Safe Haven

Real Clear Politics is a great site, especially during election season. Data, commentary, major speeches, and all the rest make it highly useful and enjoyable for political junkies. That's still an accurate descriptor of me. And I don't know who finds the opinion and analysis pieces, but I notice those that lean Right have noticeably declined in quality, with respect to avoiding ad hominems. The headlines are ad hominems, as are the pieces themselves. There seem to be alternate realities, and there doesn't appear to be any willingness to seek any neutral ground of fact to re-establish some basis for constructive conversation. The Right in general is given over to conspiracies and a bunker mentality. Most people I know and see who are "conservative" (whatever that means) ignore the mainstream media altogether, in favor of ideological sources. Here's the thing, though: You can't persuade someone without a common language, and common facts. The political ...

You know, I reamed Dr. Charlie Camosy once, because he remained a Democrat, in the face of their abortion immorality. I wasn't fair to him, and I deserved the silence I got. It turns out that we would meet here in the middle on this. Dr. Camosy wrote a book about abortion dialogue, and hopefully turning the temperature down a bit. I should have listened to him. On the other hand, he's since left the Democratic Party because of these radical positions in the party on abortion. Someone pro-life will have to run and win as a Democrat, to face down Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and whomever else. Maybe become president. And then, maybe, such a visible person could give others the courage to be pro-life Democrats again. Maybe one day soon. And that's the other thing: it is an outrage that there is no room among major players in that party for the pro-life position. I can't in conscience vote for their presidential candidates, because there's no ambivalence at all: a Dem...

I went to McDonald's in the afternoon. I wanted to enjoy something greasy and appalling before I went to Mass. As it happened, I had to go to Reconciliation first. I booked it away from the McDonald's at 3:36 PM, and I arrived in line at 3:50 PM. I only had to wait a couple of minutes, and I had intended to stay for Mass, but in that moment I had no desire to wait around for the celebration. I knew that I should make it back before dark, because rolling in a wheelchair isn't terribly safe in the daylight, and less so at night. When I looked at my clock at home, it was 4:30. I knew we had a couple of hours before the results came in from the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary. I knew that former Vice President Biden would win, but I don't think anyone knew it would be as big a win as it turned out to be. I'm thrilled for Joe, and I'm thrilled for the Democratic Party--as far as it goes--because I do think that he's their best chance to win. I ...