President Bush As The First Catholic President?

At least former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum thinks so!

"I don't think there's any question about it," said Sen. Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator and a devout Catholic. "That's why I called him the first Catholic president; he's certainly much more Catholic than Kennedy."

Here's another snippet from the article entitled, Is George Bush Leading America's first truly Catholic Presidency?

WASHINGTON — Shortly after Pope Benedict XVI's election three years ago, President Bush huddled with a small circle of advisers and speechwriters in the Oval Office. As talk briefly turned to religion, the president mentioned reading one of the new pontiff's books about faith and culture in Western Europe.

Save one other soul, Bush was the only non-Catholic in the room, and it did not go unnoticed. Even the president laughed at the thought.

"I used to say that there are more Catholics on President Bush's speechwriting team than any Notre Dame starting lineup in the past half-century," said former Bush scribe William McGurn, a Catholic who was part of the meeting.

The 2005 West Wing meeting was just one indicator of how a Methodist president has surrounded himself with Roman Catholic intellectuals, speechwriters, professors, priests, bishops and politicians. These Catholics — and thus Catholic social teaching — have for the past eight years been shaping Bush's speeches, policies and legacy to a degree perhaps unprecedented in U.S. history.

In fact, with all due respect to John F. Kennedy, the nation's first and only Catholic president, some have begun to call the Bush White House the first truly Catholic presidency.

Interesting article. But if Bush's policies have been heavily shaped by Catholic Social Teaching - I'm not sure if that says anything positive about the Catholic Church....

Between the war and torture, I'm just not seeing how much in common Bush's policies have with CST....

Southern Methodist University Plans For Bush Library

A recent article in the Dallas Morning News announced that Southern Methodist University had released its plans for the George W. Bush Presidential Library. The 143 page agreement between SMU and the Bush Library Foundation highlights that the library will include:


The Hurricane Katrina Room, which is still under construction and looks like a disaster.

The Alberto Gonzales Room, where you can't remember anything you see or hear.

The Texas Air National Guard Room, where you don't have to even show up.

The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they don't let you in.

The Guantanamo Bay Room, where they don't let you out.

The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room (which no one has been able to find).

The Iraq War Room. After you complete your first tour, they make you go back for a
second, third, fourth, and sometimes fifth tour.

The Dick Cheney Room, in an undisclosed location, complete with shooting gallery.

The K-Street Project Gift Shop - Where you can buy (or just steal) an election.

The Airport Men's Room, where you can meet some of your favorite Republican Senators.

There are no plans yet on where in the library to put the President's book. The problem is where to store the crayons.

Universalist Addresses Southern Baptist Convention

Barely two months ago, Rev. Wade Burleson caught hell for his decision to meet with President Jimmy Carter and other organizers of the New Baptist Covenant. The Baptist Blogosphere was flooded with allegations that President Carter was a Universalist - one who believes that all will be saved and spared from hell. Suffice it to say, Carter got kicked around pretty good by his fellow Baptist-brethren for a week or so. Al Mohler even took the time to opine. This internet saga culminated with a thoughtful EthicsDaily op-ed penned by Brian Kaylor entitled Jimmy Carter Is Not The Anti-Christ.

Since his election in 2000, President George W. Bush has addressed the Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention almost every year usually live via satellite. A "born-again evangelical Christian," President Bush has also been a fan favorite among Southern Baptists and their leaders. Richard Land loves Dubya. Heck, Southern Baptists love Dubya so much that their publishing arm has printed a Bible that includes George W. Bush quotes!

Bush may be born-again and I have no reason to doubt that his faith in Jesus Christ is genuine. But dangit, he's a Universalist! Check out the video from just days before the 2004 election:

Charlie Gibson: Do we all worship the same God, Christians and Muslims?

President Bush: I think we do. We have different routes of getting to the Almighty.

Charlie Gibson: Do Christians and non-Christians, do Muslims go to heaven in your mind?

President Bush: Yes, they do. We have different routes of getting there.

Did I mention that Bush addressed Southern Baptist messengers just a month ago?

Meanwhile, Southern Baptist bloggers and leaders will continue to allege, accuse, moan, and groan each and every time these two words are uttered.........Jimmy Carter.

Bush Battles For Most Unpopular President Title

From the Washington Post....

President Bush is a competitive guy. But this is one contest he would rather lose. With 18 months left in office, he is in the running for most unpopular president in the history of modern polling.

The latest Washington Post-ABC News survey shows that 65 percent of Americans disapprove of Bush's job performance, matching his all-time low.

In polls conducted by The Post or Gallup going back to 1938, only twice has a president exceeded that level of public animosity -- Harry S. Truman, who hit 67 percent during the Korean War, and Richard M. Nixon, who hit 66 percent four days before resigning.

The historic depth of Bush's public standing has whipsawed his White House, sapped his clout, drained his advisers, encouraged his enemies and jeopardized his legacy. Around the White House, aides make gallows-humor jokes about how they can alienate their remaining supporters -- at least those aides not heading for the door. Outside the White House, many former aides privately express anger and bitterness at their erstwhile colleagues, Bush and the fate of his presidency.

Just two more points and Dubya will be officially declared the most unpopular President in the modern era. Talk about a safe bet! Where's a bookie when ya need one?

Move aside Tricky Dick and make room for my Crawford neighbor!

Who's ready for a Democratic President?

Raise Hell! In Memory of Molly Ivins

Molly Ivins is dead.

She was merely 62 years old.

From her obituary at The Texas Observer...

Syndicated political columnist Molly Ivins died of breast cancer Wednesday evening at her home in Austin. She was 62 yearsold, and had much,much more to give this world.

She remained cheerful despite Texas politics. She emphasized the more hilarious aspects of both state and national government,and consequently never had to write fiction. She said,“Good thing we’ve stillgot politics—finest form of free entertainment ever invented.”

Molly Ivins was one colorful Texan. Eloquent, witty, and one heckuva writer.

Below are a handful of my favorite Molly Ivins quotes. I saved the best for last...

“You can't ignore politics, no matter how much you'd like to.”

“I dearly love the state of Texas, but I consider that a harmless perversion on my part, and discuss it only with consenting adults.”

I know vegetarians don't like to hear this, but God made an awful lot of land that's good for nothing but grazing.

In Texas, we do not hold high expectations for the governor's office; it's mostly been occupied by crooks, dorks and the comatose.

I am not anti-gun. I'm pro-knife. Consider the merits of the knife. In the first place, you have to catch up with someone in order to stab him. A general substitution of knives for guns would promote physical fitness. We'd turn into a whole nation of great runners. Plus, knives don't ricochet. And people are seldom killed while cleaning their knives.

“The entire state now stands as proxy for W. Bush, under attack for political reasons, ... The rest of the country likes to look down on Texas as a nest of yahoos, racists and rednecks.”

I still believe in Hope - mostly because there's no such place as Fingers Crossed, Arkansas.

“The entire state now stands as proxy for W. Bush, under attack for political reasons, ... The rest of the country likes to look down on Texas as a nest of yahoos, racists and rednecks.”

I still believe in Hope - mostly because there's no such place as Fingers Crossed, Arkansas.

“Next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please pay attention.”

On a more serious note, here is a snippet from Molly's last column dated January 11, 2007:

We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there.

People are dying.

Our President is determined to escalate this nightmare of a mistake. We're living a bad dream and our elected officials can't seem to wake up.

Congress is playing politics on Capitol Hill. Republicans are trying to save their jobs and Democrats are too scared to lead. The Senate is fighting over which friggin non-binding resolution to support, if any. Grow some, fellas.

Meanwhile, another 100 American Troops were killed this past month.

Just how many more of God's Children must die before this bad dream ends? Seriously.

Do your part. Remember the words of Molly Ivins and Raise Hell!