Pope presses Obama on abortion, stem cells.
Pope Benedict XVI stressed the church's opposition to abortion and stem cell research in his first meeting with President Barack Obama on Friday, pressing the Vatican's case with the U.S. leader who is already under fire on those issues from some conservative Catholics and bishops back home.
The 30-minute meeting Vatican audience was described by both sides as positive -- constructive talks between two men who agree on helping the poor and pushing for Middle East peace but disagree on what the Vatican considers prime ethical issues.
I know what the Pope means by "prime ethical issues," but I'm not sure how to connect that concept to President Obama.
That's the take in "Huntsman, Interrupted," a long essay at The New Republic. The essay speculates that Utah Governor Jon Huntsman knows 2012 is too early for the GOP to reinvent itself and be receptive to a presidential candidate positioned on the left side of the GOP spectrum on social issues, as he apparently is now. So, instead, he'll go to China and avoid the potentially disastrous elections in 2010 and 2012, then return for a run in 2016 having avoided Republican infighting and with excellent foreign policy credentials. (Although 2008 showed you can get to the White House with no foreign policy experience ... still, I like the idea that people think a presidential candidate should have some.)
The big news over the weekend was the announcement that President Obama has nominated Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, a Republican and a practicing Mormon, as Ambassador to China. Here's from the Salt Lake Tribune, "Crucial role for Huntsman in China":
"I can think of no one better suited to take on this assignment than the governor of the great state of Utah, Jon Huntsman," Obama said. "I hope the people of Utah will forgive me and understand how proud the nation is for their governor's willingness to answer his nation's call."
Interesting. In the wake of the Romney candidacy it is clear a good chunk of the Republican base thinks of Mormons as the ugly stepchildren of the party, and here is the leader of the Democratic Party oozing praise for a Mormon politician from Utah, that most Republican of states.
I'm not sure what all the Catholic commotion is about concerning this weekend's visit of President Obama to the campus of Notre Dame to deliver the commencement address to this year's graduating class. See "Notre Dame president catches heat for Obama invite" or any of a thousand other stories for the details. How could a university and its sponsoring community (the Catholic Church) not be thrilled with the honor of such a visit? What graduate attending this ceremony will not tell kids and grandkids a dozen or more times the story of how President Obama spoke at her graduation ceremony?
At the Boston Globe, journalist Michael Paulson reports on a recent conference held at Utah Valley University on "Mormonism in the Public Mind." The talks Paulson summarized were largely about Mormonism and politics.
When the going gets tough ... find a convenient scapegoat. Not that AIG execs likely deserve their bonuses, but it sure seems like the collective venting going on is just the release of bottled up frustration and anger about the...
See "The paradox of Harry Reid's position" at the LA Times. It's not his tax and spend (and spend and spend) politics that I like. It's the fact that, as a Mormon and highly visible Democratic leader of the U.S....
LDS Public Affairs released the following statement today correcting media reports about LDS involvement in reactions to a bill being considered by the Illinois legislature. As is widely known, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes in the...
Politics makes strange befellows, as the saying goes. See Salon.com's post, "Will trade: One black Democrat for one Mormon Republican," reviewing the pending legislation that will give Washington D.C. "actual voting representation in the House" and, at the same time,...
Driving around town late last week, I heard a spirited BBC discussion (carried by my local NPR station) about Geert Wilders, a member of the Dutch parlaiment who produced a film suggesting the Koran incites violence. Get Religion posted on...
I recently read Damon Linker's The Theocons: Secular America Under Seige, a book that chronicles the author's view of the rising influence of the religious right in politics. I suppose I'm late to the party, but it's still an informative...
Following up on my earlier post, see this fine post at First Things: "Obama and the Faith-Based Initiative." The post is a short but informative review of what Pres. Obama is likely to do with his new Council on Faith-Based...
At the LA Times, "Obama broadens Bush's faith-based programs." The same mainstream media that saw President Bush's faith-based initiative as a threatening breach of the metaphorical wall between church and state seems to think Obama's faith-based initiative proposals are just...
The Salt Lake Tribune allowed managing director of LDS Public Affairs Michael Otterson to publish a reply defending the LDS Church's practice of meeting with Utah state legislators once each year. There are actually two meetings, one with Republican leaders...
Maybe there was a Bush edition and I just missed it, but the Obama White House has a blog — and it is going to use it. One of the first entries, time-stamped at 12:01 p.m., just seconds after Pres....
Mike Huckabee is still trying to make amends for his unfortunate remark about Mormons during the presidential campaign ("Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?"). His most recent attempt was in a national radio interview late last...
At the Washington Post, an intriguing op-ed piece noting that per capita participation by citizens in our all-volunteer military varies widely by region and is concentrated in the red states. (You might find the SL Trib version easier to read.)...
I stumbled across Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing natrue lovers, and their diverse tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party) at the local...
At Hugh Hewitt, "A Conversation With Mike Huckabee," including a text transcript of the entire interview. Governor Huckabee is promoting his new book, Do the Right Thing. The most interesting part of the interview, however, concerned his infamous remark suggesting...
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