. . . all right, enough cheering. I see they caught a pic with a tear rolling down the President-elect’s cheek – probably over his grandmother just missing knowing of his electoral achievement. Very human of him, and a thought in both his and our behalfs. (I hope she made it to heaven - we're gonna need her help. Then again, our Lady-Mother-Queen Mary may be taking the old lady's calls until the latter gets out of Purgatory.)
MREINER16 – pull yourself together. I mourned our election results for like 4 minutes – one for each year we have no choice but this administration, such as God will have it. Two years, before we can give some of Congress some change-of-employment pink slips. We have work to do – let’s have at it.
We American voters may – quite probably – just have elected the worst nightmare we’ve ever faced in a President. Many writers see him this way. Not a single black conservative and libertarian writer, not Ward Connerly, Larry Elder, Deroy Murdoch, Star Parker, Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, Armstrong Williams or Walter Williams, has given Barack Obama benefit of any doubt.
We have the results of the vast bulk of the calculated, agenda-driven failure of American education, which leaves ‘students’ as unthinking, conforming dullards. It now glaringly shows, even in media commentators. Sadly, our bishops as teachers have long been as bad as any, as a frustrating exhibition of neglect. If they had spent the last thirty-five years making intensive, effective teaching efforts at least about life issues, Catholics may have turned this election – even the nominees picked – differently. Time and opportunity are now lost – we have 50 million casualties also lost, seemingly nearly in vain. We are left with severe and telling challenges. How long . . . how many more, O Lord, before You issue Your own teaching lessons upon us?
One pundit describes Barack Obama succinctly: “The public image of Obama as an idealistic, post-race, post-partisan, well-spoken and honest young man with the wisdom and courage befitting a great national leader is a confection spun by a willing conspiracy of Obama, his publicist (David Axelrod) and most of the senior editors, producers and reporters of the national media. . . The public will be voting based on the idealized image of the man who never was.” We have to expend prayer and effort to turn a possibly poisonous cupcake into something resembling a statesman. We have our work cut out for us.
All this is, curiously, in God’s will. Just what is God thinking? What is God’s lesson? I have to believe that, now, His will is most likely geared to what the handful of His own can do to turn things around. I can’t believe that He will wait for another 50-million-deaths (a billion, world-wide) to correct us Himself. Not only at particular judgments before Jesus Christ, all around, just what will history say of American Catholics?
As loyal children of our bishops, we can write letters that spur them to further action when they are giving us leadership and guidance, and to get them moving when they think to rest. We can address our pastors personally, of course, as charitably, helpfully and concisely as possible. We may have to volunteer to recruit volunteers to recruit yet more (and more) volunteers – not a happy thought. If you want to sink further, think about suggesting opening the parish school rooms and hall to regular post-Confirmation adult-education (at several levels, maybe more than one language). But, we may need to resort to our bishops if nothing graciously positive happens in our parishes. Just as we do not, pastors and bishops have no time to rest. Time already has us too late for too many.
As ‘loyal opposition’ or ready partners, we can write letters to our legislators in both houses at the federal and state levels. These would be about one topic each, getting to the one-typed-page point, attacking a ‘problem’, not any person(s) who are less than plainly felonious; or, likely better in order to continue to receive a fair reading every time, as possible, commend people over their handling of a problem.
Maybe, one letter a month could refer to some judicial over-reach that suggests legislative ignoring of same, and 'perhaps, time for an impeachment, or three, or seven?' Cite the erroneous, nefarious decision(s) - no names.
We might regularly carbon-copy any higher authority (party whip, branch leadership) and the corresponding executive branch. If we get no apparent results – at least, a form-letter reply to which one can further reply – a cc may need to be sent to local newspapers – not only as maybe printed as an ‘open letter’, but to subtly stir ‘investigative juices’. So, somehow, keep copies of your letters for future reference and re-issue. AND, post your best and most clever letters in the CE Politics forum to help the rest of us, if and as possible. Tax-achusetts staff, get busy on those yay-lets-repeal-the-state-income-tax letters.
All this may seem like ‘storming the Bastille’ with time, tears, perspiration, online dictionaries and thesauruses, pencils and erasers, so if you have what seem better ideas, or at least added ideas – like maybe adding figurative ball-point pens - cast-iron keyboards? - to the battering arsenal – fire away.
In all things, charity; before any thought, word or deed, devout prayer to the Holy Spirit for aid; frequent Mass and Communion, and Confession. And, NO biting or punching or cursing or – well, those last are mainly to myself.
