FRIDAY, APRIL 20 |
ANDREW McCABE ON THE HOT SEAT The Department of Justice’s inspector general has referred former FBI deputy director’s case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. At issue are the four separate occasions when McCabe lied, including once to his superior, former FBI director James Comey. READ |
JUDICIAL ACTIVISM An appeals court blocks an Ohio law defunding Planned Parenthood. The 2016 law reallocated $1.5 million to organizations that do not perform abortions. READ |
POLITICAL DIRTY TRICKS Democrats are spending money to attack two Republicans in the West Virginia GOP primary in order to help Don Blackenship win the GOP nomination. Why? Because Blackenship recently spent a year in prison after one of his coal mines killed 29 workers. (Back in 2012, Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill did exactly the same thing by propping up Republican Todd Akin knowing that he was a weaker general election candidate. Republican voters took the bait, Akin imploded, and McCaskill won another six year term.) READ |
BATTLE OVER JUDGES Former Hillary Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon will lead a new organization dedicated to fighting President Trump’s judicial nominees. READ |
“SPECIAL-ORDER” BABIES Pro-life bioethicist Wesley J. Smith warns: “Procreation is becoming a matter of manufacturing, engineering, quality control, and other accouterments of industrial control.” He recommends that President Trump appoint a bioethicist council to lead these discussions. READ |
FOREIGN POLICY & SOCIAL CONSERVATIVISM When George W. Bush’s foreign policy went south, it was those fighting for marriage and unborn children who paid a steep political price. And this is why Peter Wolfgang doesn’t want Trump embroiled in Syria or anywhere else in the Middle East: “If a friendly president’s foreign policy is a failure, we are the ones who will bear the brunt of that failure.” READ |
U.S. SENATE IS PRO-NEWBORN The United States Senate unanimously voted to allow children under the age of 1 to the Senate floor, during chamber votes. The move allowed Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-IL, to become the first senator to vote with a newborn. Duckworth held her daughter, Maile, who was born on April 9. READ |
QUOTE OF THE DAY “Senator Duckworth’s newborn baby is absolutely precious. I just wish unborn life was as wholeheartedly supported on the same Senate floor.” -Kimberly Ross |
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY Here are five things Catholics can do to support international religious liberty. READ |
CATHOLICISM AND CIVILITY Catholic communicators gathered in Rome to discuss the need for move civil dialogue. Irish Archbishop Eamon Martin said, “We have to be aware of our language, because nowadays people switch off, they don’t hear, and we cannot get the Gospel message out simply condemning everyone who lives their lives contrary to what we believe in.” READ |
FRANCE AND CATHOLICISM Why is French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron sounding so friendly to Catholic participation in public life? Is it a ruse to placate Catholics? Or is it a counterbalance to the country’s growing Muslim population? READ |
SAINT OF THE DAY Saint Conrad of Parzham served as friary porter for 41 years. Anyone who came to the friary in Altoetting would have met Saint Conrad as he greeted them at the door. Such a role may not sound like much, but Saint Conrad turned it into a true ministry of love and service. READ |
DAILY MASS READINGS “Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.” (Mk 16:15) READ |
TRUTH |