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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowOne of Indiana’s Republican U.S. senators has endorsed the nomination of Democratic former Sen. Joe Donnelly as the country’s ambassador to the Vatican.
Sen. Todd Young offered his congratulations to Donnelly in a Twitter post on Saturday, a day after the White House announced President Joe Biden would nominate Donnelly for the position that requires Senate approval.
“Joe is a devout Catholic and longtime public servant, and I know he will serve our nation well and represent the best of our Hoosier values,” Young’s post said.
Donnelly served six years in the U.S. House from a South Bend-area district before winning election to the Senate in 2012. He lost his 2018 reelection bid to Republican Mike Braun.
Donnelly has bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Notre Dame, where he has been a part-time professor while also working for the Washington law firm Akin Gump.
Notre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins called Donnelly “an ideal choice to represent the United States at the Vatican.”
“He will bring to this role a deep understanding of the issues currently facing our nation and the world, a genuine Catholic faith and an understanding of the role the Church can play in our world,” Jenkins said.
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I had the opportunity to meet Sen. Lugar on several occasions decades ago; one thing he said that has stuck with me is that the Senate’s responsibility is to “let the President have his team.”
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I’m glad Sen. Young seems to see things that way (sometimes).
Lugar was primaried out of office due to applying that theory to Supreme Court justices.
The thought that … that Senate seat has gone from Dick Lugar to Mike Braun is just sad all around.
No, Lugar lost the primary because he lost touch with Hoosiers. He didn’t have a residence in the state and stayed in hotels when he came back to Indiana. Lugar voted, claiming under oath he lived at a house he moved out of 30 years earlier. That’s not legal. Was it really too much to ask that Lugar maintain a residence in Indiana if he was going to represent Indiana in the Senate?
Mike Pence did the same thing (voted in Indiana, claiming he lived in the governor’s mansion after his time as governor) and the same people hammering Lugar were silent. And, turns out it is legal.
“For voting purposes, a person does not lose their residence in a precinct if they are away serving “on the business of the United States,” according to Indiana law and the Indiana constitution. ”
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2020/10/23/mike-pence-indiana-governors-mansion-vote-election-2020/3740604001/
Yes, you could say Lugar lost touch. You could also say that Indiana Republicans lost their mind from 2009 on didn’t value someone good with foreign policy to represent Indiana to the US and the World. And Lugar, rather than sell out like the Lindsey Graham and Chuck Grassley’s of the world, stayed true to himself and his values.
There’s a reason that Todd Young (reportedly a Marine, if you’ve ever heard him speak) tries to play in the foreign policy space while also saying just enough stupid things to keep those base voters thinking he’s “in touch” with them. It’s because the Dick Lugar’s of the world will continue to be well though of decades for now for what they accomplished, as opposed to the Braun’s and Banks’ of the world who are just doing performative gymnastics out there for their voters, waving a little ribbon around to the roar of the crowd.
What a sad joke. These pro abortion Dems self-proclaiming themselves as devout Catholics. Same goes for these hypocritical clergy like the president of Notre Dame.
Sure, just like the “pro-life” folks who care not one whit about a child once they are born.
Fighting improved access to contraception and sex education in schools so there are less unplanned pregnancies.
Fighting improved day care options.
Fighting better schools.
Fighting improved health care.
Fighting cleaner water/air for all of us to breath so we can live longer, healthier lives.
Refusing to work to abolish the death penalty.
But, sure, please keep telling us about your respect for life.
Indeed, John M., and spot-on, despite Joe B’s predictable nonsense reflecting his wholesale misunderstanding of the Right to Life movement.
I don’t misunderstand any of it, Bob. I grew up immersed in it, raised by fundamentalist religious folks while I listened to Rush Limbaugh every day. So I understand fully the hypocrisy of many in the pro-life movement. Go on and refute what I have to say, intelligently. Because when you don’t reply, the implication is … you’ve got nothing but “nonsense”.
I will say that some Catholics at least will go out to Terre Haute and protest federal executions. At least they’re consistent on that front.
You want to ban abortions and stop there, thinking that will solve the problem, ignoring the history of how we got to legalized abortion and just deluding yourself that history wouldn’t repeat itself with more back alley abortions because … why? Why will history not repeat itself?
I want to learn from that history and reduce the demand for abortions with contraception and sex education and reducing the cost to raise kids and other programs to make adoption a better option. Because less unplanned pregnancies, best I can tell, will lead to less abortions.
I am Roman Catholic and I was taught to never question someone’s Catholicism as we never know what is in someone’s heart. John, I will not question your Catholicism as I don’t know what is in your heart, but I hope it is love in the name of Christ and not hate.
To be clear, Joe B, as to the death penalty:
It is the God-power to the government to execute those convicted of murdering someone, and they should do so as a deterrent to those who might be thinking about committing that heinous crime, as well as relieving society of those who have shown such a blatant disregard for the life of others. With today’s DNA and such, proof is even more readily available than it has been in the past.
Further, it is not society’s responsibility to provide contraception to children and instruction as to how to use it. “Access to contraception” in the schools? Do you have a daughter? Do you want her to be provided with that outside of your supervision?
As you your other silliness, “fighting” against improved health care? What a nonsensical, wholesale accusation…ditto “fighting” against cleaner water and air, and “fighting” against better schools? Just silly, period, to paint the entire pro-life movement with such a broad brush.
You are over the top. (Good to hear you grew up with what sounds like it might have been a proper upbringing. Too bad it didn’t “stick.”)
Yes, Bob, and innocent people are still executed. Better to lock people up for life with no parole (it’s cheaper) than to kill one innocent, no?
Not society’s job to provide contraception? There are more and more single parents out there and kids raising themselves, and all you’re doing is leaning into increasing that cycle… you’re asking for polices that lead to more unplanned pregnancies, hence more demand for abortion. Think that through. What are you proposing to break that cycle? How serious are you about getting rid of abortion?
Do you really think overturning Roe v Wade will stop abortions, and then you can walk away and unfurl a big Mission Accomplished banner? Most Americans are OK with abortion. How are you going to reach their hearts and minds by doubling down on more restrictive laws that ban all abortions in all cases, even if it means the mother dies?
The pro-life movement sold out their Christian faith for anti-abortion judges and laws, and have sat on their hands as a host of Republican policy proposals that hurt people have passed thanks to their voters. That’s what they will have to answer to someday … if you believe Matthew 25:31-45. I don’t think the phrase “but I was against abortion!” would have changed anyone’s eternal outcome. (Wait until they have to explain the refusal to wear a mask.)
I missed all those faith leaders speaking up to stop the “repeal and replace” lie that would hurt millions, but they’re sure quick to speak up about passing another abortion law. Wonder why that’s the case.
If you’ve actually read the Bible, and paid attention to what Jesus is saying and taken it to heart, you’d see that both political parties have gotten things right and gotten things wrong on their approach to life. But when you throw in with one party and become their hacks … people see the hypocrisy. Maybe that’s why church pews everywhere are emptying out and faith leaders have no influence in America any longer.
None of this is silliness or over the top. Proper upbringing? I’m just glad it was long before the Fox News era… but even then, I thought Stan Solomon was a jerk.
Joe B. I think you missed the point some of us are making about the phony Catholics out there like Biden, Donnelly & Pelosi. They live for their politics, not their faith.
No, John. I got your point. You ignored mine. Pro-life should mean you support polices that value the ENTIRE life of a person.
If Democrats are hypocrites for their support for abortion, then Republicans are hypocrites because they fail to value a human life once it exits the birth canal across a range of policy choices they’ve made that I listed.
That is an uncomfortable thought that people who value their faith should sit with… the possibility they’ve betrayed their faith for earthly power. On both sides.
They are politicians, not faith leaders.
“Separation of Religion & State”
Many of the flock have given up on faith leaders and instead have put their faith in politicians. Considering what they’re being fed, it’s not at all surprising.
“In 2019, 19 of Facebook’s top 20 pages for American Christians were run by Eastern European troll farms overseas, internal documents leaked to MIT Technology Review reveal. The data shows the vast spread of Facebook misinformation is largely powered by coordinated efforts among foreign professionals working together to spread provocative content in the U.S.”
“Our platform has given the largest voice in the Christian American community to a handful of bad actors, who, based on their media production practices, have never been to church,” wrote the report’s author, Jeff Allen, who used to be a senior-level data scientist at Facebook.
https://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/tech-gaming/almost-all-of-facebooks-top-christian-pages-are-run-by-foreign-troll-farms/
Joe, it’s absurd to compare unborn human life with someone who is a convicted murderer. Not even remotely the same thing.
Yes, it seems that way. But life is sacred. Leave the murders in prison for life and throw away the key.
Democratic policy supports abortion at any stage of pregnancy up until birth. If you support the destruction of a developing human life, then I can’t argue with you, it’s on your conscience. Just don’t hide behind slogans such as “My body, my choice.” The fetus is a developing human being with separate DNA from it’s mother. It doesn’t just majically become human on the day of birth.
I also take offense at the statement that Republicans do not care about life after birth. We may not feel that more government is always the solution to every problem. I volunteer for several organizations that assist people in need and I can definitely state that there are just as many Republicans (if not more) as opposed to Democrats who work at these organizations.
The current push includes removing exceptions for rape, incest, or even the life of the mother. Explain that.
Yes, I volunteer too. Volunteer organizations are continually overwhelmed with needs and cannot reach everyone. I’ve yet to see the resultant increase in volunteerism from the few remaining churches or civil organizations to meet the excess demand… nor any evidence of the ideal that individuals will meet social needs in the absence of the government. People are just asking for NO ONE to help, frequently because “those people” are to blame for their situation and that matches the Puritan streak that’s always been present in America.
For the record, Joe Donnelly was pro-life when he was in the Senate.
He supports a pro abortion president to get the job. That doesn’t make him pro life. He is not a Catholic in good standing.
The Catholic Church has always made saving the life of the mother an abortion exception although in reality, abortions to save the life of the mother are very rare. All I ask of pro-abortion advocates is that they be honest in what they are supporting, the destruction of developing human life. Abortion is not women’s healthcare. It is a procdure that destroys a developing human.
As someone who wants minimal abortion, I’d like anti-abortion advocates to be honest – most of them honestly don’t care about the babies or the women. Because they fight all kinds of things that would reduce the demand for abortion – be that better sex education, more access to contraceptives, or reducing the cost of raising a child.
They simply think if they ban abortion, there will never be another abortion. Which ignores why we ended up with legalized abortion to begin with and is yet another example of ignoring history and refusing to learn from it.
The change in the status quo has been the introducing of abortion laws from anti-abortion advocates who are pushing to that remove exceptions for the health of a mother, along with exceptions for rape and incest.
Explain that, Paul.