On the Mandate, a Dangerous Crack in the Bishops' United Front

One of Obama's fan-bois.

Dear President Obama,

Please remove the one(1) paragraph in your 2000 page socialist health care bill which requires us to offer contraception in our insurance plans.

Then we can go back to cheerleading for you again.

Sincerely,
the Catholic Church

You are correct.

Prior to the contraception mandate, many in my wife's parish were cheering the law. Saying it brought more “fairness” to health care and that is the “most important thing”.

Don’t forget to mention (often) the “need” for affordable healthcare for undocumented citizens, in this letter to BO ;)

Cute. But wrong. Chuck him in the dustbin of history, before he does the same to the country. That good enough for you?

One prelate disagreeing with the otherwise united front is just that. At the risk of sounding just as arbitrary as you just were, you can’t do that. And while I definitely am behind this current effort, I’d much rather see the stronger defense: a defense based on Catholic teachings with regard to the inherent evil of contraceptives, abortion, et al. The bishops went with a somewhat weaker item in religious freedom, because they felt that it would garner more support from the non-Catholic Christians in the country. And they’re right, there. But this isn’t a numbers thing, so much as it is a right versus wrong thing.

Obama’s position on these things is inherently Evil, with a capital “E.” It is disordered, and should never be supported. Perhaps a defense based solely on Catholic doctrine on the subject of birth control and abortion would not have as much support from our separated brethren, but it’d still be a more appropriate way to go. As to any of the bishops leaning leftward, yeah, I suppose some still do, and yes, that’s a pity. We still have some of those outgrowths of the damage done in the sixties through the eighties, n additions a lot of really good and holy men. Cardinal Burke comes to mind, or Archbishop Chaput. Awesome men. More should be in the world, but not of it, if you catch my drift, but that’a the case will all of us, I’d say.

You wanna make things better? Fine. Here’s what you, personally do: PRAY. Catholic or not. Pray for good and holy men to lead, and pray for those who follow them. Then, you’ve done something about it, as opposed to what you’ve done here. That, by the way, is a serious suggestion on my part, not sarcastic.

That's true for some of them, but I think they're turning the corner on that. It's been a (cough, cough) "learning experience."

Nancy Pelosi told the literal truth when she said they'd have to pass this bill to see what was in it. The Obamacare bill had about --- what was it, 1500? --- places where it said "the Secretary shall determine," "the Secretary shall choose," "the Secretary shall appoint," "the Secretary shall design," etc. etc. They've given a blank canvas to the divine miss Sebelus, and pots of glorious pigments to paint in whatever she likes.

Yes, the USCCB was wrong from the git-go. It was wrong from BEFORE the git-go, wrong from about 1919. But now I really think that light-bulb thingie over their heads is flickering on.

I’m a Catholic and I have never heard anyone cheerlead about the healthcare HHS mandate.

Are you sure you didn’t want to mark that <sarc off

If it is sarcasm, what about all the other denominations that voted for Obama?

In all fairness, it should be pointed out to the USCCB that all over the western world, the welfare state is moribund.

The welfare state was an ideal that cannot be sustained in the real world. Its biggest flaws were first, in trying to create a blanket solution to individual, human problems.

Second, to redistribute wealth, on the belief that the mediocrity or middle class is superior to both prosperity and poverty, and can be created and exist without prosperity and poverty.

Third, that its costs were stable or would decline, instead of continuing to grow until it they not be afforded by anyone.

And fourth, the hidden purpose of the welfare state, to recreate a situation of a noble elite and a noble clergy ruling over a peasantry of everyone else. (Nothing quite like oaths of poverty and chastity to make someone an informed expert of both money and sexuality.)

Be that as it may, it is time for the USCCB to “move on”, and figure out ways to convince the wealthy that their wealth is unimportant if they are impoverished in spirit; and to convince the poor that God helps those who help themselves (maybe with the help of a “jump start”); yet not to forget to increase their spirit as well as their wallet.

None of which involves government, at all.

Time for someone to step down from his lofty office, oh yeah and this idiot bishop as well

They should also point out about how socialized medicine is increasingly relying on de facto euthanasia for cost control - you’re too old, too sickly, not good enough, go home and die. It also makes medicine a political weapon, from the pro-life protestor told he can no longer get non-critical care because of his protests of abortion to sex change surgery getting higher priority than life saving procedures.

For those who don't realize what is happening here:

U.S. Bishops Prepare Catholics for Civil Disobedience: ‘We May Need to Witness to the Truth by...’
On the Mandate, a Dangerous Crack in the Bishops' United Front
Surprise! MSM Ignoring Catholic Lawsuits against Government
Protecting Our Catholic Conscience in The Public Square
Notre Dame: Good News and Bad News
Legatus Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging the HHS Mandate

Boston Archdiocese Bails on Religious Freedom Lawsuit
Evangelicals respond to Catholic lawsuits: ‘We are all Catholic now’
Solidarity requires individual involvement, not state programs, Pope says
Catholic Caucus: 43 Catholic organizations [Notre Dame+] sue Obama over HHS
Cardinal Dolan, Cardinal Wuerl, Notre Dame, 40+ Catholic Organizations--Sue Obama
Profs at Jesuit universities lash out at bishops for opposing HHS mandate, gay ‘marriage’
The Declaration of Religious Independence
Catholic Bishops Call For Two Weeks of Action Against Obama
Oakland Bishop: Abortion Next Mandated Health Benefit?
Catholic Bishops Call For Two Weeks of Action Against Obama
Catholic Bishops Call For Two Weeks of Action Against Obama
Protest by Catholic activists may hamper Obama reelection bid (Organize! Mobilize! Go!)
Protest by Catholic activists may hamper Obama reelection bid
Catholic Bishops Take on Obama
[Connecticut] Bishops: Don't Make Catholic Hospitals Perform Abortions
Obama taking ‘similar path’ as Hitler and Stalin: Illinois Bishop Daniel Jenky
Obama taking ‘similar path’ as Hitler and Stalin: Illinois bishop Jenky
Bishop Calls for ‘Heroic Catholicism,’ Rips Obama’s ‘Radical Pro-Abortion Agenda’
Bishops tell Catholics to disobey 'unjust laws
Bishops warned: Obama will seize assets, only proper response is "Courageous Defiance"

The Profound, Unapologetic and Timely Reflections of Archbishop Chaput [Catholics in Public Life]
Vatican Cardinal: If Catholic employers provide contraceptive coverage they cooperate in sin
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Cardinal Dolan criticizes Obama contraception policy as ‘radical intrusion' (still)
Calling for Calm (Spokane's bishop wants to talk hot topics,...)
Gvmt minister (Canada) rebukes bishops on Catholic sexual teaching: ‘You’re not allowed to do that anymore!’
Pres. Obama invokes “social Darwinism”. Mr. President, look in the mirror.
WaPo Blog Says Jesus Would Support Obamacare
We Will NOT Render Unto Caesar What Belongs to God! [Archbishop Robert Carlson]
Dolan describes Obama’s about-face on contraception mandate>
(NY Cardinal) Dolan: ‘We Can’t Back Down’ (Appears on the O'Reilly Factor)
Obamacare Mandate in Deep Trouble
ACTION ITEM ALERT! Pres. Obama, through a minion, attacks Catholic chaplains once again
Contraception mandate violates federal law, say legal experts
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Catholic Bishops Declare Obama's 'Unjust and Illegal Mandate' 'A Violation of Personal Civil Rights'
Health-Care Challenge Evokes Roosevelt New Deal High Court Clash

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Evangelical leaders urged to mobilize against administration contraception policy
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Religious Freedom and Protecting Healthcare for Women and Children
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New York Times accused of Catholic bashing, double standard on religion
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No Compromise
BISHOPS DON’T BUDGE ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY (Catholic Caucus)
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Bishop [Lori] Hopes to Restart White House Contraception Talks
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Gloria Purvis: Opposing the Contraception Mandate
Ave Maria University Files Lawsuit Against Obama Administration
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Obama the Apostate (Reckoning with the Catholic Church)

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The Noise-to-Signal Ratio at the USCCB
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Cardinal Dolan: White House Lectured My USCCB Staff On How to Interpret Catholic Teaching
Obama Admin lectures Card. Dolan and USCCB. Dolan responds. (Fr Z Fisking of Article)
HHS mandate could close 13 percent of the nation’s hospitals
Bishop Lori rips America editorial on HHS mandate Priest warns Obama: Better knock the Catholic Church out now - you’ve awakened the giant
Irony - Bar Boots Denver Bishop giving private talk on threats to religious liberty
Top U.S. Bishop to All Bishops: ‘We Did Not Ask for This Fight, But We Will Not Run From It’
Obama Risks $100 Billion If Catholic Hospitals Close
Catholic bishops exhort faithful to oppose Obamacare in a Sunday message
Congress Told HHS Mandate Fines Could Total $620,000
Cardinal Dolan blasts White House contraception plan as 'freedom of religion battle'
The Coming Persecution (a priest's projection on what is to come if Obama re-elected)
The HHS Mandate: Cardinal George and the Bishops Are Fighting the Last War (Excellent Analysis)
Cardinal Dolan indicates possible legal actions; rebuffs "cave-in" Catholics
From Cardinal Dolan: “We Have to be Realistic and Prepare for Tough Times…”

Biden: We 'Screwed up' Contraception Mandate
Priest To Planned Parenthood: ‘Here Comes The Catholic Church’
The Catholic Diaspora and the Tragedy of Liberal Catholicism
A sermon explaining what Pres. Obama is doing.
Holder: 1st Amendment Allows Gov't to Force Catholics to Buy Sterilizat-Contracept-Abortn Insurance
Sebelius Excludes Bishops From Obamacare Mandate Compromise Talks
On "Things Not Subject to Human Government"
Church Could Be Forced To 'Give Up' Public Work, Cardinal George Warns
Cardinal George: No Catholic Hospitals in 2 Years Unless HHS Mandate is Rescinded
The Way Freedom of Religion Should Work
Religious Liberty Homily
Obama Faces More Lawsuits Over Pro-Abortion HHS Mandate
Pope Benedict Defends Religious Liberty
The Sisters and Universal Health Care: Forgetting What Religion Is
Time Magazine Op-Ed: Perhaps “Some Time in Jail” for Catholic Bishops Defending Religious Liberty
Baptist College Sues Over Contraceptive Mandate
Government Assault May Have Just Begun, Cardinal Dolan Warns
Responding to Your Questions for MORE! (Eblast from Grace Before Meals priest)
Catholic CEO calls mandate compromise 'divide and conquer' strategy

Catholic Bishop's Prez: Our Rights Don’t Depend on Obama
Obama's defense of religion {Mega BARF-Alert - talk about spin...}
Contraception and the Culture War [Deepening Catholic-Evangelical Relationship]
Cardinal Timothy Dolan issues strongest statement yet against the HHS mandate
Clergy Declare State of Emergency for Churches Over Obama Demands
Father, We're Ready for that Homily on Contraception Now
Contraception, Against Conscience [Why EWTN Will Not Comply With Obama's Mandate]
Bishops Decry Obama birth Control Plan, Yet Catholic Hospitals Report Sterilizations
The Catholic Betrayal of Religious Freedom
Obama Responds to Belmont Abbey Lawsuit. Epic Fail.
Catholic Charities Insists it has not Endorsed HHS Mandate
Chaput emerging as a warrior-bishop
Archbishop Chaput: It’s not a ‘compromise,’ and it needs to be rescinded
Pro-Abortion Fingerprints on HHS Mandate
Dem (Congressman) Scolds Bishop (at House Oversight hearin)
Evangelicals & Catholics Together: In Defense of Religious Freedom (vs. Islam, Secularism)
Catholic priest, pro-life activists arrested outside White House protesting Obama mandate
Obama Contradicted: HHS Banned Consideration of ‘Cost Effectiveness’ in Developing Contraception
BREAKING: Every Single Bishop Has Condemned the Obama/HHS Mandate!
Pro-life nuns: We’re not exempt - Obama mandate would force us ‘to pay for abortion-inducing drugs’

Contraception ruling: Democrats accuse clergy of complicity with GOP at hearing
Catholic League on Sebelius’s admission before a Senate committee
Voris: Obama Able to Neutralize Catholic Resistance Thanks to Bishops’ Past Complicity
Abortion, Contraception and the Church Fathers (Catholic teaching unchanged for 2000 yrs)
Head of U.S. bishops: Obama compromise on mandate ‘a hill of beans’; opposition intensifies
USCCB President: 'Harder and Harder' to Accept Obama's Word
White House Criticizes Bishops, Trumpets Support from CHA, Catholic Charities
Political Science 101: how the White House snookered the USCCB on the 'compromise'
What Did CHA's Carol Keehan Know and When Did She Know It?
Pope Shares Remarks on American Culture with Bishops; Issues Call to Laity By: Msgr. Charles Pope
USCCB President says Obama offered next to nothing; expresses disappointment with Sr. Keehan
Evangelical Leaders Call for Civil Disobedience Against U.S. Government
Liberal Jews Speak Against HHS Mandate
Top nun who supported Obama mandate thanks pro-choice group in private e-mail
Catholic Health Association collaboration with Obama admin on mandate a ‘scandal’: Catholic leader
Obama's revised HHS mandate won't solve problems, USCCB president says
Fr. Frank Pavone: No compromise - the mandate has to go, period
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Bishops Reject Obama's 'Accommodation' - President's political hemorrhaging to continue.

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Obama Chief of Staff: New Pro-Abortion Mandate Here to Stay
WH: We Are Done Negotiating With Catholics
Opponents launch new White House petition rejecting Obama rewrite of birth control mandate
Did the Leaders of the Catholic Church Make a Deal with the Redistributionist Devil?
Archbishop Chaput: HHS mandate insulting and dangerous
Cardinal-Designate Dolan no longer trusts Obama
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Notre Dame Faculty to Obama: ‘This Is a Grave Violation of Religious Freedom and Cannot Stand’
White House: No More Compromise on Contraception
Obama's anti-religious implosion
Lew: Obama's latest stance on birth-control mandate final, puts issue to rest (CAPTION)
Pat Buchanan: 'Obama is trampling on God's turf' (Video)
W.H. official: Contraceptive rule stands
Obama chief of staff: No more compromise, contraceptive rule is done deal
Bishops Reject White House’s New Plan on Contraception (Obama continues his "War On Religion")
Faith/Pro-Life Leaders to Challenge Mandate by Praying and Risking Arrest in Front of the WH
Catholic Bishops: Don't Revise, Rescind
Obama's contempt for the Constitution
How the Catholic Church Became Cool Overnight

Chuck Colson Reacts to Obama’s “Compromise” on Required Abortion Care for Church Employees
US Bishops: Obama's 'Compromise' Has No Clear Protection...(Needless Government Intrusion)
Protests Continue Over Insurance for Contraception, Abortifacients (Feds Under Increasing Pressure
Bishops to Obama: No dice
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Michael Moore Goes On Anti-Catholic Twitter Rant, Distorts Contraception Debate
Religious controversy burns Obama again (the rookie Hussein is in WAY over his pay grade)
Another Catholic college vows it will ‘not violate conscience’ on Obama mandate
Lutherans join chorus of voices slamming HHS contraceptive mandate
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Hannity on now with Priests, Pastors and Rabbis. Please watch
EDITORIAL: Obama’s free abortion pills
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Don't Be Deceived! Evil Obama Policy Now Even MORE Evil!
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Compromise or Accommodation, it’s still unacceptable. (updated from Catholic Vote)
Pres. Obama’s “Plan B” compromise, Sr. Keehan, and the Magisterium of Nuns
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(Exempt Catholics) Joe Biden, Bill Daley warned of contraceptive backlash
(Tim) Thomas makes second political statement (Stands With Catholics)
Southern Baptist leader: If Obama mandate isn’t changed, Christians will go to jail
Over 150 congressional leaders demand repeal of HHS mandate
Boehner vows to overturn Obama’s birth control coverage rule
Boehner: Congress to overturn birth control policy if Obama does not reverse course
O'Brien says Archdiocese of Baltimore won't offer birth control coverage
Archbishop of San Francisco says Obama ruling strikes at religious freedom
How Obama Lost the Catholic Vote
‘I am going to stick with fellow Catholics’ in Pres. Obama’s war on Catholics. Wherein Fr. Z rants.
Unholy War
Six Things Everyone Should Know about the HHS Mandate
Santorum: Obama Hostile to Christians
Understanding Oppostion to the HHS Mandate (Part 1): Why the Church Won’t Pay for Contracept

The Bishops Chickens Coming Home to Roost.
65 Orthodox Church bishops call on Obama to ‘rescind’ the ‘unjust’ contraception mandate
Doug Kmiec Writes Obama: 'Friendship Will Not Permit Me to Disregard Duty to Faith and Country'
Catholic Outcry Over Obama Administration's Birth Control Decision Could Factor In Presidential Race
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Updated: *167* Bishops (More Than 90% of Dioceses) Have Spoken Out Against Obama/HHS Mandate
Outrage!… Military Tells Chaplains What They Can and Can’t Say About HHS/ObamaAssault on Religion
Updated: *153* Bishops (Over 80% of Dioceses) Have Spoken Out Against Obama/HHS Mandate
href="http://www.sundayscripturestudy.com/this_week.html">An Affront Catholics Agree On [Liberal and Conservative Catholics Against Obama Mandate]
Army Silenced Chaplains Last Sunday
Catholic Military Archdiocese & Chaplains interfered with last Sunday by Pres. Obama’s Admin
The Anti-Catholic President v. the Catholic Bishops
Sen. Rubio introduces bill to reverse Obama birth control mandate
Churches balk at birth control rule - Catholics won’t comply, Bishop Kevin Rhoades says
Protestants and Jews declare to White House: We stand with Catholics
Checking the Air Outside [Bp. Zubik's follow up to Obama's “To Hell with You”]
Mohler [Southern Baptist] Says Insurance Mandate Not Just 'Catholic' Issue
An Open Letter to President Barack Obama Concerning Recent Tyranny (With Pictures!)
Lincoln bishop: prepare for 'suffering' under HHS mandate
Bishop David Zubik confronts Obama
Obama’s ‘war on the church’

Pope hits out at 'radical secularism'
‘We Will Not Comply’: Catholic Leaders Distribute Letter Slamming Obama Admin Contraceptive Mandate
‘We Will Not Comply’: Catholic Leaders Distribute Letter Slamming Obama Admin Contraceptive Mandate
Bruskewitz: Fight Insurance Ruling [Sebelius a "bitter, fallen away Catholic"]
Letter from Archbishop John G. Vlazny on the matter of freedom of conscience and decisions by HHS
Bishop Olmsted's Letter to Catholics [Catholic Caucus]
Liberty for the Amish & Quakers but not Catholics. . .
Contraception mandate prompts Peoria bishop to instate St. Michael Prayer (Catholic Caucus)
Phoenix bishop (Olmstead): defy feds on birth control
A letter from Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr concerning HHS edict
Speak honestly: abortion is ‘the killing of tiny human beings in the womb’ – Denver bishop
Bishop [Daniel Jenky] Blasts Secularist Intolerance, Calls For ‘Assertive Action’ to Defend Church
(Pittsburgh Bishop Zubik comments:) HHS delays rule on contraceptive coverage
Dolan: Natural law, not religious preference, dictates all life sacred
Religious leaders blast HHS over contraception mandate
Mandated Contraception, Sterilization: Caesar Demands Church Violate Conscience
OBAMA’S CONTEMPT FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY (mandates coverage of sterilization & contraception)
Implications of Obama Admin move to force Cath hospitals to provide contraception and sterilizations
Catholic doctors’ group launches petition against contraception mandate
Contraception mandate tramples religious freedom, US bishops say

They should also point out about how socialized medicine is increasingly relying on de facto euthanasia for cost control - you’re too old, too sickly, not good enough, go home and die. It also makes medicine a political weapon, from the pro-life protestor told he can no longer get non-critical care because of his protests of abortion to sex change surgery getting higher priority than life saving procedures.

Social justice is another name for the sin of statolatry--the worship of the state as the ultimate moral agent. These things you list are merely a sample of the fruits of that sin.

It's been a (cough, cough) "learning experience."

At some point they may realize that's the thing about scorpions: they sting.

Since Catholic Culture does not need to be excerpted, here is the full text of the article.

The counter-attack has begun. You knew it was coming, didn’t you?

For weeks now the American bishops have been marching in lockstep unity, completely unanimous in their opposition to the HHS contraceptive mandate. The Catholic hierarchy has been headed into a showdown with President Obama, and not a single bishop had shown any inclination to back away from the fight. But you knew it couldn’t last. And it didn’t.

This week Bishop Stephen Blaire became the first prelate to break stride, voicing his misgivings about the confrontation. Oh, Bishop Blaire wasn’t suggesting that the Catholic hierarchy should accede to the HHS mandate. After all he had already condemned the mandate as unjust, as had the leaders of every other Catholic diocese in the United States. But Bishop Blaire raised a few questions about the strategy being followed by the leaders of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), about the lack of consultation, about the possible public perceptions. That was enough. Immediately liberal Catholics seized the opportunity to launch their own campaign, suggesting that only a minority of “conservative” bishops favor the all-out battle against the HHS mandate.

Now Bishop Blair says that his words were misinterpreted. “I stand solidly with my brother bishops in our common resolve to overturn the unacceptable intrusion of government into the life of the Church by the HHS mandate,” he insists in a follow-up statement. But no one ever doubted his opposition to the mandate. Every reasonable Catholic—excluding the extreme ideologues like Kathleen Sebelius and Nancy Pelosi and “Catholics” for Free Choice—opposes the HHS mandate. What divides liberal Catholics from the mainstream is the question of how to respond to that mandate. Should Catholic voters see this as a crucial battle that we absolutely cannot afford to lose? Or should they look at the mandate as one of many issues to take into consideration during this year’s election campaign? In his remarks to America magazine, Bishop Blaire leaned heavily toward the latter option. “The question is what is our focus as bishops,” he said.

Bishop Blaire evidently has his own ideas about “our focus as bishops.” As chairman of the USCCB committee on justice and peace, he has released a raft of statements on other political issues, taking public stands that usually coincide with the positions of the Obama administration. Now he expressed his concern that “some groups ‘very far to the right’ are trying to use the conflict [over the HHS mandate] ‘as an anti-Obama campaign.” He had never voices any misgivings that people ‘very far to the left’ might exploit his own statements in a pro-Obama campaign.

The problem with the battle against the HHS mandate, Bishop Blaire told America, is that some people “are trying to co-opt this and make it into a political issue.” Well, there’s an old saying: “You can’t take the politics out of politics.” The HHS mandate is a political issue. It is a political proposal, backed by some politicians and opposed by others. If you hope to defeat the mandate, you must take sides.

And again, the issues on which Bishop Blaire has issued statements—such as welfare and food stamps and budget cuts and immigration and the Cuban embargo—are political issues, too. So the question is not whether the bishops should take political stands (they already do), but whether they should make the HHS mandate THE issue, or just one among many.

You know the drill, don’t you? For years bishops have been issuing statements informing Catholic voters that they cannot, in good conscience, vote for a political candidate who supports legal abortion. But year after year, USCCB statements have softened that stand, instructing voters that the sanctity of human life is one issue—admittedly a very important one—among several that should be taken into consideration on Election Day. It always has been easy for liberal Catholics to turn those statements to their advantage. And this year will be no different.

Sure enough, as soon as Bishop Blaire spoke to America, columnist E.J. Dionne pounced on the opportunity in Commonweal. Bishop Blaire’s statement had come at a time when the USCCB campaign against the HHS mandate was in the headlines, after 41 Catholic institutions joined in a lawsuit to block the policy. Dionne’s column raised the first questions about those suits. “It turns out that many bishops, notably the church leadership in California, saw the litigation as premature,” he said.

Dionne went on to paint a picture of a divided episcopal conference\, with a few powerful “conservative” prelates bullying the more moderate majority. “For too long,” he complained, “the Catholic Church's stance on public issues has been defined by the outspokenness of its most conservative bishops and the reticence of moderate and progressive prelates.” That description of USCCB affairs might astonish people who have been following the bishops’ highly public campaigns against budget cuts and immigration restrictions and nuclear weaponry and the war in Iraq: subjects on which the “moderate and progressive prelates” have been anything but reticent. But for readers who do not follow the USCCB closely, and especially for those who think that only “conservative” Catholic bishops oppose abortion, the argument may sound plausible enough.

Dionne’s colleague at the Washington Post, Lisa Miller, soon stepped in with her own column pressing the offensive, arguing that only a handful of American bishops support the all-out battle against the mandate. “A much larger group of more moderate bishops has stayed mostly silent, fearful that to take a stand against their bishop brethren would be to lay bare intramural fissures,” she claimed. Again that argument is impossible to sustain in the face of the factual evidence: the statements issued from every diocese in the country, condemning the mandate. But Miller’s narrative may be enough to give liberals an excuse for supporting the Obama administration despite the USCCB’s campaign against his health-care mandate.

Bishop Blaire was the first American prelate to raise questions about that USCCB campaign. There will be others. Dionne and Miller wrote the first columns spinning out the implications of the bishop’s statement. There will be more. In order to defeat the mandate, the American bishops will need united support among Catholic voters. They cannot expect such unity from the laity if they do not maintain unity among themselves.

Bishop Blaire told America,

He told this to America (should that be Amerika?), and didn't expect any blowback?

I believe the reporter is referring to America Magazine, the national Catholic Weekly magazine published by the Jesuits.

I know.

Does that guy always look like a possum or is it just that one picture?

I bet he even has a nice possum tail, too.

I've been wondering when there would be a group of bishops who break away and want to keep on being Protestant in all but name.

Some of these folks have to be shaking in their boots over the thought of the Catholic Church being Catholic rather than letting the Church in the US keep playing "go along to get along" like the majority of Protestants do.

Or one of Bernardin’s Boys?

Well, the bishops COULD do a better job explaining this.

How often, for example, do they make clear that is it not only the issue of the Catholic Church’s freedom to run its schools and hospitals, but rather the individual freedom of every American to practice his religion in everyday life?

How many obamoids would mandate that Jews eat pork?

It is a stark, somber, liberty or death issue.