The Crusaders (slapdown article on national "orthodox" Catholic leaders)

Boston Globe ^ | November 2, 2003 | Charles P. Pierce

[american colleen]

A powerful faction of religious and political conservatives is waging a latter-day counterreformation, battling widespread efforts to liberalize the American Catholic Church. And it has the clout and the connections to succeed.

There is a glow to the priest when he talks. Something lights him up inside, and its intensity is increased by the mild way he says what he's saying. The words, harsh and unyielding, seem not so much a departure from the mainstream as they do a living refutation that there is any mainstream at all, not one to which the priest has to pay any mind, anyway.

[old and tired]

Thanks for the link - you're right - it's very funny.

When I said McCloskey had his head in the sand, I didn't mean to say he's not a holy man and a wonderful priest.

I had the pleasure of seeing Judge Bork speak at Boston College at some point back in the eighties. Back in the days before the internet, there was just no way to get the full story. From the media's portrayal, I expected the man to have horns and a tail, but he completely vindicated himself (in my mind anyway). I was left with the impression that he was probably the most brilliant legal mind I'd ever encountered. If McCloskey could convert the great Judge Bork, he's clearly doing something right.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

FYI. And Jeb Bush, too.