The ban on politics from the pulpit all but gone now
Bishop Daniel Janky
Some of you may recall Bishop Daniel Jenky, head of a Catholic diocese in Illinois, who during Mass last April likened President Obama and Senate Democrats to Hitler and Stalin. He also asked God to “have mercy especially on the souls of those politicians who pretend to be Catholic in church, but in their public lives, rather like Judas Iscariot, betray Jesus Christ.”
Now, on the eve of the election, Jenky has sent a message to every priest in his diocese, telling them that “By virtue of your vow of obedience to me as your bishop, I require that this letter be personally read by each celebrating priest at each Weekend Mass, November 3/4.”
The mandatory letter states:
Dear Catholic Believers,
Since the foundation of the American Republic and the adoption of the Bill of Rights, I do not think there has ever been a time more threatening to our religious liberty than the present. Neither the president of the United States nor the current majority of the Federal Senate have been willing to even consider the Catholic community’s grave objections to those HHS mandates that would require all Catholic institutions, exempting only our church buildings, to fund abortion, sterilization, and artificial contraception.
This assault upon our religious freedom is simply without precedent in the American political and legal system. Contrary to the guarantees embedded in the First Amendment, the HHS mandates attempt to now narrowly define and thereby drastically limit our traditional religious works. They grossly and intentionally intrude upon the deeply held moral convictions that have always guided our Catholic schools, hospitals, and other apostolic ministries.
Nearly two thousand years ago, after our Savior had been bound, beaten, scourged, mocked, and crowned with thorns, a pagan Roman procurator displayed Jesus to a hostile crowd by sarcastically declaring: ‘Behold your King.’ The mob roared back: We have no king but Caesar. Today, Catholic politicians, bureaucrats, and their electoral supporters who callously enable the destruction of innocent human life in the womb also thereby reject Jesus as their Lord. They are objectively guilty of grave sin.
For those who hope for salvation, no political loyalty can ever take precedence over loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his Gospel of Life. God is not mocked, and as the Bible clearly teaches, after this passing instant of life on earth, God’s great mercy in time will give way to God’s perfect judgment in eternity.
I therefore call upon every practicing Catholic in this Diocese to vote. Be faithful to Christ and to your Catholic Faith. May God guide and protect his Holy Church, and may God bless America.
It is important to note that Jenky’s description is wrong or incomplete on several points. The health-insurance coverage requirement does not apply to churches or church employees involved in its religious mission. It applies only to any secular operation by the church, such as hospitals and universities, just as it would apply to any other business.
More importantly, the policy does not require coverage of abortion. It does require that policies include contraception methods that block implantation of a fertilized egg in the womb, which the church considers abortion.
Jenky is not alone in such statements. Nicholas DiMarzio, a Catholic bishop in New York, expressed similar sentiments last week, warning parishioners that “It is inconceivable to me how Catholics could support such policies. Indeed, Roman Catholics who support abortion rights and vote for a candidate because of those policies, place him/herself outside of the life of the church. In so doing, they also place themselves in moral danger.”
“Is it possible to vote for somebody despite their support for these policies?” DiMarzio asks. “To my mind, it stretches the imagination, especially when there is another option.”
Nor are such statements confined to the Catholic leadership. For example, the Rev. Randy Mickler, head pastor of Mount Bethel United Methodist Church in Marietta, touched on multiple political topics in his Oct. 21 sermon:
In his message, Mickler tells his congregation (9:20 in the posted video) directly accuses President Obama of showing “great hostility toward Christianity, and at times an encouragement toward Islam,” rattling off a long list of alleged such actions, many if not most factually questionable.
For example, Mickler claimed that in June of 2012, the Obama administration banned the use of Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps emblems on Bibles to be distributed by the government to our troops. He did not mention that it did so under threat of a lawsuit by a group making the reasonable point that imprinting U.S. government symbols on Bibles could be interpreted as government approval. The Bibles are still being distributed, just as they always have been, but absent the military emblems.
‘I’m not telling you whom to vote for,” Mickler says. “I don’t think God cares who wins this election as much as he cares about how we reflect Christian integrity in a voting booth. It is ridiculous to think that we can divorce our faith from our actions and say, this is secular and this is sacred.”
He also tells the congregation that they face a quandary. “I’m not telling you to vote for the Mormon,” he says. “The Mormon is not a Christian. According to the National Council of Churches, that is a sect, not a religion.”
Technically, federal law still prohibits churches and other groups that enjoy tax-free nonprofit status from engaging in partisan politics. In practice, though, that law is seldom if ever enforced because the political cost of doing so would be prohibitive. And while I don’t have a major problem with that turn of events and accept it as inevitable, I think violating federal law was always one of the more minor risks that religious leaders take when they so flagrantly entangle their churches with the sordid world of partisan politics.
Once you step into that political world, the rules change significantly, and I’m not talking federal or state law.
UPDATE: I put this in comments below, but I’ll add it here as well:
It’s perfectly legitimate to question the mixing of politics and religion in the black church, although I think you also have to acknowledge how the tradition arose. For a long long time, going well back into slavery, the church was the only black institution through which the black political voice could be expressed, and black church leaders the only representatives that the white establishment respected. Separating church and state was not an option to a community allowed only a religious voice.
That said, it is impossible as a legal and practical matter — and as a matter of fairness — to allow that to continue in black churches while trying to enforce the pulpit/politics ban in other institutions. That’s in part why I wrote above that the ban is basically a dead letter from here on out.
– Jay Bookman
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748 comments Add your comment
RF
November 1st, 2012
9:30 pm
“Am I the ONLY man in America that doesnt’ see her as a fat nassy ho without a single redeeming quality?”
I see her that way too, even if I am predisposed not to be attracted…I’ve seen drag queens that can work it better than that. She’s right up there with Snookie for me.
Racism in the South during the Civil Rights Movement
November 1st, 2012
9:30 pm
I have listened to the video beginning around 18:48 and was blown back because the guy sounded so much like some of the people that blog here.
Brosephus™
November 1st, 2012
9:30 pm
Am I the ONLY man in America that doesnt’ see her as a fat nassy ho without a single redeeming quality?
Nope. I can agree with you on that one.
Fred™
November 1st, 2012
9:31 pm
Jm
November 1st, 2012
9:29 pm
Bama has an easy schedule
Fact.
++++++++++++++++++++++
Damn. That’s two days in a row JM posted something true that i could agree with.
USA Patriot
November 1st, 2012
9:32 pm
Bro, agreed! Hope it’s the GA team that showed up in J’ville. Same with the Falcons, better have what they had in Philli!
Jm
November 1st, 2012
9:32 pm
What does CMA stand for?
Definitely not country music awards….
RF
November 1st, 2012
9:33 pm
“We don’t know if the Dawgs that played Florida will show up or if it will be the team that played Kentucky”
As long as they don’t bring the Murray from the first half with the Gators, we might be okay. Lord that boy ’bout gave me heart failure throwing it away like that so much.
Jm
November 1st, 2012
9:34 pm
Fi fi Freddy
Racism in the South during the Civil Rights Movement
November 1st, 2012
9:34 pm
RF
November 1st, 2012
9:28 pm
call it what you want or sugarcoat it like you want to. I was not born during this time but it is amazing to listen/watch this video and still hear the same B.S. today.
Fred™
November 1st, 2012
9:34 pm
RF: I saw a picture of Snooki without makeup. She looked better than she does with it. She, Snooki, doesn’t evoke my gag reflex like Kim does. I don’t know why, maybe because Snooki wasn’t born with a golden spoon up her ass like Kim was and didn’t have to fake a sex tape to get noticed………. I dunno. I think there is still hope for Snooki. Kim is a lost case.
Morality?
November 1st, 2012
9:34 pm
Have you not forgotten the Rev Rat and his politics from the pulpit Jay? Is his hate filled “G.D. America” O.K. with you? That’s Obama’s preacher preaching politics with Obama in the audience. Obviously Obama approved or he wouldn’t have been there. African Americans have traditionally used the pulpit for politics. Case in point was Martin Luther King. I Have no problem with that – freedom of speech you know. Same for the Catholic priests. Freedom of speech. So you want to suppress and threaten freedom of speech because someone has tax exempt status. That’s Big Brother gub’ment suppression.
RF
November 1st, 2012
9:35 pm
“Bama has an easy schedule”
Looks that way, which doesn’t bode well for them when the playoffs start. They get lazy and overconfident and then hit the wall. We can hope anyway…
Brosephus™
November 1st, 2012
9:36 pm
Bama has an easy schedule
Fact.
Bama has the #1 Defense in the FBS. They make their schedule look easy.
Fact.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/stats/byteam?cat1=defense&cat2=Total&conference=I-A_all&year=2012
Jm
November 1st, 2012
9:37 pm
“I love ribs”
Southern. Yawp.
JamVet
November 1st, 2012
9:37 pm
And right on cue, who shows up but immorality.
That guy has racial demons from here to Selma…
getalife
November 1st, 2012
9:37 pm
USA,
LSU fan and it will be a competitive game.
Aquagirl
November 1st, 2012
9:38 pm
Oh, the boys are playing with their balls again. I’m out.
Jm
November 1st, 2012
9:38 pm
Bro 9:36
I was keeeeding man. Damn man…. Jokey joke
Fred™
November 1st, 2012
9:39 pm
As long as they don’t bring the Murray from the first half with the Gators, we might be okay. Lord that boy ’bout gave me heart failure throwing it away like that so much.
You mean ANN Murray? That girl needs to stick to singing. We would have a team like Bama if Richt had some balls. He should have pulled ANN Murray after the first half and put Hutson Mason in. Hell, he should START Hutson Mason. Maybe it would cause ANN Murray to pull her head out of her ass, man up and become a FOOTBALL QB!!!!!!!!!!! Instead the 6 million dollar Sunday school teacher gives ANN Murray a huggy a kissy and a pat on the butt and tells him he understands and that Sunday School will be at 9:00 am tomorrow…………
RF
November 1st, 2012
9:39 pm
“call it what you want or sugarcoat it like you want to”
Actually, I was agreeing with you. Not sure how you took it, but I was being a tad bit sarcastic by mentioning what I look back on as a ridiculous period of fear of basically anything that wasn’t lily white and living in the lower 48. You are absolutely right about the language. They used it to evoke fear and hatred of anything or anyone different.
Fred™
November 1st, 2012
9:40 pm
Sht. I’d even make ribs and BBQ for Jm………
Morality?
November 1st, 2012
9:40 pm
You want to ban politics from the pulpit? That would be illegal. You would be banning freedom of speech. The pulpit does not belong to the gub’ment. It is in the private sector. Better idea – why not take away tax exempt status from Planned Parenthood. Talk about a political group.
Jm
November 1st, 2012
9:41 pm
“racial demons”
I thought they were all red. There are different races if demons?
Budumpching
Brosephus™
November 1st, 2012
9:41 pm
jm
gotcha, but couldn’t resist posting that link for bragging purposes…
RF
November 1st, 2012
9:41 pm
“Oh, the boys are playing with their balls again. I’m out.”
Damn, you got the spy cam working or something?
Brosephus™
November 1st, 2012
9:42 pm
I thought they were all red. There are different races if demons?
I learn something new here every day. I wonder which race of demons are the angriest…
Jm
November 1st, 2012
9:42 pm
Fred
Sir, that is a genuwine compliment
Much obliged
RF
November 1st, 2012
9:43 pm
Fred: don’t diss on my beloved Anne like that!!! Now I gotta fire up the ol’ Ipod and listen to real crooning for a few… So why does he really coddle Murray like that? Anyone else throwing interceptions like that would have been pulled after the second, let alone third one.
Fred™
November 1st, 2012
9:43 pm
Aquagirl
November 1st, 2012
9:38 pm
Oh, the boys are playing with their balls again. I’m out.
+++++++++++++++++++
There you go with that super sensitive they are trying to pick me up crap again…………
Doggone/GA
November 1st, 2012
9:43 pm
“You want to ban politics from the pulpit? That would be illegal”
Partisan political speech from the pulpit is ALREADY illegal. No one has said anything about banning political speech.
Brosephus™
November 1st, 2012
9:44 pm
getalife
Is this your handiwork here???
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/lsu-tigers-defeat-top-ranked-alabama-crimson-tide-203100499–ncaaf.html
USA Patriot
November 1st, 2012
9:44 pm
getalife, yep, should be a good game. Good thing, for LSU fans it’s in LA!
Jm
November 1st, 2012
9:45 pm
Bro
The dark red demons are just greedy
The pink ones are into weird kinky stuff
RF
November 1st, 2012
9:45 pm
Fred: some nice “Snowbird” playing. I actually needed some relaxing music after today. Nice choice!
dbm
November 1st, 2012
9:45 pm
While we’re on the subject of who really said what, can anyone tell me if the following quote is really due to George Washington?
“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is FORCE, and, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearsome master.”
It’s a very good quote, and it would be nice to be sure who is entitled to the credit.
Racism in the South during the Civil Rights Movement
November 1st, 2012
9:46 pm
RF, I have listened to this video because a friend was discussing the Georgia Charter School Amendment and wanted me to see this. I was blown away…when the guy starts to speak about how the laws were created and by whom I was in shock…check it out beginning at 18:48
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9ACS4PgDFA
Fred™
November 1st, 2012
9:46 pm
RF: What you mean is someone NOT playing for Mark Richt would be benched for that stupid crap. There is a REASON Richt didn’t start at Miami. There is a REASON he was a backup QB in the pro’s who never played. There is a REASON he will never have a Nat’l Championship.
he’s comfortable with being a doormat, playing second fiddle, being first loser (second place).
Jm
November 1st, 2012
9:47 pm
Sorry for the demon generalizations
I’m sure some demons are good
Brosephus™
November 1st, 2012
9:49 pm
jm
Y’all have fun. gotta call it quits here.
Fred™
November 1st, 2012
9:49 pm
Gee dbm, let me help you out………
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Government+is+not+reason%2C+it+is+not+eloquence%2C+it+is+FORCE%2C+and%2C+like+fire%2C+is+a+dangerous+servant+and+a+fearsome+master.
LaKeisha Jackson
November 1st, 2012
9:50 pm
The law didn’t get enforced, so for all practical purposes it’s just been overturned. If the government had revoked a few church’s tax-exempt status years ago, it would have stopped a lot of pastors and priests and rabbis and imams from taking politics into the pulpit. But the first ones to really do that excessively were African-American church leaders, and the government wasn’t about to mess with the Black church. (It always disappointed a lot of us that our government seemed to feel that we can’t be held responsible for the same laws and rules that the white folks were.)
Mick
November 1st, 2012
9:51 pm
fred
That’s pretty funny about your revulsion to kimmie…I saw the tape quite by accident and here’s a one word description I don’t use much – gross! Yet, she’s famous, it’s the american effing way…
Morality?
November 1st, 2012
9:52 pm
ShamVet – watch your mouth. I have no racial demons – just oppose those who do like the Rev Rat. Like I said I have no opposition to politics from the pulpit….. be it left or right. Jay opposes the Catholics because they oppose Obama’s beliefs which do not coincide with the beliefs in the Bible. You are the Race Card player bud – not me. Obama’s supporters like you always accuse those that do not agree with them of racism. I just pointed out the fact that politics has long come from the left in thee pulpit but JAY doesn’t like it when the opposition does the same. That’s hypocritical. I could care less about your previous hate filled comments either.. ShamVet.
Fred™
November 1st, 2012
9:54 pm
Man that last link was an epic fail. Sorry.
Jm
November 1st, 2012
9:54 pm
Bummer. Bye bro.
On another note bloomberg endorses Obama.
I like bloomberg, but I disagree with his call. Obviously.
I blame my demons.
Fred™
November 1st, 2012
9:54 pm
Mick: Why couldn’t Morgan Faichild have made a tape lol. I would have watched……..
Keep Up the Good Fight!
November 1st, 2012
9:55 pm
Disputed
Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action. Attributed to “The First President of the United States” in “Liberty and Government” by W. M., in The Christian Science Journal, Vol. XX, No. 8 (November 1902) edited by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 465; no earlier or original source for this often quoted statement is cited, nor has such yet been found in research done for Wikiquote; later quoted in The Cry for Justice : An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest (1915) edited by Upton Sinclair, p. 305, from which it became far more widely quoted. George Seldes who initially included it in his Great Quotations (1966) cited to the Farewell Address, stated in the 1985 edition of the work that he had been informed that it is apocryphal.
Unsourced variant : Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.
Fred™
November 1st, 2012
9:56 pm
JM: So that’s not a rumor eh? I saw that earlier. Why after dogging him for years would Bloomberg endorse the President?
Why did Christie? What underhanded double dealing are “We the People” not seeing that the power brokers are dealing?
Jm
November 1st, 2012
10:00 pm
Fred
People can be critical of the prez and still think he is the better choice
In christie’s case, it is political opportunism combined with a desire to do anything to help his state recover including kissing the derrier of the prez
RF
November 1st, 2012
10:03 pm
Jm: the pink demons are kinda fun at the right party, but I digress….
Bloomber’s endorsement of Obama is about as liked by some as listening to Gov. Christie say nice things about him. But disasters bring out some reality in people, and at the end of the day they’d rather have someone who actually puts feet on the ground and gives them his phone number to call rather than wait a few days to fly over in the jet and look pensive. In a way, we needed this disaster to remind us that we’re all just people in a very unpredictable and uncontrollable world that have to work together every now and then, politics be damned.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
November 1st, 2012
10:04 pm
In christie’s case, it is political opportunism combined with a desire to do anything to help his state recover including kissing the derrier of the prez
to help his state? Or what anyone not conned into being a part of the GOP would say is his job and good government. helping the country you have been elected to serve. too bad more of the GOP haven’t tried it.
Jm
November 1st, 2012
10:08 pm
RF
Obama is putting on a show
dbm
November 1st, 2012
10:09 pm
Fred and Keep up the Good Fight
Thank you for your helpfulness.
One person I spoke to suggested it might be in a farewell address Washington wrote for the end of his first term but didn’t use because he was re-elected. Can anyone tell me if such a source is available for checking?
getalife
November 1st, 2012
10:09 pm
Bro,
Not me but I agree
Mick
November 1st, 2012
10:10 pm
This new found bipartisanship-
It’s one part humanity and equal part politics; christie is well aware that obama is well liked in jersey so he loses no points by being complimentary, which is always a lot easier when it’s the actual truth…also jeresy/new york is one of the largest media markets in the US, no room for error as a politician…
Mick
November 1st, 2012
10:14 pm
**Obama is putting on a show**
More like a clinic on “how to be president in time of disaster”. Rule number one – act quickly and decisively, so later when you promise the world, the people are just glad that you stabilized the situation…
RF
November 1st, 2012
10:14 pm
@Jm: “Obama is putting on a show”
Mayyyybe, but the proof will be when the rebuilding starts and how quickly the insurance companies and FEMA respond. If they do well, he gets some props. If not, then there will be one more axe to grind about him I guess.
@Racism: did you notice the line about “sworn enemies of the republic and the constitution…” Sounds familiar and recent doesn’t it? Hard to believe that’s from that long ago considering the rhetoric these days. In the rural areas of our own state, there are charter schools that are, in fact, resegregating the population along racial and socio-economic lines. They throw in enough of the subgroups to pass legal muster, but the intent is clear. You’d think a couple of generations would have changed things, but I guess not.
getalife
November 1st, 2012
10:16 pm
I wonder how many gop will break off and actually vote to help the middle class in our President’s second term.
RF
November 1st, 2012
10:18 pm
Mick: a lot of what the president does is just that- offer stability and hope. We look to him to speak calmly and with reserve and hope. For all the heck I give Bush, he did that after 9/11 and did a good job of it. I’ll always give him credit and respect for that, just as I think Obama is doing the right thing and being presidential at a time when people in those hard-hit areas need it.
getalife
November 1st, 2012
10:20 pm
Actually, w lied on the bullhorn about getting those responsible for 9/11.
Our President did that.
RF
November 1st, 2012
10:21 pm
@getalife: if they don’t, the midterms will likely be ugly for them. I’m waiting to see how the repubs fare in some of the senate and house races out there now, especially nuts like Akin and Mourdoch. If they win, the midterms could get ugly, because they’ll do nothing but obstruct for at least that long. If the Dems win some of those races and keep the senate majority and pick up a few house seats, then maybe the logjam begins to ease. I’m not entirely hopeful, but let’s face it, they have to work together to keep the automatic budget cuts and tax cut expirations from happening, and that’s coming very very soon.
Fred™
November 1st, 2012
10:22 pm
dbm: I was a smart ass on my first reply, but after scanning the links, all I can say is, I just don’t know. How to check what you ask is not my strong point. Others here are much better at manipulating google. It’s a shame Kamchak isn’t on right now, i’ll bet he could nail it down for you. Your question is not cut and dried. It seems part truth and part legend………
Fred™
November 1st, 2012
10:25 pm
Ya’ll stay frosty. I’m going to try to go to sleep. This “cold”is kicking my ass. Maybe my wife IS right for a change and I have pneumonia, I can’t seem to get the crap out of my lungs and cough up a lot of bloody phlegm, not to be confused with blood……..
but after a week I’m tired of this crap.
Morality?
November 1st, 2012
10:26 pm
Politics from the pulpit has never been illegal in this country….. show me where it is illegal. That’s freedom of speech. Why not just eliminate tax exempt status for everyone…… including charities. Is that what you want? Good – do it. We should simplify the entire tax code and remove all deductions and exemptions. Personally I would keep one deduction – for home mortgages.
getalife
November 1st, 2012
10:26 pm
RF,
We have both parties agreeing the middle class are getting buried in their stump speeches but we only have one party that actually votes to help the middle class. I know because I watch them debate obstruct or vote. I don’t think the gop has to change because they can do or say anything and their voters will vote for it.
The fiscal cliff will be avoided by our President caving on the tax cuts for the wealthy again.
td
November 1st, 2012
10:31 pm
getalife
November 1st, 2012
10:20 pm
Actually, w lied on the bullhorn about getting those responsible for 9/11.
Our President did that.
Where did the intelligence come from to find him and allow Obama to give the order to take him out? Yes, water boarding of a terrorist and Obama took that information and used it after he said it was a crime. Does this not make him a criminal as well?
Jm
November 1st, 2012
10:32 pm
“Rule number one – act quickly and decisively”
Osama
Benghazi
Deficit
BP disaster
Not a single quick or decisive decision there
But he’s still an ok guy
Just a bad prez
getalife
November 1st, 2012
10:33 pm
td,
Watch the obl movie to help your patriotism.
RF
November 1st, 2012
10:34 pm
“The fiscal cliff will be avoided by our President caving on the tax cuts for the wealthy again.”
I still think the seats up for grabs in the house and senate may influence that a little. If the repubs win, and they well might, he will probably have to cave. If they lose, and we know what the balance will be come January, they may be forced to negotiate some. There’s room for that and where the income cutoff levels could be, so I’m still hopeful. Gotta be, or I’d be drinking like a fish to cope, not that I’ll be able to afford it with furlough days and insurance premium spikes, but there’s always the cheap stuff!
Jm
November 1st, 2012
10:34 pm
Night night
getalife
November 1st, 2012
10:36 pm
jm,
obl, dead.
Benghazi acted in real time.
Deficit, cut a trillion and want to cut 4 more trillion.
BO, unprecedented 9 billion recovery fund from BP.
mitt freaks out after a attack and could not be bothered getting obl.
mitt and christie endorsed our President.
Game over.
RF
November 1st, 2012
10:38 pm
“Yes, water boarding of a terrorist”
My, if it weren’t so late, I’d jump into that one with both feet. We have a far vaster network of intelligence gathering than some thugs in Gitmo getting their jollies watching some good ol’ fashioned interrogatin’. That’s been proven to yield very little credible information. Funny how wanting to breathe will make you say or agree to anything. You can’t possibly, even in the parallel universe of neocon lunacy, prove that helped one iota in locating bin Laden in Pakistan. Show me the proof, while I get a good laugh out of rereading your inane notion.
LeRoi2
November 1st, 2012
10:46 pm
There was just an article this week about how print newspapers continue to lose readers. They listed the top 25 newspapers in the country, along with their readership growth, or shrinkage. Of course, the fish wrapper, AJC, was not even in the top 25. My guess is that the readership of this rag has fallen off a cliff, and columns and opinions expressed by people like Jay Bookman are a large part of the reason.
Not because they are controversial, but because the show a bias, that readers believe colors the objectivity of the news reporting. No one wants to be told how or what to think, or worse, be treated like they are stupid, ignorant, or uneducated, because they hold views different from the political bias of the editors. AJC, just a horrible, biased, and poorly written excuse of a paper. Jay Bookman, predictable, boring, effete, and wrong.
RF
November 1st, 2012
10:50 pm
“No one wants to be told how or what to think, or worse, be treated like they are stupid, ignorant, or uneducated, because they hold views different from the political bias of the editors”
Only Fox News personalities and viewers are allowed to call anyone ignorant or tell them how to think. Comes from all the overexposure to brain-dissolving nonsense blabbered incessantly. If you don’t like the conversation, don’t stop on the sidewalk. Go on down the street to Kyle’s blog. You’ll feel much more comfortable there, I assure you.
getalife
November 1st, 2012
10:51 pm
You have to question the Catholic church on allowing the gop to get their filthy corrupt hands on SS and Medicare to end them and give the gop another opportunity to destroy our country again.
RF
November 1st, 2012
11:03 pm
Last tidbit for the night: A little shout out from Grove Norquist that puts the Romney/Ryan ticket in its proper light.
”
All we have to do is replace Obama. … We are not auditioning for fearless leader. We don’t need a president to tell us in what direction to go. We know what direction to go. We want the Ryan budget. … We just need a president to sign this stuff. We don’t need someone to think it up or design it. The leadership now for the modern conservative movement for the next 20 years will be coming out of the House and the Senate.”
The requirement for president?
“Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States. This is a change for Republicans: the House and Senate doing the work with the president signing bills. His job is to be captain of the team, to sign the legislation that has already been prepared.”
So much for the balance of power in the freakin’ Constitution, huh?
Here’s the bumper sticker: “All We Need Is A Pen. Romney/Ryan 2012
Move over USinUK, there might be a few million expatriates looking for a sane place to live if Capt. Ryan gets the helm of the Titanic…
Sweet dream, children. Somebody lock the basement door before td gets back up the stairs, please.
RF
November 1st, 2012
11:22 pm
should have typed Capt. Romney, but it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. The problem with the hive mind is that they start to look and sound alike after long enough in the collective…
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
November 1st, 2012
11:22 pm
6 days before the election, and I paid $3.29 for a gallon of gas.
I supposed that it is theoretically possible for $6 a gallon by Tuesday.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
independent thinker
November 1st, 2012
11:39 pm
Latest Romney Scandal:
“”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”You wouldn’t know it from the way Paul Ryan has been championing retired non-union workers of Delphi Auto, but his potential boss – Mitt Romney – made a mint off of a hedge fund investment that sent most of Delphi’s job overseas and hedge fund principals who blackmailed the government into a huge payoff.
Greg Palast has detailed the ugly story on Truthout (reposted from the Nation). It is also the topic of a United Automobile Workers’ (UAW) news conference in Toledo, Ohio, today, as exclusively revealed in a BuzzFlash at Truthout piece by Palast, “UAW Charges Romney With Profiteering From Auto Bailout.”
Ryan is claiming to be upset that former non-union Delphi workers are not getting full pensions, which is grotesquely ironic considering Romney made a career of pension destruction that was part of his vulture capitalism formula. Remember also that — which is Palast’s point about Delphi — the Romneys are still earning more than some 20 million a year in their “retirement” based in large part on investments in firms that cannibalize industry and workers.
Romney’s likely multi-million dollar profit is hidden in Ann Romney’s so-called “blind trust.” In 1994, when Romney ran unsuccessfully against Ted Kennedy for the Senate, Mitt declared: “The blind trust is an age-old ruse.”
The profit from the Romney’s Delphi fund investment, through a hedge fund, came about as the result of extorting the federal government, according to Palast’s account:
Yet without taking billions in taxpayer bailout funds—and slashing worker pensions—the hedge funds’ investment in Delphi would not have been worth a single dollar, according to calculations by GM and the US Treasury.
Altogether, in direct and indirect payouts, the government padded these investors’ profits handsomely. The Treasury allowed GM to give Delphi at least $2.8 billion of funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to keep Delphi in business. GM also forgave $2.5 billion in debt owed to it by Delphi, and $2 billion due from Singer and company upon Delphi’s exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The money GM forgave was effectively owed to the Treasury, which had by then become the majority owner of GM as a result of the bailout. Then there was the big one: the government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation took over paying all of Delphi’s retiree pensions. The cost to the taxpayer: $5.6 billion. The bottom line: the hedge funds’ paydays were made possible by a generous donation of $12.9 billion from US taxpayers.
Of course, once the hedge fund Romney was invested in shook the feds down for billions, they went to work on destroying jobs. Where did they ship most of the work. Why, who would have thunk it? China.”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"
http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/17617-romney-made-a-fortune-off-of-extorted-delphi-government-ransom-payment-tell-paul-ryan
Ken
November 2nd, 2012
12:56 am
Over the past 30 years, no one has won the presidency without winning the suburban vote. Bill Clinton’s successful campaigns were built on getting strong support from suburban voters. To some extent, Obama inherited much of the goodwill Clinton earned with this important voting block. Yet, in just four years, Obama seems to have squandered that.
As the suburbs go, so goes the nation. Today, at least, the suburbs are going with Romney.
DawgDad
November 2nd, 2012
1:25 am
Let the Democrats reap what they have sown.
When the Democrats declared political war on the Catholic Institutions they cast themselves on the wrong side of the line not only socially and economically but spiritually as well. They have completely turned many clergy and religious peoples who were long time Democrat supporters, as I have no doubt they will soon discover.
DevilDogOz
November 2nd, 2012
2:29 am
‘It’s perfectly legitimate to question the mixing of politics and religion in the black church, although I think you also have to acknowledge how the tradition arose’. Jay, your most hypocritical column yet…. and that’s going pretty long! So, it’s OK for the Jeremiah Wrights but not anyone perceived as ‘on the right’? Also, universities and hospitals of the Catholic faith are not secular… try going aboard one. They respect other faiths, particularly the universities, but are hardly secular, having a religious charter and mission to deliver care consistent with the faith.
RLJ
November 2nd, 2012
3:39 am
While I don’t think it is wise for a religious figure to endorse candidates for the pulpit, I believe they have as much right to do so as anyone else. The separation of church and states does not forbid religious people from taking political action based upon their religious. In fact a denial of their right to do so is more of a violation of it. However, people of religious faith must understand that they are limited in what they can demand. Government cannot endorse a particular faith, and in my opinion, religious organizations should not receive government funding for their ministries, even their social service ones.
stands for decibels
November 2nd, 2012
5:59 am
mornin’.
I absolutely cannot wait to see the bickering and fighting on these blogs come November 7th.
Some of us will try, as we have in the past, to be mature about it, however it winds up going. That’s much easier said than done, though.
stands for decibels
November 2nd, 2012
6:01 am
I don’t see nearly as many signs or bumper stickers this year for either party.
perhaps the respective organizations have learned that they’re throwing good money/time after bad by putting up those signs?
Orange12
November 2nd, 2012
6:54 am
Price Gouging?
http://www.newjerseygasprices.com/Lukoil_Gas_Stations/Paterson/55685/index.aspx
Aquagirl
November 2nd, 2012
7:14 am
perhaps the respective organizations have learned that they’re throwing good money/time after bad by putting up those signs?
Even the candidates are tired of the traditional politicking and attack ad onslaught.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alzz11k9yMk
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
November 2nd, 2012
7:25 am
My absolute favorite quote of this election season.
Aisha Taylor “The President smells like cookies and freedom”
Big smiles my friends, President Obama has got this.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 2nd, 2012
7:32 am
AQUAGIRL
Interesting piece in the Washington Post about predictions by DEMs about the only strategy BO could use for re-election…
“But the kind of campaign required for the president’s political survival,” they said, “would make it almost impossible for him to govern — not only during the campaign, but throughout a second term. Put simply, it seems that the White House has concluded that if the president cannot run on his record, he will need to wage the most negative campaign in history to stand any chance.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/michael-gerson-the-democrats-who-predicted-the-2012-campaign/2012/11/01/f0baf546-2375-11e2-ac85-e669876c6a24_story.html
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 2nd, 2012
7:33 am
GRANNY
What do you mean BO’s “got this”?
tom west
November 2nd, 2012
7:37 am
The Catholic church purports to support life by objecting to abortion as well as the death penalty. Yetthe bishops have never refused communion to politicians who favor the death penalty but do so for those who support the right of women’s access to abortions. Let’s at least be consistent guys.
Verbal Kint
November 2nd, 2012
7:38 am
Hear ye, hear ye..
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/benghazi-blunder-obama-unworthy-commander-in-chief-176736441.html
Normal Free...Pro Human Rights Thug...And liking it!
November 2nd, 2012
7:40 am
Obi Wan Ben Gazi again? Won’t wash.
Aquagirl
November 2nd, 2012
7:40 am
Interesting piece in the Washington Post about predictions by DEMs about the only strategy BO could use for re-election…
Nothing personal but an opinion piece on subjective milestones will put me back to sleep.
I don’t think the actual Romney/Obama campaigns have been more over the top negative than other races. Of course I don’t live in a battleground state so it’s easy to say that. But each successive race means more internet jabber, SuperPACS, more money (and thus more ads) and more polarized Americans.
It’s not them, it’s us.
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
November 2nd, 2012
7:46 am
Stevie
Really?
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 2nd, 2012
7:47 am
VERBAL KINT
Please know that the LIBS on this blog, similar to the main street media are choosing to ignore this issue, just like the WH….the flow of data was a trickle to start and have been completely shut down so not to offer fodder to the other side before the election…too bad for the families of those killed…
The DEMS seem to have taken WH lead and swept this under the carpet in favor of the most negative campaign in history..
Verbal Kint
November 2nd, 2012
7:51 am
Stevie Ray – And that is coming from a newspaper in Harry Reid’s backyard. I would not have found an article like that interesting to link to if it were NRO, Townhall or the like.
I have a feeling many people on this blog are going to be upset next Wednesday morning.
GoodScout
November 2nd, 2012
7:51 am
I was at a rural Catholic parish in Vermont Sunday and a similar homily was pronounced. There’s no doubt it’s a centrally controled political campaign organized at the highest level of the Catholic Church in America. They want to be involved in politics? Running secular businesses like hospitals. Fine. Regulate them. Make them play fair and obey our secular laws. And tax them. Tax them all.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 2nd, 2012
7:53 am
AQUAGIRL
The point of the article is that two DEMS predicted this scenario and at the time were ostracized by their peers…this historical negative campaign to smear the competition first and defend record if time permits will serve as precedent for elections in coming years…
It’s kinda like beginning post election commentary in advance…
Aquagirl
November 2nd, 2012
7:54 am
The DEMS seem to have taken WH lead and swept this under the carpet in favor of the most negative campaign in history..
Remember to vote sour grapes early and often.