Free Republic

Remember the expectations for how Barack Obama could transform U.S. relations with the Muslim world once in office? Andrew Sullivan, writing in The Atlantic, July 2007: "What does he offer? First and foremost: his face. Think of it as the most effective potential re-branding of the United States since Reagan. Such a re-branding is not trivial—it’s central to an effective war strategy. The war on Islamist terror, after all, is two-pronged: a function of both hard power and soft power. We have seen the potential of hard power in removing the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. We have also seen its...

The attacks on the U.S. embassy yesterday in Cairo and the storming of the American consulate in Libya, where the U.S. ambassador was murdered along with three staff members — and the initial official American reaction to the mayhem — are all reprehensible, each in their own way. Let us sort out this terrible chain of events. Timing: The assaults came exactly on the eleventh anniversary of bin Laden’s and al-Qaeda’s attack on America. If there was any doubt about the intent of the timing, the appearance of black al-Qaedist flags among the mobs removed it. The chanting of Osama...

The New York Times' coverage of the radical Islamist attacks on 9/11 on the U.S. embassy in Cairo and the U.S. consulate in Benghazi begins--like the Obama administration--with acknowledging "anger" over an anti-Islamic film, not with the attacks themselves--and criticizes Republican Mitt Romney's statement on Obama's apology. The Times' headline, "Anger Over a Film Fuels Anti-American Attacks in Libya and Egypt"--Update: buried on page A4!--does not even inform readers that U.S. diplomatic missions were attacked, or the fact that one official in Libya was actually killed. The article goes on to criticize Mitt Romney for his allegation that "the Obama...

For the second time in as many weeks, the State Department has contradicted President Barack Obama, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton re-affirmed the apologetic stance disavowed earlier this evening by the White House in reacting to the storming of the U.S. embassy in Cairo by a mob of radical Egyptian Al Qaeda sympathizers on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Clinton's statements on the day's events, released through the State Department's website and Twitter feed, condemn "in the strongest possible terms" an attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya in Benghazi that left one American dead, but offer...

At 11:53pm last night Talking Points Memo released a statement from the Obama campaign condemning Mitt Romney for criticizing something the White House itself disavowed -- an appalling apology issued by the State Department. Eight hours later, President Obama finally got around to condemning the monsters who attacked us on our own soil and killed our fellow citizens. Yesterday, on the 11th anniversary of September 11, the Obama White House snubbed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accepted an invitation from David Letterman, and apologized to Islamists upset over a film that mocks Islam and Mohammed -- something "artists" in America...

...Romney is a decent business manager. He’s a decent man. He likes America. He wants America to like him. He’s not going to actively dismantle our way of life, as will the one now in power. There will be no attacks on freedom of religion, no wild power grabs for the Internet, no executive orders that violate the laws of the land. He will not hanker for more “flexibility” so he can give more to Putin. And — this is petty but important for how the world sees us — he will neither apologize nor bow to foreign leaders. Is...

If Republican operatives truly are brilliant enough to use secret code to convince white bigots to pull the elephant lever in November, they should have been smart enough to control the podium at their convention in Tampa, Fla. As a black man, the Republicans’ racial code never penetrated my ears. However, my eyes worked just fine. And what I repeatedly saw were minority faces on my TV. The racist dog whistles must have gone silent even for Labradors when a black woman and former secretary of state named Condoleezza Rice addressed the convention for nearly half an hour in prime...

All reference to God has been removed from the 2012 Democratic platform. This a curiosity indeed: how the Democratic party claims a warrant to lead a "nation under God," and a nation whose foundational document refers to the "Laws of Nature and Nature's God," when the natural law and the name of God have apparently become so abhorrent to it. ... According to The Blaze, the 2004 platform for the Democratic party contained seven references to God, the 2008 platform retained one mention, and the 2012 platform apparently intends to banish God altogether.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Why did the Obama campaign fumble the "are Americans better off than four years ago" question? Why has President Obama been unable to put the "you didn't build that" charge to rest? And why has the campaign struggled to come up with a coherent response to the Republican convention? (Calling it a pack of lies doesn't count.) It's hard to avoid the conclusion that, as Democrats begin their convention here in Charlotte, the Obama campaign is not hitting on all cylinders. The question is why a campaign that was so successful in 2008 is sputtering today. Here's...

TAMPA, Fla. - Congressional allies close to Mitt Romney are already looking ahead to a GOP takeover next year and are trying to set the stage for a burst of post-inauguration activity, lawmakers, aides and GOP strategists told Roll Call this week. Romney and his running mate Rep. Paul Ryan have close ties to key Republicans in both chambers who will be instrumental in pushing the former Massachusetts governor's agenda to his desk and help him hit the ground running. And while the campaign is clearly the overwhelming focus for now, talks have already begun with Romney's transition team, led...

Thumper the Rabbit’s parents always taught him, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” If the Left’s self-appointed Omniscient Diviners of True Meaning have their way, conservatives in the public square won’t be left with anything at all to say. Ever. It’s a treacherous business exercising your freedom of speech in the age of Obama. As a public service, I present to you: “The 2012 Condensed Liberal Handbook of Racial Code Words.” Decoder rings, activate! — Angry. On the campaign trail this summer, President Obama has become — in the words of the mainstream Associated Press...

See the link for an interesting talk by Msgr Andrew Wadsworth of ICEl to seminarians at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis on music and the new missal translation. There is a wonderful chant recording of the new translation of the Exsultet. I look forward to hearing this at the Easter Vigil in two years' time.

Sacrosanctum Concilium - December 4, 1963 The Second Vatican Council’s first document, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, called for the renewal of the liturgy and the reform of the liturgical books in order to promote deeper understanding of and fuller participation in the liturgy by all Catholics. It suggested use of the vernacular for some parts of the Mass, while reaffirming the use of Latin. Sacram Liturgiam issued; the Consilium is formed - January 1964 Pope Paul VI issues Sacram Liturgiam, the first official implementation of the Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, on January 25. He...

We just received this communication from the Bishops' Committee on Divine Worship. Yes, this is the update you've been waiting for!! We thank you for patience over these past several months, as together we have awaited the final text of the Roman Missal for the Dioceses of the United States. This morning Cardinal Francis George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago and USCCB President, announced to the body of bishops that we have received the final text of the Roman Missal. Implementation of the new text will take place, as anticipated, on the First Sunday of Advent, 2011 (November 27, 2011). A...

WASHINGTON—Cardinal Francis George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has announced that the full text of the English-language translation of the Roman Missal, Third Edition, has been issued for the dioceses of the United States of America. The text was approved by the Vatican, and the approval was accompanied by a June 23 letter from Cardinal Llovera Antonio Cañizares, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The Congregation also provided guidelines for publication. In addition, on July 24, the Vatican gave approval for several adaptations,...

Cardinal Francis George, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, has denounced the decision of a federal judge to overturn a California voter-backed initiative that essentially banned same-sex marriage. “The misuse of law to change the nature of marriage undermines the common good,” he said. “It is tragic that a federal judge would overturn the clear and expressed will of the people in their support for the institution of marriage. No court of civil law has the authority to reach into areas of human experience that nature itself has defined.” The 2008 voter initiative, known as Proposition 8, was...

That's right: On page 101 (p. 103 of the PDF available here) of his decisions, Judge Vaughn Walker writes*: 77. Religious beliefs that gay and lesbian relationships are sinful or inferior to heterosexual relationships harm gays and lesbians. a. PX2547 (Nathanson Nov 12, 2009 Dep Tr 102:3-8: Religions teach that homosexual relations are a sin and that contributes to gay bashing); PX2546 (video of same); b. PX2545 (Young Nov 13, 2009 Dep Tr 55:15-55:20, 56:21-57:7: There is a religious component to the bigotry and prejudice against gay and lesbian individuals); see also id at 61:18-22, 62:13-17 (Catholic Church views homosexuality...

We have been exploring the new translation of the Roman Missal that will go into effect by Advent of 2011. It is the purpose of this series to show the value of the new translation by meditating upon the truths that it more accurately translates. These truths were never lost to the Church for the Latin texts have remained with us. However, most Catholics who do not read Latin have not been able to appreciate these beautiful truths since the 1970 translation currently in use omitted a great deal of the Latin meaning. With the new translation, much of this...

We have been exploring the new translation of the Roman Missal that will go into effect by Advent of 2011. It is the purpose of this series to show the value of the New Translation by meditating upon the truths that it more accurately translates. These truths were never lost to the Church for the Latin texts have remained with us. However, most Catholics who do not read Latin have not been able to appreciate these beautiful truths since the 1970 translation currently in use omitted a great deal of the Latin meaning. With the new translation, much of this...

In this series we are looking at the new Translation of the Roman Missal and how it restores to us a clearer articulation of the beautiful truth contained in the Latin text. Many of these truths have been lost or ambiguously presented in the current rendering we are using. Lex orandi, Lex credendi (the law of praying is the law of believing). Hence the new translation, since it is more accurate and literal, gives us a chance to more clearly appreciate anew the beauty of our faith based on what we pray. The previous installments in this series can be...