Thank you, Nancy Pelosi

I have to thank Nancy Pelosi. What? you might ask. You? Thank Nancy Pelosi? Yes, that's right. A couple of days ago Nancy brought to my attention a Catholic warrior with whom I was not familiar prior to her mentioning him in a speech she gave in mid-May. Who was the warrior? None other than Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary who lived from 1892 to 1975, the year I graduated from 8th grade.

Now, it is odd to me that Ms. Pelosi would mention Cardinal Mindszenty. It is only because she was speaking to an audience in Hungary that she did so. She said that she, like other Catholics her age, prayed for the cardinal when they were growing up in Catholic school. She mentions his "struggle," but never anything about the substance of what he stood for. [Side note: Joe Biden claims to be Catholic also, and is only 3 years younger than Ms. Pelosi. I wonder if he prayed for the cardinal? Hard to say since Biden's authoritative, Wikipedia bio (sic) does not mention his education until he got to high school and attended an exclusive Catholic (Norbertine) school.]

Since Ms. Pelosi is significantly older than I am, that may account for why I have never heard of Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty. But, thanks to Pelosi, I read about him this week and was thoroughly engrossed. In fact, I think Ms. Pelosi herself should revisit the Cardinal's story, because if she does she will either not mention him again or she will be enlightened as to what she missed all those decades ago when she presumably was an angelic child praying for the Catholic warrior. I suspect she has not read anything else about the cleric since leaving behind elementary school and her prayers for the cardinal nearly 60 years ago. And her memory of what he fought against must have faded also since she and her liberal comrades espouse everything that he fought against.

I am always amazed how Pelosi touts her claim to be a Catholic when it suits her political agenda. Remember how on the first day of Lent this year she attacked the Catholic Church because it has brought its teachings around to her way of thinking? There is so much that is wrong with what Ms. Pelosi said in that video that it would take me the rest of this week to delve into it. I am sure some will condemn me as being judgmental for what I say about Ms. Pelosi, but so be it. Ms. Pelosi either does not understand the Catholic faith in which she grew up or she has chosen to ignore it. I hope it is the former and not the latter. It may be a combination of both.

The irony in what Ms. Pelosi has brought to our attention is that Cardinal Mindszenty stood up against a communist regime and refused to bend to the laws that he recognized as being violative of religious freedom. Naturally, Hungary did not have our First Amendment right to freedom of religion, but the cardinal was a staunch vocal advocate who insisted that religious freedom is a basic natural right. He drove around the country telling Catholics not to comply with the law and not to give up their property and land to the government. Even when he was arrested by the Communists in 1948, he refused to give in to the government take-over of Catholic schools and land. For most of the rest of his life he lived in a state of arrest. But he never gave in, not even to secure his own freedom.

I noted briefly last week in a posting that 43 Catholic dioceses and organizations in the United States have filed lawsuits against the Obama administration. The basis of the cause of action is the provisions of the health care mandate requiring all employers who pay for insurance to also pay for abortifacients, birth control, and sterilization so that these are free to all women. This violates the Constitutionally guaranteed right of freedom of religion.

Liberals try to argue that this is not true. They say things like, "What if Jehovah Witnesses don't believe in blood transfusions and so they say we won't pay for blood transfusions for our employees," and "If Catholics can refuse birth control, Jehovah Witnesses can refuse blood transfusions." Some Catholics have tried courageously to distinguish the two.

The bottom line is that, like Cardinal Mindszenty, some leaders of the Catholic Church in America recognize that our religious freedoms are under attack. Unless we stand up against the attempts to secularize our country completely and erase religion from having any influence on matters, we are doomed to a society that will evolve into the ones that are the subject of books like The Hunger Games series. I for one do not want to live in a district where the inhabitant slaves do the bidding of the elite who occupy the lazy, over-the-top capital in order that they might live the good life. Sadly, that possibility is not that unimaginable any more.

As Mary Ann Glendon, a Catholic professor at Harvard, points out in a recent op ed, the Obama contraception mandate is not about protecting women's health, as Ms. Pelosi and other liberals feign. It is about drawing others who are trying to remain on the "good side" over to the "bad side." It is reminiscent of the childhood story we have all experienced, of those who steal a cookie and then give half to a friend or sibling so that they are also part of the sin and cannot tell on the thief.

Liberals know they are wrong in trying to mandate things that the Catholic Church will not condone (abortion, sterilization, contraception). But they try to draw everyone into their sin so that they can partake of their wicked ways and share the cost with those who are repulsed by their actions. This is precisely what Cardinal Mindszenty fought against.

So I thank Nancy Pelosi, and I challenge her to reflect back on what she prayed for as a child in the 40s and 50s. If we are careful, we might just get what she prayed for -- religious freedom.

The Power of Cool

This is such a good article that I am going to take a chance and print the whole thing here. Do go to the National Review Online website though, as they have lots of excellent articles!

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE
The Power of Cool
By Victor Davis Hanson
 
May 23, 2012 4:00 A.M.
When Barack Obama two years ago joked at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that potential suitors of his two daughters might have to deal with Predator drones (“But boys, don’t get any ideas. Two words for you: Predator drones. You will never see it coming.”), the liberal crowd roared. That failed macabre joke would have earned George W. Bush a week of headline condemnation from the New York Times and the Washington Post. Obama, in fact, has increased those judge/jury/executioner targeted assassinations tenfold during his tenure. But apparently, the combination of Obama’s postracial “cool” and the video-game nature of such airborne death — no CNN clips of charred torsos and smoldering legs, no prisoners with their ACLU lawyers in Guantanamo, no Seymour Hersh exposé on a Waziristan granny who was vaporized for being too near her terrorist-suspect grandson, no American losses for Code Pink and Moveon.org to demonstrate against — earned general exemption for that new liberal way of war. What bothered us about the Predator strikes in 2006–2008 was not the kills per se but the uncool nature of twangy Texan George Bush, who ordered them.

Last week 28-year-old, $17 billion–rich, jeans-clad Mark Zuckerberg took Wall Street for a multibillion-dollar ride, making his original buddies instant billionaires and his loyal larger circle millionaires. Note that there is no Occupy Wall Street protest at Facebook headquarters. Just as there are none at Oprah’s house or the residence of Leonardo DiCaprio, despite their take each year of between $50 and $100 million.

No one has suggested that Hollywood lower movie-prices by asking Johnny Depp or Jennifer Lopez to walk away with $10 or $20 million less a year. Steve Jobs found ways to dodge taxes comparable to those deployed by any Wall Street fatcat, but he was iPad cool, and so his iPhone billions were exempt from the Occupy nonsense. Cool capitalists are immune from the neo-Marxist critique of capitalism — a racket that $40 billion–rich Warren Buffett learned late in life, but well enough, with the “Buffett Rule.”

We simply don’t mind that Google and Amazon rake in billions, but we despise Exxon and Archer Daniels Midland for doing the same. It is not that we need social networking and Internet searches more than food and fuel, but rather that we have the impression that cool zillionaires in flipflops are good while uncool ones in wingtips are quite bad.

I am sure that the tax lawyers who help Richard Branson and Mick Jagger are no less skilled at shorting the Treasury than those who work for Rush Limbaugh, but the profits of the former are okay while the latter’s are obscene. Limbaugh is a misogynist for using the word “slut” and apologizing for it; Bill Maher is a feminist for using slurs we cannot print and for which he did not apologize. One is uncool, the other very cool — as was a cynical and sarcastic David Letterman, who implied that the 14-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin had snuck into the Yankees’ dugout for quick sex with Alex Rodriquez.

The power of cool is evident also in politics. State quite correctly that you can see Russia from parts of Alaska, and you are ditzy white-trash Sarah from Wasilla; state falsely that Franklin Roosevelt addressed the nation on television in 1929, and you are just “good ol’ Joe Biden.”

John Kerry’s second married-into fortune probably dwarfs the one that Mitt Romney made himself, perhaps by a factor of ten. While we heard in 2012 that Romney wanted a car elevator in one of his many houses, we never heard much in 2004 of presidential candidate Kerry’s various mansions, boats, or assorted playthings, or how he proved to be a keen investor as a senator helping to set U.S. financial policy.

Kerry, you see, was cool. He windsurfed and wore spandex as he cycled, and found his exemption by championing the poor he rarely saw. The same was true of John Edwards of “Two Americas” fame. Do we now recall how he ran to the left of both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, despite the $500 haircuts and the self-indulgent mansion, replete with “John’s room,” a hideaway with all sorts of adolescent toys? Edwards, remember, earned those spoils by charming juries in his smarmy style, and nearly destroyed the practice of obstetrics in North Carolina through his flurry of malpractice suits. No matter, Edwards was liberal, Kennedyesque, and cool — and he earned prophylaxis in the manner of JFK himself, of whose White House orgies we did not learn until a half-century later. Likewise we have been taught that there is no “power imbalance” or “insidious asymmetry” when a “mentor” has sexual relations with his young intern — as long as he is a feminist like Bill Clinton.

What, then, exactly, is this cool that allows you to earn whatever you like without censure, and then to spend it as you please without fear of public scorn?

It would seem that the disconnect is liberal politics, the coin by which one buys a sort of medieval indulgence from liberal gatekeepers in the media, academia, the arts, and the foundations that permits one to continue the pursuit and enjoyment of lucre and to indulge the baser appetites without harassment — in the manner that the medieval moneylender or sexual zealot still got to heaven by buying marble for the cash-strapped cathedral. That $20 billion–rich George Soros was a money speculator who almost destroyed the small depositors of the Bank of England and was convicted in France of insider trading matters not at all: Without his roulette-wheel billions we would not have Media Matters. Jon Corzine of MF Global cannot explain what he did with $1.2 billion of other people’s money. But there will never be a “Corzine Law.”

Who cares what George Clooney makes an hour, or how exactly his close friends can afford to pony up for a $40,000-a-plate dinner — when the takings will help Barack Obama feed the children? If Halliburton were wise, it would buy the shut-down Solyndra plant, make solar panels at a loss, and write the cost off as a lobbying and public-relations expense.

So cool is not obtained just through liberal politics. Images and intent are critical too. The stuffy tea-party crowd looks like the plain suburban guys and gals who sell us houses, cars, and insurance. And so, of course, they must be racist, even though their demonstrations give no proof of any such fetish. Their only oddity would seem to be a certain desire to ensure that they leave no litter in their wake for poorer custodians to clean up.

But Occupy Wall Street? That movement has produced thugs, thieves, rapists, would-be bombers, rioters, and street urchins who pollute their surroundings and cause mayhem. They act pre-modern but earn no scorn because they are cool – they sport a sort of elite grunge that suggests that the environmental-studies major at Brown empathizes with those poor for whom grime is not makeup.

Identity is key here. In general, to win exemption from the left-wing critique of America, the affluent must construct cool identities as far distant as possible from the white Christian heterosexual male, who is most culpable for creating our present affluence from ill-gotten gains. The multimillionaire Elizabeth Warren and her husband make nearly $1 million a year. They live in a home beyond the reach of 99 percent of America. And she may well have plagiarized and been dishonest about her own heritage. No matter — Warren washed away both her privilege and her sins by reinventing herself as a “Cherokee” who fights Wall Street oppressors.

So too Barack Obama. It was Obama himself, not the fringe Birthers, who first made the case that the president was born in Kenya — not because he was, but because to say now and then that he was added an exotic touch of cool to Barack Hussein Obama — a cool that a Barry Dunham born in Honolulu and prepped at Punahou would have lacked. Poor George Zimmerman — had he only called himself Jorge Zimmerman he might not have been written off as a “white Hispanic” vigilante.

Network news anchors anguished over whether George W. Bush had tried coke while thousands of African-Americans languished in jail for doing the same — but they snored when Barack Obama boasted that he had done that and much more. Push down a gay student fifty years ago as a teen, and if you are straitlaced Mitt Romney then you always were a homophobe; push away a little girl decades ago, and if you are Barack Hussein Obama, then you were struggling with identity and coming of age.

In short, millions of well-off Americans, from the entering college student to the full professor of law, from the billionaire thief to the president of the United States himself, endlessly chase cool.

And why would they not? Cool is now America’s holy grail that allows the elite and the rich not just to pursue and enjoy nice things, but to damn others who do the same.

NRO contributor Victor Davis Hanson is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the author most recently of The End of Sparta, a novel about ancient freedom. © National Review Online 2012. All Rights Reserved.

A Tale of Two Awakenings

Here are two stories that you will not see widely publicized in the mainstream media, even at the local level.

First is that of Jo Ann Nardelli, a Pennsylvania Democrat who founded the Blair County Federation of Democratic Women and was a state committeewoman. Nardelli, a Catholic, announced last week that she would that she is switching her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. The final straw for her was Obama's support for gay marriage. Indeed, when fellow Catholic Joe Biden came out in support of gay marriage before Obama, Nardelli was shocked. She had once given him a rosary and said she previously had related to him.

Nardelli says that her Catholic faith and beliefs are the reason she can no longer remain affiliated with the Democrat party. (The link above is to the National Catholic Register story, and is very revealing.) Here Nardelli is seen with another Democrat who says she is Catholic.

There is zero chance that Ms. Pelosi will have a metanoia and realize the error of her ways. (I have a blog post in the works that mentions Ms. Pelosi, so I won't waste more time on say any more about her here.)

The other recent story (just yesterday, in fact) that won't get any mainstream airtime is similar. It is about an African American Southern Democrat from Alabama who also has announced that he is switching his affiliation from Democrat to Republican. His name is Arthur Davis, and until a few years ago he was a U.S. Representative from Alabama. 

As for why he defected, Davis said, "As I told a reporter last week, this is not Bill Clinton’s Democratic Party (and he knows that even if he can’t say it)." Not only is Davis switching parties, he is also switching states, moving officially from Alabama to my adopted home state of residence, Virginia. Indeed, he is considering getting back into the political arena on a GOP ticket in the not-too-distant future. It will be interesting to see if he can infuse some sense into the hearts and souls of his old constituents and bring them over from the dark side. I plan to keep my antennae up and see what he decides to do in the political arena in my neck of the woods.

So, what do you call two political defectors in the heart of the liberal East Coast?

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Grand NEW Partiers! [Got a more clever response? Enter it in the Comments!]

And the Thunder Rolls

It has been a week since I last wrote. I took the Memorial weekend to spend some quality time with my husband. Much of it was spent working in the yard. We are well on our way to completing our new surround-tree flower bed. By this coming weekend, it should be complete. I'll share photos when that happens.

Yesterday was Memorial Day, as you well know. Perhaps you also know that Washington, D.C. plays host to a special event each year on this weekend. It's called Rolling Thunder because thousands upon thousands of motorcycles descend upon the area. My family in Kentucky may be reminded of Little Sturgis, which is the annual gathering of bikers in Sturgis, KY, a town of about 2000 residents that has a Presbyterian church, a Methodist church, a First Christian church, a Catholic church, and a Pizza Hut. This year the Little Sturgis Rally will be July 19-22. I hear it is a rip-roaring good time.

In contrast, Rolling Thunder is a more subdued occasion. It's primary purpose is to bring accountability for the POWs and MIAs who have given their lives or their freedom for our country. Their motto --- "We will never forget" -- is a powerful phrase. On a wider scale, the annual event has come to signify for many of us that we must honor ALL men and women who have fought and/or died for the freedoms that we hold most dear in this great country.

In years past, my husband and I have gone over to the Pentagon or into D.C. to watch the eye-catching parade of decorated and plain motorcycles. Some carry one person, some two, and some come complete with attached sidecar. They gather all morning in the Pentagon parking lots, and at the set time they depart from there and drive across Memorial Bridge at the foot of Arlington Cemetery, past the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument before dispersing to go their separate ways. They come no matter the weather, rain or shine, even in temps that can approach 100 degrees.

Sunday of Memorial weekend 2008 brought a cloudless sky and perfect chance to mingle with the crowd. That year my husband and I watched the procession of two and three-wheelers, and a few other vehicles with a pertinent point to make.

Recalling the original purpose of Rolling Thunder

A section of the Pentagon parking lot before the parade began

Viewing the procession from Memorial Bridge

This year, regrettably, we did not make it downtown for the occasion. But this video posted on You Tube is remarkable in that it condenses four hours of video into less than four minutes as every biker drives past the Saluting Marine near the Lincoln Memorial. It is riveting to me since I have been there to witness the procession in person in years past, and seeing it all take place in 4 minutes is amazing. This year was the 25th anniversary of the event, so it held special meaning.



In addition to the swells of crowds who brave the heat to gather along the parade route, another inspiring things to see each year is that people of all walks of life gather on overpasses throughout the Washington area to watch as the flotillas of bikers wind their way down the interstates and other thoroughfares in the hours leading up to the event and for hours afterwards. They bring children who are too young to walk, along with toddlers, teens and tweens. Hopefully they will remember the event and the feelings it evoked for the rest of their lives. Most memorably, those who gather in support often fly and wave American flags and carry homemade signs to rally the patriotic and to honor the GOOD that the armed services of this country have done both a home and abroad over he past many decades. Next to the Fourth of July, this event makes Memorial weekend Sunday the most patriotic day in the nation's capital.

Since we live so close to Washington, we saw and heard large numbers of bikers as they rolled into town in the week leading up to Sunday. Some riders make the event an annual vacation. Others hear about it, plan and save money for years, and travel across the country to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime occasion. All leave with a sense of having met others who, despite many differences on many issues, are of one mindset -- that this country is still great, that she is worth preserving, and, that in this important election year, we have to protect and defend that greatness.

I share that mindset. God bless the U.S.A. We will never forget.

Updates

I just wanted to tie up a few loose ends from some of my previous blog entries.

(1) Our yard is coming along. Here are a couple of photos of the progression.

The front yard

The mini patio

These pics are actually a couple weeks old -- taken May 5.

(2) I told you about the piscicide that occurred on Saturday at our house. (May the eleven deceased rest in peace in their grave in the backyard.) On Sunday we bought 8 replacement fish.

The release

All are goldfish in name, but 2 are solid black and look like miniature hammerhead sharks.

Photo from internet

The 8 new kids in the pond survived through Monday. Unfortunately, one met its demise on the blower today. We found him tonight when I got home. Apparently the suction was too strong, and we found it plastered to the side of the blower. Fantails cannot swim as well as non-fantails. The little guy could not free himself. I turned off the blower for tonight until I can get the lily pads back into the pond to give the little ones a place to run for cover. Hopefully we'll get to that tomorrow evening after work. Stay tuned!

Catholics Sue Obama Administration

Negotiations failing, 43 Catholic dioceses or organizations filed lawsuits throughout the United States today against the Obama Administration, namely the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Here is a complete list of the plaintiffs.

Complete list of the Catholic (arch)dioceses and organizations who filed suit

At 11 a.m. Eastern on May 21, 2012, 43 different plaintiffs in 12 different federal jurisdictions filed the religious liberty lawsuit. Here is list of the plaintiffs:

Our Sunday Visitor
Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind.
Catholic Charities of Fort Wayne-South Bend
St. Anne Home
Franciscan Alliance
University of St. Francis
The University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind.
Archdiocese of Washington
Consortium of Catholic Academies
Archbishop Carroll High School
Catholic Charities of D.C.
The Catholic University of America (My alma mater)
Archdiocese of New York
Diocese of Rockville Centre
Catholic Health Services of Long Island
Catholic Charities of Rockville Centre
ArchCare
Diocese of Erie, Pa.
St. Martin Center
Prince of Peace Center
Diocese of Pittsburgh
Catholic Charities of Diocese of Pittsburgh
Catholic Cemeteries Association of Diocese of Pittsburgh
Diocese of Dallas
Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas
Diocese of Jackson, Miss.
Catholic Charities of Jackson
Vicksburg Catholic School
St. Joseph’s Catholic School
Diocese of Biloxi, Miss.
De l’Epee Deaf Center Inc.
Catholic Social & Community Services Inc.
Resurrection Catholic School
Sacred Heart Catholic School
St. Dominic Health Services
Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio
Michigan Catholic Conference
Diocese of Joliet, Ill.
Catholic Charities of Joliet
Diocese of Springfield, Ill.
Catholic Charities of Springfield
Archdiocese of St. Louis, Mo.
Catholic Charities of St. Louis

 Hmmmmm. I don't see Georgetown University on that list... Ha ha!

Let the games begin!!

Another Teacher Shows Her True Colors

[Updated 6:50 pm 5/21/12 See bottom of article]

There never ceases to be a plethora of outrageous material out there to set one's blood to a boil. The latest is an outrageous exchange between a teacher in North Carolina and some students in her classroom. It starts with a couple of students questioning "the fact of the day" that the teacher had put on the board. She wrote that Romney was a bully, and the students asked about Obama admitting that he had also bullied a girl in high school. The teacher asserts that because Obama is president, no one can disrespect him, while Romney is only a presidential candidate and not the president. 

The audio is a little hard to hear, and the students certainly are not the model of decorum. But they learn to dish back what is dished out to them. If you cannot hear all that is being said, some of the dialogue is transcribed on the Blaze.

The teacher also reveals private information, saying she has called the father of one of the students to talk about his poor performance but he father has not called her back.

For me, the bottom line is I am glad I got out of teaching 20 years ago!! I would have a hard time biting my tongue, too.

[UPDATE}
The teacher has been suspended, with pay.

Those Precious Little Ones!

My mom has 11 children. Between us we have given her 21 grandkids, 2 step-grandkids, and one grandchild on the way. That's a total of 24.

A Knoxville man has 11 baby mamas. Between them they have given him 30 children. That's a total of 30 children! He wants to take a break from paying child support. Apparently $1.49 per month in child support is draining his coffers.


As the video points out, the law cannot do anything to this man because he has not broken any laws. There is no comment about his parenting skills.

Now, speaking of parenting skills, have a gander at this video that has gone viral. This is Anytown, U.S.A., and these parents are simply doing their laundry at the laundromat.

Yowza! That poor kid must have been dizzy. Luckily, he was not permanently harmed, at least not outwardly. He will grow up with a phobia of laundromats.

Sooooo, taking care of little ones is a challenge. That was confirmed for me today. I cleaned the living space of my little ones, and then, out of sheer negligence for their well-being, I killed them. Yes, all of them. Their innocent, lifeless bodies are floating in a tub outside.

I had 11 goldfish. Between them they produced countless offspring. That's a total of an unknown number. Their demise really was not intentional, but I should have known better. Darn that chlorine!

Fishhkill (aka piscicide) Not pictured: 6 additional dead goldfish

Post Script:

These are our REAL "little ones." They grow up fast!

I Finally Took Stock

I can't tell you how many times it has happened while we were at Home Depot that my husband says, "I wish I had stock in Home Depot." That wishful thinking struck a cord with me today as the hype about Facebook's initial public offering dominated the news. So, this evening, I did something that I have never done before -- I bought stock. Yes, I bought stock in Facebook.

The price for the small number of shares I bought is double the actual cost of the stock after the online company added in its fees.Facebook's stock may prove to be a huge "fail" in the coming months, or it could be that the value will go up. Time will tell.

Either way, it will be years before an individual share earns back the cost, fees and shipping charges that I paid. But it was all done for the nostalgia of it all -- purchased on May 18, 2012 -- setting a new volume record for an IPO ever.

Facebook's billionaire Zuckerberg opens trading on May 18, 2012

No, I did not buy shares in Facebook to get rich. Goodness knows I wouldn't want to be part of the dirty, filthy, depraved, thoughtless, self-absorbed, bigoted, racist, stingy 1%. Yeah, I wouldn't want to be wealthy or anything....

Occupy D.C.'s McPherson Square campsite in January 2012 

McPherson Square is right up the street from the White House. Speaking of the White House, do you think President Obama bought shares in Facebook today? We know that he has a few bucks to spare, and he likes having his face on things, and (of course) he has a Facebook page with lots of goodies for sale, including these fan favorites in stock:

Pootin-Tootin pull-my-finger-Obama

Official WH TP, usually bought along with the above doll

The W(h)iner President

All in good fun, my friends. All in good fun. . . .

Ooops! Can He Get a Do-Over?

This video could be infuriating if not for the fact that the "pastor" thinks he is destroying a statue of Mary when it is actually a statue of St. Therese of Lisieux. That shows his ignorance, and completely undermines ANYTHING he says. He pretends to know what Catholics do with statutes, but his ignorance shows he is merely making things up as he goes along. I will take my Catholic faith over nonsensical made-up rhetoric any day!

Is Georgetown Catholic? It's a Gut Feeling.

[UPDATED 5/18/12 See bottom]

Ever hear people say "Is the Pope Catholic?" when their response to a question is unquestionably in the affirmative? 100 years ago, you could have said "Is Georgetown Catholic" and evoked the same sentiment. In recent decades, however, not so much.

By now you have heard that Georgetown University has invited Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of HHS, to speak at its diploma ceremony in a few days. This video is a dramatic depiction of why this scandal continues to grow.

One student commented that the invitation to Sebelius to speak at the ceremony was a "knife in the gut." Sadly, politics now will disrupt what should be a day of celebration for ALL students. Instead, the divisiveness of this political appointee will overshadow that joy for many devoutly Catholic students at the University. It's a shame, although not at all surprising. The Sandra Fluke debacle a few months ago is another piece in the liberal puzzle that Georgetown is building. I have a gut feeling Georgetown's days as a Catholic university are numbered. . . . The Bishops' Conference has denounced the invitation.

You are invited to sign the petition to ask the university's officials to withdraw the invitation to Sebelius. Go to http://georgetownscandal.com/.

[UPDATE]
My gut feeling was right on. At least, it appears someone is taking action under canon law to have Georgetown declared to not be Catholic. It is none other than William Peter Blatty, author of The Exorcist and Georgetown University alumnus, who is disgusted with the way Georgetown has flouted the Vatican mandate in  Ex corde Ecclesiae. The story is here: http://blog.cardinalnewmansociety.org/2012/05/18/georgetown-alum-william-peter-blatty-says-canon-law-suit-our-only-hope/ and here: http://blog.cardinalnewmansociety.org/2012/05/18/exorcist-author-georgetown-alumni-preparing-canon-lawsuit/.

Oddly, a few weeks ago I was down at the Georgetown site where some of the scenes in The Exorcist were filmed. The bottom picture looks like the Flats are falling down the stairs!!

A Mirth-filled Minute with Mitt

Sometimes a little humor is a good thing. If we can't laugh at ourselves, we'll end up being laughed at!

On This Date 11 Years Ago Today . . .

There are a number of cliches that we use when thinking about the past. We often say "time flies" when events that occurred some time ago seem to have occurred more recently. Or we may say "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Both of these phrases came to my mind a couple of weeks ago when I came across an old issue of Time magazine from May 14, 2001.

As I read through the issue, I was amazed at how things have changed with some of the people, products, and stories in the issue, while others were so familiar they could be written today -- the "same old same old," if you will. So, I decided it would be interesting to look back at some of the contents on the 11th anniversary of the issue. Here we go.

One of the magazine ads that week was for a cute movie that helped put Sandra Bullock on the Hollywood map: Miss Congeniality. Bullock's name would become synonymous with romantic comedies over the next few years.

Several years ago, however, Bullock starred in a dramatic movie called The Blind Side, which was based on the true story of a poor young African American high school student who was befriended by a wealthy white family in a Southern state. Bullock's character helps the young boy become a true man, and he in turn teaches her something about herself and life. The young man went on to play football in college and now is a professional with the Baltimore Ravens.

Bullock won an Academy Award for her role. However, while she was riding high on her own success, she was blind-sided by her husband's infidelity. Their breakup and eventual divorce was as shocking as a Hollywood breakup can be.

To add to the drama, Bullock had just brought an adopted child into her home -- an African American child named Louie. He seems to have brought her comfort as he has taught her something about herself and life. I hope Sandra and Louie's story ends as happily as did that of her on-screen character in The Blind Side.

The next ad worth noting is this one.

I am not sure where Lou Dobbs had gone such that he was coming back to CNN on May 14 of 2001. But, his subsequent run at the cable news network would not be "happily ever after." After the 2008 election of Barack Obama, Lou began to ask questions that obviously ticked off the "powers that be" at CNN and, no doubt, the White House.

Once pressure was applied by the network bigwigs and, no doubt, the White House, Dobbs did not stand a chance.

But, all was not lost. Lou soon found a new home at -- you guessed it -- the rival network of CNN and, no doubt, the White House, Fox. Can you say "irony"?

 

Then we move on to a series of ads in what I call the category of "you-won't -see-that-in-2012." Here's the first.

This ad may look harmless. It's byline is "The cure for midsize crisis." Starting to get the picture? Here is a close-up of the text, in case you cannot read it:

Now, perhaps, you get it. With an ad saying that you can now buy an airplane that is priced millions below the competition if you want to get away, who would it appeal to except the "1%"? So, needless to say, you won't see an ad like that ANYWHERE today! It would be suicide--the kiss of death--for any company that dared appeal to the 1%.

Similarly, you won't see these images in advertisements nowadays:

An airplane flying over tall skyscrapers ... since less than 4 months after this issue was published, 9-11 occurred.

A HAPPY serviceman and a HAPPY family . . . Code Pink, Cindy Sheehan and others demonized the military under Bush, but have completely ignored the loss of military lives under Obama.

Tiger Woods advertising much of anything, especially for kids.

Remember when Martha Stewart ruled the world of home decorating?

Her relaxed and poised image failed a bit -- okay, completely, in 2004--when she was convicted of lying to investigators about a stock sale and served five months in a West Virginia federal prison.

Many thought Martha would never recover and that her empire would crumble. But she came back as strong as ever, strengthening her empire by entrenching herself deeply in Kmart with her line of household goods.

And, as we noted, there is the category of "the-more-things-change-the-more-they-stay-the-same." First is the ever-present Chinese, who were making their presence felt then, . . .

                                        . . . just as they do now.

And the story of a polygamous household then . . .

. . . and sister stories in the news cycle a few years ago, . . .

. . . and multiple television shows on the present TV schedules:

Sister Wives

HBO's Big Love

And what about this story about too much regulation and the way the nanny state is encroaching on our freedoms?

Somehow that story is not likely to be repeated in 2012 in Time about how we are being strangled by regulations under this administration, proving that the nanny state is alive and oh-so-well!

And then there was Tom Cruise, who, as the story went, had spent the better part of a decade denying rumors that he was gay. . . .

A story which is repeated this week about another lady-killing actor. Besides, how could you think a hunk like THIS is gay:

And then there was the former Mrs. Tom Cruise, who killed 'em in Moulin Rouge in 2001 . . .

. . . but since then has divorced Tom, married Keith Urban, borne him two children, won an Academy Award, and faded from the limelight as one of Hollywood's most-desirable actresses. Luckily, Tom's new wife, Katie Homes (over whom Tom jumped madly up and down in a display of "love" on Oprah's couch), has only borne him one child and is also not ranked among Hollywood's most-desirable actresses.

If I were to go into the title story about the study of nuns who have Alzheimer's and who donated their brains to science, it would take me a month to finish this blog entry. The School Sisters of Notre Dame of Mankato, MN, were the subject of the study. I will only say that the discrepancy between the average ages of death among nuns compared to lay women is no longer as as large as it was eleven years ago. They too are succumbing to the rigors of life at a younger age, in the mid-80s now that the new millennium is well under way. But I can tell you that there are now more nuns in America over age 90 than there are under age 50. Take that for what it's worth. Besides, some nuns now have jobs that are much more dangerous than they had before.

And then, finally, there was a story in the May 14, 2001 issue about the omnipresent issue of gay marriage.

Eleven years later, liberals continue to push, this time with the express intention to redefine "marriage." It does not matter them that the majority of Americans hold sacred the definition of marriage that has existed for some three millennia. Liberals to try to demonize those of us who oppose their re-definition attempts by calling us homophobes or accusing us of discrimination. It seems it is always we Conservatives who must bend and give and compromise our values and beliefs so that they can fell better about themselves. I know many Americans who are ready to fight -- our beliefs are not up for compromise.

So, in that vein, I now have found the next issue of a magazine (debuting this week, but dated May 21, 2012) that I will hold onto for eleven years before reviewing and commenting on the stories and ads. The cover story alone should make for interesting fodder.

Will we be saying "the more things change the more they stay the same" in eleven years? Or will it be "time flies"? Maybe by then we will have the true, full story of Barack Obama's life. Stay tuned for 2023. . . .