Catholic Democrats vs. The Catholic Church

It is not exactly a news flash that Catholic Democrats and 

assorted Catholic leftists have habitually expressed their 

vehement disagreement with Catholic teaching, especially

on certain issues, i.e. abortion. But the latest to do so has 

been at this for quite some years, and in her recent escapade 

she has been showing a lot more chutzpah than she had before.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, an ardent Democrat who also happens

to be Catholic (so she constantly announces), led a group of 59 

Democrats who also identify as Catholics in issuing a "Statement

of Principles", which chastises the U.S. Catholic bishops for 

addressing the issue of Catholic politicians who disagree with 

and eschew Catholic moral teachings. Recently, 73% of the 

bishops voted to consider a document on the suitability of these

self-identifying Catholics to receive Holy Communion. 

This is not DeLauro's first "Statement of Principles" aimed at 

the bishops. In 2006 she put forth one which claimed that one 

can be a Catholic in good standing and support abortion rights.

The next year DeLauro was one of 18 such Catholics to criticize

Pope Benedict XVI on abortion. In 2015, she led a contingent

of 93 like-minded Catholics telling Pope Francis what issues he

should address when visiting the United States; Right to life 

was conspicuous by its absence from the list while climate change

figured prominently. 

So in this "Statement" DeLauro and her bunch claimed to be proud

to be part of the Catholic tradition that "expresses a consistent moral

framework for life," and that they "agree with the Catholic Church

about the value of human life." I did mention chutzpah three 

paragraphs ago, so as to cushion this shock --- nearly all the 

signatories have pro-abortion voting records. DeLauro herself 

sports a 100% rating from NARAL; gee, she sure values human 

life, eh?

DeLauro and her cohorts added one more exhibition of hubris when 

they called the bishops hypocritical for focusing on abortion rather

than the death penalty (both of which the Catholic Church opposes).

A statistical tidbit for you: It is estimated that between 1973 and

2019, over 61 million innocent, harmless unborn babies were 

killed in their mothers' wombs. The number of convicted criminals

who were executed during these years? 1,512. The latter's much 

lower number is due to, among many factors, some individual 

states abolishing capital punishment and a ban on executions for

federal crimes by the U.S. Government (since reinstated).

I doubt Rep. DeLauro and her chums are aware of these figures.

As a Catholic, the Peasant is opposed to both abortion and capital

punishment, and am also not adverse to denying DeLauro and

her fellow pro-abortion Catholics communion for their defiance of

Catholic moral teaching along with their double-talk on the faith and

abortion. If they are bucking for some memberships in the Catholic

Magisterium, they will be very much out of luck. They are fooling

no one, they have become a big bore, and should pack it all in. 

MEM

A Renegade in Republican Circles

The Democrat Party certainly has many nutty people in its 

ranks but they do not have a monopoly on nuts and nuttiness.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has been in the 

headlines for many off the wall utterances and activities,

including getting chummy with QAnon, a truly off the wall

political group whose members believe, among other 

wacky things, that a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic pedo-

philes operate a worldwide child sex trafficking ring

which has also conspired against President Trump while

he was in office. You read all that right, my grand readers;

as Robert Ripley of Believe It or Not! fame said, "Truth is 

stranger than fiction". The truth here is that this group 

actually believes and spreads this horrible nonsense,

and Rep. Greene is a sympathizer. 

Greene's own deranged comments on whatever include

her statement in an interview with Christian Broadcasting 

Network's David Brody in which she likened House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi's decision to have House members continue to

wear protective masks on the chamber floor to the Nazi's

treatment of the Jews during the Holocaust (?!?!?!?!?!).

This is not only evil, but insane to openly claim. Your favorite

Peasant is no fan of Pelosi, but to the best of my knowledge 

she has never sent Jews, nor anyone else, to any gas chambers.

What Greene said about Pelosi was so far beyond slanderous

and malicious that I have no appropriate adjective for 

Greene's horrible verbal attack.

House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy responded to these 

vile, inflammatory words thus: "Let me be clear: the House 

Republican Conference condemns this language." 

A good reaction, but hopefully a suitable punishment such

as censure will be a follow-up, especially if any more such

garbage spews from Greene. 

Folks, people like Rep. Greene we don't need, and surely don't

want, in the Republican Party nor anywhere in the conservative

movement. She adds nothing positive, nothing helpful in the least.

It would be positive and helpful if she would simply resign her 

seat in the House and find other, different work, and without 

delay.

If we are going to retake the House and Senate next year, and the 

White House in 2024, we must show a responsible and united front

for the people to rally with. We cannot let lunatics speak nor act 

for us. Your forthright Peasant can't put it more plainly. We can't

draw a positive contrast with the Democrats if we allow people 

like Rep. Greene to spew their bile.

MEM

Trust the Science, Not the Political Science

 The left-wingers love to admonish we conservatives to 

"trust the science" on many matters. Well, on the matter 

of COVID vaccines, the lefties don't seem very interested 

in doing that, especially as it was President Trump who

pressed for speeding up the process to make the vaccines

available. Add to that the fact that these vaccines are safe,

effective, and do a marvelous job of blocking most 

transmission and combating the Coronovirus' variants

as well.  So there is really little point to wearing a protective

mask if you are fully vaccinated. Your recuperating Peasant

still wears a mask when he goes to certain places, including 

my job, whenever and wherever required, for the fact is I've

not yet been vaccinated; I wish to consult with my doctor

first regarding the potential side effects I may face as my

body's system is still not quite 100% (but getting there)

after my heart attack, so I don't know what could or would

happen if I get the shots. But I am happy to see a loosening 

of mask requirements around my state, and I hope to one day 

join in the celebration by doffing my mask and giving it to

my garbage haulers.

The far and wide availability of these effective vaccines offers,

for a start, retiring restrictions and embracing greater freedom 

paired with personal responsibility. Americans' waning 

susceptibility and vulnerability to COVID is now, in many 

parts of the country, a matter of personal choice. In places 

like California, New York, New Jersey and Michigan, it's 

high time to chuck the COVID restrictions still being 

implemented. To do otherwise would be nothing more

than power-tripping. 

How about it, Democrat governors of the aforementioned states?

MEM

The Peasant's Apology

Friends, your favorite Peasant is besieged by many, many

personal tasks, some of which are health-related, and the 

upshot of it is that I will have no blog posting for you this

week. I shall do my very best to return with one next week

though. Meanwhile please accept my apology and thank you

for your understanding and indulgence.

Until then, God bless you all!

MEM

On Memorial Day ...

Every Memorial Day your patriotic Peasant goes a bit beyond

the boundary and pays tribute to our veterans retired but still

living as well as those now departed, in particular those who

died in battle. I mean no disrespect, I just give my gratitude 

and pay tribute to all of our veterans each and every day, even

if it's simply by saying a brief prayer.

That being said, I shall not color outside the lines; I simply want

to give thanks for the service and sacrifice of the courageous 

Americans down through our country's history, as they secured

our freedom as a nation and a people. Some of my ancestors are

among their ranks, having sacrificed everything themselves.

Please give these brave souls a thought and a prayer while you,

my grand readers, enjoy your Memorial Day holiday. They are 

the reason that we enjoy our cookouts and gatherings of family

and friends, as well as our many freedoms. 

God bless them. God bless you. And God bless America.

MEM

Unusual Allies

U.S. Attorney General under President Trump, Bill Barr,

has been fighting a battle to keep an internal Department

of Justice memo from being made public --- and he has

gained the support of President Biden's AG Merrick

Garland. Recently the Justice Department announced that 

it would appeal federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson's order

to make available to the public an internal DOJ memo

from the Trump era dealing with the Robert Mueller report.

Most of the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee

are against the appeal and have openly said so.

A March 2019 Office of Legal Counsel memo advising then-

AG Barr on how to handle the Mueller findings. Barr and his 

department refused to make the memo public because it is 

part of protected internal deliberations. In her May 3 order, 

Judge Jackson claimed that the OLC memo isn't protected 

because AG Barr had made up his mind. The DOJ already

released the first 1 1/2 pages of the memo, but have kept

the rest out of the public eye. To fail to do so would have 

meant 

During the process the DOJ has laid bare Judge Jackson's 

order for being a tool for judicial overreach and all the 

attendant mischief it was meant to do. Current AG Garland

has come out in support of keeping the internal deliberations 

private, thereby siding with his predecessor former AG Barr.

Although this will get the Democrats' knickers in a twist,

what has occurred here is just what a nonpartisan and fair-

minded Justice Department and its policy, in fact, is. 

Well done, AGs Barr and Garland. The Trump and 

Biden administrations now have some serious common 

ground.

MEM

Pipeline Political Punch-up

Since Joe Biden ascended to the presidency, Democrats and

fellow travelers alike clamored more than ever before for 

a halt to construction and operation of pipelines made to 

move crude oil and natural gas from the United States to 

Canada. Under President Trump our country had at last 

become energy independent, ceasing to be reliant on oil 

from other nations, especially those in the Middle East

(they tend not to be neither terribly friendly nor helpful

to us); since Biden became president he had become a big,

sharp thorn in the side of the oil industry, and wants to 

take measures which could threaten our energy 

independence, going from major importers to major 

exporters of oil. President Biden, you see, wants to keep 

the far-left wing of his party happy, as they were instrumental 

in his electoral victory last November. This, therefore, is a

quid pro quo (perhaps a quid pro Joe?). 

Speaking of Democrats and fellow travelers, Michigan Gov.

Gretchen Whitmer has ordered the shutdown of the Line 5

pipeline, which carries over half a million barrels of crude

oil and natural gas daily, crossing the Great Lakes for a 

5-mile trip at the Straits of Mackinac. The crossing is 

dependent upon a 1953 easement, which Gov. Whitmer

is threatening to cancel, claiming to have environmental

concerns (wink, wink). 

This is what the consequences of this shutdown would look

like; studying the Eastern Seaboard and what they suffered

when hackers halted operations on the Colonial Pipeline.

This particular pipeline serves 45% of the region's fuel needs,

and the hackers' malicious mischief caused skyrocketing 

gas prices, gas stations going dry, and many blocks-long lines

of vehicles whose drivers would pay just about anything for

a full tank of gas out of desperation. Federal and state 

governments waived safety and environmental rules to 

aid fuel delivery by truck, rail and ship. 

Line 5 has operated across these straits for nearly seven 

decades without incident. But this means nothing to 

President Biden and his fellow Dems, let alone the 

fellow travelers. Canada wants to preserve Line 5 and

all means of moving crude oil and natural gas. 

President Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

and Michigan's Governor Whitmer need to sit down and

find a solution that soothes environmental concerns on

both sides of the border. So many Americans and 

Canadians depend heavily on the pipelines for their 

homes, businesses, and jobs. Without Line 5, the 

suffering would be epic, and there would not necessarily

be a cleaner energy future for anyone on the North 

American continent.

MEM