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    My March objective...







    22 September 2009

    Doug Kmiec, Attorney General for Wales… er um… Ambassdor to Malta

    CATEGORY: Emanations from Penumbras, Linking Back, Our Catholic Identity — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 3:39 pm

    Remember Doug Kmiec?   He is the Catholic law prof who says that Catholics can vote for pro-abortion politicians.

    He is now a paid operative of the Obama Administration and drawing a check from the same as Ambassdor to Malta, perhaps the most Cahtolic country int he world.  The Maltese were not terribly happy about his arrival, if you recall.  I think the words used by a major Maltese paper were "poisoned chalice".

    During and after the last presidential campaign quite a few people had the impression that Prof. now Amb. Kmiec was really angling for a special position in the administration.

    From LifeNews comes this, with my emphases and comments.

    Douglas Kmiec Calls Obama’s Pro-Abortion Stance: "My Catechism Come to Life"

    by Steven Ertelt
    LifeNews.com Editor
    September 21, 2009

    Washington, DC (LifeNews.com)—In a new interview that is certain to upset pro-life Catholics, dissident Catholic professor Douglas Kmiec continues to claim that pro-abortion President Barack Obama takes a pro-life view.

    He says he was so excited talking about abortion with Obama during the campaign that he said Obama’s views made him think his candidacy was "my catechism come to life."

    Kmiec, a former Pepperdine University law professor whose covering up Obama’s pro-abortion views during the election drew a rebuke from Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, received a reward from Obama by being named as the ambassador to Malta.

    In an interview with The Times of Malta, Kmiec recounts how he became an Obama supporter.

    "Even though there were areas of disagreement, Mr Obama pointed out the responsibility of government to provide a family wage, to care for the environment and to provide healthcare for the uninsured," he said.

    "When I thought about all these things, I thought ‘this is my catechism come to life’ because we are called to each of these things in the social teachings of the Church," he added.   ["my catechism come to life"?  Ironic choice of words, Ambassador.]

    Kmiec also told The Times of Malta of a conversation he had about abortion with Obama.

    He said Obama asked him something like, "What would cause a mother to contemplate taking the life of a child? It has to be something awful. It has to be a woman without shelter, without insurance, without the next meal on the table." [No, not always.  Usually, but not always.]

    Kmiec admitted that a pregnant woman’s financial situation is no excuse for an abortion, but supported Obama anyway. ["...but supported Obama anyway…"]

    "I prayed on this," he said, and told the newspaper that he felt he ultimately followed Pope John Paul II’s admonition that a Catholic not support a pro-abortion politician without it resulting in a move towards the pro-life perspective[Ask yourself whether John Paul II, had he been an American voter, would have voted for Barrack Obama.  Ask yourself that.  Is that what JPII meant?]

    Kmiec, as he has done before, discounts Obama’s clear pro-abortion record and immediate moves to expand taxpayer funding for abortions overseas, by claiming Obama is moving in a pro-life direction. [Of course he discounts those things!  He is receiving his paycheck from Hillary Clinton, who receives hers from Pres. Obama.]

    "Mr Obama has taken some steps towards this [pro-life position], perhaps not as fast as some would like," Kmiec concludes. [What steps are those again?]

    Kmiec also told the newspaper he has encouraged Obama to become pro-life and recalls how he told him, "How can you allow someone to terminate another person’s life? What moral authority do you have for that?"

    Obama replied: "Well, professor, not everyone sees life beginning in the same way. The Methodists see it differently, the Jewish faith in part sees it differently."

    "If I am elected President," he told Kmiec, "I am President of all these people."  [So… it doesn’t matter what the truth might be.]

    That, apparently, does not include the millions of women and unborn children who will be victimized by abortion on his watch.

    Good for you, Ambassador.

    Enjoy that paycheck.

     
    icon for podpress  Ambassador to Malta: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

    • • • • • •

    15 Comments

    1. “My Catechism… My catechism,” and that’s what’s wrong with his whole view. Fr. Z, I smiled at the Wales comment, my thoughts exactly. I love that movie. He needs our prayers now most of all, both of them do.

      Comment by Torpedo1 — 22 September 2009 @ 4:19 pm
    2. Malta is a very small country. I wonder if Kmiec gets a lot of dirty looks when he’s there. But, following the same train of thought as Father Z., as long as the check clears the bank, I guess it’s a small price to pay.

      Comment by TNCath — 22 September 2009 @ 4:30 pm
    3. Ah yes Dr. Kimec, let’s not let truth and principle get in the way of practicality. Bozo

      Comment by EXCHIEF — 22 September 2009 @ 4:32 pm
    4. John Paul II’s admonition that a Catholic not support a prolife polition, “without it resulting in a move towards the prolife perspective” one could take that statement, as a Catholic and vote for Obama, the majority of the modern intellectually elite, catholics did. Where ambiguity in language is, pure Truth loses out.

      Comment by ssoldie — 22 September 2009 @ 4:57 pm
    5. He said Obama asked him something like, “What would cause a mother to contemplate taking the life of a child? It has to be something awful. It has to be a woman without shelter, without insurance, without the next meal on the table.”

      Or, you know, something awful like being the daughter of two wealthy and influential parents when you happen to be “punished” with a pregnancy, as he suggested about his own daughters.

      Comment by Aaron — 22 September 2009 @ 5:21 pm
    6. There is no justification for supporting pro-abortion candidates. Ambassador Kimec should be ashamed for his support of BHO, and I hope that he gets the appropriate smack down.

      However, this paragraph gave me pause: “Even though there were areas of disagreement, Mr Obama pointed out the responsibility of government to provide a family wage, to care for the environment and to provide health care for the uninsured,” he said.

      Oh, really? There is no individual responsibility? No concept of subsidiarity? That’s not the Catechism “come to life”.

      Spinning to justify support for abortion is inexcusable, but thinking that government is responsible for our needs scares me.

      Comment by Brian Day — 22 September 2009 @ 5:39 pm
    7. I still remember listening to Mr. Michael Davies give a talk, and he mentioned this clip from A Man For All Seasons when St. Thomas More says, “It profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world…...But for Wales?”

      Davies, being a devoted “Welsh peasant” added, “My, if there was anything on earth to give your soul for, it’d be Wales.”

      R.I.P., good sir.

      Comment by RichR — 22 September 2009 @ 6:10 pm
    8. puuuuuk

      Sorry ‘bout the mess. I’ll clean it up, but I gotta go take a kmiec first.

      Comment by Sean P. Dailey — 22 September 2009 @ 8:05 pm
    9. I sincerely hope he can do little harm in that country. He is causing confusion and scandal, however. Such people weakened the Church. And, if someone could please explain to me why so many Catholics love Obama? I am surrounded by priests, nuns, elderly daily Communicants, etc. who think Obama is the greatest. I need an explanation for this falling for deceit.

      Comment by Supertradmom — 22 September 2009 @ 8:10 pm
    10. What steps has Obama taken toward a pro-life stance? I’m confused.

      Comment by Agnes — 22 September 2009 @ 9:35 pm
    11. Supertradmom,

      I am one of the Catholics who voted for Obama – which I now think was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Without actually “saying” it (I went back and reviewed what I thought I heard at the time – God bless the internet), he persuaded me that (a) he was only pretending to be pro-abortion to get votes from the far left of the Dems and (b) after he fixed the economy, there would be no reason for any woman to want or need an abortion. Pffffffft!

      He is a good speaker and I was an idiot. Hope this helps because I think a lot of people drank the KoolAid like I did. The ones who still support him, I can’t explain.

      And that really irritates me about Malta because I have been seriously considering moving there because they are a Catholic country.

      Comment by isabella — 23 September 2009 @ 1:32 am
    12. Thanks for your testimony isabella and those of us who smelled the bs early and have been screaming the warning about it should take note because we can come on pretty strong and assume that Catholics only voted for Obama out of ideologically sleazy motives. Many Catholics were simply bamboozled by a master of bamboozling.

      Comment by Scott W. — 23 September 2009 @ 5:18 am
    13. “What would cause a mother to contemplate taking the life of a child? It has to be something awful. It has to be a woman without shelter, without insurance, without the next meal on the table.”

      Oh yeah? Like in the UK, where the government has a statutory duty to house parents with young children, a welfare system that gives you more money if you have children, and a comprehensive free health service – yet we still have about 200,000 abortions a year (vs about 700,000 live births).

      Comment by RichardT — 23 September 2009 @ 6:50 am
    14. Thanks for your honesty, Isabella. It was so frustrating during the election, with so many people thinking Obama had beliefs and intentions exactly opposite the ones he expressed through his writings and his votes, because he was so good at getting people to project their own wishes onto him. As he said in Audacity of Hope, “...I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.” Apparently it’s still working for Mr. Kmiec.

      Comment by Aaron — 23 September 2009 @ 8:50 am
    15. “Even though there were areas of disagreement, Mr Obama pointed out the responsibility of government to provide a family wage, to care for the environment and to provide healthcare for the uninsured,” he said.

      It’s hard to believe that Kmiec was in the Reagan White House.

      As I’ve said before here, Kmiec is an example of a very prominent American phenomenon—he thinks that his law degree qualifies him to speak on every issue.

      “When I thought about all these things, I thought ‘this is my catechism come to life’ because we are called to each of these things in the social teachings of the Church,” he added.

      I think he’s confusing Catholic Social Doctrine with Bismarck’s philosophy of govt.

      The primary responsibility of every government is to preserve Justice, both foreign and domestic. Of course, it is good that a decent wage and health care be available to all and that the environment be protected. (We know that there can be tension between the first and third.)

      I was once in favor of a govt provided option for those who for various reasons (low income, pre-existing condition) did not have health insurance. The Dems, however, have spent so much time spinning fairy tales about how it would be financed, then blaming the insurance companies and doctors for rising health care costs that they have all but blown the opportunity.


      He said Obama asked him something like, “What would cause a mother to contemplate taking the life of a child? It has to be something awful. It has to be a woman without shelter, without insurance, without the next meal on the table.”

      If Obama thinks that, then he is one naive dude. (Such an economic argument was the basis for slavery). And if Kmiec believes him, then he is just as gullible.

      I have known a couple of women who told me they had abortions. Neither was without shelter or without insurance, and both were well fed.

      Comment by robtbrown — 23 September 2009 @ 10:07 am

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