"A MORE PERFECT UNION ..."

If 70% of the citizenry desires a certain result, should 41% of The United States Senate be enabled successfully to obstruct the voters’ decision?

If 53 % of the voters cast ballots for "A" to be the President, should 47% of the voters be able to elect “B”?

Should those nominated and confirmed to be Article III judges be able to legislate that a statute enacted by Congress and signed by the President should be stricken because, in the view of the court, it is no longer necessary? 

Have we reached a point in our history where those of us who were not alive during the Civil War cannot recall a time of more extreme polarity in our politics?

Does "God" now get a vote? 

This past weekend I was visiting my daughter and son-in-law in Cleveland and came across an article in the Plain Dealer that made my head spin. In case you are one of those people like me, who thought that sooner or later “everything will be all right,” I pass along this bit of news that had not before pierced the “coastal liberal bubble” in which I live.

Prior to the 2020 election, a Catholic priest, James Altman, who is the pastor of a church in La Crosse, Wisconsin, published on YouTube, what the newspaper described as a "fiery video" in which the priest made the following statement:

"You cannot be Catholic and be a Democrat. … Repent your support of that party and its platform or face the fires of hell."

The bishop of that Diocese demanded his resignation. Altman refused to resign, and let it be known that he was prepared to go to the mat with the bishop. To defend against what he called "diabolical persecution,” the priest appeared on videos in which he called those Catholic bishops who didn't support him "cowards” and  a "brood of vipers." Moreover, said Altman, 

       “All liberals are left-wing fascist Nazis.’’

Oh yeah, are you surprised to learn that the pastor encouraged parishioners not to get masks, and not to be vaccinated?

I suppose Reverend Altman has a First Amendment right to have his say, and I certainly have no opinion about what Catholic canon law says about the power of the bishop to fire the priest. But is there anyone, anyone at all, who really believes Altman’s sentiments are what the Founders had in mind when they talked about "a more perfect Union” and “domestic Tranquility,” and all that” left-wing" stuff? If you think Altman is alone in his extreme political/religious views, read on:

The priest needed funds for his forthcoming “legal battle’ with the bishop and established a crowdfunding site. As of last weekend,  he had raised more than $650,000!  

I have stopped reading the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Way too depressing.

A bientot. 

........................................

There is no fixed schedule for these posts. If you would like to receive notice of each new posting, please fill out the form at <"http://eepurl.com/gf7fS9">.