Suicide Of A Nation . . . Never Trumper, “Principled Vote,” Abstain From Voting: What Are You Thinking?

By JOSEPH MATT

As our national election for president enters the final stretch, a growing constituency of pro-life voters and even conservatives — and, of course, never Trumpers — are indicating their intention to withhold their presidential vote out of “principle” — the pro-lifers largely because of the GOP platform and Donald Trump’s latest softening stance on abortion.

Well, first of all, the GOP’s platform is the most baseless of excuses to boycott Trump, which will only benefit Harris. The GOP platform isn’t worth the paper it’s written on and hasn’t been for some time. Can you find me ten Republican congressmen who even know what their platform says?

For years, many Republicans have been paying lip service to their GOP constituents, especially the pro-life movement. Say what you will, but Trump did deliver with Supreme Court justices that overturned Roe v. Wade. How soon we forget.

Almost a decade ago with a Republican Senate, House, and President, Paul Ryan claimed Congress would defund Planned Parenthood. Oh, that’s right, they were also going to get rid of the Affordable Care Act — remember Obamacare? Well, how’s that working out? To this day, Planned Parenthood continues to receive in excess of $500 million a year in federal money to slaughter babies.

Abstaining is simply not a viable moral choice. We have a moral obligation to vote, especially if one candidate is an enemy of religion, morals, and liberty. Let’s look at reality: unless there’s a totally unexpected turn of events, either Harris or Trump will be elected president — a vote for anybody other than Trump, or abstaining from voting because of Trump, is a vote for Harris and that is a simple fact.

Given the completely foreseeable evils that will follow a Harris-Walz victory, this constituency of non-voters or voters for another candidate will share in the responsibility for the immoral effects of a Harris administration, all of which will contribute to the suicide of our once great nation. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that certain pro-life groups, those advocating for religious liberties, and similar groups who resist a Harris administration will be relegated to jail cells and re-education camps. After all, it is happening now under the Biden-Harris administration.

There are plenty of opportunities for principled stands especially when there are no distinctions in the evil between two choices, but this is not one of them. The positions are much more defined and apparent. Between the two options, one will be at a level of evil which our nation has probably not experienced before.

This is a case where the “principled” position of not voting at all is hardly principled. One of the arguments is that we are voting for abortion by voting for Trump. Did these same pro-lifers who voted for Trump in the first two presidential elections vote for abortions in cases of incest, rape, and life of the mother? (After all, that was Trump’s position at the time.) Where were their principles then?

God has allowed a situation of two possible outcomes — you do not have to look too deeply to see that one is far superior to the other. Can we all agree that there will be fewer abortions under Trump than Harris and certainly much more freedom to resist and restrain the pro-death movement and to strengthen and advance the pro-life cause under Trump? How can abstaining from the polls, which is effectively voting for Harris, be called “principled”, when we know she will increase abortions and possibly completely stamp out legal resistance to pro-abortion policies?

This is a binary choice. An abstained vote is more of a preservation of ideological purity than a position that would save more babies from abortion. If we all agree that one abortion is one too many, we must always stand up to evil. A vote for Trump does not mean we approve of his position on abortion and we certainly must continue the pressure and advocacy for laws that assure and protect human life at every stage regardless of who becomes president.

Withholding your vote is dangerous and careless in this particular case — it is not only life itself that is on the ballot this election, but issues that have bound the fabric and soul of our country together from its inception. Religious freedom, freedom of speech, the second amendment, and freedom of the press — these are just some of the liberties we stand to lose with this election.

For those of you who intend to withhold your vote or waste it on a non-contender, it is difficult to argue that you won’t bear some of the responsibility for securing your children and grandchildren a country which will not only include more abortion but will be on an accelerated path to a completely Godless, communist rule.

The demonic, Godless Harris-Walz ticket is totally devoid of any good. There is a reason they are withholding their policy intentions from the public. If the complicit dominant media were to expose their Marxist beliefs, the majority of the American electorate would have nothing to do with them.

Just wait for what they have in store for us if they achieve power this time around. In the age of the Internet, it is hard to conceal a track record, so based on their history we know exactly what they will do if they gain power. Do you really think this nation can withstand another four years of unlimited immigration, uncontrolled government spending, a court system that continues to remove itself from the Constitution, laws that continually go unenforced, a media that is controlled by the state, and on and on?

To get a preview of the evils that will befall our nation, one only has to examine briefly some of the Harris-Walz record and some of what they are known to believe. This should cause anybody to tremble in horror as to the consequences of a victory with these two lifetime Marxists.

These issues will only intensify or will be fast-tracked to implementation under a Harris presidency if they haven’t been done already.

On average, The Wanderer reports regularly on pro-lifers who are sentenced to jail time on the basis of violating the FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act for so-called nonviolent protests at abortuaries across the country. When this unconstitutional practice accelerates under Harris-Walz, how does your “principled non-vote” affect your conscience?

The following examples should serve as a brief reminder of only some of the damage that Harris has been complicit in as Biden’s star DEI hire, and some of the moral and economic train wrecks her running mate Tim Walz oversaw as governor of Minnesota:

• Abortion on demand up to and after birth
• Open borders
• Sympathizing and supporting protesters and looters to the extent of posting bail during the Floyd riots
• Harris is on record stating that she would want the federal government to pay for transgender surgeries for immigrants
• We are dealing with outright communists, so much so that their policies are intentionally hidden from the press and the public
• Communist Bernie Sanders — who, compared to Harris, would be considered a capitalist — is on record commenting on Harris’ flip-flops on the issues, essentially saying she is lying to win the election. Harris herself says she has not changed her values when asked about her flip-flops
• Harris and Walz are both on record about making attempts to pack the Supreme Court
• The 15 to 20 million immigrants who have entered this country illegally will be eligible to vote if given citizenship. That would eliminate any margin of error, which would dispose of the need for future elections. The Marxists would reign unchecked.

Now let’s take a quick look specifically at China’s favorite son, Tim Walz, who is even more extreme than Harris, if such a thing is possible. These are some of the “niceties” now enacted into law that our “good governor” brought to our home state of Minnesota. Many of them are unknown to Minnesotans because of a silent media who covered for Walz even as he watched and empathized with the looting and burning of the state’s largest city, Minneapolis, for days on end.

You have to ask yourself: What kind of person passes a law that would allow children at the age of 12 to undergo so-called sex-change surgery without parental consent or consultation, yet with the full protection and support of the state? Many Minnesotans are just now learning of this heinous law because of a complicit and useless local media who never exposed the perversion and immorality of such laws.

What kind of heinous human being would watch a baby survive an abortion only to be left to die? Apparently, the Democrat vice presidential candidate would have no qualms — he joined with his Democratic colleagues in the Minnesota Legislature to repeal a law requiring medical care for abortion survivors and another law requiring that survivors and their fate be reported.

This same man implemented a snitching line in Minnesota for turning in neighbors who might have violated covid laws. (Communist China, anybody?)

Walz earned the nickname “Tampon Tim” for implementing the placement of tampon machines in boys’ bathrooms in schools. (This should be all you need to know about the man.) This man could be president — are you kidding me?

Don’t think for a minute these atrocities won’t be part of federal law in a Harris administration. Look how rapid the decay of our republic has been in the last four years. The state has tightened its grip on the media, punishing those who won’t be controlled or who offer dissenting opinions, labeling their content as misinformation. The use of laws like the FACE Act has increased under Biden-Harris to intimidate and suppress pro-life protesters. Lies go unabated by both government and the media unlike no time in modern history with no repercussions. Illegal immigrants are given preferential treatment and rights over everyday citizens. There has been a trend in this country of defunding the police in large cities resulting in an increase of crime. Hillary Clinton recently stated that those engaged in “propaganda” “should be civilly or even in some cases criminally charged.”

These examples only touch the surface. Upon reflection, ask yourself whose policies are going to kill more babies. Do not think for a moment these laws will not be promoted and advocated for on a federal level. Do you honestly think the pro-life movement and any group promoting traditional family values and the laws of God will be better served from a jail cell or a re-education camp? Ask yourself how many babies you are saving with your “protest,” “in-good-conscience” abstinence vote. Ask yourself based on history who is more apt to be persuaded to take more of a pro-life point of view, a more traditional family view, a more pro-democracy point of view, who will be better to respect the laws of God in governing our nation.

What Will Pro-life Resistance Look Like Under A Harris-Walz Administration?

Forget about it! If Harris and Walz get their way, there will be no resistance.

How can anyone be so naïve as to think that as a consequence of a Harris victory any fair pro-life or traditional values or God-given rights or any other conservative cause will stand a chance? A Harris victory will only embolden these communist thugs, who do not respect the law, the courts, the Constitution, or basic truth in order to eliminate any resistance to their evil ways.

Vladimir Lenin was known to say that socialism is the road to communism. Popes throughout history have consistently expressed the fundamental opposition between Christianity and communism and made it clear that no Catholic could subscribe to even moderate socialism.

If the last four years have taught us anything it is that the Left has rapidly put our country on a trajectory toward communism: securing the complicity of the media, weaponizing the justice system, opening our borders, overseeing a $35 trillion national debt, threatening gun-owning, God-fearing citizenry; the list goes on.

This will pale in comparison to a Harris administration. How can anyone actually believe we will be allowed a level playing field with these people? How will we win? In the courts, the legislature? Where? The rule of law is now the rule of the elite, enforced on the average citizen; but for the political elite it is abused and corrupted for their own political advantage.

A look at where we are and how fast we got here should tell us where our future will be if we continue on the Harris-Walz bandwagon.

The Wanderer has endorsed Donald Trump for President in the last two elections. The endorsement was primarily from a pro-life, religious-liberty stance. And yes, as of late President Trump has sadly been a disappointment, softening his pro-life standpoint along with many in the GOP; specifically concerning is his latest stance on IVF and a seemingly evasive stance on the time frame in which he accepts abortion. However, a vote for Trump is not fundamentally a vote against life but rather a vote for many just policies.

There is a clear argument for this case from Catholic moral theology: This is a case where we must apply the principle of double effect. This principle applies to a situation in which the moral agent is faced with a choice which results in two effects, one good, one bad. It seems to me that in the action of voting for Trump, the good effect would be his election, and the many good policies we can expect from him given his record as President for four years (preservation and reinstitution of American traditions of religious freedom, free speech; closing the border; preventing nuclear war, to name a few!) while the bad effect is a potential furthering of liberal abortion/IVF policies.

Remember: Trump has already delivered more for the pro-life cause than any other president, and we must hope he can be persuaded to do so again. Let us remind President Trump, America can achieve economic prosperity, freedom to voice and live our beliefs, secure borders, safe neighborhoods, etc., but as long as we fail to protect the least among us — the unborn — we will never succeed in “Making America Great Again.” You will have our vote, but it comes with extenuating circumstances — be forewarned we will fight you every step of the way on the issue of innocent life. Let us pray that President Trump — as he has distanced himself from the pro-life movement — reverts to pro-life tendencies, since as we all know America will never be great again as long as it continues to slaughter the most innocent among us.

Ronald Reagan was noted as saying, “This country is one generation away from losing its freedom.” Well, I say we are at a crossroads — we are one vote away from losing our freedom. There are two choices, one GOOD, with potential evil thrown in, and one absolutely suicidal to this nation and its citizens. As Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” That, my friends, is the same as a non-vote.

Don’t waste your vote. A gift of Marxism to our children and grandchildren would be a terrible curse on your conscience. God help us!

No Blase Of Glory Here

By JOSEPH MATT

The culture of death was on full display for the world to see this past week in Chicago. The United Center which hosted the Democratic convention this past week is commonly referred to as “the house that Jordan built” – the famous basketball player. Well, this week with all the demonic, godless forces surrounding and within the convention center it could easily be referred to as “the house that Satan built.”

For in that house and around that house it was hard to find anything that would indicate otherwise. Just a sampling of the Satanic atmosphere – abortion, the sacred cow of the Democratic party was front and center of just about every discussion – hardly a speech was given without reference to their self- proclaimed God given right to kill babies. Of course, abortion is never mentioned by name; it is always referred to as the innocuous “women’s reproductive healthcare,” a much more innocent and harmless kind of word than one that would describe baby killing. Oh, and how much further the progressives have advanced – now they talk about aborting up to and killing after birth. It is now considered fashionable to openly brag and celebrate their abortions.

This year offered an even more enticing promotion by the ever-present largest provider of abortions, none other than Planned Parenthood – a mobile unit set up in close proximity to the convention center offering free abortions and vasectomies.  

For most of us, this is no surprise from the party that espouses perversion and death, but our displeasure and indignation are triggered even more when we see our shepherds who are supposed to lead us to Christ seemingly acquiesce in the ways of the world.  

Well, true to form, there always seems to be a Catholic bishop that will comply with the job. No other than Bishop Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, was invited for the opening invocation. I am sure the script of the prayer was vetted not to offend anybody in the audience except for practicing Catholics. No doubt he was seen as a useful tool, some would say idiot, by the powers that be, to attempt to show the world the Democrats are not totally Godless and they do have a moral compass, of course, as defined by them (not Christ). Who better to pick than a Bishop who is more outspoken on issues of open borders and climate change than on issues of life and death. Almost a guarantee he would not mention something as controversial as abortion.

This was a huge opportunity on a world stage to proclaim the Kingship of Christ and correct a wayward group of people who are on a road to perdition. Instead, we heard a prayer that had no real substance, which lacked any humility, and certainly did not address the obvious failings in regard to Christ’s teaching that permeated the auditorium. At the very least, a prayer for the conversion of hearts on the issues of abortion would have been appropriate.

Why a Catholic bishop would accept such an invitation if he was not able to offer anything of substance is a question to be asked. Unfortunately given your stature as an American Bishop representing the Catholic Church, attending such an event and remaining silent on these issues that concern Heaven and Hell only imply acquiescence on your part, your Excellancy.  

Again, a missed opportunity for a Catholic prelate to be a tool for Christ instead of a tool for the world.

Perverts Pirouette In Paris

By DR. CHRISTOPHER MANION, KM

“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,” Olympics spokesperson Anne Descamps calmly lied as she responded to the worldwide uproar after the demonic depiction of the Last Supper at the Olympics’ opening ceremonies July 26. “If people have taken any offense, we are really sorry.”

“Really sorry.” Right.

Thomas Jolly, the “artistic director” of the billion-dollar disaster wasn’t sorry, but he admitted being “baffled” by the outrage caused by the perverse spectacle.

Leave it to the sodomites — they’re always “baffled” that we’re “offended,” implying not an apology but an indelicate insult to our failure to “grow” in the smarmy spirit of empathy.

What’s Jolly really telling us?

“So your family loves sports, you eagerly tuned in as the Opening Ceremony began, and NBC shoved an X-rated blasphemy in your face. And you’re ‘offended?’ That’s just baffling! I can’t understand why you don’t let me soften up your kids for the next overture from a gay groomer or a government school union member to seduce them.”

Well, actually, Thomas (I mean Jolly, not his partner, whose name is also Thomas), I’m not baffled, I’m mad as Hell and want to have you arrested for baiting, taming, and then grooming millions of innocent boys and girls around the world. 

“Our idea was inclusion,” he said. “Naturally, when we want to include everyone and not exclude anyone, questions are raised.”

“Naturally?” Surprise, he’s right. When we’re dragged into a sewer of smut and slime, it’s only natural to fight back. “We never wanted to be subversive,” Jolly insists, which means, of course, that subversion was exactly what he had in mind: “This is the world of amateur sports, kids — if you want to play, get used to it, because we run the joint and we’ll rub your nose in it.”

But “inclusion” was not enough. Let’s get specific — what does Thomas want to include? “We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together. We wanted to include everybody.” Well, to Mr. Jolly, “diversity” means “perversity,” and if you don’t like it, take up bowling or bridge, because the world of amateur sports is now morally corrupted beyond repair.

Actually, this perversion plague has a history. Emmanuel Macron, President of France, and proud paragon of the Paris Olympics, has been championing “abortion rights” for years. In 2022 he tried to force the European Union to include it in its “Charter of Fundamental Rights”; when that failed, he attempted to insert it into the French Constitution, and failed again, but his dogged persistence finally paid off: this past March, the text of the Constitution of France was amended to include abortion as a “basic right.”

So it’s no surprise that on July 27, a day after Jolly’s debacle, Macron “hailed the opening ceremony for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, saying the bold showpiece on the River Seine had made France extremely proud,” Le Monde reported. Macron added that he “he’d been working on the ‘great spectacle’ for seven years.”

Seven years. A model of moral dissolution. But the corruption in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) goes back even further.
                Avery Brundage, the brilliant American who headed the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1929 to 1953 and the IOC from 1952 to 1972, had polished the Olympic tradition to a luster admired throughout the world. But then Juan Antonio Samaranch who bribed his way into heading the IOC for the next twenty years, introduced big-time corruption, favoritism, and politics into its membership and management.
                If Avery Brundage had sensed even a whiff of the filth that paraded in Paris last Friday, he’d have fired the whole lot of them. But the stench of Samaranch still floats like sewage down the Seine, and no one will be fired. They’re all so disappointed that we even bother to be offended!

Catholic Leaders Speak Out

Prelates from the Holy Land, France, Iraq, and the United States were among the dozens who spoke out strongly about the blasphemous performance. In The Catholic Thing, Father Thomas G. Weinandy, OFM, Cap., described the harrowing spiritual danger faced by those involved.
                “As almost everyone now knows, there was a mocking display of the Last Supper where Jesus was portrayed as an obese female dressed in white.  She was surrounded by a gaggle of drag queen ‘apostles,’ and a young girl was also — we should worry why? — included in this hypersexualized and sacrilegious depiction.

                Now, did those who made mockery of Jesus and his apostles not know that Jesus is the Spirit-filled Messiah? The answer to this question is “No.” If they did not know, what they did may be unseemly and tasteless, but they would not, because of their ignorance, be guilty of the unforgivable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. However, it is precisely because they did know that Jesus is the Father’s incarnate Spirit-filled Son that they mocked him, and so blasphemed the Holy Spirit. Contempt was the whole point of their blasphemous portrayal.
Thus, the entire event was demonic. The devil desires nothing more than for Jesus to be blasphemed, for Jesus, through his saving death and glorious resurrection, destroyed Satan’s kingdom. Satan clearly knows who Jesus is and what he is about. “Ah! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are, the Holy One of God” (Luke 4:34).

The Perversion Parade Comes Closer To Home

Less than 24 hours after the Olympic spectacle, several “drag queens” pranced into the small Virginia town of Front Royal to put on a “Pride Parade.”
                Why did they choose a small, conservative town for an event that “featured performances from several area drag queens?”
                “Smalltown Prides are the best because it really hits home,” longtime drag performer “Chasity [sic] Vain” told a star-struck local reporter. “It’s family friendly. There are a ton of kids out here. It’s just a good time. It’s a great time to support your neighbors, support your friends. You are not alone. This whole community is here for you — in your hometown.”
                Got that, folks? “We’re right here, and ready to support your kids.”
And that’s not all — we’ll hug them, too!
                Event organizer Kammi Mills gushed, “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. There’s nothing better than giving a kid a hug who doesn’t get one at home. To be able to give something to a kid who’s been treated like that … it’s terrific.”
                Ms. Mills let the proverbial cat out of the bag with that one, and her remark reflects the hidden contempt that the left has demonstrated for the family since the eighteenth century.
                In the 1860’s, John Swett, California Superintendent of Education, identified the family, especially parents, as the true enemy of public education. “Children belong to the state, not to the family,” he said, removing the influence of parents as much as possible from the educational process town by California town. Swett, a Unitarian, was especially hostile to Catholics, whose schools he thought of as evil corruptors.
                Drag Queen Kammi’s comment reflects the attitude of many in the government school unions today, who frequently claim that “we’re the best friends those kids have,” as they malign the backward and protective homes their students come from.
                Parents are the enemy, always intrusive, always bossing those poor teachers around. Thank goodness they have the union to protect them. And it’s no surprise that California’s largest public school employees union, the “California Teachers Association” (CTA), names its most prestigious annual award after the man who founded the union in the nineteenth century: John Swett.

The Government’s War On Life Gains Momentum

By CHRISTOPHER MANION

“Avoid anti-abortion centers – they mislead you about your options if you’re pregnant.” This slogan appears on highway billboards, buses, and other public facilities in the state of Massachusetts. These taxpayer-funded attacks on pregnancy centers encourage women to “avoid” pro-life organizations.

What to do instead? “Get care you can trust.” And whom can you trust? The Massachusetts State government, of course.

The billboards went up across the state in June according to several on-site reports. The taxpayer-funded attacks also appear on every form of social media imaginable, and they are eerily reminiscent of the hundreds of attacks on Catholic churches, shrines, and, of course, pregnancy centers. The attacks were fomented by the Left after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision was leaked by a renegade liberal clerk at the Supreme Court two years ago.

Those were the days in which Biden Attorney General Merrick Congress, in sworn testimony before Congress, defended the mass demonstrations before the private homes of Supreme Court justices. Those threatening mobs included one heavily armed assailant whose sister miraculously convinced him to turn himself in at one o’clock in the morning as he stood in the dark a block from the residence of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Instead of attacking the lightly guarded family home, Nicholas John Roske called 911. It was that close.

When asked why the Justice Department was so aggressive in its arrests of pro-life demonstrators, while ignoring the countless attacks on Christian, Catholic, and pro-life locations, Garland flippantly dismissed the criticism. Most of those attacks occurred “after dark,” he said, which apparently bestowed a “Get Out Of Jail Free” card on the criminals.

After all, our federal law enforcers must have a good night’s sleep in order the better to spy on Catholic chapels in my neighborhood during the daytime.

The River Of Crime Runs Wide And Deep

And that’s not all. There are troubling parallels throughout Biden’s Deep State. Last September, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that he was forming a “Homeland Intelligence Experts Group,” an illegal confab of anti-Trumpers formed “to provide advice and perspectives on intelligence and national security efforts.”

The members of that elite cabal include the dregs of the rotten national security state spawned by Dick Cheney’s Patriot Act, which didn’t catch any terrorists but was pretty good at getting the government to spy illegally on Americans. The group included “John Brennan and James Clapper… two of the leaders in the ‘Letter of 51’ who used their ‘intelligence credentials’ to mislead the American public on the veracity of the Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 election,” writes America First Legal, the group that successfully filed suit against Mayorkas to shut the group down.

Yes, that’s the same Alejandro Mayorkas who was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives this past February. “The evidence is clear,” wrote House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, MD (R-TN).

“Secretary Mayorkas should be tried by the Senate for high crimes and misdemeanors. Specifically, the House found that he willfully and systemically refused to comply with the laws passed by Congress, and breached the public trust… The Senate has a responsibility to conduct a full trial, hear the evidence, and render a verdict. Refusing to do so would mark the first time the Senate has refused to hold an impeachment trial when it had the opportunity to do so. Such unprecedented action would be a tacit approval of Secretary Mayorkas’ assault on our constitutional order, and an affront to the millions of Americans suffering under this sanctioned crisis. I look forward to the trial.”

But there was no trial. Defying its constitutional duty, the Democrat Senate, led by Chuck Schumer, refused to try Mayorkas and buried the case instead.

As for those “crimes and misdemeanors” committed by Joe Biden and his enablers in the Deep State, their number is legion. For instance, among the “Experts Group” documents released to America First Legal under court order was a DHS document stating that, “If you ask researchers to dive into indicators of extremists and terrorism, they might indicate being in the military or religious. This being identified as an indicator suggests that we should be more worried about this,” the document continued. “We need the space to talk about it honestly.”

Space? Honestly?

How can you expect honesty when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security claims that America’s “Domestic Terrorism threat” mostly comes from Trump supporters, members of the military, and “religious people”?     

Get Ready

We note that these efforts are all coming from unelected, and usually career members of the various bureaucracies in the military and civilian governments. These people will not disappear, even in the event of a sweeping MAGA victory in November. Like the bureaucrats behind Obama’s notorious and unconstitutional HHS contraception mandate, they will continue to harass law abiding Catholics and propagandize future generations in government schools and their allied unions, who constitute the strongest and most reliable left-wing financial an ideological powerhouse in the country. 

But there is another dimension to the massive effort aiming to annihilate the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God on which our Republic stands.

The American Left is on the ropes. Their usually obedient voter blocs are coming unglued. If criminals in high places can defy the law, why can’t the radicals take to the streets? Why can’t faceless government agencies bus illegals to vote in the Blue Cities in swing states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Wisconsin? Even blatant crimes committed in the next four months will not be dealt with until after the election, if at all – remember Black Lives Matter?

The Left causes chaos because the Left thrives in chaotic times. A few properly organized false flag operations can give “the authorities” all the “evidence” they need to lock down every “terror group” they care to identify.

Remember, Joe Biden’s “Silver Bullet” issue is abortion. And they are firing with every cylinder. At whom? Us. That’s right. And they’ve identified us already. They know where we live. Are we ready?

Despite All The Tricks For Biden… Reality Catches Up To Unworthy Joe At CNN “Debate” With Trump

By DEXTER DUGGAN

Did you hear that after Joe Biden failed so badly at his June 27 CNN debate with Donald Trump, Biden’s team said he couldn’t lift that 50-pound barbell on stage because it was the wrong kind of 50 pounds?

But, Joe, Joe, 50 pounds weighs 50 pounds, no matter what. If it’s 50 pounds of iron or 50 pounds of popcorn, it’s still 50 pounds.

Oh, said the team, well, the light reflecting off the barbell hurt his eyes and he grabbed the wrong way at it.

But, Joe, Joe, it was a dull black barbell, not shiny at all. It couldn’t have shined harshly into your eyes.

Oh, Joe got confused because the moderators spoke English, but Joe has been studying Chinese so intensely recently that comprehending English threw him. Why didn’t they speak Mandarin?

While the Biden team didn’t actually use these silly excuses I just proposed — at least, not so far as I know — the actual excuses didn’t make any more sense.

The facts that his establishment crowd have avoided ever since they turned to him in desperation for the 2020 presidential campaign — lest left-wingers’ heartthrob, the socialist Bernie Sanders, win the nomination and scare “moderates” — are even worse now than four years ago.

Biden has been decaying mentally and physically, and further-advancing age won’t make him better.

Among the inapplicable excuses, Biden’s defenders said the studio makeup gave sun-tanned Biden a pallor.

Oh, so his skin looking whiter than in reality (wait a second — someone didn’t want Biden to resemble people of color??) is what caused so much adverse reaction? Instead of his rambling, incoherent, unfinished responses?

And, as another weak excuse, they said Biden had a cold. Despite getting that healthy sun? So, makeup covering his suntan also got in the way of his brain cells operating better?

Defenders said Biden is at his best between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern Time.

Well, in the first place, most full-time workers even far below Biden’s level of political success are expected to do eight hours on a shift plus lunch time. How many could expect to be hired if they said they’ll only show up for about three-quarters of a day including midday lunch? And with frequent time off and trips out of state for long weekends?

Yet Biden thinks the most responsible job in the U.S. should have hours like a retired millionaire’s? Even a lot of older millionaires stay more active than this, maybe so they can make more millions.

Maybe Biden had relished that hard work wasn’t the way needed for him to make money, but guaranteeing that peripatetic Hunter got his traveling bags filled with foreign bribes?

Biden IS a millionaire, whether gained honestly or not, and he SHOULD be retired. So why doesn’t he admit reality and step aside for the leisure time that he seems so desperate to enjoy anyway, although pretending to be a hard worker?

Moreover, how can Biden as president even make any international diplomatic and political trips without taking a full week off at his destination before he gets sufficiently oriented to the new time zone’s 10-to-4 hours so that he can deal with responsibilities there?

And it’s an embarrassing fact that Biden even often skips state dinners overseas with other international leaders, where some valuable elbow-rubbing just might get done, but he’s not up to this exertion.

It’s hard to think of any job Biden could get hired for today because of his infirmities and decay. But his phalanx — which has far more energy than their field commander — works day and night to impose four more years of control on us by a boss barely capable of getting to work, even though his bedroom, breakfast table and office are on two floors of the same Executive Mansion!

Mr. President Biden falsely has claimed publicly (not merely on a private resume sheet) to have been everything from a law professor to an 18-wheeler driver, so why not add some zest to his campaign right now by concurrently applying to be a professional football kicker?

He’ll just need one player on each side of him to hold him up, special glasses to make sure to see when the quarterback snaps the ball, an AI-guided boost to his kicking leg, a drone-powered football, and referees too blind to notice all of this unallowable assistance.

Aside from this, Biden is only inches away from carrying whatever team hires him straight into the Super Bowl.

Biden was too bashful as president to give a softball TV interview to the Super Bowl audience, but surely he’s ready to take the field to play a full season toward claiming that championship ring while also being president for four more terms (popular acclamation soon to discard the two-term presidential limit).

Amid our wide-ranging speculations here, it’s an unfortunate fact that even if Biden actually stepped aside tomorrow as president, whoever were to replace him from Democratic top ranks would be as bad as Biden on policy issues, thanks to the ongoing purge of any Democrat who didn’t hold, or refused to adopt, the far-left stands Biden takes.

There used to be plenty of pro-lifers, nationalists, and others of traditional views as Democrats, but they were forced to get in line or get out by extremists who redefined party requirements.

Probably the latest among these transitions is an open, vigorous anti-Israel line. As has become evident, considerable youth energy among Democrats isn’t merely for Palestinians but in favor of Palestinian radicals expelling and even killing the Mideast’s Jews.

So, among the political dances Biden is trying to do is assist Israel while also being hostile to it.

Just before the CNN debate, Biden took a whole week away from the White House to go to Camp David to rest, be briefed on policy, and presumably get intensive therapies and drugs — yet he still turned in such a horrifying performance at the Atlanta TV headquarters.

What would Biden have looked like if he’d just been through a stressful week at the White House with two shooting wars in action and a third one threatening to start, his support further collapsing, the economy suffering from inflation still increasing instead of returning to the happy Trump economic days –

Oh, all those events did keep happening, but Biden just ignored them while skipping off to the Maryland presidential retreat for some more down time.

And just after the debate, decrepit Biden had to be helped down a few low steps from the studio’s lectern platform by Dr. Jill. Who actually acts as Nurse Jill, as well as the nation’s actual commander-in-chief for her doddering husband.

Critics noted that Nurse Jill told Biden he answered all the questions at the debate, as if he were a grade-school student. And as if “answering the questions” means simply saying some kind of words, no matter how confusing, incomplete or pointless.

If Biden could go back to the 1950s’ major television quiz shows, in the time of his youth, and be a contestant who’s allowed to get away with whatever he pleases, he could be the big winner by reciting the alphabet, no matter how many letters of it he left out.

Come to think of it, one of those big quiz shows was called “The $64,000 Question.” That was big money then, a bit over a half-century ago, but inflation under both major political parties has reduced that figure to a middle-class wage. Wikipedia says that $64,000 figure was “equivalent to $730,000 in 2023.”

It was said that family members didn’t want Biden to end his presidency now with such a debacle as the CNN debate as a defining image. But hasn’t that always been one of the top considerations for Biden — making himself look good, no matter how many lies and deceptions are effected?

Including claiming to be a “good Catholic,” even though actually living as one is anathema to Biden.

Biden is said to make his political career decisions with his family, and Dr. Jill and Hunter were said to be urging him to remain in the presidential race. There’s no doubt they’ve been around politics for a long time, but are they any wiser than a million-mile passenger who never took flying lessons?

The frequent flier knows how a takeoff and landing is supposed to feel, but how to direct a big plane into the sky and then back onto the ground from the flight deck are beyond his understanding.

The Democrats were in their fix with Biden because his team vigorously had blocked any serious challenger to him in 2024 like candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — even though Kennedy’s father’s generation of Democrat activists had driven incumbent Lyndon Baines Johnson from the presidential race in 1968 because of the impact of their getting into those primary elections.

Biden couldn’t survive any serious challenge to his decrepitude, and other Democrats made the grave error of accepting the strong-arming on behalf of a very weak incumbent.

Activist and entertainer Adam Corolla told “Turning Point USA” founder Charlie Kirk on Kirk’s national radio program that the political left was “gobsmacked” at seeing the reality of Biden’s debate performance because of the way they had avoided facts, but it was what conservatives expected to see because of their awareness.

Only two days earlier, Corolla said, White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre had claimed that conservatives used AI to make Biden falsely appear old and feeble.

No doubt Dr. Jill, Hunter and others are desperate to hang on to all the perks they can from one of the top political jobs in the world, but desiring to and deserving to are two entirely different things. Just the same as for Joe’s unworthy wishes.

After Hailing LGBTQ . . . Radical-Left Arizona Democrat Governor Put On Spot Twice On Same Day

By DEXTER DUGGAN

PHOENIX — As June began, conservative radio talk show host James T. Harris played an audio of left-wing Arizona Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs’ juvenile-sounding voice celebrating LGBTQ-and-whatever progress in society.

Harris simulcasts on KFYI (550 AM, Phoenix) and KNST (790 AM, Tucson).

June is “Pride Month,” as the nation tends to be reminded frequently when summer begins.

Gov. Hobbs never met a gender-bender or abortionist who didn’t thrill her.

Among her insults to voters who never chose Hobbs as governor was her unconstitutional order that prosecutors cannot pursue abortion-laws violations, and that state agencies cannot promote or fund “conversion therapy” — that is, cannot encourage positive treatment to heal the seriously sexually confused — and that state-employee health insurance plans can cover “gender-affirming surgery” — that is, paying for the mutilation of defenseless, troubled people.

If one day a sexually confused state employee were to tell Hobbs that he wished he’d never been born, would Hobbs join him in commiserating that an abortionist hadn’t been available to serve his needs back then, or is that the one time an abortionist’s deeds would be deplorable?

Anyway, the first full week of June also brought developments to two acts that Hobbs had set percolating. The first went as far back as her entry into office as governor in January, 2023; the second resulted from her September, 2023, decision to bypass the state senate for required approval of her agency directors.

Hobbs had sought “inaugural fund” donations to welcome her into the governorship. The largest amount, $250,000, came from the state’s largest utility, Arizona Public Service, a powerhouse in more ways than one, and would have been sufficient, all by itself, to cover the intended expenses, which were a little over $200,000.

But Hobbs kept shaking and shaking the inaugural-money tree and ended up with nearly $2 million, much of which could be diverted to causes like Hobbs’ preferred political candidates for 2024.

Yet on top of this came a late donation from a for-profit firm, Sunshine Residential Homes, the state’s largest group-home business, which then received a special thank-you from the state.

The state’s largest news platform, The Arizona Republic, usually has been Hobbs’ gubernatorial cheerleader. But to its credit, the Republic kept up on this smelly inaugural-fund story.

In a June 5th post, Republic columnist Laurie Roberts — often another cheerleader for Hobbs — recalled that reporter Stacy Barchenger followed the results after “Hobbs shook down insurance companies, labor unions, homebuilders, lobbying firms, and regulated utilities, seeking donations of up to $250,000 apiece.”

Columnist Roberts continued: “Arizona is putting fewer children in group homes these days, so it was no surprise in February, 2023, when the Department of Child Safety denied a 20% rate increase to the state’s largest group-home business.

“Three days later, Sunshine Residential Homes donated $100,000 to Gov. Katie Hobbs’ ‘dark money’ operation — the one she set up under the guise of paying for her inauguration festivities,” Roberts wrote. “Three months later, Sunshine got a 30% rate increase. And this year, it got another 20% boost along with approval for more beds, further boosting company profits.”

One might wonder parenthetically if Hobbs is smart enough herself to pull off this kind of operation. But perhaps she’s at least smart enough to hire those who can. Or at least be told whom she has to hire to get the job done.

Arizona State Senate Republicans issued a news release dated June 5th, saying: “Senate Republicans are condemning Katie Hobbs after local media today revealed she spent millions in taxpayer dollars over the past year to reward a dysfunctional group home for its campaign contributions to her.

“The report exposed donations from Sunshine Residential Homes, totaling approximately $400,000, going toward the Arizona Democratic Party, Hobbs’ gubernatorial campaign, as well as her inauguration fund,” the GOP release said. “In response, Hobbs’ Department of Child Safety . . . approved a nearly 60% increase in the daily rate Sunshine Residential Homes charges to care for a child.

“Sunshine Residential Homes was the only provider to receive this increase, while others were denied pay increases to home operators, and more than a dozen were terminated from the state’s system altogether,” the Republicans said.

Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican, said: “Arizonans deserve to know how their elected officials are spending their money, and this case raises a major red flag with what’s happening behind closed doors on the ninth floor,” the news release said.

The ninth floor of the Executive Tower is the governor’s office.

“With the state in the middle of a budget shortfall, and with what appears to be a pay-to-play scheme now exposed, the legislature has a lot of questions we will be seeking answers to from both the governor’s office and DCS. Our citizens deserve better,” Petersen said.

Columnist Roberts wrote that reporter “Barchenger reports that [the Department of Child Safety] has been regularly denying pay increases to group home operators, citing both budgetary constraints and a desire to get kids out of group homes.”

A separate news release from Arizona Senate Republicans, also dated June 5th, said that a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled that Hobbs isn’t free to bypass senate approval of her agency directors by putting them into power with different titles.

This news release noted that Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a far-left Democrat like Hobbs, had said Hobbs’ tactic was acceptable — although now was disallowed by the judge.

The release began: “After months of throwing Arizona’s critical state agencies into chaos and subjecting these entities to a host of potential legal challenges, while also creating confusion for the citizens of Arizona, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled today Katie Hobbs’ scheme to circumvent the senate confirmation process for director nominations is unlawful and must be immediately reversed.

“Consistent with the United States Constitution and the laws of states across this nation, Arizona law requires its agencies to be led by senate-confirmed directors. . . . This requirement exists to preserve the liberties of Arizona’s citizens,” the release said. “Just as the governor’s veto serves as a check on legislative power, senate confirmation of agency directors serves as a necessary check on the governor’s power.

“In September of 2023, after a senate committee recommended a nominee accused of plagiarism not be confirmed, Hobbs sent a letter to Senate President Warren Petersen notifying him that she was going to evade the senate confirmation process for agency directors. . . .

“Under her ill-advised plan, blessed by Attorney General Mayes, Hobbs withdrew 13 director nominations still pending before the senate. She then reinstalled these same individuals with a fake title of ‘executive deputy directors’,” the release said.

“Based on flimsy legal reasoning, which Hobbs’ own attorney later described as ‘strange,’ Hobbs claimed these fake directors had the same power and authority as senate-confirmed directors,” the release said. “After months of discussions, she continued to insist she was above the law. As a result, President Petersen sued Hobbs.

“Today, the Hon. Scott Blaney confirmed Gov. Hobbs violated state law with her illegal scheme. Under Judge Blaney’s order, Hobbs must submit nominees to fill the supposed ‘vacancies’ created by her now-debunked strategy. The court rightly recognized that ‘the governor willfully circumvented th[e] statutory process and eliminated the legislative branch from its oversight role’.”

A state GOP senator directly involved in this controversy issued his own news release on June 5th. Sen. Jake Hoffman, chairman of the Senate Committee on Director Nominations, said: “I look forward to continuing our confirmation hearings in the near future, now that much-needed clarity on the law has been provided by the courts to Hobbs and her staff.

“If Katie wishes to continue her petulant insults against me and to play petty political games, so be it; but I’m going to continue faithfully fulfilling my duty to the people of this great state to ensure that we have a sane government that works for every Arizonan,” Hoffman said.

What “works for every Arizonan” is imagery that Hobbs tries to use.

A Leaven In The World… Butker, Dogma, And The Pope

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK

May has been a month of conviction and consternation, conflicts, contrasts, and criticism.

In the matter of conviction, the award goes to Harrison Butker.

Benedictine College is a place where the college president leads the student body in the prayer of the holy rosary on his knees. It’s a place of Eucharistic revival, you might say. That’s because it’s a place of authentic Catholic faith.

Small surprise, then, that Traditional Latin Mass altar boy and champion Super Bowl kicker Harrison Butker was invited this spring to deliver the commencement address at the college.

In his remarks he dared to criticize the feminist dogma that women can always have marriage, children, and career and always be happy “having it all.” Sounds exhausting. Though some women actually choose it.

His mistake, it appears, was in praising his wife’s decision to be a homemaker exclusively.

He didn’t, however, dogmatically suggest that any woman who pursues employment outside the home is doing something wrong. Some women have very loudly disagreed with his praise of his wife’s choice to exclude paid employment outside the home. And that’s okay. What doesn’t sit right is the violent attack upon Butker and his family, which included doxing by someone in the Kansas City government. There is something diabolic at work here in addition to the rather worn trope of women choosing to part-time parent.

People think their homes are important. A home is for the typical family the biggest investment they will ever make. Families expend much time, money, and effort in making their homes beautiful, as a worthy place to spend their free time. What’s wrong with spending more time enjoying one’s family, home-schooling, and doing it in the most important place for any family: At home?

Being a homemaker is difficult. Raising children and managing a home is just as demanding and rewarding as any other task. Perhaps more so: one cannot stage-manage the special moments that just naturally occur in the development of a child. Time and attention are necessary.

The reaction of consternation on the part of so many was odd. Was it perhaps a case of “Methinks thou dost protest too much”? Was it perhaps guilt?

It is children who are asked to make a sacrifice, of time with their parents, when both adults work. Time which cannot be grabbed back once children are grown. Women do not typically express regret about the choice of sacrificing something else, frankly less important, in order to be more present in the sacredness of the home and with their children.

Is there anything children need more than their parents? Especially when parents are charged with handing on the Faith?

This is also a month of contrasts.

In the U.S. this month the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage kicked off. Four processions from four points of continental extremity will converge in a few weeks at Indianapolis where the main events for the revival hosted by the USCCB will take place.

Archbishop Cordileone was joined by eight young adult “perpetual pilgrims” who will make the entire walk to Indianapolis from the west coast on one pilgrimage of witness to Christ’s Eucharistic Presence through the traditional means of a procession. This while at the same time in Europe, the Paris-Chartres pilgrimage saw a capacity crowd of 20k or more, mostly young people, again this year. These thousands, among them many Americans, sought out the hardship of a three-day walk, after traveling thousands of miles from all over the world, not escorted or invited by a bishop but, rather, as a spontaneous expression of youthful and vital faith. And they’ll be back next year. No “Eucharistic revival” needed there. The San Francisco procession across the Golden Gate swelled to 4,000 people.

Then there was criticism: the 60 Minutes interview with Pope Francis. Specifically intended for the U.S. audience as it was, some of us were bracing for more blows. This given the Pope’s track record of beating up on Catholics while going out of his way to accommodate enemies of the faith. And we were not disappointed. Well, actually we were.

According to MSN, the Pope said the U.S. bishops and others who criticize him are defined as “conservative,” meaning “one who clings to something and does not want to see beyond that. It is a suicidal attitude. Because one thing is to take tradition into account, to consider situations from the past, but quite another is to be closed up inside a dogmatic box.”

When it comes to Eucharistic revival we’re talking ultimately about a faith revival. Among churchgoing Catholics, those who practice their faith rather than merely speak of it, Eucharistic faith is also strong. It is Christ in the Eucharist who “draws them to Himself.”

The Pope’s 60 Minutes interview comes at a time when the U.S. bishops are grappling precisely with a dogma problem: The Church teaches the “dogma” of the true and Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist because it’s true. The crisis the bishops face, and which spawned the whole effort of the Eucharistic Revival in the first place, is precisely because so many, seven out of ten Catholics, reject the dogma of the Real Presence.

Young Catholics like Butker find the truths of dogma freeing. They know that they please and love God by putting Him in first place, along with their vocation as parents. Butker emphasized the way in which His wife keeps him grounded by reminding him football is not first. Truth brings happiness now as a foretaste of future glory.

No, Holy Father, dogma is not a “box.” It is rather a helpful crystallization of truths handed down through Scripture and Tradition from Christ Himself. Anyone who has truth problem, has a Jesus problem. Dogma enshrines the truths to which we must assent for the sake of salvation. The truth frees; it doesn’t restrict. Bad choice of metaphor.

The 60 Minutes interview also comes during presidential election season. One candidate is a bad Catholic and the other a bad Protestant. One of the two, however, the Democrat is totally in the pocket of Planned Parenthood and an enthusiastic and unapologetic cheerleader for abortion at any time, for any reason.

Catholics in the pews have a problem with this Democrat’s reception of the Eucharist at Holy Mass, a public scandal. And rightly so. His ferocious advocacy for legal child murder and his regular public desecration of the Eucharist are two sides of the same coin: the truth of the sacredness of human life and the truth of Christ’s Presence Eucharistically are dogmas. By ignoring them Biden disserves his own life by risking eternal damnation. He needs to be a little clingier with the truth, not less. ZeroHedge.com published commentary on the issue:

“To locate Joe Biden’s electoral problem, you need only to look on Sunday morning. Polling shows the Mass-attending Catholic president trails Donald Trump by 10 points among those who attend religious services a few times a year or more. The score is reversed with voters who report they seldom or never attend church, with Biden leading by 10.”

Biden is a dogma-free Catholic. He believes whatever he wants like there is no such thing as truth. He does whatever he wants to chase the political wind. Doesn’t sound to me like a poster boy for the Catholic Faith. But that, it seems, is what Pope Francis wants, according to his comments on 60 Minutes.

Dogma is not a “box,” Holy Father. It is the truth which frees us for acting now with eternal life in view. Dogma is ultimate freedom, for obedience to the truths it espouses frees us from bondage to sin and for eternal happiness.

It doesn’t like we have a dogma problem to me. It sounds like the opposite: not enough.

Thank you for reading and praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.

apriestlife.blogspot.com

Biden Agrees To Debate Trump… A Kind Of Candidate Faceoff Never Before Seen For Prez

By DEXTER DUGGAN

Announcing that he would “debate” Donald Trump twice for this year’s presidential race, arrogant Joe Biden in a video, pathetically trying to appear to be a tough guy, blustered, “Well, make my day, pal.”

But impaired Democrat Biden wasn’t tough at all in the May 15 video. He wouldn’t agree to appear before a live debate audience but only in a closed studio, and he insisted that the microphone of the debater who wasn’t speaking at the moment be cut off lest delicate Biden be interrupted.

Biden’s a real slugger as long as he has concrete in his boxing gloves — and assistants to help him hold up his trembling hands — while his opponent is nailed against the wall, with his hands tied tight against his sides.

That’s the way Biden “governs.”

Considering that bad Catholic Biden needs to wear special shoes just so he has less chance of falling over on his face during the day, how does he plan to whale away at the pinioned Trump in the debate ring? Maybe Biden can have a steel rod run up his backside to help him balance?

In an editorial posted May 15, The Wall Street Journal — no friend of Trump at all — cautioned: “The two men agreed to a debate on June 27, hosted by CNN, and another on September 10 hosted by ABC. Let’s hope the moderators are fair-minded, but don’t underestimate how hard that will be given the heavily anti-Trump culture of both media organizations.”

This editorial’s subheadline was, “The two will debate after all, though Trump may regret the moderators.”

Of course, Biden correctly expects that dominant media will go out of their way to smooth the way for him and assault Trump.

In a recent interview with Erin Burnett of pro-Biden CNN, Biden went so far as to claim that when he took office, inflation was roaring away at 9 percent. In fact, it was only 1.4 percent. But Burnett didn’t express doubt about his lies — which the anti-Biden New York Post later calculated to be nearly one a minute, 15 lies in 17 minutes.

If Burnett didn’t know the exact figure, she at least could have said something like, “Just a minute, Mr. President. That doesn’t sound right. Could someone in the booth please give us the actual number?”

Trump avoided debating opponents in the Republican presidential primaries for this November’s election, apparently not wanting to give them added visibility, but he was eager to take on Biden.

Calling Biden “Crooked” as if that were his name, Trump said in part at his Truth Social site the afternoon of May 15 (including Trump’s capitalizations):

“Crooked is also the WORST President in the history of the United States, by far. It’s time for a debate so that he can explain to the American People his highly destructive Open Border Policy, new and ridiculous EV Mandates, the allowance of Crushing Inflation, High Taxes, and his really WEAK Foreign Policy, which is allowing the World to ‘Catch on Fire.’

“… I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds. — That’s only because he doesn’t get them. Just tell me when, I’ll be there,” Trump added.

The June debate is unique because it would occur before either of these candidates is the formal nominee of his party. In addition, this debate arrangement goes its own way by dispensing with governance by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Also, Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is excluded from participation — a restriction that the debate commission might not have allowed.

The Wanderer asked two sources for their reaction to the debate announcement.

National conservative commentator Quin Hillyer said on May 15: “The idea of two deteriorating, ethically challenged has-beens sharing a debate stage should excite nobody. The best result would be that both participants are so bad that their respective parties find some way to replace them with better candidates who also are better men.”

Conservative Republican political consultant Constantin Querard said on May 16: “My sense is that Biden ditched the formal debates because under the commission rules he likely would have had to share the stage with Trump AND Kennedy. By proposing his own head-to-head debates, he can duck Kennedy and keep it all about Trump.

“I also think it’s a great test run for Democrats,” Querard said, “because if Biden face-plants, they have plenty of time to swap him out at the convention, and if he holds his own, then there is only one debate left in the whole race. So, they can roll the dice while they still have a way out. What is less clear is why Trump is agreeing to these things, plus more left-wing moderators.”

National radio talk host Sean Hannity, recalling on May 15 that the Democratic Party had been pleased with Biden’s State of the Union speech earlier this year, wondered how much caffeine or Red Bull energy drink Biden can hold.

The Democratic Party is absolutely desperate to win the presidential election this November. But not so desperate so far that it has told its dead-weight incumbent president who insists on running again that he won’t be allowed to.

As for Joe Biden’s monstrous agenda of depravity and degeneracy, why that’s the very core of the Democratic platform and the reason its leaders think he must win to keep ramming this down Americans’ throats.

Which shows how little good sense is behind Democratic leaders’ thinking. But after all, if they could be gleeful with San Francisco bad Catholic and elderly pro-abortion fanatic Nancy Pelosi for years as U.S. House speaker, why not Delaware’s elderly and bumbling Biden?

Considering Democrats’ accomplishments as an electoral cheating machine, a Biden victory this November isn’t out of the question. But his HONEST victory would be all but impossible.

Boston Globe conservative columnist Jeff Jacoby called attention to a remarkable editorial posted on May 8 by the left-wing Washington Post. It wondered what are the proper lengths for a campaign to go while pandering for votes when the campaign’s victory is deemed to be absolutely essential — in this case, defeating Donald Trump.

In this case, black lives should NOT matter so much, the Trump-hating Post pondered.

“In recent months, the Biden administration has unveiled new positions and policies that clearly pander to core constituencies in the run-up to a November election in which the stakes, for both President Biden and the country as a whole, are as high as they have ever been,” the Post editorial said. “The problem is that some of these policies are quite bad — even dangerous.

“The implicit rationale is that the ends — denying former president Donald Trump another four years in office — justify the means,” the editorial said, citing as one such case black men’s preference to smoke menthol cigarettes.

The Post noted that Biden had delayed, for a second time, a ban on these cigarettes, a ban that long had been considered by the Food and Drug Administration.

“The FDA estimates that a ban on menthols could prevent about 255,000 premature deaths over the next 40 years,” the Post said, calling such a potential result “huge progress,” considering that menthol smokers are disproportionately black.

However, said the Post, thoughtfully rubbing its chin, “In political terms, however, a ban might anger the 25 percent of usually Democratic Black voters who oppose the ban and whom Mr. Biden can ill afford to alienate in this close election.” And “Democrats are scrapping for every vote.”

Saving hundreds of thousands of black lives? Or letting Trump win? Well, harumph, harumph, the Post concluded: “So trim your principles, Democrats, and pander away. Just remember: The only thing worse than playing Machiavelli for a good cause is playing Machiavelli for a good cause and losing.”

Please imagine if the Post were to discover that Trump had a secret plan to kill hundreds of thousands of black men so he’d be re-elected president. The Post’s reaction — and that of all of its left-wing dominant-media allies — would be as fierce and fiery as if a million atomic bombs exploded.

But when the widely influential Post ruminates over this very idea publicly in the print of its editorial pages in order to help Biden, well, that’s the way leftists have to play to win.

It’s that kind of election this year.

“Pagan” Catholics?

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK

Our church buildings that haven’t yet been closed as a result of Catholics embracing contraception and abortion with gusto in the 60s, along with the enemies of Christ, are increasingly under pressure from a growing pagan lobby, swelling like a cancer threatening the lifeblood of the Body of Christ.

Many of those who weekly come forward to receive Communion at Sunday (or Saturday evening) Masses rejected the Catholic Faith long ago. The abortion and LGBTQ lobbies have grown stronger like a “woke mind virus” among many of the baptized who have retained only a Catholic muscle memory. They show up habitually for Mass and receive Communion like they’re sleepwalking through the Catholic Faith while they vote pro-abortion and LGBTQ, show up for the pro-abort “Woman’s March” and sport rainbow flags on their bodies every June.

A parish vocal minority in Michigan rose up and engineered the expulsion of their pastor for supporting parents who reached out to him with concerns about a man invited to read a book to children in the parish school. They were alarmed that his civil union with another man might cause confusion among members of the community. To oppose the concerns of Catholic parents in regard to the purity of their children in support of an adult who has chosen the unforced error of a sinful “lifestyle” should be easily recognized for the inversion which it is. Alas, for some that was not so.

When remaining silent might be construed as approval someone must speak out. Here we have a case of a priest with the courage to do his job, as the only one charged with the responsibility of speaking out. When he did so there were cries of “off with his head!” Such is not unusual and not to be unexpected. Priests doing their job indeed say things that meet with disapproval. What has changed is the seemingly sincere shock and indignation on the part of those who attack the priest for preaching against sin and damnation.

To leave such apparent approval unaddressed risks confusing the young and impressionable. How to do so while respecting and loving the sinner is indeed a sensitive matter. Fr. Tom Held, the pastor, issued a statement via the parish Facebook page that addressed only the relevant issue involved, as brought to his attention by parents of schoolchildren, and which did not impugn the author involved nor mention his name. The statement in fact exonerated the author of any suspicions of inappropriate behavior.

But even this was considered too much for the militants clustering around the school and parish. How many they number and whether any of those involved in digitally attacking Fr. Held attend Mass at the parish will never be known. The existence, and abuse of, social networks will forever obscure the facts with regard to whether those who represent themselves as Catholics online indeed practice the Faith and subscribe to the teachings of the Church.

In my experience, as one stalked digitally by a local woman who has for years falsely presented herself as an authority on all things Catholic, the opposite is often the case. I have never known the woman to once darken the door of the church in over thirteen years as pastor.​

A Facebook group named “Remove Fr. Held” was mustered to oppose him. This points to an abuse of social media, a growing source of mental illness and social unrest. Bishop Gruss visited and preached at a recent Sunday Mass at the parish after the damage was done.  A video of Bishop Gruss’ homily is posted on YouTube. In his remarks he did not completely exonerate the element opposing the priest and mentioned he might encounter a difficulty in finding a priest

willing to accept an assignment at the parish. I doubt the heretics involved would have a problem with that. Elsewhere some have abandoned parish life in favor of “Communion services” at their homes in an effort to hermetically seal themselves off from any authentic Catholic doctrine or

influence.

The Catholic Diocese of Saginaw released this statement: “St. Joseph the Worker School recently had a guest visit a classroom to read to children during March Reading Month. The guest was warmly welcomed and treated with respect. Several days after the visit, the pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Parish was contacted by school parents and parishioners who expressed concerns about the guest’s civil union, which is contrary to the Catholic Church’s teaching on human sexuality and marriage. The pastor appropriately responded to those concerns within the parish community in a way that recognized the guest’s privacy.

“Our Catholic Faith respects the dignity of every person. The Church teaches we are all created in the image and likeness of God and called to love one another. With that love comes our obligation to uphold and live the teachings of the Catholic Faith, individually and within our institutions.”

I can say from benefit of experience, with over 30 years as a priest, that in many parishes an anti-Catholic and anti-Christian spirit has grown among those who, among other abuses, habitually clericalize the laity through the superfluous use of “extraordinary ministers” of Holy Communion, which dispense with the reality that the hands of the priest were consecrated at Ordination for the purpose of consecrating and handling the Eucharist. This amounts to a denial of the reality of the Sacrament of Ordination. So-called lay “active participation” has become in some locations in importance so exaggerated that lectors only show up for Sunday Mass on the day when they are scheduled to proclaim the Scriptures. And they, of course, on the occasion also receive Communion. This is not faith. This is profanation of the Holy Eucharist and falsification and undermining of true worship and authentic love of God.

When people leave a parish because they would “never go to Mass again if it was in Latin” or because having women or girls dressed as priests in the sanctuary during Mass is more important than receiving Jesus Christ, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist, we’ve got a major problem. And the problem in this case isn’t solved by changing the Church; it’s solved only by changing minds in the grip of a heretic mind virus.​

The Church’s way of calling this matter to the attention of the heretic is called excommunication. But, while our bishops remained convinced that in a more kind and gentle Church we rule out recourse to such time-tested measures, wolves through scandal continue to ravage the flock. The incident in Beal City with heretics muscling a pastor out of the parish is not an isolated event.

How does any parish priest have a leg to stand on when it comes to Eucharistic devotion and reverence while the cowards in miters refuse to excommunicate Joe Biden? The scandal of his continued audacious sacrilege of receiving Communion while marshaling all the forces of the presidency to promote legal child murder is a massive defeat. The bishops’ continued silence is sending the wrong message.

The only solution for heresy is Catholic doctrine and the only way to fight lies with truth is to keep speaking the truth. Surrender isn’t an option. Revival of Eucharistic devotion is a dead letter as long as souls have no worth. The souls of the heretics in Beal City and in Washington, D.C., are calling out to all of our bishops for the kindness and gentleness of real love: that which defends their eternal salvation; that for which Our Lord in the Eucharist is truly present.

Thank you for reading and praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.

apriestlife.blogspot.com

In His Battle Against The Family… Biden Launches Another Front

By CHRISTOPHER MANION

Last week we saw how Joe Biden considers his support of abortion until birth to be his reelection campaign’s “silver bullet.”

But abortion isn’t the only round in his chamber. The Obama-era leftovers that populate the executive branch are skilled at utilizing their bureaucratic swagger to impose illegal and binding rules on the population at large in myriad ways, usually under the guise of “regulations.” A lot of them.

And while 2024 might be Joe’s last gasp, they are far from finished.

We have seen it with Biden’s “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) Executive Orders (nn. 13985 and 14035) that threaten any individual or institution that receives federal funding to conform to the Left’s ideological template. We have seen it in the administration’s defiance of immigration law that has allowed over ten million illegal aliens to swarm into unsuspecting communities nationwide.

And there we should note some intended but almost irreversible effects of illegal immigration. That massive crime is valuable to the Left for two reasons: strategically, it sows chaos — a lot of it. But its ideological goal advances more subtly and with a longer-lasting impact.

Consider: Most of the new illegals arrive from countries whose tyrants have told their subjects for generations that “Your poverty is America’s fault!” Buried in this message to those millions of “oppressed victims” is a silent but simple order: “These capitalist criminals have enjoyed their freedom and flourishing for years at your expense — Now it’s your turn! Steal all the free stuff you can; when you settle in, start demanding the reparations you deserve, and we’ll help!”

So, they’re killing babies and destroying communities. So far, so good. But every bureaucrat must have his (or hers, or “its”) day, and now the (unconstitutional) Department of Education enters the stage to aim at another Biden target: the family.

“The Biden administration released Friday [April 19] its long-awaited overhaul of Title IX, inserting “gender identity” into the watershed civil rights amendment aimed at eliminating discrimination against girls and women in education,” The Washington Times reports.

Of course, any amendments or additions to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 lie in the domain of Congress, not a gaggle of unelected bureaucrats. But hey, so what?? That’s old news.

“Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance,” wrote Biden’s Education Department on August 20, 2021. That means that the new rules published last week will apply to any educational institutions that receive federal funding — which means the vast majority of them nationwide.

And soon these rules will undoubtedly be applied to every other aspect of public, and even private life. No longer must one be a conspiracy theorist to imagine going to jail for “misgendering” a sexually perverted individual, or kicking a pervert out of the ladies’ room. It’s already happening in Canada and the UK.

The unborn, women, the family, the community: All are the enemy of the demonic hordes possessed by the libido dominandi, the lust for power that Augustine identified as the sin of Satan that has ruled the City of Man on earth since the Fall.

And “Catholic Joe” has waged war on them all.

A Requiem For Notre Dame

Joseph DeReuil graduates next month from “Our Lady’s University” next month. He has contributed several commentaries over the years to The Irish Rover, the faithful upstart that we have often celebrated as an alternative to the secular Observer that fell for the “spirit of the times” back around Vatican II and has never managed to get back up.

This week Mr. DeReuil’s final piece appeared, and it is stunning. “Yes, Notre Dame is dead,” he writes, “but only insofar as her image is herself. That is, she has been killed in the eyes of the large swaths of American Catholics who have populated her quads since her founding in 1842. This death is due in part to negative press brought upon herself — awarding Obama an honorary degree and giving Biden the ‘Laetare Medal’ come to mind immediately — but I know that we students who report on campus controversy from the inside have also played a role.”

And yet Mr. DeReuil has hopes for the soul of Notre Dame, as well as for his own: He will be joining the Norbertine Order in the fall.

We should pray for Mr. DeReuil, and for Notre Dame.

“Attorney generals for 17 Republican-led states have sued the Biden administration over its latest student loan debt forgiveness plan, arguing it does not have the authority to wipe out student loan debt for an estimated 30 million Americans,” the College Fix reports.

Note what’s going on here: For years, colleges have cashed in on Obama’s federal student loan program, coaxing students to stay long past the expiration of any chance of a real education.

Result? The college stays in business and the student stays in debt. Let’s face it: bribes are a critical ingredient of the student loan program. It pays off the faculty members, whose politics are as radical as those of the public school unions. And the students? Now Joe wants to buy the votes of thirty million dropout debtors with our money — with a grateful wink to all those leftie profs who apparently never taught their students how to earn a living and pay their bills.

Bishops + Politics = More Disasters

And let’s not forget the border. Catholic bishops have long branded critics of their secular border NGO’s as “bigots” and “racists,” but now one of their own officers confirms their critics.

Jose Antonio Fernandez, CEO of Catholic Charities San Antonio, confirmed to Catholic News Agency that the group did indeed help migrants with air travel from San Antonio to other locations in the United States, but he claimed that this was a licit use of funds under FEMA’s rules.

Cong. Henry Cuellar (D., Texas) disagrees. Federal funds from the FEMA Shelter and Services Program were never intended to pay for transportation or flights to other U.S. cities for migrants who cross the border into the United States. From the very beginning I said it would only be used for food and shelter, maybe transportation inside a city but not to be sending them [across the country],” Cuellar said. “The family or somebody should pay for that, not the taxpayer.”  

For months, bishops have denied reports that Catholic Charities affiliates are flying illegal aliens under cover of darkness to communities in virtually every state, without informing officials in those communities of their arrival.

Whitewater, Wis., is a typical destination: The town of 15,000 has been inundated with over 1,000 illegals, who crowd the schools and welfare offices. Reporter reports that one Whitewater resident, Steven Nasholm, has already been killed by Jorge Sanchez-Tzanhua, an illegal alien. Nasholm leaves behind a widow and three young children, Steve Cortes reports.

And our shepherds prove once more that they are really are bad at politics. On August 9, 2021, three USCCB committee chairs told Congress that, “we write in support of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, S.1486, which will make the workplace a safer environment for nursing mothers, pregnant women, and their unborn children.”

The USCCB “worked closely with and followed the lead of Democrat Congressional Members,” longtime pro-life legislator and lawyer Bob Marshall writes. We know how much USCCB staff enjoys that camaraderie, but now their bosses are in a bind: “Bishops are now opposing the Biden Administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) pro-abortion regulations as published on April 14, 2024. But these immoral regulations are a direct consequence of the PWFA. They were completely foreseeable, and the bishops ignored many pro-life warnings against supporting the Act,” Marshall continues.

The result? Pro-abortion EEOC regulations will now affect all employers in the United States with 15 or more employees. They’ll either have to provide abortions for their employees or pay their own lawyers like hundreds of Catholic groups did to defend themselves from Obamacare (also endorsed by the USCCB, by the way) and its notorious HHS Mandate.