Yeah, we know that Bush has taken a page from Reagan giving lip service to the religious right all the while knowing that naming a rabid anti-choice judge will not fly, that a Marriage Amendment to the constitution will not pass the Senate, and so on, etc. There are times I laugh at the religious right actually thinking the Republicans work in their interest.
Now Georgie's chutzpah knows no bounds (while I've always known this word, my Yiddish is getting better lately, dating, as I am, a Republican Jew -- and NOT a Bush supporter). Check this out from the New York Times via the National Catholic Reporter:
In a column posted Friday evening on the paper's Web site, John L. Allen Jr., its correspondent in Rome and the dean of Vatican journalists, wrote that Mr. Bush had made the request in a June 4 meeting with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state. Citing an unnamed Vatican official, Mr. Allen wrote: "Bush said, 'Not all the American bishops are with me' on the cultural issues. The implication was that he hoped the Vatican would nudge them toward more explicit activism."To echo Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, this is "mind-boggling". He's actually campaigning at the Vatican hoping the Chuirch would campaign from the pulpit for him?
Mr. Allen wrote that others in the meeting confirmed that the president had pledged aggressive efforts "on the cultural front, especially the battle against gay marriage, and asked for the Vatican's help in encouraging the U.S. bishops to be more outspoken." Cardinal Sodano did not respond, Mr. Allen reported, citing the same unnamed people.
How the Republican Party has changed in a mere 45 years. Back then it was the Republican dirty tricks boys who were accusing Mr. Kennedy of being unduly influenced by the Catholic Church.
Repeat the mantra with me. I DO believe in shame. I DO believe. I DO!
