Pete Vere: January 2004 Archives

(Thankx Jeff)

Katholics for Dean -- the "K" stands for "Kennedy" in case anyone wondered -- has responded to one of my earlier blog entries. Amidst the usual leftist accusations of "hateful language", KfD continues to misinform the public vis-a-vis President Bush and Howard Dean's respective records when it comes to pro-life issues other than abortion. (As an aside to those who have been around the right-to-life movement for some time, unlike our innocent brothers and sisters in the womb, Howard's scream coming out of Iowa wasn't silent.) Anyway, John Betts does a fine job calling out KfD on the primary right-to-life issue. Meanwhile, I've blogged a little comparison between the President and the Governor on secondary and tertiary right-to-life issues. Not surprisingly, even if we set aside abortion, the GOP comes out way ahead of the Abortion Democratic Party on most right-to-life issues.

Yesterday, Howard Dean made an interesting comment in which he compared pro-lifers to the Taliban. In a nutshell, this incident summarizes why Catholics no longer have a home in the DNC. Here's an unofficial transcript from [sic.] Catholics for Dean: "And the implication that the government has the right to tell a woman when she can and cannot bear a child is different, but has the same philosophical root as the implications of the Taliban telling women how they're to behave and how they're to act."

Why the Dems Still Don't Get It..

Pete Vere

Kathy Shaidle, a fellow Catholic blogger, recently forwarded me her response to an interesting email she received. It came from a Howard Dean supporter named Tim Huegerich. Having performed a small internet search on Mr. Huegerich, he seems like a sincere pro-life Catholic. Which is why his attempt to recruit Catholics into Howard Dean’s campaign makes absolutely no sense.

“Aside from the issue of abortion...” Tim writes, “Howard Dean in line with Catholic Social Teaching across the board, far surpassing the other candidates. He opposed the Iraq war, stands for workers and fair trade, has delivered health insurance for all children in Vermont, and has begun a revolutionary change in politics by attracting thousands of disenchanted non-voters and financing his campaign with contributions from ordinary people averaging less than $100.”

Kathy's response to the concept of “Catholics for Dean” is rather appropriate. This is so embarrassing... she writes. While there is no question I would be a Democrat if every issue held equal weight, the truth is that some issues are more important than others. Abortion is one such issue. As a practicing Catholic, the right to life is non-negotiable. Period.

Hence the problem with every presidential candidate running within the Democrat primaries: 1) The Democratic nominees don't get the abortion issue; 2) The Democratic party doesn’t want to get the abortion issue; and 3) No Democratic presidential candidate even wishes to try and understand how practicing Catholics approach the abortion issue and why we think the way we do. Thus I am likely wasting my time in stating the obvious.

To a practicing Catholic, what lay in a woman’s womb is not just some anonymous blob of cancerous tissue. Rather, it is a human life. Abortion ends that human life. Therefore a Catholic is no more open to negotiating the abortion issue than an African American is open to debate over slavery. Catholics believe that abortion is murder, and when the state permits abortion, Catholics believe that abortion is state sanctioned murder. Regardless of whatever stance a candidate puts forward when it comes to other issues, abortion trumps them all. As practicing Catholics we believe in freedom of choice within the abortion debate only insofar as a well-formed Catholic conscience always chooses a pro-life candidate over one who is pro-abortion. We simply have a hard time voting for politicians who campaign on the killing – rather than the kissing – of babies.

When I mentioned this uncomfortable fact (at least from the perspective of a pro-life Deaniac) to Mr. Huegerich, he replied: “You underestimate the gravity of these ‘other issues.’ 24,000 people die every day around the world from hunger [...] there are also 42 million uninsured Americans enduring untold suffering.” These are indeed legitimate issues that concern the Church’s social teaching. Yet like her system of governance, the Church’s social teaching is of a hierarchical nature. Catholic social justice begins with the right to life, from which all other social rights and obligations flow. The state’s duty is to protect this fundamental right. Common sense dictates that a butchered baby laying in a Planned Barrenhood dumpster has no need of socialized healthcare.

There once was an exception to the Democrat’s well-deserved reputation as the Abortion Party. His name was Bob Casey. He was the Governor of Pennsylvania. Back when we lived in Scranton, our family had the good fortune of moving into the Governor’s neighborhood. In fact, we often stopped to converse whenever we met on the sidewalk. Governor Casey was a principled Catholic, a principled politician and a principled Democrat. If he were still living, I would support his presidential campaign over that of any Republican candidate.

Throughout the Governor’s political career, the right to life was non-negotiable. He put his faith first and his political aspirations second. Yet when the DNC silenced Governor Casey at the 1992 convention, it became clear that there was no longer any room left in the Democratic Party for practicing Catholics – an observation since confirmed by the Senate Democrat’s fillibustering of any pro-life judicial nominee. The DNC silenced the debate over abortion and sent practicing Catholics packing for the GOP and various third parties. The Republicans did not use abortion as a wedge issue, rather the DNC handed us over to the GOP. And if pro-life Catholics are now wary about engaging in bona fide dialogue in the Democratic Party over abortion, as Mr. Huegerich alleges, it is because the Democrats shut down the dialogue and showed their lack of good faith when they silenced Governor Casey.

Whatever other faults one may find with Dubya and the Republican Party – and the Republican pro-life record is far from perfect – there is still room under the Republican tent to argue the pro-life case. This is not the case with the Democrats who, in the interest of short-term political expediency, chose to abort their traditional Catholic constituency. Having subsequently lost the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives and several key Governor’s mansions, their post-electoral-abortion syndrome is the consequence of this decision.

[Permission to reproduce in whole is granted by the author, provided that credit is give to CatholicLight.StBlogs.org ]

My response to an individual from the [sic.] "Catholics for Dean" camp on why abortion, as an issue, is non-negotiable to faithful Catholics.

Is Howard Dean the missing member of Guns N Roses? I just stopped by DeanGoesNuts.com where Dean's recent primal scream is set to a number of different songs. Most of them aren't bad, but check out the one where Dean's naming of the states is set to GNR's Welcome to the Jungle. The timing between the two is so accurate, it's spooky.

Speaking of Howard Dean, Jeff Miller posted a hilarious parody of a Billy Idol song based upon Dean's primal scream. That being said, I'm gonna stand by my previous comments that Dean is the guy to beat in the dem. primaries. Clark is a close second.

Yeah, I know, conventional political pundits are counting these two out right now, and I think this is a mistake. Dean and Clark are the only two major candidates who realize that the traditional dem base is not gonna get them elected. So they're trying to reach into other constituencies. There's gonna be some rough sailing in so doing, as we've seen this past week, but given the media's short attention span, it isn't the end of the world.

Dean put a pretty good spin on things yesterday when he was on Letterman. His Arnie impersonation was excellent. His primal scream will likely make him a stronger candidate once this blows over since it, to a certain extent, immunizes him from future criticism for his over-the-top behavior much like the Gennifer Flowers situation immunized Slick Willie from the Monica Lew[d]insky affair. It is also the wakeup call the Dean people needed to tone their guy down. We're now seeing Dean 2.0, namely, the balanced-budget and quasi-libertarian Dean.

Hopefully, Kerry and Edwards will stay in the game with Clark and Dean long enough to insure a badly damaged dem candidate in the fall election.

The Lay Witness just released its annual pro-life issue, which features a wrap-up co-authored by Fr. Johansen and I on our experience this past fall with Terri Schindler-Schiavo.

I am scheduled to be at a meeting for the Alhambra in Brooklyn from Friday, Feb. 20th to Sunday, Feb. 22nd. Anyone interested in getting together?

Also, for those of you who live in the Chicago area, a number of us from St. Blog are planning on getting together on Friday, Feb. 6th. Here's where
we will meet:

Marriott Courtyard
6 Trans Am Plaza Dr.
Oakbrook Terrace, IL

We'll be in meeting rooms A & B on the first floor, from 5pm to 1 am
The hotel phone number is (630) 691-1500.

Look forward to seeing everyone there.

I just came across the Songs for Dean website. It is actually pretty well done. Anyway, I've decided to put together my own Songs for Bush blog.

Hey everyone, God permitting, I will be in Chicago area on the first weekend of February for a big Alhambra event. Most of our activities will be open to the general public, so if anyone wants the details, please call Mark or Ricky Montalbano at Montalbano Majectic Furniture (708) 547-1010 or email mark@montalbanofurniture.com

Someone recorded and posted this hilarious parody of the homosexual Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson.

Okay, the next sentence is gonna be a little cumbersome and involve heavy name dropping.... A recent piece on homosexual marriage, the suppression of civil liberties and the death of Canadian democracy written by John Pacheco of Catholic-Legate.com and I for a fall issue of Culture Wars is now available on-line at the Sierra Times. Here's a sample:

"On June 15th, 2001, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Board of Inquiry fined Hugh Owens, an evangelical Protestant, and the Saskatoon Star Phoenix $1500 for violating the equality rights of three gay men. Mr. Owen’s crime? He expressed his opinion on gay and lesbians sex through an advertisement in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. This advertisement consisted of a pictograph of two men holding hands superimposed with a circle and slash- the symbol of something forbidden-and a list of Bible verses condemning the practice of homosexuality. While Mr. Owens is currently appealing this ruling, if he loses and still refuses to comply with the Board of Inquiry, he will potentially find himself charged with contempt of court. If convicted, he will likely find himself consigned to jail as the first prisoner of conscience in the war between sexual plurism and religious plurism."

Read the whole piece here

According to the Sierra Times, the Dems have taken their vulgarity to a new low by spouting it off in a Lutheran church. This raises an interesting question, namely, will the 2004 presidential campaign require parental ratings?