David Gibson: August 2008 Archives

Doug Kmiec, the former Reagan/Bush official and abortion-opposing Catholic who is supporting Barack Obama, has been the topic of much discussion, here at Pontifications and elsewhere.

In today's NYTimes, columnist Peter Steinfels interviews Kmiec. Here's one of many fascinating--and likely controversial--exchanges:

Q. You have been fiercely attacked by some Catholic abortion opponents and in one instance barred from receiving communion. How do you feel about that?

A. To be the subject of an angry homily at Mass last April 18 and excoriated as giving scandal for endorsing Senator Obama and then to be denied communion for that "offense" was the most humiliating experience in my faith life.

To be separated in that public manner from the receipt of the eucharist, and to be effectively shunned or separated from the body of Christ in the sense of that particular congregation, has left, I very much regret to say, a permanent spiritual scar. Thankfully, it has also given me a new appreciation for the significance of the sacrament in my daily worship. And the priest, having been called to order by Cardinal Roger Mahony, sent me an apology, which of course I have accepted.

Read more here.

John McCain has certainly revived his maverick label by picking--or plucking from obscurity--freshman Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. (WaPo coverage here, and NYT coverage here.) Like every candidate, there are pluses and minuses with her.

On the plus side, Christian conservatives (as God-o-Meter knows and shows), are going to be delighted. She is a self-described "hockey mom" who is pro-life and a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. She is a moose-hunting mother of five, her latest--born just last April--has Down syndrome, and she never considered the option of abortion. She has bucked the scandal-plagued GOP establishment in Alaska, and has shown a mild green streak without really undermining her state's interests in mining and Big Oil. She is against taxes (except, apparently, when it came to building stuff in her own town), and against gay marriage. Check, check, check.

She is a sweetheart, a 44-year-old fresh face who is as far outside the Beltway as you can possibly get without being Russian. And she is so attractive the Obama camp will have to be careful not to look like they're bullying her, or patronizing her.

And those things are also major downsides in the general election. Will someone like Palin really pull in those supposedly disaffected Hillary supporters? Not likely, not after Bill's show-stopping speech.

Moreover, how can the McCain camp work the "inexperienced" wedge against Obama when Sarah Palin will be a heartbeat away from an Oval Office that would be occupied by John McCain, who would be the oldest man ever elected president? She has less than two years as governor, and before that the sum total of her governing experience was as mayor of Wasilla, a town of less than 7,000.

If Obama has been painted as little more than a good-looking Esquire cover guy, how about Palin, a former beauty queen who was runner-up in 1984 as Miss Alaska? Some will think McCain picked his daughter, others his third wife. (What is it with Republicans and beauty pageants, anyway?) Palin is sharper than Dan Quayle, but still...

Imagine the Biden-Palin VP debate. Voters want change, but they also want ballast. And they want someone who can step in. Sure, Palin is a wonderful mom. But she is the mother of FIVE, and the last a special needs infant born just FOUR MONTHS ago. She'll have to have Mary Poppins and a couple Super Nannys with 911 on speed-dial if she hopes to fill the 24/7 job as Vice-President.

Her environmental cred may not stretch too far, either. Check out the dissection by the HuffPost's Chris Kelly of her Polar Bear record and her January NYTimes op-ed in which she said all was well with the big critters. Now that the polar bears are actually swimming across hundreds of miles of open water looking for receding ice floes, you can imagine the video in the camapign ads to come.

And while she has a reputation as a whistle-blower on ethics, she is also under investigation for a firing and other machinations related to penalties against her estranged ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper. Add to that the fact that the dominant Republican Party in Alaska is a cesspool of scandals and indictments, and Palin's odor of sanctity may not endure.

So what does the choice of Palin say to all those "new" evangelicals? Will her fresh face attract them? Or will she come across as the old religious right in a new guise?

Palin could prove to be McCain's salvation, and a necessary gamble given his own weaknesses. (Funny, McCain's people were saying the other day that the choice of Biden pointed up Obama's weaknesses, and did not compensate for them...) But the audacity (nice word) of his choice could also smack of desperation.

My sense is that the positives balance out the negatives, and McCain can't afford a "wash" in terms of gains and losses. Palin will reassure the Religious Right, and surely draw in those voters, especially Christian "soccer moms," who see her as "one of us," only with a hockey stick. But with all voters growing in their suspicion of the use of religion in politics, as shown by the latest Pew poll, Palin's best weapon may be firing blanks.

PS: I wasn't sure, but it's pronounced PAY-lin. We'll all know that soon enough.

(Cross-posted with Progressive Revival)

Yep, the Society of Jesus gets all the good ones...Over at "In All Things," the blog of America magazine, the flagship Jesuit weekly, Father Jim Martin--an author of no minor celebrity himself, reports that Brad Pitt has been cast as Father Emilio Sandoz, a Jesuit scientist, in the film version of Mary Doria Russell's "The Sparrow."

The novel, as Father Martin notes, is about "a group of Jesuit scientists and lay colleagues who discover life on far-off planet with some tragic results."

Of course, Martin also asks the central theological question Pitt--and viewers--will face in this movie: "Is he handsome enough to play a Jesuit priest?"

Meanwhile, I heard Scorsese is filming another remarkable saga of Jesuits, Shusaku Endo's "Silence." That'll be a real challenge.

In a new study that could recast the seemingly endless debates over abortion and Roe v. Wade, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good yesterday released a new study that, according to the news release, is the first study of its kind to look at the "long- and short-term effects of public policy on the abortion rate over a twenty-year period.

"The findings," it says, "reveal that social and economic supports for women and families dramatically reduce the number of abortions. As Democrats gather in Denver for their national convention, and as Republicans prepare to gather next week, the study offers compelling findings that pro-life and pro-choice leaders from both political parties can unite behind to reduce abortions."

Indeed, such findings would (I would think) provide ammunition for those looking to move beyond the stalemate--and sterile debate--over Roe v. Wade--but it would be a major challenge to the GOP to match their pro-life rhetoric with deeds.

Catholics in Alliance commissioned the study, which was conducted by Joseph Wright, a political science professor at Penn State University and a visiting fellow at the University of Notre Dame, and Michael Bailey, a professor of American government at Georgetown University. You can read it here (in a 19-page PDF file). Tom Roberts at NCR also has coverage.

A moment likely to interest Catholics in particular will be this evening's speech at the Democratic Convention by Pennsylvania senator Bob Casey, Jr.. The younger Casey's invitation is clearly something of a make-up for the 1992 episode when his father, the late Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey, Sr., a pro-life Catholic, was denied a speaking slot. (Whether the denial was because of the elder Casey's abortion stance or the fact that he would not endorse nominee Bill Clinton is a matter of ongoing exegesis.)

Recently elected as Pennsylvania's junior senator, the younger Casey is also a Catholic and no fan of abortion, though whether he should be considered "pro-life" has become--no surprise--an object of political contention. (The Catholic League says here Casey is not pro-life.)

Casey gives an idea of what he'll speak about in this interview with God-o-Meter's Dan Gilgoff. Here's an especially interesting bit:

Will your speech address the life issue, which is what many in the party identify you with?

Yes, it will. But it's mostly a night and an opportunity when we've been invited to focus on the economy and frankly what a lot of folks are struggling with in Pennsylvania. But certainly not only that. There's been a lot of discussion about '92, but there is an obvious disagreement I have with Senator Obama and we want to make sure that people understand that difference of opinion.

One of the things that's missing in this important debate in American politics is candid and honest talk about disagreements and an honest effort to try to find common ground. It's much easier to say you don't agree with someone and to continue fighting and discontinue the dialogue. It's much harder but it's important to be honest and show respect for others that we disagree but to actually work to bring the sides together.

One way to do that, and neither party has done enough on this, is to be very supportive of pregnant women. And the Pregnant Women Support Act is the only vehicle and the best vehicle to do that. It's a challenge to the left and a challenge to the right and helps not only bring the sides together but provides affirmative options for women. When a woman becomes pregnant, for most women that's a time of happiness and joy and they look forward to bearing a child. But to some it's a crisis because they don't have the economic wherewithal and the support they need. And a lot of women feel all alone and we don't do enough to show solidarity with them. As Pope John Paul II said, we should show radically solidarity with the woman facing these challenges. This piece of legislation is the one vehicle in American government for bringing the sides together and for providing women with options.

But is Senator Obama supporting it?

He's spoken about it. I have gotten to know him on the campaign trail and he spoke about the concept when he was at Rick Warren's church. So I believe he will be supportive. We have not talked directly about the bill but it's something I will be discussing with people in both parties. It's going to take a lot of work.

It should be interesting, especially if Casey raises the issue of conscience and the party loyalist. When the Dems revised the platform plank on abortion, many said the proof would emerge in what was said in Denver and what was done during the campaign and during an eventual Obama administration, should he be elected. Tonight could be an indicator.

Cross-posted at dotCommonweal.