Anti-Immigration Legislation in the Louisiana Congress

[UPDATE: Read LatiNola's excellent summary of the legislation in question.]

It rears its ugly head again. This time, it's obfuscated by a barrage of legislative mumbo jumbo and thrown into a larger, more sweeping piece of legislation; but the intent is exactly the same: criminalizing charity and common decency. In fact, it goes much more beyond that and its punitive dimensions are simply unconscionable. It seeks to mandate immigration enforcement practices upon local law enforcement agencies and even seeks to prevent local governments from passing ordinances that some might consider to be consistent with "sanctuary city" policies. It prevents undocumented immigrant youth from being able to attend public post-secondary institutions of higher learning. In essence, it is an effort to codify a policy that quashes any hope of what is known as the "Dream Act." It resuscitates almost verbatim the defeated langauge of the immigration measures that were proposed last year.

These SOBs. When will they ever understand. My colleagues at the Hispanic Apostolate and at Puentes once again made the trip up to Baton Rouge to protest and oppose. I wish I could have gone with them.

That was the only downer to my day.

But I have every confidence that this mean-spirited and unenforceable piece of xenophobic trash will be consigned to the legislative rubbish heap where it belongs. My gut instinct is that this bill is so expansive, and thus so rife with things that will turn off so many particular constituencies, that it won't amount to a hill of beans. For instance, the inclusion of an unfunded mandate that employers engage in a costly verification process is likely to be met with stiff resistance from the business community, even if the members of this community might support other elements of this bill. Likewise, the non-profit and social services agencies of the state, including Catholic Charities, will oppose the "harboring" and "transportation" measures of this bill, even if it supports another part of the bill. The local law enforcement agencies are likely to chaff at the mandate that they behave like immigration officials, which can even make their jobs more dangerous and more difficult, even if they support an employer verification aspect of the bill. Local governments will look at the measures of the bill that tie their own abilities to pass ordinances or enact policies at the local level that it things is best for public safety and orderliness as an undue infringement by the state on local affairs. Etc., etc. For this reason, I think the bill is essentially DOA; but one never knows in the frenzied xenophobic Tea Party atmosphere we currently live in. I'm just hearing about this monstrosity, but I will certainly post more on it as I learn more about it.

Looks like I may have to mount my own little legislative writing campaign against this bill (HB 1205) once again. If you are one of my readers, please contact your state legislator and senator and urge them to kill this unworkable, onerous, and, I say, hateful piece of legislation.

Wrapping Upchuck: 4-15-10

Tax day, the day the Titanic sunk, the day Abraham Lincoln died ...

My birthday.

42 years old.

And it was a good day.

It started with a hot cup of coffee and the Newspaper and lots of good morning hugs, kisses, and birthday wishes from my squirrelly girlies. There is something good about being the only dude in a four person family!

Also had my last day of physical therapy today. Graduated by completing a 10 minute jog on the treadmill. I'm pretty much back in the running saddle if I want to be; and I have to say it is a thrilling prospect to know that, if all proceeds accordingly from here on out, I will be running the Crescent City Classic next year. (By the way, I hope Fox News and the conservative tin foil hatters don't catch wind that New Orleans is affectionately known as the "crescent" city. They might think we've become irretrievably and horrifyingly Islamified -- you know, given that the shape of the bend in the Mississippi River that surrounds NOLA reminds one of all those crescent moons in the flags of those scary Muslim countries.)

Anywho ... back to the point ... felt great after the Physical Therapy session as I made my way across campus to the office, where I had a series of very productive meetings with some representatives from the Hispanic Apostolate's ESL program to talk about future service-learning collaborations with their programs and our curriculum. That brought me to lunch, where I was a bit late in getting over to the student cafeteria on campus for another "lunch with the Prospectives" session. Met some very nice people and had some good conversation.

Then it was back to the office to tackle some administrative stuff, that was interrupted by a mid-afternoon coffee break meeting coordinated by one of my office colleagues and involving some other colleagues from Esperanza Charter school to discuss lots of things relative to collaborating with that public charter school (whose students are more than 50% Latino) and in helping them to promote a scholarship fundraiser to help their 7th and 8th graders pay for the costs of High School. That, too, was a very productive and good meeting. I'm sure I'll be bringing more attention to their efforts in future posts.

Returned after that to the office, met with a grad student or two, and ended the workday meeting with a group of students from my own college course in order to talk about their service-learning work for the upcoming Celebracion Latina at Laurence Park (corner of Magazine and Napoleon) this coming Sunday, from 12-6pm. We're planning to reprise our semester-long Sring storytime program. Every hour on the hour starting at 12pm, we'll have an open reading of our Storytime book choices (taking the first six books on the schedule in the listed order) followed by a relevant craft. The whole day should be fun, so please do come out and bring the kids.

Then, after that meeting, I did a last minute check of my email (today was also the deadline for students we admitted to our graduate program to inform us of their final decisions), tidied up some loose ends, and then caught a ride home with my Squirrelly Girlies, where I had a wonderful birthday dinner and opened my thoughtful presents. And now I'm just lounging about catching up on my favorite blogs and winding down to another early-ish bedtime.

One thing that doing these Wrapping Upchuck posts has revealed to me is how busy and full my days are, and also how much I actually do manage to get done, even though it does sometimes feel as if I manage to get nothing done.

Oh, and thanks to my many Facebook friends for their seemingly endless litany of happy birthday wishes. It's actually quite humbling and touching.

I love my life. Peace.

The Christ of the Distended Abs

OMG!!!!!!!

Wrapping Upchuck: 4-14-10

Sluggish morning routine, partly because I stayed up later than I wanted to last night. Anyway, read the paper and got ready for work, only before heading to work, I had to head down to the 2001 Behrman Hwy. DMV to get my driver's license renewed. What I thought was going to be a piece of cake ended up as a fiasco.

Pulled the number nad within five minutes I was at the counter with my current Driver's License and my proof of insurance. I was about to take the eye exam when the DMV worker stopped me and told me that there was a flag on my license. Some "Insurance Cancellation" issue that went back to 2004. Uh-oh! I had to leave the line and spend the next few hours on the phone with various entities. First I called the state LA DMV and explained that I was being blocked. They checked my record and found out that a car that I donated to Bridge House in April of 2004 was still showing up on my record. Of course, the insurance was cancelled the day Bridge House came and collected the car. I guess the DMV never did get the information on the Title transfer. Anyway, Bridge House did send me all the paperwork for the formal act of donation; but all those receipts and paperwork were Katrina casualties. I no longer have that proof. Of course, the State is pretty useless and can give me no information on the status of the car. Their only suggestion would be to call Bridge House and see if they can recreate or find a record of the donation in their materials. I did that, and they're checking into it; but it's a long shot. In any case, there is a final way out. I can fill out a form and pay a $225 fee to the state certifying that I no longer own the car and theyn they will push a button on a computer and I'll be good to go. Funny part of the story: When I was told of this option by the nice young lady from the LA DMV over the phone, I asked her what that $225 was paying for. She replied: Why, to clear your block! I said: So, what you're saying is that if I fork over $225 and sign a paper that tells you what I've just told you, it pays for a computer button being pressed? She replied so innocently as if she was simply astonished at my stupidity: Why, yes, essentially, yes, that's what you're paying for. $225 to have someone press a button on a computer that takes about 1 second and -- viola! -- they will allow me to have a new Driver's License. Damn! It's enough to turn me into an anti-government libertarian/conservative. Where's the next Tea Party!?!?!

Anyway ... after that I mosied over to my office where I began the tedious process of composing Summer Field Research Grant award letters to a bunch of lucky grad students (and I also had to compose an almost equal number of rejection letters to a bunch of the unlucky ones). Pried myself away from this task to take a lunch break with a colleague where we talked about some heady, important stuff. After lunch, I participated in the final interview for the Runsdorf Award and completed by committee obligations for that task. With the remainder of my work day, I hustled back to the office to plug away at some of my routing administrative tasks.

At 5:30pm, I drove the truck home and picked up Squirrelly Girlie the Elder to bring her to Wednesday night dinner and fellowship at the St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church, after which we skedaddled on home. From then until now I've been chillin' with the laptop websurfing, making my blog rounds, and checking email -- though I did break away to read aloud to Squirrelly Girlie the Younger the next chapter in L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. We do that sometimes.

I'd say that I'm likely to stay up and read a bit, but my eyes are drooping closed as I write these words, so when I finish Wrapping Upchuck, I'm heading straight to bed. Hasta luego.

PS: Tomorrow I turn 42. Tax day, the day the Titanic sunk, the day Abraham Lincoln died. An otherwise good day in the annals of history! God bless!

Fetishizing "Treme"

I have just read Jeffrey's review of the new New Orleans-based TV series Treme. Before I say anything else, let me say that I read Jeffrey's piece without having seen any other reactions or commentary on it. I just checked out his blog as I sometimes do, and there it was. And I read it.

And he's right.

It's a pretty long review, but it's worth reading every single word.

Here's a particular section of Jeffrey's piece (one of many, I should add) that really resonated with me:

If Simon is saying "we" as in the culture vultures looking to sell off the last bits of the carcass, he's got a point. Five years after the flood, what is being trumpeted as a "recovery" is really just an acceleration of the same gentrification that was already underway. We are being swallowed up by Jazzfest. What we're left with is a stage where the festivals, music, food, folkways that that most of us rightfully took as sort of for-granted elements of life here, are now props arranged for mostly someone else's entertainment. And those of us who don't fit on that stage... well it isn't clear that we're really needed anymore. Spoils of war, I guess.

Let me upchuck a bit of Huck here, too, to add something to Jeffrey's overall point that, if I read him correctly, I think he would accept as a friendly amendment to the piece. I am a native-born New Orleanian, who grew up in the burbs, went to Jesuit High School, did my graduate education at Tulane, currently works at Tulane, and is raising a family in this wonderful city I call home. My folks, having deep roots in the Vic and Nat'ly culture of Arabi (mom) and Holy Cross section of the 9th Ward (dad), are about as Yat as they come. I look forward to Mardi Gras (I'm even a Thoth Krewe member); I enjoy the festival culture here; I love me a good half-n-half po-boy; and, like many others, I had to rebuild a good bit of my home following Hurricane Katrina. So, like Jeffrey, I think I have a pretty standard, authentic New Orleans life. But ... I don't go chasing after second lines and Mardi Gras Indians. I like the Jazz Fest and have been there plenty of times, but it's never been a cult experience for me (and I don't waste away lamenting the loss of a Crawfish Monica if I miss it one year or two). I always catch Mardi Gras day parades on Napoleon Ave. and don't ever feel deprived that I'm missing Zulu. And I love the Saints, but am content to watch the games on TV or, better yet, just listen to Jim Henderson and Hokie Gajan calling the game on WWL. I don't need to be in the Dome to get my WhoDat on. Oh, and I didn't go to the Superbowl Victory parade, either. What's my point? Simply that I love my N'Awl as much as anyone and that I want to put my own little NOLA bison-head forward, seconding with my own little "Amen" this vintage Jeffrey thought:

It [the case being made by the romanticized "Why New Orleans Matters" meme] also belittles the experience of anyone who doesn't conform to this fetishized idea of what makes a New Orleanian. It, in fact, allows the perpetrators of these fetishes to judge your fitness to occupy your home on the basis of your willingness to play their phony roles.

And there's a lot like me out there in the NOLAsphere.

Again, I haven't seen Treme yet; but if it comes across as Jeffrey paints it; then he's got a damn good point that's very much worth thinking carefully about. I really wonder if the New Orleans of Simon's Treme is my New Orleans and not Anderson Cooper's. So upchucketh Huck, who has a native claim to this place.

Wrapping Upchuck: Tuesday, 4-13-10

Light Wrapping Upchuck for tonight, as I am dog-tired. But it was a good day. Started off with the usual wakeup routine, only this time I drove myself up to work where I parked and walked first to my scheduled physical therapy session for my left knee. Only one more physical therapy session to go. I'm already up to jogging some on the treadmill, which I guess is pretty much the last step on the road to knee surgery recovery.

Anyway, after my PT session, I had to rush up to a series of interviews of Runsdorf award nominees, all of whom are being considered for this award because of their outstanding community service over the course of their undergraduate careers at Tulane. We interviewed three students (and have one more to go tomorrow). I have to say that I am absolutely, thoroughly impressed with the quality of the accomplishments of our finalists. They are not only exceedingly smart and engaged students, but they are very self-confident, extremely well-spoken, and committed to their communities in so many ways. I think that being so much on the front lines of community engagement and in such direct contact with people of all kinds of ideas and backgrounds are principle causes for their confidence and capabilities to relate to others. The Service-Learning graduation requirement is worth it if for no other reason than having this impact on student performance.

Anyway, after this round of interviews, it was back to the office to work on class prep and some adminsitrative work. At 12:30pm, I attended our final faculty lunch gathering and found myself filling in for my boss and guiding the program of our meeting in his stead, given that he was away at another important meeting. It was a yummy lunch and a fun meeting. I think I did passably well in my substitute role.

After lunch, it was back to the usual duties of class prep, meeting with some students, and working piecemeal on some other ongoing projects.

By 3:30pm, I was in my regular Tuesday Honors Seminar, which took us until 6:00pm. After which, taking advantage of the Provost's course activity funds, I hosted the students from this class (most of them, at least) to a nice dinner at a place called Taqueria Corona, one of my favorite local Latin food restaurants. Good food, and even better conversation. I have some great students in my class.

So, today was a very encouraging and inspiring day in terms of being reminded of how talented and accomplished (and just downright nice and friendly) Tulane students are. I love my job!

Afterwards, it was straight to the homestead, where I put out the garbage (tomorrow's "trash day"), chatted a bit with my B-2/3 and talked about some upcoming weekend scheduling issues (looks like I'm going to be serving as "Assistant Coach" to my youngest's Spring/Summer Softball league, with our first organizational team meeting this coming Saturday morning), and eventually sat down to unwind in front of a Netflix instant movie which I had never seen before (but had heard good things about): "Donnie Darko." Wierd movie. Enjoyable and provocative, with a kind of David Lynch "Mulholland Dr."/"Twin Peaks feel to it. And now here I am, ready to call it another good day.

Wrapping Upchuck: Monday, 4-12-10

Today was a busy day. Started out with the usual morning routine of breakfast and paper-reading. Caught a ride with the B-2/3 and the squirrelly girlies up to work, which started off bright and early with a Graduate Student Summer Field Research Grants committee meeting. Glad that's over with. Now I need to get the news out on the decisions the committee made. That's always a tough job, given that I'm the one that has to be the bearer of bad new for some; but it'll be over by tomorrow.

Immediately after this meeting, I had my Monday morning seminar for the Public Service Fellows. The Seminar theme is "Social Justice and Civic Engagement in the Americas." For this seminar session, we discussed the topic of structural violence and human rights as presented by Paul Farmer in his book Pathologies of Power. Farmer is an interesting and impressive scholar and physician who is an unabashed advocate for the idea that healthcare is a fundamental human right. Farmer's belief comes out of years of working with victims of structural violence in the developing world. The stories he tells are gripping and they provoke a lot of thought. We had a great classroom discussion of his argument's strengths and weaknesses.

After class, I did a little office work for the remainder of the afternoon, which involved coordinating some more meetings, answering some emails, meeting with a couple current students about the outcome of their summer field research grant applications, chatting with one of my thesis advisees, and discussing our graduate doctoral program with a prospective applicant.

Then I caught a ride home with the B-2/3 and from there I went and picked up the squirrelly girlies from the ballet studio. From there it was back home, where I assumed responsibilty for dinner and the bedtime routines for the kiddies, given that my B-2/3 had a business meeting up at church, which was followed by her attendance at a Carlos Fuentes lecture up at the University. I was interested in attending that lecture myself, but someone had to be with the kids, and my B-2/3 really wanted to go. So I stayed home. Interesting story concerning my B-2/3 and Carlos Fuentes from many years ago, even before I knew Michele. When Michele was at George Mason University, she took an English class that focused on the work of Carlos Fuentes, who also was a visiting author in residence at her university at the time. Of course, Michele got to meet Fuentes at that time and had the chance to get Fuentes to sign her copies of his novels. When she went up to Fuentes with her books, Fuentes took a long look at her and then took Michele's copy of Aura and wrote: "To Michele, who looks like Aura. Carlos Fuentes." Quite a compliment! So, how could I not want Michele to have the opportunity to hear Fuentes speak, and perhaps even meet him in person again at the book signing following his lecture. Of course, Michele is bringing a few more of Fuentes's newer works for him to sign, but she's also toting along her signed copy of Aura just to remind Fuentes of their previous encounter. Michele is still up at the event as I write this and should be home shortly. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. Anyway, that's the "Wrapping Upchuck" for today.

6th Annual Celebracion Latina

My department, collaborating with the Mexican and Venezuelan consulates, as well as the New Orleans Public Library and other local non-profits, is hosting the 6th Annual Celebracion Latina. Click the link for more details. The short version: food, fun, live entertainment, kids activities, and lots more to celebrate Latino Culture in New Orleans. Free and wide open to the public. It'll be in its usual place at Laurence Square (on the corner of Magazine and Napoleon) this coming Sunday, April 18th, from 12-6pm. Pray for good weather and come join us!

Wrapping Upchuck: Sunday 4/11/10

So, in this inaugural "Wrapping Upchuck" posting, what do I say? Where do I start?

Well, I guess a basic description of my day will do.

Today began like any Sunday does in the Huck household. We all slept in a bit (and by sleeping in, I mean until about 8:00am). Or rather, I should say that I slept in a bit. I woke up to the sound of my youngest daughter involved in some loud conversation with my B-2/3.

Of course, as is usual for Sunday, the first thing I do is head for the Times-Picayune. Really enjoyed the spread in the Living section on the new TV series Treme. My youngest, as part of a little game she has had going on since yesterday, brought me a cup of coffee as part of her "doing something nice" for me. She organized a name-picking process yesterday, sort of like a Secret Santa kind of thing, and we all as a family picked a couple of names from a hat with the promise to do a couple of nice things for the people whose names we picked. So, I got a nice big cup of hot coffee from my youngest, who obviously picked my name. Her big sister, milking the game for all it was worth, managed to squeeze breakfast in bed from her younger sister, who did it gladly. My youngest really is a very sweet, overly sensitive little human being. She wants to be an opera singer when she "grows up."

So, I sipped coffee, read the paper, and then putzed around doing much of nothing until it was time to bring my oldest up to Church for 11:00am. After dropping her off at Church, I stopped off at my office to print out a couple of essays I needed to read and grade, and then headed back home. I had just enough time, before all my squirrelly girlies returned from church, to freshen up and put on some semi-nice duds in order to participate in an admissions luncheon up at the university where I work. It was one of those major admissions events where hundreds of prospective, already-admitted students and their parents descend upon the University for a visit as part of their last efforts to wrap up their college decision-making process. We faculty get to join this group for lunch where we host a table and represent our departments/majors. I had a couple of families at my table and we had a very nice conversation and visit. Each of the young prospectives I spoke with was very impressive and would be a great fit for my university; but it sounds like they both have some pretty competitive alternatives, too. We'll see what they decide. I did my part and got a nice lunch out of it.

Afterwards, I went back home to join my family and I putzed around some more, listened to some music (Mozart's "The Magic Flute" opera, which I think may be my favorite opera of all), did some reading (I'm currently into a couple of books -- one is Christopher Moore's Fool, which is a bawdy retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear from the point of view of the court jester, and Jean-Robert Cadet's autobiography called Restavek: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American), played a couple of games on the computer, and did a bit of house cleaing in what we call our "craft room."

When the early evening rolled around, I attended a Maryknoll Affiliates meeting. The Maryknoll Affiliates are a group of Catholics who share the Maryknoll religious order's concept of "mission," which is heavily grounded in the Social Justice teachings of the Catholic Church. We meet on Sunday evenings once a month, and tonight was our monthly meeting night. We spend most of our time discussing a summary of the Latin American Bishops' 5th General Latin American Episcopal Conference that took place in Aparecida, Brazil, where they reaffirmed the "see-judge-act" method of social analysis that originally out of the famous 1968 Medellin Conference, and which produced what is now known as liberation theology. We had a great discussion about this, and we even had some time to address the big elephant in the room, which is the ongoing (and worsening) sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. I tell you, if it weren't for the people I know through the Maryknoll Affiliates, I don't believe I could continue to be part of the Catholic community; but knowing that there are good Catholic folks who find themselves keeping faith in the midst of their own doubts and struggles that parallel mine is a faith and church lifeline for me. Anyway, I came back refreshed from my meeting and with another book in tow on loan from my good friend, Mateo: Philip S. Kaufman's Why You Can Disagree and Remain a Faithful Catholic. And now I'm back home writing up this my first "Wrapping Upchuck." After which, I will be easing into my nighttime routine, reading and grading some more papers, and perhaps getting into a movie before drifting off to sleep in preparation for a new (and quite busy) week.

Buenas noches y que Dios te bendiga!

"Wrapping Upchuck": A Blog Experiment

Most of the postings on my blog are usually commentary on current events of the day. But I'm thinking that what is lacking from my blog is a real glimpse into the routines and activities of my life. So, what I'm going to try to do is give a daily descriptive summary of my day. Sometimes, I imagine this posting will be nothing more than a calendar listing of activities and events. However, I hope that more often than not I can be reflective on these activities and events and what they have meant to me. Like many things I've tried, this may be an experiment that is short-lived; but, what the hell, it's worth a go. And it will definitely keep me on top of my blogging self-nudge, which I have managed well so far, but sometimes only just. In any case, if you are the kind of person that likes to peer into the daily lives of people, you might enjoy this little blogging experiment, which I am calling, for lack of a more pithy title, "Wrapping Upchuck."

Replacing Justice Stevens on the SCOTUS, ctd.

By the way, my two favorites for the spot are:

Elena Kagan

and

Diane Pamela Wood

Right now, I'm leaning more towards Wood than Kagan, just because Wood's liberal credentials are solid and her experience on the bench is unassailable.

I like Kagan, too, but I think her liberal bona fides aren't as solid as Wood's. Also, Kagan has limited experience on the bench, though she does have good experience as a litigator in front of the SCOTUS as Solicitor General.

Replacing Justice Stevens on the SCOTUS

If Republican Senators predict a "whale" of a fight over Obama's next pick for the SCOTUS if that pick is a reliable liberal justice, I say give them that fight. Obama should force the Republicans to threaten, again, the filibuster over his pick. The general understanding is that the President should get his pick. I believe that myself, which was why I thought it appropriate that the Senate confirm both Sam Alito and John Roberts. I think most Americans do. And most Americans will view a purely ideological resistance, as opposed to a resistance grounded clearly on qualifications and competency, as bad form. Interestingly, if Obama can get a competent and respected liberal-leaning nominee in place before the November elections, and if the GOP goes into full "Party of NO" mode, the November elections will become more a referendum on the SCOTUS pick than on the Health Care Reform legislation. Given the deference many Americans expect to be shown the President in a SCOTUS nomination and hearing process, this may blunt some of the negative electoral impact that incumbent Democrats in electoral "swing" districts might have faced over their "yes" vote on HCR.

Might this be another Obama "meep meep" moment (as Andrew Sullivan might say)?

The Vatican's Latest Salvo

This really burned me up:

The Vatican heatedly defended Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday, claiming accusations that he helped cover up the actions of pedophile priests are part of an anti-Catholic "hate" campaign targeting the pope for his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.

The deflection and wagon-circling among the Papal-azzi in Rome have now extended not just to putting up a flimsy defense against the indefensible, but have instead crossed the line into directly attacking the motives of those wanting to hold the untouchables accountable in some way for their egregious failures.

What burns me up about this recent turn is that it is both mean-spirited and consummately un-Christian. It imputes ugly motives to those who just want the Church to live its values and to be accountable for its failures.

Let me tell you what I think. Those who are the most critical of the way the Church has handled this whole scandal are those who feel the most betrayed by the Church that it loves. Those who raise the loudest voices of criticism and who are demanding accountability are those who are simply crushed at the damage this scandal has done to their faith in the moral and ethical leaders of the Church. Those who refuse to simply look away and bury their heads in the sand on the scandal are precisely those who have stuck their necks out the most in defense of the Church and the values it preaches.

The criticism being levied against the church and the desire to hold Church leaders accountable, even the Pope, for transgressions and failures of judgment that have led to damaged souls, violated bodies, and hurt psyches IS ROOTED IN LOVE, not "hate." It is the people who love their Church and their faith, and who, because of this love, feel all the more betrayed by the leaders who have damaged the Church and their faith, leaders who still refuse to accept any personal accountability for their role in inflicting such damage on the faith and Church that so many people love and want to save.

In fact, for many of us Catholics who look on this growing scandal and see this incredible turn towards vilifying its members, some of whom are also victims of the abuse, as hateful and vindictive people, well it's enough to make any person who expects loving pastoral guidance from Church leaders, even when faced with justifiable outrage and anger (not hate) over the scandal, feel completely abandoned and assaulted all over again. It is enough, in fact, to convert righteous anger and indignation INTO hate.

And to say it has anything to do with hate against the church's anti-abortion or anti-homosexuality stance is just sickening on its head. I wish the Vatican would tell that mother who so loved her faith that she decided to bring her unexpected teen pregnancy to term and to give birth to a boy, embracing all the consequences of that choice, instead of opting for abortion, a boy later violently raped or molested by a very representative of this "pro-life" church, that her outrage at such abuse is motivated by hatred for the church's position on abortion! It's absolutely sickening.

I know and love very good Catholic priests and brothers and nuns. I know and love many noble and committed Catholic lay people. Hell, I have a younger brother who IS a member of a Catholic religious order, and I have another brother who is actively studying for the Diaconate. And they are both some of the best, most generous, loving, and kindest people I or you will ever know. And my anger at the Church hierarchy for its current behavior is all the more compounded because I know the pain that this scandal has caused these good people of faith who are "guilty" by association -- people who have done nothing to warrant the pain of being associated in such a way to such a horrible scandal and failure of moral and pastoral leadership.

I cannot be a part of an institution whose leaders treat its own in such abominable ways. Rome has no claims on me anymore. I shake the dust off my sandals and move on. I will listen to the good Catholic priests and brothers and nuns and lay people that I know personally and respect. They will be my faith guide and inspiration -- not the Pope and not the Vatican.

GOP as OSWF (Old Straight White Folks)

From a disillusioned Republican:

I am an old Republican. I am religious, yet not a fanatic. I am a free-marketer; yet, I believe in the role of the government as a fair evenhanded referee. I am socially conservative; yet, I believe that my lesbian niece and my gay grandchild should have the full protection of the law and live as free Americans enjoying every aspect of our society with no prejudices and/or restrictions. Nowadays, my political and socio-economic profile would make me a Marxist, not a Republican. ...

Now, we have became the party of the Old Straight White Folks. We should rename the Republican Party the OSWF rather than the GOP.

And if you have a hard time believing this guy and just want to write him off as an old crank, just click here and take a look at the picture of LA Congressional District 1 Congressman, conservative Republican Steve Scalise, at a town hall meeting in his district. OSWF indeed.

Race and the GOP

I have often called out conservatives for their cynical use of race in their own politics. There is a kind of schizophrenia within the supposedly "color-blind" conservative approach to race where conservatives insist on demonstrating how "color-blind" they are by pointing to all the people of color that have succeeded in the GOP because of their merits. And they tend to highlight and applaud such people of color within the conservative movement. One case in point is Thomas Sowell, the black conservative economist. Another case in point is Michael Steele, the chairman of the RNC. But the problem is that in their earnestness to show how "color-blind" they are by having people of color in positions of power and authority, they paint themselves into the box of not being able to respond to folks like Michael Steele and Thomas Sowell without being sensitive to their race.

For instance, whenever a black liberal intellectual speaks out on a particular social issue, whether involving race or not, conservatives often tend to try to find a black conservative intellectual to face off against this black liberal intellectual. And whenever a black conservative leader, like Michael Steele, faces complaint and scandal for his performance, conservatives are just as inclined to soften their criticism for fear of being called out as racially insensitive. And it doesn't help when Michael Steele himself acknowledges that his race gives him "slimmer margins" of performance expectations among his own ideological brethren. Race matters. It just does. And the more conservatives try to pretend that it doesn't, the more they actually make it so.

Joshua Green captures the conundrum of the race problem for the GOP by referencing the kid-glove treatment Michael Steele is getting. As Green notes:

It's impossible to imagine his [Steele's] magisterial display of buffoonery going unpunished in almost any circumstance--but it is going unpunished, and Steele appears to be in no danger of losing his job. Far from being a problem, his race is all that's standing between Steele and a pink slip.

The GOP, on the other hand, does have a race problem. It won't fire Michael Steele because he is black. ...

It's remarkable that Republicans, after a generation of complaining about racial quotas and political correctness, seem paralyzed by Steele's race. They appear to have internalized the very "liberal mindset" they once warned against. Steele presents a perfect opportunity for them to leave race aside and make a judgment strictly on merit. And they're flinching.

And this is, in a nutshell, what I mean when I refer the conservative schizophrenia regarding race.

The Parking Ticket Gestapo Strikes Again

This time, targeting Crescent City Classic participants who parked on the Neutral Ground by City Park and posed absolutely no public safety danger at all. It's a pure money grab and it's disgusting. I will be exploring the possiblity of organizing a grass roots campaign to pressure whatever authority, be it the City Council or the State Legislature, to remedy this, and similar, situations.

The Crescent City Class is a once a year event that brings tens of thousands of people into the city where they have fun and spend lots of money. The City is very short-sighted in its parking enforcement strategy here and, I think, will do more long term fiscal damage to the city as a result than the short-term fiscal infusion that it gets from ticketing people.

I understand the need to have some traffic enforcement rules in place, but I also know that rational people can understand the difference between legitimate enforcement and a brazen money grab. If the parking ticket gestapo sees fit to ticket CCC participants, then I want them to issue citations to these illegally parked LAW ENFORCEMENT VEHICLES, too. What's good for the average citizen should also be good for law enforcement personnel, too.

Happy Easter

To all my fellow Christians, whether exodus Catholics like myself or progressive Baptists like my wife, I wish you a Happy Easter.

Even in my faith struggles, I always take comfort in believing that there is something greater than us and find solace in the kind of radical expression of love that comes with the sacrifice represented by the death and resurrection of Jesus.

If nothing more, it is a comforting story that eases that existential anxiety and despair that Kierkegaard has called the "Sickness Unto Death." And I am grateful for that comfort today.

From the Archives: School Vouchers

I was just looking at my blog archives and realized that I have been blogging on and off, but somewhat fairly regularly, for almost 8 years now. I started blogging in the summer of 2002. When I look back on that, I have to say that it's pretty incredible. I don't know really when the blogosphere took off, but I do believe that I was right there pretty close to the beginning and certainly before blogging became so popular and prominent. Now, granted, I haven't accomplished anything anywhere close to what many have been able to do with the medium, but I still take some pride in the longevity of my blog. It's changed somewhat over the years, but not too much. I was looking over the first month of my blogging and came across a posting that I made then on the whole school voucher idea that I still think has relevance today and which I still think hasn't adequately been answered by voucher supporters (at least I haven't come across any adequate answers to my critique). Anyway, I believe it was a thoughtful posting then and think it's worthy of reposting now, so here it is:

Just a quick point to ponder about the School Voucher debate: It's a very nice thought that School Vouchers equals School Choice - but does it, really, provide for such a choice - or at least a meaningful choice? Would highly-regarded suburban public schools and urban private/parochial schools (or should I say the students and the parents of the students in these schools) welcome inner-city voucher students to their learning communities? Putting a voucher in someone's hand doesn't neatly translate into supporting REAL school choice. In order for school choice to mean anything, voucher students must have the option to REALIZE their choice, which is something most voucher advocates haven't really thought much about. To use a common metaphor, it's as if someone were to hand me a fishing pole, some bait, a boat, and even give me fishing lessons; but then tell me that the lake with all the good fish in it that he fishes in was, ahem, off limits.

Original blog posting here.

"Teabonics"

I got a kick out of this Flickr collection. Willful ignorance proudly on display by your average Joe the "Plummer" Tea Partier. (There's actually a photo in this collection where Joe the Plumber is referred to as Joe the "Plummer" -- but I guess they could be referring to some guy named Joe who does something with plums!!) The real choice ones, two of which I've posted below, are anti-illegal immigrant "English-only" screeds accompanied by the rich irony of misuse of the English language within the very screed itself.

Check out all the photos.

[H/T: Andrew Sullivan]

Photos From Esquipulas

Well, I made it back safe and sound and all in one piece. It was a long trip home. The one big drawback to Esquipulas is that there is no way to get to it except for a 4 hour drive from any of the region's closest major airports. And I'm not even sure there are any "minor" airports that service the environs. But it is this very drawback that also gives Esquipulas its charm. One must make an effort to get there, which means that folks who make it there and who live there really want to be there. That was reflected in the strong sense of devotion and camaraderie that I felt there, particularly among the residents of the city, but also among its visitors and pilgrims. In any case, I was up at 4:00am on the day of my departure, made it to Guatemala City by 9:00am, in time for an 11:40am flight back to Houston in the U.S. And giving myself a couple of hours to get through immigration and customs in Houston (though it took considerably less time than that given that when we arrived there was practically no line at the immigration/customs checkpoints -- but you never know, I've waited for hours in that checkpoint place), I didn't touch down in New Orleans until about 6pm and wasn't home until about 7pm. It was an exhausting day home. At least I got a lot of reading done! Anyway, I wanted to post a couple of photos of Esquipulas:

The Basilica of Esquipulas


I stayed as a guest in the monastery attached to this Basilica.

The pictures below are of one of the many street processions to celebrate Semana Santa. This particular street procession was one of and for children. Notice that young boys were carrying the Jesus figure (in the first picture below) and that young girls were carrying the Virgin Mary figure (in the second and third pictures below).




One of the things I love most about Latin America is the way the children there just shower their affection and exuberance for life upon you -- even children faced with much hardship and despair. They always find joy in life and share it with anyone and everyone willing to accept it.