The U.S. Embassy attacks were not about a film; they were about an attack on one of the most basic rights guaranteed to Americans - the freedom to criticize with speech. It would appear that the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia has all but confirmed that.
Six months after declaring that all churches in the Arabian peninsula should be destroyed, Saudi Arabia’s top cleric called at the weekend for a global ban on insults targeting all religious “prophets and messengers,” a category that, from a Muslim perspective, includes Jesus Christ.
Saturday’s demand by Saudi grand mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh came on the same day that another of Sunni Islam’s most prominent figures, Egypt’s Al-Azhar University grand imam Ahmed el-Tayyeb, made a similar appeal.
Both men were reacting to an amateur video satirizing Mohammed, whose emergence on the Internet has been blamed for protests targeting American diplomatic missions across the Islamic world. According to wire services at least 12 deaths have been linked to the protests since Thursday, with deaths reported in Tunisia, Sudan, Pakistan, Yemen, Lebanon and Egypt.
The two clerics’ calls are a new salvo in an unremitting campaign by Islamic political and religious leaders, spearheaded by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to pressure non-Muslims to treat Islam with deference.
It would seem that this Mufti has told us the reason for the attacks.
Well, this isn't going to help Romney when it comes to that war on women narrative the Obama campaign is going to carry into the election. Earlier this month, Jon Huntsman's daughter Abby trashed the Republican Party as being too "non-inclusive" and appeared to switch sides when former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm invited her to join the Democratic Party.
Abby Huntsman now works for the Huffington Post and appears to be a secret weapon for the Obama campaign. In fact, when it comes to the Obama campaign, Huntsman may be to the Mormon debate what Sandra Fluke is to the contraception debate. As the daughter of a Mormon (and former Mormon herself), Abby is qualified to talk about the religion and you can bet your bottom dollar the Obama campaign is going to exploit that to the utmost.
Huntsman goes after Romney over several issues:
The Mormon church's secrecy
The Mormon church's behind-the-scenes efforts to help the Romney campaign
The Mormon church's belief that the leader of the Mormon church is a prophet who gets revelations and whether Romney will follow that leader's direction or the Constitution
The Mormon church granting him permission to change his position on abortion in order to make a successful run for Governor of Massachusetts
The Mormon church and polygamy; Huntsman says Mormonism still subscribes to it.
Yes, that's far leftist Marc Lamont Hill sitting next to Huntsman.
On August 23rd, NBC interviewed Abby Huntsman for an anti-Mormon hit piece masquerading as objective journalism; it was narrated by Brian Williams:
For more insight into the Church, Williams turned to Abby Huntsman, daughter of former Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, who left the Mormon faith after meeting her future husband, a non-Mormon. She lamented: "It's very black and white still, there's no gray area. You either are in or you're out. And you live by the Mormon doctrine or you do not."
Picking up on that theme, Williams explained: "In this modern world, some old-school rules still govern the Mormon Church, and that means no non-Mormons allowed inside their temples." He then suspiciously asked Huntsman: "I can't get into the Mormon temple. Will that ever change?...What goes on in there?"
Huntsman regretfully replied: "I hope it does. But I don't think that it will....[It] causes a lot of people to feel maybe not good enough, 'Why am I not allowed in there?' So this idea of – maybe being more accepting and moving with the times a little bit is much needed in the Church today."
As the Democrats look to step up their attacks on Romney's religion, look for former Mormon Abby Huntsman to become the go-to expert on all things Mormon.
The common refrain from the Republican establishment - as well as from conservatives who think it's best to get fully behind Mitt Romney despite his lack of appeal to them - has been that this election is too important and the nation cannot afford more of Obama. While that last part is true, the establishment insisted on Romney. One of the reasons I (and others) thought Romney was nowhere near the best choice was what we believed the liberal media and other Democratic apparatchiks would at some point do - go after his religion.
It was never a matter of if, only when.
NBC's Brian Williams, with his typical pseudo-objective, liberal nuance, delivered a one hour hit piece on Mormonism.
Opening an hour-long special on the Mormon Church for Thursday's NBC Rock Center, anchor Brian Williams proclaimed to viewers: "Most Americans say they know next to nothing about the Mormon Church. Tonight, a rare look inside the lives of modern Mormon families....A church still dealing with the issue of polygamy....And other issues of inequality."
Teasing a report on the history of the Church, Williams promised to answer the question of "why so many Americans still today are suspicious of the religion." Introducing that portion of the broadcast, Williams touted pop culture mocking the faith, starting with a clip of Fox's Family Guy in which lead character Peter Griffin declares: "I'm going to be a Mormon....Come on, nailing a different wife every night. That's a no-brainer."
Williams announced: "Comedy now takes liberties with Mormons, say nothing of the polygamy-based dramas and then there's Broadway." Footage appeared on screen of Comedy Central's South Park and the HBO series Big Love, followed by a clip of The Book of Mormon musical produced by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
After briefly describing the founding of the religion, Williams quickly focused on negative perceptions of Mormonism: "Part of the history of the Church that they can't shake is polygamy....even though polygamy was officially banned a century go, it's something the Church still has to deal with....Critics in other religions have openly called them a cult."
For more insight into the Church, Williams turned to Abby Huntsman, daughter of former Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, who left the Mormon faith after meeting her future husband, a non-Mormon. She lamented: "It's very black and white still, there's no gray area. You either are in or you're out. And you live by the Mormon doctrine or you do not."
Picking up on that theme, Williams explained: "In this modern world, some old-school rules still govern the Mormon Church, and that means no non-Mormons allowed inside their temples." He then suspiciously asked Huntsman: "I can't get into the Mormon temple. Will that ever change?...What goes on in there?"
Huntsman regretfully replied: "I hope it does. But I don't think that it will....[It] causes a lot of people to feel maybe not good enough, 'Why am I not allowed in there?' So this idea of – maybe being more accepting and moving with the times a little bit is much needed in the Church today."
Williams then turned to those "issues of inequality" that he hyped at the top of the program: "There is another part of Mormonism in the recent past that was late to change, and that's racism. African-Americans were not allowed to become full members until 1978."
Those who think Romney will fight back against these attacks by going after Rev. Jeremiah Wright offer no indication from the Romney campaign that he will do so. Where Obama is perhaps weakest - like Operation Fast and Furious - Romney has avoided.
An Obama supporter has apparently posted a strategy for winning some southern states in the Bible belt and he's posted it to an Obama campaign website designed to create a nexus between the campaign itself and the voices on the ground. That strategy involves driving Christian voters away from Romney because of... wait for it... his Mormonism.
When the Obama campaign released its much-anticipated Dashboard platform last May, it was touted as a potentially revolutionary organizing tool that would connect supporters, and merge online activism with real-life grassroots campaigning.
It can also be used as a platform to launch whispering campaigns, as one user proved this week.
On Monday, a "team member" named Laurence De Palma, who lists his location as East Nashville, presented volunteers with some talking points to convince Southern Christian voters they shouldn't vote for a Mormon. The message was available under "Resources" and tagged "persuasion."
"I'm thinking that even though we don't LIKE campaigns to get nasty, we in the south (TN) come to EXPECT it," De Palma began. "What we also know is that we have a very 'rigid' view of Christianity, and apparently, Mormonism isn't anywhere in our views. This could easily win TN/SC/AL/GA, etc."
Though the post has since been taken down, Romney's campaign spokesman - Andrea Saul - has responded:
Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul condemned the posting in an emailed statement: "The news concerning the Obama Campaign's dashboard containing language based on sowing religious division is deeply disturbing. There is no place in politics for this, and it must be addressed and put to an end."
There are several reasons why the liberal media wanted Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee. The establishment wanted him (that usually bodes well for the Democrats); Romney is a moderate; Romneycare would help to neutralize the Obamacare debate; and Romney doesn't inspire the right-wing base, which leads to another reason.
Romney's religion. I've long believed that Mitt's Mormonism would be an issue for the left to exploit; we may just be getting closer to that reality. That's not to say that it hasn't been brought up; it has been.
Last month, James Carville said he thought Romney's religion was his biggest weakness. Last April, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said David Axelrod would attack Mormonism; MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell got quite aggressive against the Mormon religion while NBC's David Gregory did so in a much more subtle / pseudo-objective kinda way.
Also, let's not forget about when Donna Brazile inadvertently let it slip that Romney was the candidate the Democrats wanted to face. Michael A. Walsh, in a New York Post article, wrote about the incident at the time:
Lost in the weekend’s back-to-back debates in New Hampshire was this illuminating remark by Democratic strategist Donna Brazile after Saturday night’s soporific contest in Manchester: “Mitt Romney won tonight because no one touched him. And for Democrats, you know what? It was good news for us . . . because we believe that the weakest candidate is the candidate that the Republicans are not attacking. And that’s Mitt Romney.”
The remark drew guffaws from some of the other assembled party faithful and media commentators, but Brazile spoke the truth. Democrats do believe that Romney is eminently beatable, the perfect foil for President Obama, in fact.
Again, there are several reasons why the Democrats wanted to face Romney. The perceived ability to exploit his religion and drive evangelical voters away is one of them.
Do they really want to make this about religion considering Obama’s Jeremiah Wright past?
Considering that Romney has avoided hitting back at Obama with Fast and Furious after several obvious opportunities to do so. Obama campaign / Super PACs accused Romney of being too 'secretive', suggested he was a 'felon', and implied he murdered a woman. David Axelrod even compared him to Richard Nixon.
Fast and Furious was a gun-walking operation run in the shadows; the Justice Department stonewalled Congress for over a year (and continues to do so) - that's secretive. Fast and Furious was more than just a little felonious - putting guns in the hands of bad guys does qualify. As for murder, Fast and Furious is responsible for the murder of at least one U.S. Border Agent - Brian Terry - and hundreds of Mexican nationals. As for the Nixon comparison, Obama is the one who asserted executive privilege to prevent documents about Fast and Furious from being presented to Congress.
With all due respect to Zip, if Romney won't hit back at these blatantly projectionist attacks by the Obama administration with Fast and Furious, why would he respond to attacks on Mormonism by bringing up Jeremiah Wright?
Ah, there's another reason the Democrats wanted to face Romney.
Two very important names here. First, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) is one of the five Congressmen who signed five separate letters to various IG's. Those letters call for investigations into the potential of Muslim Brotherhood infiltration of the U.S. Government. Second, Thomas E. Perez is the Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
At what appears to be a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Franks asked Perez a very simple question about whether the latter would pledge to never move forward any policy that would criminalize criticism of any religion, which is prohibited by the First Amendment (note: there is a movement afoot to criminalize criticism of Islam). Believe it or not, Perez would not answer the question, a reality that should send chills down your spine (not a tingle up your leg).
If you remember the New Black Panther Party (NBPP) voting rights case from 2008, Thomas Perez was at the center of it. J. Christian Adams actually resigned his position as an Attorney at the Voting Rights Section back in 2010, in large part because of the actions of Perez. Check out this interview he gave to Fox's Megyn Kelly two years ago. Pay attention at the 1:30 mark where Adams implies (without saying it) that he resigned when it became obvious that Perez was going to commit perjury.
In December of 2009, Perez spoke at the Muslim Public Affairs Council's (MPAC) National Conference in Long Beach, CA. Yes, MPAC is linked to CAIR, a Muslim Brotherhood front group whose leader (Nihad Awad) expressed support for Hamas.
As‐Salamu Alaykum to all of you. Thank you, Salam, for that introduction and for your dedication and your hard work leading MPAC. MPAC is an organization that represents not just the best of the American Muslim Community, but the best of America.
Really? How about CAIR, Mr. Perez? How about this?
Today, I am here to assure you that as the Muslim‐American community continues to fight against forces of bigotry, fear and hate that are far too prevalent in our nation, you have the power of the United States Government behind you.
That is truly a scary statement in light of the exchange between Perez and Franks. As for bigotry and hate, the founder of MPAC (Salam al-Marayati) suggested that Israel was behind the 9/11 attacks and he did so on the same day they took place. Leader / Board Member Mahdi Bray has consistently expressed anti-Semitic positions and helped to raise money for Hamas in a Florida mosque. Does Perez not see Hamas as bigoted or hateful?
Perez also talked about the Fort Hood massacre, which had taken place only weeks before...
For the last few weeks, we as a nation have been grieving the loss of thirteen brave men and women at Fort Hood, and are praying for the swift recovery of the wounded. I know that Muslim Americans are not only grieving, but are also fearful of irrational and unjustifiable acts of misplaced vengeance. Since the day of the tragedy, the Civil Rights Division has kept in close contact with the community to insure that we act swiftly against any incidents of backlash.
As we now know, this type of thinking is what prevented Nidal Malik Hasan from being dealt with prior to his bloody Jihad.
On a side note, Perez's name was at the top of the lawsuit filed against Joe Arpaio back in 2010.
Former Clinton campaign strategist and prominent Democrat, James Carville, may have just given the green light to the left, to go after Mitt Romney over Mormonism. While appearing on WWL in New Orleans, Carville said the following during a discussion about Romney:
“One of the problems that Romney has honestly is — the thing against him the most is his religion,” Carville said. “And he doesn’t understand the reasons. He doesn’t talk about that. He was a bishop in his church. And he doesn’t talk about the one public office that he held much and that was being the governor of Massachusetts. So, he talks about Bain, but that’s become sort of a big issue in the campaign. He’s got to, you know — if you look at the numbers, Romney should win this campaign.”
Until the Obamacare ruling, Romney was making incremental progress on a weekly basis. He was winning with jabs against Obama, landing more punches by far but nothing with the force of a haymaker. Even after the Obamacare ruling, Romney was poised to capitalize on it because the last of the anti-establishment candidate fence-sitters seemed to be getting on his side.
Then the Romney campaign delivered a haymaker to its own jaw when it couldn't adequately draw a significant contrast between Obamacare and Romneycare.
There is a reason Carville is attacking Romney on Mormonism the same week that Romney muddled his Romneycare message; he smells blood in the water. This attack by Carville was definitely strategic.
Here is the audio of the exchange, via Daily Caller:
MSNBC's Tamron Hall interviewed Edward-Isaac Dovere from the POLITICO. The topic of conversation was Mormonism's 'White Horse Prophecy,' allegedly made by Mormonism's founder, Joseph Smith. At its core is a belief that a wealthy Mormon would be elected president at a time when the US Constitution is hanging by a thread.
In this clip, Dovere actually minimizes the importance of the prophecy by explaining that it was first reported by one lone person 50 years after it was allegedly uttered by Smith. Dovere does make a subtle attempt to tie Romney to the prophecy by saying that Mormons believe the Constitution was 'divinely inspired,' which is also a part of the 'White Horse Prophecy.' He then referred to a comment by Romney that the presidential candidate believes the Constitution was... you guessed it, 'divinely inspired.'
Compounding this is the fact that Romney's campaign is not responding to inquiries about these things. Dovere makes this point as well. The media knows full well that when the subject of Mormonism is brought up, Romney would rather not discuss it. Unfortunately for Romney, the green light for the media to continue pressing the issue couldn't be any brighter as a result.
The strategy of the mainstream media will become clear. It is going to continue piling up the bizarre aspects, practices, and beliefs inside the Mormon church to the point of having an overwhelming preponderance of items that Romney will not be able to withstand. The more such things are met with silence from Romney, the more damaging they will be.
It's pretty safe to say that any administration that agitates the Catholic Church to this degree is showing reckless disregard for the first amendment and is intolerant.
Having organized 43 plaintiffs—including the archdioceses of New York and Washington and the University of Notre Dame—to file 12 different lawsuits against the Obama administration last Monday alleging the administration is violating the religious freedom of Catholics, the Catholic bishops of the United States are now preparing Catholics for what may be the most massive campaign of civil disobedience in this country since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and early 1960s.
“Some unjust laws impose such injustices on individuals and organizations that disobeying the laws may be justified,” the bishops state in a document developed to be inserted into church bulletins in Catholic parishes around the country in June.
“Every effort must be made to repeal them,” the bishops say in the document, which is already posted on the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “When fundamental human goods, such as the right of conscience, are at stake, we may need to witness to the truth by resisting the law and incurring its penalties.”
The bulletin insert reminds Catholic parishioners that the bishops have called for “A Fortnight of Freedom”—which they have described as “a special period of prayer, study, catechesis, and public action”—to take place from June 21 to July 4.
The elites always seem to twist themselves into pretzels to avoid calling the west's war with Islam a religious war. Meanwhile, we have a religious war right here, being waged by the Barack Obama administration against the Catholic Church.
Has anyone noticed that Mormon Harry Reid has been completely silent as the liberal media attacks his religion? We can only infer one thing from his silence. He values his party more than he values his faith. Otherwise, he would be defending Mitt Romney.
There is a Category 5 Hurricane headed for the Mormon church and the Republican establishment has hitched its wagons to a guy who has no shudders up. Folks, this is just the beginning. The left has plenty of ammunition in its arsenal when it comes to Romney's religion and Romney is not prepared for what's coming. Here is a small sampling of what's coming.
On the wildflower-studded slopes of the Ozarks, where memories run long and family ties run thick, a little-known and long-ago chapter of history still simmers.
On Sept. 11, 1857, a wagon train from this part of Arkansas met with a gruesome fate in Utah, where most of the travelers were slaughtered by a Mormon militia in an episode known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Hundreds of the victims’ descendants still populate these hills and commemorate the killings, which they have come to call “the first 9/11.”
Many of the locals grew up hearing denunciations of Mormonism from the pulpit on Sundays, and tales of the massacre from older relatives who considered Mormons “evil.”
“There have been Fancher family reunions for 150 years, and the massacre comes up at every one of them,” said Scott Fancher, 58, who traces his lineage back to 26 members of the wagon train, which was known as the Fancher-Baker party. “The more whiskey we drunk, the more resentful we got.”
There aren’t many places in America more likely to be suspicious of Mormonism — and potentially more problematic for Mitt Romney, who is seeking to become the country’s first Mormon president. Not only do many here retain a personal antipathy toward the religion and its followers, but they also tend to be Christian evangelicals, many of whom view Mormonism as a cult.
Mormons perpetrated America's "first 9/11"? In fairness, Mormonism's founder - Joseph Smith - did liken himself to Islam's prophet:
“I will be to this generation a second Mohammed, whose motto in treating for peace was 'the Alcoran [Koran] or the Sword.' So shall it eventually be with us.”
The bigger story here is the mainstream media's steady drip, drip, drip of Mormon stories until something sticks to Romney.
Mitt Romney garnered an overwhelming majority of the Mormon vote during the primaries. As a result, the Mormon church may have to batten down the hatches because a political hurricane is about to hit Utah. The establishment had blinders on and didn't pay attention to the consequences of its insistence that Romney get the nomination. Dylan Byers writes that the hurricane is coming.
Mormonism is going to be an issue this election season. It's only a question of when.
Even if Mitt Romney doesn't address it, even if President Obama doesn't address it, even if the DNC and the Super PACs don't address it, the media will. And when they do it is almost certain to drive the news cycle.
I'm not talking about Romney's personal history -- or his family's history -- in the Mormon Church, which is something that has already come up in various stories on cable news and made the front page of a few papers. I’m talking about a national conversation about the Mormon faith, including its past practice of polygamy (which was renounced by the church in the 19th century) and its exclusion of African Americans from the priesthood (until 1978).. That sort of thing.
Back in January, Rush Limbaugh played a clip of Donna Brazile after a debate after which she said that Romney's performance was 'good' for the Democrats because his nomination gives Obama the best chance. Correctly, Limbaugh pointed out that Brazile spoke too soon. Though she told the truth, she wasn't supposed to yet.
What Limbaugh didn't discuss at the time was one of the biggest reasons the Democrats want to face Romney; they see his religion as a huge weakness, something he isn't prepared to discuss or defend.
Leftists are such consistent liars that they actually tell you the truth. All you have to do is believe the exact opposite of what they say. The latest example comes from Obama senior adviser David Axelrod, who says Mormonism will be 'off the table.' Bet the other way and you have a winner.
As religion becomes an ever-more significant issue on the campaign trail, Mitt Romney's Mormonism will be off-limits as a subject for the opposition, Obama campaign advisor David Axelrod said on Sunday.
"We've said that's not fair game," he said on CNN's State of the Union. When asked whether the campaign "repudiate[s] the idea that Mormonism should be on the table" this election season, Axelrod insisted: "absolutely."
He added, however, that Romney should to come out stronger against attacks on Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. A recent GOP ad proposal unearthed by the New York Times that aimed to focus in on Obama's relationship with the pastor brought the racially-charged issue to the forefront of the campaign this week. While Romney repudiated the ad, Axelrod and he wasn't vehement enough in his disapproval.
Lest we forget that it was Mr. Axelrod who inadvertently tweeted a story about how Mormon churches prevented menstruating women from participating in proxy baptisms to all of his followers. That tweet was quickly deleted.
Actually, you don't even need to wait to see how this one plays out. Axelrod is already lying. As a propaganda arm of the White House, MSNBC has already gone after Mormonism multiple times.
On May 16th, as it was being learned that Romney's Super PAC was preparing to go after Obama using Jeremiah Wright, CNN's Roland Martin said: that if "...the GOP wants to do that, then guess what? You're now putting Mormonism on the table."
Guess what else? It doesn't matter whether Romney repudiates the Super PAC for considering an anti-Jeremiah Wright campaign. The liberal media is already going after Romney over Mormonism despite what he says about any proposed ad campaign. Note the straw man here. MSNBC's Ed Schultz pits Mormonism against Jeremiah Wright and Black Liberation Theology anyway.
This is exactly what the left wants and frankly, Romney isn't the least bit prepared for it. If he thinks taking Jeremiah Wright off the table is going to take Mormonism off the table, he's wrong. The left has already put it on the table in response to the sheer notion that the Romney Super PAC would even consider a Jeremiah Wright campaign.
Here is an exchange moderated by Schultz between conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams and Michael Eric Dyson. Note that Williams says Romney repudiated the Super PAC and this should be a dead issue. Schultz and Dyson don't seem to care about that much.
Again, the liberal media sees Mormonism as Romney's biggest weak spot and they're going to go after him full boar over it. They're using the prospect of a Jeremiah Wright campaign as their green light.
Now this is an interesting approach. Comedy Central's Jon Stewart does an entire segment on Mitt Romney's religion and comes across as defending it while still keeping it an issue. In fact, Stewart chides conservative evangelical leaders for chiding Mormonism. He also criticizes MSNBC hosts Lawrence O'Donnell and Martin Bashir for attacking Romney over religion.
It's important to remember, though, that it's not about the left coming to Mormonism's defense. It's about keeping the issue in the public eye. Stewart did just that here. Segments like this one will help Barack Obama.
Bill Maher seems to be doing all he can to get Obama to return his $1 Million contribution to the president's Super PAC. He also apparently didn't get the message from Ross Douthat at the New York Times, which advises Team Obama to let the media play the Mormon card in a very nuanced way. There is nothing nuanced about Bill Maher's Mormonism-is-a-cult meme coupled with his charge that there are "no poor Mormons."
Catholic Bishops penned strong letters expressing their disapproval of Obama's HHS contraception mandate earlier this year. Though there has been a consistent murmur of disagreement since, there has been little action. That is all set to change on June 21st, as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will be taking their righteous anger to the streets.
The protests, dubbed “A Fortnight for Freedom” will be an “unprecedented, aggressive attack” against policies that church leaders see as an assault on religious freedom, said Catholic Advocate chairman Deal Hudson.
“The bishops are seeing – rightly – a pattern of emerging of hostility towards the Catholic faith for upholding protection of the life of the unborn and because of its position on contraception,” said Hudson.
And Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic League pointed out to Newsmax that the protests will come around the time the Supreme Court issues its judgment on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Unless the justices throw the act out completely, the protests could not be timed better, he said.
“If the individual mandate falls and the rest stands it will be more important than ever for Catholics to step forward and get involved,” said Donohue. “We will have to make the point that we are not going anywhere.”
Donohue said the mandate to make insurance companies cover not only contraceptives but abortion-inducing drugs is the key, he said. “It was done on purpose as a wedge to open the door. If we don’t fight it the next step is to force Catholic hospitals to provide abortion facilities,” he said.
“The idea that I as a Catholic should have to pay for some woman’s abortion makes me want to reach for the vomit bag.”
Donohue praised the bishops for their proactive stance “if for no other reason than to make the point that they are furious,” he said.
“Over the years there have been times when the resolve of the bishops wasn’t quite what we wanted it to be. Today that resolve is extremely strong,” he said.
The two weeks of protest has been called by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “That is not the type of body that goes out of its way to pick a fight,” Catholic Advocate’s Hudson pointed out.
“That is precisely what makes this so unusual a moment. The bishops have been provoked to such a degree that they will go to this extreme. They would prefer quiet negotiations leading to a principled compromise, instead they are talking about the probability of civil disobedience.”
The article goes on to make the point that Catholic Bishops in robes being put in handcuffs all across the country would be an extremely powerful visual for Obama to have to deal with. OWS'rs love to portray themselves as victims of overzealous police officers; it's why they're so provocative. That said, their tactics have grown tiresome.
If you're Catholic, call your priest or Bishop and ask about how they're participating.
Regardless of what you might think about Mormonism, ask yourselves how effective the media could be in demonizing Mitt Romney over it after watching this video.
Isn't it interesting how on the night that Romney all but locks up the Republican nomination, the New York Times' Ross Douthat lays out what he thinks is the best way for the Obama administration to play the Mormon card against Romney? It's clear that Douthat advocates the David Gregory strategy over the Lawrence O'Donnell strategy. He starts the column by noting that when Evangelical leader Robert Jeffress identified Mormonism as a "theological cult" last year, it actually benefited Romney.
On one level, Douthat is amazingly candid here. He all but admits that the Obama administration is able to get the media to do its bidding and that it should let the media play the Mormon card in a strategic way.
If it seems like prominent Democrats are playing the religion card, then the Romney camp will have a chance to re-run the Jeffress controversy and paint its opponents as bigots. There’s also the awkward matter of President Obama’s own religious background: The White House probably would rather not do anything that might revive the 2008 debate over the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
This explains why the White House was so quick to distance itself from Brian Schweitzer, the governor of Montana, when he raised the fact that Romney’s great-grandfather practiced polygamy. And it explains why the dog whistles that some conservatives have detected coming from the White House – an Obama spokesman contrasting Romney’s “faith” with the president’s “Christianity,” the repeated references to Romney’s “weirdness” from unnamed administration officials – have been pitched too faintly to be heard by most voters.
For Romney’s religion to become a significant issue in the general election, the White House probably needs the media to play the Mormon card for them. Not through overt attacks on Mormon theology and practice, which would be out of bounds for most mainstream outlets. Rather, the Obama campaign’s best-case scenario involves a wave of theoretically evenhanded coverage come August and September – newsmagazine cover stories on Mormon theology, 60 Minutes specials on L.D.S. history, pieces about Romney’s own family tree – that end up reminding undecided voters of the things that they find strange and alien about the Republican nominee’s faith.
The media would have good reason to pursue at least some coverage along these lines. If there’s ever a year when the Mormon story is worth telling, it’s a year when a Mormon is on the presidential ballot. And there’s no way to tell the Mormon story comprehensively without bringing up issues (polygamy, race, the Book of Mormon’s alternative pre-history of the Americas) that highlight the distance between the Latter Day Saints and other forms of American Christianity.
After his sweeping primary victories on April 24th, Romney's speeches included references to the Obama administration's attempts to distract voters from the economy with irrelevant issues. Relevant or not, the media will most assuredly follow Douthat's roadmap.
The mainstream media is continuing its subtle attacks on Mitt Romney's religion. In some cases - see Lawrence O'Donnell - the attacks haven't been as subtle. CNN's Jack Cafferty seems to be using the David Gregory approach. The MSM doesn't want to appear bigoted so is clearly trying to set a narrative that says Mormonism is an issue because of Romney's intimate involvement with it. They know why Romney doesn't want to talk about it; the doctrine and history of the religion would be considered quite bizarre to most people. They also know that most people don't know that kind of detail.
Make no mistake, however. These guys know that doing so has more downside for Romney than upside, which is why Romney doesn't appear all that interested in discussing the subject. Cafferty knows this and says that Romney should not avoid talking about his religion, for several reasons.
On Tuesday’s “Cafferty File,” CNN contributor Jack Cafferty said that likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney needs to embrace his Mormon faith and prepare an address, similar to one he gave in 2008, in order to clear up misconceptions about the religion that are still held by many Americans. Oddly, Cafferty gave a similar presentation less than a year ago and came to the opposite conclusion – that a speech Romney gave in 2008 could be blamed for ending his presidential campaign in the last cycle.
Isn't that interesting? CNN's Cafferty thinks it's important for Romney to be more open about Mormonism as the former Massachusetts Governor has all but clinched the Republican nomination. Yet, last year, Cafferty asserted that doing so in 2008 torpedoed his chances then.
Should tell you all you need to know about why Cafferty thinks Romney should do the same thing now.
Folks, the MSM is going to bludgeon Romney with his religion. Why the Republican Party establishment doesn't see this is beyond me.
Those concerned that the Catholic Church's response to the HHS contraception rule was going to be a flash in the pan got a bit of a reprieve courtesy of Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of the Diocese of Peoria, IL. Jenky compared Barack Obama to Hitler and Stalin.
"Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care," Jenky said. "In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama – with his radical, pro abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path." Jenky added.
Jenky reminded the men of the Catholic Church's history of surviving threats from Jihadi, Nazism and Communism and called them to stand up for their faith.
Denouncing the "entrenched corruption and sheer incompetence" of the Illinois state government, Jenky also criticized Catholic politicians who "pretend to be Catholic."
Megyn Kelly interviewed Michael Reagan about the mainstream media's interest in bringing up Mitt Romney's Mormonism incessantly. Note that Reagan is in a position of having to defend Mitt Romney against these tactics. My point all along has been that these tactics would be used by Obama's apparatchiks because they will be effective.
Reagan has an interesting take here, saying that the liberal media is fixated on Romney being a Mormon but gives Harry Reid a pass; he also highlights the fact that Reid's loyalties are to the Democratic Party so much so that he is not defending Romney. The problem is that this was all predictable and any hypocrisy pointed out by the right is not going to stop further hypocritical tactics from the left.
Again, the veiled attacks on Mormonism from the left may not be justified but that will not make them any less effective. Note how Reagan is in defense mode instead of going after Obama
