Monday, May 04, 2015

Misc.

The new chair of the NM Democratic Party just went ahead and said it today in an Albuquerque Journal OpEd.  Debra Haaland outed the Journal after they attacked the two highest democratic elected state officials for engaging in politics.  Oh my!   My hats of to Ms. Haaland for being unafraid to call the editorial crew at the Journal rightwing.

Mayor Berry has hired Erin Gentry, the wife of Legislative Republican Leader and bad boy Nate Gentry to try and help him communicate better.  I don't know her and she may be very good at what she does.  If she is then lets hope the she makes the Mayor understand that he has to appear on camera once in a while at something other than reading to kids at a grade school.  Of course he learned that from the Governor.  This aversion to dealing with the press is starting to erode his credibility and I assume that he knows it and that is why he brought someone in to help.  One can only wonder if the Governor's aversion to answering questions will ever start eroding her reputation.

The old Archbishop Sheehan, who recently resigned, just couldn't help himself yesterday when he weighed in on Gay sex in another oped.  He said it wasn't a sin to be gay, just a sin to have gay sex.  I am so glad he is gone.  Now he can move into a new house that was purchased for him by the archdiocese on the west side bluffs of the Rio Grande in Albuquerque.  Since it was purchased for him by the church there will be no property tax payed on the residence.  It is just down the street from the other church owned home that he live in while on active duty.  This money is all spent while many churches are in disrepair and many priests and nuns struggle in retirement.  Also, while the church pleads it has no money to compensate victims of pedophile priests.  Very sad.


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

My my another mouthpiece. Just what are we paying our mayor to do, doesn't comment, doesn't show up during any crisis, and is Aways out of town, all he needs is a shovel to lean his chin on. I'm so glad the Republican establishment convinced ABQ that we needed a second dose of the Berrywinkle regime. We are so happy to be last in all the important poles, just can't imagine how we could be any better off. Let's sign a petition to give him a raise and to hell with better services, safer streets, more parks etc. at least we can brag that we are LAST in the land of mañana. Jim I bet some of your detractors are singing "baby comeback"

Anonymous said...

In other words:

1. It's OK to be greedy in practice just not in your mind.

2. It's OK to be gay in your mind just not in practice.

"You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matthew 7:5

"Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys." Luke 12:33

Anonymous said...

What else is an outgoing Archbishop supposed to say. Last time I checked, this has always been the official position of the Catholic Church on homosexuality. I guess you would be happy if they moved him into the tent city. I have not seen a lot a of recent news about the pedophile lawsuits and the church not having money to pay them. I know that new churches are still being built. Time for you to stop bashing on the church and come up with something more productive to do with your time. We get it you're an atheist. Science has all the answers. Blah, blah blah. Nothing wrong with the Catholic Church retiring their bishop in whatever way that they see fit.

NM to the Bone said...

State Auditor Tim Keller directed the city council last night -- you can watch it at the Gov TV webpage starting at 16 minutes in -- he stayed for 30 minutes BUT NONE of the local TV stations or the newspaper covered his statement to the city council. The Associated Press covered it but the others had sparse coverage at best. Ask yourselves: When was the last time that the State Auditor personally attended a city council meeting to warn them about the illegal events happening on their watch? Never.

I watched the full 30 minutes and was impressed again by Auditor Keller's candor and willingness to discuss his report with the city council.

NOT ONE comment from Berry or the new city attorney Hernandez about the Auditor's report.

Notably - the City Inspector General was also present but she had to say that the Board that oversees the OIG would not sign off on the report without some changes. No word on whether those changes will occur.

Mr. Keller did say that his office delayed the release of the report for a week to accommodate the OIG internal process but they were disappointed with the OIG's last minute decision not to co-release the reports.

Simply amazing.

Anonymous said...

Re Anonymous comments on the Archbishop.

You ask, What is the archbishop supposed to say? What other archbishops say when they're trying to influence other people whether it be the public or the church and its "official position", as the current pope is doing and as those who disagree with him are doing as the ongoing struggle over the "official position" of the church continues and as that position evolves and changes as it has always done. He could say what's in his heart and let the chips fall, as apparently he has done. He's arguing for church position to remain that he can sit in judgement over people and sort them into categories he deems worthy and worthless according to his prejudices.

Also, it's not that there's a choice between living in a tent and living in ostentatious luxury in a high priced location with maids and servants, but between all options available.

True, the church has the ability -- different from "the right" -- to do what it wants with the money its flock innocently puts in its collection plates having been led to believe it's going to do good, and by doing good get them an inside track to heaven.

To say that there "nothing wrong" with the clergy running the church like a racket to give themselves the perks and privileges other mortal humans covet is just an argumentative technique.

Their leader, the Jesus Christ of the Bible, who they are supposed to be trying to emulate, actually did live in the tent cities of his day, but Catholic Church leaders choose not to pick up their crosses and follow him. In that regard I would think there's something very wrong with "retiring their bishop" and themselves as they do.

Anonymous said...

I don't think the church will ever change its position on homosexuality.(Just my opinion.)The church does have the right to decide how it wants to retire its leaders. How do you know which leaders of the Catholic Church emulate and don't emulate Christ? You and Jim just like to take potshots at the church whenever you get the opportunity. Archbishop Sheehan has restored credibility to this diocese. The pedophile scandals were horrible, but they are in the past. Time to move on.

Anonymous said...

The priest in Boston during much of the period when abuse occurred (the modern rampant pedophilia) was moved to Rome's Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. Bernard Francis Law.
I visited Rome in 2009 and to learn of this the day we visited the basilica did cloud my perspective. I was disgusted instead of in awe of the history and art there.
"Law was influential in the first English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the 1980s. In addition, he is also known for issuing reports maintaining that Freemasonry is incompatible with Roman Catholicism. Law later resigned as Archbishop of Boston on December 13, 2002, allegedly in response to the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal after church documents were revealed which suggested he had covered up sexual abuse committed by some Catholic priests within his archdiocese."

Kayla Krattiger

Pope John Paul II appointed Law as Archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome in 2004..."

Anonymous said...

Re anonymous defender of the archbishop.

I understand your defense of the Catholic clergy, but it's not picking on the church to point out that it, like any other profession, has elements of a racket to it.

Just look at what any profession does. One of its prime functions is to ensure the survival of the profession. They create associations, lobby, get laws passed. That's human nature. When someone tries to build something with scab labor the union is out there picketing. Architects and construction contractors have gotten it written into state code that you have to get signed off by that profession before you get your permits, even if you know perfectly well how to do those things.

Likewise, the Catholic Church has set it up so that it's the only gateway to heaven, and the church sets it up to take care of the clergy financially in other ways, like in retirement.

There's no "right" there. There's the ability to, the power to.

The dictionary defines a "right' as "that which is morally, legally, or ethically proper".

All of those are simply what people in positions to dictate decide them to be. The "inalienable rights" of the Constitution are simply what they decided them to be. We can agree or disagree. We decide in our own conscience what's right and wrong, what's a right and what's not one.

When a number of people agree on those things you have a society. The pipefitters union, electricians, the American Institute of Architects, work to convince the other members that they have rights, as does the clergy, and if we agree, they have them.

The reason the powers that be get so freaked out when masses of people are in the streets is that the consensus, the agreement over what's right and wrong, threatens to unravel. That consensus is in many ways imposed because of power. Or by moral persuasion. Or whatever. But it's an abstract thing. It exists only in our minds. You think the clergy has certain rights, I don't. Who decides? The majority. We're arguing over it here, trying to persuade others that there are or are not certain rights.

There's a body of reasons to justify what the church does, just like there's a body of reasons I have for why I can walk down the street and not be beat up or arrested at the whim of some cops or charged a fee.

You accept those reasons for the clergy and for free movement on faith, I don't. That's fine, but I'd prefer you list some of them instead of just asserting that the right exists, period.

Anonymous said...

Law didn't just leave his post as Cardinal and move to Rome for a new position. He effectively fled the country so as not to be compelled into testimony in front of a Grand Jury and/or indicted and tried for his complicity in abuse by his clergymen. The Vatican appears to be fine with this. Law has not returned to the States since leaving in 2002.

Anonymous said...

Details on Bernard Law, thank you Anonymous.
It's just
Icky.
Krattiger

Anonymous said...

Bubba - I guess we just disagree. The dictionary definition of right supports my statement that the church has a right to retire its Bishop in any way that it wants. Legal, Ethical , or Moral. Definitely no laws violated here.The majority of Catholics in the dioces don't seem to have a problem with it.
Seems like you have way too much time on your hands to get your panties in a twist over what the church has a right to do or not to do.