News Cut: November 14, 2007 Archive

A Catholic voter's guide

Posted at 11:29 AM on November 14, 2007 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)

Catholic bishops issued a statement today that made it pretty clear how Catholics should vote in the 2008 elections: Catholic. This isn't exactly new; it repeats similar instructions made every election year since 1976.

When you think Catholic and politics, one often thinks "abortion." But it's not that simple.

Operating under the directive that a Catholic should vote Catholic principles, Catholics are faced with finding a candidate who (among other things):

* Is against abortion, euthanasia and embryonic stem cell research
* Wants out of Iraq
* Opposes the death penalty and use of torture
* Supports providing basic needs including -- wait for it -- health care.
* Is against an "unjust" immigration policy (whatever that is)

There is, of course, no candidate who fits that description currently running for president. And there is no guideline for resolving the conflicts Catholic voters will face. They will, if they vote at all, be forced to ignore the teachings they're being asked to follow.

The document also warned against partisanship. "As Catholics, we should be guided more by our moral convictions than by our attachment to a political party or interest group. When necessary, our participation should help transform the party to which we belong; we should not let the party transform us in such a way that we neglect or deny fundamental moral truths," the document says.

Not addressed -- specifically -- in the document, though, is the question of whether a Catholic running for office with views different from the teaching of the church, is a real Catholic, and whether that politician should be allowed communion in the church.

In Minnesota's last election, the "Catholic vote" (as prescribed by the bishops) wasn't evident. Catholics, in fact, voted more often for DFLer Amy Klobuchar (56%) over Mark Kennedy (40%), than Protestants (51% to 46%), according to exit polling.

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Justice served

Posted at 12:28 PM on November 14, 2007 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)

Judge Roy Pearson is out of a job.

He's the guy who sued a dry cleaner in Washington because they lost his pants and had a sign in their window that said "satisfaction guaranteed."

Pearson wasn't satisfied, so he sued -- for $67 million, or roughly the value of 83,750 new pants.

After months of the legal battle, the owners of the dry cleaner shop gave up, and went out of business, and Judge Pearson went on being a judge, but apparently not satisfying his boss, the D.C. Commission on Selection and Tenure of Administrative Law, which has voted not to reappoint him.

He lives on, however, as the poster boy for tort reform. Pants optional.

(Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

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A tale of two teachers

Posted at 5:31 PM on November 14, 2007 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)

In Mesa, Arizona, Engligh teacher and cheerleader coach Cristina Mallon has been forced to resign after a YouTube video showed her performing a "seemingly harmless cheer with pompoms." She got suspended and then bounced after a complaint that a book she assigned -- Jake Reinvented -- was inappropriate. So, she's gone.

In Huntsville, Arkansas, teacher Jerick Hutchinson was scheduled to make a presentation to students on how to skin a raccoon, but the parent who was to bring the coon in, brought in a live one in a trap. So Jerick took the raccoon out back and killed it with a nail gun. He stays.

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