Sunday, October 25, 2026
Some Bishops and the President.
I started this post yesterday, early in the morning. I didn't finish it, however, as I was mostly waiting for it to get a little later so that I could pack up and go deer hunting. By today, the following day, the story has already significantly moved on, showing I guess how quickly the news cycle moves.
Anyhow, let's start here:
57. Building a world of respect for human life and dignity, where justice and peace prevail, requires more than just political commitment. Individuals, families, businesses, community organizations, and governments all have a role to play. Participation in political life in light of fundamental moral principles is an essential duty for every Catholic and all people of good will.
58. The Church is involved in the political process but is not partisan. The Church cannot champion any candidate or party. Our cause is the defense of human life and dignity and the protection of the weak and vulnerable.
59. The Church is engaged in the political process but should not be used.We welcome dialogue with political leaders and candidates; we seek to engage and persuade public officials. Events and photo ops cannot substitute for serious dialogue
60. The Church is principled but not ideological. As St. John Paul II wrote in his encyclical,Sollicitudo Rei Socialis,The Church’s social doctrine is not . . . an ideology, but rather the accurate formulation of the results of a careful reflection on the complex realities of human existence, in society and in the international order, in the light of faith and of the Church’s tradition. Its main aim is to interpret these realities, determining their conformity with or divergence from the lines of the Gospel teaching on man and his vocation, a vocation which is at once earthly and transcendent; its aim is thus to guide Christian behavior. It therefore belongs to the field, not of ideology, but of theology and particularly of moral theology. (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, no. 41)We cannot compromise basic principles or moral teaching. We are committed to clarity about our moral teaching and to civility. In public life, it is important to practice the virtues of charity and justice that are at the core of our Tradition. We should work with others in a variety of ways to advance our moral principles.
61. In light of these principles and the blessings we share as part of a free and democratic nation, we bishops vigorously repeat our call for a renewed kind of politics:
•Focused more on moral principles than on the latest poll
•Focused more on the needs of the weak than on benefits for the strong
•Focused more on the pursuit of the common good than on the demands of narrow interests
62. This kind of political participation reflects the social teaching of our Church and the best traditions of our nation.
FormingConsciencesFaithfulCitizenshipforA Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United State
My heart just sank when I check my computer the other morning and saw this:
I have traditionally been extremely careful about criticizing Bishops on this site, and not just Catholic bishops. I don't know if I've ever criticized any bishops at all. Perhaps those of the English Church at the time of Henry VIII, sort of. That's about it, and I don't think I really even did that. Catholics owe deference to their Bishops, and for the most part we probably owe deference to Orthodox Bishops on most things as well. So, suffice it to say, this is unusual.
The Church does not hold, however, that we can never do so. Respect to the Bishop and the Bishop's office is owed when we do, however.
Recently I've seen a lot of criticism aimed at one particular Bishop, the Bishop of Rome, which has been made by right wing Catholics which is simply shocking in nature. Probably sinful as well. Pope Francis received that sort of criticism all the time from the Catholic right. I never openly criticized either and certainly have not Pope Leo. I was not a huge fan of Pope Francis, but I'm also not in his shoes in any fashion so my criticism, when it was made, was fairly muted. There was a little, however.
Here I fear I must offer some criticism. I'm not the only one who is doing so. I'd note the reaction to his photo and event, which was organized reportedly by somebody from The Heritage Foundation, has been pretty severe. The White House itself issued a statement saying from its Faith Director stating that the meeting was:
[N]ot politics. This is policy in action ending with meaningful Prayer with & for the President. He welcomes prayer in the Oval Office regularly- on and off camera. People of faith have a VOICE @potus @whitehouse Faith Office. This is not just a ‘photo op’ These are Catholic Archbishops and Bishops who spent time talking with us about important issues on religious freedom, school choice, family tax credits, religious visas, and life. They are leaders within their communities and have a seat at the table
It's surprising, really, to see the White House try to say something isn't political, which shows how much upset there must be.
The furor caused Archbishop Golka, who delivered the prayer at the meeting, to issue a statement, which said:
Archbishop Golka and other bishops meet with President Trump
Archbishop James R. Golka joined fellow Roman Catholic bishops in meeting with President Trump and led a prayer in the Oval Office, asking God’s blessing upon the president and our nation. His prayer expressed gratitude for “our beautiful nation” and asked the Holy Spirit “to surround our country to protect us against any influence of evil.” With respect for the office of the president, the Archdiocese of Denver welcomes continued conversation on the sanctity of life, from conception to natural death, and the God-given dignity of every person. We invite the faithful to pray for our nation and its leaders, trusting in Christ’s mercy and guidance.
Praying for those in public office is a longstanding Catholic practice, rooted in St. Paul’s instruction to pray for all who hold authority (1 Tim 2:1-2). It is not an endorsement of any specific candidate or party.
The Bishop's statement is completely correct in what it says. The problem is that every single thing that the White House does is political, and is designed to serve the politics of Donald Trump.
The Church is engaged in the political process but should not be used.
FormingConsciencesFaithfulCitizenshipforA Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States.
I think the Archbishop's appearance at the White House was sincere and not intended to be political. I also think it was naive.
Certain Catholic and Orthodox Bishops have been seen regularly in the presnece of Donald Trump during this administration. I've held back any commentary on it, but it bothers me enormously. There is no evidence whatsoever that Donald Trump is a Christian of any kind. The evidnece is that Trump will use Christians in order to advance his cause, which is principally Donald Trump. As we've noted here there are two Christian camps in hte Trump orbit, one being far right Evangelicalism and the other being the very conservative more traditional, and indeed at least somewhat Apostolic Church influenced, National Conservatism/Christian Nationalism.
The Catholic mainstream is not really part of any of this.
People of faith have in many instances voted for Trump because of their deeply held views, which again differ enormously in the case of Apostolic Christians and Evangelicals. A lot of the Evangelicals see Trump as a Divinely appointed figure, a latter day Cyrus the Great, who will lead the United States into a position as a new Israel.
Catholics think nothing of the sort.
What a lot of Catholics think is that Trump has been uniquely effective on a selection of moral issues that are of deep concern to Catholics, abortion being one, but the fable of transgenderism being another. And frankly he has, although the role of Southern Baptist Mitch McConnell in creating a Supreme Court that eliminated Roe is seemingly underappreciated. Trump has taken on transgenderism this go around.
At the same time, he's interestingly pretty much lost interest in the other moral issues that are in the air. Homosexual marriage is something the Church condemns, but Trump's been silent on it and indeed one of the principal cabinet members, Scott Bessent, is in such a purported union. Trump's administration from time to time embraces the weirdness of pronatalism and as part of that even Catholic J.D. Vance came out for IVF, which the Church condemns.
And this two years has been a parade of horrors on other moral fronts. The administration clearly favors the death penalty, which is immoral. It's launched wars without a declaration which cannot possibly square with the Just War Theory. It's murdered people on the high seas under suspicion that they're drug runners without giving them the benefit of a trial. And it's been abusive to immigrants no matter what you think of their legal status.
And even at this late date, it seems to escape a lot of people that Trump's administration is not just odd, as Trump is odd, but that backing Trump have their own, very radical, agendas. The Evangelical far right, in quite a few instances, wants a Calvinist nation and see Trump as a vehicle to get there. National Conservatives see liberal democracy as a failure and are quasi Francoist in their outlook.
Catholics really haven't seen anything like this since the 1930s. When they last did, the Church ultimately acted against it. Pope Pius XI condemned Action française in 1926. The Church condemned the Belgian Rexist movement as a danger to the Church and the nation in 1937. Fr. Coughlin was famously silenced in 1942. It's no wonder, therefore, that a lot of people, including a lot of Bishops, are not aware of the back currents in this administration.
And they may also simply not be aware that everything Trump does is political, or perhaps more accurately, self promotional. They likely sincerely believed that this wouldn't turn into an odd photo op, but somebody should have informed them. There was no way that a gathering like this wasn't going to be used by the Trump Administration to try to suggest that Catholic Bishops are in his corner, with the suggestion being that Catholics should keep that in mind as they head to the polls.
At any rate, this seems to have already passed.
Which is a good thing.
When the Trump era ends, and it's drawing to an end now, Evangelical Protestantism is going to be very badly damaged, even perhaps beyond the point of recovery. The ignorant and scrivener lazy like to claim that Trump has "Christian" support, which is far too broad of claim and very inaccurate. Those Christians not part of the Evangelical far right do not want to be tarred with the Trump brush. The Apostolic Faiths, which have been growing as they are catholic (small c) in nature, particularly do not wish to be.
Sunday, October 25, 1936. Formation of the Axis. Martyrdom of Fr. Recaredo Centelles Abad, Ferragut Roig, María de Jesús, María Verónica, María Felicidad, Josefa de la Purificación.
Ferragut Roig was executed by a firing squad with four of daughters, the latter of whom were nuns, by Spanish Republicans for being Catholic. The daughters were María de Jesús, María Verónica, María Felicidad, Josefa de la Purificación. They were all beatified in 2001.
Fr. Recaredo Centelles Abad, his brother in law, another priest and two laymen were likewise executed.
A person should make no mistake about it. The Spanish Republicans were not democrats. They were communists.
The Rome Berlin Axis was formalized with an alliance between Germany and Italy being signed.
The Rexist March on Brussels failed.
Over 70% of Republican Spain's gold left Spain for the USSR.
Last edition:
Saturday, October 24, 1936. The Estado Novo severs relations with the Republic.
Labels: 1930s, 1936, 1936 Election, Colorado (Denver), Portugal, Railroads, Republican Party, Spain, Spanish Civil War
Best Posts of the Week of October 18, 1946 and the feral week.
The best posts of the week of October
Friday, October 18, 1946. Disaster in Laramie.
The feral week:
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Monday, October 19, 2026
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Last edition:
The Best posts of the week of October 11, 2026, and the feral and agrarian weeks.
Saturday, October 24, 2026
Going Feral: "Pot" hunting in 1946.
Going Feral: "Pot" hunting in 1946.: I've really wondered in the past on whether food shortages during World War Two impacted the amount of hunting during the war. That is,...
The same front page recalls how cattle were once shipped by rail, instead of truck as they are today.
"Pot" hunting in 1946.
I've really wondered in the past on whether food shortages during World War Two impacted the amount of hunting during the war.
That is, I've wondered if there was more of it. As in this thread:
Lex Anteinternet: So you're living in Wyoming (or the West in genera...So what about World War Two?
The Rocky Mountain News for this day in 1946 provides some interesting insight, although not about World War Two, but just after it.
Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, October 22, 1946. Operation Osoaviakhim : Operation Osoaviakhim was carried about by Soviet authorities in Germany. The Soviets rounded up over 2,500 German scientists, engineers an...
Tuesday, October 22, 1946. Operation Osoaviakhim
Operation Osoaviakhim was carried about by Soviet authorities in Germany. The Soviets rounded up over 2,500 German scientists, engineers and technicians, who had worked on German advanced technological matters, some of whom were attending a Soviet party in their honor, to be shipped to the USSR. The last of them would be returned to Germany in 1953.
HMS Saumarez and HMS Volage struck mines in the Straits of Corfu where they were demonstrating in opposition to Albanian intentions.
Answering a question I had earlier on this topic, there were in fact a lot more hunters in the field in 1946 due to the ongoing meat shortage.
The same front page recalls how cattle were once shipped by rail, instead of truck as they are today.
Last edition:
Monday, October 21, 1946. Law for the Special Establishment of Independent Cultivators
Labels: 1890s, 1895, 1940s, 1945, 1946, Agrarianism, Agriculture, Chiang Kai-shek, China, Chinese Civil War, Distributism, Japan, Japanese Empire, Occupation of Japan, Qing Dynasty, Taiwan
Ten times the regular number.
Now, that does indicate a number of things. The meat shortages of 1946 caused a ten fold jump in 1945. 1945, of course, was the last year of the Second World War. How did license issuances figure from 1940 to 1945? Was it higher than 1939?
We don't know the answer to that definitively, but we do know that at least some of that must have occured. It was a running 1945 gag in the cartoon Out Our Way, for instance.
Having said that, gasoline was rationed in World War Two December 1, 1942 until August 18, 1945 on a nationwide basis, and actually on a regional basis before that. The inability to buy gasoline would have cut against hunters being able to get out for big game, particularly for something like elk. Meat was rationed starting in 1943, but in the case of the US that was really a price control matter. In the UK, which we're not addressing, oddly enough food rationing was brought in as the British public suddenly had a lot more cash than they'd had before and were able to buy a lot more food than before, which is what brought in wartime rationing, rather than actual shortages.
Anyhow, in 1946 there was more hunting than usual, and, as the Rocky Mountain News allowed, for the "pot".
Una más, por favor. An illegal war with Cuba, 1.ª Edición.
21 de mayo de 2026
Having not really completed anything meaningful with Venezuela, other than having tasted blood and developing fondness for it, and having gotten us into an endless war with Iran we're losing, King Donny the Mad is about to launch a war against Cuba, starting with a claim that Raul Castro, age 94, must be brought to justice over a US civilian aircraft that was shot down by the Cubans in 1996.
Oh horse poop.
Some in Demented Donnie's administration have been drooling over a chance to attack Cuba since the easily manipulated narcissist illegitimately moved back into the Oval Office. Military action against Cuba has been a desire of displaced Cubans and their descendants in the US since 1959. If the US attacked the island and removed the government, Lil' Marco would claim it as a victory attributable to him, one way or another, in the 2028 Presidential campaign he's clearly running in.
That's part of the problem. Influential "Republicans" (there are no real Republicans left anymore) like Marco and the Robot Ted Cruz would do anything for a Cuba Libre other than actually live in Cuba.
Of course, with this administrations lust for territorial acquisition, as desire expressed by some imperialist Republicans going into the Spanish American War, the annexation of Cuba with the goal of making it a state, would be the more likely goal in the short term. If Trump, or Marco, pulled that off, the irony would be that it would be solidly Democratic and admitting Puerto Rico as a state would happen immediately thereafter.
Probably the only thing that's really been holding this up has been the commitment of forces to Iran, where Iran is deploying Muhammed Ali's old "rope a dope" strategy and refusing to surrender even though King Donny assures us he won and the war is over. Actually defeating Iran will require a ground invasion that even Donny, who can choke down killing schoolgirls, can't seem to muster up the will for and which the American public doesn't want. The war itself has already achieved a level of unpopularity matched by that of the Vietnam War after Tet.
But, the thought is, this will go better. . . or at least Cuban Americans will like the result.
The threats against Castro started a couple of days ago. Within the last twenty four hours China, which Trump went to and acted like a orphaned puppy, has warned the US to knock it off.
May 22, 2026
The future of Cuba belongs to the people of Cuba is terms of how they're governed, what the system looks like and so forth, but the national security threat, that's 100% something we're going to focus on because that's about America.
Marco Rubio.
What crap.
Cuba has been a Communist country since 1959 when Fidel Castro overthrow the authoritarian government there (it wasn't obvious he was Communist at first).
They have not attacked us since then.
We have, however, effectively attacked them, landing Cuban contras there in 1961.
Rubio knows this, however. His parents were immigrants from Cuba who came over before the 1959 revolution, and who actually planned on returning to the country before the Communist nature of the revolution became apparent.
And that's part of the problem here. Cuban Americans are never going back to Cuba, but they imagine Cuba Libre with the same zeal as Irish Americans imagined a Republican Ireland. In the latter case, that unthinking zeal helped contribute to decades of strife in Ireland, and here it's contributed to decades of misery in Cuba.
Efforts to force a political change in Cuba should have ceased in 1961 when John F. Kennedy withdrew air support for the Cuban contras. There was no good reason at all other than anger not to normalize economic relations with Cuba at least by the early 1980s. That's what we should do now.
Ho Chi Minh wouldn't recognize Communism in Vietnam today and, if transported from wherever his soul went to, he's be convinced that South Vietnam had won the war and reformed itself. If we weren't keeping Cuba on the trophy shelf of failures, the same would be true for Cuba.
But we live in a dangerous age. Donald Trump is desperately searching for something for Americans to remember him by (and we certainly have plenty to recall right now). Marco Rubio has the misplaced child of immigrants probable loyalty to an imaginary paradise or imaginary would be paradise.
We're cruising right back into Havana's harbor where every American military adventure to date has been a disaster.
Remember the Maine.
June 25, 2026
With Cuba, Trump had better beware of what he wishes for
What obligation does the U.S. bear toward the impoverished island prison?
October 24, 2026
Donald Trump, and perhaps more significantly Marco Rubio, are threatening Cuba again.
Trump is threatening, again, to invade the country, on the Navy's way back from Iran. The Navy would not appear to be coming back from the Persian Gulf anytime soon, really.
Rubio, however, specifically called for Cubans to align themselves with CIA operatives.
Thursday. October 24, 1946. First photographs of the Earth from space.
The first photographs of the Earth from space were taken by a US V-2 rocket fitted with a movie camera.
The News covered the prior days speech by Truman, but with an awkward headline.
Hindu mobs targeted Muslim families in riots in Bihar, India. They would continue into November, resulting in at least 20,000 deaths.
Kurt Daluege was executed at Pankrác Prison in Prague.
Last edition:
Wednesday, October 23, 1946. United Nations opens in Flushing Meadows, New York.
Saturday, October 24, 1936. The Estado Novo severs relations with the Republic.
Portugal severed diplomatic relations with the Spanish Republic.
The Zephyr was getting some press.
Last edition:
Friday, October 23, 1936. No neutrality.
Sunday, October 24, 1926. Charles Russell dies.
One of the two greatest artists depicting the American West, the other being Frederic Remington, died at age 62 in Great Falls, Montana.
Originally from Missouri, he had relocated to Montana at age 16 and worked as a sheepherder and cowboy before becoming a fulltime artist. He married Nancy Cooper in 1896 and she became his business manager. She lived until 1940, dying at age 72. The couple had one adopted son, Jack Cooper Russell.
In my view, while Russell's paintings are less dramatic, they are more authentic than Remington's, although I like them both. Many of Russell's paintings were commissioned by regional ranches in the American and Canadian Rocky Mountain West, and you can sometimes figure out who commissioned them by the brand that appears on the livestock.
Last edition:
Saturday, October 23, 1926. Trotsky and Kamenev get the boot.
Wars and Rumors of War, 2026. Part 10. Blood on our hands.
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom
Matthew, Chapter 24.
I never cut my neighbor's throat;
My neighbor's gold I never stole;
I never spoiled his house and land;
But God have mercy on my soul!
For I am haunted night and day
By all the deeds I have not done;
O unattempted loveliness!
O costly valor never won!
Marguerite Wilkinson
October 19, 2026
Russo Ukrainian War
Victim of Russian missile strike:
Mark you, John Barrasso, Cynthia Lummis, Chuck Gray. By not taking action, you are taking action.
Voters, are you voting for this?
October 20, 2026
October 21, 2026
Russo Ukrainian War
Signature of Elon Musk who is being credited with shutting down space based intelligence with Ukraine. I have my doubts. Musk may just be serving as a scapegoat. At any rate, the evet demonstrates why no man should have that much economic power.
Finger pointing is going on regarding the question on who slowed down Starshield, which impacted Ukrainian air operations this past week.
Perhaps the important portion of this story is that the US has resumed sharing intelligence with Ukraine. But who stopped it in the first place? That's not clear. President Trump denied responsibility, which would mean that if the order came from the government an underling did it and the report did not get up to the Oval Office, or that Trump is lying, or that he didn't remember what had been discussed.
Elon Musk briefly took responsibility and then clammed up about it. His doing that seems to have satisfied many but it also requires explanation. I'm not wholly convinced that story is true.
Assuming that it is wholly or partially true, that raises its own question. Starshield didn't exist all that long ago but now it's critical. If a single private person can shut it off, that person has too much power, even if its power over his own company's creation.
And now the impact of its disruption is clearly demonstrated. If we end up fighting Russia, and when we end up fighting China, the latter of which will be very soon, it'll be wiped out right at the onset of the war.
Signature of Donald Trump, here standing alone rather than over the genitals of a doodled female figure in an Epstein birthday card where you might have previously seen it.
October 24, 2026
Russo Ukrainian War
Melania Trump is being credited with securing a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine forces in Oleshky, which will begin on October 29, to allow for humanitarian relief to the small number of people trapped there.
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Labels: 2020s, 2026, 2026 Election, Abraham Lincoln, Donald Trump, Eric Barlow, Harriet Hageman, Jeff Haggit, Kenneth Casner, Lisa Kinney, Politics, Rebecca Bextel, Republican Party, Shaun Johnson
25th Amendment Watch, 25th Edition and CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist 161st Edition. The Time is Running Out Edition.
Labels: 119th Congress, 2026 Election, 2028 Election, 25th Amendment Watch List, Conspiracy Theories, Daylight Savings Time, Donald Trump, J. D. Vance, National Conservatism, Predictions, The Madness of King Donald, Zeitgeist
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