Much attention has been paid to the concept of “handmaid” in the Republican attempt to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. This phrase appears in Luke’s Gospel as a way of introducing Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the version of Scripture approved by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops: “Behold, I … Continue reading The Handmaid’s Justice
Biden’s Gettysburg Address
Speaking on the historic site of the Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg this week, former Vice President Joe Biden offered his most significant remarks to date in the 2020 Presidential election campaign. “As president … I will send a clear, unequivocal message to the entire nation. There is no place for hate in America,” Mr. … Continue reading Biden’s Gettysburg Address
STOP
[Sometimes it is helpful to look back and see from whence we have come. Now, less than one month from the Presidential election, is one of those times. In researching some previous writings for an unrelated task, I uncovered the following post published on December 8, 2015--almost five years ago--when I was still serving as … Continue reading STOP
This Is No Debate, Sir
In this space in early September in a post entitled “Will He Debate?” I asked the question as to whether readers thought Donald Trump would participate in the traditional quadrennial exercise we call the Presidential Debates. While virtually everyone responded that he would, a week later I offered a contrary opinion that he would not: … Continue reading This Is No Debate, Sir
Will He Debate?
Let’s have a contest. The first 2020 Presidential debate will take place on Tuesday, September 29, in Cleveland, moderated by Chris Wallace of Fox News. Quadrennially, these debates attract a lot of attention—the first Clinton-Trump debate in 2016 drew 84 million viewers—but this year, an important and unusual question looms over the debate season: will … Continue reading Will He Debate?