"Gay" "Marriage" in Taxachusetts

The archbishop speaks out; and, the legislature may have a way out.

BTW, they're not "gay" and it's not "marriage".

FNC runs an AP article, Jan. 12:

The leader of Boston's Roman Catholic Archdiocese asked Catholic lawyers and judges to oppose gay marriage in order to help protect what he called the beleaguered institutions of marriage and family.

"The social cost of the breakdown of family life has already been enormous," Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley said Sunday at the annual Red Mass, which is dedicated to those in the legal system. Marriage and the family are "threatened as never before" in America, he added.

O'Malley, who has led the Boston Archdiocese since July 30, didn't specify what legal professionals should do to protect marriage and the family. But afterward, he said in a brief interview, "We hope that they will use their profession and their understanding of the law to defend marriage."

"They're in a better position than any of us to understand what needs to be done to correct a very complicated situation that the court has put us in," he said....

Bravo to the archbishop!

Moreover, Bettnet.com has been keeping track of a proposed statutory response to the judicial tyranny of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

I still like impeachment as a partial remedy, myself.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 01/14/04 10:06:58 PM
Categorized as Religious.

"Disingenuous Dispensationalist Definitions"

Vide.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 01/14/04 09:36:41 PM
Categorized as Religious.

Sed Contra at Zenit

St. Blog's David Morrison is interviewed, Jan. 9, at Zenit.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 01/14/04 09:34:20 PM
Categorized as Religious.

Dean Backed Unilateral US Military Action in Bosnia

Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode CXII

USA Today reports today that Doctor Howard "Cliff" Dean was gung-ho for unilateral US military action in Bosnia, and wrote an official letter, July 19, 1995, as Vermont's governor to President Bill Clinton about it:

Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean, a strong critic of what he calls President Bush's unilateral approach to foreign policy, urged President Clinton to act unilaterally and enter the war in Bosnia in 1995....

The July 19, 1995, letter, obtained by USA TODAY, was written on Dean's official stationery as Vermont governor. The language appears to contradict Dean's core complaint that President Bush has followed a unilateral foreign policy, instead of a multilateral approach that relies on consultation and joint action with allies. He has repeatedly attacked Bush's decision to invade Iraq....

Not only does this make one doubt that Dean is critical of President Bush on principled, rather than carefully calculated political, grounds — though such a doubt will not cross the mind of Deanings — it also makes one wonder more than before exactly what might be in Dean's gubernatorial records that he wants kept under lock & key for a decade.

Here follows the complete text of the letter.

The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

After long and careful thought, and after several years of watching the gross atrocities committed by the Bosnian Serbs, I have reluctantly concluded that the efforts of the United Nations and NATO in Bosnia are a complete failure.

I think your policy up to this date has been absolutely correct. We must give, and have given, this policy with our allies and with the United Nations every opportunity to work. It is evident, however, that the cost in human lives in allowing this policy to continue is too great. In addition, and perhaps more importantly for the United States, we are now in a position of ignoring, as many did in the 1940s, one of the worst crimes committed in history. If we ignore these behaviors, no matter where they occur, our moral fiber as a people becomes weakened. As the Catholic Church and others lost credibility during the Holocaust for not speaking out, so will the United States lose credibility and our people lose confidence in themselves as moral beings if the United States does not take action.

Since it is clearly no longer possible to take action in conjunction with NATO and the United Nations, I have reluctantly concluded that we must take unilateral action. While I completely agree with you that no ground troops should be committed for other than humanitarian purposes in Bosnia, I would ask that you take the following steps in Bosnia. First, lift the arms embargo as it applies to the Bosnian government. Second, enforce a full embargo of the sort that is now in effect in Iraq on the Bosnian Serbs and upon Yugoslavia. Third, break off diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia. Fourth, commit American air power to support the Bosnian government until the situation is stabilized and the civilian murders and atrocities by the Bosnian Serbs have been stopped.

I understand the risks of this policy and their implications for the NATO Alliance and the future success of the United Nations. Surely, however, as you watch and read about the huge amount of unwarranted human suffering, particularly of children, you would agree that our current course must now be changed.

I urge you to make these changes as soon as possible, and I look forward to supporting your policy fully to the best of my ability.

Sincerely,
Howard Dean, M.D.
Governor

Honestly, 1995 wasn't that long ago. I don't remember anybody thinking that our credibility was on the line. And I especially don't remember anybody thinking that confidence in ourselves "as moral beings" was on the line — at the least, not in any way it wasn't WRT to the Iraqi people.

Ya know, Faithful Reader, were I a Democrat I'd probably accuse be tempted to ask if Dean's evident concern for the Bosnians but ostensible lack of concern for the Iraqis might be because the Iraqis are not... shall we say... Europeans. Don't you think?

(Thanks, Bryan.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 01/14/04 09:09:14 PM
Categorized as Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode & Political.

Liberal Racial Remark Going to Get Another Pass

FNC reports, Jan. 9, on racial remarks from a liberal towards a conservative:

In a variation on an old theme, a Hispanic supporter of Howard Dean called a Latina Republican Senate candidate a "house Mexican" who is not being true to her race.

Steven Ybarra, a Democratic National Committee official and regional coordinator of Latinos for Dean, called Rosario Marin, the former U.S. treasurer under President Bush who is now seeking the GOP nomination to compete against California Sen. Barbara Boxer, a "house Mexican for the Republicans." The attack was sent out in a mass e-mail to political activists, community leaders and a number of journalists this week....

I'm not reading anywhere about a liberal drumbeat to have Ybarra fired, or to force him to resign, or even to apologize. And I'm betting I won't be reading about it, ever.

I guess that one of the things "diversity" means for liberals is a "diverse" treatment of racism, depending on whether the racialist is a Republican or a Democrat.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 01/14/04 08:53:49 PM
Categorized as Media & Political.

The New City Journal Is Out

It's that time again. Your Humble, Faithful Blogster has been informed by no less than the Senior Editor himself of City Journal that the latest issue is now available. I haven't look at anything in depth, so here follows Brian Anderson's synopsis.

George F. Will's Can We Make Iraq Democratic? explodes the widespread view that all we need to do make Iraq a democracy is remove the tyranny that oppressed the nation and lo! the Iraqis will forthwith become democratic republicans. Though love of liberty may be part of human nature, Will argues, it isn't enough to make a people capable of democracy. Democracy rests on notions like the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and equality before the law-cultural ideals not inborn but the fruit of the West's long national history. Nothing comparable yet exists in Iraq.

In What Makes a Terrorist? James Q. Wilson answers that it takes a village-even a whole culture. As Wilson shows, most terrorists belong to tightly bonded groups, whose members reinforce one another's delusions: that evil is good, wrong is right, death is life. All this might make rational-if immoral-sense if terrorism actually achieved its political goals; but as Wilson finds, it rarely does. Nevertheless, Wilson soberly concludes, little platoons of nihilistic, death-dealing unreason, cheered on by a culture of rage and resentment, wish to wipe out Western civilization and will plague us for some time to come.

The Winter issue also features two articles on important domestic issues:

Economist Richard Florida's notion that cities must become trendy places that attract gays, bohemians, ethnic minorities, and other "creative" workers in order to compete in the twenty-first century is sweeping the nation. But as Steven Malanga proves in the devastating The Curse of the Creative Class, Florida's ideas are fatally wrong. Far from being economic powerhouses, many of the cities he identifies as creative-age winners have chronically underperformed the American economy. And some of his top creative cities don't even do a good job at attracting-or keeping-people. It turns out that old-fashioned economic concerns like tax rates and regulatory rules still matter the most.

In The Illegal-Alien Crime Wave, Heather Mac Donald shows that some of the most violent criminals at large today are illegal aliens. Yet in cities where the crime these aliens commit is highest-in Los Angeles, for instance, where 95 percent of all outstanding warrants for homicide target illegal aliens-cops cannot use the most obvious tool to catch them: their immigration status. Reasons: fear of offending powerful immigrant lobbies and, even more disturbingly, the non-stop increase of immigration, which is reshaping the law to dissolve any distinction between legal and illegal aliens and, ultimately, the very idea of national borders.

Other fascinating stories in the Winter issue include Michael Knox Beran on self-reliance versus self-esteem, Walter Olson on how the ADA has spawned a sleazy lawsuit industry, Julia Magnet on the films of Whit Stillman, Richard Brookhiser on DeWitt Clinton, and Theodore Dalrymple on Stefan Zweig.

Finally, I have to ask: what does the "Q" stand for in James Q. Wilson?

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 01/14/04 08:37:50 PM
Categorized as Literary & Social/Cultural.

Things Calming Down In Iraq?

From an AP article at Yahoo! News, yesterday:

Guerrilla attacks on the 150,000 U.S.-led coalition soldiers in Iraq have dropped sharply since the Dec. 13 capture of Saddam Hussein, and the number of troops killed and wounded has plummeted as well.

The figures appear to show the capture of Saddam has taken some of the sting out of the Iraqi insurgency. But one top U.S. military official said guerrilla attacks were already on the decline before Saddam was found hiding in a coffin-sized bunker near his hometown of Tikrit....

Fifty-two coalition troops were killed and 159 wounded in the four weeks before Saddam's capture, Nov. 13 to Dec. 12.

In following four weeks, to Jan. 13, the figures dropped to 37 soldiers killed and 128 wounded, U.S. military officials in Baghdad said Tuesday. That amounts to 29 percent fewer deaths and 20 percent fewer combat injuries....

The slump in combat casualties comes alongside a 22 percent drop in attacks on American-led forces in those four weeks. The attacks include any type of hostile action including small-arms fire, roadside bombs, mines, rocket-propelled grenades and car bombs....

Let us continue to pray for the safety of our personnel in Iraq, and, of course, for the success of their mission to stabilize a liberated nation.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 01/14/04 07:15:16 AM
Categorized as War.

The Blog from Last Year

I do actually check the web stats every once in a while. I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when I saw that, in December, The Blog from Last Year — the link to the day's entries from a year ago — got between 125 and 225 visits most days.

Thanks, Faithful Reader, for making all that tedious effort worth the while. :-)

Now, I don't think it's possible for me to find out how many people are taking advantage of The Daily Roll or the day's Featured Columnist(s) — but I hope you are. And don't neglect the weekly and category indexes, either, okay? And the Search function, too!

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 01/14/04 07:03:04 AM
Categorized as Other.

Matt Drudge on MoveOn's "Bush Bashing Ball"

Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode CXI

The Drudge Report — 7 million visits per day — looks at MoveOn's celebration announcing the winner of its knee-jerk, left-wing, boomerang anti-Bush ad contest.

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX TUE JAN 13, 2003 17:09:32 ET XXXXX

RAW RAGE AT BUSH DURING MOVEON.ORG AWARDS; TRANSCRIPT REVEALED

**Exclusive**

The stars were out in Gotham on Monday night [Jan. 12] for the latest Bush Bashing Ball.

Followers of MOVEON.ORG gathered to unveil the winner of the website's Bush in 30 Seconds Contest.

But it was the action off the computer screen and on the stage at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom that's caused excitement.

Celebrity activists unleashed a torrent of obscenity-laced insults and allegations against Republicans and the Bush Administration -- just a week after the site's founders apologized for posting two political messages on the Internet comparing President Bush to Hitler.

The DRUDGE REPORT can now present a partial transcript of the event, as provided by various DRUDGE sources:

MARGARET CHO (Comedian) --

* "Despite all of this stupid bullsh-- that the Republican National Committee, or whatever the f--- they call them, that they were saying that they're all angry about how two of these ads were comparing Bush to Hitler? I mean, out of thousands of submissions, they find two. They're like fu--ing looking for Hitler in a hawstack. You now? I mean, George Bush is not Hitler. He would be if he fu--ing applied himself." big, extended applause) "I mean he just isn't."

* "I think this last year has just proven how stupid Republicans are." (big applause)

* "For example, Judge Roy Moore, or Jay Moore or whatever, in Alabama. [inaudible] ... Ten Commandments statue stay in the lobby of a courthouse. 'You can't move the Word of God! You cannot remove the Franklin Mint edition of the Word of God!' [said in Southern accent] People are protesting there and like, I think it could have been solved so much easier if they had just placed a golden calf next to the statue and then people would have started worshipping that. And then they could have moved the Ten Commandments to Bush's office -- which he needs them, desperately. Or maybe he needs a new version of the Ten Commandments -- George W. Bush's Ten Commandments: Thou shalt not steal...votes. (big applause) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's...country. (big applause) Thou shalt not kill...for oil. (big applause) Thou shalt not take grammar...in vain. (big applause) I mean, whatever fu--ing happened to separation of church and state? I mean, you can't like, impose your god on my god. God has many names. God is God, God is Jehovah, God is Allah, God is Buddah, God is Beyonce. (laughter) You know, you cannot impose your God on other people. And ah, George W. Bush is coming out with the weirdest stance on same-sex marriage as well. What he says about it is, well, 'well, we're all sinners.' No we're not! Just because somebody ate an apple one time does not make us all sinners. And if it was from the tree of knowledge, I think she should have eaten more than one. (laughter) Possibly even baked a pie." (applause) "I don't understand the whole same-sex marriage thing. He was quoted by saying, 'well, you you uh, just gotta take the speck out of your own eye before you take the co-- out of your neighbor's.'" [in Southern accent] (laughter)

* "I mean, I'm afraid of terrorists, but I'm more afraid of the Patriot Act." (big applause)

CHUCK D (Rapper -- Public Enemy)

* Cut off, but he appears to refer to American government under Bush Administration as "cancer of civilization."

* "But truly, seriously, quite frankly, the people are smart enough to realize that the world is important and we only have one life [or right, unclear], that's tired of this bullsh--, or better than that, tired of this Bushsh--" (big applause)

* "Americanization is like McDonaldization"

* "Son of a Bush and his crew is at it again, because, we do not want 8 years run by a Colon, a Bush and a Dick." (big applause)

JULIA STILES (Actress)

* "I was worried that some soldiers over in Iraq who are actually younger than I am would see some salacious report on MSNBC and think that I was attacking them and not the government that put them there. And I was afraid that Bill O'Reilly would come and, with a shotgun at my front door and shoot me for being unpatriotic. But I decided that that's actually, that fear that was silencing me is actually why it's so important that MoveOn exist and do this ad contest..."

AL FRANKEN

*"I'm Al Franken. I'm here to present the funniest ad award. I'm a last-minute substitution, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill was supposed to be the presenter, but unfortunately he was murdered."

MOBY

*Said he had "contempt" for Bush, called him a "big fat f---ing liar."

Developing...

The Blog from the Core asserts Fair Use for non-commercial, non-profit educational purposes.

Karl Rove must be sleeping very well these days.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 01/14/04 06:47:20 AM
Categorized as Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode & Political.