Accommodate This, Bishops

I’m old enough to remember some of the outcry about a Catholic candidate running for president back in 1960. When did the Catholic church become this influential in national politics?

Nice alt text.

@mellbell: I finally got fed up with living in ignorance and looked up the meaning of this expression. Lord the things I have been missing in this life.

T/J: Santorum today warned of an “environmental reign of terror.” One can only hope.

Let’s not get too carried away here and lose sight of what Obama has done for women with the Affordable Care Act. Consider: for the first time Federal law is going to require the vast majority of employers to offer contraceptive coverage as part of their insurance coverage. By buckling to some extent to the demands of the Catholic church, only a miniscule minority of the entire U.S. workforce will not be covered by these rules. And it is likely that the compromise that is eventually reached will end up functionally the same as if the policy had not been modified, with women who workf for Catholic institutions paying a nominal fee that allows these institutions to claim that they don’t offer coverage for contraceptives.

On balance, the Affordable Care Act is a massive win for women. To sour on the President because a very small, but politically powerful minority managed to bully their way out of it (and only nominally so, to boot), is hardly cause for considering Obama to have “thrown women under the bus.” Throwing women under the bus would have meant stripping contraceptive coverage from all insurance plans.

We progressives have got to shift the terms of this debate. It shouldn’t be about whether Barack Obama or the Catholic Church “wins.” The debate should be about how it is possible that an institution that had no rights to even survive the scandal that resulted from their members raping little children or covering up their colleagues raping of little children, can claim any title to moral superiority in demanding that the government yield to a backward, medieval, highly destructive dogma banning medications that 98% of their members use every day of the week.

@Serolf Divad: Today. 8,000 instances of abuse alleged in Milwaukee Archdiocese bankruptcy hearing. While Dolan was bishop.

@Serolf Divad: Quite a few states already have laws that require contraceptive equity for pharmaceutical plans, and that apply to religious employers. This exemption won’t apply just to the cleaning ladies at the parish church. Every single hospital, university, or college that is even nominally associated with the Catholic church can now be exempt from providing contraceptive coverage to their employees. Do you know how much the Pill costs if you don’t have insurance? My prescription would be $109/month.

My two take aways:
There are a lot of things that we pay for as part of being part of our society that we may have a conscious objection to, for example, the war machine.

If the Catholic church wants to campaign against the gays and the vagina-Americans, they are welcome to do so if they give up their tax-exempt status. Until then, they can shut it.

@SanFranLefty: As for the appraisals of Church real property that I hope will one day occur, where would one get comps for a cathedral?

@redmanlaw: The Mormon temple in SLC? The Crystal Cathedral in Orange County?

@SanFranLefty: You need sales of comparable properties to help establish a value for an appraisal and not that many large ornate houses of worship go on the market.

@SanFranLefty: On topic. Yup.

Off Topic/ Dude — these sneakers are AWESOME. Here’s the rub: I was on the Asics site like, “Stability Shoe,” and then I saw a RED pair, and I was like,
“REDSTABILITYSHOEblahblahbreathableslipperystuffwaterproofclimb everymountainblahblahREDMUTHERFUCKERS!”

I put one on and was like, “This sounds mighty funny, like I’m scracthing up the floor, and what the hell do I turn with this key? Is there some lift or something built into it that will make me taller? Too cool. Must be in the heel somewhere.”

Then I looked at other the shoe with all the “Don’t eat the gel” tags and realized that I’ve got spiked cleats or some shit like that. Key for spikes. Okay.

Now I have twenty holes in the bottom of my sneakers (which feel awesome, BTW), and I’m like, “Those things are going to fill with mud and doggie doo,” but I am not returning these sneakers. They. Are. Red. And nice.

Is there a tool with which I clean the holes, or do I use a toothpick?

@redmanlaw: I dunno. You can find similar eyesores that are sold when the pastor is caught pestorking kids.

@Dodgerblue: You must be Terrorist #1! Your organization will need a name like” jörðin er eigandi okkur” or sumptin’.

@JNOV is like, Peace?: Darling, those look like football or soccer cleats (looking at your current avatar). I wouldn’t go jogging in the neighborhood or at the Y in those fully loaded. I don’t know if it’s good to run in them sans-cleats.

@JNOV is like, Peace?: You might be able to buy “blank” spikes, which fill the holes (preventing mud build-up) without actually putting holes in the floor. If the shoe company doesn’t sell them, take a sample spike to the nearest high-quality fastener store (contractors will shop there, and Home Depot doesn’t count), and buy a set of matching set-screws. They’ll cost a few cents each (up to 20 or 30, depending on size), and the hex key needed to install them should cost $1-2. Tell the guy behind the counter what you’re doing, and he’ll set up you with the right thing. Buy a few spares, since you’re likely to drop a couple.

@SanFranLefty: Yeah. I was afraid you’d bring up soccer. ;-P

@IanJ: Very cool. Yes, Asics doesn’t have “blanks.” I’ll hit a fastener store once I figure out what that is.

PS I LOVE THEM!

@SanFranLefty: Oh, and the sole is totally grippy. I walk about five miles a day. Once I drop 15 more #, I’ll be loping on a trail, hopefully like the one in the Eucalyptus Grove. I don’t “run.” I sorta bounce forward. Sometimes I fall.

@JNOV is like, Peace?: “I sorta bounce forward. Sometimes I fall.”

There are worse ways to go through life.