“Along with traditional means such as witness of life, catechetics, personal contact, popular piety, the liturgy and similar celebrations, the use of media is now essential in evangelization and catechesis. Indeed, “the Church would feel guilty before the Lord if she did not utilize these powerful means that human skill is daily rendering more perfect”. The media of social commun... More

You’ll never believe he said it. President Obama is responsible for some of the most moving pro-life rhetoric I’ve heard: This is our first task: caring for our children. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged. [. . .] If there’s even one step we can take to save a child, then surely we have an obligatio... More

I’ve made no secret of not being a Romney fan. Or, for that matter, a fan of establishment voting. I didn’t vote for McCain in 2008 and instead chose the third party option, and I had no trouble explaining why. And earlier this year I wrote: Be careful who you vote for. Make sure that it’s someone whose policies you really support, instead of just the guy you think has the best chan... More

Last night at the Al Smith dinner, Mitt Romney showed a keen sense of humor with an edge. As he roasted President Obama, he got in some classic digs that were as much true as they were funny. I was actually hoping the president would bring Joe Biden along this evening, because he’ll laugh at anything. Among the zingers, he delighted the largely Catholic audience with a reference to St. Peter... More

Politico‘s Anna Palmer had a piece yesterday entitled “Lobbyists ready for a comeback under Romney“. Palmer’s assertion, of course, is that this would be a change in direction for the pure, lobbyist-free White House of the Obama Administration. Except that it wouldn’t be. Fortunately for those who enjoy actual facts in their media, Tim Carney at the Washington Examin... More

Is anyone actually surprised by this? President Obama has no intention of getting rid of Vice President Biden as his running mate, the White House said Thursday. Republicans are being “ridiculous” and are trying to “distract attention” with their focus on Vice President Biden and his controversial comments earlier this week, White House press secretary Jay Carney said. “They know tha... More

I’ve been watching the furor over President Obama’s “you didn’t build that” comments with interest. As is often the case in political theater, I think both sides are overplaying their hands. Republicans are exploiting the President’s comments for all the political capital they’re worth, overlooking the nuance in the speech that would give context to the r... More

As Mitt Romney and Barack Obama square off in this year’s presidential race, it will be helpful to catalog a few of the ways reporters are trying to train us to think of the two candidates, for those who prefer to think independently. Last election cycle, broadcast TV news reports were twice as favorable to Obama, according to the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University. T... More

From the “Couldn’ta said it better myself” files. One of our regular Catholyc commenters who specializes in beating straw men to death, missing the point, mis-stating others’ arguments, and just generally being a bad-faith interlocutor, recently commented the following: This “liberal Catholic” label is bothersome. First of all, liberal Catholics outnumber “conservativ... More

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