This Makes About As Much Sense As Putting Timothy "I'm Not Smart Enough To Figure Out Turbo Tax" Geithner In Charge Of The IRS
Another red letter day for the Obamanation

Leon Panetta, you know, the guy with zero experience in the intel field, is a shoe-in for the directorship of the CIA. Last year he wrote in the Washington Monthly that even if waterboarding could stop the next terrorist attack or suicide bomber, it should not be permitted. Hmmm....

And The South-side Stooge stated in the New York Times "no administration should allow the use of torture, including so-called 'enhanced interrogation techniques' like waterboarding, head-slapping and extreme temperatures."

Well, "enhanced interrogation techniques" have kept the following terrorst attacks from happening -

An attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
An attack against a U.S. Marine compound in Djibouti, Africa
A aircraft hijacking, then flying into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, California
An attack on London's Canary Wharf, Heathrow Airport and Big Ben

So to Obama and Panetta, I ask each of you: which of the above foiled attacks SHOULD have happened?

This Is a Religion of Peace & Love?

My previous post in this spot picturing an eight-year-old boy who purportedly caught stealing bread in an Iran market has been retracted. Further investigation indicates it was not an example of sharia law (which I still consider brutal), but rather a a street con to make money by performing a trick.

I apologize for the error and thank the reader who called it to our attention.

That being said, I stand by my final paragraph which I will let remain.

Part of the reason it is so hard to convert Moslems is their religion has no understanding of a loving God, a heavenly Father who wants the best from us and for us. This ignorance of the real God is also why they can so easily send their children off to be suicide bombers.

BLAST FROM THE PAST!!
Time for a Cavemen comedy classic

Originally posted back in September, '07
Who's On First?
The Latin Mass version

For those of you unfamiliar with this particular comedy classic, click here.

But anyhow, today I was thinking about my fay-vo-rite former Southern Baptist, Latin Mass sayin' priest. I got to thinking that he just might have some of his Southern Baptist cousins asking him all about the Traditional Latin Mass.

I would imagine that the conversation between Father P and Bubba ( you just know there's got to be a Bubba in there somewhere) might sound like...

Bubba: You know, cousin... I was wondering about that "Latin Mass" that you talk about so much. Mind if I ask you a few questions?

Father P: Go right ahead, Bubba.

Bubba Ray: Is it true that you ask folks in heaven to pray for you?

Father P: Sure do.

Bubba: What part?

Father P: Gloria.

Bubba: Who?

Father P: Gloria.

Bubba: No, I mean the part when you talk to the folks in heaven.

Father P: Gloria.

Bubba: I don't know no girl name a Gloria.

Father P: No. I'm telling you that when we ask the Saints in heaven to pray for us, that's the Gloria.

Bubba: Gloria who?

Father P: *Sigh* We'll talk about that later. Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?

Bubba: Matter of fact, I do. Just exactly when do you start speaking to The Lord Hisself?

Father P: Christe Elesion.

Bubba: Christy who?

Father P: No, not Christy... CHRISTE!

Bubba: Christy who?

Father P: No, no, no!! Not Christy... CHRISTE!

Bubba: I don't know no girl named Christy. But I know the family... the Ellisons. Ain't we kin to them on your momma's side? Didn't they use to live o'er by the Piggly-Wiggly?

Father P: You're not listening, Bubba. Christe Elesion is Greek for...

Bubba: (Interrupting) Stop, stop, stop.... the only Greeks I knowd is when I got throwd in jail in Athens, Georgia. And why you keep tellin' me all 'bout these people I don't know?

Father P: No Bubba, I'm trying to tell you about the Mass. Like when we ask The Lord God to accept out sacrifices;

Bubba: An' what's that part called?

Father P: Hanc Igitur.

Bubba: AGAIN YOU TELLIN' ME 'BOUT PEOPLE I DON'T EVEN KNOW! I don't know no Hank, and I sho' don't know no Iggyture family! Are they Greeks, too?

Father P: *Sigh* We're getting nowhere fast, Bubba.

Bubba: No, don't quit on me yet, cousin. Can you tell me about all them doo-dads you got up there with ya?

Father P: Sure! Well, there's the candlesticks, the chalice, the burse, the...

Bubba: (Interrupting) Whoa, cuz. You got a ladies carry-all up there with ya?

Father P: What in the world are you talking about, Bubba?

Bubba: You said you got somethin' called a burse. Remember Aunt Tootie, the one with the hairlip? Buckshot's momma. She use to call it a "burse" too. Then again, she also say "bocketbook".

Father P: No, Bubba! That's not what I meant at all! You're totally confusing things with.... oh, forget it.

Bubba: Don't lose patience with me yet. I just want to know when your service is over.

Father P: I tell the Faithful "Ite, missa est."

Bubba: Eat a mess a what?

Father P: No. Ite, missa est.

Bubba: Eat a mess a what?

Father P: ITE, MISSA EST!!!

Bubba: EAT A MESS A WHAT!!?? A whole mess a fried catfish, BBQ, snap beans and cornbread? I ain't never did hear of food called "est"? Is that some kinda Catholic food?

Father P: Cousin, I think this conversation is about over.

Bubba: Can I ask just one last question?

Father P: (exasperated) Why not!!

Bubba: Is there any part of your service where you ask God to forgive you of your sins?

Father P: Absolutely. During the Confiteor Dei.

Bubba: During Confederate Day!!?? That's the only thing you've said that's made any sense yet!! Someone needs to ask God Almighty to forgive them damn Yankees for invading America! Ah'm startin' to like all this Catholic stuff!

God, Please Make This Happen
With "Catholics" like this, who needs Margaret Sanger?

Only when the face of the relativistic and openly in rebellion "American Catholic Church" presents itself at the Papal Court, will Rome finally realize just how screwed-up things are on this side of the pond.

Here's some of the article from The Catholic News Agency; (Emphasis and comments mine)
Kmiec considers himself a candidate for Vatican ambassadorship

Malibu, Jan 26, 2009 / 07:23 pm (CNA).- Pepperdine University law professor Doug Kmiec, a pro-life advocate of President Barack Obama’s election, has stated that he thinks he will be considered as a choice for U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See.

"The President is nowhere close to determining such things because of the order of events … everyone's first order of business is economic recovery," Kmiec said, according to The Graphic. "At the appropriate time, when diplomatic relations through the State Department need to be addressed, I think my name would be part of the discussion."

Kmiec, who served as legal counsel for the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, has recently been criticized for his contention that a pro-life Catholic could vote for Obama in good conscience. (And he certainly expects his thirty pieces of silver from his lord and savior, AKA: an ambassadorship.)

In a Catholic News Service Story updated on January 26, after the first Vatican negative reaction to the Obama administration, John Thavis wrote: "the Vatican is closely watching for Obama's choice of a new U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. An early appointment would be viewed at the Vatican as a sign of the president's interest and attention to the Holy See."

The choice of ambassador is, of course, up to the president. One informed Vatican official dismissed an earlier report that the Vatican, in a nod toward conservative Catholics, might veto the appointment of a high-profile Catholic supporter of Obama. Rejecting an ambassador for those kinds of political motives is not in the tradition of Vatican diplomacy and would, in fact, be very dangerous, the official said."

President Obama’s reversal of the Mexico City Policy, which had prohibited federal funding of international groups that promote or perform abortions, prompted Vatican officials’ first critical response of his presidency.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, has criticized "Among the many good things that he could have done, Barack Obama instead has chosen the worst," he said.

"I do not believe that those who voted for him (Obama) took into consideration ethical themes, which were astutely left aside during the election debate. The majority of the American population does not take the same position as the president and his team." (Those "Catholics" who voted for Obama knew exactly what they were doing.)

In November, a Vatican official with the Secretary of State denied that Prof. Kmiec has a chance of becoming a U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, telling CNA under condition of anonymity "This will never happen."

CNA recently consulted the same official, who said: "Obviously the Holy See will not openly veto Kmiec's appointment. (But they have in the past. Both an open French homosexual, and an Argentinian divorcée have been rejected by Rome. Click here.)But the process is not that simple. There are always back channel consultations with the (Vatican) Secretary of State, and there is no chance that he (Kmiec) will pass that test.

Russian Caveman?
As long as we're giving people honorary Caveman-ships...

I've heard mixed reviews about Metropolitan Kyrill, now the new head of the Russian Orthodox church, but this recent interview is kind of awesome. Relevant excerpts:

SPIEGEL: Crime and corruption were rampant after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Murder, robbery and fraud became mass phenomena. Wasn't this a defeat for the church?

Kyrill: Reviving morality is a long process. We also see high crime rates in other countries. Besides, Russia faced massive social changes. Our economy was in ruins, foreign influence was growing and so was the consumption mentality, the focus on performance, all of these postmodern ideas which treat everything as relative and no longer require us to distinguish between truth and lies.

Hmm. Economy in ruins, growing foreign influence, consumption mentality, postmodern ideas, communism... this sounds familiar somehow. I wonder why...

SPIEGEL: It sounds as if the present is no better than the past, in your opinion.

Kyrill: The church should have taken time to regenerate. We were weakened by atheism, and then we were faced with a double burden. We were like a boxer who walks around for months with his arm in a cast and is then abruptly shoved into the ring, accompanied by shouts of encouragement. But there we encountered a well-trained opponent, in the form of a wide variety of missionaries from America and South Korea who tried to convert the Russian people to other faiths. Religion was also marginalized by a secular way of thinking.

Weakened by atheism, check. Marginalized religion, check.

SPIEGEL: You are referring to the liberal West. What troubles you, for example, about homosexuals marching through the streets of Moscow in a parade, just as they do in Berlin or Amsterdam?

Kyrill: It distorts the boundary between good and evil, between sin and sanctity. Even adultery is apparently no longer considered a sin, despite the fact that every adulterer senses that he has done something wrong. But human beings have a conscience. That's something even the Marxists were unable to eliminate. They had an explanation for everything, a self-contained philosophy in which being determined consciousness -- just as your philosophers in Germany say, the conscience is the result of cultural development. But whether you are in Papua New Guinea, Munich or Novosibirsk in Siberia, the principles are the same everywhere: Thou shall not steal, though shall not kill…

SPIEGEL: … but not everyone says: Thou shall not be gay. Why should people have to conceal their homosexuality?

Kyrill: The Bible calls it a sin. But we do not condemn these people. The church is opposed to these people being persecuted or offended. But why should sin be propagated? The gay parade is a blatant display of sodomy. In that case, we might as well promote other sins, as has long been the case on television. This degenerates public morality. It is the church's job to call a sin a sin. Otherwise it no longer serves a purpose. Unfortunately, the tendency in today's world is to champion the freedom of choice, while freedom from evil is virtually forgotten.

SPIEGEL: It's human for a person to be homosexual. How can something that is human be a sin?

Kyrill: And what, in your opinion, is adultery -- something good or something bad?

SPIEGEL: This decision lies within the conscience of every individual.

Kyrill: We aren't talking about just any decision. We are talking about morals. They want us to believe that morality is relative. But that's completely untrue. The communists said that good is what is good for the working class. That was relative morality -- and 60 million people were exterminated. Hitler claimed that what is good is what is good for greater Germany. That too cost millions of lives. Morality is either absolute or it doesn't exist at all. If you can justify homosexuality, why not pedophilia?

BAM!

Kyrill: Dostoyevsky wrote that God and the devil are fighting for control in the heart of man. Nowadays many pursue the logic that everything they want ought to be good and justified. We are too quick to treat emotions that ultimately harm us as natural needs. When moral foundations are shaken, we unleash our instincts. But released instincts belong in the animal world.

BAM!

SPIEGEL: We like to argue. But you can't possibly characterize homosexuality as an animal instinct?

Kyrill: Instinct is not a term with negative connotations. Take hunger, thirst, the sex drive, for example. If God had not given us these instincts, man would not exist. The difference between men and animals is that men can control their drives.

BAM!!!

SPIEGEL: Could you envision a reunification of the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church, which have now been separated for close to 1,000 years?

Kyrill: The division is a consequence of human sin. In this respect it resembles a divorce. The Christian West and the Christian East parted ways because they believed that they didn't need each other anymore. Reunification can only be achieved through spiritual rapprochement. It doesn't matter how many documents we sign. Unless we have the feeling that we love each other, that we are one family, and that each member needs the other, it will not materialize.

Now, he talks earlier about how he feels the Latin rite has made some mistakes in regard to science (geocentrism is specifically mentioned), which I don't think is fair since NO ONE believes that anymore and everyone makes mistakes and false assumptions. But I think an effort to at least talk is desired by both parties, which is a good sign.

SPIEGEL: When will the long-awaited meeting between Pope Benedict and the head of your church, Patriarch Alexy II, take place?

Kyrill: Our relations have improved since Benedict became pope. He has removed the issue of a visit to Moscow from the agenda. This sort of visit would not have solved any problems, but it would have provoked new ones. Many of the faithful in Russia mistrust Catholics. This is a legacy of the wars and of proselytization efforts in the 17th and 18th centuries.

SPIEGEL: Could you imagine the pope and the patriarch meeting in a third country, essentially on neutral ground?

Kyrill: It's certainly possible. The entire development in bilateral relations is moving in the direction of such a meeting coming about.

Well, Patriarch Kyrill, it's all up to you now.

When The Vatican's Chief Justice Of The Supreme Court Implicates You...
Could you imagine what's NOT being said to the press?

Well, well, well... looks as if I'm not the only one who's noticed how weak and cowardly many of our stalwart shepherds (sarcasm off) are here in the good ol' US of A. Is Rome finally coming to grips with the many neo-Luthers in Roman Collars?

Archbishop Raymond Burke is essentially the Chief Justice of the Catholic Church's version of the Supreme Court. Please read very carefully what he says about certain members of the USCCB and the USCCB's Ministry of Propaganda... oops, I mean their news service.

From LifeSiteNews.com; (Emphasis mine) Exclusive Interview: Leading Vatican Prelate Says Document of US Bishops Partly to Blame for Election of “Most Pro-Abortion President”
Also says Bishops’ Catholic News Service needs to be given "some new direction"

By Hilary White, Rome Correspondent

ROME, January 28, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A document of the US Catholic Bishops is partly to blame for the abandonment of pro-life teachings by voting Catholics and the election of the “most pro-abortion president” in US history, one of the Vatican’s highest officials said in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com.

Archbishop Raymond Burke, the prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, named a document on the election produced by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops that he said “led to confusion” among the faithful and led ultimately to massive support among Catholics for Barack Obama.

The US bishops’ document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” stated that, under certain circumstances, a Catholic could in good conscience vote for a candidate who supports abortion because of "other grave reasons," as long as they do not intend to support that pro-abortion position.

Archbishop Burke, the former Archbishop of St. Louis Mo. and recently appointed head of the highest ecclesiastical court in the Catholic Church, told LifeSiteNews.com that although “there were a greater number of bishops who spoke up very clearly and firmly ... there was also a number who did not.”

But most damaging, he said, was the document “Faithful Citizenship” that “led to confusion” among the voting Catholic population.

“While it stated that the issue of life was the first and most important issue, it went on in some specific areas to say ‘but there are other issues’ that are of comparable importance without making necessary distinctions.”

Archbishop Burke, citing an article by a priest and ethics expert of St. Louis archdiocese, Msgr. Kevin McMahon, who analysed how the bishops’ document actually contributed to the election of Obama, called its proposal “a kind of false thinking, that says, ‘there’s the evil of taking an innocent and defenceless human life but there are other evils and they’re worthy of equal consideration.’

“But they’re not. The economic situation, or opposition to the war in Iraq, or whatever it may be, those things don’t rise to the same level as something that is always and everywhere evil, namely the killing of innocent and defenceless human life.”

Archbishop Burke also cited the work of the official news service of the US Catholic Bishops’ Conference, that many pro-life observers complained soft-pedalled the newly elected president’s opposition to traditional morality.

“The bishops need to look also at our Catholic News Service, CNS, they need to review their coverage of the whole thing and give some new direction, in my judgement,” he said.

This Is Your Economic Stimulus Package
On the heels of what Confiteor just posted

All this is suppose to stimulate the economy... how? The below is from the AP.

$61 billion for infrastructure building and repair... out of $819 billion. That's roughly 1 dollar out of every 14. So much for all those Shovel To Paycheck programs that are suppose to stimulate the economy.

$41 billion in grants to local school districts. Since when did the Federal Government get in the business of hiring teachers at the local level? But you can bet the Teachers Union is thrilled over this.

$20 billion to increase food stamp benefits by 13 percent. Is this where I line up to get the gold-plated $100 Barack Obama commemorative food stamp?

$40 billion to subsidize health care insurance for the unemployed. Noble as it may be, but this is going to stimulate the economy... how?

$335 million fight sexually transmitted diseases. Something sure as hell is going to get stimulated, but for some odd reason, I don't think it's going to be the economy.

$79 billion in state fiscal relief. In other words, bail-out New York and California.

$6 billion to weatherize modest-income homes. That's an awful lot of money for air conditioners and space heaters.

$2.5 billion in temporary welfare payments. This is going to stimulate the economy... how?

$1 billion for community action agencies. In other words, more bureaucrats. But what do you expect from the guy whose main claim to fame is that he's a "community organizer".

$1 billion for the 2010 Census. You gotta be shittin' me. I've got a simpler solution - '' everyone who's suppose to be here... raise your hand". See, I just saved a billion clams.

$4 billion in grants to state and local law enforcement to hire officers and purchase equipment. When did the Federal Government get into the business of hiring local cops?

$1 billion for home heating subsidies. Ahhh, subsidies. Something Democrats love almost as much as abortion.

$850 million to prevent forest fires. Now I'm quite sure that Smoky T. Bear is just so damn happy, he's ready to crap all over the forest, but I must ask -- this is going to stimulate the economy... how?

In the short-term, there will be a rise in employment, but what happens when all the grant money peters out? I tell ya what... a whole buncha cops, teachers, firefighters and bureaucrats get fired. Either that, or the state and local governments go back to DC with hat in hand. And we know who pays for that.

Economic Stimulus, or is it just Christmas morning for all the Idiot American Leftists?

(I am posting this op-ed from the Wall Street Journal in full. See link here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123310466514522309.html?mod=djemITP While this is overtly political, it is important for Catholics to be aware of what our rotten politicians are actually doing to destroy our country and make our lives worse off. Just think about all of the spiritual and religious habits you have formed over the years which will be much harder to continue under perpetual economic chaos/crisis. How far do you drive to get to that TLM? How many downloads do you enjoy at keepthefaith.org? How much have you been dropping in the collection basket to keep your traditional Mass parish going? Were you thinking of ever taking any pilgrimages with the family? And the list goes on . . . Make no mistake, bad economic policy will negatively impact you in ways that you may have never thought of. Anyway, the article speaks for itself, no commentary needed. All I have to say is God help America.)

A 40-Year Wish List
You won't believe what's in that stimulus bill

"Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things you couldn't do before."

So said White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in November, and Democrats in Congress are certainly taking his advice to heart. The 647-page, $825 billion House legislation is being sold as an economic "stimulus," but now that Democrats have finally released the details we understand Rahm's point much better. This is a political wonder that manages to spend money on just about every pent-up Democratic proposal of the last 40 years.

We've looked it over, and even we can't quite believe it. There's $1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that hasn't turned a profit in 40 years; $2 billion for child-care subsidies; $50 million for that great engine of job creation, the National Endowment for the Arts; $400 million for global-warming research and another $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects. There's even $650 million on top of the billions already doled out to pay for digital TV conversion coupons.

In selling the plan, President Obama has said this bill will make "dramatic investments to revive our flagging economy." Well, you be the judge. Some $30 billion, or less than 5% of the spending in the bill, is for fixing bridges or other highway projects. There's another $40 billion for broadband and electric grid development, airports and clean water projects that are arguably worthwhile priorities.

Add the roughly $20 billion for business tax cuts, and by our estimate only $90 billion out of $825 billion, or about 12 cents of every $1, is for something that can plausibly be considered a growth stimulus. And even many of these projects aren't likely to help the economy immediately. As Peter Orszag, the President's new budget director, told Congress a year ago, "even those [public works] that are 'on the shelf' generally cannot be undertaken quickly enough to provide timely stimulus to the economy."

Most of the rest of this project spending will go to such things as renewable energy funding ($8 billion) or mass transit ($6 billion) that have a low or negative return on investment. Most urban transit systems are so badly managed that their fares cover less than half of their costs. However, the people who operate these systems belong to public-employee unions that are campaign contributors to . . . guess which party?

Here's another lu-lu: Congress wants to spend $600 million more for the federal government to buy new cars. Uncle Sam already spends $3 billion a year on its fleet of 600,000 vehicles. Congress also wants to spend $7 billion for modernizing federal buildings and facilities. The Smithsonian is targeted to receive $150 million; we love the Smithsonian, too, but this is a job creator?

Another "stimulus" secret is that some $252 billion is for income-transfer payments -- that is, not investments that arguably help everyone, but cash or benefits to individuals for doing nothing at all. There's $81 billion for Medicaid, $36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits, $20 billion for food stamps, and $83 billion for the earned income credit for people who don't pay income tax. While some of that may be justified to help poorer Americans ride out the recession, they aren't job creators.
In Today's Opinion Journal

As for the promise of accountability, some $54 billion will go to federal programs that the Office of Management and Budget or the Government Accountability Office have already criticized as "ineffective" or unable to pass basic financial audits. These include the Economic Development Administration, the Small Business Administration, the 10 federal job training programs, and many more.

Oh, and don't forget education, which would get $66 billion more. That's more than the entire Education Department spent a mere 10 years ago and is on top of the doubling under President Bush. Some $6 billion of this will subsidize university building projects. If you think the intention here is to help kids learn, the House declares on page 257 that "No recipient . . . shall use such funds to provide financial assistance to students to attend private elementary or secondary schools." Horrors: Some money might go to nonunion teachers.

The larger fiscal issue here is whether this spending bonanza will become part of the annual "budget baseline" that Congress uses as the new floor when calculating how much to increase spending the following year, and into the future. Democrats insist that it will not. But it's hard -- no, impossible -- to believe that Congress will cut spending next year on any of these programs from their new, higher levels. The likelihood is that this allegedly emergency spending will become a permanent addition to federal outlays -- increasing pressure for tax increases in the bargain. Any Blue Dog Democrat who votes for this ought to turn in his "deficit hawk" credentials.

This is supposed to be a new era of bipartisanship, but this bill was written based on the wish list of every living -- or dead -- Democratic interest group. As Speaker Nancy Pelosi put it, "We won the election. We wrote the bill." So they did. Republicans should let them take all of the credit.

No Gerald, It Isn't Just You
Our first ever honorary Catholic Caveman from that Sceptered Isle

I love dry wit. And this guy makes the Sahara look like a rain forest. Where Anna Haycroft left off, Gerald Warner picks up. And I'm going to violate my own rule of not posting entire articles. Yes... this one's that good.

From The Telegraph (of London); (Emphasis mine) Is it just me?
Gerald Warner

Fifty years on: time to revisit and reform the Second Vatican Catastrophe

Benedict XVI grows in stature as his reign progresses. To the momentous achievement of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, freeing the Tridentine Mass, he has now added the sagacious and just lifting of the excommunications imposed on the four bishops of the Society of St Pius X.

Although there was widespread scepticism about the validity of those censures, their lifting removes a roadblock to the restoration of the Church after the damage wrought by the Second Vatican Catastrophe. Not everyone is happy about the pardoning of the bishops. The staff of The Tablet [the uber-liberal rag of the English & Welsh Conference of Bishops] are rumoured to be on suicide watch, while the malign spirit of those who, without any conscious irony, denominate themselves "liberals" was well illustrated by Gianni Gennari, an Italian journalist.

Gennari is a laicized priest, now married. Fighting back tears, he responded to news of the lifting of the excommunications: "It is a tragedy, the complete debacle of the Church!... I am disappointed, stunned, scandalised... In this case there is no place for the mercy of Christ"... Of course not. The Modernists have always excluded from any kind of mercy those faithful Catholics who adhere unreservedly to the Deposit of Faith. Anything that reduces the likes of Gennari to tears has to be good news.

Over the past few days, some blinkeredly optimistic souls have been trying - without much real hope - to persuade Catholics to "celebrate" the 50th anniversary of the announcement of the Second Vatican Council. This was the great "renewal", when the Holy Ghost inspired the Church to aggiornamento, or modernisation. What form has that Renewal taken?

In England and Wales in 1964, at the end of the Council, there were 137,673 Catholic baptisms; in 2003 the figure was 56,180. In 1964 there were 45,592 Catholic marriages, in 2003 there were 11,013. Mass attendance has fallen by 40 per cent. In "Holy" Ireland, only 48 per cent of so-called Catholics go to Mass. In France, there were 35,000 priests in 1980; today there are fewer than 19,000. Renewal?

In the United States, in 1965, there were 1,575 priestly ordinations; in 2002 there were 450 - a 350 per cent decline. In 1965 there were 49,000 seminarians, in 2002 just 4,700. Today 15 per cent of US parishes are without priests. Only 25 per cent of America's nominal Catholics attend Mass. Worse still is the erosion of faith among those who ludicrously describe themselves as Catholics. Among US Catholics aged 18-44 (the children of Vatican II) as many as 70 per cent say they believe the Eucharist is merely a "symbolic reminder" of Christ.

To describe this unprecedented collapse of the Church as "renewal" is insane; to attribute it to the operation of the Holy Ghost is blasphemous. The Catholic Church is in the same position as an alcoholic: until it admits to the problem, no cure is possible. The problem is Vatican II.

Pope Benedict himself has expressed reservations about at least one Council document. The only remotely celebratory response to the Council's 50th anniversary would be to appoint a commission of orthodox theologians to scrutinise all of Vatican II's documents and correct their errors. It is time to revisit and reform this council that has brought forth such poisonous fruits.

WHAT!!?? "Charming"? US!!??
But we'll take it

Our good goomba-ette, Adrienne, has bestowed upon us here at The Lair, The Lovey Award (anyone laugh, and I'll deck ya).

About the award:

“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

Wasn't that a nice thing for Adrienne to say? And she even placed the provision in her post that we got it for being SO politically incorrect. Thanks, Adrienne!

So without further eloquence, I give you the following eight awardees --

Father Richtsteig's Orthometer

Father Speekman's Homilies and Reflections from Australia

Thoughts of a Regular Guy

Knit And Pray

Dymphna's Road

V For Victory!

Ave Maria Gratia Plena

Altare Dei

Still Plenty Of Tickets Available!!
Don't pay any attention to the small amount of water damage

All I can do is shake my head in amazement. Here's some of the article from Zenit; (Emphasis mine) Bishop: Vatican II Was Spirit's Dramatic Action
Recognizes Spiritual Giants Who Have Walked Among Us

LANCASTER, England, JAN. 26, 2009 (Zenit.org).- If we lived by the principles of the Second Vatican Council, we would know how to balance continuity and change, among other things, affirmed the bishop of Lancaster.

Jan. 25, 1959, was the day Blessed Pope John XXIII opened the council, and the conclusions of this event are still relevant today, affirmed the prelate. ("Relevant"? How about "destructive"?)

The bishop added: "However, the reality of the Council was very different … (Noooo.... *Sarcasm off*)

"This willingness not to be constrained by the pre-prepared schema set the precedent for a far-reaching and creative debate among the Council Fathers, lasting three years and producing a body of documents that are a Magna Carta of the Holy Spirit for the modern Church. (There's that "Super Dogma" nonsense, yet again, rearing it's ugly head.)

"If we truly lived by the decisions of Vatican II we would know how to balance continuity and change." (What decisions? Very little in V2 is binding upon pain of sin.)

Bishop O'Donoghue noted the "sheer energy and hope of the 60s," which has been overlooked or forgotten, "a decade that saw the rise of the modern world from the wreckage of the Second World War." (Wow... the rise of the modern world. What was it again that Christ said about "the world"?)

"The council fathers judged rightly," he noted, "that it was time for the Church to find a new language to speak the eternal truths of faith to modern men and women." The prelate recalled: "I remember the excitement when people heard the Church speaking in a way that was straightforward, biblical, personal, and pastoral. (Yeah, Catholicism had it wrong to 2,000 years. Silly Catholic Church.)

He added: "It is time for us to wake up to the fact that during and after the Council, giants have walked among us: Blessed John XXIII, Blessed Mother Teresa, Servant of God Pope John Paul II, Servant of God Pope Paul VI, Cardinal Henri de Lubac*, Father Karl Rahner SJ**, Father Hans Urs von Balthasar***, Brother Roger of Taizé, Archbishop Oscar Romero, Chiara Lubich, Dietrich Von Hildebrand, Pope Benedict XVI, and many more.

"I suspect that future generations will look back and say: 'Oh, to have lived in times so blessed by the Holy Spirit!'" (And there are still tickets available on the RMS Titanic.)*"Pope Pius XII condemned de Lubac's theology in Humani Generis,(#'s 29,30,32,34), de Lubac simply stated that this was "highly one-sided ... it doesn't concern me."

** Proposes a "transfinalization" or "transignification" which claims the "meaning" of the bread changes after Consecration - a symbol - rather than the Bread really and truly changing into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. According to him, what is there in the afterlife? Precisely nothing—for there is no afterlife, just an "all-cosmic body" in death. Rahner himself made a similar point when claiming that Vatican II marked the emergence of a 'World Church'. Thanks to Rahner, Protestants were no longer simply benighted heretics, pagans no longer simply in error. Rather, if the Churches ever are reunited, the non-Catholic Christians will bring something positive; and even the institutional forms of paganism can be of salvific significance.

*** "Claimed there was no certainty that anyone is in Hell or ever will be in Hell. He stated that "the Church ... has never said anything about the damnation of any individual. Not even about that of Judas."

Chicks, Man
I sure hope all the Cavebabes don't get too PO'd at me

WARNING!! Harsh language alert!

I've been exchanging e-mails with one of my old Commanding Officers who is now an Evangelical preacher. I thought some of you might enjoy my reply to one of his questions to me -- Dear XXXX,
I can't really make any honest commentary in regards concerning the feminization of Evangelical Protestantism. Obviously, I can only speak from the Catholic perspective. And what a Can o' Rant you just open.

Since the late 60's, I've witness a definite feminization of everything Catholic (in the US, anyhow). And I just don't mean the flaming homosexuals half a chromosome away from lactating, who've managed to get themselves ordained (all in the name of inclusion and "Jesus accepts me just the way I am" bullshit) and fluttered 'n flitterd hither and yon spreading equal amounts of pixie dust and heretical bullshit. BTW, thank God His Holiness Pope Benedict shitcanned a number of uber-liberal seminary rectors here in America. Funny how the MSM never really picked up on that story.

Anyhow, neither am I referring to the images of "Surfer Jesus" or Jesus portrayed essentially as some prissy chick with a beard.

I mean the radical feminization of Catholicism as in the lack of masculinity. I look upon radical theological/ecclesiastical feminism as the attitude of: "Oh, you have a boo-boo. It doesn't matter to me how you got it or if you'll stop acting out in a way that caused the injury to begin with. I'll just kiss it and make it all better."

I'm of the opinion that radical feminism is all-forgiving, as Christianity most certainly is, but regardless of the circumstances and treats ALL the Faithful (especially those who've reached the age of reason) intellectually as children, if not outright dullards. Must be that "nurturing of kids" thingee that's ingrained in all chicks.

With that said, I consider theological/ecclesiastical masculinity as the attitude of: "Screwed-up and got a boo-boo, huh? OK, cupcake... here's what you need to do - quit your damn whining and man-up. Things really will be all better, I'll see to that. But in the meantime, rub some dirt on it and take another lap."

For me, the words of St. James (Faith without Works is dead) and St. Dismas, The Good Thief (This Man has done nothing wrong, but we are getting what we deserve) sum it up pretty good for me. Also, I only half jokingly thank God everyday of my fairly recent "discovery" of traditional, pre-Vatican II Catholicism. If I had to listen to one more Modernist sermon on "luv", I honestly thing I'd puke day-glo.

All the best,
Kevin

So Who Will The South-Side Stooge Morph Into Next?
Three down, forty to go

First we had John Barack Kennedy rousing up the German Socialists in Berlin, then we had Abarack Lincoln on a train, then Franklin Barry Roosevelt ushering in a raw, oops, I mean New Deal for everyone under the sun.

But to find a direct link to The Obamessiah's latest presidential incarnation, I had to go to the Hindustan Times of India. I guess the mainstream media in America doesn't want to touch this; Appearing on CBS's 'Face the Nation' programme Sunday, he also declined to respond to a question whether the US would notify Pakistan before any cross-border movements for action in its territory.

"I can't speak to any particular attack. I can't speak to any particular action. It's not appropriate for me to do that," Biden said when asked whether last week's reported attack by an American drone on an Al-Qaeda force in Pakistan indicated a continuation of former President George Bush's policy.Oh, I get it now... when Bush ordered drone attacks, he was a reckless cowboy. The One does it, and the American media distances themselves from even talking about it.

I see now.

By the way, seeing Gitmo is about to be shutdown, I suggest that the occupants be relocated to two locations... in the middle of the night... with knives -

1. Half in Obama's old neighborhood in Chicago.

2. The other half in Obama's old neighborhood in Honolulu.

I'm sure the residences of those two places will welcome those misunderstood souls with love, compassion and a heavy dose of "I hate America" rhetoric. That is until the women start getting raped, and the men start having their heads carved off.

OOPS! She Did It Again!

Nancy Pelosi, Commisar Der DummKopf

In an unmistakeable effort to show her Catholicism literally knows no bounds Nancy Pelosi has explained why Birth Control will stimulate the economy today on ABC's This Week with George Step-on-all-of-us.

This tidbit comes to us from The Drudge Report (click here for the newsflash). Her ability to make herself look like the stupidest clown in the circus amazes me. She is a walking oxymoron, yes that is right madam you are an Ox and a Moron!

Her statement was this, "contraception will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government." and further explained, "Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government."

Georgie boy asked her, "So no apologies for that?" To wit the bright and dedicated Catholic maven of our times replied, "No apologies. No. we have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy."

So economy bad.......less people good. I see....I can just here her backpedaling tomorrow. Oh no no, I mispoke see you did not understand what I was saying. No I never said that, Georgie was picking on me.

I just want to see those noodle backed Bishops up in da house let this one go. I mean she is advocating birth control (and she means abortion too) to help the economy. She is out of her cotton picking mind. (oops my faux pas, should not be referencing cotton picking anymore not with Obama in the White House, Oh Crap I just did it again....I didn't mean White House...um Beige House.....wait.......oh hell...whatever I am not good at this PC stuff so shove it!)

I think she has Pelosti her mind!

The Pope, The Bishop, The Forgotten Five Million, And Enough Rope
You know what they say about giving someone enough rope

OK... time for everyone to take a deep breath. Especially the folks over at the Jerusalem Post. Now what I'm about to type will undoubtedly piss some people off in a big way. But I ask that you read this posting to the end.

With that said, let me point out that Bishop Williamson is NOT a "holocaust denier" in the true sense of the phrase. What he questions is if the number of Jews murdered by the Nazis was actually six million, and if "The Final Solution" was really a matter of national policy. Even the article by the Jerusalem Post states that Bp. Williamson believes that 200,000 - 300,000 died.

A quarter million dead... six million dead... mass murder is mass murder, period. Do I believe that Bp. Williamson is WAY off on his historical accuracy? Of course I do. I've personally talked to too many Army vets from WWII who've seen the ovens, seen the mounds of corpses, seen the mass graves, to doubt that something unbelievably massive and diabolical had occurred.

I also remember my childhood parish of St. Leonard's in Fremont, California, and good ol' Father Kopania. Every once in a while, we'd get but a glimpse of the serial number tattooed on his forearm. He was suppose to have been exterminated in Auschwitz for the high crime of being a Catholic priest. And he wasn't the only one. Far from it...

There is no master roll call of names of those murdered, so an approximate number is the best that any historian can produce. But the evidence is overwhelming that millions and millions and millions were slaughtered by the Nazis. And while I'm at it, why is it we never hear about the 2.5 - 5 million Catholics killed in the death camps?

But I digress. I recently read an article penned by a Protestant Minister who stated that "Pope Benedict has a habit of taking small steps that have far reaching effects". How true. This pope's no dummy.

Don't look for Bishop Williamson being kept on a short leash. On the contrary, he's going to be given lots and lots of rope.

The KKKs "Man Of The Century"
The Black Genocide now has a face

Interesting op/ed piece from The Washington Post; (Emphasis mine) A simple web search for the order of presidential succession in the newly-minted Obama administration makes clear what a profound debacle the '08 election was for the pro-life movement in the United States. The country's top leadership now looks like a Who's Who of the National Abortion Rights Action League's "100% pro-choice" club. Largely ignored in the last election, abortion remains a massively important political issue. Catholics who did so should be ashamed of themselves for voting with disregard for a ticket and party that is inimical to a central moral tenet of their Church's teaching. Abortion kills.And according to Walter B. Hoye II, executive elder of Progressive Missionary Baptist Church of Berkeley, CA; “Over 1,400 African-American babies are aborted every day”That means we can approximate at least 2,038,400 dead Black children during the four years of the Obama Presidency. And keep in mind that between 1882 and 1968, 3,446 Blacks were lynched in the U.S.

In other words, every three days, more blacks are killed by abortion than have been killed by the Ku Klux Klan & Friends during their entire history.

And the numbers will just get bigger. But hey... this is what you asked for, America.

So Now What?
A whole new set of questions come up

I know I'm not the only one who's wondered just how many will join with Bishop Williamson if and when he jumps ship. Personally, I give it even money he'll bolt. But that's not the $64,000 question right now.

Undoubtedly, there are a number of Modernist bishops who are now in desperate need of a change of Depend® adult undergarments. Especially those in France, Germany, The UK and America. And I can think of more than a few heterodox priests right here in the Cape Fear Deanery who are hissing (lisping?) through clenched teeth right about now.

With all that said, how many of our (for lack of a better phrase) "mainstream" clerics are about to launch their own versions of the Polish National Catholic Church, the Old-Catholics or even the Philippine Independent Catholic Church?

I wish to hell the likes of Roger "The Dodger" Mahony and Richard "I'm Not A Dick" Rohr would haul ass. Why not? They've been in de facto schism for decades. Goodbye, good luck, and don't let the door hit your collective sorry asses on the way out.

Something else to keep in mind, in the few short years of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI, he's freed the Latin Mass and (obviously) lifted the "excommunications" against the SSPX Bishops. By Catholic Church standards, Pope Benedict works at light speed.

By the way, did anyone else notice that the announcement came the day before the 50th anniversary of Pope John XXIII's announcement of the Second Vatican Council? Talk about shoving it in the faces of the Roman Protestants.

I love it.

I give thanks today to Our Lord and especially to His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, for giving us our current Holy Father. Within the last year, he has freed the “Mass of All Time,” and has today, lifted the excommunications on all four bishops consecrated by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre on June 30, 1988.

We, who are attached to Tradition, and for those of us who are attached to the SSPX…..we are free!!

Now for Round Three: The doctrinal talks between the Society and Rome. And I know who I will put my money on!

Semper Fi and God bless Pope Benedict and God bless the SSPX!

__________________________________________
1. Press release of the Superior General of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X

The excommunication of the bishops consecrated by His Grace Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, on June 30, 1988, which had been declared by the Congregation for Bishops in a decree dated July 1, 1988, and which we had always contested, has been withdrawn by another decree mandated by Benedict XVI and issued by the same Congregation on January 21, 2009.

We express our filial gratitude to the Holy Father for this gesture which, beyond the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, will benefit the whole Church. Our Society wishes to be always more able to help the pope to remedy the unprecedented crisis which presently shakes the Catholic world, and which Pope John Paul II had designated as a state of “silent apostasy.”

Besides our gratitude towards the Holy Father and towards all those who helped him to make this courageous act, we are pleased that the decree of January 21 considers as necessary “talks” with the Holy See, talks which will enable the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X to explain the fundamental doctrinal reasons which it believes to be at the origin of the present difficulties of the Church.

In this new atmosphere, we have the firm hope to obtain soon the recognition of the rights of Catholic Tradition

Menzingen, January 24, 2009
+Bernard Fellay

Deo Gratias
His Holiness lifts the "excommunications" against the Bishops of the SSPX

From The Telegraph (of London); CONGREGATIO PRO EPISCOPIS
By way of a letter of December 15, 2008 addressed to His Eminence Cardinal Dario Castrillón Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Mons. Bernard Fellay, also in the name of the other three Bishops consecrated on June 30, 1988, requested anew the removal of the latae sententiae excommunication formally declared with the Decree of the Prefect of this Congregation on July 1, 1988. In the aforementioned letter, Mons. Fellay affirms, among other things: "We are always firmly determined in our will to remain Catholic and to place all our efforts at the service of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Roman Catholic Church. We accept its teachings with filial animus. We believe firmly in the Primacy of Peter and in its prerogatives, and for this the current situation makes us suffer so much."

His Holiness Benedict XVI - paternally sensitive to the spiritual unease manifested by the interested party due to the sanction of excommunication and faithful in the effort expressed by them in the aforementioned letter of not sparing any effort to deepen the necessary discussions with the Authority of the Holy See in the still open matters, so as to achieve shortly a full and satisfactory solution of the problem posed in the origin - decided to reconsider the canonical situation of Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta, arisen with their episcopal consecration.

With this act, it is desires to consolidate the reciprocal relations of confidence and to intensify and grant stability to the relationship of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X with this Apostolic See. This gift of peace, at the end of the Christmas celebrations, wishes also to be a sign to promote unity in the charity of the universal Church and to try to end the scandal of division.

It is hoped that this step be followed by the prompt accomplishment of full communion with the Church of the entire Fraternity of Saint Pius X, thus testifying true fidelity and true recognition of the Magisterium and of the authority of the Pope with the proof of visible unity.

Based in the faculty expressly granted to me by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, in virtue of the present Decree, I remit to Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta the censure of latae sententiae excommunication declared by this Congregation on July 1, 1988, while I declare deprived of any juridical effect, from the present date, the Decree emanated at that date.

Rome, from the Congregation for Bishops, January 21, 2009.

Card. Giovanni Battista Re

Prefect of the Congregation for BishopsHere is the original letter from the offocial Vatican website [in Italian].

The Rat That Rohred, Part II
Same heresy... different day

Oh, hell (emphasis on the hell)... here we go again. I've posted about Presider Richard "Let's Get Nekkid*" Rohr in the past, and it looks like he's up to his old tricks again. The direct spiritual descendant of both Judas and Martin Luther has been invited to South Sodom for Phony-Baloney Mahony's Orgasmatron '09.

Here's some of the article from The California Catholic Daily; (Emphasis mine)

“Not bound by dogma, ritual, or tradition”
Franciscan Fr. Richard Rohr plans swing through California in February

Franciscan Fr. Richard Rohr, known for his special ‘initiation rites’ for men, liturgical ‘innovations,’ use of the enneagram and teachings on eco-spirituality, will be making stops in Coronado and San Francisco before heading to the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress in late February, where he has become a regular fixture at the annual event.

Fr. Rohr is scheduled to be in Coronado on Feb. 20 and 21, where he will conduct a conference at the Coronado Community Church, which describes itself as “a community-oriented, non-denominational Christian church” that is “not bound by dogma, ritual, or tradition.”

Fr. Rohr, 66, is the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which offers retreats that aim to provide something of a rite of initiation for men. The Center, however, is not committed to a specifically Catholic initiation ethos. Its web site notes that the Center’s philosophy includes the belief “in a universal message of love and faith that transcends the boundaries of race, nation, culture, gender, economics/class, politics, sexual orientation and religious differences.”

Following the Coronado and San Francisco appearances, Fr. Rohr will head to the 2009 Los Angeles Religious Education Conference, scheduled at the Anaheim Convention Center from Feb. 26 through March 1. The conference is sponsored by the Office of Religious Education of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

“Visit us at the CAC booth, # 310,” says the Center for Action and Contemplation web site. Fr. Rohr is scheduled to offer two workshops at the conference: “The Emerging Church” and “The Coming of the Cosmic Christ.”

Rohr’s teachings have been questioned by some within the Church, who point to his affiliation with the dissident group Call to Action, his position on the morality of homosexuality, and his use of the enneagram.

At the 2007 Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, Fr. Rohr celebrated a “general liturgy” in a ballroom at the Anaheim Convention Center. The processional hymn was “Christ Be Our Light,” accompanied by bongo drums. Liturgical dancers carried large, flowing banners down each of the aisles in the ballroom. Reaching the front of the ballroom, the dancers stood along either side of the podium, twirling the giant banners.

Fr. Rohr made no sign of the cross as he began the liturgy, and the offertory procession began with two women waving banners, followed by two liturgical dancers carrying a white tablecloth, followed by others who carried the hosts in large wicker breadbaskets and the wine in glass and plastic pitchers.

Fr. Rohr also changed some of the prayers of the Liturgy of the Eucharist. For example, opening the preface, he prayed, “Father and Mother God...” He prefaced the Our Father by saying, “and now, knowing we are more one than we are many, though we come from different places and races, we all share the same Father-Mother God.”*Father Rohr is well known for his 'Wild Man Retreats' where men sometimes take their clothes off and touch each other in certain parts of their bodies — to release the demons.

Please, Please, PLEASE!! Didn't Mommy And Daddy Ask You!!?? Do You Want To Go To Time-Out? PLEASE LISTEN TO US!!
Ineffective parenting, Catholic style

Gutlessness marches on!!

I remember many years ago hearing a priest of the SSPX using the phrase "dictatorship of the child". Why does that phrase come to mind when I read the following news story?

Here's some of it from The California Catholic Daily; (Emphasis mine)
“Very disappointed”
Archbishop-elect of Detroit expresses dismay over Obama’s abortion views, but won’t say whether he will deny Communion to anti-life politicians

Oakland, Jan. 22, 2009 / (CNA) – Detroit Archbishop-elect Allen Vigneron has expressed disappointment with President Barack Obama’s position on abortion and has called for forceful opposition and coalition-building to counter it. (Please sweetie. Both mommy and daddy have been asking you over and over. So to show you that we really mean it... we'll ask again.)

Bishop Vigneron, who will continue to head the Diocese of Oakland until his installation as Archbishop of Detroit on Jan. 28, made his observations in a telephone interview from Oakland with the Detroit News. He said he shares other bishops’ concerns that the Obama administration has given indications that the president is going to rescind some protections for the unborn. (Please sweetheart. You know that mommy and daddy have asked you over and over to stop stabbing your baby brother with the scissors. Will you please stop doing that? Mommy and daddy are asking you nicely, sweetie!)

The bishop declined to answer whether he would deny Holy Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, calling it a “hypothetical question.” (If you choose to do that again, mommy and daddy will... will... will...)

“I simply want to affirm that part of being a Catholic is having a conviction that on these moral matters, the church speaks the mind of Christ,” he told the News. “And I want to help Catholics, especially Catholics in responsible positions, to maintain the integrity of their professions.” (Didn't mommy and daddy already ask you not to do that? Please listen to mommy and daddy!)

Bishops Welcome Obama’s Order Banning Torture
But nothing about torturing in utero children

WASHINGTON--An executive order banning torture signed by President Barack Obama was welcomed by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, Chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Do the bishops realize the President is a Harvard-educated lawyer? I’ll bet he is capable of understanding two related points within the same paragraph, whether spoken or written. Did Bishop Hubbard use his anti-torture message to BHO as an opportunity to remind him that tearing the arms and legs of tiny babies to facilitate the extraction of their tiny bodies from the wombs of their mothers was, in fact, TORTURE? No, of course not!

Oh yeah, I know Cardinal George of Chicago, the president of the USCCB (one-twelfth of which we know are successors of Judas Iscariot) already sent BHO a letter trying to dissuade the Pres from his pro-abortion mentality. Big deal. What’s he going to do to put some teeth in that? Not much considering 1) the great number of supposed Catholics who voted for the most anti-life President in the history of the nation, and 2) that the bishops surrendered what little moral authority they had when they protected the mostly homosexual predator-priests.

Marines Are Suckers For Little Kids & Dogs
Good to see that some things never change

Helmet tip to Former Altar Boy

Could this Rumor Be True? Please God Let It be so!

Check out what Rorate Coeli is reporting right now: http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/

Numerous reliable sources are claiming that a decree has been submitted and possibly even signed by Pope Benedict lifting the excommunications of Archbishop Lefebvre and the four SSPX bishops. If this is in fact the case, what glorious news this is! Can you imagine the impact this action would have on the possibility of a true Restoration. Imagine, Pope Benedict XVI providing traditionalists throughout the world with the dual weapon of Summorum Pontificum and a fully integrated Society of St. Pius X.

If this is indeed the case, all that is needed for us to take our Church back form the Modernists is a many more years of a Pope Benedict pontificate, or God Willing, Archbishop Burke as the successor and first American Pope.

Viva La Papa!!

Time For Me To Ask A Serious Question
Seriously...

I promise to refrain from referring to the USCCB by a certain crude nickname. I also promise not to say that the USCCB produces more hot air than all the combined global bovine flatulence of the last decade. I also vow to keep from calling the USCCB's news organ "The Ministry of Propaganda". For this posting, anyhow.

Aaaaaanyhow, last might I was wishing for about a dozen (hundred... but who's counting?) of those fake foam bricks that sports fans buy so they can throw them at their TVs without smashing it into a million pieces.

You see, I was watching the EWTN broadcast of the Vigil For Life from the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in DC. Bishop, Archbishop and Cardinal... rows of 'em... all making a big showing about defending unborn children from the slaughter of abortion.

All this on the heels of Joey Hairplugs receiving Holy Communion in direct opposition to Rome. And The Botoxed One even received a standing ovation from the laity, and assumably, from the priests present. All this in the face of what was reported in LifeSiteNews.com as; "...according to Church teaching, public figures who support abortion legislation are automatically excommunicated for violating the Church's pro-life teaching, and therefore should not be given communion."Did NO ONE... not one single Bishop, Archbishop or Cardinal... at that farce last night know what just happened less than 48 hours earlier at Holy Trinity parish (that happens to be located literally within just mere miles from the basilica)?

With that said, I have a serious question to the USCCB as a whole -- how in the world do you intend for anyone to take you seriously? I hate to tell you this, guys... but we know phoniness and gutlessness when we see it.

In the battle for the salvation of souls, if the Majors and Gunnery Sergeants turn a blind eye and ignore the orders of the General, no one should be shocked when the battle is lost.

And that's exactly what's happening in the battle for souls. What weakly passes for "leadership" in America is smiling and looking the other way while souls fall to hell like snowflakes in winter.

Our shepherds are going to have an awful lot to answer for.

This Rates Right Up There With The "Obama Inauguration Pig Sex Orgy"
I wish this was a joke... I really do

WARNING! Sexually explicit descriptions that some may find offensive.


When any given individual attracts sideshow freaks like this, that has to tell any rational individual something. Let's all worship both the Obamasiah and our collective orgasms together, shall we?

Here's some from the Orgasms For Obama website; (Emphasis mine)
O’s For Obama Site Launches
Orgasmic Energy Directed Towards Political Transcendence

(San Francisco, CA) – When it comes to showing his support for Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama San Francisco-based Certified Somatic Sexologist Destin Gerek has taken a unique approach – he’s harnessing the power of the orgasm. Gerek, a growing internet icon who embraces technology, spirituality, and sex, believes the time is right for this kind of change and that Senator Obama is the perfect man for the job.

Destin has created the O's for Obama campaign, a web driven movement based on his sexual philosophy. The O's for Obama campaign is a two-part series of events located in San Francisco, California, and streamed globally to the online community. Gerek plans to guide participants into a group energetic “breath-gasm” that will happen simultaneously around the world, using breath, sound, and movement to access their erotic energy, raise its vibration, and circulate it throughout their entire bodies. The first event is scheduled to take place at the world-renowned nightclub, 1015 Folsom.

“It’s definitely a one-of-a-kind Obama rally as only San Francisco could produce,” the erotic rockstar promises. “We are throwing in everything from top-notch DJs to all-night dancing, from sensual & political performances to an O's for Obama guided breath-gasm. If you care about the future of this country and this planet you won’t want to miss this!”

"This is about more than Obama becoming the next president of the United States,” Gerek explains. “On his website Barack Obama assures us that he is asking us to believe not just in his ability to bring about real change in Washington but ours. I agree with him. This is our time to create change. This is our time to create the world that we want to be living in. Barack Obama is a piece of the puzzle. WE are the rest of the puzzle. Change is coming, so let's come together."

This is why you don't surf the net before going to bed...

...you just end up finding crap like this that you know is gonna keep you up all night.

...from Black Five

The One blows off MoH Recipients for first time in 56 years
Posted By The Wolf

Yep. Get used to it.

Our new CINC attended quite a few gatherings last night, but as This Ain't Hell reports, the Salute To Heroes Inaugural Ball was not one of them. For the first time in 56 years, a newly-inaugurated president has not attended the ball begun by President Eisenhower. 14 presidents later, a snub.

Go check it out over there- FORTY-EIGHT MoH recipients were in attendance. People- that's HALF of the recipients that are still alive, and darn well nearly all that are physically able to attend events.

'official' balls attended:
Neighborhood Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.
_ Obama Home States (Illinois and Hawaii) Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.
_ Biden Home States (Pennsylvania and Delaware) Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.
_ Midwest Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.
_ Mid-Atlantic Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.
_ Western Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.
_ Commander in Chief’s Ball at the National Building Museum. (Michelle danced with Marine Sergeant Elidio Guillen of Madera, California while the President had as a dance partner Army Sergeant Margaret H. Herrera of San Antonio, Texas)
_ Southern Inaugural Ball at the National Guard Armory.
_ Eastern Inaugural Ball at Union Station.
_ Youth Inaugural Ball at the Washington Hilton.

...what a POS.

Feeling Down Right About Now?

...this won't get you through the next four years, but it might give you a little motivational burst...

...made me want to go kick some liberal weinies ass...

St. Michael the Archangel...
Defend Us in Battle!!!

This Is What Happens When We Have Rotary Bishops
And by rotary, I mean non-ball bearing

Remember that hot wind that blew through our nation just a few weeks ago? You remember... all that talk, talk, talk coming from bishops who railed against "Catholics" who supported pro-abortion politicians. Or maybe that sudden rise in the temperature was global warning... I dunno.

Anyhoo, here's some of the this wonderful article from LifeSiteNews.com; (Emphasis mine) Biden Receives Standing Ovation at Catholic Mass after Receiving Communion

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Two days before he became the next American Vice President, Sen. Joe Biden attended John F. Kennedy's own Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church for Mass, where parishioners gave the pro-abortion politician a standing ovation minutes after he received communion.

The event sparked criticism because, according to Church teaching, public figures who support abortion legislation are automatically excommunicated for violating the Church's pro-life teaching, and therefore should not be given communion.

Biden has come under fire several times from Catholic leaders and laity for misrepresenting Church teaching by insisting that his pro-abortion views are consonant with his Catholic faith, most notably on a Meet the Press interview last September.

Strife has since erupted among Catholic bishops over whether to bar Biden and other pro-abortion "Catholic" politicians from receiving communion. Some bishops insist, despite Vatican instruction to the contrary, that such a move would "politicize" the Eucharist.Hmmm... I seem to recall a quote from Pope St. Pius X: "It is not fitting that the servant should be applauded in His Master's house."

I wonder if Joe Biden is having a man-sized monstrance built?

It's About Damn Time
But they have to wait another TWO MONTHS!?
Just enought time to get another beating by imprisoned drug dealers

The sacrificial lambs finally get true justice. From the (Colorado Springs) Gazette;

OPINION: Border guards to go free

President George W. Bush leaves office with the country in economic shambles, proving that a two-party system doesn't work if both parties advocate big government solutions and unbridled spending.

On his way out the door, however, Bush did the right thing Monday. He commuted the prison sentences of former United States Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. The two men are two years into 10-plus-year sentences for shooting confessed drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the butt as he tried to cross the Rio Grande.

Ramos and Compean believed Davila was fleeing an abandoned van full of marijuana on the American side of the border.

A prosecutor convinced the court that no evidence connected Davila to the van, and that Ramos and Compean tried to cover up the shooting and tampered with evidence by picking up several of their spent shell casings.

One aspect of the Bush presidency that made sense was his refusal to get worked into a frenzy about illegal immigration, even though some conservatives tried to make it a central cause for a movement gone awry.

Those who thought illegal immigrants should be the centerpiece of a new conservative movement understandably used Ramos and Compean as symbols of the country's immigration insanity.

And they had a point: 10 years was an outrageous sentence for two American border guards who screwed up in the heat of a moment. They're not a danger to society; they're two men who made a serious mistake in the line of duty.

Ramos and Compean are expected to go free within two months. That's unfortunate. They should be freed right away.

Bush should be commended for never, in eight years, allowing anti-immigration zealots to pull him around by his nose. Even more so, he should be commended for listening to them when they were right.

Regarding the unjust sentences of Ramos and Compean, they were absolutely right.

Reported on the Drudge Report today, reverend Joseph Lowry is quoted as praying this:


"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen"

I swear, these people are so ingrained with divisiveness and obsession with race, gender and economic status that even when they consciously attempt to transcend wordly fixations, they crash and burn miserably and just reveal themselves to be the same old offensive bigots.

My Stoogedom For A Teleprompter!
Whoops!

This is the smartest guy in the room?



By the way, did anyone else notice the stock market fell 332 points today?

Slaying the Inaugural Speech
Hey, snow day means I'm bored at work!


So I've found the transcript of Obama's speech today. I'm going to have fun.

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People YES WE CAN have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers (can I hear an "A-men!" How about a "Bull-shit!"), and true to our founding documents. Yes, we all know he used to be a Constitutional lawyer. But I must admit, I snorted rather unceremoniously when he swore in his oath to uphold the Constitution. Mostly because he couldn't get through the oath without stumbling and stuttering everywhere...

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some (I wonder if he's heard of Clinton? Because I'm pretty sure that the husband of his Secretary of State was the one that got us into this mess...), but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly (so let's raise taxes to make it more affordable? What?); our schools fail too many (FALSE!! KIDS ARE STUPID and sometimes they DESERVE TO FAIL); and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights. Who on earth thinks that we need to lower our sights??

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. See Dick. See Dick and Jane. See Dick and Jane run themselves into a tree because they're too busy listening to this drivel.

They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture (great, now he's trying to bring God into it), the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. NOTE: All deserve the PURSUIT of happiness. WE DO NOT DESERVE HAPPINESS. And also, that wasn't a GOD-given promise, that's from the Declaration of Independence...

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Lately I'm starting to think that it sort of IS for those people. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. And now I'm being a big old pussy and pulling them out of where they still need to be, because my bosses... oops, FRIENDS... told me to. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Um, kinda. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Except that it's so much CHEAPER to transfer calls to India... Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs (great, useless employment...), but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works (that is totally terrifying) - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. I can't wait to see THAT. Programs ENDING under a Democratic president? Excuse me, programs that AREN'T the military. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good. So now let's force endless regulations on companies that actually make them even LESS productive and effective! Way to expand businesses and provide jobs that DON'T require a J.D.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with (but also WITH) missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people (We're already doing that. Why he doesn't understand that just baffles me. These things take TIME.), and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life (that's all he's been DOING for the last year! "Citizen of the WORLD" ring a bell?), nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, [please note that, in delivery, there was a LONG pause between the first half of this sentence and what's to follow... wonder why...] Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. Right, because there's LOTS of that. And we have so much in common too! And they TOTALLY want that "new way forward," all that "kill all infidels" stuff is just joking around. Riiiiiight.

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. But judging means nothing if you're going to crush any dissenters... To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. With whose money, again? Oh right, MINE. And I don't get any say in it. Government-mandated charity. AWESOME. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. I think we can all ask Caveman exactly what he would like to tell us... but I don't think Mr Obama wants to hear THOSE choice words...

We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. That sounds great, but I think we have to be honest about who we are. I know I'M not going to lose my precious hours at work, which I desperately need to survive on, just because I feel bad for someone else in the office. Yes, it's sad, but I'm currently on my second month of a pair of contacts that's supposed to last 3 weeks, because I can't afford to get my eyes checked and buy contacts on my meager salary. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world (us first, though, Mr Obama. You are the president of the UNITED STATES, not the U.S. and the rest of the world), duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny. But he calls us to conform ourselves to His will - not to some lofty ideals of patriotism and courage. Our destiny is ultimately in HIS hands and we ought not take that away from him.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]." Yeah, but virtue is dying, and hope is utterly useless if virtue is dead.

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us (not for loooooooooong... we have Sodom and Gomorrah fixed in our gaze), we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Blaaahhhh. Lots of bullshit, delivered eloquently.