It is almost unbelievable but the Catholic Church, the church of my upbringing, is racing back in time to remind every Jew and Catholic that the Church has a disgraceful record in dealing with the Jewish faith. Centuries of holding Jews responsible for the death of Christ were momentarily altered by Pope John XXIII.
But that was John; we have Benedict. Hot news from Pope Benedict XVI, the Latin mass is back. The prayer, brought back with the Latin Mass, "calls on God to enlighten the hearts of Jews so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, the Savior of all men." (No mention of women, so maybe they get a pass to heaven without acknowledging that Jesus is the Savior. Just lucky, or does the Pope think women will just go along to get along?)
In a classic understatement, carried in the NYT, conservative Rabbis issued a warning that the old/new prayer would "cast a harsh shadow over the spirit of mutual respect and collaboration...and make it more difficult for Jews to engage constructively in dialogue with Catholics." Gee. Think so? Just because your religion is placed in the ashcan? C'mon, why so sensitive?
Gates: The Europeans are confused about the mission in Afghanistan. Really? So are we. Hubris.
Feingold lectures Hillary and Barack. He wants them to deal with issues. (Probably not the key judiciary committee votes on neocon judges.) Hello Russ. The GOP has a candidate; Karl Rove will coordinate a campaign that would make Joe McCarthy blush; we are spending $275 million per day on Iraq. Barack and Hillary want out of Iraq, McCain would stay for 100 years and "never surrender."
That's enough for me. I hope Russ will lead a campaign to throw out the Super Delegates. They pose a greater threat to democrats and Democrats than some fuzziness on issues from Clinton and Obama.
