The Remarkable Transformation of Judicial Watch

As reported in mainstream media. Sort of.

Today's issue of MRC's CyberAlert details how, by and large, Judicial Watch used to be characterized (if not ignored) as a "conservative" group when suing Democrat Bill Clinton, but is now, by and large, characterized as a "legal" group when suing Republican Dick Cheney.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 07/11/02 06:26:04 PM
Categorized as Classic.

Say WWWWWHHHHHAAAATTTTT?

No. In retrospective, Martin Luther was not right.

Opines Mike Potemra at The Corner today:

Religions, like people, are internally complicated-and are capable of changing for the better. Five hundred years ago, Catholics wanted to burn Martin Luther; now, even very conservative Catholics are looking to Luther as a model for how to reform the Church in response to the pedophilia scandals. And even Luther himself was complicated: He was a really bad guy in many ways (for example, he was a virulent anti-Semite), but he fought courageously against corruption and helped set the whole world on the path to greater political freedom.

"Very conservative Catholics" are "looking to Luther" as a "model" for "how to reform the Church"?

I don't know about anybody else, but this just leaves me speechless. Almost.

I think, perhaps, the allusion is to these largely witless remarks by Frank Keating:

.... “Remember, it was Martin Luther who suggested early in his efforts that the lay community get involved in reforming the Church so there would not be a collapse of faith by the faithful,” Keating said, answering critics who say laity boards should not seek removal of bishops.

“Unfortunately, in retrospective, Martin Luther was right,” he said. “Just think what positively could have occurred if lay people in the 16th and 15th centuries had been involved. None of us is a theologian, and every one of us [on the board] recognizes the authority of those who speak for the religious part of the Church. But the human part needs more lay involvement, to make sure these types of calamities don’t occur again.” ....

Come on. This is just... dumb. Don't the Council of Trent and the influence of the Spanish Doctors, for instance, count as anything "positive"? (Would Gov. Keating know to what and to whom I am referring here?) And, if you want to see lay involvement, just take a look at the wholesale, brutal, catastrophic destruction and oppression of the Catholic Church in England initiated by wonderful members of the laity, such as Queen Elizabeth I and her House of Commons.

And what on earth is this alleged distinction between the "human" and "religious" "parts" of the Church? Is Keating really this dumb? I mean, he's had to have been a politician for a long time. Surely, he knows by now how to speak his mind to reporters. Hopefully, his thoughts have been... garbled... by the press.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 07/11/02 03:41:06 PM
Categorized as Classic.

Who Drew This Cartoon?

Every cartoonist has his own distinct style of drawing and lettering. Usually, this distinct style make the cartoonist's work unmistakably unique.

Beyond this distinct style, however, each cartoonist brings assumptions, presumptions, attitudes, opinions, prejudices, and biases into his work. (As everybody does. Of course.) And these do not necessarily make the cartoonist's work unmistakably unique. Sometimes, they do not make his work unique at all. Sometimes, deny it mightily though he would, they just make him one of the pack.

Look past the drawing and lettering styles of this cartoon. Where do you think you might see a cartoon of like sentiments? And done by whom?

I think you might see it in any big-city daily newspaper in this country. Especially those like the New York Times and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (That is, those whose editorial staff bends over, one way or the other, to deny their liberal bias.) And names like "Trudeau" and "Rall" popped immediately into my mind as the sort of cartoonist (left-wing) one might expect to give us a work like this, insofar as attitudes and biases are concerned.

Here, however, is the original version, dated today. In The Arab News, by M. Kahil.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 07/11/02 12:20:56 PM
Categorized as Classic.

More Devotional Inspiration from the Spiritual Life of Roger Cardinal Mahony

As If

A couple of articles in New Times LA:

• Above the Law: In protecting pedo-priests, Cardinal Roger Mahony's played District Attorney Steve Cooley and the cops for chumps. And, so far, he's gotten away with it.
• Tough Talk: D.A. Steve Cooley says he'll take his investigation of Cardinal Mahony's pedo-priests "wherever it leads."

(Thanks Amy, for the latter.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 07/11/02 08:35:57 AM
Categorized as Classic.