Update 1/21/2025 2:24 pm: Even though Melania's inauguration fashion choices are not germane to the topic of this post (or are they?), they are discussed below in the comments. As not every reader seems to have tuned in to yesterday's coverage, I'm posting a couple of shots featuring her hat. Regarding the image on the right: on The Daily Show last night, Jon Stewart suggested it had the practical effect of warding off her husband's attempts to break into her personal space.
To my eyes, her ensemble screamed, "I wish I was anywhere but here!"
I watched Trump's swearing-in and listened to his inauguration speech. I actually took detailed notes of the speech, with the thought that I might get a chance to post some comments about it later on Monday; as it happened, I missed my window: a cat climbed onto my lap and I promptly fell asleep and ended up napping through a good part of the afternoon.
But apparently I would have been premature in spending time analyzing his speech, because the real action, and real cause for concern, happened later in the day. To my consternation - and, I hope, the consternation of right-thinking Americans - Trump has hit the ground running, signing a blizzard of executive orders on Day One. The volume of orders is so large that I'm not sure that even the professional analysts have yet fully digested everything he did. Some of them, like renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, we can safely ignore. Others, like renaming Mt. Denali Mt. McKinley and withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, bother me to some extent but they won't get me as exercised as some others will be. But based on what I've read, here are the ones that concern me the most:
1. He ended birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants. This flatly contradicts the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Presumably a federal court will block the executive order. But it sucks that the ACLU, or someone else, will have to spend time, money and effort to stop what shouldn't have started. And it's not inconceivable that Trump would put people in place who wouldn't care about a court order and try to enforce his executive order anyway.
2. He pardoned the vast majority of participants in the Jan 6th insurrection. I understand this includes Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, i.e. some genuinely dangerous people. More generally, I am concerned about the unfettered power of presidents to pardon (including pre-emptively pardoning, if we are to accept what Joe Biden recently did).
3. He stripped thousands of federal employees of their Civil Service protections. Reportedly this is so he can unilaterally fire those whom he deems 'deep state enemies'. It's not clear to me what authority he has to do this without an act of Congress, but in my view, we should deplore this assault on worker rights.
4. He unilaterally gave TikTok a 75 day reprieve, something he doesn't have the authority to do absent a pending sale. I don't know whether anyone will be able to stop this, as the ban appears to be politically unpopular and it might be difficult for a lawsuit filer to show standing. But this executive act further erodes the integrity of the Constitution.
Above and beyond these specifics, I thought the whole vibe of Inauguration Day said "Dictator". Every time I glanced at the television, members of his family were on screen and were being gabbed about by the network talking heads, as though they are some pseudo royal family. I thought the "Glory, glory halleluiah" music was out of place.
What were the things that worried you most about Trump's first day on the job?
Jim, apparently the birthright citizenship order will not be enacted soon.Its in the constitution so the lawsuits will probably be filed starting today.
ReplyDeleteHis whole sale corruption is now in full view. He’s turning our country into a corrupt oligarchy of billionaires as Putin did in a Russia . He has now made it easier than ever to bribe him - individuals and countries.
See Heather Cox Richardson article today
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/
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ReplyDeleteHe ended membership in WHO, a vital source of info sharing during COVID. In addition, efforts to fix problems in the CDC have largely failed. State and county health department tracking and reporting protocols are not standardized, which impedes info gathering. I lay a LOT of this at Biden's doorstep. People were so anxious to wish COVID away that streamlining reporting of disease incidence, tracking mutations, and and distribution of vaccines were abandoned. An overhaul would have saved time, money, confusion, and lives. We are in bad shape for the next pandemic, especially if RFK, who tried to block distribution of the COVID vax, is confirmed.
ReplyDeleteNot trying to catastrophize, but I am concerned about Amazon's foray into pharmaceuticals and telehealth, which will likely be AI-driven. Is moving everybody to Amazon Trump's "concept of a plan" for making health care cheaper and more available? Bezos has certainly been busy pledging fealty to King Trump in the run up to the inauguration, and he was front and center at the swearing-in.
I didn’t watch anything. My big concern is for my friends working for the Army. Trump and gang are bullies and the working environment can become hellish. But the American way these days is shadenfreude and punishment for other people they don’t even know. Nobody in this world hates Americans more than Americans. The Punisher-in-Chief is on the roll.
ReplyDelete"Nobody in this world hates Americans more than Americans."
DeleteI think that is exactly true, Stanley.
The thing that worries me the most is the total picture, that Trump does not give a single sh#t about the rule of law, what the Constitution says, or our duties internationally. It's all in plain view, right off the bat. To all the people who saw what he was, but voted for him anyway, because they thought he would advance their pet objectives, they own this. We are all going to pay the price for four years. That includes some church people, even a cardinal archbishop who attended the inauguration. You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.
ReplyDeleteI see that Chicago's Cardinal Cupich threw a flag right off the bat, that the church in Chicago will oppose Trump's threat to make Chicago ground zero for mass deportation.
The total picture was eminently clear. Even if you only watched right- wing News. When trump promises to ignore the law, ignore the constitution “ if needed”, believe him. He thinks he has a mandate even though winning the popular vote by one of the lowest margins in history. He will do what he wants. I read a study (more than one actually) that concluded that very conservative people actually prefer strong-man government. So maybe they don’t care about the rule of law. and since even the violent leaders of the Jan 6 attack on our nation are out of prison today, they know that if they pledge fealty to their king that they don’t have to worry much about the law either.
DeleteGetting rid of civil service protections and the legally mandated requirement that they not engage in overt political activity means that Firing experienced civil servants to replace them with less qualified trump loyalists is another snub of the law and will hurt the effectiveness and efficiency of government agencies.
He apparently also renamed the Gulf of Mexico yesterday, a move that the President of Mexico and the rest of the world are unlikely to honor. Hang on to your current maps and globes!
On a lighter note, I told my husband that Melania's outfit looked like a cross between Zorro, and Guido Sarducci from the old SNL episodes.
ReplyDeleteI don't think she wanted to be first lady again.
As far as pre-emptive pardons, I don't like them, but see in a way how they are necessary to keep the administration from going after former public servants such as Dr. Fauci. Trump would absolutely have no problem bankrupting people like that with legal fees, even if he didn't get a conviction.
I didn’t watch so I might have to take a look at her outfit.
DeleteIn 2016 I was among those who said that trump is not my president. He still isn’t, even though he now holds the office and the power. So Biden did have to pardon some of the prominent members on trumps revenge list. Trump would definitely use “ lawfare” to try to destroy them.
I haven’t decided on what to do about the WaPo, which is our hometown, local newspaper. We still get the NYT. Katherine, if they jack up the renew price, don’t renew. After you make it definite, wait a week or two and they will again offer $4.00/ month. If you cancel the Post or don’t renew, the same thing happens.
I have a subscription to The Atlantic and renewed my subscription to The Economist when they recently had a good promotion.
I have given up on America - our country. I’m old, but my children and grandchildren will be dealing with this for a long time. Hope my son and his family do make it to Spain at some point.
Somebody said Melania's boaters make her look like the McDonald's Hamburglar. There was a shot of her yesterday inside the Nat Cathedral wearing big sun glasses. The dog collar necklace with her ball gown made me wonder if there was a leash by which she has to be dragged to these things. She's said she will reprise the limp and puzzling Be Best initiative. The "FU, I don't wanna be here" message is palpable. And even with all that, she's less contemptuous of America than Donald Trump.
DeleteTrump exemplifies (and pushes to the edge and beyond) the fundamental problem with electing a CEO type to the presidency: businesses are entirely hierarchical, so the guy at the top of the pyramid answers to nobody, at least day-to-day. By contrast, the presidency is checked and balanced by other branches of government and by some rights and responsibilities belonging to the state. Trump is temperamentally unsuitable to a role that constrains his ability to do whatever he wants. So he reverts to what he learned in business: lying, firing,violating contracts, intimidating, suing, and so on.
ReplyDeleteYup. That was obvious in 2016. White House Apprentice
Delete"So he reverts to what he learned in business: lying, firing,violating contracts, intimidating, suing, and so on."
DeleteTo all the people who voted for Trump because he was such a great business man, would they want to do business with someone like that, or work for them? And are multiple bankruptcies an indication of business acumen? It's supposed to be pretty hard to lose money running a casino, but he ran one into the ground.
You don't have to operate like Trump to run a business. There are people who operate diametrically opposite to Trump and become financially successful. I believe Mitt Romney was one such.
DeleteBut that said: there are a lot of business people who do operate like Trump, cutting whatever corners they can. Few of them rise beyond small-time grifters, in no small part because other players in the marketplace learn not to trust them, and trust is critical for most businesses. Somehow, Trump has managed to exempt himself from that "law", perhaps because he didn't start from nothing, and perhaps because he has a certain promotional genius.
My supposition is that the small-time-grifter business owners are a big part of his base. (Certainly not excluding the brassy women like Lauren Boebert and MTG who seem to flock to the MAGA banner). He and they understand each other perfectly.
I think we were in for a crash no matter who’s in the White House. The best I could hope for, and that was why I voted as I did, was a controlled crash, no landing gear, lots of sparks, maybe a flip or two but maybe 50% survive. With this guy as pilot, it’ll be auger straight into the dirt. The people of Gaza won’t be saved by the ceasefire which Israel can’t wait to abrogate. They will be saved, if at all, by the collapse of United States wealth and power and subsequent collapse of Israel. I don’t know, maybe y’all think I’m nuts but I and a small cabal of people who gave a darn were fighting the diminishment of US manufacturing way back in 1989. I think we were successful in preserving a domestic capability. We certainly transformed how optics are manufactured. Maybe it was just a reprieve for the optics industry, a last hurrah. And now we have an idiot in charge who couldn’t even make a stupid casino work. I don’t know if I’m done with America like Anne but I certainly don’t have a single wave-the-flag left in me.
ReplyDeleteTrump ushered in the demise of Roe v Wade. So at least half the states have laws on the books that allows for prosecution of abortionists and women who have abortions. Certainly Brian Birch of CatholicVote.org and now ambassador to the Vatican, thinks that that goes on the "plus" side of Trump's ledger.
ReplyDeleteTrump has also said that there are only two official genders in America, and we're not going to fool around with alternative pronouns.
Aren't these things what Catholics have wanted for years? Celebrate! The Kingdom of God is at hand!
Certainly, it's fair to say the institutional church wanted Roe v. Wade to go away.
DeleteTrump saying, even in an executive order, there are only two genders doesn't make it so. If his executive order survives court scrutiny, there will be some ambiguous and hard cases that will have to be dealt with.
No, doesn't make it so, but it does affirm that the incoming administration upholds conservative Christian teachings about gender.
DeleteThe CatholicVote.org line was that Trump is an imperfect vessel but that he has the will and the teeth to give states leeway to turn back permissive sex and gender laws, to allow school vouchers, and to scrutinize and suppress materials that run counter to Christian teachings. The idea is that this will normalize Christian values for the rest of the country. Oklahoma seems to be at the forefront of the movement via Ryan Walters, supt of public instruction.
I'm not trying to pick a fight here or rack up points. I genuinely don't know how any of the make Trump look all bad to a traditional Catholic.
People make deals with the devil, metaphorically speaking (or maybe sometimes not so metaphorical). They feel that one issue, or some issues, are the only thing that matters. So they support someone who agrees with them on their issue. And if nothing else matters to them, they don't care when their man tramples norms and boundaries all over the place. And sometimes they wake up to find out that their person didn't really care about their pet issue either, he just talked the talk to get them on board. And if it's expedient to him, he'll throw them under the bus. Caveat emptor, conservative Christians.
DeleteSo, right ideas, wrong man?
DeleteIf I had kids in this day and age, I’d home school them or at least supplement/parallel what they were learning in school.
Delete"...right ideas, wrong man?" Wrong man , definitely. But not really right ideas either. I believe more in the seamless garment, you can't just pick out one thread.
DeleteI get the appeal of the seamless garment, but it falls to pieces in the real world.
DeleteWell and good for Catholics to say, "I want no abortions and generous safety nets for mothers and babies." But what happens when MAGA says, "I'll give you the no-abortions thread, but those girls who get themselves knocked up are not my problem. If they're miserable, they'll be a cautionary tale other girls can learn from."
Do you take the "thread" of the garment you can get and fight for the rest down the road? Seems like that's what the overwhelming majority of white Catholics opted for when they voted for Trump.
But I don't see, at least at my local level, that Catholics are fighting for the generoys-support "thread." They throw a few diapers at the food bank and talk about "personal responsibility" as if slutty behavior were the only reason people needed assistance for their kids.
Ouch. My head hurts from slamming it against a brick wall of "it'll all be so much better when it's 1957 again."
Right - I like the Seamless Garment, too. But (a) it originated as Catholic social teaching, so other Christians and non-Christians may or may not buy into its tenets. (As a practical matter, I do think it has had some influence on how some non-Catholic Christians think and practice their faith, but it's certainly very far from a consensus approach.) And (b) within conservative Catholic circles, the "Seamless Garment" teaching has been reviled for decades, in part because Cardinal Bernardin was 'liberal' (by Catholic prelate standards) and therefore worthy of suspicion; and in large part because the Ted Kennedy generation of liberal Democratic politicians discovered, through the 1970s and 1980s, that after a lifetime of being conventionally Catholic, they were actually pro-choice and hid behind the Seamless Garment as a rationale for their conversion: "I support the Consistent Ethic of Life - except when it comes to abortion".
DeleteOf course a lot of people called Cardinal Bernardin a commie pinko. He first used the phrase "seamless garment" in 1983. And I think Ted Kennedy misused the term (he wasn't exactly a stellar moral person). But from a distance of 40 plus years the idea of the seamless garment has stood the test of time, it is especially meaningful now.
DeleteFWIW, Cardinal Bernardin was not the first person to talk about the seamless garment. It was Eileen Egan in 1971.
Re Melania’s outfit. The Zorro comparison is accurate. She does like she’s dressed in mourning attire and doesn’t want to be there.
ReplyDeleteI also thought the Zorro comparison is good. I also thought she might take the concealment of her face to its logical conclusion and attach a veil that would run from the rim of her hat to the collar of her suit.
ReplyDeleteThat might have made the message too obvious ( the veil). She likes to be a mystery woman. Sort of like her jacket that said Who cares? When she went to visit hurricane victims and everyone spent a week in the media trying to figure out what she meant. Her ghastly Christmas decorating the first year May have been meant to reinforce her reported annoyance at having to decorate for Christmas and be on a TV special of Christmas at the White House. Keep people guessing about her messaging.Her love of money is the one message that comes through loud and clear
DeleteYup. And making a statement that she's not Jill Biden or Michelle Obama. People should be themselves, but you'd think she'd want to project a little class.
DeleteI don't think she ever particularly wanted to be First Lady. (Perhaps like Michelle, perhaps not like Dr. Jill.) I don't mind her not leaning into the role. And I am inclined to cut her quite a bit of slack because, after all, she is married to Donald Trump. I read or heard somewhere that she is a devout Catholic who has taken her role of being Baron's mother quite seriously. I hope it's all true.
DeleteDidn't hear that she was Catholic, but it does seem that she tries to be a good mom to Baron, who may have some special challenges (well just being Donald Trump's kid would be a special challenge!). I can sympathize with her maybe being a little introverted (because I am) and not enjoying being in the public eye.
DeleteRaised Catholic. "Devout"? Maybe. She was married in an Episcopal church to a two-time divorcee. Maybe she got dispensations for all that.
Delete"Good mother"? She renegotiated her prenup to get Barron an inheritance on par with the three oldest kids. She keeps him out of the public eye, in itself a public service if he is anything like Eric and Don Jr.
She speaks poor English and maintains dual citizenship. I expect she feels more comfortable in the European milieu and will go someplace like Barbados or Monaco when Trump dies.
In any case, no First Lady or Gentleman owes the American public anything, and that seems to be exactly her attitude, following in the footsteps of Bess Truman who spent about 90 minutes a year in D.C. when Harry was prez.
Especially when he is embarassing.
DeleteHi, Biaggio, curious about how you ended up here. We've had this discussion group going for many years in one place or another. Can you tell us something about yourself and what interests you about our discussions?
Deletehttps://www.cnn.com/2025/01/21/health/hhs-cdc-fda-trump-pause-communication/index.html
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty scary thing that has gone under the radar. Trump has issued a gag order for HHS, CDC, and FDA. Can he really do that? I guess he thinks so. Apparently we're not going to have any updates on diseases, or drug approvals.
I did see that. During Covid DeSantis put a gag order on the state agency that had beenreleasing the numbers of cases and the mortality rates.
DeleteThis happened with NOAA in his first administration. My cousin was working there, Arctic oceanographer in Alaska, and they weren't supposed to issue reports that had the term "climate change" in them.
DeletePretty sure he wants the health agencies to keep quiet in the run up to RFK's hearing.
What may ultimately sink his nomination are his pro-abortion comments. Republicans seem fine with his medical misinformation.
The Boy's Catholic school is full of moms pushing "natural immunity" and having "measles parties" like back in the 1950s when my mom would send us over to visit the neighbor kids with measles, mumps, or chicken pox to "get them over with."
As a biologist, you'd know better than me, but seems to me that immunity is immunity. "Natural immunity" isn't any better or less dangerous than vax immunity.
My Mom was stressing out big time when we three older kids got the measles, because my little sister was less than a year old. The measles vax didn't exist yet, but our family doc gave her a dose of gamma globulin (apparently that contained donor blood antibodies) and she didn't get it. But as soon as the vax was available, Mom made sure she got the shot. I can remember measles as being one of the more miserable illnesses I ever had. Not only a high fever, but we couldn't watch tv and had to be in a darkened room for fear the virus might damage our eyes. Finally when we were recovering Mom relented and let us watch some cartoons
DeleteYeah, I remember lying in the dark with measles. Terrible headache and ringing in my ears. My mom brought in the neighbors to look at my rash, and they all said it was way worse than any they'd seen. She kept offering to bring in a hand mirror so I could see my face. Dad kept pushing hot Vernor's. Can't bear ginger ale to this day.
DeleteI had it. Don’t remember feeling too bad. I looked at my skin and thought it was cool. Looked like an alien.
DeleteThe story goes, my grandmother’s first and second born daughters back in Poland, got measles and both died within a week of each other.
Natural immunity is probably as good or better than vaccine immunity but you can die from thr procedure.
Two comments - Melania held the Bibles, but he did not put his hand on them when taking the oath.
ReplyDeleteThat obviously deliberate omission reminded me of when he took over St John’s in Lafayette Park without asking Bishop Mariann or even notifying her that he was kicking out the clergy and volunteers so that he could have a photo op - with the Bible he held upside down. In the NYT and elsewhere it is reported that he was very unhappy with her because in her homily she mentioned the fear of immigrants and LGBTQ community and said that leaders show mercy, asking him to show mercy.
In that St. John's photo op, he held onto the Bible as though he'd never held a book in his life.
DeleteMy right eye was renovated last week with a new plastic lens. Didn’t feel a thing. After three days of fuzziness, vision, much improved vision, came back. Next week, the other eye will be done. Ya gotta love civilization. These things are the important things. If it takes giving up things that make CO2 for trivialities and petty convenience, I’m all in.
ReplyDeleteGlad your cataract surgery went well! Hopefully the one next week will go well also. My husband had his cataracts done last year. He had worn glasses with a heavy correction since second grade. He still has reading glasses, but otherwise doesn't need any. I'm probably looking at cataract surgery myself at some point, but it hasn't yet reached the point where I need to do something.
DeleteThe gospels have at least three instances of Jesus healing someone's eyesight. It's still a miracle to have one's eyesight restored, just a slower one.
All good things come from God. With healing should come gratitude. I am grateful.
DeleteNow that you can see good, here are Bernie's thoughts about our priorities for the coming 4 years. Makes sense to me: What Trump didn’t say in his inauguration speech | Bernie Sanders https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/23/bernie-sanders-trump-inauguration-speech?CMP=share_btn_url
DeleteWell said, as usual, by Bernie. But with the feckless, billionaire-beholden, gerontocratic Democrats as the opposition, I have no hope of help from that quarter. I believe we have to think of ourselves as starting from zero. That’s why my new voter registration card says Green, a legitimately near-zero political party.
DeleteI don't think most people look at the Green Party as anything but a single-issue party for environmentalists. I realize they have a broader platform that embraces health care and labor, but that hasn't penetrated the national cranium.
DeleteI do think that the next four years must spawn a national party that is capable of challenging the authoritarian oligarchy or that'll be the end of the U.S. as we know it.
Jean, the national cranium seems impenetrable. I don’t expect the Green Party to get any traction for this reason. But, at the core, they are more reality-based than the main parties. I understand that they are now trying to ally with workers’ movements. Maybe therein lies the solution.
DeleteBernie's best line about the inauguration
DeleteToday in America, we have more income and wealth inequality than we have ever had. The wealthiest three people in America now own more wealth than the bottom half of our society. But Trump had nothing to say about the growing gap between the very rich and everybody else. And maybe that’s because he had those three people – the three wealthiest people in America – sitting right behind him at his inauguration. And, I should add, those three people – if you can believe it – saw their wealth increase by more than $233bn since the November elections. No wonder they were sitting right behind Trump. They couldn’t be happier.
Bishop Mariann publicly reprimanded trump when he forced the clergy and volunteers from St John’s for his photo op. He was probably unaware of it. This time everyone knows what she said and of course he is livid, demanding an apology. Her response is that she will continue to pray for him but she will not apologize. He probably looks at this gentle, middle aged woman and thinks she is easily intimidated. She is not. She won’t roll over and kiss his ring like so many Catholic bishops do. She’s an amazing woman and a true teacher of the gospel. She’s the Bishop of the most important diocese in the American Episcopal church and she didn’t get chosen because she’s easily intimidated. I’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of real conversations with her.
ReplyDeleteI have always liked her. I am a fan of Joan Chittister and so is she. While Sr. Joan is banned from giving homilies in Catholic Churches, Bishop Mariann invited her to give the homily at the National Cathedral one Sunday and to stay after mass to answer questions from the people there. A lot of them were Catholic. One commented that it was very sad that she had to attend mass at an Episcopal church in order to hear Sr Joan give a homily. Bishop Mariann invited Sr Joan several times to give talks at the Cathedral, always to a big crowd.
Bishop Mariann isn’t about flash and privilege like most Catholic bishops. She lives simply and acts simply and is kind to everyone. I was told by a Cathedral volunteer when I was still volunteering there that the previous male bishop always had other people carry his robes, mitre,, open doors for him , etc, but that Bishop Mariann always took care of these small things herself. When in civies once at an Ash Wednesday service, unrecognized by others, she stood in the same line and waited her turn. One of the volunteers was going to lead her to the front but Mariann shook her head No and stayed in line where she was. The only Catholic bishop I ever had an experience with who was like Mariann in simplicity and humility was in the Dominican Republic. He came to our sister parish when we were there for his annual visit for their feast day. People wandered in and out of the pastors house and yard all the time, as did chickens, stray dogs and goats. We noticed a man outside looking under the hood of his pickup truck and fiddling with something. He came inside a while later and sat down with our little group after introducing himself “ Hi, I’m José”. He joined us for coffee and conversation. When the bells rang to call the villagers to mass he excused himself saying he needed to get ready for mass. Fifteen minutes later he entered the church in his full regalia. We hadn’t realized that he was the Bishop. We traveled with him to several villages, overt several days - all literally dirt poor. (The one room shacks had dirt floors) His kindness and gentleness shone through even though I couldn’t understand the conversations in Spanish. He was a true pastor, the kind Francis calls for.
Good for Bishop Mariann I admire her fortitude and ability to speak the truth without anger (of course Trump is temperamentally unable to hear the truth without anger!).
DeleteI am glad that now some of the Catholic bishops are speaking out about some of things he has threatened that will hurt people. But it is a little late in the day; it isn't as though he had made any secret of what he intended to do.
I didn't see her remarks in their entirety. In the clips I've seen, she was calling for "mercy" on gay, trans, and migrant people. Honestly, Trump scares the shit out of half the entire country, not just those groups.
DeleteA call to represent all Americans, to serve for the good of all Americans, to uphold the Constitutional rights of all Americans, and to have special care for the poor, sick, imprisoned, and marginalized might have gone down better?
The Bishop certainly cast a great big pearl before the biggest swine available.
DeleteKatherine, links to what some of the bishops are pushing back on?
DeleteThe bishops I have read about who pushed back were the three bishops of Nebraska that I posted about previously, also Bp. Broglio of the armed forces, Cardinal Cupich of Chicago, and Bp.Mark Seitz of El Paso. (I'm sure there are probably others) All of them were protesting the threat of mass deportation, and advocating kind treatment of immigrants.
DeleteWill be interesting to see if the bishops can or will do anything practical here as Tom Homan, the deportation czar, plans raids--the news says they're imminent--in sanctuary cities. I like to imagine they'll be on the front lines like, say, St Hugh of Lincoln, who stood in front of a mob when they came for the Jews during the Expulsion.
DeleteApparently she took a while to decide herself what to say. Telling him to help all Americans including the poor etc would have been too general. Her message was meant to raise eyebrows and apparently did that literally in Vance’s reaction. She knows that his immediate actions are targeting immigrants and the LGBT community, and that besides being targeted by trump they are in physical danger from the more violent MAGA folk.
ReplyDeleteI get that she didn't want to wash Trump in the usual platitudes and generalities as if he were a normal person. But to me it just looked like same old Episcopal grandstanding that raises a stink to no good effect. One of the reasons I left the church for Catholicism (yeah, dumbass move). But, then, I know nothing about Bishop Budde, how this particular service was arranged, by whom, or for what purpose. You are closer to this story, so maybe knowing the local context is everything.
DeleteWow. Your former EC parish must have been a doozy. I’ve never personally witnessed Episcopalian grandstanding. But my experience is limited to a half dozen Episcopal churches and two schools. I have witnessed grandstanding from RC bishops and a few priests, and a lot of triumphalism from people in the pews. Bishop Mariann is the opposite of the image you seem to have carried since your unfortunate experience in the EC. She’s humble but she also is a firm teacher of the gospels.She has a heart for the poor and marginalized. Shes fluent in Spanish and reaches out to the immigrants. She also has empathy and compassion for the LGBT Q community. Matthew Shepherd is buried at the Cathedral, a symbolic statement. She uses her position to teach the gospels, including to Washington’s political class.
DeleteWe didn’t ever experience grandstanding in the EC churches we attended, or visited or in the EC schools our youngest son attended. I have a vivid memory of Cardinal Wuerl arriving at Georgetown U for a panel discussion of Francis’s first year. He wasn’t on the panel. Just coming to listen. The panel included Michael Sean Winters ( very quiet and shy), David Brooks, Kim Daniels who was at the USCCB then, Emma Green, now writing for the New Yorker ( who is Jewish) and a couple of others, a couple of priests. Wuerls limo pulled up to the entrance steps, #nd two priests got out, opened the car door for him. One took his briefcase and the other carried his coat and opened doors for him. He clearly expected privileged treatment as he brushed past the rest of us who were going in. He acted like he was visiting royalty. Bishop Mariann never acts like that based on my personal experience and what I heard from Cathedral staff and volunteers. She had a chance to preach a message not just to trump and the other power people, but to the whole country. I admire her for taking the opportunity instead of delivering a pablum homily.
There are certain traditional services in DC that are almost always held at the Cathedral. Recently Jimmy Carter was there, lying in state. There is always an Inauguration prayer service there, at least since 1933.
It’s traditional and since she’s the current bishop, she gave the homily. I think she referenced Matthew 25 as preamble.
I have been arguing about Bishop Budde's remarks with Raber for an hour, and he said my basic problem is that she wasn't mean enough to suit me. Probably right.
DeleteI don't know if it was grandstanding. She said what she said with a humble demeanor, and without showing a lick of hatred or anger in her facial expression. At the same time, surely she knew cameras were rolling.
DeleteSometimes, things must be said, even when (as seems to be the case here) the seeds fall on rocky soil.
I wouldn't presume to compare myself to her in any way, but fwiw, I am preaching this weekend, and I've been pondering whether I should "go there" by talking about immigration. Still thinking about it. I have to sit down tonight and put something on paper (or screen).
I would have been glad to deliver the homily as a guest homilist. It would have started something like this:
Delete“Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria”. Amos 4
My favorite book in the OT.
And if they wanted to come after me, fine. Being 76 is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Amos didn't mince any words!
DeleteMeanwhile Trump is not losing any time throwing people to the wolves. He just withdrew security protection from Bolton , Pompeo, and Dr. Fauci. He said he feels no responsibility for what happens to Fauci. Probably not the others either. He's basically putting a target on their backs. It feels like Al Capone is running the place.
ReplyDeleteYep. All the Jan6 cops who testified.have to spend $$ to get restraining orders on pardoned Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.
DeleteAnd the people he's withdrawing security from are not even from the opposition, they were members of his previous administration.
DeleteThere are a couple of articles at the America website about this. The one by Kathleen Bonnette says that Bishop Budde and the Cathedral are receiving threats of violence . I just saw a very ugly meme on Facebook by a deacon of an evangelical church in Utah saying that she is evil, like the Serpent.
DeleteI don’t know how much of her statement was in the clip
This is what Kathleen Bonnette reported
“ Mentioning specifically immigrants and members of the L.G.B.T. community who were targeted by freshly signed executive orders, Bishop Budde reminded Mr. Trump that people are scared and vulnerable, and that compassion and welcome are the way of the Gospel. She asked God to “grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love and walk humbly with each other and our God for the good of all people, the good of all people in this nation and the world.”
Dr.Faucis daughters and wife also had security, at least for a while, because of all the death threats.
DeleteOf all the executive orders Trump has signed so far, I think this one withdrawing security details bothers me the most.
DeleteBolton and Pompeo earned the ire of Iran's murderous regime because they were good servants - they served in Trump's regime and did his bidding. The lack of reciprocation, gratitude and loyalty from Trump is so gob-smacking that one can only use the word "Trumpian" to characterize it.
Fauci's case is, from one angle, even worse: the very people from whom Fauci needs protection presumably are Trump's most fanatical supporters. Withdrawing Fauci's security detail seems akin to Trump letting attack dogs off the leash - he's essentially giving his most violent followers permission to do what they will to this old man who tried to lead us through the worst health crisis in a century.
I wonder how far someone has to push their insanity before the 25th amendment is invoked. This is not going to end well.
DeleteLatest in the Trumpobscene Era. Vance places tiebreaker vote to ratify Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. What a joke. Were any questions asked to determine his competence or were they all about sexual character? Not much of a problem if he just sits in his chair behind the desk and watches porn, leaving the decisions to the staff. If this dimwit actually does anything to interfere, we may as well cut 80% of the military budget and give the rest to Musk.
DeleteYes, many questions were about his administrative abilities, his knowledge of U.S. military alliances, and his statements about the role of women and minorities in the military. There were a lot of questions about his drinking habits, which he denied and minimized which drunks always do. Markwayne Mullins seemed to suggest Hegseth's drinking wouldn't be a problem because "how many senators have cast votes while drunk." Mullins, of course, made one wonder how many senators vote while dumb ...
DeleteLOL, if I tried to make up a name for a dumbass hillbilly, I couldn't top Markwayne, unless it was BillyBob.
DeleteYou may recall that Sen Markwayne, an MMA enthusiast and victim of testosterone poisoning, challenged Teamster Prez O'Brien to a rumble in a Senate hearing. "Crazy" and "extreme socialist" Bernie Sanders had to gavel them back to order: "For God's sake, you're a United States Senator!"
Deletehttps://youtu.be/BO9fnjshHvg?si=NyaMDEr2gnn1oCAS
Maybe we should just replace hearings and debates with cage fights. Less painful than listening to GOP lawmakers duck, weave, and torture arguments to defend Trump.
Some men can’t handle their alcohol, some men can’t handle their testosterone, some can handle neither. The movie “Idiocracy” was supposed to take place 500 years from now. But we have it now, I swear.
DeleteOur very close French friend ( our “ adopted” French daughter) came over today. She has been doing international health education work in Francophone Africa for 24 years, designing communication and educational materials to educate people about HIV-AIDS, Maternnal Child Health, Vaccines, Ebola, and other serious health issues there. She works for NGOs that receive funding for the projects from USAID ( the Agency for International Development). She doesn’t work for Catholic Relief Services but has often worked on projects with CRS. All that work has stopped. CRS and every humanitarian NGO that does this work has been told to stop work along with the federal employees who manage the projects. She and thousands of others involved in this work all over the world are suddenly out of work - and probably paychecks even though their projects are already funded. The Inspector Generals cannot be fired without giving Congress 30 days notice. We’ll see what happens.All federal employees involved with diversity programs are suddenly out of work. The health agencies staffs will probably also told to stop work. Diplomatic staff at the State Dept.All those folk who don’t listen to trump shouldn’t act surprised. He is destroying the government, agency by agency. I am not surprised but I thought it would take longer. And not a peep,out of the republicans in Congress.
ReplyDelete