump billions of dollars to cash-strapped banks at home and abroad in a dramatic bid to break through a credit clog and spur lending.

The Fed said the action is intended to “expand significantly” the cash available to financial institutions, its latest effort to relieve the worst credit crisis since the Great Depression.

The goal is to boost the amount of quick cash available to banks and other financial institutions so that they’ll feel more confident and inclined to lend not only to each other but also to people and businesses.

Interesting week!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Obama: "I've got a bracelet too"

The bracelet exchange really pulled off Obama's veil.

"I've got a bracelet too".

What a sniveling way to belittle the sacrifice of John McCain and every soldier defending our sovereignty and freedom.

Howie Carr, one of the few journalists who mentioned the bracelet quip, pointed out Obama's frightening foreign policy tack:

For the last hour, McCain bested Obama at almost every turn. Even at the start, McCain mentioned Ted Kennedy’s seizure first, and later he beat him to the punch on global warming while simultaneously dropping Hillary Clinton’s name first. McCain even needled Obama on his presidential seal.


But then McCain called out Barack on his statement that if American troops were threatened, he’d strike Pakistan.

“You don’t do that,” McCain said, sounding like the Godfather. “You don’t say that out loud. If you have to do things, you have to do things.”
Such loose cannon statements would increase the likelihood of a terrorist attack preemptive.

After Obama talked about his policy about Afghanistan, McCain pointed out that Obama has never even been there, never spoken to Petreus.

Obama gave Kissinger's blessing to his policy on Iran - making friends with an antisemite who wants to pick up where Hitler left off, but McCain confidently pointed out that Obama was mistaken about Kissinger's approval. Obama incredulously persisted with his hallucination. Kissinger of course corrected Obama in yesterdays press.

Henry Kissinger believes Barack Obama misstated his views on diplomacy with US adversaries and is not happy about being mischaracterized. He says: "Senator McCain is right. I would not recommend the next President of the United States engage in talks with Iran at the Presidential level. My views on this issue are entirely compatible with the views of my friend Senator John McCain. We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that any negotiations with Iran must be geared to reality."
Obama's performance was miserable. McCain had him on the defensive all evening.

He better pull his act together and stop referring to McCain as "John" before the next debate. It's not helping his image.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Sara Palin's Letter to Editor re: Pledge of Allegiance

“Dear Editor,” Palin wrote in 2002. “San Francisco judges forbidding our Pledge of Allegiance? They will take the phrase ‘under God’ away from me when my cold, dead lips can no longer utter those words,” Palin wrote.

“God Bless America,” she concluded.

AMEN!!

Hat Tip Jay Anderson


Thursday, September 25, 2008

Any sign of a Crucifix at Cuckoo Cathedral?


Our long suffering brothers and sisters in Oakland are left with this monument that illuminates what lengths their Bishop went to, to take the focus off of Christ inside of the Tabernacle.

The blind leading the blind


No Deal today.

While the Democratic wizards have no second thoughts about where the the trillions of dollars are going to come from, the Repugs doing the math want to go back to the drawing table.

Meanwhile, Obama and his cronies are all business as usual:

When asked whether Friday's debate will go on if McCain doesn't show up, Obama said: "I hope he does."
Maybe he'll tell us to deflate our tires a little more.

God only knows how many cronies on both sides that we'll be giving multimillion dollar retirement packages?

All I know is, this is the first year in my whole life I haven't yet turned on the heat! I was frugal last year, using my fireplace to heat up those chilly nights instead of the heat (which I'll do again this year) but when it was really cold, I would kick it up for an hour to take the chill out. Not this year. Time to stop procrastinating and pick up the programmable thermostat. I also last year procrastinated putting that feltish-looking insulation around the doors and windows. But, I'm on that too!

Hopefully, the increase in taxes to cover the bailout will leave us enough money to buy what we need to survive.

There's a young homeless young women I pass on my way home from work that hangs around South Station. I usually make a point to say hello to her, sometimes she'll ask me what time it is or say what a nice day it is, etc. Most times she's by herself, sometimes with a thuggy looking character. Today, she had a nice fluffy comforter over herself.

Sorta puts things into perspective for me. Makes me feel like the sacrifices we're going to be making aren't all that burdensome.




Psalm 15

My body will rest in calm and hope.
Preserve me, Lord, I put my hope in you.

I have said to the Lord “You are my Lord, in you alone is all my good.”
As for the holy and noble men of the land, in them is all my delight.
But for those who run to alien gods, their sorrows are many.
I will not share in their libations of blood. I will not speak their names.

You, Lord, are my inheritance and my cup. You control my destiny,
the lot marked out for me is of the best, my inheritance is all I could ask for.
I will bless the Lord who gave me understanding; even in the night my heart will teach me wisdom.
I will hold the Lord for ever in my sight: with him at my side I can never be shaken.
Thus it is that my heart rejoices, heart and soul together; while my body rests in calm hope.

You will not leave my soul in the underworld. You will not let your chosen one see decay.
You will show me the paths of life, the fullness of joy before your face, and delights at your right hand until the end of time.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
My body will rest in calm and hope.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

McCain is suspending his campaign to call dems and repugs together to solve mess

What a classy move.

Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.

I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.

We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved.I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.
McCain is proving himself to be the better man to lead the country.

Obama calls abortion survivor a "despicable liar"

Deal Hudson has the story over at Inside Catholic.

Kudos to one of the commentors who encouraged Deal to write the story!

Obama responded to Jessen's commercial with an ad of his own, dismissing it as "truly vile" and a "despicable lie." He wasn't the only one: Jonathan Martin, a reporter for Politico, called Jessen "a self-proclaimed abortion survivor." When Stanek produced the evidence of Jessen's claims, Politico removed Martin's slam.


Does my memory serve me correctly, is Jonathan Martin a priest? Whether he is or isn't, he is certainly a man in need of Bishop with a spine and testosterone. Lucky for him, there are too few around to pluck loose cannons from their bully pulpits.

She isn't concerned about the way Obama describes her ad. "I don't really care what he says. I know he voted four times against proper medical care for babies born alive. That's the kind of man he is." So how have people reacted to the commercial? "Some of [Obama's] supporters will be less than kind..."

The change we can believe in. The audacity of hope.

Erotic Male Fiction Writer Scott Pomfret Removed from Leadership at St. Anthony's Shrine

The vulgarity of appointing a lector who writes vulgar filth is history at St. Anthony's Shrine.

The buffoon, who describes himself as a "happy porn-writing Sodomite" is puzzled by the actions of the men who removed him, many of whom he says were interviewed for his book and said they had partners and were sexually active.

But Pomfret's latest book, a sarcastic memoir titled "Since My Last Confession," proved too much for the friars, many of whom were interviewed by Pomfret as he wrote the book. The book suggests that some local clergy, who are given fictional names, are sexually active, and is mocking toward Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston.
Many worshipers put pressure on the rector David Convertino to remove Pomfret.

"There were people who felt it was incompatible for someone to stand up publicly and say, 'I'm a pornographer, and I'm a lector at St. Anthony Shrine,' " Convertino said. "There's a public stance that he's taking, and it seems that most of this is to sell the book."
Pomfret says that the friars at the shrine were angry that their interviews were exposed as memoirs:

"I anticipated in my book that perhaps the archdiocese might boot me out, but it never occurred to me that it would be the friars," he said. "I am still kind of speechless - I am on some level amazed that it came from the friars, since these guys sat through interviews with me for the express purpose of this book."

The Archdiocese of Boston proudly boasted that although they knew what was going on, they had nothing to do with Pompfret's removal.

As a quid pro quo, the Shrine has ceased their monthly safe sex is happy sex meetings and is instead offering spiritual retreats and occasional events.

What a victory for the Lord!




Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The Catholic Key

I know I keep posting links to this blogeroo, but it's such a pleasure to visit this blog by a staff of a Roman Catholic Newspaper.

This is hysterical!

From the LRC Blog

DEAR AMERICAN:

I NEED TO ASK YOU TO SUPPORT AN URGENT SECRET BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH A TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF GREAT MAGNITUDE.

I AM MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY OF THE REPUBLIC OF AMERICA. MY COUNTRY HAS HAD CRISIS THAT HAS CAUSED THE NEED FOR LARGE TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF 800 BILLION DOLLARS US. IF YOU WOULD ASSIST ME IN THIS TRANSFER, IT WOULD BE MOST PROFITABLE TO YOU.

I AM WORKING WITH MR. PHIL GRAM, LOBBYIST FOR UBS, WHO WILL BE MY REPLACEMENT AS MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY IN JANUARY. AS A SENATOR, YOU MAY KNOW HIM AS THE LEADER OF THE AMERICAN BANKING DEREGULATION MOVEMENT IN THE 1990S. THIS TRANSACTIN IS 100% SAFE.

THIS IS A MATTER OF GREAT URGENCY. WE NEED A BLANK CHECK. WE NEED THE FUNDS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. WE CANNOT DIRECTLY TRANSFER THESE FUNDS IN THE NAMES OF OUR CLOSE FRIENDS BECAUSE WE ARE CONSTANTLY UNDER SURVEILLANCE. MY FAMILY LAWYER ADVISED ME THAT I SHOULD LOOK FOR A RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY PERSON WHO WILL ACT AS A NEXT OF KIN SO THE FUNDS CAN BE TRANSFERRED.

PLEASE REPLY WITH ALL OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, IRA AND COLLEGE FUND ACCOUNT NUMBERS AND THOSE OF YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN TO WALLSTREETBAILOUT@TREASURY.GOV SO THAT WE MAY TRANSFER YOUR COMMISSION FOR THIS TRANSACTION. AFTER I RECEIVE THAT INFORMATION, I WILL RESPOND WITH DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT SAFEGUARDS THAT WILL BE USED TO PROTECT THE FUNDS.

YOURS FAITHFULLY MINISTER OF TREASURY PAULSON
Fun!

Hattip to LadyBlog

Diane Wilkerson: The Thing that wouldn't go away

Recounts, Write ins

Hoping to retain the seat she has held for 15 years, State Senator Dianne Wilkerson announced today that she will wage a write-in campaign against Sonia Chang-Diaz, who beat her by only a small margin in the recent primary.

"We're going to do this. It won't be easy. This is not a process for the faint of heart, but I'm ready if you're ready," she told more than 300 supporters gathered at a Masonic lodge in Dorchester.

Where else would it possibly be?

Barney Frank, Freddie, Fannie and the Bailout

Today's Boston Herald had a synopsis of Fannie, Freddie and the crisis of bullying banks to give bad debt here.

As Winston Churchill might have put it, never before has one man done so much that was so wrong, or shafted so many on behalf of so few.

Lenders asked themselves, why should I care how shaky these borrowers are or risky the loans if a government-backed body is going to buy them up anyway?

The loans were made, the housing market bubbled, contributions from F&F flowed to Democrats like Chris Dodd and Barack Obama, and everyone was happy. Until they weren’t.

Without Freddie and Fannie’s reckless expansion, the housing bubble doesn’t happen. Without the implied promise behind F&F’s money, investment banks don’t dive into the derivatives market.

Instead, we did it Barney’s way.

Not only has Frank spent his career stopping any real reform of Fannie and Freddie, he repeatedly insisted they weren’t backed by the taxpayers. “There is no federal liability whatsoever,” Frank said in 2000.

But two weeks ago, we had to bail them out with $200 billion in our tax dollars.

Alan Greenspan, John McCain and others warned that F&F were taking on too much risk, but Frank dismissed these “overblown” fears as ideological attacks against his favorite cash cow. Even after Franklin Raines and Joe Johnson were caught red-handed mismanaging these institutions, Frank still insisted “we are not facing any kind of crisis.”...


Mr. Frank was publicly arguing for an increase in the size of their combined $1.4 trillion portfolios right up to the day they were bailed out. Even now . . . he opposes Treasury’s planned reduction in the size of the portfolios starting in 2010.”


Our markets have collapsed, we’re paying through the nose, and Barney Frank is still fighting to keep Fannie and Freddie on the dole.

Why? Because in his mind, the point of Fannie/Freddie is taxpayer-subsidized housing for low-income borrowers - no matter how bad their credit or how high the cost.

“Otherwise,” he asks, “why should they exist?”

And what about us, the responsible borrowers and hard-working taxpayers stuck with the trillion-dollar tab? In Barney’s world, that’s the only reason we exist. He spends. We pay.

This truly is Barney Frank’s bailout.

Monday, September 22, 2008

New McCain Ad hits Obama's Chicago Machine

John McCain’s campaign released one of its hardest hitting ads in this election on Monday, aiming to ratchet up the guilt-by-association game by linking Barack Obama to convicted felon Tony Rezko.

The new spot, “Chicago Machine” also connects the Democratic presidential nominee to three prominent Illinois politicians– former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, Illinois state Senate President Emil Jones and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich — all of whom have faced criticism for questionable ties to businessmen and political power brokers.

The politics of hope.


Italian Bishops Exonerates Priest Caught in Bed with Parishioner's Wife

Good for him!

A priest who was found in bed with a parishioner's wife has been publicly exonerated by his local bishop, who said the woman had tempted the cleric and "led him astray".

The woman's affair with the priest at Chioggia, near Venice, came to light when her husband returned home unexpectedly from work and found them in flagrante delicto. The enraged husband stormed into the bishop's palace to demand an explanation, but before he could speak to the bishop the police were called to "calm him down."

The Bishop responded without the hysteria:

Bishop Daniel quoted the words of Jesus Christ, "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." (Matthew 7, 1-5).

He said priests had a responsibility always to be "an example to others". "But we must not forget that in addition to the many who fortunately support their priest, there is no lack of others who tempt him to fall short of his duty".

Bishop Daniel said "I have always respected the priest in question and I will continue to respect him. You cannot discount all the good a person has done in their life just because of one mistake." The priest is believed to have been transferred to another parish.

John McCain should put accountability for nightmare from subprime mess where it belongs.

The Democrats were putting pressure on banks to give loans to people who couldn't afford to pay them back.

From Real Clear Politics.

The truth is that most of the blame rests on political meddling in the credit decisions of these mortgage lenders.

Twenty years ago the buzz-word in the media was "redlining." Newspapers across the country were filled with hard-hitting investigative reports about evil and racist mortgage lenders refusing to make real estate loans to various minorities and to applicants who lived in lower-income neighborhoods. There I was closing these loans in the afternoons, and in the mornings offering a counter-argument on the radio to these absurd "redlining" claims. Frankly, the claims that evil mortgage lenders were systematically denying loans to blacks and other minorities were a lot sexier on the radio than my claims that when credit histories, job stability, loan-to-value ratios and income levels were considered there was no evident racial discrimination.

Political correctness won the day. Washington made it clear to banks and other lending institutions that if they did not do something .. and fast .. to bring more minorities and low-income Americans into the world of home ownership there would be a heavy price to pay.
With accountability in the right place, the last thing voters are going to do is vote in more of the same. The Democrats are responsible for the economic meltdown.

Oil spiked 25 dollars are barrel today.

Investors fear that the government will have to dramatically ramp up borrowing to pay for the mammoth rescue effort, an inflationary move that could further devalue the dollar and trigger another wave of safe-haven buying in investments like commodities.

“They’re going to have to continue auctioning off a whole lot of Treasurys to finance these projects, so the dollar is going to suffer,” said Matt Zeman, head trader at LaSalle Futures in Chicago. “Right now it’s fear and anxiety driving people who want tangible assets.”

At NRO, thoughts about the bailout, Has everyone in Washington lost their mind?

I’m not an economist, and I wouldn’t pretend to be one, but just as an observer of Washington, and as someone who has worked on the Hill and at the White House, it is simply apparent from this draft that this program will get completely out of control very quickly. It gives the Secretary of the Treasury essentially unlimited power to use $700 billion to make purchases the scope of which is defined very loosely and vaguely. It even says:

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.


700 Billion.

Freaken nuts!

Newt adds his two cents.

Watching Washington rush to throw taxpayer money at Wall Street has been sobering and a little frightening.

We are being told Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has a plan which will shift $700 billion in obligations from private companies to the taxpayer.

We are being warned that this $700 billion bailout is the only answer to a crisis.

We are being reassured that we can trust Secretary Paulson "because he knows what he is doing".

Congress had better ask a lot of questions before it shifts this much burden to the taxpayer and shifts this much power to a Washington bureaucracy.

Imagine that the political balance of power in Washington were different.

If this were a Democratic administration the Republicans in the House and Senate would be demanding answers and would be organizing for a “no” vote.

If a Democratic administration were proposing this plan, Republicans would realize that having Connecticut Democratic senator Chris Dodd (the largest recipient of political funds from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) as chairman of the Banking Committee guarantees that the Obama-Reid-Pelosi-Paulson plan that will emerge will be much worse as legislation than it started out as the Paulson proposal.

If this were a Democratic proposal, Republicans would remember that the Democrats wrote a grotesque housing bailout bill this summer that paid off their left-wing allies with taxpayer money, which despite its price tag of $300 billion has apparently failed as of last week, and could expect even more damage in this bill.

But because this gigantic power shift to Washington and this avalanche of taxpayer money is being proposed by a Republican administration, the normal conservative voices have been silent or confused.

It’s time to end the silence and clear up the confusion.

Congress has an obligation to protect the taxpayer.

Congress has an obligation to limit the executive branch to the rule of law.

Congress has an obligation to perform oversight.

Congress was designed by the Founding Fathers to move slowly, precisely to avoid the sudden panic of a one-week solution that becomes a 20-year mess.

Read the whole thing - good stuff.

What a mess!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Sad news - Ray Flynn battling melanoma, stress and grief

From today's Globe

The younger Flynn said his father has been under intense stress lately. He is grieving over his brother, Dennis, who died last month of a heart attack at 61. On Monday, the former mayor attended a Mass for his brother marking a month since his death.

Flynn has also been battling recurring melanoma, a form of skin cancer, his son said. He said that his father suffered from the disease while he was mayor more than a decade ago and that he has been experiencing symptoms recently. It was the first known disclosure that Raymond Flynn had cancer.

His son said yesterday that the case is not serious but that it may have teamed with other stresses to lead to his father's collapse.

Doug Kmiec is the most despicable man in the history of Christendom

Kmiec says just because Obama supports withholding medical treatment from survivors of abortion, this doesn't make him ruthless.

From NRO

Douglas Kmiec's Latest Folly [Ramesh Ponnuru]

Kmiec says that he himself would have voted for the Illinois bill to protect born-alive infants had he been in the legislature. But he does not fault Obama for voting against it. Kmiec's root defense of Obama is that the bill would have required doctors to take heroic measures to save pre-viable infants who had been delivered. "Medical ethics does not require so called 'heroic' care at either end of life, and neither does Catholic teaching," Kmiec writes. Since most of the infants protected by the law would be pre-viable, Kmiec argues further, in line with Obama's reasoning at the time, that it would be "very likely unconstitutional in most of its applications."

Kmiec makes the sweeping statement that infants born alive are "pre-viable"?

He uses the word "most" as though we are not supposed to notice that even though the infants who happen to fall through the cracks in his thesis will die, he is making virtuous statements in the name of Christ's Church.

Kmiec stoops to the level of saying Catholic teaching does not "require" being heroic when they are in a position to save a life?

Further, Kmiec is misrepresenting the bill:

None of this is true. First of all, it bears repeating that the Illinois bill was always very similar to the federal born-alive statute and, when Obama killed it in committee, nearly identical to it. That law has never been held unconstitutional. I am not aware of any pro-abortion groups that have even tried to advance the claim. Nor does the law do what Kmiec claims it does. The House Judiciary Committee's report on the federal bill took some pains to address this very point. Medical care could be refused to a pre-viable infant, as it could be to a viable infant or, indeed, to anyone at all, if in the judgment of a doctor that care would not achieve anything. It could simply not be withheld from the pre-viable infant on the ground that this being is not a person recognized by the law.
This is a man who knows the truth and is spinning it. I don't think I've ever seen or read anything in the history of Christendom that was as despicable.

Prayers for the release his soul (perhaps to Padre Pio?) from whatever has him held captive.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Obama's Catholic Problem

Dan Gilgoff reports on the NYT story on Obama's Lingering Catholic Problem:


The New York Times delivers a postcard from Catholic-rich Scranton, PA that spells trouble for Barack Obama:

Dozens of interviews with Catholics in Scranton underscored the political tumult in the parish pews. At Holy Rosary's packed morning Masses on Sunday in working-class North Scranton and the Pennsylvania Polka Festival downtown that afternoon, many Clinton supporters said they were planning to vote for Mr. Obama, some saying they sided with their labor unions instead of the church and others repeating liberal arguments about church doctrine broader than abortion.

"I think that one of the teachings of God is to take care of the less fortunate," said Susan Tighe, an insurance lawyer who identified herself as "a folk Catholic, from the guitar-strumming social-justice side" of the church.

But more said they now leaned toward Mr. McCain, citing both his experience and his opposition to abortion.
Dan ends his entry with this puzzling morsel:

It would seem that the Obama campaign knows it has to do something to gain back ground among Catholics. Doug Kmiec's new book could be one step, but God-o-Meter wonders if Obama has something bigger in the offing, possible involving a cradle Catholic named Joe Biden.
Don't be silly. With the Bishops sitting on the edge of their seat they're going to fire up the Biden Catholic proabort dog and pony show?






Bishops express desire to meet with Obama and McCain

This is a much different approach than four years ago.

"This isn't born of any concern or worry or problem," said Bishop Murphy. "We think it would be helpful for us to have that time and we think it would be helpful for the candidates to hear from the teachers of the Catholic church …as to what our concerns are."

Rebelling against the lesser of two evils vote

There's a discussion going on at Mark Sheas discussion on the personal culpability and objective evils of voting for anybody in this election.

Okay: same with all moral decision-making, including politics. I think it is an objective evil to support a candidate who wishes to use his office to commit gravely immoral acts such as sign the Freedom of Choice Act or support stem cell research. I make no distinction between candidates who want to cannibalize babies who are big and candidates who want to cannibalize babies who are small. I think anybody voting for either candidate is committing an objective evil.
So, with this hypothesis if Pol Pot, Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, Adolph Hitler were running against a John McCain or even Obama and were leading in the polls - responsible people who lobby to make sure Pol Pot doesn't win are committing an objective evil?

Not withstanding that fact that this allegation contradicts the the Pope's guidance, the idea that we should do nothing in the face of an Obama administration - is like standing by and doing nothing while a drunk driver gets behind the wheel of a car in our presence because he is a proabort.

Do check out the comments

Monday, September 15, 2008

Community Organizers: Obama and Jesus

Somehow, I missed this last week.




OBAMA AND JESUS: TWO “COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS”

On the floor of the House of Representatives today, Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen said that “Barack Obama was a community organizer like Jesus.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue responded as follows:

“Congressman Cohen forgot to mention that Jesus could walk on water. Perhaps he can tell us when Obama plans to take a stroll across the Potomac.”


Good Grief.


Sunday, September 14, 2008

Obama: America Stinks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW2d1_7dQRg&feature=related

A disaster.

Magnificent Testimonail to Priesthood

From Inside Catholic


All I Ever Wanted
Rev. John Jay Hughes

Particularly moving:

The Eucharistic prayer remains for me, however, the heart of the Mass. Seldom do I fail to be moved by the narrative of institution with the words of the Lord himself, "This is my body," and "This is my blood," which fascinated even Martin Luther. I recite the words slowly, with reverence and awe, slightly bent over paten and chalice, as the rubrics direct.
Does this help anyone? I cannot say. I know it nourishes me. No man ever longed more ardently for the arms of his beloved that I for that daily encounter with the Lord. Those precious moments with him, repeating his words, are quite literally the high point of my day. I recall them as I write these lines. I look forward to their repetition tomorrow.


and this:

I became a priest not to be with people, but to be, in a specially intimate way, with the Lord. I honor priests who experience this intimacy through pastoral ministry. I consider them my superiors: better priests, and better human beings. I experience intimacy with the Lord most of all at the altar. Ministering to people can be fulfilling -- but also frustrating. Not everyone wants what the priest has to offer. God always wants us. The worship I offer him at the altar is imperfect. Yet he never spurns it. And, for me, the offering of that worship never palls.

Passed on from a local Boston missionary

+JMJ+


"He did what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord; among all kings none could compare with him." 2 Kings 18

Feast Day - St. Louis IX - August 25 "St. Louis was born in 1214 and became King of France at age 22. He married and became the father of eleven children who received from him careful instruction for a Christian life. He excelled in penance and prayer and in his love for the poor. While ruling his kingdom he had regard not only for peace among peoples and for the temporal good of his subjects, but also for their spiritual welfare. He undertook the Crusades to recover the tomb of Christ and died near Carthage in 1270." (Office of Readings, St. Paul Editions)

The following are excerpts from a 'spiritual testament by St. Louis to his son'...a father teaching his son. For Mothers and Fathers, Grandparents these words should hold true today and always not only for our children, but for ourselves as well.

"My dearest son,

My first instruction is that you should love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your strength. Without this there is no salvation. Keep yourself, my son, from everything that you know displeases God, that is to say, from every mortal sin. You should permit yourself to be tormented by every kind of martyrdom before you would allow yourself to commit a mortal sin.

"If the Lord has permitted you to have some trial, bear it willingly and with gratitude, considering that it has happened for your good and that perhaps you well deserved it. If the Lord bestows upon you any kind of prosperity, thank Him humbly and see that you become no worse for it, either through vain pride or anything else, because you ought not to oppose God or offend Him in the matter of his gifts.

"As long as you are in church, be careful not to let your eyes wander and not to speak empty words, but pray to the Lord devoutly, either aloud or with the interior prayer of the heart.

"Be kindhearted to the poor, the unfortunate and the afflicted. Give them as much help and consolation as you can. Thank God for all the benefits He has bestowed upon you, that you may be worthy to receive greater. Be just to your subjects, swaying neither to right nor left, but holding the line of justice. Always side with the poor rather than with the rich, until you are certain of the truth.

"Be devout and obedient to our Mother the Church of Rome and the Supreme Pontiff as your spiritual father. Work to remove all sin from your land, particularly blasphemies and heresies.

"In conclusion, dearest son, I give you every blessing that a loving father can give a son. May the three Persons of the Holy Trinity and all the saints protect you from every evil. And may the Lord give you the grace to do His will so that He may be served and honored through you, that in the next life we may together come to see Him, love Him and praise Him unceasingly." (Ibid)

*************************************************************************************

PRAY THE ROSARY DAILY: The Fifteen Promises of Praying the Rosary given by the Blessed Mother to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche in the twelfth century.

Promise #10 The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in heaven.

PRAY FOR PRIESTS - Consecration of a priest sets him apart; equips him with qualities of mind, heart, character to serve Christ and His Church - to do the tasks for which he was ordained.

Excellent commercial for McCain

The day we lose our will to fight is the day we lose our freedom.

Did you see the new soundbyte for the Obama camp?

I can just see them sitting around in panic mode trying to come up with a scandal and some luminary comes up with the idea they should make a commercial highlighting the fact that John McCain can't do emails.

Do they think the Commander in Chief has time to cruise the internet and send his own emails?

Maroona.

NRO Piece on Andrew Sullivan

Responding to the below entry on Sullivan's blogeroo about writer David Brooks:

[Brooks] writes a column - a sadly misguided view of what's wrong with conservatism - that he could have written at any time in the last ten years. Why can he not tell us what he thinks of Palin? A wonderful writer he sure is.A profile in courage he isn't.


This is a stupid and malicious charge....

The charge is malicious because David is the opposite of what Sullivan says. Brooks is an intellectually honest writer, constantly holding up his views and assumptions to scrutiny and unfolding evidence, and in search of the truth of things. There is deep integrity to David's work. Beyond that, Brooks is one of Washington's most decent and civil individuals. Unfortunately, none of these things can be said of Andrew Sullivan these days. Even Sullivan's colleagues at The Atlantic would, I think it's fair to say, agree with that assessment. He has become an embarrassment to them, and to the magazine with which he is associated.
Sullivan responds thus:

I am being called "crazy" again. But no one at the Corner has the intellectual honesty to discuss the lies that the McCain camp has been putting out: specifically the lie that Obama funded sex education for kindergartners, the lie that Sarah Palin initially opposed the Bridge To Nowhere, the lie that she never requested earmarks for Alaska as governor, the lie that Palin visited the battlefield in Iraq, the lie that she didn't use her public office to persecute a former relative, and on and on. You will read nothing about these glaring lies in the public record at National Review. But you will learn that I am insane.

What does that tell you?

That people scratching below the surface are surprised that Andrew has taken this tack?

For instance:

The former relative, married four times, is a cop found guilty of drinking and driving while on duty in a cruiser, tased his stepson and who also agrees that McCain choosing Palin as a running mate is a marvelous decision.

Obama did push sex ed in kindergarten - looney "age appropriate" rape stories, naming body parts and explaining the mechanics of sexuality in the context that their family cannot be trusted as they are lurking boogeymen after their genitalia - with the caveat that parents have an opt out when reality is we don't.

Here is the transcript right out of Obama's own mouth.

RUSH: Oh, this has got 'em fit to be tied. How dare they say this about Obama? Well, let's go back in 2007, on November 20th, Obama spoke at a Planned Parenthood event, and he said this about Alan Keyes, who was his opponent in the Senate race in 2004.

OBAMA: I remember him, uh, using this in his campaign against me, saying, "Barack Obama supports teaching sex education to kindergarteners." (laughter) And, you know, which -- I didn't know what to tell him. But it's the right thing to do.

polls

The polls show McCain's momentum post convention.

The Battle for Congress also looks more competitive

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Archbishop Edwin O'Brien testifies about the moral concerns of the Death Penalty

Testifying in the state capital for the first time since his Oct. 1, 2007, installation as head of the Baltimore Archdiocese, Archbishop O'Brien said Catholic opposition to the death penalty is consistent with the church's respect for the sanctity of human life. He quoted from Pope John Paul II's 1995 encyclical, "The Gospel of Life," which calls for the defense of life from conception to natural death.

"Woven into the fabric of the (pope's) exhortation was an appeal to end capital punishment -- to stand against the killing of even those who have committed murder and, in so doing, have affronted God's dominion and denied their own and their victims' God-given humanity," said Archbishop O'Brien, who was accompanied by Bishop Eugene Sutton of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland and Bishop John Schol of the United Methodist Church of Maryland.

Pope John Paul taught that "bloodless means" of punishment should be employed to protect society, the archbishop said, noting that such means exist in the form of modern prison systems.

Aside from interfering in the life process, denying a criminal the opportunity to repent is what drives the opposition to the death penalty. There are circumstances in which a criminal is can be influencing others from prison to commit crimes and in those circumstances, the penalty is righteous.

As always, the Catechism is our means of discernment. At the end of the day, it is not prohibited as abortion is prohibited.

For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility.

2266 The efforts of the state to curb the spread of behavior harmful to people's rights and to the basic rules of civil society correspond to the requirement of safeguarding the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to inflict punishment proportionate to the gravity of the offense. Punishment has the primary aim of redressing the disorder introduced by the offense. When it is willingly accepted by the guilty party, it assumes the value of expiation. Punishment then, in addition to defending public order and protecting people's safety, has a medicinal purpose: as far as possible, it must contribute to the correction of the guilty party.67

2267 Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

The death penalty is over-used and abused. Kudos to +O'Brien for addressing the Commission from the right perspective.

Fr. David Ajamein goes AWOL

The Archdiocese of Boston is suspending a priest, the Rev. David Ajemian (above), who had been accused of stalking NBC "Late Night" host Conan O'Brien. Ajemian had been receiving mental health treatment, but, according to the archdiocese, has stopped doing so against the advice of his doctors and directives from Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley.


Here is the story from the Herald.

Note the kooky comments posted at each article.

Haters of the Catholic Church seem to get caught in a quagmire of spiritual debauchery.

John McCain on The View


If John McCain is looking to ingratiate himself to stay at home Moms and politically independent women, he's not going to find them watching "The View".

I suppose some would say that eliciting their reactions could possibly serve as a turn off to women who like men, serve God or generally reject the "let it all hang out" meme, perhaps he'd be better off selecting his appearances more carefully.

Good round up from on the link above:


Today, the ladies seemed to have gotten their scripts straight out of DailyKos. Barbara Walters dropped her usual facade of objectivity and Joy Behar was particularly aggressive. They seemed to want to focus on the fabricated ’scandals’ about Sarah Palin. Behar took off after alleged ‘earmarks’. McCain told Behar that Palin had not gone after earmarks as governor. Behar said that she did. She took ‘a lot’, Behar said! Of course, the Obama campaign was faxing over talking points for the girls to use against McCain and Palin.

Behar even accused McCain of no longer being a ‘maverick’ and walking in ‘lock step’ with …. I wasn’t sure who she was accusing him of walking in ‘lock step’ with. McCain assured her that he is the same person he’s always been.

I really hope people aren’t getting their views from The View.

The point is, the left is out of control with fear and are flailing around in a very unseemly desperation that is just not at all attractive.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Dem Congressmen throwing Obama under the bus?

Democratic jitters about the US presidential race have spread to Capitol Hill, where some members of Congress are worried that Barack Obama’s faltering campaign could hurt their chances of re-election.

Party leaders have been hoping to strengthen Democratic control of the House and Senate in November, but John McCain’s jump in the polls has stoked fears of a Republican resurgence.

A Democratic fundraiser for Congressional candidates said some planned to distance themselves from Mr Obama and not attack Mr McCain.

Loyalty isn't a character strength of political players

Ike

Prayer warriors are busy tonight.

I don't remember ever hearing hurricane warnings so catastrophic sounding. They're expecting 20 feet of water to cover most of Galveston.

Look at this.

Here's a live radar link.

A similar storm also hit Galveston over a hundred years ago, The Great Storm - 8000 people were killed. Technology and communications will prevent this kind of loss of life.

Kansas City Bishops on Moral Responsibility and Voting

Could a Catholic in good conscience vote for a candidate who supports legalized abortion when there is a choice of another candidate who does not support abortion or any other intrinsically evil policy?"

Dear Friends in Christ,

With the approaching general election this November, we believe this to be an important moment for us to address together the responsibility of Catholics to be well informed and well formed voters....

Could a Catholic in good conscience vote for a candidate who supports legalized abortion when there is a choice of another candidate who does not support abortion or any other intrinsically evil policy? Could a voter’s preference for the candidate’s positions on the pursuit of peace, economic policies benefiting the poor, support for universal health care, a more just immigration policy, etc. overcome a candidate’s support for legalized abortion? In such a case, the Catholic voter must ask and answer the question: What could possibly be a proportionate reason for the more than 45 million children killed by abortion in the past 35 years? Personally, we cannot conceive of such a proportionate reason.
If you can reach beyond the massacre of 45 million infants, you go!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Sara Palin's Interview with Charlie Gibson

Excellent, confident, spiritual.

Sara Palin passes test

Sarah Palin showed herself as steely and supremely confident--even when she stumbled over a question about the Bush Doctrine --and brushed off whether it mattered that she had never met a foreign head of state in her much anticipated first network interview as John McCain's running mate.

ABC anchor Charles Gibson--who had something to prove as an interviewer after a controversial turn as a debate moderator--at times seemed exasperated at Palin's rehearsed patter in the segments of the interview shown on the evening newscast.
Dems struggling to respond

The most they could pull out of it was that she didn't know that acting offensively upon an imminent strike was called "the bush doctrine". This impairs her decision making how?

Jill Stanek has a great column on Obama's Digging

And if Obama admits abortion is either moral or immoral, which does he think it is? He must think it's wrong because he feigned the desire to reduce them (although every action he has ever taken or plans only increases them).

So Obama makes less and less sense as he supports abortion with every political sinew in his body while claiming fuzziness and angst about whether it's a what or a who being aborted
Jill makes the point that the moment life begins has always been a biological fact. Life begins at the moment the sperm meets the egg.


This is why backing into the discussion by recognizing that disruption once a life begins for a baby eagle as a federal crime puts any question that abortion is killing a baby to rest.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Is Joe Biden this creepy?

This is despicable!

Campaigning in Missouri today, Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden appeared to criticize his Republican counterpart Sarah Palin. "If you care about [children with developmental disabilities], why don’t you support stem cell research?" he asked.
Calling into question Palin's dedication to children with developmental disabilities because she doesn't support embryonic stem cell research is just plain exploitative.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Obama's One Education Accomplishment: Rape Narratives for Kindergartners



McCain socked Obama with an effective ad today.

The ad bashes Obama for an Illinois state senate bill he supported that allowed for “age-appropriate” sex education for K-12 instruction. The ad said that measure represents Obama’s only accomplishment on education.

The McCain ad characterizes Obama as someone who supported “comprehensive sex education” for kindergartners. The voiceover in the ad incredulously asks: “Learning about sex before learning to read?”

The programs, which actually increase the risk of sexual abuse, are kooky.

McCain 20 point swing in women voters


At a press availability this afternoon in Dayton, Ohio, ABC News asked Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., if -- given the recent 20-point swing among white women towards Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll -- he feels the addition of Gov. Sarah Palin to the GOP ticket has attracted women specifically because of her gender, whether Obama regrets not naming a woman to his ticket as his running mate, and what he can do to woo those women voters back?

Try this:


"You can put lipstick on a pig," he said as the crowd cheered. "It's still a pig."

"You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still gonna stink."

"We've had enough of the same old thing."


Obama called Gov. Palin a Pig?


Obama poked fun of McCain and Palin's new "change" mantra.

"You can put lipstick on a pig," he said as the crowd cheered. "It's still a pig."


This is not quite as bad as the "clinging to guns and religion" disaster but definitely worse that "abortion is above my pay grade" spin.


Republicans took offense, saying that was a personal attack on Palin, who during the GOP convention speech last week, asked delegates if they knew the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull. Pointing to her mouth, she exclaimed, "Lipstick."

Swift told reporters on a conference call that Obama's comment was "disgraceful" and that "he owes Governor Palin an apology."

Monday, September 8, 2008

Keeping Up with Palin hysteria

Today's hysteria was a circulating email with a list of kooky books Palin supposedly ripped off the bookshelves and banned in her local library.

Here's a website that is keeping up with the hysteria and setting the record straight.

Joe Biden's Fibs

1. The Church is debating It's own teachings regarding abortion.

2. The concept that life begins at conception is not a biological fact.

3. Joe Biden only knows when his life began but it's a secret.

4. Joe's prepared to accept the teachings of the Church but doesn't accept the teaching that a politician is required to vote pro-life.

5. When politicians vote for something, they're not voting for it, they're voting not to curtail it.

6. When politicians vote for abortion rights, they are not imposing that vote on pro-life constituents.

7. When Joe voted against telling everyone else in the country that they have to accept his religiously based view that it's a moment of conception, he wasn't telling the child being killed to accept the view they are dying.

8. The Church teaching that abortion kills babies and kills babies is in the process of being changed.

9. Quickening (when a mother feels her infant moving) happens 40 days after conception. (it actually happens around the 18th week/130 or so days)

10. When politicians vote things into law, they are not insisting we accept that view.

11. Prochoice people are always out in front of abortion clinics offering pregnant mothers help so they don't have to kill their child.


story below:

“There is a debate in our church, as Cardinal Egan would acknowledge, that's existed. Back in "Summa Theologia [sic]," when Thomas Aquinas wrote "Summa Theologia [sic]," he said there was no--it didn't occur until quickening, 40 days after conception.”

Sunday, September 7, 2008

McCain leading Obama in polls

McCain pulls out in front, 48 to 45%

In another interesting development, Obama now says he regrets his abortion answer at the Saddleback forum

Now, Obama tells ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview taped for “This Week”: “What I intended to say is that, as a Christian, I have a lot of humility about understanding when does the soul enter into … It's a pretty tough question. And so, all I meant to communicate was that I don't presume to be able to answer these kinds of theological questions.”

In the ABC interview, Obama goes on to give the answer he wishes he’d given: “What I do know is that abortion is a moral issue, that it's one that families struggle with all the time. And that in wrestling with those issues, I don't think that the government criminalizing the choices that families make is the best answer for reducing abortions.

“I think the better answer — and this was reflected in the Democratic platform — is to figure out, how do we make sure the young mothers, or women who have a pregnancy that's unexpected or difficult, have the kind of support they need to make a whole range of choices, including adoption and keeping the child.

Beg pardon, aren't these the same people who are having prolifers arrested if they attempt to counsel women in crisis and offer them assistance with their pregnancy?

In fact, aren't these the same people ostracizing, banning, ridiculing volunteers offering to assist pregnant women? Illicitly infringing upon the freedom of speech of sidewalk counselors by creating a "buffer zone" that makes assistance difficult if not impossible?

All the years they've spent obstructing and rejecting the assistance for women in the way of ultrasounds ~ homes ~ adoption of their child ~ assistance with getting their affairs in order ~ support during their pregnancy ~ things for the baby ~ etc., I personally would like to hear Obama specifically enumerate what he is now willing to permit prolifers to do.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Cornered Democrats for McCain

Fun website by Barry Warsch Cornered Democrats for McCain

A - Why has every news organization sent teams of reporters to Arizona (to hunt down and interview Cindy McCain's disinherited older half-siblings from her father's first marriage) and to Alaska (to hunt down and interview any disgruntled divorced in laws or baby daddy's relatives) but not to Kenya (to interview the Muslim co-parents, half-siblings and co-siblings from Obama's father's numerous polygamist marriages) or to Indonesia (to interview the Muslim family of Obama's stepfather and any Indonesian half-siblings and classmates)?

B - Why is Obama's 18 year old birth mother (impregnated by an older African exchange student with several polygamist wives stashed away in Kenya) an example of all-American grit, courage and upward mobility, but Bristol Palin is a slut? (Bonus points - Identify which one went on government assistance.)

Women canceling subscriptions to Us Magazine

From LadyBlog

Hell hath no fury like that of a bunch of insulted, pissed off women. US Magazine’s Palin smear campaign has backfired and led to thousands of subscription cancellations (between 3,000 and 10,000 depending which report you read), and they are reeling from it.

Welcome to the 21st Century, US, where print is dying a little more every day, and a gossip rag cannot afford to alienate housewives, mothers and strong women.

Hazlett is hearing that the editorial board of “Us Weekly” had thought they pegged it right that media pressure and attacks would see Palin pulled from the McCain ticket even before her debut speech. Because the media had so quickly swarmed to destroy her, they thought she was toast before she even had the chance to accept the nomination.

If this is the fruit of Obama's culture of love and unity, women are going to have a hard time swallowing the koolaid.

Authenticity of Catholics United and Catholics for Common Good is being scrutinized

Cardinal George is taking on Catholics United and Catholics for the Common Good?

Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good is an organization whose purpose is convincing Catholics to vote for pro-choice Democrats. The sleight of hand they employ in this task is to claim that such candidates align so well across the board with Catholic teaching on the common good, that their support for legalized abortion can be fairly overlooked. In fact, the group does not even call for the repeal of the Roe regime and is constantly critical of those who do, preferring to praise those pro-choice politicians who claim to reduce abortions by adjustments in social policy.

Cardinal George attacks that notion today in a letter posted to the Archdiocese of Chicago website (excerpt):

"The unborn child, who is alive and is a member of the human family, cannot defend himself or herself. Good law defends the defenseless. Our present laws permit unborn children to be privately killed. Laws that place unborn children outside the protection of law destroy both the children killed and the common good, which is the controlling principle of Catholic social teaching. One cannot favor the legal status quo on abortion and also be working for the common good."

Cardinal George does not call out Catholics in Alliance by name, but he has previously banned their deceptive material from parishes in his diocese.
The post goes on to say that Ray Flynn was asked to be part of their initiative to spin their pro-abortion platform as "reduction in abortions platform", and he declined.

Eradicating slavery is the only acceptable platform. A platform supporting it with a pretense you'll assist slavemasters to help keep slavery to a minimum isn't a cogent argument. It's intolerable, dishonest and just plain dumb. Same goes for a platform endorsing killing people for some of us.

James Salt and Chris Korzen are now frantically doing damage control by way of accusing their detractors of lying.

"Jack- James Salt here. Your reporting is factually inaccurate. I know this is a blog, but what you claim is not true and should be edited"

and on another blog here.

you blatantly misrepresent our organization when you suggest that we favor the legal status of abortion. We do not. See http://catholics-united.org/?q=node/201 for more information. I believe Alexia would have similar words to say about Catholics in Alliance.

Finally, neither Alexia nor I publicly support Senator Obama or any other candidates for public office. I would appreciate if you would correct these factual inconsistencies immediately....

...I'm frankly a bit concerned that you keep getting the facts wrong about our groups. I have no problem with you disagreeing with us on the substance of our arguments, but please, at least tell the truth about who we are. I'm happy to speak with you in advance of future writings to avoid any further misrepresentations.
Like Oprah, Catholics United believes in Democracy, so long as everybody unwilling to accept their platform isn't in it.

It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. Barack Obama

Oprah Winfrey is Deep Doo Doo

Oprah's exclusion of Governor Palin isn't blowing over well with Oprah fans.

After the infomercials for Obama, fans are starting to get the impression that there is bias involved in how to view the big beautiful world through Oprah.

Is this the change we can believe in?

(hat tip to Laurie)

A Picture Worth 1000 Words


An acquaintance just sent me the above picture, which I had never seen before.

An emotional moment being shared between two soulmates.

Obama's Community Organizing Credentials

My liberal friends were aghast at Gov. Palin's response to the Obama camp's ridicule that she has no experience.

I don't get it....if you're going to get behind a Senator lacking a single accomplishment, Palin's response to that ridicule cut to the chase.

Jay Anderson has a good round up here.

Ah, that’s rich. Obama’s team derides Gov. Palin's experience as merely that of a small-town hick mayor out in the boonies and, when she responds to their elitist snobbery by pointing out that her experience is actually greater than that of a “community organizer”, suddenly they’re going to feign offense? Suddenly it's Gov. Palin who is "mocking" the common man who is served by these "community organizers"? Suddenly it's Gov. Palin who is "dismissive" of the work of people of faith?


It' puzzling why the Obama campaign would play the inexperience card, knowing his own credentials lack substance.

The spin from the Obama Camp that pro-lifers belittle "community organizing" is silly. He invited the scrutiny of experience between the two candidates and he got it.