Despite my massive head-cold --
or maybe because of it -- I engage in......

EVIL THOUGHTS ABOUT THE MISFORTUNES
OF AN EVIL MAN

I have done my best over the years to ignore the verbal excretions of one Father Andrew Greeley, Catholic priest, cheesy pop novelist, and sociologist boil-on-the-bum of Chicago/American Catholicism. I came close to meeting him once, on vacation in Wisconsin, because he and my parents had a mutual friend, a married ex-priest. Greeley never showed, but I always considered it the sole point in his favor that, while remaining on friendly terms, he had very much disapproved of the ex-priest's bailing out of his vows, and had refused to attend the man's wedding.

In preparation for that possible encounter, I bought a volume containing three of Greeley's novels. I could only make myself get through one of them, and discovered in it yet another reason to think ill of him: it was a crappy piece of potboiler/bodice-ripper/soft-porn "romance" -- and to the perennial question, "How does a priest know so much about sex?" it gave the definitive answer, "Actually he doesn't know much of anything, especially if he thinks women get turned on by being roughed up."

Anyhoo, it obviously wasn't of vital international Catholic import that Greeley was the victim of a nasty car accident last November, because it only just came to my attention today, kind of accidentally. (Unlike when Fr. Benedict Groeschel was hit by a car -- seems like the whole Catholic world knew and fell to its knees to pray him back to health.) It seems that Greeley was getting out of a cab in Chicago, fell down, hit his head, and was dragged a bit because his coat was caught in the door. Nasty.

He was sedated into unconsciousness for quite awhile, but apparently has been up and into the rehab more recently, and is being cared for at home by family. Well, good for him.

I hadn't given the man a thought for years and years, but at some point during the election season I ran across a link to his columns written at the time. To no great surprise, he was one among that foul demographic, the Catholics for Obama. Okay, we know you're out there, and your mental gymnastics must be downright painful. What was shocking, disgusting, shameful, outrageous about his version of Obamaphilia were the newspaper columns he wrote that engaged in vicious flat-out libel against Sarah Palin (and, to a lesser extent, John McCain), and others that were filled with flat-out baseless race-baiting. Read them here (if you think it's necessary) and see if I'm exaggerating.

I have always wondered why Greeley has been able to operate unrestricted, especially as a crap novelist, under the Chicago episcopal authority -- but then, I suppose under Cardinal Bernardin anything was possible. And, as much as I like the way the present Cardinal, Francis George, thinks about most things, it doesn't appear that the creeps have been cleansed from the temple on his watch -- let's not forget the 25-year reign of the execrable Fr. Michael Pfleger.

Bits and pieces of the story -- some assembly required:

-- Greeley was hysterically enthused about the mere idea of an Obama presidency. But.....
-- Greeley believed that the Obama presidency was impossible because America is too racist
-- Greeley was utterly euphoric in the wake of the election.
-- Greeley was wearing his Obama cap when he fell and conked his head.

I report, you decide. I'm Catholic, so of course I don't believe in Karma.


Other Catholic matters:

UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
INVITES THE ABORTION PRESIDENT
TO DELIVER THE 2009 COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS

As Leno said to Hugh Grant after he got busted with a prostitute,

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKIN'????"

There's a church in Rome on the Piazza Navona called Sant' Agnese in Agone. It is said to mark the spot where the Saint Agnes was confined, naked, inside a brothel so that she could be summarily violated, because Roman law did not allow the execution of a virgin. She emerged intact [only to be beheaded later] because the miscreants inside the brothel had decided there were some lines even they would not dare to cross. Nevertheless, the name of the church tells of the AGONY of humiliation and terror she must have suffered awaiting her fate.

The upper ranks of administration at University of Notre Dame, especially its president, Fr. John Jenkins, should give a moment's thought to the insult and agony they offer to Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin for whom their institution is named, in inviting, for the purpose of honoring, as commencement speaker the man who may be the most activist political promoter of abortion and infanticide in America's history.

There have been many instances of perverse thinking over the course of the recent American election cycle, but none worse than the block of Catholic voters who pulled the lever for the Abortion President. This fetid rot at the core of the American Church now blasts its stink to the far reaches of the land by such a high-profile act of apostasy.

One retiring UND professor bemoans the situation here.

Sign, call, demonstrate the ire of the faithful here.

Dies irae, dies illa.


MISCELLANY

More from the Windy City: Gary Sinise fumes about the De Palma version of Iraq.

Further north: David Warren speaks from the Great White North, with pithy Obamanalysis.

Then down south: Mark Steyn sums up the Hopeychanger's latest Very Bad Week for Orange County (and the rest of us).

Anne Coulter tames her customary bile in a well-deserved tribute to the late Ron Silver, who died too young of cancer a few days ago. Two Hollywood scions make their contribution here.

And President Obambi's TELEPROMPTER has its own blog. Rush Limbaugh immediately puts the comic cherry on top by referring to the teleprompter as TOTUS. This, my friends, is political satire at its very finest. "Reflections from the hard drive of the machine that enables the voice of the Leader of the Free World" Love it, love it, love it.

Caller to the Limbaugh show, speaks to substitute host Mark Steyn today: "Obama doesn't want to BE president, he just wants to play one on TV."

Heh. Yeah.