What Do Alan Keyes And Cokie Roberts Have In Common?

They both evince an irrational animosity towards Donald Trump while completely ignoring the evil that a Hillary presidency would bring.  Yesterday Alan Keyes had an article published in Renew America that is quite frankly filled with sanctimonious non sequiturs as he tries to justify people not casting a vote for Trump in this election.

His article seems to be an attempt to rebut an article written by a Christian pastor that urges a vote for Trump.  Take a look at the first paragraph as he quotes a statement from Mr. Gallup's that questions how a Christian can in good conscience allow Hillary to take the White House.  Keyes then tries to put words in Gallup's mouth by suggesting that Gallup was advocating fear.  No, Gallup was not advocating fear; he was questioning the workings of the consciences who would allow a Trump vote.

I don't have time to go through the whole mess, but I will focus on this question that he asks in the middle of the article: "So God will hold us responsible for Clinton's evil because we refused to embrace Trump's?"  There are some key problems with this question.

• There is a tacit assumption that the evil of a Clinton presidency would be no worse than that of Trump.  Anyone who believes that hasn't been paying attention to events of the past several years, or even of the past several weeks as Clinton's body count seems to be increasing.  It's either that or they are engaging in intellectual dishonesty to justify their own irrational animosity towards Trump.
• In terms of Catholic moral theology, the question might be more accurately rendered, "Will God hold us responsible for Clinton's evil because we refused to do what we could to prevent it?"  The answer is a resounding "YES".
• The question is followed by Jesus' admonition to "be perfect".  That is one of many non sequiturs.  "Being perfect" means, among other things, dealing realistically with situations that don't always offer clear black-vs-white options.  It doesn't mean refusing to deal with these situations while attempting to absolve oneself of responsibility for the consequences of such abdication of Christian duty.

The Roman Catholic Church, in her wisdom, has always recognized that there are situations in which we must ponder carefully our choices.  That is why she has given us guidelines to assist us in so doing, as I have attempted to do in recent posts.  Keyes is Catholic, yet nowhere in his article do I see any reference to the principles on which I touched, or any other reference to Catholic moral theology for that matter.

Then there is another Catholic, news commentator Cokie Roberts.   During an episode of "Morning Joe" this past Tuesday, she opined that those supporting Trump are "morally tainted".   She said nary a peep about Hillary, save to warn that she might commit an error  (like Bengazi, or the email deletions, support for baby-murder and sexual immorality, etc) and Trump achieve victory as a result.  Some of my friends believe that Cokie Roberts is pro-life.  I had my doubts then and now I'm left with no doubt that the unborn don't rate a blip on her radar screen.

Roberts' screed was none too surprising, but Keyes' was.  I don't know how he jumped the tracks but I sure hope he corrects that.

Call for DC-Area Picket of Catholic Org Honoring Pro-Abortion Celebs!

On Saturday, November 7th, the organization "Support Our Aging Religious" (SOAR for short) will be honoring Cokie and Steve Roberts at their benefit dinner - details on this flyer. It's at the Grand Hyatt Washington on 1000 H Street, NW. The Roberts have been designated the "2009 Elizabeth Ann Seton Awardees". St Elizabeth must be rolling in her grave up in Emmitsburg.

There has been some understandible confusion regarding the stance of Cokie Roberts, in light of the fact that her famous mother, Lindy Boggs, was pro-life. While she doesn't sound as rabidly pro-abortion as do others, that difference is not one of substance, since we're still talking of the allowance of baby-murder. An article that they wrote for the Jewish World Review criticizes the lock-step mentality of the Democrats, but it does put forth their opinion that abortion is a legitimate right. Moreover, this article from Leadercall makes manifest their dissent on other key Church teachings regarding contraception and gay rights.

Therefore we call upon area Catholic pro-lifers to join us in two activities to mitigate the disgrace on the Church that this event will occasion.
1) We will picket this dinner. We will be handing out educational flyers and showing the truth about the baby-murder that the Roberts seem to think is a legitimate "right". The VIP reception will commence at 6pm, so we should be there no later than 5pm to make our case known to attendees.

2) Please contact SOAR, located at 900 Varnum Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017-2145. Remind them that the elderly religious are in such dire straits because there are too few younger religious to support them. This reduction in younger religious exists because 1) when life is held to be cheap and family life degraded, the fostering of vocations just doesn't happen and 2) many of the young people who would have had vocations were aborted before their birth. An aside about SOAR: their former location was at 1400 Spring Street in Silver Spring. They were one floor below the Planned Parenthood abortuary where many of us currently offer pro-life witness. We approached them to ask for their support in our efforts to save babies from that Planned Parenthood. They refused! Go figure!

If you want to call SOAR, their phone number is (202) 529-7627. One person already did. The receptionist gave her some yarn about the purpose being "to honor Lindy Boggs". Well, take a look at the flyer. Do you see Lindy Boggs even mentioned on the flyer? We don't see it, either. Their email is info@soar-usa.org.

Questions or comments - post a comment below. Thanks!

Cokie and Steve Roberts at Catholic Information Center?

I just became aware that Cokie and Steve Roberts are slated to do a book-signing at the Catholic Information Center in Washington DC.  Knowing the CIC to be orthodox in their outlook, I can surmise that they are unaware of how the Roberts have views at variance with the Magisterium.  I wrote about that in an October 18th posting.

Please contact CIC to inform them of this problem  Phone information is here.  Their email address is info@cicdc.org.  Thank you for your concern.

"Catholyc" Volunteer Network's Love Affairs With Dissidents

You might recall that we became aware of the Catholic Volunteer Network's strange fascination with dissident CINOs last summer.  At that time, they had planned to host an "awards dinner" at the Franciscan Monastery in Washington DC.  Their keynote speaker was Chris Matthews.  We made clear that we were going to picket if there was no public announcement of the cancellation of Matthews as speaker.  Well, lo and behold, we showed up - but the "awards dinner" didn't!  It seems that they were too cowardly to face us.  More can be found here at my various posts regarding that episode.

One might have thought they'd learn some lessons.  I thank my colleague at A Washington DC Catholic for pointing out this year's planned smooch-up to a dissident Catholic.  As he pointed out, at least they aren't planning to desecrate a Catholic location, but the CINO in question is Cokie Roberts.  I'm not certain yet about a protest as there are other unrelated matters for me to consider.

If you saw my comments on the other blogger's piece, you might recall my remarks about the CVN's 2011 National Conference.  Here we have a triple-header of "catholyc" dissidents.  We start off with Rev James Martin, S.J., columnist for the ultra-liberal "America" magazine.  Here's an article from him voicing sympathy for the destructive gay lifestyle.

I've written a considerable amount on Fr Richard Rohr.  Please read it, along with the expanded posts and the links to other revelatory material.  Please take note of his strange fascination with male nudity and the "emerging church movement".

Last but not least we have "Rev" Heidi Neumark.  We can be grateful that she is not Catholic.  The webpage of her Lutheran church in Manhattan gives us a glimpse into her mindsets.  She is working on "challenging the Christian Right from the heart of the Gospel."  That's nice.  Is there a companion effort to challenge the "Christian Left" regarding their silence and complicity when it comes to the evils of contraception, abortion and gay behaviors?  I didn't think so, either.

So there you have it: the none-too-stellar lineup of "keynote speakers" at the CVN National Conference in Philadelphia.  I call upon faithful Catholics in the vicinity of Philadelphia to stand up to this dissident gab-fest that is scheduled to blight their city.

Our Action Required - Another Actual Priest Thrown Under The Bus In The Archdiocese Of Washington

Thanks to Canon 212, I became aware of this situation in La Plata, MD.  Father Larry Swink, pastor of Sacred Heart parish, came to the defense of a pro-life student at Archbishop Neale school in Port Tobacco who was being bullied in the school for his pro-life stance.  Let that sink in for a moment.  The student was being bullied in a Catholic school for being pro-life.  

The parents of the bullies didn't take too kindly to Father putting a stop to the marauding of their darling little hellions.  They complained to the Archdiocese of Washington.  So what did the progressives at the ADW do?  Without so much as a decent hearing (hmm... sound familiar?), they barred Father Swink from the school.

A petition has been started to get the archdiocese to reconsider their actions.  The archdiocese really needs to stop undermining the One True Faith, starting at the top, meaning Cardinal Gregory himself.  Please go to that link and sign it, and then alert others to do so.

One might ask why I'd be inclined to believe the narrative as stated on the petition page.  It's very simple.  What happened in La Plata is typical of what's been happening in the Archdiocese of Washington for years now.  As Cardinal Wuerl behaved towards Father Guarnizo, so does Cardinal Gregory behave towards Father Swink.

Gregory joins Cupich in claiming that the USCCB was incorrect to highlight Biden's pro-abortion stance.  Remember when Gregory waxed so indignant when President Trump visited the JPII Center?  Get a gander of this picture of him presiding at a Mass with Pelosi as lector; the Mass, by the way, was a public funeral for pro-abortion Cokie Roberts.  This is blatant episcopal hypocrisy.

Cardinal Burke Weighs In On Responsible Catholic Voting

Yesterday LifeSiteNews relayed the proceeds of a teleconference with Cardinal Burke, in which they participated.  His Eminence gave some very cogent suggestion to Catholics and people of good will regarding the upcoming presidential elections.  I'll highlight and elaborate on a few salient points from the LSN article.

• "The faithful must vote for the candidate who will do the most to advance the protection of human life, defense of the family, respect for freedom, and care for the poor."  Note the imperative "must".  Now cannot that be said for some third-party candidate?  No - simply because he/she will not get elected.  There are only two viable candidates: Clinton and Trump.  Whether or not we like that situation is irrelevant.  It is what it is.  We need to deal with reality as it presents itself, not as we might wish it to be.
• "Burke warned Catholics against not voting at all and against the practice of writing in the name of a preferred candidate on the ballot, saying it could inadvertently cause the election of a candidate who does not respect life, family, and freedom."
• "Those are difficult considerations, and I don’t say any of this in a kind of easy way. But I do think that Catholics especially need to be very cautious and not simply opting out, or good pro-life people and good pro-family people, simply just throwing up their hands."

In that last point, His Eminence addresses the spiritual and intellectual malaise that has deluded many, if not most, of the #nevertrump crowd.  It is that malaise that seems to have caused Alan Keyes to blather on like Cokie Roberts - and he's only one of several.

Regular readers of this blog will recall that I've put forth the case that not only is it moral to vote for Trump during this election, but not to do so would be immoral.  It seems that Cardinal Burke's words corroborate my understanding of the moral theology as it pertains to this particular presidential race.

Cokie and Steve Roberts at Catholic Information Center? Additional and Corrected Info

Some of my friends forwarded me an additional item that the Roberts wrote: the lovely tome entitled "Pope Against the People".  They really do lash at the Holy Father for having the courage and sense of duty to exercise his authority.

They also advised me that emails should be sent to cicdevelopment@gmail.com.  I suppose sending emails to the other one in addition to this certainly wouldn't hurt.  Please advise of the responses that you receive.  If you receive no reply, that itself is a response!  Thanks.

SOAR Goes Sour Again

Canon 212 alerted me to this latest faux pas of SOAR - that is, Support Our Aging Religious.  Truth be told, their progressive escapades predate this present pontificate, but they certainly do share many of Pope Francis' mindsets.  Perhaps that is why the Archdiocese of Washington has been the location of their headquarters.

SOAR rewards this???

They intend to once again sully the name of St Katharine Drexel by bestowing the award bearing her name to Dr. Fauci, that menace to people and puppies everywhere.  This is not the first time.  Previous unworthy recipients include Carolyn Woo and Cokie/Steve Roberts.  Details are found in my previous posts.

Also found in those posts is the disgusting treatment meted out to me and my fellow sidewalk counselors as they denied us their assistance at the Silver Spring Planned Parenthood many years ago.  At that time, SOAR and Planned Parenthood were located in the same office building, with SOAR being directly above them.  SOAR refused to grant us access to the building, this denying us opportunities to save babies.

This award ceremony, to happen Nov 5, is a "virtual event" so it will not be possible to picket the thing.  Please keep these things in mind, should SOAR solicit donations from you.