The Crackup

Since everyone else is pointing to the latest Peggy Noonan column on how Bush has pretty much screwed up the conservative movement in America, I may as well too.

I still think Dubya was right about Iraq, though. But as with a lot of other things, his inability to be publicly articulate about it has really hurt him.

Ascent of the "Quasi-Catholics"

Within the context of asking who might speak for the quasi-religious in America, David Brooks in the New York Times today notes the correlation of how Catholics in America have ascended to economic prosperity by essentially becoming less committed to their faith. In reading this, Mark 8:36 immediately came to my mind.

Anaheim vs. Ottawa

I suspect this will be a ratings nightmare.

Thud

The sound I heard during the last scene of the "24" season finale. I did think for a split second, though, that Jack might jump off the cliff.

The Fat Lady is Tuning Up

I personally wasn't going to support John McCain in the GOP presidential primaries anyway, but his central role in pushing through the Senate what can only be regarded as an amnesty bill for illegal aliens, as well as his highly intemperate behavior toward anyone who disagrees with him, has got to be the beginning of the end for McCain's campaign.

Jerry Falwell Passes

An intriguing and controversial public figure he was, and who I will probably most remember as the main player in one of the most significant free-speech cases ever decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Update: Ah, the intolerant Left arises to express its, uh, condolences. How utterly predictable and sad.

Knowing What Roe v. Wade Really Means

As Ed Whelan finds, it makes a big difference on whether most Americans favor overturning this atrocity of a ruling.

Documenting "Choice"

Check out the website for this new documentary about abortion in a "pro-choice" world.

I especially found interesting a comment by a black woman in the trailer who says that abortion clinics mostly target and are located in minority communities. I think that this is probably true, as within a 1 mile radius of where I used to work in the city of Santa Ana, which has a fairly large population of Spanish speaking people, there were at least three Spanish speaking "family planning" clinics that I was aware of. (via)

Don't Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out

Just as the Church welcomes back Francis Beckwith, somewhat prominent blogger Bill Cork has announced his departure and return to Seventh Day Adventism. Wonder if that will be the next stop for former disgruntled Catholic convert and now Catholic basherRod Dreher. Reading the link, logic dictates that Dreher will be leaving the Orthodox Church soon, right? Right? Bueller?

Welcome (Back) to the Party, Pal!

Looks like Francis Beckwith, who used to teach at my law school, has come back to the Church. Given his relative prominence as an academic, maybe the MSM will start talking to Dr. Beckwith about all matters Catholic rather than tired liberal heterodox yahoos like John Dominic Crossan and Fr. Richard McBrien.

Yeah, it's wishful thinking, but all things, no matter how crazy, are possible.

Update (5/5/07): Dr. Beckwith posts comments on the news of his return to the Church.

BTW, the Jimmy Akin post I link to above makes reference to a post by James White, an anti-Catholic Christian apologist who has found it necessary to publicly pooh pooh all over Dr. Beckwith's reversion. Especially worth noting about Mr. White, in case you already don't know, is that he has a sister named Patty Bonds, who is a Catholic convert and last I saw, a contributing writer to the Envoy Magazine blog.

Low Lives

The bad apples of the legal profession come shining through again with their high profile moral stupidity.

Rudy is Toast

At least as far as getting any kind of support from the socially conservative Republican Party base is concerned. The logically contradictory answers he gave to the abortion question was brutal.

BTW, what kind of a moron is Chris Matthews for asking Mitt Romney what he would say to Catholic leaders who would deny Communion to those Catholics who support abortion rights? The utter stupidity of the question, which is actually pretty normal for Matthews, was illuminated by Romney's clever response: "I don't have anything to say to them. They can do whatever the heck they want!"

Sliding Down the Slippery Slope

Lawrence v. Kansas, the Supreme Court case which basically made consensual sex of any sort a constitutional right, will forever be the Pandora's Box of Justice Anthony Kennedy. Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby provides the latest example of why this is so. (via)

Crazy People in High Places

Ed Whelan has the latest on "distressed" anti-Catholic law professor, Geoff Stone.

Will someone at the University of Chicago fire this guy already?

WTF?!

St. Ignatius of Loyola is rolling over in his grave over this:

The BBC has announced that tomorrow it will broadcast a “gay Mass” held last October at Most Holy Redeemer parish in San Francisco. Father Donal Godfrey, a Jesuit on staff at the University of San Francisco, said he was pleased the BBC is “exploring how gay people fit into the perspective of the Christian narrative.”

Godfrey told the London Daily Mail, “Being gay is not special. It's simply another gift from God who created us as rainbow people.”

Coming to America

No, not the Prince of Zamunda (dang, it's been almost 20 years!), but Christ's earthly Prime Minister.

Last "Acceptable" Bigotry in America Indeed

Published in the Philadelphia Inquirer after the Supreme Court's ruling to uphold the Federal ban on partial birth infanticide. (via)

College Life and Sports

The two seem to be so intertwined in our culture that when something like the Virginia Tech massacre occurs, you see reports of them in the sports section of the newspaper and ESPN.

Oh, Good Lord!

The MSM not so subtly tries its very darn best to connect the Virginia Tech murderer to the Bush Administration. (via)

Federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Upheld by SCOTUS

By a narrow 5-4 vote with Justice Kennedy playing his usual role as the key swing vote.

Although today's ruling doesn't do anything to stop the senseless killing of children while they are still fully in-utero, it is something that pro-life advocates can be happy about. Small steps.

As a side note, the very short but to the pointconcurring opinion by Justice Thomas is just the latest example of why I think he, and not Scalia, is the smartest Justice on the Court.

Update (4/19): Jonathan Adler takes note of the inherent contradiction in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's comments about the Court's ruling. Also note the post below Adler's regarding a possible Commerce Clause challenge to the federal PBA ban.

WMD Found in Iraq

This would probably be more widely reported in the MSM if not for the horrific events at Virginia Tech today...maybe. (h/t)

Update (4/17): Yay! The Catholic blogosphere's own version of Pat Robertson/Jerry Falwell basically blames America for the VA Tech massacre.

Missed Opportunity

As I note below in a previous blog post, it just seems incredible that nobody has apparently ever publicly asked Rudy Giuliani why he is personally opposed to abortion.

Conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt had the chance to do this recently when he interviewed Giuliani and posed the question of abortion rights to him. After Giuliani did his usual song and tap dance about being personally opposed to abortion but believing pregnant women should have the right to choose it, Hewitt pretty much dropped the ball there and moved on to a whole different subject. Most disappointing to say the least.

One other thing about the aforementioned interview. When Giuliani disclosed that he had seriously considered the priesthood as a young man, but decided not to pursue it because of the vow of celibacy he would have been required to take, Hewitt responded by saying "Ah, good argument." What the hell is that supposed to mean?!

New Term for Victims of Unmeritorious/False Criminal Prosecutions

"Nifonged"

Surely, Someone Must Have Asked

I keep reading these comments from Rudy Guiliani saying that he personally opposes abortion, but thinks it should be legal for a pregnant woman to decide for herself whether to have one.

Has nobody publicly asked Rudy why he personally opposes abortion? If Giuliani opposes it because he believes the unborn child is a human being, then he will have to explain why it should be legal to allow said human being to be killed for absolutely no legitimate purpose.

A Wide Open GOP Convention in '08

As speculated by Doug Patton in Human Events, a conservative publication we've been told by a certain snotty Catholic apologist, is all on board with Giuliani simply because it ran a pro-Giuliani column by a libertarian leaning commentator named Deroy Murdock. By itself it's an idiotic assertion, made more so by the fact that just last week Human Events published another Doug Patton column which argued that selecting Giuliani as the GOP presidential nominee would kill the pro-life movement (in the Republican Party*).

*text subsequently added

Google Power

Interesting. In tracking all the visits I get to this blog, I've noticed that most of them come from Google searches rather than the much appreciated link listings I get from fellow Catholic bloggers.

Kind of a meandering thought for this Easter, but I'm still preoccupied over how I managed to lose a five dollar bill in my pocket this past Friday. Lesson learned: Don't keep a bunch of loose dollars in your pocket.

It's Not About Bunnies and Color Dyed Eggs Either

From MSNBC (via):

Ahmadinejad said he had pardoned the sailors as a gift to the British people and to mark the birthday of Islam’s Prophet Muhammed and Easter.

“On the occasion of the birthday of the great prophet (Muhammad)...and for the occasion of the passing of Christ, I say the Islamic Republic government and the Iranian people — with all powers and legal right to put the soldiers on trial — forgave those 15,” he said, referring to the Muslim prophet’s birthday last Saturday and Easter, next Sunday.

OK, one might "forgive" the president of Iran's apparent ignorant belief that Easter is about the death of Christ rather than His resurrection. Ahmadinejad, after all, is a Holocaust denying lunatic. But for the MSM not to pick up on the mistake is just one more example of how maddeningly lazy and careless it is.

Mark Shea Ignorant Rant #9090929302

Mr. Snotty Catholic and Enjoying It! is aghast that conservatives who would defend waterboarding captured terrorists for information are invoking the Geneva Convention with respect to the treatment of the captured British sailors in Iran.

What Mr. SCAEI fails to understand, of course, is that the Geneva accords apply to uniformed military personnel who are directly connected with a particular country or nation state, not members of free floating terrorist networks like al Qaeda.

The Road Toward Outlawing Refried Beans

The high court of the land basically determines, by a 5-4 vote, that your flatulence and exhales are pollutants that can be regulated by the federal government.

This is Your Brain on Scientology, Part 843983958349

Despite being an unrepentant jet plane owner and pilot, John Travolta is concerned about global warming and thinks everyone needs to do "their bit" to help heal the planet. Travolta's concern about the poor health of the environment is such that he muses whether we ought to start thinking about colonizing other planets and creating domed cities. Oookaay.

A sure sign that Travolta should immediately stop talking about alleged global warming is that environmental groups like CarbonFoot.com are actually distancing themselves from him.

Update: (4/1/07): While comments, even dissenting ones, are always welcomed here, I will delete all name calling posts that are personally directed at me.

Catholic Fatwa?!

That's what the director of an art gallery in New York (natch!) called Catholic League president Bill Donahue's public criticism of "My Sweet Lord," a life sized milk chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ.

Freakin' clueless liberals.

Between All the Thinly Veiled Self-Righteousness and Triangulation

Did you actually read D'Souza's book before commenting on it, Mark? I bet you didn't.

Lawyers from Non-ABA Schools Need Not Apply for Job at Non-ABA School

California is one of the few states in this country that accreditates law schools, and under certain conditions, allows students who earn a JD from a non-ABA and non-state accredited law school to sit for its bar exam. Because of this liberal policy, there are quite a number of non-accredited law schools in California that literally operate out of small office buildings. (I've even heard of one school that operated out of a home garage).

I myself earned a law degree from a school that is accredited by California, but not by the ABA. From the beginning, I knew that graduating from Trinity Law School would be a severe liability for me as far as landing a job with a respected or established law firm was concerned. But because I liked the school's underlying Christian-based mission and wanted to make a contribution to its' growth and reputation (e.g., having graduates who pass the bar exam on their first try) I stayed around and didn't transfer to an ABA school when I had the chance to do so.

It certainly cannot be understated that being a graduate of a non-ABA law school has been a career liability for me. I can't tell you how many "we don't have a position to match your qualifications" letters I've gotten from law firms I submitted my resume to. Again, though, such rejection, which I'm pretty sure is mostly based on where I got my law degree from, is not unexpected. What is unexpected, and thoroughly dismaying, is that my own law school apparently doesn't think much of the juris doctorate degree it conferred on me and other Trinity Law School graduates. How else to explain the craigslist job ad it posted a couple of weeks ago where one of the minimum qualifications an applicant for an adjunct faculty position must have is a law degree from an ABA accredited school?* I tell you what, this ticked me off so much that I ripped off a scathing letter to the law school dean and the president of the university that owns the school. I basically told them that I found the job ad to be insulting, and that they can forget about me ever recommending Trinity to any potential law students. I also said that I intended to actively discourage any potential law students from even considering Trinity. It's bad enough that most law firms think a Trinity law degree is crap, but for Trinity itself to basically suggest such a thing is just an over the edge ball-buster. Unless things change, I am done with Trinity Law School and will have nothing more to do with it outside of telling anyone who will listen that it is not a school any aspiring lawyer should consider applying to or attending.
______________________

*Full disclosure: I applied for an adjunct faculty position at Trinity Law School about three weeks before the above referenced ad was posted on craigslist. At the time, I was a bit worried I wouldn't get any consideration given the fact I'm Catholic and could only affirm the school's protestant/evangelical-based statement of faith with "severe reservations" (the school does not require students to affirm this statement). However, my worries were somewhat tempered because I knew there was at least one adjunct faculty member, a Superior Court Judge, who is Catholic.

Update (3/30/07): The academic dean of the school, Don McConnell, called me today about the letter I sent. He basically told me that the craigslist job ad was not meant to slight or exclude Trinity graduates, and that my application for an adjunct position would be considered. I took his word at it, although privately I don't believe my application will be given the same weight as an applicant who holds a degree from an ABA accredited school. The bell cannot be totally unrung here, and my disappointed cynicism remains.

My 3 Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon

Or it might be 4 if you actually count Kevin Bacon. I can never remember how these things are counted. Anyway, I knew and went to junior high and high school with the wife of martial artist/actor Christopher Paul Ford, who was in The Karate Kid Part III with Ralph Macchio, who co-starred in My Cousin Vinny with Marisa Tomei (no relation to Christopher Paul Ford's wife), who co-srarred in Loverboy with Kevin Bacon.

Oh Wow

Someone with a U.S. Supreme Court account visited this here blog. Probably wishful thinking that it was a Justice, but who knows?

Contra-Contra D'Souza

I've not yet read Dinesh D'Souza's new book The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, and not sure that I will anytime soon, but I do know that a lot of conservative pundits and bloggers have been panning it for its underlying "America is at fault for Islamic terrorists" theme.

Well, there's at least one social conservative commentator that I have a great deal of respect for, Stephen Mosher of the Population Research Institute, who thinks D'Souza is pretty much on the money:

The United States, both directly and through international institutions like the World Bank, has been exporting various social pathologies into relatively innocent and untouched corners of the world for going on 40 years now under the guise of "family planning" and "reproductive health." Billions of dollars a year are being poured into programs that promote abortion, fund coercive sterilization and contraceptive campaigns, reach into the schools with pornographic sex education programs, fund anti-family and anti-child radio and television programs, undermine primary health care, and encourage governments to intrude into the private lives of their citizens. Such programs create bitter resentment in Muslim and non-Muslim countries alike, as we at PRI have documented over and over again.

Let me be clear: It is not because women in the West have abortions and premarital sex that bin Laden and his pals attacked us. They were bent on violence in any case.

But the promotion by the U.S. and other "modern democracies" of abortion, divorce, adultery, and premarital sex in Muslim countries cannot help but generate sympathy and new recruits for those who would attack the "Great Satan." One can understand the resentment of even moderate Muslims when Western-funded population controllers come knocking at the door of their houses, bearing their human pesticides and insisting that their wives be rendered sterile. Or their righteous anger when their young child arrives home from school with a pornographic sex ed booklet, funded by a grant from USAID.

Dammit Jack!

Why oh why did you not point that nuclear armed drone at Nancy Pelosi's housemansion?!

And you call yourself a patriot. Psssssh!

Sweet 16 for the Men of Troy

USC advances in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament by trouncing the University of Texas 87-68. This win was especially satisfying for Trojans fans given the heart wrenching defeat UT handed 'SC in the 2006 Rose Bowl/BCS Championship Game.

Fight on!

Bay Area "Tolerance"

Organize a public rally in San Francisco that emphasizes traditional Christian morality and condemns immoral behavior like homosexual intercourse, and these are the kind of hysterical and logically inconsistent reactions you get from Bay Area civic leaders:

"They're loud, they're obnoxious, they're disgusting, and they should get out of San Francisco.” - California Assemblyman Mark Leno

"Their homophobic beliefs are offensive, but we hope they'll become more tolerant after spending the weekend in our famously tolerant city." - San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom

With respect to Newsom's comment, I'm puzzled as to how exactly denigrating a person's religious belief as "homophobic" and "offensive" is an illustration of tolerance. Throw in Assemblyman Leno's diatribe and, well, now I'm really confused as to what "tolerance" means to Bay Area liberals.

A Poor Black Southerner at Holy Cross College...in the Early '70's

An incredibly frank and interesting interview with Justice Clarence Thomas that focuses on his undergraduate college years at Holy Cross. He discloses, for instance, that unlike the other black students that were there at the same time as him, he wasn't recruited by the school and only ended up at Holy Cross because a nun he knew back home in Georgia recommended it to him. He also laments the loss of religiosity at Holy Cross insofar as the college faculty is now comprised mostly of lay professors. (Of course, who can say it wouldn't be any less Catholic if the faculty was still mostly made up of priests from the ever increasingly heretical Jesuits? But I digress.) (link via)

When Will I Ever Learn?

That the path to a cushy university teaching job is to publicly express absolutely stupid ideas that only crazed left-wing nuts in the academic world could find merit with and love.

The most recent example I've run across: A Constitutional Law professor at the University of North Carolina who argues that the "Catholic majority" on the Supreme Court is unconstitutional. (link via)

...Beam me up Scotty!

Ammo for BDS Sufferers

How typical that the MSM is suggesting that former vice-presidential chief of staff Scooter Libby has been convicted for publicly leaking the identity of a CIA agent.

The fact is that Libby was basically convicted for obstructing the investigation into the alleged leak which ultimately was found not to have emanated from the White House or been illegal. I strongly suspect, though, that these won't matter to BDS sufferers who will reach for any excuse, no matter how remotely connected, to bash the Bush Administration.

Word That Rhymes with "Maggot" and Slang for Homosexual

Probably what Ann Coulter should have said at CPAC rather than the F-word.

Hindsight. 20/20.

Reason #84939783847 Why Snotty Catholic Apologists Should Stop Blogging About Politics

So a recent Newsweek poll of registered Republicans shows that Rudy Giuliani is in the lead to be the 2008 Republican nominee for President. For self-described snotty "truth-tellers" like Mark Shea, this is just but one more example which goes to prove that the Republican Party is "unserious" about ridding this country of legalized abortion. Of course, the problem with using the aforereferenced poll to support this proclamation is that not all registered Republicans are actual members of the Republican Party. People who belong to the latter category can have direct influence over the party's platform, which last time I looked, contained an unambiguously pro-life plank.

It might be argued that Mark's allegation is supported by the above linked to article's disclosure that close to 2/3 of the registered Republicans who were polled don't even know what Giuliani's positions are on social issues. Then again, I'd be willing to bet that at least 2/3 of all American voters who are Catholic have no idea that the former New York City mayor thinks abortion should remain legal. Even worse is that a good chunk of these Catholics may actually agree with Giuliani. Does that mean the Catholic Church is "unserious" about abortion? I certainly hope not.

New UC Law School is Unnecessary

A friend of mine forwarded this commentary from American Thinker to me about the proposed new law school at the University of California at Irvine (which is located in Orange County). The conclusion that it is unnecessary is something I agree with, and the disclosure that the school will focus on producing "public interest lawyers" is frankly disturbing.

Back in November, I had blogged that if there was to be a new UC law school, it should be located on the Riverside campus, not Irvine. But even if it was going to be located at my alma mater, the plan to make the new law school a training ground for liberal activists would be enough for me to still be against it.

Rambo Meets Jesus

Coming to a movie theater near you in 2008! (link via)

Only Anonymous Leftists Hate?

Glenn Greenwald, liberal political commentator and hand sock puppet extraordinaire, says that only anonymous bloggers and e-mailers spew the kind of invective that Ann Coulter has (unfortunately) been expressing. According to the sock puppeteer, you'll not find any prominent liberal left-winger doing the same thing.

Patterico provides a nice listing of people and their recorded rantings which says otherwise. (In the comments section, I added Ted Turner and his "Jesus freaks" insult of Catholics on Ash Wednesday in 2001).

Update: At comment #126, I added political cartoonist Ted Rall.

Stop It, Already

Ann Coulter's now well publicized reference to Democrat presidential hopeful John Edwards as a "faggot" at the Conservative Political Action Conference was unkind and uncalled for, but those prominent conservative bloggers who are rightly criticizing Coulter need to stop characterizing the insult as being on par with using the "N" word. Doing so only lends credence to the false assertion that sexual orientation is the equivalent of and indistinguishable from race and ethnicity. Regardless of whether or not one is born with same sex attraction, the fact of the matter is that gay sex is biologically unnatural, and every person with homosexual tendencies has the innate capacity to stop themselves from acting upon their desires.

Uh Huh...

In the spirit of the Lenten season, professional Catholic Apologist and BDS sufferer Mark Shea confesses his occasional sin of, get this, telling the truth in a mocking, flippant and snotty manner.

What an eye roller.

Close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades Mark. How about confessing and repenting of the sin that you not only frequently commit in a mocking, flippant and snotty manner (a double sin) but which rhymes with the word "flying"?

Gay "Marriage"

Went to another Federalist Society sponsored event today, this time in downtown Los Angeles. The topic was gay "marriage", and there was a panel of four speakers that included the dean of Pepperdine Law School and former special independent counsel in the Whitewater matter, Ken Starr.

Two of the panelists were lawyers who are involved in challenging the constitutionality of Prop. 22, i.e., the California Defense of Marriage Act. The basis of their argument is somewhat technical, and disingenuous IMHO, but their position basically amounts to a contention that Prop. 22 invidiously discriminates against homosexuals and serves no legitimate government purpose.

The other two panelists, including Ken Starr, were presumptively against the legal recognition of gay "marriage". I say "presumptively," because the crux of their comments today pretty much focused on why the dispute over gay "marriage" should stay out of the courts and be resolved by the people through their duly elected representatives. One sensed the opposition these panelists had to gay "marriage" by the examples they provided as to how Prop. 22 could withstand constitutional scrutiny. (By "examples", I mean kinds of legitimate government purposes for which Prop. 22 serve. It is interesting to note that the government doesn't even have to be right about a particular purpose, e.g., traditional marriage results in less maladjusted children, in order for it to be legitimate.)

Since the event was co-sponsored by the left-liberal American Constitution Society, there were a significant number gay "marriage" proponents in the audience. I'm happy to report that no fisticuffs occurred, and I got 1.5 Mandatory Continuing Legal Education credits for basically $20.

Follow Up: I just remembered that one of the pro-gay "marriage" panelists attempted to argue that gay "marriage" was not an ideological issue that fell along liberal-conservative lines because noted stalwart conservatives like Andrew Sullivan are in favor of making gay "marriage" legal. Talk about self-undermining your argument.

John Yoo

I went to a Federalist Society speaking engagement today that featured John Yoo, a law professor at UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall) and former law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas. From 2001 to 2003, Professor Yoo served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice.

As you might well be able to guess, the main topic of Professor Yoo's talk was the war on terror, and in particular, the national security policies of the Bush Administration (e.g., NSA wiretapping, coercive interrogation of terrorists, the Patriot Act). For all the handwringing that "civil libertarians" have been engaging in over these policies, Professor Yoo persuasively illustrated that not only does the administration have precedence on its side, none of what is going on now is nearly as "drastic" as what past presidents have done in previous wars. Roosevelt, for example, had ordered the monitoring of all forms of domestic communications a full year and a half before the U.S.'s formal entry into World War II. The Republic not only survived this seemingly imperial act, civil liberties would actually be expanded after the war concluded.

What I really found interesting about Professor Yoo is his willingness to publicly defend the Bush Administration's national security and war policies even when the administration itself does not seem all that interested in doing so. Indeed, this is the one major criticism that Professor Yoo has of the administration (he was especially critical of former Sec. of State Colin Powell and current Sec. of State Condoleeza Rice).

As a side note, I got to speak with Professor Yoo a little bit before he gave his lecture, and he informed that his old boss, Justice Thomas, will be releasing a book of his memoirs sometime this summer. In case you're wondering, the book is expected to address the whole Anita Hill affair.

Bizarre, Yes; But Not That Uncommon

Rob Vischer over at Mirror of Justice quips that Judge Larry Seidlin's handling of the Anna Nicole Smith case makes a compelling case for a return to jurisprudential formalism.

Here's a sampling of the reported behavior by Judge Seidlin:

The flamboyant Seidlin, rumored to be coveting his own reality TV show, let the proceedings spin out of control. The judge interjected himself into testimony, talked about his daily routine and wardrobe, and chatted nostalgically about his roots in New York, where he was once a cab driver. He freely gave nicknames such as "Texas," "California" and "Mama" to the people involved in the trial.

As crazy as this stuff is, Judge Seidlin's behavior isn't all that uncommon as far as judges are concerned. Fact of the matter is that a lot of judges, not all of them, are big time ego-manics who treat the courtroom as their little kingdoms where they can do almost anything they want. So when Vischer rhetorically asks if we can agree on the need to return to formalism, my answer would be an enthusiastic "yes!" Problem is, this kind of stuff has been going on for so long there's really nothing to return to.

Sign in and Say Howdy

If you look over on the right hand panel, you'll see a link to a cool new guestbook feature I set up. Feel free to sign it even if you don't leave a comment on any blog post here.

What, No Lenten Call to Fast for Tax Hikes on the "Rich"?

I dearly love the Catholic Church, but this using of Ash Wednesday and Lent by some in the hierarchy, particularly in my home diocese, to advocate illegal immigration and open borders in this country is a bunch of garbage. (link via)

In Orange County, the church asked people to fast — consuming liquids only — for one day between March 26 and 30 as an appeal for citizenship opportunities for undocumented immigrants and reductions in visa application backlogs for the families of immigrants.

The church also called for a temporary worker program.

Yeah, not only am I not going to do what is being requested by the diocese, I may see if I can organize a game of this to be played.

I Will Never Lack Confidence Again

Ever. (h/t)

Note to Lovers of Trindentine Mass

If you live in or around Orange County here in California, the Diocese of Orange has authorized (finally!) the offering of another Tridentine Mass. Said Mass will be celebrated on a six month trial basis every Sunday at 7am at the Pope John Paul II Polish Center in the City of Yorba Linda.

You think Bishop Tod Brown might be trying to set this up to fail?

Oink! Oink!

恭 喜 发 财! Happy Year of the Piggy and an early Happy Presidents Day.

I'm Number 1 on AOL Search!

Thanks to Site Meter, I discovered that I am at the top of the list for AOL searches on "Donovan McNabb life as a child till now."

Woo hoo!!

Bashing Bush Through "An Iraq Interrogator's Nightmare"

While I don’t mean to denigrate, or even doubt, the psychological trauma that Eric Fair claims to have incurred, his published article in the rabidly anti-Bush Washington Post about what he experienced as a contract interrogator in Iraq raises an eyebrow. Indeed, my eyeballs just rolled when I read Fair’s suggestion that the wanton prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, which the military began investigating well before it ever became news, is indistinguishable from the apparent approved interrogation practices of particular captured terrorists who may have information about planned terrorist plots. And the evidence Fair puts forth to support this suggested comparison, continuing violence in Iraq, is less than persuasive.

On a related front, some are quite predictably using Fair’s article as an opportunity to reassert their belief that the Catholic Church regards deportation torture to be “intrinsically evil,” and that anyone who disagrees with this is just a mindless apologist for SatanBush. Yeah, I don’t exactly know how he makes this connection either, but BDS has been known to make people lose all semblance of sense and sensibility.

Update (2/11/07): Somehow, I don't think the vital information provided by the detainees mentioned here was obtained by offering them milk and cookies.

Oh. My. Gawd.

The Archbishop of San Francisco, George Niederauer, states in a radio interview that he does not know what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's position on legalized abortion is.

One of the show hosts described Pelosi as "not only pro-choice, but she would be someone who would be working to try to keep abortion legal." The Archbishop was asked, "In your view is she less of a Catholic because of that?" He replied saying about Pelosi, "We haven’t had an opportunity to talk about the life issues. I would very much welcome that opportunity, but I don’t believe that I am in a position to say what I understand her stand to be, if I haven’t had a chance to talk to her about it."

Un-freakin'-believable.

I Can't Be the Only One to Have Noticed This

So there's been some going back and forth in the conservative blogosphere about the sincerity of Mitt Romney's pro-life conversion. Those who are suspicious of it point to statements Romney made as recent as 2002 wherein he expressly said he respected and would protect a woman's right to choose an abortion.

Supporters of Romney say that his past statements should not be held against him, and that it should be noted that Ronald Reagan, when he was the governor of California in the late '60's, did more to advance abortion rights than Romney has ever done as an elected official. (Reagan had signed a bill which effectively decriminalized abortion in California. It has been reported that Reagan deeply regretted doing this one year later after learning of the large number of abortions that had been performed).

I, myself, tend to fall into the camp that finds Romney's newfound pro-life position to be suspicious. Not so much because his shift is a 180 from the position he held as late as 2002, although it's certainly significant, but mostly because I haven't heard or seen Romney say or suggest that Roe v. Wade should be overturned. (It is well worth noting that in a 2002 Planned Parenthood questionnaire, Romney indicated affirmative support for the substance of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling). Until he says Roe v. Wade is bad case law, I really don't think Romney's new position on abortion can be taken all that seriously.

Theological Query Re: Torture

If, as some would argue, torture is held to be intrinsically immoral by the Church, why then doesn't the Church condemn Christ for willingly participating in the manner by which His Passion occurred? Christ, after all, had foreknowledge that He would be brutally tortured, and could have easily escaped.

Interesting Questions to Ponder

There is little question that for the most part, Rudy Giuliani is a liberal on several significant social issues like legalized abortion. On that basis alone, social conservatives in the Republican Party, such as myself, would normally not have a reason to support Giuliani's yet to be announced candidacy for President.

But here's the thing. Important issues like abortion have pretty much been out of the hands of our publicly elected officials since 1973. Sure, there are some things our legislatures can and should do to curb the frequency of abortion, but the bottom line fact is they can't outright ban it because abortion has been determined by the Supreme Court to be a constitutionally protected right.

It therefore stands to reason that until the Supreme Court reverses itself in rulings like Roe v. Wade, whether a candidate for President is pro-life just may not be that important; at least in the short term. Indeed, what might actually be a more appropriate gauge for pro-lifers and social conservatives in evaluating a presidential candidate for 2008 is the kind of judges that candidate would appoint to the Federal courts. On that, Ed Morrissey from Captain's Quarters provides information which strongly suggests that if Rudy Giuliani were elected President, he would appoint Federal judges who are in the mold of Justices Scalia, Alito and Roberts (why Justice Thomas was not mentioned is a bit curious)and presumptively in favor of reversing cases like Roe.

On the Federal judiciary I would want judges who are strict constructionists because I am. I'm a lawyer. I've argued cases in the Supreme Court. I've argued cases in the Court of Appeals in different parts of the country. I have a very, very strong view that for this country to work, for our freedoms to be protected, judges have to interpret not invent the Constitution. Otherwise you end up, when judges invent the constitution, with your liberties being hurt. Because legislatures get to make those decisions and the legislature in South Carolina might make that decision one way and the legislature in California a different one. And that's part of our freedom and when that's taken away from you that's terrible.

Is this enough for pro-life advocates and other social conservatives to support a probable Giuliani candidacy for President? Would it make a difference that several polls show Giuliani as the only nationally known Republican who can beat Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head match? Frankly, these are questions that I myself will have to work through.

No Faith League

In the name of protecting its' god, Ratings, the NFL invokes an FCC rule and bullies several churches into shutting down planned Super Bowl parties.

Under NFL guidelines — and federal law — churches, schools and other public venues can hold football-viewing parties only if they use a single, living-room-size TV, no bigger than 55 inches. When they project the game onto 12-foot screens or set up banks of TVs, they cross the line, according to NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy.

Jumbo screens "have the potential to draw thousands of people, and if we had that going on across the country, it would eventually erode the television ratings," McCarthy said.

Poor NFL. It must really be hurting for ratings and having a hard time attracting advertisers.

What a Language Can Tell Us

In Mandarin Chinese, the words for "Catholic Church" are "Tian Zhu Jiao." Literally translated into English, these words mean master, or primary, religion of Heaven.

The words for "Protestant" in Mandarin Chinese are "Xin Jiao." Literally translated into English, these words mean new religion.

Kind of interesting, eh? Especially considering that the Chinese language and culture predate Christianity.

Paleo-Con Bush Derangement Syndrome

So the American Enterprise Institute, a private "neo-conservative" think tank, makes a public offer to compensate scientists who will refute the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, and that is viewed by some as a nefariously orchestrated "bribe" by the Bush Administration.

Give me a break. If you want to criticize AEI for actively soliciting scientific studies/reports that have a specific result to them, fine. But to suggest that the Bush Administration is behind this without a shred of credible proof is illustrative of a disturbed mind.

Thomist Schwag

Along with the appropriate wine, what better way to introduce most people to possibly the greatest philosopher and theologian in world history?

You Murder Babies

The cool thing about having a Site Meter counter on my blog page is that I can see where almost every visitor to this page is coming from. Yesterday, someone with a Planned Barrenhood IP address came by five times. In case that person ever comes back, I'd like him or her to pass on the above headline to everyone he or she knows at that God forsaken organization.

Cafeteria Catholic Personified

OK, this is uncharitable, but former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe is an ass. As illustrated in this interview with radio pundit Hugh Hewitt, McAuliffe makes a mockery of the Catholic faith he professes by assuming it to be indistinguishable from a political ideology. I'm also pretty sure McAuliffe is flat out lying about the late John Paul II holding a private Mass especially for him and his wife, and that the pope knew he was pro-abortion prior to or during that Mass.

As a sidenote, I wonder why Hewitt describes himself as Catholic in this blog, seeing as how he fell away from the Church several years ago and is now member of a Presbyterian affiliated church.

Fr. Robert Drinan Dead

The guy certainly will have a lot to answer for now that he's passed, and I pray that God will have mercy on his soul.

He ran for Congress on an anti-Vietnam war platform. During his Congressional tenure, Drinan continued to dress in the robes of his clerical order and lived in a simple room in the Jesuit community at Georgetown.

But Drinan wore his liberal views more prominently. He opposed the draft, worked to abolish mandatory retirement and raised eyebrows with his more moderate views on abortion and birth control.

Wild and Crazy

So I'm playing around with The Oracle of Bacon generator, and I input Bruce Lee to see how many degrees of separation there are between the late actor/martial arts legend and actor Kevin Bacon. Much to my great surprise, it turns out there is only one actor that links Bruce Lee to Kevin Bacon (at least according to this generator). Even more surprising is who that actor is: Steve Martin.

It seems that Martin had a bit role in Bruce Lee's 1972 movie, Fist of Fury (Jackie Chan had a bit role in this move as well, but was uncredited). He, Martin, played a policeman.

As for Kevin Bacon, he had an uncredited part in Martin's 2001 film, Novocaine.

Pretty interesting factoid about Steve Martin, eh? I wonder if he ever got the chance to know Bruce Lee.

34 Years of Roe v. Wade

From the standpoint of constitutional law, it was an atrocity of a ruling then, and remains so today. At the very least, the Supreme Court should never have even agreed to review the case.

From a cultural/societal standpoint, what can I say? Since January 22, 1973, the United States has seen over 40 million children slaughtered in the womb.

Pray for us Holy Mother of God and Patron Saint of the Unborn.

The Paper of Lies

It's a good thing there is no legal requirement in this country to tell the truth in news reporting, otherwise the New York Times would be guilty of committing perjury. The latest offense by the Grey Lady via LifeSiteNews:

The New York Times has once again published another 'hit piece' on the institution of marriage, alleging that for “the first time more American women are living without a husband than with one”. However, US census data for 2005 shows that the January 16th front-page story in the New York Times is just another disturbing showcase of the Times’ tolerance for “journalistic malpractice”.

“For what experts say is probably the first time,” writes Sam Roberts on the Times front page, “more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results.”

“In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000,” writes Roberts. He adds that now married couples make up a minority of all American households and “the trend could ultimately shape social and workplace policies, including the ways government and employers distribute benefits.”

The plain truth is that Roberts’ findings are at variance with US census reports for 2005, which demonstrate a far different picture from the profiles selected by Roberts of single women “delighting in their new found freedom.”

Pelosi Admits She Supports Legally Killing Babies

Red State points out the following from an Ellen Goodman column about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

Pelosi was not plucked from the kitchen to Congress. The stay-at-home mom label may be politically correct these days but technically incorrect. Pelosi, offspring of a political family, was always involved in a campaign, she says, "no matter how little my babies were, if I was wheeling them in a carriage or carrying them in my stomach."

Did you catch that? Pelosi called what was in her stomach "babies," not fetuses or cellular globs. I wish someone in the MSM would follow up on this and ask Pelosi if she meant what she said, and if so, how she can continue to justify favoring legalized abortion (i.e., the legal killing of human babies while still fully or partially in the womb). Don't worry. I'm not holding my breath.

Rocky Balboa: Servant of Christ

According to Stallone, that's apparently the underlying theme of his latest (last?) Rocky movie. So much so that Stallone developed a kit for Christian ministry leaders to use.

Nice to see, and I understand "Rocky Balboa" is a pretty good flick, but I'm still going to wait for the movie to come out on DVD before watching it. I mean, $10 for movie ticket?! Please.

Cardinal Mahony's Gay Fish

You know that Christian fish symbol that you often see on the back of people's cars? Well, it looks as though good 'ol Cardinal "Hollywood" Mahony has endorsed a rainbow colored variation of this symbol as a sort of positive tribute to Catholics with homosexual tendencies.

Cardinal Mahony instructs his nearly 5 million Catholic members to "see in the [gay] fish pin a sign of recognition of our lesbian and gay sisters and brothers." Is Cardinal Mahony trying to hook his already desensitized laity with this fishy bait?

The Cardinal is perversely distorting a once holy and revered symbol used not only by the early Christians but today's Christians as well. Through the gift of the same Sacred Tradition the Apostles received from Christ, the early Christians recognized one another in the image of the fish during the persecution of their Church.

Most harmful are the Cardinal's attempts to further confuse his priests, religious, and laity by 'normalizing' the homosexual idioms 'lesbian' and 'gay' using the 'gay' Rainbow colored fish.

The expression of Hell being paved with the skulls of bishops couldn't be more apt. (link via)

Florida Wins the Crystal Football

Although the Gators were the clear underdog, their dominating win over Ohio State in the BCS Championship Game was not at all shocking considering that the Buckeyes gave up 39 points to and barely beat Michigan in their last game of the regular season. (Michigan, of course, was trounced in the Rose Bowl last week by USC).

So now that Florida has won the "championship," is it the #1 team in the country? Under the system that the NCAA currently employs for Division I college football, yes. However, let there be no mistake that this system is seriously whacked up, as evidenced by the fact that of all the winners of BCS bowl games this year, including Florida, there is only one team with an undefeated record - Boise State. You can pretty much bet the farm that Boise State, which plays in a so-called "mid-major" conference, will not be ranked #1 in the final BCS and AP polls.

They Actually Have Team Sports?

A losing streak that spanned over 200 games and 10 years, the men's basketball team at Caltech, the school in which the movie Real Genius was loosely based upon, finally won a game yesterday.

I knew a guy in high school who ended up going to Caltech, and based on what I observed of him in P.E. class, I'm not at all surprised that Caltech's losing streak lasted as long as it did. (Indeed, Caltech still hasn't won a conference game in over 20 years). But, like all Caltech students and graduates, the guy was super smart in science and math, and could be consistently counted on to bust the grading curve.

Tragic News Out of Troy

University of Southern California football player Mario Danelo was found dead yesterday afternoon at the bottom off a cliff in San Pedro, CA. An investigation is pending as to cause of death, but it appears as though Danelo might have simply slipped and fell.

Mike Walsh, his coach at San Pedro High, last saw Danelo at Christmas Mass, he said. He was at Disneyland when he got the news Saturday.

"When my son told me, I felt like throwing up," he said. "He comes from a most wonderful family in San Pedro. They're wonderful, he was wonderful."

Danelo's roommate, USC wide receiver Chris McFoy, was shocked by the news Saturday night.

"It was unexpected," McFoy told the Los Angeles Daily News. "He's a funny guy. A warm, loving guy. It 's a shock something like this would happen."

...

About 8 p.m. the only sign at the cliffs was a string of police tape and a police cruiser on Paseo del Mar near the Point Fermin Lighthouse. The body was taken by helicopter to the nearby Angel's Gate Park, which authorities closed to traffic.

Humphrey said at the scene investigators had not found a surf board, scuba-diving tanks or anything else to indicate Danelo might have been down there for any of the recreational activities common to the area.

Humphrey said over the years a handful of people had fallen from the cliff.

"It's entirely possible that he fell," Humphrey said.

Talk About Irony

The newly appointed archbishop of Warsaw in Poland resigns after admitting he had been a spy for Poland's former Communist regime.

The late Pope John Paul II, of course, was from Poland and is widely credited for being a major contributor to the fall of the Soviet Union. (link via)

The scandal has highlighted a deep crisis for the Polish church and its struggle to define its role after the death of its moral guide, Pope John Paul.

"This is the biggest crisis to affect the Polish Church for a generation," said Jonathan Luxmoore, an expert on Catholic matters. "The Pope could (also) be damaged by this."

Soon after his appointment, Polish media reported that Wielgus had informed on fellow clerics for about 20 years from the late 1960s. In Friday's statement, Wielgus said he "did not report on anyone nor deliberately try to hurt anyone."

Wielgus's admission on Friday that he had damaged the Church when he "denied the facts of this cooperation" with the secret services opened the door for the Pope to remove him from office but he did not resign until the day of the ceremony.

Great Start to a New Year

Just got back into town after a week at an undisclosed location. It's only been a couple of days, but '07 has gotten off to a pretty good start for me as my USC Trojans whipped the Michigan Wolverines in the Rose Bowl AND Notre Dame got creamed by LSU in the Sugar Bowl.

Throw in the pounding that UCLA took from Florida State in the Emerald Bowl, and my good start actually began a couple of days before the new year.

Hillary's Christian Consultant

The guy's name is Burns Strider. I mean, c'mon.

Rudolphus Rubrinasus

The pre-Vatican II version.

Al Qaeda Takes Credit for Dems' Mid-Term Victory

It will be interesting to see to what extent the Dems will try to distance themselves from this claim, if at all.

Link via

Idiots

We appear to be at a point in our culture where ANY person can commit sexual harassment, even if that person may not even know or understand the concept of sex.

A kindergarten student was accused earlier this month of sexually harassing a classmate at Lincolnshire Elementary School, an accusation that will remain on his record until he moves to middle school.

Washington County Public Schools spokeswoman Carol Mowen said the definition of sexual harassment used by the school system is, "unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors and/or other inappropriate verbal, written or physical conduct of a sexual nature directed toward others."

Mowen said that definition comes from the Maryland State Department of Education.

According to a school document provided by the boy's father, the 5-year-old pinched a girl's buttocks on Dec. 8 in a hallway at the school south of Hagerstown.

...

The incident was described as "sexual harassment" on the school form.

Yep. A 5 year old who may not be able to tie his own shoes is capable of sexual harassment. Adults can be so un-freakin'-believable.

Oh, That's Why the Anglican/Episcopal Church is Dying

Jesus. Poop. Sex.

That about summarizes this laugh out loud article by the Director of Lay Education for the (Anglican) Diocese of Montreal.

Link via

I Should Add This to My Resume

After all, not everyone gets recognized as Time's Person of the Year.

Oh, wait...

From Our Bulging "Being Married Does Not Prevent Sexual Perversion" Files

I don't want to sound mean, but I somehow don't think the "she's too pretty for jail" defense will be utilized in this case.

A flirtatious Brandy Lynn Gonzales lured five boys from her fifth-grade classes into sexual acts at movie theaters, her apartment and even her classroom, prosecutors said Thursday.

At least one student was taken to her apartment, where he was sexually assaulted by Gonzales, 27, and her husband, Johnny Gonzales, 31, said Assistant Harris County District Attorney Denise Oncken.

"Evidently, according to the victims, she was quite a flirt in the classroom," Oncken said.

I Wish I Could Say I'm Surprised

A Carter appointed Federal judge in San Francisco (natch) says it's perfectly constitutional for a city to formally attack the Catholic Church for it religious/moral position on homosexuality.

In her decision upholding the resolution against the Law Center's constitutional challenge, the federal judge defended the City by essentially claiming that the Church invited the attack by publicly expressing its teaching on moral issues. In her written opinion, the judge stated, "The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith provoked this debate, indeed may have invited entanglement, by its [doctrinal] statement. This court does not find that our case law requires political bodies to remain silent in the face of this provocation."

Actor Peter Boyle Dies

Interestingly enough, the former cast member of the hit television show Everybody Loves Raymond was a Christian Brothers monk before becoming a professional actor. The Internet Movie Data Base has more details about Boyle's life and cause of death here.

Kathy Shaidle notes that Boyle was a lifelong political leftist.

Apocalypto and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Probably not a coincidence that Gibson's newest movie opened right around this feast day. As reported by LifeSite, there's a new Spanish film that focuses on OLG and which acts as a good historical follow up to Apocalypto.

Follow Up: Dense that I sometimes am, I failed to notice that Apocalypto opened in the U.S. on the day of the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and one day before the feast of St. Juan Diego. Within this context, Amy Welborn links to an interesting movie review of Apocalypto by Bill Cork.

The Navy and Mother are Both Wrong

A 32 year old single mother relinquishes custody of her 13 year old daughter in order to enlist in the Navy.

As far as I'm concerned, the Navy is wrong for saying single custodial parents can't enlist, and this mother is wrong for trading in custody and the upbringing of her daughter in order to pursue her "dream" of a naval career. A pox on both houses.

(Link via)

Famous Mormon Football Players

Had no idea Merlin Olsen, Sean Salisbury and Danny White were LDS adherents. Wonder if they all wear/wore "holy" jock straps? (Kidding!)

(Link via)

Why Aren't There More?

Guess it's that time of the year when many high school seniors are getting their applications off to different colleges. Speaking of colleges, and putting the issue of orthodoxy aside, I am somewhat amazed that there is only one four year Catholic university in Los Angeles County and a total of 4 four year Catholic colleges/universities in all of Southern California (which I would say runs from Bakersfield down to San Diego). Considering that one of these colleges, John Paul the Great University has basically just started operating and holds all of its classes in an office building, there are really only 3 established Catholic colleges/universities (Loyola Marymount, Thomas Aquinas College and University of San Diego) in the region.

Compare that to the San Francisco Bay Area, where there are a total of 6 established four year Catholic colleges/universities (University of San Francisco, Dominican University, Holy Names University, Notre Dame de Namur University, Saint Mary's College, and Santa Clara University). Throw in the University of Sacramento, which is only about 100 miles from San Francisco, and there are 7 institutes of higher learning in the area with a Catholic identity.

How the heck did such a discrepancy occur?

I'm Confused

I've been Catholic for about 9 years now, and I'm still not entirely sure when one is required to go to Mass on certain feast days. In the past, there have been Holy Days of Obligation that fell on a weekday, but were moved to Sunday for "convenience." I'm wondering if this was done with the feast of the Immaculate Conception, which was formally yesterday, in the Diocese of Orange since there is nothing on the diocese website mentioning this day as a Holy Day.

'Bout Time

LifeSite news reports that the Vatican has approved Bishop Bruskewitz's 1996 excommunication of Call to Action and other dissident groups operating in the Lincoln, Nebraska diocese. It took the Vatican almost 11 years, but I suppose if we looked at it from the perspective of God, that's like a millisecond. (link via RelapsedCatholic)

Rosie O'Donnell: Immoral, Left-Wing, Bigoted Hypocrite

The self-anointed "Queen of Nice" shows yet again why she is far from it.

Effin' pig!

The Amusing World of Law

A year in review. (link via RelapsedCatholic)

Oy!

More video footage of the asinineHalloween Mass by Fr. Fred Bailey.

Back in Town

For the past week, I've been out of town and my only Internet access was through a computer that is 8 to 10 years out of date. Translated, that means everything I looked at loaded at a snail's pace.

Yes, I am bummed that USC lost. But, it's just a sport and life goes on.

Anyway, I'm pretty tired after driving for several hours, so I'll resume blogging tomorrow.