Paging Bill Donohue
Where is the Catholic League when you need it? I’ve talked a lot about how political discourse on the right has degenerated into infantile know-nothing personal attacks, with even John McCain now walking the path cleared by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter. But one of the worst practitioners of this dark art is surely Jerome Corsi, who wrote the attack book on John Kerry four years ago, spreading the lies that eventually destroyed his campaign, and who now has appeared on cue with a new book on Barack Obama that again focuses on personal attacks.
What does this have to do with our old friend Bill Donohue? Well, Mr. Corsi is well-known for making outrageous anti-Catholic comments. Take these samples:
CORSI: “So this is what the last days of the Catholic Church are going to look like. Buggering boys undermines the moral base and the laywers rip the gold off the Vatican altars. We may get one more Pope, when this senile one dies, but that’s probably about it.”
CORSI: “Boy buggering in both Islam and Catholicism is okay with the Pope as long as it isn’t reported by the liberal press.”
Of course, he’s not a fan of other religions either. Islam is a “worthless, dangerous Satanic religion” of “ragheads” and a “virus”. And consider some of his other outbursts. John Kerry is “anti-Christian, anti-American”, a “f*ing commie” who is “practicing Judiasm”. Bill Clinton is an “anti-American communist” and his wife is a ”b*tch”, a “fat hog” and a “lesbo”.
And yet this fool is taken seriously by the media. Talk about a cultural decline. But one expects more from Bill Donohue, right? Eh, no. Donohue issued a statement in 2006 describing Corsi as “someone who once made anti-Catholic quips for which he has long apologized.” Case closed. A very different response from the way he hounded the Edwards campaign for hiring bloggers who made anti-Catholic comments in a very similar tone. The truth is blindlingly obvious: Donohue is not a defender of Catholics against defamation, but a Republican operative who selectively exploits anti-Catholicism to further his partisan ends. Just look at his latest news releases: the Democrats have “religion problems” (remember 2004 when he lauded the faith of George Bush and denounced Kerry as a religious charlatan?), and senator Casey is a phony. Oh, he does mention an anti-Muslim book though– criticizing the editor for refusing to publish it. Does anybody today still take the Catholic League seriously today?
Comments are closed.
Corsi is a lying hack, and Donohue is a complete tool. However, nothing is going to help the Republicans this election cycle. Donahue’s and Corsi’s tactics remind people of what’s been so loathsome and awful about the last 8 years.
The Republicans need to move away from Atwater-like scorched earth tactics, and back toward making an honest case for their party.
Mr. McCain asserted yesterday that “in the 21st century, nations do not invade other nations.”
Whether he was speaking prescriptively or descriptively, this is an obvious indication that the man has lost a precious bit of his touch with reality.
Four letters: I R A Q.
Poor Obama. He is just so honorable. How dare anybody question his moral compass.
what’s been so loathsome and awful about the last 8 years.
I’m nearly as invested in presidential elections as anyone, but let’s not get *too* carried away…
There’s a nice article in the July/August issue of Touchstone by Peter Speckhard entitled “Bored to Be a Hero”. At one point in the article, he observes that “if you barely made it through the hell of A.D. 2007in America, you’re really going to be in trouble if anything bad ever happens.” I tend to agree. Politics — including presidential elections — are important, but not as important as we sometimes imagine. I keep hearing people on both sides of the spectrum and throughout the media talk about how this is the most important election in their lifetimes. Please.
Corsi is pretty much a hack. It takes a lot to be banned off Free Republic but he was. He also has a lot of people that don’t like him in Republican Circles.
He appears on Art Bell has wild theories on how OIL is made and delves into wild conspiracy theories about how Bush and others want to create on huge North American state. His book very well might be well documented but his past hare brained books will hurt him. There will be many Conservatives and Republicans that would not mind if that happens.
As Deal Hudson himself notes in his book Onward Christian Soliders, Donohue has worked with Republican recruiting and organizing committees during election years. His choice not to pursue Corsi in his typically frenetic and anti-Christian style (would anyone who sees Donohue on TV find Catholicism compelling???) is not surprising. Whatever may be the status of the Catholic League as an organization, there is no question that its highest ranking member is a willing bearer of the Republican banner. This in itself is not a evil thing. However, it is problematic when this bearer claims to represent the interests of Catholics in the public sphere.