Stanley Kurtz has a conniption this morning on how the "left" still controls the culture in this country. By "left", he means the "Da Vinci Code." His analysis strikes me as ideological panic and intellectual blindness. There’s a more obvious reason for the popularity of the "The Da Vinci Code" than the alleged non-conspiracy of … Continue reading Why Da Vinci?
Theocon-in-chief, Richard John Neuhaus, has a problem on his hands. No one has gone so far out on a limb defending Father Maciel from charges of rampant abuse and rape of minors. Neuhaus smeared the reporters who helped bring Maciel’s abuse to light, and declared his innocence was a "moral certainty." Yesterday, we got two … Continue reading Neuhaus Responds
He has already scored a major victory for the perpetrators of minor-molestation. The proximate cause is that he has simply closed down the investigation into Father Maciel, very credibly accused of molestation in Mexico. The victory is that the press has barely noticed. The news was released on a Friday afternoon (yes, the Vatican has … Continue reading BENEDICT AND CHILD ABUSE
The more I think about Pope Benedict’s purge of the moderate, fair and careful editor Tom Reese, the more outraged I get. I’m not the only one. Commonweal magazine has just produced a stirring editorial in defense of America‘s now former editor. Money quote: It is hard to judge what is more appalling, the flimsy … Continue reading WHY REESE WAS PURGED
Fun and fear in the British election. My favorite quote: “They are intelligent and furious young conservatives, driven by hatred of Western liberalism in all its forms, and absolutely convinced they are being viciously persecuted by the ‘infidel’ state. It is very hard to engage them in a political dialogue that makes sense.” Just to … Continue reading GALLOWAY’S GALLOWS
ABC News has the footage of then-Cardinal Ratzinger slapping the wrist of ABC News reporter Brian Ross when he inquired about the suppressed investigation of alleged sex abuser, father Maciel. The video is revealing.
My extended take on the current conflicts within conservatism can be read here. THE MACIEL TIME BOMB: Now, this is interesting. Why on earth would then-Cardinal Ratzinger re-open an investigation of Father Marcial Maciel’s alleged child-sex racket last December, having suppressed any kind of inquiry for many years? A critical piece of television footage – … Continue reading CRISIS IN FAITH
Bush’s ‘mandate’ “includes using the taxing power to transfer wealth from working people to the rich. It includes giving corporations a free hand to eviscerate the environment and control the regulatory agencies meant to hold them accountable. And it includes secrecy on a scale you cannot imagine. Above all, it means judges with a political … Continue reading BEGALA AWARD WINNER 2002 (for excessive liberal rhetoric)
The only word for Father Paul Shanley is evil. I am relieved he is finally in jail. But the church hierarchy must be terrified. It appears Shanley attempted blackmail before; what he could say in a trial or other venues could make our current knowledge of this systematic pattern of abuse and cover-up seem mild. … Continue reading THE GATHERING STORM
“In fact, Andrew McKelvey’s network [Americans for Gun Safety] kind of operates and sounds a lot like Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda. A billionaire with an extremist political agenda, subverting honest diplomacy, using personal wealth to train and deploy activists, looking for vulnerabilities to attack, fomenting fear for political gain, funding an ongoing … Continue reading DERBYSHIRE AWARD NOMINEE
