Monthly Archives: September 2018

Whose Side?

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On whose side is the current Pope?  What is his purpose, his goal?

First, the Pope condones covering up—even delaying a “conference” for chit-chat about the abuse for as long as possible—massive child abuse by Catholicism’s priests and bishops.

Now we have the Pope saying the Catholic Church—the Vatican—doesn’t even need to be the authority that selects the Church’s bishops.

…Catholic concession in a far-reaching deal between Rome and the Vatican announced Friday. The Vatican has agreed to recognize as legitimate seven Chinese priests who had been excommunicated by Rome for accepting their bishop hats without Vatican approval. Two bishops who had remained faithful to Rome will retire to make room for bishops more to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s liking.

What’s going on in the Catholic Church?

Trial? We Don’t Need No Stinking Trial

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Progressive-Democratic Party candidate for Texas Senator Beto O’Rourke wants a cop fired.  At a rally last Friday, O’Rourke was asked whether Officer Amber Guyger should be fired.  You remember the case: the officer seems to have entered the wrong apartment, mistaking if for her own, saw a man in the still darkened apartment, the man did not respond to Guyger’s commands, and she wound up shooting him.  O’Rourke’s response to the rally-goer’s question:

I don’t understand given the actions how anyone can come to any other conclusion.

Really?  The evidence the NLMSM has chosen to publish—a subset of the evidence the police are able to release in the middle of an ongoing investigation—certainly appears damning.  But where is the public record of all of the evidence?  When was Guyger’s trial and conviction?  When did it become the American way to begin punishing a person even before an investigation is completed, much less a trial held?

O’Rourke wasn’t finished.  He also

questioned why when everyone is seeking facts, the warrant was released which detailed that marijuana was found in that apartment.

Apparently, only some facts need be sought out, especially early on when it’s unclear—except to the special few—which facts matter.

Of course, it’s of a piece with the Dear Colleague Letter sent out by the Obama Education Department that made it permissible for a school to “convict” a male student on the basis of a female student’s accusation while denying the male student’s right to legal representation or even the opportunity to cross-exam the accuser or accuser’s witnesses.  It’s of a piece with the Progressive-Democrats’ hue and cry over current DoEd Secretary Betsy DeVos’ unmitigated gall in insisting on actual due process for the accused in educational facilities.

And it’s of a piece with a Progressive-Democrat President’s insistence—immediately after he’d admitted he knew none of the facts—that a cop had acted stupidly.

This is due process as the Progressive-Democrats would have it.  This is Beto O’Rourke’s view of due process for those accused of wrong-doing.  Remember this, this fall.

Mao and Xi

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Deutsche Welle reported on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s visit last Friday with People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in the PRC.  A couple of things jumped out at me that are separate from the emphasis the article put on the visit and the aid the PRC has promised Maduro.  Maduro tweeted

We began our state visit to the People’s Republic of China, paying tribute to its founder, the Great Helmsman, Mao Tse Tung.  His example and revolutionary struggle marked the twentieth century.

That was in connection with this:

At the start of his state visit, Maduro bowed three times to honor Chairman Mao in Tiananmen Square.

Xi happily went along with that.  He is, indeed, bringing back Mao’s policies and ruling techniques.

“Some Feel It’s About Time for a US Retreat”

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That’s the title of Friday’s Wall Street Journal Letters column.  One letter argues that point in particular.  The letter writer is mostly wrong, but his is right on one matter.

Who does he think will fill in behind us if we retreat?  It won’t be our friends; that should be clear.

On the other hand, he argued

The USSR no longer exists and China has emerged as our chief rival. The only thing that has remained constant is America’s footing the greater part of the bill for military defense, while nations we protect continue to grow rich at our expense.
The nations of the world that we are supposed to protect are going their own way, while we continue to spend and spend in the name of preserving an alliance that is no longer even necessary.

The USSR no longer exists, but Russia does, and it’s as much a threat to us and to those it’s in our national interest to support and protect as is the People’s Republic of China.  Many of the nations we are protecting are going their own way, it’s true enough: too many of the western European members of NATO don’t feel the need to contribute to NATO’s costs or equipment and manpower suites for their own mutual defense.  However, other members, and many eastern European nations who aren’t NATO members (but are ex-Soviet occupied nations), do feel the threat and are willing to contribute to their mutual defense.

The letter writer also is right on this: we should consider reducing our effort and spending regarding those western European nations that don’t care.

We then should redirect those resources to working with the other nations who do care.  If that takes a (major) revamp of NATO or a new mutual defense arrangement that’s centered on those other nations, then so be it.

Shades

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US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has new ambassadorial digs, and those digs have new curtains.  The rent for the digs is 58 large each month, and the curtains were almost $53k.  If you think those numbers are outlandish for some office space and window coverings, you’re right.

Then we get The New York Times castigating her for spending that kind of taxpayer money.  Never mind that the NYT carefully buried some key facts regarding these expenses.  Facts like it being the Obama administration that committed to the rent and that bought the curtains; Haley had no say in the matter. Facts like the rent in particular, to Obama’s credit, being much lower than other administrations have spent on their UN ambassador’s digs.

Jeez.  At least the NYT‘s sister tabloids, National Enquirer, Globe, Star, et al., have some entertainment value.