Dead Nation Walking

Yesterday's election should have been a no-brainer.  That Obama got into the White House in the first place on his prior record is bad enough; but that a majority of voters should re-elect him after he has spent the last four years promoting intrinsic evils, running this country into the ground, pandering to her enemies and openly opposing everything she stands for shows how far gone we are.  

Stark reality: the majority of voters in today's America simply do not recognize evil when they see it.  We are surrounded by evil, at home, at school, at work, on television, in popular culture, until it seems normal.  We take vice for virtue, and virtue for vice, or, at best, a form of mental illness.  We are mired in habitual sin, especially lust.  We equate the pursuit of sensual pleasures to the pursuit of happiness, and sensual pleasures are now more important to us than life itself.  Not only are we willing to kill ourselves and others in the name of pleasure; we will tolerate even the extinction of the human race.  In today's America, formerly illicit liaisons enjoy the protection of law.  Sodomitical unions take the place of natural relations, and concubinage takes the place of stable families.  And the land is awash in the blood of the unborn.  According to the Guttmacher Institute, there were 1.21 million abortions in this country just in the year 2008.  That is more than the total number of Americans killed in the Civil War and both World Wars.  According to the same source, there were nearly 50 million abortions in the United States between 1973 and 2008.  That approaches the total number of people who perished in World War II.  These figures do not even take into account the numberless souls who are kept out of existence by contraceptives, many of which are abortifacients.

In the face of all of which the Catholic Church in America has remained silent.  For decades, with very few exceptions, American priests and bishops have not uttered a peep about the tsunami of spiritual sewage bearing down on their flocks.  The results are not surprising.  28% of women who have abortions identify themselves as Catholic.  98% of sexually experienced Catholic women have committed the sin of contraception.  Catholics are indistinguishable from non-Catholics in the rate of divorce.  Half of Catholic voters voted for Obama.     

America has turned her back on God and His law, and now He has decisively allowed her to be turned over to her enemies.  This is God’s judgment on the United States, because she will not stop offending Him.  And since the United States will now no longer offer refuge to the oppressed or keep the world’s barbarian warlords in check, it is also His judgment on the whole world for its sins.

There are no political solutions to our problems, only spiritual ones.  The words of Our Lady of Fatima are no less true now than they were 95 years ago.  We must repent, stop sinning, and do penance.  And we must pray the Rosary.  Every day.  Without fail.

All you Dominican saints, whose feast day is today, pray for us.

Postpone the Election?

The liberals want Obama to postpone the election, using as an excuse the destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy in a part of the country that is dominated by liberals.  Can it be done?

Not legally.  Article II, § (Section) 1 of the U.S. Constitution spells out how the President is to be elected.  Clause 3 provides:

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

Congress' determination of this time and day is enshrined in the United States Code.  3 U.S.C. § 1 provides:

The electors of President and Vice President shall be appointed, in each State, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, in every fourth year succeeding every election of a President and Vice President.

Article II, § 2 spells out the powers and duties of the President:  

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

Notice that, pursuant to the foregoing, the President has nothing to say about when a presidential election takes place.  Obama has zero legal authority to change the date of the election.  That any number of Americans should want him to do something so entirely despotic and downright unconstitutional is rather disconcerting. 

We have a pretty huge anti-precedent for the suspension of a presidential election.  We are talking here about a thing that even Abraham Lincoln did not dare to do during the Civil War.  Consider: in 1864, casualties were astronomical; the Union suffered one military disaster after another; anti-war feeling in the North ran high;  and Lincoln's re-election seemed all but impossible.  When, in the whole history of the world, had a nation ever held an election during a civil war?  Yet the President who went as far as to suspend habeas corpus did not try to postpone, let alone cancel, the 1864 election, even though he believed the Union would not be restored if he lost.  Is it possible he thought about it?  Sure.  Lincoln was not squeamish about setting aside the Constitution when  he considered it necessary.  But it is certain that he did not try it.  If a Civil War upon which the survival of the nation depended was not an excuse to suspend a presidential election, how can a hurricane be, even one as terrible as Sandy?

Ah, but it will be argued, throughout his term, Obama has proven himself no slave to constitutional punctilio.  From Obamacare to bailouts to Benghazigate, this has been a lawless, mendacious administration from start to finish; why, it will be asked, should Obama suddenly start respecting the Constitution?  For that matter, the problem predates Obama: it has now been many decades since the federal government confined itself to its enumerated powers; an awful lot of what it now does on a daily basis is unconstitutional.

But if the administration should try to hold onto power by force -- and trying to suspend a presidential election would amount to that -- does it have the backing it would need?  Can anyone launch a coup without the support of the military?  Does this administration in fact have the support of the military?  Maybe it has the support of some big brass personalities who are more bureaucrats than soldiers; but what about the rank and file?  After the Fort Hood terrorist massacre; after the adding of insult to that injury by designating it "workplace violence"; after the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the raft of "sensitivity training" that came in its wake; after the Benghazi attack, when it became apparent that the rule of "no man left behind" is vacated under this administration: what must the rank and file soldiers think?  We saw that two former Navy SEALs in Benghazi disobeyed direct orders NOT to defend the consulate.  Is the willingness to disobey orders confined to those two men?  Soldiers are trained to follow orders, and face a court-martial for not doing so; yet there is still no obligation to obey illegal orders. 

Let the election go ahead, full steam.  Obama does not even have the power to be a speed bump.

Benghazi

Some things to remember on Election Day.

On September 11, 2012, a horde of terrorists assaulted the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, murdering our ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens; U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith; and two former Navy SEALs, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.       This attack coincided not only with the 11th anniversary of 9/11, but also with the storming of our embassy in Cairo.  Aided and abetted by the media, the administration portrayed these outrages as having been provoked by a purportedly anti-Islamic film uploaded to YouTube, the producer of which was rounded up and tossed into jail.   The Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, stated that no rescue operation was launched because it was too unclear exactly what was happening. 

This was on Thursday of last week, when we learned that, not only did the White House know the attack was premeditated, and who perpetrated it, but that they were receiving a live video feed of the attack from a drone.  The White House knew what was happening, while it was happening.    Then Friday, we learned that operatives at the CIA annex in Benghazi were not only thrice denied permission to go in and defend the consulate; they were specifically ordered to stand down, and were denied military assistance.   

Two former Navy SEALs, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, defied the order to stand down, along with at least two others.  Tyrone Woods singled out the source of mortar fire on the consulate, and painted it with his laser in the expectation that a missile would come in and take out the target.  "Expectation" is the key word here.  There would be no point in painting a target with a laser unless you were counting on a missile, especially since, by painting the target, you give away your position.  Tyrone Woods had reason to believe a missile would be forthcoming.  No missile came.  The mortars were not taken out.  Tyrone Woods was killed by mortar fire.

The Obama administration's response to this casus belli rises only from the mendacious to the buffoonish.  When the bodies of our slain embassy personnel were brought back to the United States, their families -- who did not plan to comment publicly until the White House's real-time knowledge became known -- were nonplussed at the apparent lack of concern on the part of the President and top members of his administration.  To the father of Tyrone Woods, the Vice President of the United States said: "Did your son always have balls the size of cue balls?"

How appropriate that the Obama flag logo has as much class as the Vice President, and looks like blood smears.

What We Are Up Against, Part II

Times have gotten pretty tough in this country since Obama was elected.  Unemployment is up to 8.1%.  Gas prices have gone through the roof, and with them, the price of groceries.  (Seen tonight at my local Fred Meyer: $9.00 and change for a single 12-pack of root beer. !!!!)  Government has used billions in taxpayer money to bail out banks and take over the auto industry.  Government has taken over health care.  The administration has declared war on the Catholic Church.  The Democrat party has come out against God and in favor of abortion and gay "marriage."  But even all this doesn't mean we can count on Obama being voted out of office in November.

And our friends at Charleston Thug Life gives us some insight into why.  Study the outpourings of the children of the welfare state juggernaut.  And then consider that they, too, vote (felony convictions or not).  And they don't want anybody messing with their "free" stuff.

Children of the welfare state on Section 8

Children of the welfare state on EBT

What we have with some of the commentators featured in these posts is a major subset of the Obama constituency.  They know next to nothing about history or economics or any other aspect of how the world works, but they feel really good about themselves and consider themselves entitled to be supported for free, so they can devote all their time to hedonistic pursuits.  When people of their mindset get to be the majority in this country, we're done.  Kaput.  Finito.  If indeed we're not already done, kaput, finito.

The other major subset of the Obama constituency is the elitists who dole out the bread and the circuses to the first major subset, convincing them that they belong at the bottom, so that the elitists can more easily run their lives.  Their natural enemies are those who are productive and who own property, because these are still mired in the old-fashioned, "natural law" superstitions about the rights that flow from the ownership of private property.  The goal of the elitists is to accumulate so much power that they needn't care what the children of the welfare state or anybody else think or want.  At that point, they can just kill anybody who opposes them.

Before you get all mad and start throwing around accusations of racism, remember that it is unsafe to assume the following: (1) that the people who run Charleston Thug Life are a bunch of whites; (2) that blacks and other minorities are happy about having to bust their humps to so that those who don't work can have luxuries working stiffs must deny themselves.  And before you dismiss all this as hysterical right-wing ravings, consider the appalling things our culture is now full of that would have been unthinkable just a quarter-century ago: obscene language and soft-core pornography on prime-time television; same-sex "marriage" legalized in many states; the gay lifestyle being taught to grade-schoolers; child molesters lobbying to declassify pedophilia as a mental disorder.  Now that we have cut ourselves loose from our Judeo-Christian moorings, ours is a society in which the unthinkable quickly morphs into the commonplace.

And the time to begin reversing this trend is running out.  

What We Are Up Against

The Democrat National Convention is a good occasion to stop and think about Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals -- the primer of today's generation of Democrat leaders.  Supertradmum and Fr. Z have posted them -- in the interest of stimulating as much though as possible at this critical time, I hereby jump onto the bandwagon.  In contemplating these rules, it is important to consider their ultimate origin, and how susceptible we all are to the techniques they describe, no matter smart or educated or well-meaning we may be.  In fact, it is precisely the highly-educated and the intellectuals, long on degrees and short on humility, that are in most danger of being overmastered by these techniques.

RULE 1: “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood.

RULE 2: “Never go outside the expertise of your people.” It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone.

RULE 3: “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.” Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty.

RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules.

RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.

RULE 6: “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” They’ll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They’re doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones.

RULE 7: “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.” Don’t become old news.

RULE 8: “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new.

RULE 9: “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist.

RULE 10: “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog.

RULE 11: “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem.

RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.

So what are we to do in this war of nerves against Alinskyite assaults?  The most crucial thing, surely, is to possess sanctifying grace.  Sanctifying grace comes from participating in the sacramental life of the Catholic Church.  We can't hope to resist evil without it.  We are in a war against devils who still possess their native angelic intelligence and powers, and we cannot hope to defeat them on our own, without grace.  We can have brains, we can have courage, we can have skill, but without sanctifying grace, we are marching into battle, starving and completely naked, armed with nothing but a pocket knife and a trash can lid.  And I greatly fear, based on the way I see people living their lives, that many of us -- maybe even most of us, and even many Catholics -- do not possess sanctifying grace.  That is why our country is collapsing.  That, surely, is why so many people at the Democrat convention booed the resolution to put God back into the party platform.  It is a foretaste of hell on earth.

Any hope we have of pulling our country back from the brink of the abyss lies in doing the two things so many of us will do anything to avoid: repent and convert.

Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil.  For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.  Therefore take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect.  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace: in all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one.  And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God).  Ephesians 6:11-17  

The Party of Civil Rights...?

Gov. George Wallace, Democrat, tries to prevent desegregation at the University of Alabama in 1963.

In the age of slavery, the Democrat Party was the home of those who supported, or were willing to tolerate, slavery.

After the Civil War, the Democrat Party was the home of white supremacists, paramilitary groups dedicated to the disenfranchisement of blacks, and politicians who enacted black codes and Jim Crow laws.

The Democrat Party was the home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who, in 1942, ordered the forced internment of more than 100,000 Japanese and Americans of Japanese ancestry.  (It was Republican President Ronald Reagan who apologized for this action in 1988.)

The Democrat Party was the home of all but one of a bloc of 18 Senators who fought hard to kill the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Some of these Senators -- especially former Ku Klux Klansman Robert Byrd of West Virginia -- continued for decades as respected and prestigious members of the Party.

The Democrat Party was the home of Lyndon Johnson who signed the Civil Rights Act into law with one hand, and with the other hand created the Great Society, and with it the burgeoning modern welfare state, which has destroyed the black family and trapped many blacks in moral and economic servitude for decades.

The Democrat Party is the home of Barack Hussein Obama, fanatical opponent of the right to life of unborn babies, and launcher of perhaps the most blatant and explicit assault on religious freedom in our time.

Yes, indeed...the party of civil rights.

Dining with the Enemy

Sorry, but there is nothing good about this invitation of Obama to the Al Smith Dinner. Of course it is scandalous, and no amount of intellectual gymnastics can make it otherwise. 

This is not the same as pouring hot coals upon the enemy's head by doing him good. Cardinal Dolan is not bringing a starving Obama in off the streets. Nor is it the same as Jesus reaching out to prostitutes and tax collectors. The prostitutes and tax collectors believed the Gospel and repented, whereas Obama has made it quite plain that he intends to continue on his present course. What this is is the extending of a gratuitous and completely undeserved honor to an enemy of the Church. It is the latest in a long line of Catholic clergymen cozying up to unfriendly and even pro-abortion politicians over the last half-century. It is one more log on the bonfire of cynicism, and a source of distress and confusion to the faithful. 

Obama is at war against the Catholic Church, and has proven it by his actions. Why do so many in the Church not believe him? I guarantee Obama and his minions view this as a sign of weakness, and have even more contempt for the Cardinal Archbishop of New York, and the Church, than they did before. This is the way to prolong the war, not to win it. 

 And how can the bishops hope to rally Catholics in the pews against enemies of the Church whom they invite as honored guests at a dinner? William F. Buckley put the problem very succinctly 42 years ago, ruminating about the failure of Catholics to repel the forces of abortion in New York state (Inveighing We Will Go, New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1972, pp. 326-328): 

When the time came to rally protests against permissive abortion laws, the troops were simply not there. It is very difficult for a Catholic fundamentalist to go on about Murder, while his Cardinal is photographed speaking amiably to the leader of the Assembly that passed the abortion bill a few months before. How would it have appeared if, let us say, Cardinal Spellman of New York had been seen shaking hands and chatting amiably with Martin Bormann? The answer is that Cardinal Spellman would have avoided doing any such thing. And that Cardinal Cooke’s willingness to traffic with legislators from New York who voted for the abortion bill seems to suggest that New York Catholics must regard permissive abortion policies as something less than the kind of thing that inspires mutinous relations between the subject and the state. 

We are obliged to be civil to our enemies, to pray for them, and to be generous to them in their need. But we are not obliged to be intimate and chummy with them. In fact, when being intimate and chummy saps our will to stand up for the Faith, surely we would be obliged NOT to.

If Only We'd Listened

This cartoon was produced by Harding College (now Harding University) in Searcy, Arkansas in 1948.  Ask yourself whether the evils warned against 66 years ago in this cartoon have not now come to pass.

We can't say we weren't warned.  If only we'd listened.


How's that snake oil tasting, Obamatons?

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

On the same day as the announcement that Obamacare has survived in the Supreme Court, we receive the news of the decree that Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen was possessed of heroic virtues, and thus will henceforth be Venerable Fulton J. Sheen. 

Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday.

-- Ven. Fulton J. Sheen

Speaking Truth to Totalitarians

The Left is fond of the idea of "speaking truth to power," but what they really mean by it is: leftists destroying traditional institutions, and drowning out the voices of those who support such institutions.  When leftists are in power, and anyone has the temerity to gainsay them, it's a whole different story.

Exhibit A: the European Parliament's responses to British member Nigel Farage, former commodities broker and now leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).  Here he is last June, addressing the Parliament on the subject of its relationship with reality.  Clearly, they would like nothing better than for Farage to just dry up and blow away.

Here he is again just the other day, on the legitimacy of the EU's authority:

Most sobering of all is this exchange in the Parliament in the wake of the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in 2008:




After discovering this guy on Dr. Sanity over the weekend, I spent some time watching videos of him giving interviews and addressing the European Parliament.  The sight of Nigel Farage telling the eurocrats where to get off, bursting their bubbles, calling out their totalitarian tactics, and even identifying the "ex" Communists among them -- all right to their faces -- is not only first-class entertainment, but also positively bracing in this age of mealy-mouthed political correctness.  Besides plainly exposing Euro-hypocrisy, Farage's trenchant comments have the additional virtue of eliciting reactions from the eurocrats that cause them to betray their antipathy for liberty, their disdain for the hoi polloi, and their dedication to ideology at the expense of flesh-and-blood human beings. 

I don't pretend to be versed on the ins and outs of Euro-politics, but I do know plain speech when I hear it, and courage when I see it.  It is looking more and more as though the sole virtue of the European Parliament is that it provides a forum for Nigel Farage to speak truth to totalitarians.  May this good work of his soon be no longer needed; and until then, may he keep it up. 

Penance, Penance, Penance!

In what should come as no surprise, Obama has come out in favor of same-sex "marriage."

But not content to prostitute the prestige of his office, he added -- speaking as an alleged "practicing Christian":

[O]bviously this position may put us at odds with others, but when we think about our faith, the thing at root (is) not just Christ's sacrifice on our behalf, but the golden rule, treat others the way you want to be treated.

Are we to understand the current occupant of the White House to be saying that sodomy is a sacrament, equivalent to the Sacrifice of Calvary?

In all the years of our nation's life, who could have imagined that the American people would put a man at the head of our government capable of uttering a blasphemy of this magnitude?  Nor is this an anomaly in a country that for forty years has been steeped in abortion, contraception, promiscuity, concubinage and the celebration of homosexual acts.  How can this country expect to escape divine retribution?

We always have a duty to keep ourselves in the state of grace, but most of all during this time when the forces of hell are on the march.  Now more than ever we need to frequent the Sacraments of Confession and Communion.

Here is where you can order this:

Time for us to order a lot of them, distribute them, and repair with them to the nearest tabernacle.  Time for us to pray the Rosary every day.  Time for us to do penance.  Penance.  Penance.  We certainly shall not escape it.

France Recedes into the Darkness

Two decades after the precipitous collapse of the Soviet Union, France opts for socialism -- proving once again that democracy is only one safeguard of human liberty, and not always the best.  Proving also the capacity of French voters to completely ignore a century of catastrophes brought about by socialism in every country in which it has been tried; and, what is far worse, proving how far France has strayed from her Catholic heritage, since she embraces a system diametrically opposed to the Faith.

It is tempting to throw up one's hands and dismiss this as a case of France getting exactly what she deserves, since she brings this unmitigated disaster upon herself.  But socialism always seeks to export itself; the bitter chalice France has mixed for herself will overflow and spill across her borders.

And when Europe again ignites, will the United States have the wherewithal and the moral fiber to step forth to its rescue once again?   

Need a Reason to Say the Rosary and Go to Adoration?

Here's a good one. Were you seriously thinking Jihad was just a figment of George W. Bush's imagination?

Pay particular attention to the San Diego law enforcement officer when he is asked whether they have ever found any nuclear device or dirty bomb materials in San Diego. Pay attention also to the part about a potential electromagnetic pulse attack. If you think this is the stuff of science fiction, look up Starfish Prime. Ever stop and think about how dependent we are on power? On computers? If we were hit by an EMP attack, all our electronic devices -- in phones, in cars, in hospital equipment, in everything -- would turn into instant junk. What is our current regime doing about this threat? 

Only the other day, while performing my morning ablutions by candlelight because of a neighborhood power failure, I was meditating on the fact that we can't even protect our power grid from things like squirrels. If a single rodent can knock out power to hundreds of households, how will we defend our grid against a covert army within our own borders?

H/T Adrienne's Corner.

Help Save the Ultrasound Bill

Remember the real face of abortion.

You may be aware, even if you do not live in Idaho, that there is a bill in the state legislature that will require a pre-abortion ultrasound as a condition of informed consent to an abortion.  An ultrasound demonstration was performed at the Statehouse, so that legislators could see for themselves what will be shown to pregnant women contemplating abortion.  The firestorm that has erupted amongst hell's fellow travelers and useful idiots testifies to the effectiveness of this demonstration.  Fascinating that the same crowd that wants to have the feds reach into the pocketbooks of Catholics to bankroll their reckless promiscuity is now suddenly worried about "government intrusion" by ultrasound.  

The state senate has passed the bill, but it has now stalled in the house.  Apparently the legislators, who are overly concerned with re-election, are hearing more from the abortion forces than from those who support life.  

Remember that the Annunciation, the Feast of the Incarnation, is upon us.  If you are an Idahoan, what more fitting way to honor the Incarnation than by contacting your state legislators and urging them to choose life.


UPDATE: A Life Rally will be held on the Capitol steps in Boise tomorrow, Monday, March 26th from 4-6 p.m. in support of the ultrasound bill, to prove to wobbly legislators that more than just 3 1/2 people support the bill.  Please be there if you can.  The ACLU is planning a "candlelight vigil" in opposition to the bill starting at 7:30 p.m.  Pray for rain.


UPDATE: The legislature will not pursue the ultrasound bill any further this year.  The 2012 session is expected to end this week.

Liberty Enlightening the World

The Centennial Light, Livermore, California, the world's longest-burning light bulb.  This picture provides a good view of the mechanism of this lamp, as well as its beauty and careful hand-craftsmanship.  (Source.)

This light bulb hangs from the ceiling at Fire Station 6 on East Avenue in Livermore, California, where it serves as a night light over the fire trucks.  Hand-blown with a carbon filament, it was manufactured at the Shelby Electric Company in Shelby, Ohio and first installed at Livermore's fire department horse cart house on L Street in 1901.  It has been moved twice since then; since its most recent move, in 1976, it has been hooked up to its own independent power source, and has burned continuously without being turned off or going out.

Consider this.  The year this light bulb was installed was the same year that Queen Victoria died.  It was the year President William McKinley was assassinated, and Teddy Roosevelt took his place in the White House.  In 1901, Leo XIII was Pope in Rome; Winston Churchill was just beginning his extraordinary career in the House of Commons; the Panama Canal was still under construction; Douglas MacArthur was still a cadet at West Point; radio and motion pictures were still new inventions; the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk was still two years away, and it would be another seven years before Henry Ford's Model T would begin to roll off the assembly line.  Since 1901, two world wars have ravaged the planet; most of the world's monarchies have toppled; the Soviet Union rose and fell; the Cold War raged; man took flight, first across continents and oceans, then to the moon and back; telephones, televisions, and above all computers have brought the entire world right into our homes.  Through it all, this bulb has continued to shine.   True, the Centennial Light is down to only a fraction of its original brightness; yet even its manufacturers, who prided themselves on making the best lamps in the world, could hardly have imagined how long this light's working life would continue.

Nor is the Centennial Light the only bulb possessed of extraordinary longevity.  Others have been documented as having functioned for many decades, including one that has shone since 1908.  Who knows how many other bulbs have worked for decades that nobody has documented?  Truly, the incandescent light bulb is among the most useful devices ever come up with in the history of human innovation.  

So it makes perfect sense that the current socialist administration, whose ultimate goal is the moral and material enslavement of Americans, should make war upon the incandescent bulb and try to cram vastly inferior fluorescent bulbs down our throats.  

Let's face the facts about fluorescent bulbs -- and particularly the spaghetti bulbs meant to be installed in place of incandescent ones.  Like virtually all other things liberals are always trying to force-feed us, fluorescent bulbs stink.  They take forever to reach their full brightness, and their full brightness isn't much to write home about.  They're costly. They're full of mercury, which makes them dangerous.  They're worthless in an Easy-Bake Oven.  And you can't just throw them out when they burn out, like you can incandescent bulbs.  

Fortunately, there is still a company in this country that manufactures incandescent bulbs.  America's entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well at Newcandescent, which legally manufactures incandescent bulbs.  And they say their bulbs will last 7 years.  

I don't usually plug products on this blog, but I'm glad there's somebody still manufacturing incandescent bulbs in this country.  Still, there is one thing that really sticks in my craw about it.  Even if you are a fan of fluorescent bulbs, if you are a patriotic American and lover of liberty, you must acknowledge that greater principles are at stake than the preferability of incandescent over fluorescent.  The fact that Newcandescent had to (a) redesign incandescent bulbs to comply with new federal requirements, and (b) apply to the Department of Energy for permission to manufacture the newly designed bulbs ought to fill you with rage.     

Did you ever think we'd reach a point in this country when American citizens would have to apply for permission from the federal government to manufacture incandescent bulbs on American soil?  Was this what the Founding Fathers had in mind?  Is there some provision of the Constitution, written, perhaps, in invisible ink, that gives the feds this authority?  Was this what generations of patriots shed their blood in distant lands to protect?

It's a shame to have to admit it, but the America upon which the Centennial Light first shone 111 years ago was a much freer one than the one we live in today.  Our first order of business in this country is to straighten ourselves up as individuals, governing our passions, recovering our Christian morals and living according to right reason.   Without this, nothing else will work.  Our second order of business is to throw out the socialist bums that have seized power in this country at every level of government.  Our third order of business is to reduce the federal government to its original constitutionally mandated functions, and every other level of government to reasonable proportions in accordance with state constitutions, common sense, and the principle of subsidiarity.  And in the meantime, we should support entrepreneurial efforts like Newcandescent that prevent the useful things that improve our lives from being cast into oblivion by socialist elites.

H/T Les Femmes - The Truth.   

The Persecution of Fr. Guarnizo Intensifies

I trust that Dymphna will not mind my borrowing this image from her excellent blog: it is a good reminder that faithful priests can expect no easier fate than that which befell Him Whose representatives on earth they are.  And now, one faithful priest who has been suffering before the world on account of his love of the Eucharist, has been given a new and heavier cross to bear.

Fr. Marcel Guarnizo, who denied Holy Communion to an open lesbian (who, by the way, is also an activist and practicing Buddhist) has now been placed on administrative leave, and prohibited from exercising any priestly ministry in the Archdiocese of Washington.  Dr. Peters expounds on what this development means and what it doesn't mean from a canonical point of view.

The March 9th letter from auxiliary Bishop Barry Knestout cites "credible allegations that Father Guarnizo has engaged in intimidating behavior toward parish staff and others that is incompatible with proper priestly ministry."  These allegations are not specified but are described as being of a "grave nature."

I have never been to Gaithersburg, Maryland, and neither I nor anybody I know personally am familiar with the particular ins and outs of the parish where Fr. Guarnizo was stationed.  I must confess to not knowing what exactly gave rise to the allegations that have led to Fr. Guarnizo being put on administrative leave.  However, a few general observations spring to mind.  

-- Firstly, it is interesting that it has taken until now, when he has become embroiled in controversy, to discover the "intimidation" tactics of a priest who has been in the parish since March, 2011.  Even if there are legitimate grounds to place Fr. Guarnizo on leave, the timing of this new action against him stinks.  It looks like the lesbian activist has won.  That the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Washington, D.C. appears to be caving to a lobby of public sinners ought to be a matter of concern to the cardinal archbishop. 

-- Secondly, it has long been my experience that it is the support staff who wield the real power in many organizations -- parishes included -- because very often only they know how to keep them running on a day-to-day basis.  In an age when parish priests are frequently and routinely transferred, and laity are "empowered" pursuant to the "spirit of Vatican II," it seems to me that the parish staff, who are often the only real constants in the parish office over the long term, enjoy an accumulation of influence and thus a certain security not shared by the priests that they see coming and going down the years.  

-- Thirdly, Fr. Guarnizo appears, by all accounts, to be, overall, a man of sense.  It is ridiculous to suppose that a sensible priest who has only been in the parish for a year, is not the pastor, and is, moreover, incardinated in another diocese, should try to "intimidate" the parish staff who are higher on the totem pole than he is.  That he should do so at a time when his own influence is at its lowest ebb, and he knows he does not enjoy the backing of the archbishop, is absurd.  That parish staff should actually feel "intimidated" by a priest in such a tenuous position -- even if the lesbian-Communion imbroglio had not taken place -- simply strains all credibility.

I continue to stand by my previous analysis of this business.  In the light of all that has emerged so far regarding this ugly affair, I am perfectly prepared to believe that someone has been deploying intimidation tactics; but I am not prepared to believe that that someone is Fr. Marcel Guarnizo.    Pray for him and for all embattled priests.

The Persecution of Fr. Guarnizo

In re the campaign to destroy Fr. Marcel Guarnizo in Gaithersburg, Maryland, a few observations:

-- The whole business smells like a set-up. It appears that Fr. Guarnizo has a reputation as a faithful and orthodox priest.  It appears further that the complaining party in this ugly affair is not a reliable source of information regarding what actually happened. Good priests can expect more of this sort of thing.  Bishops need to be fathers to their priests and defend them against unjust attacks.   Catholics in the pews need to pray harder for their shepherds. 

-- Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law provides:

Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.

It would seem that if any part of this canon applied in this case, it would be the language about "obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin."  Not being a canonist, and not being familiar with canon law evidentiary standards, I hesitate to undertake a legal analysis.  I do note that at least one prominent canonist, Dr. Ed Peters, is of the opinion that Fr. Guarnizo erred, and his opinion appears to derive from the conclusion that the requirement of manifestness is not satisfied in this case.  Dr. Peters says:

Unless a substantial majority of the community in question (I’m assuming them to be adults, reasonably aware of Catholic life around them, etc.) knows at the time why a given individual is being denied holy Communion, that’s a pretty good sign that Canon 915 has not been satisfied, and that Canon 912 (and some others norms) has been violated.

However, Peters pursues his analysis as though this incident took place at an ordinary Sunday Mass, whereas it took place at a funeral.  The woman who was denied Communion was not just another face in the crowd, but the daughter of the deceased -- a prominent figure among those assembled.  It is not unreasonable to suppose that those gathered for the funeral were family and friends, and thus knew about this woman's living arrangements.  What I would like to see a canonist address is whether these factors change the Canon 915 analysis, and if not, why not.

-- Even if the priest erred, the punishment sought by the putative injured party is out of all proportion to the offense.  The high-tech lynching Fr. Guarnizo is currently undergoing is also out of all proportion to his alleged offense, and stands as stark proof that charity has gone cold in the world.  His apparent abandonment by the archdiocese is shameful.  If Fr. Guarnizo did indeed err, then, as Dr. Peters says in one of his posts linked above, it is correction rather than punishment that is called for.

-- Canonists and clergy who opine that Fr. Guarnizo did the wrong thing in this case should not be surprised by the fact that so many laymen are anxious to justify his actions, even on erroneous grounds -- even regardless of what canon law provides.  Such a reaction is the natural and inevitable product of decades of anger at the spectacle of hired hands allowing the wolves to ravage the fold with impunity while putting the smackdown on holy priests.  Monumental injustices continue unabated: national pro-abortion figures continue to be admitted to Holy Communion; certain parishes continue to be homosexualist playgrounds; gross liturgical abuses are still the order of the day in many places, and not a peep out of those charged with the responsibility of putting a stop to all this.  Naturally, the lay faithful are outraged to see the hierarchy straining out the gnat of a priest denying Holy Communion to a lesbian (if indeed this can be characterized as a "gnat") while swallowing all these camels.

-- In my judgment, the person most deserving of sympathy and support in this situation is not the lesbian who rushed into print with a sensational account of this business, but Fr. Marcel Guarnizo.  He, not she, is the real target of hatred in this whole affair.  It must have made him feel sick to be placed in such an awful position -- a situation every faithful priest must dread.  Whether he was right or wrong, he surely did the best he could in very trying circumstances.

Pray for Fr. Marcel Guarnizo, and for all our priests and bishops.

The Barque of Bigots

"Throw back anyone who disagrees with Chris Matthews!"

According to alleged Catholic Chris Matthews, the Catholic Church is a magnet for bigots.  "If you're really anti-gay," declared Matthews, "you become a Catholic now."  Yet another reason for the Westboro Baptists to hate Catholics: we're competition!

When this little item first came out, the memory instantly flashed back to an incident involving another nutjob Matthews statement some years back about the current occupant of the White House -- an incident brilliantly and hysterically illustrated by the irrepressible crusading Canuck, TH2:

 So, yeah, I think we need to consider the source.

The Bishop of Boise Speaks Out

The Bishop of the Diocese of Boise, +Michael Driscoll, has spoken out against the Obama administration's frontal assault on the Catholic Church and the First Amendment.  A letter from the bishop to the Catholics of Idaho was read from the pulpit on Sunday.

The bishop's letter starts out by stating the problem succinctly and forcefully (emphasis in original):

On January 20th, the United States Department of Health and Human Services issued a rule mandating that contraceptives, abortion-inducing drugs and sterilization be included at no cost to the insured in all health care plans.  This means that health insurers will be forced to include these immoral "services" in their health plans and that every employer, including Catholic parishes, schools, hospitals, charitable organizations, and and social service agencies, will be forced to provide and pay for this coverage that is a clear violation of Catholic teaching.

The bishop urges us to contact our legislators and ask them to work for the reversal of the mandate.  For the record, here is a list of Idaho's congressional delegates and how to reach them at both their D.C. and local offices (for an email form, click here):

Senator Mike Crapo (R)
U.S. Senate
239 Dirksen Senate Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6142

251 East Front Street, Suite 205
Boise, ID 83702
(208) 334-1776

Senator James E. Risch (R)
U.S. Senate
483 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2752

350 North 9th Street, Suite 302
Boise, ID 83702
(208) 342-7985

Congressman Raul Labrador (R)
1st Congressional District
U.S. House of Representatives
1523 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-6611

33 Broadway Ave., Ste. 251
Meridian, ID 83642
(208) 888-3188

Congressman Mike Simpson (R)
2nd Congressional District
U.S. House of Representatives
2312 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-5531

802 W. Bannock, Suite 600
Boise, ID 83702
(208) 334-1953

In his last paragraph, Bishop Driscoll states:

As Americans and as Catholics, we are blessed with religious liberty which safeguards our right to live our principles and moral convictions.  Our civil laws should fully recognize and protect our right, obligation, and opportunities to participate in society without being forced to abandon or ignore the central moral convictions of our Catholic faith.

This is why we have the First Amendment, folks: not to shield the delicate eyes and ears of atheists from crosses, creches, or Christian utterances, but to protect the province of religion against government invasions like this mandate.  The time has come -- indeed, it is long overdue -- for us to fight for our faith.

Pray for the bishop and the priests of the Diocese of Boise, and for all bishops and priests, who are in the front lines in this war.    

This Is War

A week or so ago, I was asked to consider responding to an article by the purblind Doug Kmiec arguing that the Obama administration is not, in fact, at war with the Catholic Church.  At this point, I don't see the need.  As reported in the Washington Times, the administration itself has provided a decisive refutation of Kmiec's little delusion in the form of the new Health and Human Services mandate giving church-affiliated institutions one year to comply with the Obamacare requirement to provide free contraceptive coverage to employees.

What is the purpose of this HHS mandate?  To force employers to provide free contraceptives (including sterilization and the chemical abortion known as the "morning after" pill) to employees.  What is the one institution on earth that is known and ridiculed, even from within, for its consistent and unswerving opposition to contraceptives?  The Catholic Church.   How, then, can this blatantly unconstitutional mandate be understood except as a frontal assault on the Catholic Church?  We can only regard the lawless administration from which this outrage emanates as an implacable foe of the Church.

Once again, we see how Orwellian is the name "liberal" as applied to the pragmatic utilitarians to whom we have handed over our national affairs.  Tolerance and diversity are the last things "liberals" are for.  Once liberals achieve power, they ruthlessly persecute anyone who disagrees with them.  It is not enough for liberals that persons be free to harbor some vice; society must also tolerate it.  Then it will not be enough that society tolerate the vice; it must go on to accept it as a normal and perfectly viable alternative to traditional moral values.  Then it will not be enough that society accept the vice as normal; it must go on to condone it, promote it, and reject and deride the opposing virtue.  Then even this will not be enough, as long as the vice is not compulsory, and one single shred of opposition to it remains.

It does not end even here.  Having gotten the country to swallow the bar-bell-sized poison pill of one vice, the liberals proceed to force-feed another, and then another, and then another, each one more horrendous than the last.  This is all not only possible but inevitable in a world where Catholics are ignorant of their Faith, lead disordered lives and buy into the spirit of the age.  For the last half-century, we have been doing just that.  We have been lamps under bushel-baskets, and flavorless salt that is good for nothing except to be thrown down and trampled underfoot.  More than half the Catholics in the United States voted for a man who is probably the most pro-death, anti-Catholic President in the history of this nation.  Plenty of fallen Catholics -- including the one who heads the Department responsible for the abominable regulation in question -- have accepted accolades and high posts in his administration.  It is no wonder that this administration thinks itself secure enough to enter into open hostilities against the Church.

We need to take up our faith and start living it again if we are not to be engulfed.  The Washington Times reports that "the new regulation does not require coverage of abortions."  Under the Obama administration, that is a sentence that should end in the word "yet."