In case you haven't read it already, Envoy has been doing mucho gusto blogging on what the definition of a "Catholic Traditionalist" should be. I pretty much fashion myself as a traditionalist (as defined by Peter Vere) to the extent that I accept the legitimacy of the oft controversial Novus Ordo Mass, but am quite critical of how so many bishops allow parishes to take license with how it is performed (e.g., congregants holding hands during the "Our Father" prayer, receiving communion in the hand, singing hymns to folksy guitar music, etc.) Anyway, the discussion is fascinating, and quite informative.

Looks to me like U.S. Senator Patty Murray is itchin' to be Osama bin Laden's campaign manager. What are the odds that most of the media are going to overlook this story or rationalize it away? Trent Lott has gotta be wishing he was a Democrat right now.

Update: The above article now includes a response from Sen. Murray. She basically asserts that the publication of her comments is sensationalist and, thus, unnecessarily divisive. In other words, liberal unpatriotic -- that's right, UNPATRIOTIC --Democrats should be able to publicly utter as much stupidity as they want without examination or critique.

So let me get this straight Governor Davis. It's much more important to give children material objects than a right to life. Sounds perfectly idiotic to me.

Uh, excuse me Slick, but didn't you confer a Presidential Medal of Freedom Award to a known segregationist by the name of J.William Fulbright?

Even after assimmilation and a couple of generations, most American Catholic Hispanics adhere to the Church's teachings on abortion and homosexuality.

Regarding religion, 70 percent of the Hispanics interviewed identified themselves as Catholics. Of these, 79 percent said abortion is unacceptable compared to 53 percent for white Catholics. Homosexual intercourse was judged unacceptable by 71 percent of the Hispanic Catholics and 50 percent of the non-Hispanic white Catholics.

Can a pro-life Catholic be a federal judge? Of course, unless the question is being posed to Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, or Jack Chick.

I was reading some of the comments people have made on Amy Welborn's blog (link on the side of this page) in regard to a story on how Ford is planning to run an ad campaign that targets people who only like having same sex sexual intercourse and believe that the only purpose for sexual intercourse is self gratification. What amazes me about many of the comments that are made is the presupposition that homosexuality is equivalent to race and ethnicity. This is hardly the case from either a biological or legal standpoint. Insofar as the latter is concerned, which in large part is based upon the former, if people with homosexual affictions ought to be accorded the same status as blacks, asians, caucasions, jews, whatever; we may as well accord similar legal status to necrophiliacs, pedophiles, polygamists, and people who just "love" their dogs and gerbils!

I've been hearing reports on the news that Senator Lott has changed his position on racial issues like affirmative action (i.e., racial quotas). If this is true, then it's obvious to me that the man has no principles and should not be leading the Republican Party in the Senate. On a related note, anyone else find it oxymoronic that Lott was on an all black television station to deny he supports racial segregation?

You know, I'm baffled. If Trent Lott is so evil because he **allegedly** supports segregation, then why do so many American blacks and their patron white saints on the Left get away with demanding and supporting things like exclusively black schools, black studies programs, black dorms, black clubs, and black television stations?

From a partisan political armchair quarterback perspective, here's how the Republican Party should handle the Democrat attack on Trent Lott: First, admit what Lott said was kinda dumb, but that it shouldn't be seen as anything more than an attempt by him to pander to the audience he was addressing -- i.e., supporters and friends of Strom Thurmond. Second, go on the offensive and bring up the fact that the Democrat Party is the historical party of segregation in this country. Third, bring up the fact that when he was a U.S. Senator, Al Gore's father opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Fourth, bring up the fact that just this past October in Arkansas, Slick Willy Clinton publicly praised former U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright, a known segregationist who had publicly condemned the Supreme Court's ending of school segregation in the famous case of Brown v. Board of Education. (Heck, Clinton even awarded Fulbright a Presidential Medal of Freedom Award!) Finally, if things get really nasty, throw out this quote that U.S. Senator, and former KKK member, Robert Byrd made last year in an interview on Fox News Sunday: "There are white niggers. I've seen a lot of white niggers in my time. I'm going to use that word." That oughtta shut the Dems and their enablers in the media up.

The President's Faith Based Initiative has been enacted. Aside from its constitutionality, which it probably is, an interesting question is raised as to how much of this money will be funneled to certain religious organizations that, you know, sponsor and encourage nasty acts of violence against non-believers.

Patty B. provides some sobering statistics on the decline of Catholicism in America. If the numbers are accurate, I'm not sure I really agree that the blame should be solely laid at the feet of Vatican II. If there has been any failure in the last 40 years, it has been the weak, almost hands-off, approach that Rome has taken in imposing discipline on bishops and priests who continually insist upon distorting traditional Catholic teaching; teachings that Church "progressives" erroneously believe that Vatican II disavowed.

There they go again.

I've not seen any news stories on this yet, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that school board invocations that make references to Jesus Christ are sectarian, and therfore, unconstitutional. If you have Lexis or Westlaw, the name of the case is Bacus v. Palo Verde Unified School District.

Cool, I've been quoted.

Due to a heavy workload and the fact that I am sick as a dog, blogging will be intermittant. Got some interesting cases I'm working on though, including a fertility clinic that is being sued for discrimination by a lesbian patient. The twist in this case is that the doctors who initially treated the lesbian have claimed that their "wrongful" actions were motivated by their religious convictions. I'm not representing the doctors or the clinic, but simply writing a "friend of the court brief" at the request of their attorneys.

Illinois schools dispatch edu-cops to troll for "truant" homeschool kids. Freakin' commies!

USC 44
Notre Dame 13

Go UCLA? Unfortunately, 'SC fans will have to root for the crosstown rivals against Wazoo if we want our team to go to the Rose Bowl. Ugh...

San Francisco appellate court says Berkeley can punish Scouts for ban on homosexuals.

Not a surprising decision, given the source. On to the state supreme court we go.

Pat Buchanan on the showdown in Alabama over the Ten Commandments monument.

Roy Moore, a Vietnam vet, was lately a judge in Etowah County. Presented a carving of the Ten Commandments, Moore proudly hung the plaque in his courtroom, where it attracted the horrified notice of the ACLU, which found a federal judge to order Moore to take it down.

If the feds want this plaque down, said Moore, tell them to send U.S. marshals to tear it down. Moore's defiance was electrifying. And Gov. Fob James backed Moore up, saying that if the feds sent in marshals, he, his state troopers and the Alabama National Guard would meet them on the courthouse steps.

USC 52
UCLA 21

Up next: Notre Dame

Go 'SC!