KATE RUSBY - THE LARK

 

Out in the field where the lark it flies,
Over the earth where my heart it lies,
Oh how it sings when the west wind blows,
Out in the field where no-one goes.

Lovely woman with a beautiful voice.

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.

CLASSIC CASE OF PROJECTION

One for the textbooks.  Rush Limbaugh on governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, after the governor characterized President Obama's response to Hurricane Sandy as "outstanding":

 "He’s fat and a fool. Don’t listen to Governor Christie. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He makes fun of me all the time.”

.

ALL SAINTS DAY

All Saints Day came and is nearly gone.  I intended to write a post in honor of the day, but time constraints prevented me, so I offer you beloved Satchmo with his signature piece.

WHAT WOMAN IN HER RIGHT MIND...?

An acquaintance just called for my husband who is not home right now, and I gave him the number where Grandpère can be reached.

 Caller: "Are you ready for the election?"

Me: "I voted already."

Caller: "You voted for Romney, of course."

Me: "You're joking.  What woman in her right mind would vote for Romney or for any Republican?"

Caller: "I know a lot of women who are voting for Romney."

Me: "Romney and the Republicans are so anti-women that I don't understand how any woman can vote for any of them."

Caller: "Well, I'd better try to get in touch with Tom (Grandpère) now."

I expect Grandpère will get an earful about my conversation with the man.  I must say that I'm at the point where I try to avoid conversations about politics, because they often end in acrimony, but when I'm asked a direct question, I have to answer.  Thank goodness this person did not appear to want to prolong the discussion, because I was not in the mood.  Anyone who doesn't know by now that Romney as president would be a disaster is almost certainly not a person who is open to being convinced otherwise. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

Adorablest puppy.  Too cute to resist.

hist whist

by e.e. cummings (1894-1962)

hist whist
little ghostthings
tip-toe
twinkle-toe

little twitchy
witches and tingling
goblins
hob-a-nob hob-a-nob 

The poem is still under copyright sooo read the rest here.

Photo lifted from The Daily Office.

GAY FREE WEATHER

 

From nakedpastor.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

In this case, it was once-in-a-lifetime Superstorm Sandy, which caused the outspoken Republican governor of New Jersey to declare a state of emergency and seek federal help for widespread devastation.

Interviewed Tuesday on NBC, Christie described Obama's response as "outstanding," and he told CNN that the president had been "incredibly supportive and helpful to our state."

"This is much more important than any election," Christie told CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight."

Obama has "been outstanding to deal with on this and I look forward to seeing him tomorrow so he can see for himself what this hurricane has done to my state," Christie said Tuesday night.

If you say so, Governor Chris.

It also focused attention on how Romney would handle such a disaster if he were to defeat Obama in what is expected to be a very close election.

On Tuesday, the GOP candidate showed little inclination to address the matter. At a campaign event changed to a storm relief effort in Ohio, Romney ignored shouted questions by reporters on whether he supported the Federal Emergency Management Agency's role in disaster relief.

Instead, he focused his remarks to supporters who donated relief supplies for storm victims on how such efforts contribute to meeting the overall need.

"We won't be able to solve all the problems with our effort this morning," Romney said, adding "one of the things you learn in life is you make the difference you can, and you can't always solve all the problems yourself."

So.  Who do you want as your president in a crunch?

Nevertheless, there is a place in disaster recovery for donations to private charities that pitch in to supplement aid from the government.  Links below.

Red Cross

Episcopal Relief & Development (My favorite)

IRONY AND STUPIDITY ABOUND

Do you remember Michael ("Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job") Brown, infamous director of FEMA during its catastrophic failure after Katrina and the federal flood?  The FEMA that wasn't there for days as nearly 1000 people drowned in New Orleans? 

That same Michael Brown...wait!...is now criticizing Obama for his too-rapid response to Hurricane Sandy.

“One thing he’s gonna be asked is, why did he jump on [the hurricane] so quickly and go back to D.C. so quickly when in…Benghazi, he went to Las Vegas?” Brown says. “Why was this so quick?… At some point, somebody’s going to ask that question…. This is like the inverse of Benghazi.”

See?  Hurricane Sandy is just like the Benghazi attack, only turned upside down.  Amazingly brilliant analogy, no?  Brownie's a heckuva guy with a mind like a steel trap...not!  Brownie, who knows not the meaning of quick response, is just the person to connect the dots and come up with a really, really stupid comment.

H/T to Charles Pierce.

PICTURES OF HAVOC WREAKED BY SANDY IN AND AROUND NYC

LaGuardia Airport

New York subway

FDR Drive under water.

Entrance to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel

George Takei

A double rainbow touching down in Manhattan symbolizes the end of the storm and the beginning of the recovery.

My title for the rainbow picture is "Hope". NYC, one of my favorite cities, will recover.

The other pictures are from the Facebook pages of my friends Dan and Doug.

UPDATE: More pictures at Doug's blog Counterlight's Peculiars.