Res Publica et Cetera

Res Publica et Cetera to go on indefinite hiatus

2007-11-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been two weeks since I last posted so it's about time I made it official: this blog will be on hiatus indefinitely. Why? Mainly real life stuff combined with my no longer finding blogging and participation in combox free-for-alls on other blogs as much fun as I used to. The blog, of course, will stay up, as will the Haloscan comments, though I have switched the comments over to moderation so new ones won't show up unless I approve them (I probably won't be checking too regularly). To all my regular readers: thank you. It's been fun. But now I feel its time for me to close up shop, at least for the near future, and move on to other things.

If I were an atheist...

2007-10-18T19:03:00.000-07:00

I would be very much ashamed that the only representative of my religio-philosophical viewpoint is a jerk like Pete Stark.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

2007-10-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

Bush & Clinton Forever!! Hat tip to The Corner.

Yeah! That's how Rudy can solve his problems!

2007-10-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

He can have McCain as his running-mate. Sure, that'll do it.

Adventures in intellectual property

2007-10-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

The Royal Canadian Mint is demanding that the city of Toronto pay them for using the picture of the Canadian penny and the words "one cent" in the city's ad campaign.

Judges, Bishops, and Communion

2007-10-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

On a Vox Nova thread about interdicting pro-abortion Catholic politicians, the issue of withholding communion from judges came up. Here's what DarwinCatholic had to say:

I think you will find conservatives, myself included, all too willing to see Roberts excommunicated should he actually rule to keep Roe v. Wade. The thing is, he hasn’t, nor has he said with any clarity that he would. Indeed, both those who want to see Roe gone and those who want it to stay seem to agree he is highly likely to vote to overturn it.

Thus, when you say that Roberts should be sanctioned, you come off as sounding strictly partisan rather than actually having strong pro-life feelings.
Had Kennedy’s bishop excommunicated him back at the time of PP v. Casey, I certainly would not have had a problem with it.

I must say that I think this is a horrifically bad idea. Not only would it mean punishing a justice for (as far as the bishop knows, secular law not being within his area of competence) doing his job honestly and correctly, it would give Schumer and co. a good reason to hang a "No Serious Catholics Need Apply" sign over the SJC. I'm not sure I'd blame them much if Catholic jurists had to choose between abusing their power to come to Catholic-friendly conclusions they think the constitution doesn't support, resigning, or being excommunicated/interdicted whenever their bishop took a firm stand on a case.

Given the choices, resignation is obviously the best one. So, if Darwin's idea were to be put into practice, being a judge would become one of the growing list of jobs Catholics shouldn't take. If that turned out to be the case the country would be much worse off for it.

John Podheretz raises the Perot specter re: Rudy and

2007-10-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

the possibility of conservatives bolting. Saith the Pod: "The purifiers really do face a very stark reality going forward — if they pull the trigger against the GOP and the Democrats win by not much, they will bear the responsibility for the election of someone who will be worse for their issues."

Me: Nothing would give me more joy than to take credit for Rudy getting beat without actually having to actively support Hillary in any way. In the long run at least he is worse for my issues.

Re: the news out of the UK today

2007-10-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

It appears that Gordon Brown doesn't read the papers after all.

Hillary should be worried, very worried

2007-10-06T02:07:00.000-07:00

McAuliffe has apparently already declared victory for her campaign.

Not to put stock in what Chris Matthews says...

2007-10-04T22:57:00.000-07:00

but if this is anywhere close to true, the Bush administration would be better off run by a thousand monkeys typing at a thousand typewriters:

“Not so this crowd,” he added, explaining that Bush White House officials -- especially those from Vice President Cheney's office -- called MSNBC brass to complain about the content of his show and attempted to influence its editorial content.

Ethical and constitutional issues aside, putting pressure on the third place cable news network that makes its living by giving leftists, sometimes fringe leftists (e.g., Olbermann, particularly his coverage between the 2004 election and Bush's second inauguration), top billing is so profoundly stupid that words fail me. The thought that they would be so idiotic is a truly frightening concept. As is the fact that the last six and a half years have made me think that the charge isn't obviously a slander.