Entries for May 2009

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

If a gay marriage question is put on the California ballot in 2010, it will put the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at a seriously interesting crossroads.

It has been three or four decades since the Mormon Church chose a low profile in American politics, after its opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment, and theological hostility to black Americans, spurred an anti-Mormon backlash. The Mormons are among the most persecuted of American sects, and highly sensitive to criticism.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

I disagree with Newt Gingrich.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor's expressed belief that as a Latina who grew up in the public housing projects of New York City, she hopes she makes wiser judgments that the average white guy on the federal bench is far from a disqualifying factor—it is pretty much the best thing she has going for her.

Take away the South Bronx and what do you get: a studious Catholic baby boomer who enlisted in the meritocracy, graduated from prestigious Ivy League schools (Princeton, Yale Law) and served as a federal judge, showing considerable competence, and zero signs of legal artistry or intellectual genius.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Audacity's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, was acting in the finest Chicago tradition when he suggested that bad things might happen to the Associated Press reporter who covers President Obama if she continues to criticize White House aides who hide off-the-record.

Gibbs told the morning paper that he found it "interesting" that Jennifer Loven, the president of the White House Correspondents Association, complained about the background briefings. After all, he said, the AP had relied on unnamed sources when breaking the news that Sonia Sotomayor was Audacity's nominee to the Supreme Court.

"I'm not sure today is the day I'd make that argument," Gibbs said.

Nice business you got here, little lady. It would be a shame if anything were to happen to it.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

"It is absurd," writes Howard Gleckman, "to expect someone to clean feces from a dementia patient every day for nine dollars an hour for no benefits."

But, as anyone who has cared for an aging parent or terminally ill friend or disabled neighbor or relative knows, America's hodge-podge system of long-term care is packed with such assumptions. And some 54 million of us wrestle with them every day.

Here is one of my favorites: if you suffer a massive heart attack and need expensive medical care in your golden years, it is likely that Medicare will cover your bills.

But if you have the bad luck to contract Alzheimer's disease, it's sorry pal, you're on your own.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

President Obama did what he likes to do when his political initiatives stall—he gave a speech today.

He stood—literally—by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and defended his decisions to ban torture, and to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay.

The long-term impact of Obama's address—given in the great hall at the National Archives—will say much about his powers of persuasion. Republicans have made gains by selling brutality and fear in recent weeks.

In the short term, though, the president has already lost a round to his critics, who have succeeded at getting him distracted and defensive.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

I know I should be happy that President Obama and the U.S. car industry have joined with environmentalists to raise mileage standards to almost 40 miles per gallon.

On an intellectual level, I know that the billions of newly affluent Chinese and Indians buying cars in the coming decades will place a stunning demand on the world's supply of oil, and that polar bears are threatened by global warming.

I am glad that we are on a path toward freeing ourselves from our dependency on petro-dictators.

And I am hoping—really hoping—that there are brilliant engineers somewhere who will continue to design cars that growl, with names like Corvette, Porsche and Mustang, that will meet the new mileage requirements.

But I figure those growlers are going to be pretty pricy, and that more and more Americans will be looking at sensible hybrids and electric cars, to drive on ever-more crowded highways.

The death of the American car culture—like the demise of newspapers—is going to be a painful thing to watch.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

An op-ed perch at the New York Times is a pretty enviable slot, even in the dying newspaper industry. So when you mess up, like Maureen Dowd did the other day, you hear about it.