This character obviously doesn’t know that Chicago is the murder capital of the country!

I suspect a joke. The part about not wanting crank calls is suspicious, IMHO. On the other hand, if it is serious, no need for a bag of hammers, one would do. (Except that they probably shouldn’t be in the hands of people who can misuse them to attack other peoples and stuff. So maybe we should cut off hands so as to prevent violence. No, wait, that means knives are dangerous. O darn it!)

No American Caesar!

I saw it first on FaceBook. I made the comment there that this person was obviously a product of the fine, progressive North Carolina public education system.

Only in North Carolina does something that stupid (by a Democrat) get a pass as this letter did. He does not know the “exact statistics” but he just knows that Chicago has to be safer because that is where Barack Obama comes from and they have strict gun control laws.

It probably would not do any good to point out to Mr. Clueless in NC that Chicago has the highest rate of guvn violence in the country. Because that would go against his feelings.

I am so tired of Progressive “feelings.” They make me feel badly!! :-/

Forgot to mention that his grasp of recent history is not that good either. The Constitution was written more than a hundred years ago, fellow.

As for the Democratic “drive to make life fair” , can I be excused? Democratic “fairness” gives me hives!

Because so much of it is ‘just so’, I vote ‘satire’.

Cheers

Satire: a take on the type of “uninformed voter” who votes for Obama who can only talk in terms of the cliches “I heard it on the TeeVee”.

The bit about the Constitution being “written a hundred years ago” is what clued me in that this is satire. This is obviously referencing Ezra Klein’s infamous comment about the Constitution being “confusing” because it was written “over a hundred years ago” (which he later updated to “over 200 years ago” in his subsequent opinion column, after he realized how much he was being mocked). Video at the link; if you want to skip the MSNBC host’s irrelevant nattering, Klein’s comments start around 58 seconds into the video.

Add that to the other claims, like Chicago having less gun violence than Morehead City, and it becomes obvious that the author was poking fun at as many liberal clichés as he/she could get away with.

Okay, that has to be a troll; that line about being born by Caesarean disqualifying one from the Presidency is a bit too clever-clever to be genuine.

This appeared on the website of the local newspaper above the text of the letter:

“The following Letter to the Editor, published in the Jan. 23 edition, has gone viral on the Web after a reader linked it to a Fox News Facebook page. It had received more than 4,000 comments and been shared more than 12,000 times by Tuesday morning.)”

I vote satire. It was the hundred year and Caesarean section remarks for me.

Now it’s true that we have some real characters down east, but I’m guessing this was written and published as satire.

Completely off topic, but Fuinseoig, the Pope is resigning? American news reports early this morning don’t say why.

Hi Katherine,

It’s up on the Vatican’s website so unless it’s been severely hacked, it’s true.

Apparently the Pope’s health has taken a nose-dive recently and he doesn’t think he’s up to it anymore. I had no idea a Pope could even resign. I guess he can. I would have thought he’d hold on until after Easter, but it’s effective at the end of the month.

In these perilous times for Christianity, if he is no longer able vigorously to discharge his duties then it sounds like a responsible decision. But shoot. This means Mahony can still vote. Intense prayer for the Catholic Church through March is called for.

I, for one, will miss Benedict.

I would guess that it’s precisely the upcoming Easter ceremonies which have led him to resign at the end of this month: they’re immensely tiring.

All the same, a massive shock, and I wish he’d felt he could continue…

“Right now, it says that a person has to be 35 years old and be a natural born citizen. Well, that is obviously unfair because there are a great many otherwise qualified people who cannot run for president because their mothers had to have a C-section.” And it means that the Dems can’t elect Justin Bieber. How unfair is that?

OT – sorry, Chris. I just read the Chicago Tribune on the Pope’s resignation. I will be praying for the Roman Catholic Church to elect a successor to Benedict XVI who is just as theologically sound as he was!

We need a strong leader in the Vatican!

The Constitution was written by Shakespeare?

MACBETH
Thou losest labour:
As easy mayst thou the intrenchant air
With thy keen sword impress as make me bleed:
Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests;
I bear a charmed life, which must not yield,
To one of woman born.

MACDUFF
Despair thy charm;
And let the angel whom thou still hast served
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb
Untimely ripp’d.

Katherine, it’s true! At first I thought it was a spoof or a joke headline, but it’s not, and I am shocked.

He seems to be resigning on grounds of age and ill-health and not feeling that he is capable of guiding the Church in the 21st century. Now, he is 85 and that will mean failing physical and mental powers, so I suppose he feels that before he succumbs to the ailments of old age, he should leave and not hang on to the bitter end.

But going into a conclave with a still-living – even if resigned – pope is such a strange thing, I don’t think anybody has any idea what to do or how it will turn out. I have no idea who is a likely successor; various parties like to pick papabili but the one fairly sure thing is that the popular frontrunner is not the guy who gets picked.

Paddy Power, the bookies, has a list of odds on cardinals, and from it I see Cardinal Arinze of Nigeria is 3/1, Cardinal Turkson of Ghana ia 4/1, and the Canadian Cardinal Oeullet is 5/2.

I don’t think Cardinal Arinze will get it; he was also a pick for the last conclave, and I would have loved to see him chosen, but he wasn’t and I don’t think that eight years later his chances have improved. Cardinal Turkson I have no opinion as to his chances. Cardinal Ouellet I also doubt has a real chance; I think the odds quoted are because he is the current prefect for the Congregation of Bishops.

I can’t say I have anyone right now I’d like to see become pope; I want the one we have to stay! I’m feeling a bit lost right now

Arguing with these people since 2003 feels like stuck in a House of Mirrors with a bunch of lunatics for 10 years.

Two more things adding to the bizarreness of our times: The Pope has resigned effective Feb. 28 and he will appear on 60 Minutes this Sunday night WITH OBAMA.

Why Obama? Might as well have KJS be there too, along with VGR.

Now I’m wondering if this is our fault, seeing as how we discussed on here before the composition of a conclave and how many voting cardinals had been elevated by Benedict. We just had to speculate about who the next pope might be, didn’t we?

Johnson’s Law doesn’t only apply to Anglicans, it would appear!

Bill2, there has been debate about whether or not a pope can resign; the last proper resignation of a validly elected pope was in 1294, when Celestine V decided he would prefer to go back to his monastery rather than deal with the Romans anymore.

Celestine was an unworldly pope who was succeeded by Boniface VIII who was much more oriented towards temporal power. A bad omen?

:-O

Fr. Matson: “And it means that the Dems can’t elect Justin Bieber. How unfair is that?”

Funny you should mention Bieber…(adding more to my point about the bizarre-ness of our culture) Bieber emailed a photo of his genitals on SNL to…Hillary Clinton.

Think he’s applying for VP on the 2016 ticket? Seems to be a Democrat thing to get down and ‘personal’ ala Weiner. Evidence is mounting that the left is certifiably insane, completely amoral/immoral and lost/confused, a House of Mirrors, Funny Farm or Animal Farm…

Here is further proof: http://www.standfirminfaith.com/?/sf/page/30003

Yes, Fuinseoig, but we talked about it in a few years’ time, talking about how soon it would be before Mahony couldn’t vote. I think Pope Benedict will be praying without ceasing for the outcome, and I believe that will help. Papa Benedict has been a good and faithful shepherd. Will retirement and God permit him one more book?

“It’s been almost 600 years since a Pope resigned.
Pope Gregory XII stepped down in 1415 to end the “Western Schism”. When two claimants declared themselves Pope (one in Avignon and the other in Pisa), Gregory resigned and thus helped keep the Roman Catholic Church united.

Prior to this, Pope Celestine V changed the rules and made it possible for Bishops of Rome to resign. He then decided to make good use of his own solemn decree, and lived out his life as an aged hermit. Interestingly, another of the few Popes to resign was also called Benedict. Benedict IX resigned in 1045, selling the position to his godfather so he could marry.

Gregory VI, the man who purchased the papacy from Benedict IX, resigned the following year.” (Reuters)

There was 1 murder in Morehead city in 2011. None in 2010.

http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Morehead-City-North-Carolina.html

I vote Satire. Nobody is that stupid. Well, almost nobody.

Fuinseiog,

Just prayed, and will continue to pray throughout February, as often as I remember to. I may disagree with y’all on some important points of doctrine (including papal infallibility, which is one of the reasons I could never join the Roman Catholic church), but that doesn’t mean I can’t pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ. May God bring you another pope as good as the past two have been. (I was born in 1979, so I have no personal knowledge of what Paul VI or John Paul I were like, hence restricting my comments to “the past two”).

Poor Celestine. IIRC he was a lifelong monastic, over 80 when he was elected, never wanted the honor and was glad to go when Boniface and his boys suggested he move aside and let a go-getter like, um, Boniface take charge.

Fuinseoig, I’m shocked and saddened, too. I’ll miss him.

Oh, Christopher – back to the original post you made. I vote for satire. It would take a truly lethal, weapons-grade stupidity to imagine that there is anything safe about Chicago.

Breaking news: Pope Benedict has announced that he will retire at the end of February.

“(H)ow soon it would be before Mahony couldn’t vote”

You know the saying, Katherine: if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans!

The thought just struck me: given that the Presiding Bishop’s term is up in 2015, and given that the job of Archbishop of Canterbury has just been filled, and given that this unexpected vacancy has arisen… do you think she might be persuaded to resign early and make herself available for service should she be asked, for the greater good of the Universal Church? I’m sure she could rework one of these to go with the Oven Mitt!

*ducks and runs*

I’m only laughing to keep from crying.

As I said, Fuinseoig, if the Pope is going to be on 60 Minutes with Obama, why not KJS Herself and VGR as well? And OF COURSE, she has her eyes set on the “Biggest Office.”

Certainly, Fuinseoig! After all, there’s the precedent of Pope Joan to guide the Church.

Whitestone, I don’t follow TV at all, much less something like “60 Minutes.” If you say the Pope will be on, then I defer to your knowledge. Will he really be on “with” Obama? A joint interview? Sounds unlikely that Obama would subject himself to the humiliation which would come from comparison with someone like Ratzinger.

Please tell me *that* is a joke– even those of us who quit TV long ago know what *60 Minutes* was and is… one of the last places someone as formidable and good as the Pope should be, and with O-ring, too!…..So much strange and/or disquieting going on now. Suspect 0-ring is striding purposefully (as he sees it) into Israel next month to try to lay the law down to Bibi and make the “most” out of coalition transition time there. Bet Bibi’s event planners are having a great time making jokes about how they want to handle the visit, LOL– but none of it will occur, because he and they have class, unlike 0-ring and his when Bibi was here. That’s OK; they get to have the jokes to ease their stress going into it, and standing next to Bibi, 0-ring will have his mom-jeans on whether he actually does or not…..Meanwhile, 0-ring can, if indeed he and the Pope are going to be on *60 Minutes*, stride purposefully whilst sitting in his chair and (with the piling on of whatever presshole has the inteview) lay the law down to the Pope. And even frail-ing though he is, this time it will be Pope who swats flies (and without making mention or otherwise calling attention to the fact that he is doing so)….Seriously, I too am sort of in shock at the news of Benedict’s resignation. Knew we would have to lose him sooner than we lose most, but kept hoping that would be later! Pray, brothers & sisters in Christ…

Speaker Boehner, a Catholic, on the Pope’s announcement:

“The prayers and gratitude of American Catholics are with Pope Benedict XVI today. The Holy Father’s decision displays extraordinary humility and love for the Church, two things that have been the hallmarks of his service,” Boehner said.

“Americans were inspired by his visit to the United States in 2008, and by his quiet, steady leadership of the Church in uncertain times,” he continued. “People of all nations have been blessed by the sacrifices he has made to sow the seeds of hope, justice, and compassion throughout the world in the name of Our Lord and Savior.”

President Obama:

“On behalf of Americans everywhere, Michelle and I wish to extend our appreciation and prayers to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. Michelle and I warmly remember our meeting with the Holy Father in 2009, and I have appreciated our work together over these last four years. The Church plays a critical role in the United States and the world, and I wish the best to those who will soon gather to choose His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI’s successor.”

Compare and contrast. As usual, Obama’s is profoundly self-centered.

There is something to be said for Netflix, the CBC News and Onion apps. You can be selective and not have to endure the weirdness that emanates from local biased rags.

The best moment of Cardinal Ratzinger is NOT having the photo-op with TEC and being seen with ++Bob Duncan and company.

Not very Christian but worth savoring.

It’s amazing how Chris Johnson’s posts and current events seem to converge. Apparently CNN immediately humiliated itself, with Soledad O’Brien bring on her first “expert” to talk about the resignation — a man who made a (probably highly critical) documentary on the church sex abuse scandals, while Piers Morgan tweets that there must be some kind of conspiracy about the resignation.

Q: What if this is not satire? And it’s TRULY a proud liberal democrat who actually believes this and wrote this?

Well, I went looking for one of my favorites “Long Live The Pope” to mark the occasion, but ran across this ditty. So just for fun:

Oh give me a home,
Where there’s no Pope of Rome
Where there’s nothing but Protestants stay.
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And flute bands play The Sash every day.

No, no Pope of Rome
No chapels to sadden my eyes
No nuns and no priests
No Rosary beads
Every day is the 12th of July

I hope no one thinks that was mean, but its tickling the heck out of me!

Well, to be nicer, here’s the hymn I was looking for. We sang it to the tune of Kingsfold in 2005:

http://www.ewtn.com/jp2/papal3/long_live.htm

I will say this, a wicked century like the 20th was blessed with a number of good popes. This has not always been true, of course, so we enjoy it while we have it. It is a blessing that folks who don’t accept the papacy can still accept individual popes, and that’s a kind of healthy ecumenism we should celebrate.

FW Ken Ahh the Glorious 12th open season on Catholics and anything green, Lagopus lagopus scoticus is not ’till August and they don’t shoot back.

It would be entirely remiss not to mention the prophecies of St. Malachy (Google it) who hundreds of years ago laid out brief (and vague) predictions of future popes. Under them, the current pope would be a follower of St. Benedict (ahem) and the next one, “Peter the Roman,” would convert many disbelievers.

Oh, and he will be the last one. Then Christ returns.

There is a Peter Turkson, from Africa, that some say is in the running for the papacy.

May there be a tremendous, unprecedented global revival of professing Christians and conversion of unbelievers in Christ’s whole, Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant(reformed) Church.

Something worth fasting for this Lent and continually.

Back to the letter to the editor:
Watch for parts of it to be used in the Vice Presidents’s next speach.

If the Lord chooses to return, with or without the prophecy, I hope he will find me acceptable. Oh, and if the next Pope converts many disbelievers, that will be fine too.

In tribute to this good man and good Pope, I have just ordered two of his books — the infancy portion of his Jesus of Nazareth trilogy, and a study of Genesis, to counterbalance a very Reformed tome which a church member here is using for Bible study. Always good to get more than one perspective.

Maxine, I consider the “natural-born” riff about Caesarians to be pure comic genius, and if Joe uses it, every opinion of him I hold will be confirmed.

Here is the link to the Pope/Obama/60 Minutes news:
http://inagist.com/all/300932287393062912/?utm_source=inagist&utm_medium=rss

Dana Perino is a FOX contributor and ‘analyst’ on The Five (whatever that is). I first saw this on a conservative family site, so I thought it was true. She seems to be the only one reporting this, so it’s unlikely to be true.

However, there is a rumor that Obama is going to do some wonderful thing about sexual abuse of children and because they schedule/plan programs in advance, they may have already scheduled Obama on 60 minutes and have a tape or satellite interview with the Pope…to try to embarrass the Roman Church (further) about child abuse and to make Obama look important, etc.

Obama is on record as urging the Boy Scouts to relax their prohibition on homosexual leaders for troops, so he wouldn’t be, in my opinion, quite the right person to talk about sexual abuse of children. Then again, people who watch “60 Minutes” for other than entertainment value may not have their brains turned on.

I went to the TV show’s site and checked on “coming next” and saw nothing. One would think if they had a exclusive with Obama coming up they’d be hyping it. And I can’t imagine why an 85-year-old in failing health should bother to schedule an interview with them.

Fuinseoig,
“The thought just struck me: given that the Presiding Bishop’s term is up in 2015, and given that the job of Archbishop of Canterbury has just been filled, and given that this unexpected vacancy has arisen… do you think she might be persuaded to resign early and make herself available for service should she be asked” How about this as a plan “B”? Then tell her, “Just kidding.”

While I would like to say this is a joke, I just watch Honey Boo Boo for the first time. The ARE people who are that dense.

“I’m quite certain that Chicago is a lot safer that Morehead City, when it comes to gun violence.”

Wow! I blew milk out of my nose with that one! Shame on me for drinking and reading this at the same time!

Satire. But very well-played satire. It got past the editor.

I suspect Emily Litella wrote this letter.