CSotD: Getting It Straight
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I’m starting by disagreeing with Paul Berge, but I’ll soften it by linking to his essay on this cartoon where he discusses the sexist comments that have drawn the most attention, while also delving into Harrison Butker’s homophobia and transphobia as well as his defense of antiSemitism.
My problem is that his objections repeat a basic misunderstanding: Butker and Benedictine College are not simply “conservative Roman Catholics” but verge on heresy.
To be Roman Catholic requires accepting the authority of the Pope, and, while I don’t know precisely what Butker thinks or what Benedictine specifically teaches on that topic, the movement of which they are a part is openly opposed to accepting Papal positions.
This makes them at least small-P protestants, if not large-H heretics. That distinction casts an important light on Butker’s speech: He was invited to speak there because he shares the religious and social views of the group.
He was, therefore, speaking to a graduating class that had been steeped for four years in precisely the sorts of beliefs he expressed. If they were still there, they shouldn’t have been either surprised or offended.
In today’s Baby Blues (AMS), Wanda is being so sarcastic that even little Hammie can pick up on it, and she caused me to cast my mind back 50 years to a time when some students at St. Mary’s College, the sister school of then all-male Notre Dame, quoted a professor as saying that a college degree wouldn’t teach you how to change diapers but would give you something to think about while you changed diapers.
Even half a century ago, I knew women at St. Mary’s who bailed out after a year or two.
I doubt there were many women in Benedictine’s Class of 2024 who weren’t in line with Butker’s thoughts.
I know, too, that there are plenty of people aligned with the woman in Michael Ramirez (Creators)’s commentary and who do not expect husbands to agree with or perhaps even listen to their wives’ political opinions, though I suspect that they aren’t the demographic normally seen at coffeehouses, which at least around here tend towards the liberal and co-equal.
David Ostow gets it right, that, in that kind of marriage, the dog and the wife are the two who are considered co-equal, and if husband and wife ever divorce, he’ll want custody of the dog in order to keep someone around who obeys him without question.
Besides, the dog probably doesn’t object to be put in that crate while her owner is at work.
Left to run around on her own, she’d just cause trouble.
Juxtaposition of the Day
The advantage the Allies had at Nuremburg and in Japan was that they had complete control of the defendants as they judged what constituted war crimes.
Chappatte notes the futility of attempting to enforce the International Criminal Court’s findings on a well-armed, recalcitrant government, while Varvel takes the prevailing rightwing position that the United Nations generally is a laughable, impotent organization.
They approach the matter from radically different positions, but come to the same conclusion, which is that the ICC’s indictments mean very little on a practical level.
Granted, the UN could be more impactful if the Western Powers that established it were more firm in standing behind it, but that’s a conversation hard to pursue in the midst of a crisis.
Then again, if the crisis ends, it’s like the fellow who can’t patch his roof during a rainstorm but doesn’t need to when the sun is shining.
At the moment, Kevin Kallaugher points out, neither Israel nor Hamas is open to the conversation. They aren’t seeking peace but, rather, victory, apparently at any cost.
Meanwhile, Matt Davies points out, students who would like to see an equitable settlement don’t seem able to put their opinions, much less an actual plan, into a format that resonates with anyone out in the real world.
It may be youthful naivete, it may be ignorance of the pragmatic facts involved, but, whatever the reason, the fellow is right: It seems like a self-contradictory mishmash of good intentions rather than a coherent political position.
David Horsey brings me back to the Troubles in Ulster in the 70s and 80s, when Catholics rallied around “our lads” not because Irish unification was a top-of-mind goal and certainly not because they supported violence but because it was “our lads” who were being carted off to prison with no charges and no trials, British armored cars were in their streets and corrupt, violent police were used as allies by Britain.
I suspect that sort of feeling is strong in Gaza, and stronger still because of the massive bombings, deaths and starvation being faced by the citizenry, and that many there see Hamas militants as “our lads” even though they don’t agree with their politics or their tactics.
What brought peace in the Six Counties was a sustained effort by church groups, both Catholic and Protestant, and a growing revulsion on both sides that culminated in a unified opposition by normal civilians to both sides’ violence.
I wish I could believe this were possible in Gaza, because I suspect it’s the only thing that could bring peace.
But, for all the loud noises of militant groups in Northern Ireland, and despite discrimination in employment and housing, the bulk of people had lived together peacefully for decades before the Troubles.
Israel and Palestine can’t make that claim.
This isn’t helping
It takes effort to put together good arguments for and against the candidates in our upcoming elections, even when opinion-makers strive to reflect the facts as they express their opinions.
Michael Ramirez (Creators) surely knows that there was a strong bipartisan border deal hammered out and that it was defeated not on its merits but because Donald Trump wanted the political crisis kept alive.
Claiming that Biden does not want a solution goes far beyond fair commentary.
Meanwhile, based on her previous positions, it seems Lisa Benson (Counterpoint) has stumbled onto the truth: Indeed, the economy is in good shape, but — in defiance of the facts — a drumbeat of defeatism and inaccurate charges is driving down Biden’s approval ratings.
I’ll wait to see what she says next before declaring a turnaround.
Meanwhile, hey, wotthehell.
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