Jim Hoft's obstreperous Gateway Pundit blog is associated with the
conservative Catholic magazine site First Things. That may seem odd to
those of us who know Hoft best for his non-sectarian ravings against Pepsi Cola and Honest Tea as "in
the tank" for President Obama or, more recently, items like "The Obama Curse Continues... Top Seed Kansas Falls in
2nd Round [of NCAA Tournament]." Unless hatred of Obama has become a
full-fledged Catholic sect (and who knows), what's any of that got to
do with religion?
But Hoft really earned his Vatican gold this weekend; as the House muscled across a health care bill, Hoft's postings
-- and those of some other rightbloggers -- accrued a more overtly
religious dimension.
As part of his attack on the health care bill, Hoft had been running videos of Bart Stupak, an
anti-abortion Democratic
Congressman who'd been holding up the bill in the House, speaking ill
(or at least candidly, which amounts to the same thing) of the
Democratic leadership.
To his credit, Hoft never believed Stupak wouldn't flip when the time
was right (as opposed to Nice Deb, who had rashly compared Stupak to Braveheart). But when
Stupak did flip on Sunday (in a way that displeased abortion supporters and opponents
alike), Hoft reacted with theological scorn: Stupak, Hoft reported, "Sells [His] Soul!"
(When the House finally
passed the bill, Hoft resorted to the most
profound spiritual signifier in the rightblogger vocabulary: A quote from Star Wars.)
Why was Hoft
so upset over the expected vote of a Democrat for a
Democratic bill? Because for him, as for many rightbloggers, the perfidy
of Democratic health care legislation is an article of faith, and the
struggle within the soul of any sinner, however unworthy, between Good
(free market) and Evil (government health insurance) is momentous.
("REMEMBER," added Hoft, underlining his Manichean vision, "You Can
NEVER Trust a Democrat. ... You can sometimes trust Republicans but ...
You
Can NEVER Trust a Democrat...")
Most rightbloggers' big issue
with the bill is of course socialism.
But as the health care plan gets dangerously close to reality, the
audible rending of garments and speaking in tongues indicate that in the
last ditch some of the brethren have been feeling the Holy Ghost at
least as much as that of Adam Smith. And aren't you tired of
hearing
them yak about socialism all the time, anyway? Us too, so let's amuse
ourselves with a detour and see how the rightblogger Christer contingent
has been handling this terrible defeat.
We especially liked the
response when Nancy Pelosi, a longtime Catholic
though also a member of the demonic Democratic Party, mentioned that the feast of St. Joseph was "significant to Italian
Americans," and a "day where we remember and pray to St. Joseph to
benefit the workers of America, and that's exactly what our health care
bill will do."
Catholic Heart and Mind roared, "Nancy Pelosi is an
ardent practicing Catholic like I am a Jedi Knight," and led the
congregation in the Kyrie Eleison. Donald R. May cautioned readers that "Pelosi is
not
signaling the end of the Progressive Left assault on Israel and
Christianity" -- no, that nefarious plan was still on; "Pelosi is
simply attempting to wrap the evil that is ObamaCare in a cloak of
goodness and religion."
Pelosi's "ignorance is almost sublime,"
sniffed The Anchoress -- a housewife who likes to compare
herself to a medieval religious hermit for some reason. "'Italian
Americans,'" she began in quotes, as if these were mere creatures of
Pelosi's fancy, "certainly do honor St. Joseph, but they do not 'pray'
to him. They ask him to pray for them, before the Throne of his most
holy and almighty step-son, the Christ." Hot Air's Ed Morrissey joined her attack on Pelosi's
comprehension of the finer points of Catholic doctrine.
In
old-fashioned households, longtime Catholics will know, saints are by
custom "prayed to" frequently, but The Anchoress wielded the
catechism like a truncheon to demonstrate that she, rather than
the low church rabble, knew best what health care system Jesus would
prefer -- and it certainly wasn't that favored by thousands of Catholic sisters
("not nuns," the Anchoress hastened to assure us) who had endorsed the Democrats' plan.
The Catholic
ladies' endorsement, The Anchoress asserted, was
"inaccurate," and may have reflected a lack of discernment -- after all,
they are "mostly boomer sisters who have issues with the authority of
the hierarchy and have come to rather delight in sticking their fingers
into the eyes of Catholic orthodoxy," in stark contrast with The
Anchoress who, though she has no actual religious vocation, would never
stick a finger in any orthodoxy's eye.
Further adding, in The
Anchoress' estimation, to the sisters' confusion:
"Obamacare -- like much of Barack Obama's agenda -- depends upon
ambiguity and confusion in order to thrive, and so this story has been
hauled out as a means of muddying the waters."
The Father of Lies
has been busy among the Weaker Vessels! Hadn't they
-- and other wets, like the Catholic Health Association -- felt the strong,
guiding hand of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, who
advised against passage?
Apparently not, the vote suggested to
these rightbloggers -- and, though
Catholics are a minority among federal lawmakers, the failure of
Doctrine to influence national affairs required explanations to the
faithful. One Godblogger suggested the Catholic Health Association had
been bought off by Obama to betray Jesus. Other plots
were seen afoot, too: An Angry Catholic found it "disturbing that they
have decided to hold this healthcare vote on a Sunday -- the holiest of
weekdays -- when at least some of them know that this is going to
increase abortion availability in the United States!" Coincidence -- or a
direct and willful attack on Our Lord?
Rightblogger responses to
defeat are always amusing whatever their
religious content. (Like the newly elevated Erick Erickson again
crying for Republican purges -- still the same kid
with stars in his eyes!) But perhaps because we were raised in the faith
ourselves, we are sensitive to religious imagery in even their less
overtly Jesus-y offerings.
We are especially tickled, for
example, by the GOP.com brainstorm, Fire Nancy Pelosi,
which shows the Speaker raging in front of an infernal wall of flames,
and Dan Riehl's post on it, "Fire Pelosi: What We Won Tonight ... Let them have
their self-congratulatory night and day or two. They've been drunk on
power and ideology throughout this debate. Kicking the snot out of them
when their hangover sets in -- and it will -- may be the political
highlight of many of our lives."
There's your common Jesus
denominator: Act as if ye have faith, and faith will be given to you!
Will it work? Well, depends on whether you think its purpose is to win
new supporters who may increase the chances of the inchoate anti-Obama
movement, or to instead make the defeated faithful feel like winners.
Roy Edroso's Rightbloggers: Exploring the right Wing Blogosphere
appears courtesy of our sister paper in New York City, Village Voice.
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Down through the ages the merger of religion and politics has always worked so well. Eradication of free thinkers generally its first priority. To read comments and blogs today you'd think it was the end times, armageddon, the apocalypse and legislation of mass destruction all rolled into one. The fact is when I looked outside this morning the sun was up, the birds were singing and the little yellow crocus poked its bloom through the snow
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