Trump looks to reward conservative Catholics for their loyalty
Someone told the Trump campaign that he has to turn some attention from Evangelicals to Catholics: "Rather than enjoying the same VIP treatment white evangelicals have
received since the earliest days of his administration, conservative
Catholics’ connection to Trump has rarely extended beyond his own staff.
The president is surrounded by self-identified Catholics — including
Attorney General William Barr, acting White House chief of staff Mick
Mulvaney and White House counsel Pat Cipollone — but rarely does he
engage with outside Catholics in the same way he does with evangelical
leaders."
Let's see if William Barr is the headliner for the Archdiocese of New York's annual Catholic Charities dinner? That would be an attention getter!
"The Trump campaign says that’s all
about to change: If the 2020 election will be won or lost in the Rust
Belt — specifically in economically depressed counties throughout
Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin that boast a sizable share of
cultural and devout Catholics — the president can’t afford to have
Catholics feeling left out."
Leave us out!
According to the Politico story, plans include the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, The March for Life, Frank Pavone....
And much, much more: Attorney General Bill Barr: “A little bit more ethnic, a little bit more blue collar, a little bit more middle America, less upper crust country-club types."
And much, much more: Attorney General Bill Barr: “A little bit more ethnic, a little bit more blue collar, a little bit more middle America, less upper crust country-club types."
Look before you open the door!
Ah Father Frank. Upon the arrival of maybe his third begging letter of the Trump Era, I wrote to point out that, in exchange for some nice words about ending abortion, Father Frank's slavishly unseemly worship of the Great Man lined his organization up with breaking up (Catholic) families at the Mexican border, and turning their children over to bureaucrats who lose them; cozying up to dictators, and, after a page and a half, finding judges willing to violate their oath of office. I mentioned that Richard Rich at least got Wales for what he did. I never did hear back from Father Frank. His letters have stopped. When he can preen over his White House invitation, which beats Wales any day for him, I am sure I will feel properly chastised.
ReplyDeleteI am getting ready to cringe, because the annual March for Life is coming up. What do you want to bet Trump will put in an appearance at that? That will ensure his creds as the Most Pro-Life President Ever.
ReplyDeleteEvery year it is always said that the liberal mainstream media never say anything about the March For Life, even though they claim that the numbers attending make it visible from space. I don't know that that is true that it is totally ignored, I think there has been some coverage. Though perhaps it has been underwhelming. The thing is, there is always some kind of march going on in DC, for this cause or that, and I suppose media gets a little blase.
Visible from space! I doubt it, at least not without magnification, and with that, you can see a lawn chair in my back yard. It's on Google Earth.
DeleteHere's how big/bright something has to be be for you can see it: https://listverse.com/2014/09/05/10-surprising-things-you-can-see-from-space/
Yeah, I know. I was being sarcastic. Some people want to use the lack of media ohs and ahs as proof of anti-life bias. Of course there actually is some anti-life bias, it just manifests itself differently than that.
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DeleteThe march always seems to get straight coverage in the WaPo. A lot of people generally have biases against the pro-life movement, and that shows up in the comments. Editorials sometimes take a negative tack, but I don't read editorials pro or con anymore.
DeleteSounds like the Knights (in their spiffy new quasi-military berets) might be recruited unofficially. Our new priest is enthusiastically/aggressively trying to get men in the parish to join. That might bear watching.
ReplyDeleteOtoh, the priest is kind of obsessive about his enthusiasms, and I suspect the guy has ADHD. Most local parishioners view the Knights recruitment drive with everything from puzzlement ("we already got a men's club") to resentment ("I can't afford that kind of time and money").
The older guys in our parish who have the three musketeers hats are miffed about the berets. They think they are lame, which they kind of are. My kids used to be fascinated by the hats with plumes, and especially the swords, when they were little.
DeleteYes, my aunt's husband with the 4th degree knight. He died when I was a kid, so I got his sword. Of course my parents were very cautiously about me using it.
DeleteWhen I outgrew that phase, my dad mounted the sword on a wooden shield for display in my room.
My dad was a Free Mason (obviously not Catholic) until my mom insisted he leave when they were flat broke. Some guys from the lodge came over and made him "take a ride" like something out of the Godfather. They let him keep his apron with the golden fringe, even though he didn't "walk in the east with his grandmother" or whatever their secret membership lingo is.
DeleteThat whole deal gave me a jaundiced view of men's clubs that enjoy wearing weird regalia, Shriners, Knights, Loyal Order of the Moose, and what have you.
Yeah. But since the knights quit using their rafter-dusters and went to the beret there is less chance that our president will demand to be honored with one without going through the usual routines. I mean, even these days there is always an upside.
DeleteOh, my dream is that he gets honored with a plumed hat that he wears while doing his signature flag hug/hump at a Knights convention and that that video goes viral.
DeleteTrumpista Catholics can sell Trump based on his pro-life court appointments (though Roe has yet to be tested); in Betsy DeVos, who is sympathetic to parochial schools; and ... what else?
ReplyDeleteHe is rabidly pro capital punishment, divorced, has consigned small children of Catholic immigrants to foster care, and has antsy pants when it comes to grabbing women. And then there are those awful photos of his meeting with Pope Francis.
If Catholics weren't persuaded to vote for Trump in 2016, I don't see where he has much of a "pro Catholic record" to run on in 2020.
He'll get white Republican Catholics who like his economic policies. The rest of us, not so much.
He'll get the ones for whom the economy is personally great, and who can stifle their consciences about abuse of asylum seekers, and assassination as foreign policy, and Russian interference in our elections. That's a lot of cognitive dissonance for Catholic voters to block out.
DeleteIn my experience, white Catholic Republicans don't have problems blocking out cognitive dissonance of their pension funds are good and the President makes the right noises about abortion.
DeleteBTW, did anyone watch the debate last night? I didn't, but from news coverage it doesn't appear that any of them shot themselves in the foot. Which is maybe the best one can hope for.
ReplyDeleteThere are still a lot of Catholics who thought their bishops' support for civil rights in the Socialist Sixties was religion interfering in politics. They welcome the real estate genius for taking religion -- and civil rights -- out of politics and making this a Christian country again. I think that summarizes pretty well what they tell me. Those people will find no reason to vote for the Democratic nominee, and the floor in front of his throne will feel comfortably cool against their foreheads. (h/t Sir Charles Peckerwood)
ReplyDeleteCatholics from the '60s are dying off. They may help Trump get another term--and I fully expect he will win--but a lot of them are not going to be around in 2024 to push through Ivanka, Junior, or whoever the heir apparent is.
DeleteJean, Ivanka and Junior won't get their shot before 2036. The record is four terms, remember. He won't quit -- and AG Barr will agree he doesn't have to -- until he hold the record for greatest administration for the greatest period of time.
DeleteWhat about the 22nd Amendment, limiting the pres to two terms? I guess he could suspend the Constitution, but that might be a bit much for most people.
DeleteIf his hard core supporters are 35 percent of Americans, and only half of them are utter "deplorables" as Hillary suggested, that leaves him with just 17 percent who would possibly favor some kind of police state.
Even I have trouble believing he could pull an outright coup. Lots of idiots believe the president can do whatever he wants while in office, but they might draw the line at some Duvalier-type "President forever" maneuver.
Jean, He did refer to the droning of Soleimani as "the hit on this monster" (in his Milwaukee bloviation Tuesday). Hits are done by the Mafia. The Constitution does not allow for hits, and requires the Congress to act before the president can go to war. So he is either a murderer or a violator of the Constitution. Nothing about that in the articles of impeachment.
DeleteIf he hit were a one-off, maybe he couldn't serve five terms. But since it is S.O.P. for this administration, and since the attorney general and the Supreme Court will never get in his way, the Constitution counts about as much as Article One, which Addison McConnell unilaterally repealed. The coup succeeded when Barr was confirmed. Since then the only question is how long Trump's ego will keep him involved.
Now I'm depressed about Trump and the fact that someone on here is more pessimistic than me.
DeleteTrump scored big with his peeps Monday night when he and Melania attended the LSU vs Clemson game (wonder what he had to promise Melania for that!). My husband, who doesn't like Trump, but likes football, commented that the crowd was very enthusiastic to see the pres there. Trump was having a moment. Somehow I think that kind of thing scores him more points than kissing up to Catholics.
ReplyDeleteI watched the whole debate last night; usually tune out after a hour. I thought everyone did well but no one especially better or worse. I doubt if anyone gets a bounce or loses momentum out of this.
ReplyDeleteIn this debate as usual I was annoyed by the moderators; they play far to much a role both with their questions and their attempts to limit the candidate's expression.
I would love to see the Sanders vs. Trump debates to see if there are any moderators that will be able to exert any control over the two of them.
A couple of articles mentioned the local co-moderator, Brianne Pfannenstiel. Their opinion was that she did a better job than the big-name network moderators.
DeleteAnyone who survives being called "Brianne" or "Pfannenstiel" (my 50% German heart soars) deserves to get credit for doing a good job.
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