If You’re Going to Be the Best …

In early June, I entered a post noting that baseball is a long season, and that the Milwaukee Brewers’ performance up to that time – then the best record in the National League, with a 3+ game lead on the Chicago Cubs – would only mean something if the Brewers stood up through the summer; what would matter was where the team stood after Labor Day.

We’re now well past Labor Day.  As of today, Milwaukee has, through acquisition of additional talent and adroit use of its pitching staff, played incredibly well down the stretch; it is but two games behind Chicago for the NL Central lead while building a four and half game advantage for a post season Wild Card berth.

While it will be validating for Milwaukee to reach the postseason at any level, I’m not a big fan of baseball’s Wild Card playoff.  Unlike the NFL, where every playoff game is “sudden death,” it seems odd to me – recognizing the seasonal constraints that Major League Baseball faces when it extends its playoff period — that a Wild Card team that labors over countless series of games to reach the postseason has to win one game or be eliminated.

That said, the system is what it is.  There is, however, a way for Milwaukee to avoid the risk of a “one and done”:  win the National League Central outright.  The team has one game left with the Cubs – tonight.  If it wins, it will be only one game behind Chicago, with each team having about 15 games to play; I’ll personally like its chances of winning the Division.  If it loses, Chicago’s three-game lead in the Division – while anything can happen in baseball – will be formidable.  Chicago has already won a World Championship with primarily the same cast as it has now.

So what will it be for the Brewers?  In a phrase that all sports fans have heard countless times (which doesn’t make it less true):  If they want to Be the Best, they have to Beat the Best …

Postscript to Taking a Knee

Around Memorial Day, I did a post on “Taking a Knee,” relating to NFL players’ demonstrations during the national anthem, and it engendered as much response – pro and con, from people on both sides for whom I have the highest regard — as any note I’ve entered thus far. 

With so much in our nation and the Catholic Church worthy of discussion, I enter this now only because of an op-ed published yesterday on NBC News by former NFL player Nate Boyer, a six-year Army veteran and Green Beret with tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  Perhaps all but me are already aware of this, but Colin Kaepernick’s decision to take a knee during the national anthem as his manner for protesting police brutality toward African-American males arose as a result of a discussion with Mr. Boyer.  Apparently, the first week that Mr. Kaepernick staged his protest, he had sat on the bench during the national anthem, and Mr. Boyer had taken him to task for his apparent disrespect for the nation and our service men and women.  Messrs. Kaepernick and Boyer had their discussion not long thereafter.  I found this quote attributed to Mr. Boyer, in which he described the players’ exchange after he understood what Mr. Kaepernick was actually intending to protest by his gesture: 

“I expressed to him, maybe there’s a different way of demonstrating, where you’re showing more respect for those who laid down their lives for what that flag and anthem stand for.  I suggested kneeling, because people kneel to pray; we’ll kneel in front of a fallen brother’s grave.”

Mr. Boyer makes clear that he disagrees with what Mr. Kaepernick did, but supports Mr. Kaepernick’s right to do it.  A link to his recent op-ed is posted below.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-america-how-military-service-influenced-my-ncna906956

Link to Senior Administration Official’s Anonymous NYT Op-Ed

It is likely that everyone that has an interest has already read the anonymous op-ed piece published today in the New York Times authored by a senior political appointee of the Administration (i.e., an official that cannot be labeled a part of the President’s fantasized “deep state”).  Nonetheless, this was worth posting in the event that there is anyone having an interest that wishes to access it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html

Two Coming Tests of the Depth of Anti-Trump Sentiment

Although liberal commentators are painting a bit of a different picture this morning, I would suggest that from the national standpoint, the outcomes of the two most-followed primary contests decided yesterday went about as well for Republicans as they could have hoped.

First, Arizona:  although Democrats will be running an electable centrist Democrat, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, for Sen. Jeff Flake’s Senate seat, Rep. Martha McSally’s defeat of two avid Trumpians (Kelli Ward and former Sheriff Joe Arpaio) gives the Republicans a chance to avoid what would have been almost a certain defeat in November.  Arizona still leans Republican.  Ms. McSally seemingly provides centrists and those Republican right-moderates more comfortable with John McCain and Jeff Flake than they are with President Trump – who would either have stayed home or felt compelled to vote for Ms. Sinema over either Ms. Ward or Mr. Arpaio — a reason to stay in the Republican camp.

Next Florida:  its Governorship race is, in and of itself, less important on the national scale, but Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson is also up for re-election and might need as much help as he can get from the Democratic Gubernatorial candidate.  Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum’s upset of the more-centrist Gwen Graham wouldn’t, at this remove, seem to be what Democrats nationally would have preferred.  Mayor Gillum, while impressive (I saw him interviewed this morning) and clearly pursuing a strategy of focusing on Florida state issues rather than on President Trump, is both African-American and the farthest left of the Democratic candidates; some pundits have suggested that he won the nomination due in part to backing from Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “organization.”  Rep. Rick DeSantis, who won the Republican nomination, has wrapped himself in the President’s mantle.  It would again seem to me that in a state with certain deep conservative pockets and a significant senior demographic, centrists that might have leaned toward the moderate Ms. Graham due to their unease with Mr. Trump will now be driven back toward Mr. DeSantis due to their fear of what Mr. Gillum’s proposed policies might do to their pocketbooks.  (What can only be fairly considered race bating has already started; this morning, Mr. Santis reportedly told Fox News that Floridians shouldn’t “monkey this up” by choosing Mr. Gillum’s agenda.)  Florida’s poor and minority populations seem likely to heavily favor Mr. Gillum, but it remains to see how many turn out (and how many of those that do are able to vote; it could be a GEICO commercial:  “If you’re a Republican, you disenfranchise as many poor and non-white voters as you can … it’s what you do.”)

Two observations:

First, I would suggest that Sen. Sanders’ organization’s push for the farthest-left candidate in certain races (Mr. Gillum; Randy Bryce, the Democrat running for Speaker Paul Ryan’s seat in Wisconsin’s first congressional district — despite Mr. Bryce’s multiple past arrests including one for drunken driving and allegations that he had failed to make child support payments in a timely fashion — over a middle-aged female teacher with a cleaner resume) indicates either that he’s oblivious to the fact that the average voter is more conservative than he is, or that he’s more interested in making a stand on principle than he is in winning – a time-honored Democratic Party recipe for … defeat.  For someone that has expressed such antipathy for Mr. Trump and his policies, Mr. Sanders is arguably backing candidates that could cause centrists and right-moderates to turn to candidates that will, in the end, support the President and his agenda.

All that said:  I would submit that it can be fairly inferred that the prevailing sentiment against Mr. Trump is very deep in Arizona if Ms. Sinema wins, and/or in Florida if Mr. Gillum wins …

McCain’s Final Message

Although I suspect that most that care to have already read this, there is no better summation of America’s place in the world and current struggles than Sen. McCain’s last message.

My fellow Americans, whom I have gratefully served for sixty years, and especially my fellow Arizonans,

Thank you for the privilege of serving you and for the rewarding life that service in uniform and in public office has allowed me to lead. I have tried to serve our country honorably. I have made mistakes, but I hope my love for America will be weighed favorably against them.

I have often observed that I am the luckiest person on earth. I feel that way even now as I prepare for the end of my life. I have loved my life, all of it. I have had experiences, adventures and friendships enough for ten satisfying lives, and I am so thankful. Like most people, I have regrets. But I would not trade a day of my life, in good or bad times, for the best day of anyone else’s.

I owe that satisfaction to the love of my family. No man ever had a more loving wife or children he was prouder of than I am of mine. And I owe it to America. To be connected to America’s causes – liberty, equal justice, respect for the dignity of all people – brings happiness more sublime than life’s fleeting pleasures. Our identities and sense of worth are not circumscribed but enlarged by serving good causes bigger than ourselves.

“Fellow Americans” – that association has meant more to me than any other. I lived and died a proud American. We are citizens of the world’s greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil. We are blessed and are a blessing to humanity when we uphold and advance those ideals at home and in the world. We have helped liberate more people from tyranny and poverty than ever before in history. We have acquired great wealth and power in the process.

We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe. We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.

We are three-hundred-and-twenty-five million opinionated, vociferous individuals. We argue and compete and sometimes even vilify each other in our raucous public debates. But we have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement. If only we remember that and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country we will get through these challenging times. We will come through them stronger than before. We always do.

Ten years ago, I had the privilege to concede defeat in the election for president. I want to end my farewell to you with the heartfelt faith in Americans that I felt so powerfully that evening.

I feel it powerfully still.

Do not despair of our present difficulties but believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.

Farewell, fellow Americans. God bless you, and God bless America.

McCain Discontinues Treatment

I just read that Senator John McCain has discontinued treatment for his brain cancer.  A very, very sad day, not only on a personal level for him and his family but because I would submit that as he prepares to leave us, his nation has never been more in need of his leadership and courage.  I place this note under the “Random Thoughts” category — although I will never enter anything into this site relating to the affairs of this nation that is more integral — because placing it in the “Domestic Policy,” “Foreign Policy,” or “Politics” categories — or in all of them together — seems inadequate; I lack the category this note warrants:  “The Best America Has to Offer.”

On Bishop Morlino’s Letter, re: Recent Abuse Revelations

Madison Bishop Robert Morlino recently sent a Letter to the faithful of the Madison Diocese, addressing the recent disclosure of the abuse of children and other vulnerable victims throughout Pennsylvania going back decades.  In reading the Letter, I was initially heartened by the vehement tone the Bishop first struck in condemning abuse of children and other victims by the clergy … but then frankly appalled by the manner in which the Bishop pivoted to tie these acts to homosexuality.  I am beyond discouraged that the Bishop — as he has throughout his stay in Madison — has chosen to sow unnecessary and ill-informed divisiveness at a time when those that care about the Church need to come together as a community to address what are poisonous, systemic ills.  For a much more eloquent response to the Bishop’s letter, see the link below, called to my attention by a good friend.

https://callenharty.wordpress.com/2018/08/20/open-letter-to-bishop-morlino/

 

 

Humanae Vitae … and Child Abuse: Part II

If one intends to review this post, but has not yet read Part I (which is immediately below), I would start there.  🙂

I would suggest that to this day, many Cardinals, Bishops, and others in the Church hierarchy seem glaringly detached from the harm caused to the many thousands of children by abusive clergy over the last decades (perhaps centuries) and stunningly oblivious to the visceral reaction that parents have had across the world to the revelations.  It has seemed to me that from the first revelations decades ago, the Church’s condemnation of these atrocities has been largely pro forma … curiously antiseptic.  Many in the Leadership clearly appear to believe that if the Church issues suitable expressions of regret when necessary, and keeps its head down, things will return to normal.  They haven’t yet realized:  things are not going to return to normal – at least in their lifetimes.  They literally don’t “get” the visceral effect that these continuing scandals have had on the faithful, and the crippling impact they have had on the Church’s credibility.

Pope Paul wrote in Humanae Vitae:  “No member of the faithful could possibly deny that the Church is competent in her magisterium to interpret the natural moral law.”  Only members of the Magisterium apparently fail to recognize that due to these child abuse atrocities and the ensuing cover-ups, many of the faithful do now deeply question the Church’s competence to interpret natural moral law and its claim to moral leadership.

Despite the Church’s professions of love for the children, why did Church leaders all the way to the Vatican (that it reached the Vatican is no longer disputed) go to such lengths to cover up what has happened?

In Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul addressed priests as follows:  “[B]eloved sons … you who in virtue of your sacred office act as counselors and spiritual leaders ….”  He addressed Bishops, “… We turn Our mind to you, reverently and lovingly, beloved and venerable brothers in the episcopate ….” [My italics].

Our mothers all taught us:  actions speak louder than words.  It’s hard not to suppose that they covered up because their visceral reaction was to protect the Church and the brotherhood of priests – these were their family.  Who turns in his son? Brother?  Organization for which he has labored a lifetime?  They seem not to have heeded Matthew 18:6:  “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea …”

Ironically, August 15 – the day after the latest abuse revelations — is the Holy Day celebrating the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven, during which the Church waxes rhapsodically about the Blessed Mother’s devotion to the Lord.  I’m confident … she gets it.

A few closing thoughts to these long notes:

I am absolutely certain that the vast majority of priests do their best to serve God and the faithful.  There is no man on earth I respect more than Pope Francis.  I feel deeply for the burden that these devout clergy carry as a result of the actions of their fellow priests.  I hope – notwithstanding the fact that the abuse appears to have been rampant throughout the Church – that many had no inkling of what was going on.  For those that did know, had no authority to act, and didn’t speak:    John 8:7:  “… Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone ….”  I wasn’t in their place; assessment here seems to me best left beyond the earthly realm.

Something even the most steadfast members of the Church hierarchy would probably agree with me about:  that those that conspired to cover up these instances of abuse in order to protect the Church suffered – ironically – from insufficient faith.  The Church didn’t need their “protection.”  Matthew 16:18:  “And I say to thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

After reading this, one might ask why I remain a practicing Catholic.  Because as imperfect as its leadership can sometimes be, it remains for me … the gateway to the Almighty (I believe that there are many gateways, in and outside the bounds of Christianity; it is just that this is mine).  My feelings are best described by a character in The Vicar of Christ, one of the three best novels I have ever read:  “The Pope is the Vicar of Christ, the symbol of the universal Church.  To whom could I now turn in my old age?”