NBC has signed a deal to farm out a two or three hour block of
primetime programming to outside producers. Although this
programming will primarily consist of “adventure documentaries”
that require no staff writers, the New York Times claims that this “is not related to the current
strike by Hollywood writers,” but is necessitated because TV
networks “face a future of diminishing ratings and growing
uncertainties.” Sometimes life is very good.
The deafening silence on the new breakthrough in stem cell
research and the grudging acknowledgement that the Iraq surge is
working can only mean one thing: President Bush’s dogged
determination has paid off. Proving that, when they are convinced
that they are in the right, leaders should lead, no matter the
consequences.
Headlines all over the world blared, “The Pope ‘attacks’ atheists!” There have been many attacks
on our culture by those who espouse atheism, agnosticism or pure
hatred of religion, but none of them are so devastating as that of
denying truth. When they hear something they don’t like or disagree
with, it is automatically labeled an “attack,” usually filled with
“hypocrisy” and “hate.” The truth is, Pope Benedict’s encyclical,
Spe Salvi, is a document of nearly 20,000 words, in which
“atheism” is mentioned a total of three times, in the section that
addresses Judgment. Amen.
The CNN debate-gate riled up many folks, but I can’t imagine
why. After all, Democrats don’t only plant questions for
Republicans, but also for themselves; just ask Hillary. But it
wasn’t the planted questions — these could just as easily been on
the lips of liberal media moderators — that made the debate a
fiasco, but the whole juvenile “YouTube” theme. Still, the GOPers
held their own in a clearly hostile environment; an example to the
cowardly Democrats who won’t appear on FOX.
Have you seen that Ford Escape Hybrid commercial where a smug little girl is taught a
“life lesson” by her equally smug father? Embarrassed that her dad
drives a gas-guzzling, American-made SUV, she learns that it is
indeed a hybrid. Maybe if she spent more time in school learning
the “three Rs” instead of being brainwashed by greenies, she might
have been able to read the word “HYBRID” plastered on the rear of
the vehicle so that everyone can see what caring folks they
are.
Now that the people of Venezuela have declined to accept the
tender mercies of thug Hugo Chavez for life, can we expect Jimmy
Carter to shoot on down there to rule the elections invalid? Still,
it was instructive to watch a video of Chavez calmly accepting his
narrow defeat. While he vowed to “continue in the battle to build socialism,”
he added, “To those who voted against my proposal, I thank them and
congratulate them. I ask all of you to go home, know how to handle
your victory.” Would that the socialists in this country were so
magnanimous.
Headline: “Celebs Snub Climate Plea.” It seems that the
let-them-eat-cake crowd is at it again. According to the UK’s
Sunday Mirror, “Thousands of the rich and
famous were invited to pool their planes in an effort to cut carbon
emissions. But so far just 78 out of 3,500 who either own or
regularly use private planes have signed up. Prince Charles,
climate campaigner Al Gore, Simon Cowell, Madonna and Kate Moss are
among those who won’t be heeding the plea.”
I look forward to Mitt Romney’s upcoming “Kennedy moment,” where
the former president declared — in a blueprint for many current
Democratic Catholics — that he would act “in accordance with what
my conscience tells me to be in the national interest, and without
regard to outside religious pressure or dictate.” In other words,
will Romney also pledge to leave his faith outside the Oval
Office
doorstep?
The passing of Henry Hyde reminds us that this does not have to
be the case. He was a man of many convictions, but is best
remembered for his defense of innocent life. Only a man publicly
comfortable in his faith could declare:
I am not the least embarrassed to say that I believe
one day each of us will be called upon to render an account for
what we have done, and maybe more importantly, what we fail to do
in our lifetime, and while I believe in a merciful God, I believe
in a just God, and I would be terrified at the thought of having to
explain at the final judgment why I stood unmoved while Herod’s
slaughter of the innocents was being reenacted here in my own
country.
In an
interview with EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo in 2000, he
was asked how he would like to be remembered by a child: “I would
remind him of a passage in St. Luke, which says: When you have done
everything you have been commanded, say ‘I am an unworthy servant.
I have only done my duty.’ If I can say that I have done my duty, I
will be very satisfied.”
