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Damian Thompson:

This is astonishing news. Pope Benedict XVI has created an entirely new Church structure for disaffected Anglicans that will allow them to worship together – using elements of Anglican liturgy – under the pastoral supervision of their own specially appointed bishop or senior priest.

The Pope is now offering Anglicans worldwide “corporate reunion” on terms that will delight Anglo-Catholics. In theory, they can have their own married priests, parishes and bishops – and they will be free of liturgical interference by liberal Catholic bishops who are unsympathetic to their conservative stance.

I hope that many, many Anglican congregations take advantage of this.

I do that from time to time. It's a guilty pleasure and now you know my secret. Blackmail me if you wish.

In yesterday's episode, Oprah had Mackenzie Phillip on talking about her drug addiction and her incestuous relationship with her father. When this news broke in the Internet yesterday, I read many obvious comments: shock, disgust, why doesn't she keep this to herself, she is doing it for money and attention. Perhaps I am alone, but all I could feel was deep sadness for Mackenzie. It seemed clear why she spent so many years struggling with a drug addiction. How does one get over such a thing? How does one deal at all? I cannot even begin to fathom.

I have to say I think she should tell her story. Whatever means she has utilized to deal so far has not worked. There is something about keeping secrets of this kind that takes on a life of its own never allowing you to deal with the initial problem. A lot of energy is spent hoping no one knows, or brushing it under the carpet...or simply trying to forget. I find that when I spend a lot of time worrying about something I did and feeling guilty about it, it often helps a great deal to talk to someone (in this case, a therapist would be a good start) and bring perspective to the situation (me:I can't believe I made them white flour sandwiches! They are doomed to lives of bad nutrition now! friend:blinks). While guilt can be helpful in determining a right course of action, left unchecked, it can be the cause of equally egregious behavior if left unchecked.

I suppose I should state the obvious thoughts about her father. She makes a point of naming this "consensual incest", but it started when she was very young and continued until she was much older. Her father crossed a line when she was vulnerable. I am not saying she is not responsible for her actions, but simply that I can't imagine how sound she was in her situation to see things clearly. Her father=disgusting. I will refrain from making the obvious Baby Boomer observation. God help me, I know when my children are adults, despite my best efforts, they will have complaints about my parenting abilities, because I am human. But I cannot imagine knowingly using my child like this. Maybe I should pity him too. Maybe he did not understand the ramifications and the selfishness of his actions. Only God knows.

Mostly what struck me is what Mackenzie Phillips said about forgiveness. I do not have a quote, so I will paraphrase. She said she learned that forgiveness is not something you give to the person that offended you as much as it is giving yourself some peace. If I may take it a small further and say it is making peace with God as well, which is why Jesus tells us we must forgive. I wish her he best.

Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. -- Saul Alinsky

Which is why when the Washington Post can't make any reasonable fact-based criticism, they turn to Robin Givhan, the "fashion writer". What a sweet gig that must be -- to get a paycheck and a byline in a major newspaper for writing slam book entries and calling them "columns." This Sunday, Ms Givhan turned her attention to the citizens who are attending town hall meetings and presenting their grievances to their elected officials:

What does one wear to a town hall meeting on health care when the sole reason for attending is to shout down one's congressman like a peevish teenager in the midst of a hormonal rage?

Goodness, what does "one" wear? Perhaps one could do some reporting and go to a town hall meeting? But of course, one might find out that some of the attendees have other reasons for attending than "shouting down their congressman."

And to her credit, Givhan actually concedes that point. I was pleasantly surprised to read on and find (emphasis mine)...

As congressional representatives have gone home to their constituents this summer to sell health care reform, they have occasionally been met by concerned voters with pointed questions, reasonable doubts and fear-of-the-unknown frustrations about what lies ahead. Citizens want to make sure that their representatives have thought through this whole health care reconfiguration....
By and large, the shouters are dressed in a way that underscores their Average Guy -- or Gal -- bona fides. They are wearing T-shirts, baseball caps, promotional polo shirts and sundresses with bra straps sliding down their arm.....
At the town halls hosted by Sens. Arlen Specter and Claire McCaskill, both legislators dressed for business. Specter was in a dark suit and tie. McCaskill wore a chocolate brown jacket with a narrow standing collar. Sen. Ben Cardin wore a dark suit with a navy striped tie to his meeting with his health care mob. They all peered at the irate speakers in some combination of stoic disbelief, subdued annoyance and preternatural calm.

For anyone who has ever been in relationships with shouters, they will know that few things irritate venters more than having their high-decibel rants met with the exaggerated serenity of Nurse Ratched. It's the ultimate kind of power play -- a political rope-a-dope -- and the non-responders know it.

The agitated souls regularly bring up the fact that members of Congress have platinum-level health care plans. They demand to know whether congressmen will sign on to the much-maligned and still undefined public option that is part of the reform discussion. The underlying focus of this grudge match is, of course, about power -- as concentrated in Congress, the presidency, the special interests, the wealthy. The rage emerges from a feeling of helplessness that some version of reform is going to occur whether these citizens like it or not.

That sentiment is underscored in photo after photo. The common man, in his T-shirt and jeans, is shouting passionately at "the suit." In the videos from these meetings, audio is unnecessary. It's clear who's in charge and who is shouting into the wind.

Givhan goes on to ask what would happen if the protestors were to arrive better dressed:

Would they garner more respect? Would they compel more lawmakers to rethink their positions rather than merely repeat, again and again -- in a voice that has the tone of an impatient kindergarten teacher -- the same core points? Would legislators stop telling that condescending anecdote about how people profess their love for government-run Medicare even as they, in the same breath, express their distrust and disdain for government-run medical care? (Maybe snot-nosed mockery is an instinctive response to illogic, but it's not the most productive way to assuage those who fear the unknown.)

But then, we already know what would happen: The protestors would be put down as "not real protestors" by the likes of Madam Speaker Pelosi, or dismissed as Astroturfers.

The assemblies have the look of a lone bean-counter and a throng of unhappy workers. Visually, there's nothing to indicate we-are-all-in-this-together. .... (President Obama has been photographed dressed more casually in the Oval Office than he was for his recent question-and-answer session with the regular Joes of New Hampshire.)

Washington's power brokers have suited up to underscore their authority and the seriousness of the subject matter. And bully for them. But their attire also says: I am the boss of you. All those howling citizens -- in their T-shirts and ball caps and baggy shorts -- are saying: No, you're not.

Well, color me pleasantly surprised.

moar funny pictures

The pope is not a Democrat or a Republican, and his vision doesn’t fit the normal categories of American politics.

Bishop Hubbard supports Cap and Trade.

I guess he thinks upstate NY families don't need to be able to pay their heating bills.

Please go read the Raving Theist's reaction about the president's statement at Dawn Patrol:

I have been part of the pro-life movement for five years now, and yes, I have "profound differences" with the pro-choice ideology and the devastation wrought by the abortion industry. But never have I remotely considered murder as an acceptable tactic.

The people I have worked with in helping abortion-minded women are the most compassionate and gentle I have even met. None of them have even engaged in or endorsed violence. The President's patronizing admonition that "Americans" -- i.e. pro-life Americans -- should not let their passions turn to homicide is deeply insulting. Far more people have been shot to death over parking disputes and fender benders than abortion differences, but the President does not mount the national stage to caution drivers to hold their guns in check every times such an incident occurs.

Dedicated pro-lifers all understand the hypocrisy in taking a life in the name of protecting life.

http://www.kansas.com/news/breaking/story/833730.html

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,”

~Justice Sonia Sotomayor

Pansy's commentary: Dubya tee eff?!?

HT: Roseblue

It's all about the photo op; the President got what he wanted. And as for "dialogue", what has Notre Dame as an institution done to clearly speak up for life, particularly in the actions-that-speak-louder-than-words line?

William McGurn:

In a letter to Notre Dame's Class of 2009, the university's president, the Rev. John Jenkins, stated that the honors for Mr. Obama do not indicate any "ambiguity" about Notre Dame's commitment to Catholic teaching on the sanctity of human life. The reality is that it was this ambiguity that the White House was counting on; this ambiguity that was furthered by the adoring reaction to Mr. Obama's visit; and this ambiguity that disheartens those working for an America that respects the dignity of life inside the womb....

With its billions in endowment and its prestigious name, Notre Dame ought to be in the lead here. But when asked for examples illuminating the university's unambiguous support for unborn life, [University spokesman] Mr. Brown could provide only four: help for pregnant students who want to carry their babies to term, student volunteer work for pregnant women at local shelters, prayer mentions at campus Masses, and lectures such as a seminar on life issues.

These are all well and good, but they also highlight the poverty of Notre Dame's institutional witness. At Notre Dame today, there is no pro-life organization -- in size, in funding, in prestige -- that compares with the many centers, institutes and so forth dedicated to other important issues ranging from peace and justice to protecting the environment. Perhaps this explains why a number of pro-life professors tell me they must not be quoted by name, lest they face career retaliation.

The one institute that does put the culture of life at the heart of its work, moreover -- the Center for Ethics and Culture -- doesn't even merit a link under the "Faith and Service" section on the university's Web site. The point is this: When Notre Dame doesn't dress for the game, the field is left to those like Randall Terry who create a spectacle and declare their contempt for civil and respectful witness.

It's very rare that a Saint calls me a saint...

This gem comes via The Dawn Patrol:

The Importance of Jack Kemp:

blockquote>...his lost presidential run in 1988 did land him in the unlikely spot of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. It was there that Reaganites huddled in what was generally viewed as one of the least important backwaters of the federal government, a place touched by scandal at that. Ignored by the powers of the Bush 41 administration, Kemp blew into this concrete box with the force of a category five hurricane. If you worked for him you were quickly a part of an ongoing tutorial -- done under the guise of a "brown bag lunch" -- that featured everything from Heritage Foundation policy wonks to Sir Martin Gilbert, the biographer of Winston Churchill, to Alex Kotlowitz, the author of There Are No Children Here. The last was a gripping tale of two boys growing up amid the abysmal failure of liberal urban policy, in this case Chicago's Henry Horner Homes. Also up for discussion was Assets and the Poor, a book about the failures of the welfare system.

It wasn't always tutorials, either. Kemp himself was not only out there in America's inner cities inspecting the failures of urban liberalism, he made damn sure his staff got out there too. I remember one particular tour of the Ellen Wilson project in Washington -- a serious disgrace surrounded in broad daylight by drug dealers that is, I believe, now gone. The entire department rocked, at times shell shocked, to Kemp's preaching of the gospel of capitalism and tax cuts.

This beautiful reflection from First Things comes to us via Amy Wellborn about the Notre Dame Scandal. Still the internal story is so lovely:

You see, I was three months pregnant.

That March, I had gone—alone—to a local woman’s clinic to take a test. The results were positive, and I was so numb I almost didn’t grasp what the nurse was getting at when she assured me I had “other options.” What did “other options” mean? And what kind of world is it that defines compassion as telling a young woman who has just learned she is carrying life inside her that she has the option to destroy it?

When I returned to campus, I ran to the Grotto. I was confused and full of conflicting emotions. But I knew this: No amount of shame or embarrassment would ever lead me to get rid of my baby. Of all women, Our Lady could surely feel pity for an unplanned pregnancy. I recalled her surrendered love to God’s invitation to become the home of the Incarnate Word. “Let it be done to me according to thy word,” she had said. In my hour of need, on my knees, I asked Mary for courage and strength. And she did not disappoint.

My boyfriend was a different story. He was also a Notre Dame senior. When I told him that he was to be a father, he tried to pressure me into having an abortion. Like so many women in similar circumstances, I found out the kind of man the father of my child was at precisely the moment I needed him most. “All that talk about abortion is just dining-room talk,” he said. “When it’s really you in the situation, it’s different. I will drive you to Chicago and pay for a good doctor.”

I tried telling him this was not an option. He said he was pro-choice. I responded by informing him that my choice was life. And I learned, as so many pregnant women have before and since, that life is the one choice that pro-choicers won’t support.

Still, I count myself lucky. I was raised by a mom and dad who marched for life—and who walked the walk when I needed them. However much I may not have wanted to embarrass them with my pregnancy, amid my troubles I always knew I had a priceless gift: a family that would welcome into their hearts the life that God had put in my womb.

It is a common and familiar story. People such as Fr. Jenkins do not understand that while they think they are not stepping on toes and being judgmental, they are not supporting the girls who look to the Church for comfort and support who choose to follow the Church's teaching.