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A ‘Marine’ for Catholics Sees a Time of Battle [NYT on William Donohue and the Catholic League]
The New York Times ^ | May 14, 2009 | PAUL VITELLO

Posted on 05/14/2009 9:20:26 PM PDT by Alex Murphy

William A. Donohue, the perennially indignant president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, had no sooner finished a conference call with reporters Wednesday, in which he demanded the firing of a White House aide, when CNN called.

“CNN wants you to do Rick Sanchez at 3:30 on the Notre Dame thing, and also Bill Cunningham wants you to come on about ‘Angels and Demons,’ ” said his assistant, Susan Fani, in the wood-paneled 34th-floor Midtown Manhattan office from which Mr. Donohue surveys the world — and more often than not finds the world rife with anti-Catholic bias.

With urgency in his voice, he replied, “Now, I’ve got to see the movie before I can talk about it, but if he wants me to go on about the distortions and lies in Dan Brown’s book and Ron Howard’s hypocrisy,” he said, referring to the author of the book and director of the movie “Angels and Demons,” “I can do that.” He spoke fast, his words bunching up and spilling over their margins like the notations on the overcrowded desk calendar he was scribbling on.

“But, wait, so you told the people at ‘American Morning’ I can do the taping for them? And Bob Schieffer is tomorrow morning at 10. Is that what you have?”

It has been a busy week for Mr. Donohue, a contentious and unofficial enforcer of Roman Catholic sensibilities who can grate on enemies and friends alike with his immense ability to be offended on behalf of his church. In the 16 years since he took the reins of the Catholic League — an organization that claims to have 50,000 paying members nationwide but has no formal connection to the church and no spokesman except Mr. Donohue — he can recall few moments that have

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Catholic; Ministry/Outreach; Moral Issues; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: angelsanddemons; catholic; donohue
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It has been a busy week for Mr. Donohue, a contentious and unofficial enforcer of Roman Catholic sensibilities who can grate on enemies and friends alike with his immense ability to be offended on behalf of his church. In the 16 years since he took the reins of the Catholic League — an organization that claims to have 50,000 paying members nationwide but has no formal connection to the church and no spokesman except Mr. Donohue — he can recall few moments that have so thoroughly tapped his well of combativeness.

William Donohue is paid $343,000 a year in salary and compensation for his work as the sole spokesperson and president of the Catholic League.

1 posted on 05/14/2009 9:20:26 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
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To: Alex Murphy

Pretty cheap as CEO’s go, I’d say.


2 posted on 05/14/2009 9:22:32 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand
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To: Alex Murphy

God bless Bill Donohue.

He is worth every penny.


3 posted on 05/14/2009 9:23:04 PM PDT by Palladin (Waterboard Father Jenkins!)
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“Catholic-baiting is the anti-Semitism of the liberals.”
Peter Viereck in Shame and Glory of the Intellectuals


4 posted on 05/14/2009 9:31:15 PM PDT by donaldo
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To: donaldo

Good one!


5 posted on 05/14/2009 9:42:00 PM PDT by Salvation ( †With God all things are possible.†)
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To: Alex Murphy
The vast majority of his time, Alex, Bill Donohue is sticking up for your faith just as much as he's sticking up for mine. Most of the "anti-Catholicism" to which he objects is coming from the cultural left, and it's coming from people who are completely inimical to traditional Christian teaching, whether Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox.

Seriously: read the Catholic League's monthly newsletter, and see if you don't agree with me that "cultural left" anti-Catholicism is mentioned or refuted at least 10 times for every one time Protestant anti-Catholicism is mentioned. (And most of the Protestant anti-Catholicism the CL objects to is of the fringe variety.)

6 posted on 05/14/2009 9:44:12 PM PDT by Campion ("President Barack Obama" is an anagram for "An Arab-backed Imposter")
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To: Alex Murphy
Sounds like you're jealous.

How much does a moderator pull down?

7 posted on 05/14/2009 10:04:58 PM PDT by A.A. Cunningham (Barry Soetoro is a Kenyan communist)
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To: A.A. Cunningham

You looking for work?


8 posted on 05/14/2009 10:11:10 PM PDT by Religion Moderator
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To: Alex Murphy

Let’s see, you can’t stand Mormons, Catholics, and what/who else? Someone is a little bit insecure about his own religion if he has to spend so much time posting negative stuff about others’. Huh.


9 posted on 05/14/2009 11:24:30 PM PDT by freeplancer
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To: Campion

Amen, old Bill is fighting for all of us really. At least anyone who does not love abortion and homos.


10 posted on 05/14/2009 11:25:18 PM PDT by freeplancer
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To: Religion Moderator

Are you guys ever going to create a catagory of “anti-religious religion”?


11 posted on 05/14/2009 11:26:52 PM PDT by freeplancer
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To: Religion Moderator

You lookin’ to hire?


12 posted on 05/15/2009 3:29:08 AM PDT by vladimir998 (Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. St. Jerome)
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To: Religion Moderator

LOL...you couldn’t pay me to do your job! Well, maybe $343,000 would do it.


13 posted on 05/15/2009 3:36:49 AM PDT by big'ol_freeper ([Advocate for] Mitt Romney[?], God help you, but you're on the wrong website ~ Jim Robinson)
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To: Alex Murphy

He needs a raise.


14 posted on 05/15/2009 3:36:54 AM PDT by Petronski (In Germany they came first for the Communists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist...)
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To: Petronski

Indeed.

The Catholic League’s emergence and credibility has been entirely his doing. He is, for all intents and purposes, the Catholic League.

The sad thing is that, while the enemy sappers have breached the defenses, the sentries are busy sabotaging the friendlies engaged in the fight.


15 posted on 05/15/2009 3:42:52 AM PDT by big'ol_freeper ([Advocate for] Mitt Romney[?], God help you, but you're on the wrong website ~ Jim Robinson)
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To: freeplancer; Alex Murphy
Here's a good example. Find anything to object to about this, Alex?

P.S. -- The boycott worked. Miller caved.

16 posted on 05/15/2009 5:16:34 AM PDT by Campion ("President Barack Obama" is an anagram for "An Arab-backed Imposter")
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To: big'ol_freeper
LOL...you couldn’t pay me to do your job! Well, maybe $343,000 would do it.

******************

I might be willing to do it for that kind of money as well, but only part time. I'm busy.

17 posted on 05/15/2009 5:20:33 AM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: freeplancer
Are you guys ever going to create a catagory of “anti-religious religion”?

The posters create their own caucuses on the Religion Forum. Ironically, the first "ecumenical" thread was posted by atheists thinking it would prove that it couldn't work, but it did.

On the other hand, we have banned some anti-religion posters from the RF altogether for trolling. This is after all a Religion Forum so whereas disbelief is a belief, knocking religion from thread to thread is just as trollish as a liberal coming onto Free Republic to knock conservatism from thread to thread.

18 posted on 05/15/2009 7:57:08 AM PDT by Religion Moderator
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To: Alex Murphy

Bill Donohue is worth every penny. We need about a dozen more just like him.


19 posted on 05/15/2009 7:58:18 AM PDT by Antoninus (Now accepting apologies from repentant Mittens.)
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To: Religion Moderator

Thanks for the info.


20 posted on 05/15/2009 4:19:09 PM PDT by freeplancer
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