According to a recent Gallup poll, 6 in 10 Americans “have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly.” Distrust of the media remains highest among Republicans, whose confidence in the media (26%) is far lower than Independents (31%) and Democrats (58%). Negativity toward the press is at an all-time high for a presidential election year, according to... More

The Washington Post ran a story last week in which former classmates of Mitt Romney say he made fun of a kid for having bleached blond hair that covered his eyes. So Romney allegedly got a few guys, grabbed a scissors, forced the student to the floor and chopped a bunch of his hair off. If true, it sounds like Mitt Romney was a jerk in high school. Bullying of this kind is cruel. Romney said he d... More

Welcome to the Lunchtime Reader, where we assemble important stories to keep your eyes on. There is little room for dissent with Kathleen Sebelius in charge, says WSJ columnist Bill McGurn. He gives a shout out to the new CatholicVote ad in his column. (Subscription might be required). http://is.gd/gzNO77 Too soon to call it a comeback, but Rick Perry climbs up to 13% in the latest Iowa poll. Per... More

Welcome to the Lunchtime Reader, where we assemble important stories to keep your eyes on. New Gallup poll claims that a majority of Democratic voters (52%) rarely or never attend church. http://cvote.to/7l Election Day today: Personhood Amendment in MS, Public employee reform plan in OH, Guv race in KY, GOP hopes to win State Senate in VA, Controversial anti-immigration candidate up for recall in... More

Yesterday, one of Herman Cain’s accusers stepped forward to offer the face and juicy details his detractors on the left had been waiting for. Since Jonathan Martin of Politico first broke the story, Cain’s sturdy poll numbers have utterly mystified the media. Martin seems equally troubled that the Republican primary candidates haven’t started piling on.  Yesterday, he told Judy Woodruff of... More

This image courtesy of Ann Telnaes at the Washington Post editorial animation page claims the pope’s anti-contraceptive stance is responsible for overpopulation: What is the pope inflating? A pregnant woman. How idiotic. If you want to understand why this editorial cartoon is so misguided, read Steven Mosher’s column in the National Catholic Register: “Too Many People? Ignore t... More

UPDATE 2: A Round-Up of Excellent Comments On The Justice & Peace White Paper UPDATE: See my follow-up comments published today: “Fact Check: Why Catholics Who Disagree With Justice & Peace White Papers Aren’t “Cafeteria Catholics.” You may have seen this story which was headlined earlier today on the Drudge Report: The Vatican called on Monday for the establishment... More

Welcome to the Lunchtime Reader, where we assemble important stories to keep your eyes on. The Republican presidential candidates had another debate last night. ABC reporter Rick Klein summed it up well: “Perry gets personal. Romney gets angry. Cain gets … confusing. http://cvote.to/5u Rick Perry attacked Mitt Romney for having illegal immigrants mowing his yard. (I think this was a cheap... More

There’s crazy …there’s nuts …and then there’s Huffington Post op-eds. What’s worse is that this particular example of Catholic-derangement syndrome, courtesy of the Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson, comes from a self-proclaimed “spiritual activist, pastor and lesbian” who was appointed by President Obama in 2011 to his White House Council on Faith Based and Nei... More

Welcome to the Lunchtime Reader, where we assemble important stories to keep your eyes on. Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston denounced an effort to get physician-assisted suicide on the Massachusetts ballot. “We hope the citizens of the Commonwealth will not be seduced by language [such as] dignity and compassion, which are means to disguise the sheer brutality of helping people to kill themse... More