Douglas Kmiec: Victim

Brian Brown from the National Organization for Marriage has directed me to a new blog which is well worth your attention. It is called Moral Accountability and is the work of Robert P. George and his colleagues.  There Matthew J. Franck critiques the latest mental gymnastics of Doug Kmiec.

Writing in Commonweal, Kmiec complains that he has been vilified by the right without justification, that basically all the opposition to his support of Obama has taken the form of name calling.   Here’s a taste:

Noting my continued good health, the editors of Commonweal invited this essay which I submit even as I acknowledge the wisdom of Sr. Pius’s eighth-grade counsel: “Douglas, just offer it up!” That was good advice; and indeed I have at times considered the blog calumnies hurled at me as penance for occasions when I have put on a bit of a false front. We all want to be perceived as intelligent, kindly, and well considered, and we all occasionally speak too glibly for our own good-as I did, for example, representing Obama on the campaign trail while chastising him for his criticism of Justice Clarence Thomas; or suggesting, out loud and even on camera, that his one-time pledge of support for the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) during the primary was “boneheaded.” These are not politic statements, but unlike most blog entries, they represent honest, substantive dissent illustrating how it is possible for a person to be capable of admiring both Barack Obama and Clarence Thomas, and of supporting Obama while rejecting legislation that would in any way limit religious freedom or insult the church. (My message to President Obama on FOCA, by the way, will remain what it was to candidate Obama: FOCA runs contrary to the pursuit of the common good.)

Just a couple of things.  First off, Mr. Kmiec is dodging when he says that Obama’s support of FOCA consisted of a “one-time pledge.”  Senator Obama was cosponsor of the bill which was introduced into the senate April 19, 2007.  Then, on  January 22, 2008, 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Senator Obama released a statement in which he promised as president to see FOCA passed:

Militant Atheists Punching at the Air

Or so they think.

Master Paul could use some assistance.  Not that he isn’t handling himself well, quite the contrary.  He is a bit outnumbered.

For Christ and the Church

Robert brought my attention to an international organization known as the Corpus Christianum, which is a private association of the faithful, “dedicated to praying for a renewal of Christendom.” The group seems to be very Marian, they pray The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is principally the work that inspired the Knight’s Psalter. Check it out. Great work.

Also of interest, related to the website of Corpus Christianum, is the FAQ page that includes a recommendation for further reading on the subject of Catholic Chivalry. There you will find links to a work that I have recommended before, Kenelm Henry Digby’s Maxims of Christian Chivalry, which is an abridged version of a much larger, and extremely hard to find work, The Broad Stone of Honour. What is news to me is that this latter work is online in four volumes, each volume receiving its title from a different knight:

Godefridus,

Tancredus,

Morus,

Orlandus.

This is a real find. Thank you Robert.