The New Conservative Put Down

Apparently accusing someone of being a socialist doesn't carry the same gravity as it once did. While watching videos of Bill O'Reilly's periodic lectures I noticed that he loves to describe President Obama as being secular. I suppose this is intended to scare his viewers (who may not even understand the term) by raising the spectre of a president who doesn't go to church every Sunday and doesn't recite his nightly prayers.

Frankly, this doesn't scare me much. After all, when was the last time an atheist or agnostic flew a plane into a building, decapitated someone, blew up a hotel or murdered a doctor to proclaim their beliefs (or lack thereof)? I'm much more concerned about politicians like Sarah Palin who believe that we're in Iraq on a mission from God and others who think that religious beliefs mitigate their violence.

The President & The Pope

I've got to wonder what the Catholic Community thinks about President Obama's upcoming visit with the Pope. Will those Catholics who were apoplectic over the President's commencement speech at Notre Dame (thinking that the invitation was a tacit approval by the University of Obama's stance on abortion) have the same reaction to his visit to the Vatican? Will the protestors pack up and head to Italy? Does this mean that the Pope is reconsidering the Church's opinion on this issue or is it simply a meeting between two world leaders?

I wonder if I should pick a fight with my mother-in-law who hasn't spoken to me since I told her that I supported Obama's visit to Notre Dame and to stop sending me inflammatory e-mails on the subject. Probably not but I'm really tempted.

Sarah Palin

My wife and I have agreed that if Sarah Palin ever ends up in the White House we'll leave the country and move to my family's ancestral home in Ireland. Scratching out a living in Ballymagibbon (County Mayo) is preferable to being governed by Sarah "Wingnut" Palin.

However, after discussing Sarah's resignation with my wife I've come to the conclusion that if Sarah does make a run for the White House in 2012 the Republican primaries will do her in. You've got to think that Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty, Bobby Jindal and whoever else will go for the GOP nomination will take care of the Sarah problem once and for all. As the VP candidate she was somewhat insulated from the tough questions (with the exception of her disastrous TV interviews) but there's no way she'll be able to dodge them during a primary. Americans are too smart to elect an idiot like Palin but then I thought the same thing before Bush won a second term.

I'd love to pose the following question to Sarah, "So, if you were to get elected as president and half way through your first term you were to decide that you wouldn't run for re-election, would you resign so you wouldn't be a lame duck?"