Willie Pep
Willie Pep's JournalAmericans favor liberal policies, so why do we lose?
Here is something that I find puzzling. You often hear people say that the United States is a center-right country. But there seems to be a good bit of evidence against this claim.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/26/sorry-teabaggers-america-really-loves-these-liberal-policies.html
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/06/03/polls-americans-socialists-bernie-sanders.html
So if Americans favor liberal policies like a higher minimum wage and expanding Social Security and Medicare, why do Democrats, and often quite liberal Democrats, lose so often these days?
EDIT: I want to add another twist to this issue. In addition to liking many of the legacies of liberalism like Social Security and Medicare, I often hear conservatives say that they like "old school Democrats" like JFK but that modern Democrats are "too liberal." I find it odd that people would think that the 1960s Democratic Party is conservative since you could make an argument that the party has moved to the right on economics since the 1960s.
So what gives? I find this confusing. You have people who like liberal policies, liked old school liberal Democrats like JFK, but hate today's Democrats because they are too left-wing?
Different popes, different personalities -- and underlying continuity
Different popes, different personalities -- and underlying continuity
By Michael Sean Winters
The Italians have a saying: "After a fat pope, a thin pope." Different men bring different personal qualities to the task, and their sense of the issues they face and their understanding of the Petrine ministry itself will have been shaped by their life experiences. It should be no surprise that there are differences from one pope to another. Just as it is rare for the American people to elect a presidential candidate from the same party more than twice in a row, cardinals tend to set the pendulum swinging every 30 years or so, between popes who are determined to press forward and popes who think it is time to consolidate the gains and clarify any stray developments.
It is important to note that the tensions that exist around Pope Francis' pontificate are often the result of fidelity to the entirety of the conciliar teaching. Take, for instance, the topic that became the most controversial during the twin synods on the family (October 2014 and October 2015): the relationship of conscience and moral law in determining whether the divorced and remarried can discern a path to the sacraments.
According to church historian Massimo Faggioli of Villanova University, "The tensions between the sovereignty of the conscience of the faithful (from the Second Vatican Council document Gaudium et Spes, #16) and obsequium religiosum (religious submission to the authentic magisterium of the Church in the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium, #25) are already part of the teaching of Vatican II: in this sense Vatican II makes clear and does not resolve the paradoxes within the Catholic experience."
For the full article see: https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/different-popes-different-personalities-and-underlying-continuity
A word on moderate Republicans
During the Republican primary a number of my Republican friends talked about how much they disliked Trump, how they thought he was riling up all kinds of nasty sentiments, how many of his followers were crazy racists and sexists, how he seemed to have backing from Putin, but by the time the general election was in full swing they were all aboard for Trump. Why? Tax cuts. They were able to look past all of Trump's massive negatives just so they could get tax cuts. These friends of mine are all affluent white guys. They really don't have much to worry about when it comes to fallout from a Trump administration.
Now I know this is just anecdotal evidence, but I suspect that there were a lot of people like my friends who would have preferred a different Republican candidate but voted for Trump anyway even knowing all of the terrible things about him just because they wanted to get tax cuts or liked his talk against a higher minimum wage or against regulations. So why did we ever think we could win these people? In my experience, even moderate Republicans mostly vote based on their pocketbooks. They will never support a Democrat unless they are very conservative on economics.
I notice that we bash the blue-collar people who voted for Trump because he promised to bring back manufacturing jobs, but why not bash the affluent folks who are probably more informed and should have seen that Trump and his supporters were dangerous but voted for him anyway? If we are going to castigate white working-class people for voting for Trump based on selfish economic interests, we should do the same to the affluent suburban Republicans who also ignored all of the warning signs and voted for Trump just to get some tax cuts.
Liberal generals and admirals
Are there any prominent liberal generals or admirals these days? I don't follow military news so I don't know. I ask this because I would hope that there were some people in the military who share our values and because I think it might be a good idea to start looking at prominent military figures for a possible 2020 run. The military is one of the few American institutions that has positive ratings from the public and I think we should be strengthening connections to friendly people in the military. Maybe some Smedley Butler type?
Pope Paul VI's greatness lies in his church leadership after Vatican II
Pope Paul VI's greatness lies in his church leadership after Vatican II
by Michael Sean Winters
Pope Paul VI never got the credit he deserved for seeing the Second Vatican Council to a successful conclusion and for keeping virtually everyone on board in the tumultuous times that followed. Soon after the election of Pope Francis, it became clear that the new pope had an affinity for Paul. Why was he so great? And why were his accomplishments so easily ignored?
The second question is easier to answer. Giovanni Battista Montini was elected pope in 1963, taking the name Paul VI, after the death of Pope John XXIII who had convened the Vatican II in 1962. Paul would shepherd the Council until its close in 1965 and the church until his death in 1978. The Catholic right thought Paul was insufficiently rigorous in ferreting out those they thought were taking liberties with the implementation of the Council's reforms. The legalistic mentality, so evident in the opposition to Francis, faulted Montini for his ability to recognize the ambivalence of many of the issues facing the church. If you wanted clarity above all else, Montini's commitment to dialogue and acceptance of complexity were not your cup of tea. If you thought that the decentralization of decision-making was a fool's errand, Paul's commitment to synodality and to empowering episcopal conferences made you conclude he was foolish. The impatient often view patience as a fault.
For the full article see: https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/pope-paul-vis-greatness-lies-his-church-leadership-after-vatican-ii
Donald Trump, Catholics, and the Scourge of Racism
Donald Trump, Catholics, and the Scourge of Racism
Gerald J. Beyer
Racism has never disappeared from the U.S. landscape. In spite of some ill-founded claims about a post-racial nation, racism has continued to manifest itself profoundly through the Obama years. But the spike in racist hate crimes and bigotry since Donald Trump’s election should shock the conscience of every American.
In my home town of Philadelphia, every first-year black student at the University of Pennsylvania recently received via a social media app messages with “scheduled lynchings.” The messages were sent using the pseudonym “Daddy Trump.”
On the day after the election, which was also the anniversary of Kristallnacht, several buildings in South Philadelphia were sprayed with “Sieg Heil 2016” and “Trump.” Swastikas were used to in lieu of the “T” in the president-elect’s name.
Such repugnant hate crimes and intimidation have taken place elsewhere in the region and in many other parts of the country since the election – some at Catholic institutions. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports 876 incidents in the ten days after the election.
As Catholic ethicist Megan Clark contends, calls for superficial unity in the face of this intolerable bigotry will not do.
We must all stand up and act – now.
For the full article see: http://www.politicaltheology.com/blog/donald-trump-catholics-and-the-scourge-of-racism-gerald-j-beyer/
Criticism of Pope Francis rooted in misunderstanding of Vatican II
Criticism of Pope Francis rooted in misunderstanding of Vatican II
by Michael Sean Winters
December 12, 2016
The opposition to Pope Francis is unprecedented. There have been disagreements in the life of the church before: How could there not be? And, in recent times, we have even seen some cardinals voice disappointment or even disagreement with directives coming from Rome. For example, Belgian Cardinal Leo Joseph Suenens was not shy in voicing his concern about the manner in which the first synods of bishops after the Second Vatican Council were conducted. But claiming an apostolic exhortation is not magisterial? Publishing detailed challenges to the pope's teaching? This is uncharted territory.
I believe that the opposition to Francis is rooted in a flawed understanding of the post-conciliar era and, more specifically, where we are in the process of receiving the council. Francis, just last month, in an interview with Italian daily Avvenire, noted that it takes about 100 years to fully receive a council, and he is right. Some people thought that process was completed, and that they had mastered all the riddles of the Catholic faith in the post-conciliar age. They are very upset that their assumptions and some of their conclusions have been challenged.
For the full article see: https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/criticism-pope-francis-rooted-misunderstanding-vatican-ii
Hello!
Hello everyone,
I have lurked for a long time. The election has convinced me to start posting. I hope I can learn a lot from the knowledgeable posters here.
I used to be very active in politics but became somewhat apathetic for about 8 years. But this election has convinced me that it is important to pay attention and get involved in politics again.
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Member since: Sun Oct 16, 2016, 06:41 PMNumber of posts: 841
