Photo of the Day

(Photo via Chicago Tribune)

Sunday Mass

I'm a Catholic who supports stem cell research. I have never been shy to defend my liberalism or my faith. I learn from my parents what was right and wrong, respect, equity, fairness, honesty and faith. But, I can not defend the acts of deacon Tom McDonnell of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic church.

Buffalo congressman Brian Higgins walked out of a Catholic church service Sunday after a deacon berated him during a sermon for the lawmaker's recent vote supporting stem cell research.

The public tongue-lashing came during morning Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic church, where deacon Tom McDonnell criticized the Democratic lawmaker.

Higgins, who was baptized and married in that church, walked out with his wife and son.

"Leaving was the appropriate thing to do," the two-term lawmaker said Wednesday, adding that he apologized "to the good people of St. Thomas Aquinas for their having been subjected to this whole, unfortunate and avoidable mess... Those people deserved much better."

The pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic church, the Rev. Art Smith, offered an apology from the pulpit after the congressman Brian Higgins walked out of the Church with this family.

I find this to be deeply troubling.

Yes, I understand the Catholic church opposed embryonic stem cell research. But, does not excuse the actions of deacon Tom McDonnell. It would have been more effective if deacon Tom McDonnell took this concerns directly to the Congressman rather than publicly attacking him during Sunday Mass in front of this family.

Sigh.

Run, Al, Run

Tim Dickinson of Rolling Stone makes for case for Al Gore Presidential run in '08.

If the Democrats were going to sit down and construct the perfect candidate for 2008, they'd be hard-pressed to improve on Gore. Unlike Hillary Clinton, he has no controversial vote on Iraq to defend. Unlike Barack Obama and John Edwards, he has extensive experience in both the Senate and the White House. He has put aside his wooden, policy-wonk demeanor to emerge as the Bush administration's most eloquent critic. And thanks to An Inconvenient Truth, Gore is not only the most impassioned leader on the most urgent crisis facing the planet, he's also a Hollywood celebrity, the star of the third-highest-grossing documentary of all time. [..]

But Gore's greatest appeal may come, ultimately, from what he represents to voters fed up with two terms of the Bush administration. "He'll be able to make the case that he should have been president already," says Carrick. "And that had he been president, things would have been a lot different, with the Iraq war being Exhibit A."

This, agrees Luntz, is Gore's greatest draw. "Democratic voters in 2008 are not only looking to turn back the last eight years, but to erase the last eight years," he says. "If I were working for Gore, I'd message around a single word: Imagine. 'Imagine if I'd been president instead of George W. Bush. Imagine where we'd be today.'"

Go read the rest of the article.

Al Gore in 2008!

Photo of the Day

Defeated Senate candidate and former Rep. Katherine Harris Republican of Florida passing out business cards to fellow Republicans in the House before Bush's State of the Union address.

She may have given up her House seat to run a losing campaign for the Senate, but that doesn't mean former Florida Rep. Katherine Harris actually has to leave the House.

See, as a former representative, she keeps floor rights and she used them to the hilt Tuesday night before President Bush's State of the Union address.

Business cards? What kind of Business is Katherine Harris going to run, how to run a failed Senate race and make a fool out of yourself or how to steal the Presidency for your political party.

The Congress really needs to change this, losing candidates should not be alllow on the house floor for atleast a year or so.

John '08 McCain wants to Eliminate the Federal Minimum Wage

Republican Senator John '08 McCain joined with 27 Republican to vote for Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado bill that would have eliminated the federal minimum wage entirely and left the wage rate for the lowest-paid workers to each state. Bob Geiger notes, if Senator Wayne Allard bill would have become law Kansas minimum wage would have reverted to state-mandated wage of $2.65 per hour. The current federal minimum wage is $5.15 per hour which have not been raise in 12 years. Democrats in the House and Senate want to raise federal minimum wage $7.25 hour. But, Republican Senators filibustered the minimum-wage increase. In the majority Republican Senators were against the filibuster. Now, in the minorty they are all for the filibuster. Shameless.

Someone needs to ask Senator John '08 McCain how can a family in Kansas can live off $2.65 per hour?