John Kerry’s Catholic

problem by Cal Thomas

When Kerry and other Catholic politicians say they accept church teaching but selectively deny it when it

comes to abortion, they place the state above the church and man above God. They mortgage their consciences to convenience and

principle to pragmatism. Should such a person lead this nation?

Ah, the arrogance of the Righteous Right. We have

Calcified Cal Thomas ‘reasoning’ that John Kerry is not a ”good” Catholic and, therefore, not qualified to be President — only

radical fundamentalists need apply. I think Cal was considerably more tolerant of Bush judicial nominee William Pryor, another Roman

Catholic, who strongly opposes abortion but promises to enforce the law (wink-wink). If this is our litmus, how is Pryor trustworthy and

Kerry not? And, who is Cal to judge the quality of their faith — Saint Peter or an American ayatollah? Judge not, least ye be judged,

Cal.

The self-righteous right dominates public discourse because they are relentlessly aggressive bullies and stunningly over-

confident (after all, they believe god is only on their side). One cannot discuss color with people who only see black and white and,

worse, insist that seeing color is a defect. This kind of conservative doesn’t simply lack nuance, he despises it and ridicules the

ability to see more than one aspect of an argument. Better a president who can reconcile conflicting thoughts than one who can’t speak

one clearly.

I say it is precisely someone who puts the state above god, or, at least, can keep them separate, who should lead

America. We have no need for a pharaoh. mjh

PS- The Albuquerque Journal finally published this two months later

(6/15/04).

Conservative Coulter

She frequently

called Liberals elitist and, because of their public schooling, inherently unintelligent.

Why anyone respects a

word from Ann Coulter is beyond me. She lauds the American fascist Joseph McCarthy and repudiates ALL of the people who helped bring

about the Civil Rights movement — there’s a never-ending war that built something.

The stunningly-elitist Ann Coulter says liberals,

along with being traitors and un-American, are elitists (huh?) and can’t reason because we all went to public school — what an example

of reasoning that is. Just what is the MIT of Christian home schooling, Ann? How many global-warming-denying creationists have won the

Nobel prize? Or advanced science in any way?

The self-righteous right dominates public discourse because they are

relentlessly aggressive bullies and stunningly over-confident (after all, they believe god is only on their side). One cannot discuss

color with people who only see black and white and, worse, insist that seeing color is a defect. This kind of conservative doesn’t

simply lack nuance, she despises it and ridicules the ability to see more than one aspect of an argument (critical to what used to be

called reasoning).

This has little to do with the quality of anyone’s education or faculties; it has much to do with hubris. Pride

goeth before the fall, Ann. We’ll try not to laugh too hard at your inevitable come-uppance. Not that you’ve demonstrated the slightest

compassion or grace to us. mjh

This small news item caught my attention this

morning:

A woman ”was charged with aggravated assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon after

she spit in an officer’s face early Sunday morning, police said.”

The woman was stopped for weaving while driving.

She was arrested and, during an odd-sounding stop on the way to the station, she struggled with the cop and spit on him.

Notice that

spitting on a ‘peace officer’ is akin to shooting one.

You will obey and keep your mouth shut in the process, understand? mjh

Future Docile Citizens of America

U.S. Secret Service agents questioned a high school student here about anti-war drawings he

turned in to his art teacher…. [read more]