THE DONALD AND THE DUKE

Our own Louisiana treasure, Stephanie Grace, on Trump's handling of his endorsement by David Duke.

Given the ascent of Donald Trump, whose arena-size angerfests are kind of like [Pat] Buchanan’s 1996 rally on steroids, was there ever any doubt?

Keying in Trump’s anti-outsider rallying cry to build a wall on the Mexican border and ban Muslims from entering the United States, Duke, who rarely misses an opportunity to emerge from obscurity and grab a headline, declared that white people who didn’t back Trump were committing “treason” to their “heritage.”

Pat Buchanan was savvy enough to know that though he might get away with coded, racist language to attract supporters, association with David Duke crossed a line that would not play well and would surely come back to bite.

While Buchanan, a political communications pro by trade, knew just what to say in a similar situation, Trump has flailed and flopped all over the place. He first disavowed Duke’s support, then on Sunday reversed himself during a genuinely shocking ABC News interview.

“Well, just so you understand, I don’t know anything about David Duke, OK?” Trump said. “I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists.” (My emphasis)

David Duke?  I never heard of the guy.  OK, Mr Trump, you'd have to be living in a cave cut off from all communication not to have heard of Duke, the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

After a day of denunciations from the press and rival Republican candidates, Trump backtracked again, claiming that he hadn’t heard the question despite the specificity of his answer. (My emphasis)

And there it is - Trump's denial that is quite obviously not true, because he repeated Duke's name. Tomorrow is primary election day in Louisiana.  Only registered Democrats and Republicans are allowed to vote for their candidate of choice in each party.  My guess is that Trump's botched response to the endorsement of Duke will make little difference in his totals in Louisiana.  His performance in the Republican debate last night, which I thought was his worst, may affect the vote - or not.  Thus far, Trump's die-hard supporters have remained unaffected by reports of his stumbles, misspeaking, and denials of statements that are on record.  

VOTE REPUBLICAN, OR BE JUDGED FOR ETERNITY

Letter to the members of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria from Bishop Daniel R. Jenky:

Election AD 2012

By virtue of your vow of obedience to me as your Bishop, I require that this letter be personally read by each celebrating priest at each Weekend Mass, November 3/4.

Dear Catholic Believers,

Since the foundation of the American Republic and the adoption of the Bill of Rights, I do not think there has ever been a time more threatening to our religious liberty than the present. Neither the president of the United States nor the current majority of the Federal Senate have been willing to even consider the Catholic community's grave objections to those HHS mandates that would require all Catholic institutions, exempting only our church buildings, to fund abortion, sterilization, and artificial contraception. This assault upon our religious freedom is simply without precedent in the American political and legal system. Contrary to the guarantees embedded in the First Amendment, the HHS mandates attempt to now narrowly define and thereby drastically limit our traditional religious works. They grossly and intentionally intrude upon the deeply held moral convictions that have always guided our Catholic schools, hospitals, and other apostolic ministries.
....

For those who hope for salvation, no political loyalty can ever take precedence over loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his Gospel of Life. God is not mocked, and as the Bible clearly teaches, after this passing instant of life on earth, God's great mercy in time will give way to God's perfect judgment in eternity.

The headline of the post at the National Catholic Reporter is "Peoria bishop orders Catholics to the polls".   Since I've long admired the reporting at NCR, I hope the headline is irony.  What the bishop orders is that Roman Catholics go to the polls and vote for Mitt Romney and Republican candidates for the US Senate.

 In 1954, Congress saw the need to separate charities and churches from politics. An amendment was offered on the floor of the Senate by then-Senator Lyndon Johnson.

The Johnson amendment is found within the well-known section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. In its present form, the law states that charities, including churches, are not allowed to “participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements) any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.”

Freedom of speech and religious liberty are essential elements of our democracy. But the Supreme Court has in essence held that tax exemption is a privilege, not a right, stating, “Congress has not violated [an organization’s] First Amendment rights by declining to subsidize its First Amendment activities.”

The rule against intervention by charities and churches in political campaigns has been entrenched in the law for over a half-century. Congress enacted the law. The Courts upheld it. Our job at the IRS is to educate the public and charities about the law and to enforce it in a fair and evenhanded manner.

Perhaps the powers-that-be at the IRS might be moved to investigate the Diocese of Peoria's tax-exempt eligibility. The bishop stepped outside the boundary of advocating issues to advocating candidates. I know the IRS is not likely to do as I suggest, but it should.

The bishop's heavy-handed order to the priests in the diocese demonstrates desperation and a lack of confidence in his own authority.  He speaks of the "Catholic community" as though all Catholics think alike and speak with one voice, which is (excuse my language) bullshit, as is Jenky's claim of "assault upon our religious freedom", on which basis he orders the faithful to vote Republican, or risk their very salvation.  Will Roman Catholics pay attention to the gospel according to Jenky when they vote? I hope not.

In an earlier post I quoted another letter from Bishop Jenky in which he compared President Obama to Hitler and Stalin. 

Note: I was going to take a pass on posting on the the bishop's odious letter, but Rmj at Adventus inspired me otherwise.  Keep in mind that the thoughts and words here are my own, and Rmj bears no responsibility.

BLUNT AND CANDID

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson former chief of staff to Colin Powell is very blunt and candid about racism in the Republican party.

It's no surprise to me that Col Wilkerson states candidly that the Republican Party is "full of racists".  Louisiana is a very red state, and I'd agree with the colonel that the Republican Party here is "full of racists".