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President Obama gave a great speech yesterday that was well received by the Notre Dame campus. The movement against a woman's right to live her life was the focal point for the pro-birthers, but Obama handled it with his charm and wit. I do not like the way the pro-choice movement has been portrayed, nor do I like the way the Democratic Party treats the pro-life movement, but Obama handled the speech at the Notre Dame commencement well. I suppose it's the best we could hope for.

I do not agree with a lot of what's been coming out of the Beltway on this issue and many others, but the whining over this speech was ridiculous. The leader of the nation suddenly is not supposed to give a speech at Notre Dame because ... ?

Maybe we won’t agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions. So let’s work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term. Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded in clear ethics and sound science, as well as respect for the equality of women.” Understand – I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. No matter how much we may want to fudge it – indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory – the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable. Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature. Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words.

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How does Ann Coulter, appearing on Gerald Rivera's Fox show last night, react to President Obama's speech at Notre Dame? Why, by attacking the faith of the students who attended and applauded, and especially that of Notre Dame administrators, of course:

Coulter: I don't think he was speaking to people who have any objections to abortion. I think more interesting than watching Obama give a speech for graduation, um, they should have had the administrators of Notre Dame onstage taking a polygraph test on whether they believe in God.

Um, apparently being a professor at a chic Catholic university is a good gig, and you're respected, and you get paid well. But no, I don't believe these people are serious, genuine, practicing Catholics.

Quoth the woman who has yet to have ever declared herself a practicing member of any faith, let alone Catholicism. She eagerly declares herself a Christian, while blithely uttering such Christian remarks as: "Those few abortionists were shot, or, depending on your point of view, had a procedure with a rifle performed on them. I’m not justifying it, but I do understand how it happened."

But Kirsten Powers -- herself a pro-life Democrat -- points out how crass Coulter's hypocrisy is about all this by noting that Catholics are every bit as opposed to the death penalty as they are to abortion. Coulter -- herself a fan of the death penalty -- erupts, interrupts, and tries to claim (sans evidence, as usual) that Catholics are much much much more anti-abortion than they are anti-death-penalty.

This is why Coulter doesn't go on shows very often where her co-conversants aren't friendly. She doesn't do well when challenged directly.

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I guess this what you call being a really sore loser.

Alan Keyes -- who several weeks back called President Obama a 'radical communist' who must be defeated or America "will cease to exist as we know it" -- yesterday on Fox denounced Obama as "the focus of evil". Not just once, but twice.

First Keyes appeared on Greg Jarrett's daytime broadcast, where he called Obama the "focus of evil" and "the child-killing policies in the world today."

Then he came on Sean Hannity's evening program and said the same thing:

Keyes: Well, I think it was clearly an effort today to try to establish some kind of moral legitimacy for Obama despite the fact that he takes an extremist stance on child-killing that marks him as the focal point evil, with respect to this heinous destruction of innocent life in our world today.

Of course, the "Obama favors infanticide" smear is nothing less than an outrageous lie -- which is exactly what Obama has called it -- created out of whole cloth from the fakery of Illinois right-wingers like Keyes.

If you were to look at Drudge's homepage yesterday, it would look like the student wearing the T-shirt that says: "Please don't ruin my graduation. Support '09 Commencement" is opposed to President Obama speaking at Notre Dame today.

Nope:

Students hold signs, wear shirts denouncing protest methods

"I want to put out positive, supportive message instead of these gory images," Baldridge said. "Our graduation shouldn't be a soapbox."

Seniors Matt Degnan and Sawyer Negro stood at Notre Dame Ave. and Angela Blvd. Friday with about 10 other students and faculty members in shirts designed by Degnan that said "Obama? Fine by me" and "Please don't ruin my graduation. Support '09 Commencement."

Drudge is really scraping the bottom of the barrel. Well, I guess he always has.

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Sean Hannity loves his analogies. First he opens his segment last night with an analogy comparing the Obama administration to the evil anti-Catholic plotters who are the chief villains of the new Tom Hanks movie, Angels and Demons. All this in the context of Obama's appearance at Notre Dame's commencement this weekend.

Then his guest, Randall Terry -- the man who brought us the Terri Schiavo fiasco -- comes on and tries some analogies of his own. First he compares the Obama appearance to Pope Benedict appearing before Planned Parenthood. Then, at the end of the segment, he goes one better -- Obama's like Hitler:

Can you imagine somebody saying, 'Let's have one of the leaders of Germany come in -- we don't really like what he did with that Jewish thing, but they build great roads, and they gave people hope, and they helped rebuild the economy.' It's crazy.

Yes, it's crazy indeed.

While the trumped-up imbroglio over President Obama's invitation to deliver the commencement address at Notre Dame continues to simmer, the attitudes and voting behavior of American Catholics belie the manufactured controversy. And as it turns out, a 2003 book of the school's commencement speeches issued by the University of Notre Dame Press shows the political diversity of its past speakers. Among the headliners is 1995 honoree and 1975 South Bend graduate, the pro-choice Condoleezza Rice.

Sadly for the likes of Bush speechwriter turned Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson, far from "declaring war on Catholics," Barack Obama enjoys their support. Obama, after all, not only won among Catholic voters by a comfortable 9-point margin, he easily defeated John McCain in St. Joseph County, home to the Indiana university, as well as sweeping an October straw poll among Notre Dame students. And as a recent Gallup survey showed, Catholic attitudes towards abortion, stem cell research, homosexuality, out-of-wedlock parenthood and a host of other social issues differ little from the American electorate that put Barack Obama in the White House.

Of course, political popularity and adherence to ideological litmus tests have not been the deciding factors for the nation's elite Catholic universities in choosing commencement speakers. Despite similar protests, Notre Dame's 1992 graduation ceremonies featured the pro-choice New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. And in 1995, the school offered its commencement podium to Notre Dame alumnus and university trustee, Condi Rice.

And to be sure, the "mildly pro-choice" views of Ms. Rice would not be in keeping with the Church's teachings on abortion. As she later told the Washington Times in 2005:

Miss Rice said abortion should be "as rare a circumstance as possible," although without excessive government intervention. "We should not have the federal government in a position where it is forcing its views on one side or the other.

(Apparently, Rice's 1995 speech produced no firestorm akin to that which preceded the Iraq war cheerleader's 2006 commencement appearance and honorary degree at the Jesuit-run Boston College.)

For its part, the leadership at Notre Dame seems to believe that exposing students to the political leadership of their nation, regardless of those leaders' views, fits within the mission of the country's premier Catholic universities. Reflecting that commitment, the University of Notre Dame Press in 2003 published Go Forth and Do Good: Memorable Notre Dame Commencement Addresses by Rev. Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C., professor of history at the University of Notre Dame and rector and superior of Moreau Seminary.

With a foreword by Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., who delivered the 1987 commencement, the book includes 24 notable graduation speeches from presidents of both parties as well as a litany of figures who no doubt found themselves on opposite sides of the abortion issue:

Among other featured Commencement speakers are: Joseph Kennedy, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Andrew Young, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Condoleezza Rice, Kofi Annan, and Presidents Eisenhower, Carter and Reagan.

Regarding the invitation to President Obama for its May graduation ceremony, the school's president Reverend John I. Jenkins acknowledged, "Of course, this does not mean we support all of his positions" and called the event "a basis for further positive engagement."

As for Condoleezza Rice, she would doubtless agree. After all, her 1995 speech to Notre Dame graduates was titled, "The Role of the Education Person."

I was flipping through the cable TV dial Saturday and came across the latest in religious right Faux outrage. Tom Matzzie was debating a chap from yet another disgruntled right wing group and his outrage was over President Obama being asked to speak at Notre Dame. He's so upset that Notre Dame would ask President Obama to speak there. Isn't it funny that these same people had no problem when France's President Sarkozy received an honorary award by the Vatican and the Pope even though he's pro-choice? Their hypocrisy knows no limits.

Tom Matzzie joins us on C&L and writes about his appearance and the phony meme.

Tom Matzzie:

Yes, I went on FOX--but I did it to support Notre Dame.

Over the last few weeks some self-appointed watchdogs of Catholic colleges and universities have taken after the University of Notre Dame for inviting Barack Obama to address the commencement of graduating seniors this Spring. I am an alumnus of Notre Dame and

co-founder of www.wesupportnotredame.org. I want on FOX--something I have a general policy of not doing--because I wanted to stand up to

these extremists attacking Notre Dame.

The argument the Right is making is that Notre Dame shouldn't host

Barack Obama, the president of the United States, because he is pro-choice even while the president has pledged to implement policies that will reduce the need for abortion. You know, family planning, support for adoption, support for single moms...progressive stuff. One point I brought up, which hasn't been in the mainstream, is that the Vatican in the person of Pope Benedict gave an honorary title--an award--to the pro-choice president of France, Nicholas Sarkozy, in December 2007.

Sarkozy visited Pope Benedict XVI on 20 December 2007, and formally received the title of Honorary Chanoine of the Basilica of St. John Lateran...

Here is a photo of Sarkozy and the pope together--its worth passing around.

The groups attacking Notre Dame are an extremists fringe of Catholics--backed mostly by Religious Right Evangelical Protestant groups.

Does Tom mean they aren't even Catholics? What a shock. And as C&Lers know, I grew up a Catholic so I say, good for Notre Dame.

via Nieman Watchdog

Political scientist Jeffrey Tulis writes that President Bush may be inventing a new political practice for a sitting president, by only speaking before screened audiences – and no one's asked him how he justifies it.

World O' Crap has much, much more...The President and His Traveling Revival Show

From the LA Times: WASHINGTON — The Bush administration today announced a 60-day, 60-stop barnstorming tour to promote the president's plan for overhauling Social Security, amid signs that public support is slipping and congressional anxiety rising.

President Bush and Treasury Secretary John Snow said they intended to hit the road one or two days a week from now until May 1 to promote Bush's Social Security initiative. [...]

"We'll be taking the message out," Snow said. "We will be meeting with groups of our youngest workers. We'll be meeting with our oldest retirees. We'll be meeting with everybody in between."

"And by "everybody in between," they apparently mean, "some hand-picked people, and you're not one of them."

Say, for instance, you want to get tickets for the President's meeting at Notre Dame. Well, tough beans, because the local paper says the general public can't get any. read on

Father Richard McBrien from Notre Dame was on The Factor tonight discussing the Schiavo case when he and Bill were talking about some outrageuous statements that were being made.

Bill:... the rhetoric is stunning father does it disturb you?

Download | play -WMP

Download | play -QT

Father:...Of course it disturbs me, it's distressing...

When the Father told Bill that the Schindler's lawyer (David Gibbs) said that Terri Schiavo would suffer eternal damnation...

Bill: That's the fringe stuff , these people..

Father: FRINGE, he's the lawyer, this person is the lawyer for the Schindler's parents...

Bill: I have to see what the context was...

The context was: via transcripts from Hardball:

MATTHEWS: But this is what David Gibbs said, the lawyer for the family, the Schindlers, the parents. He said, if they put her—allow her to die because of natural causes, not getting food and drink, whatever, that‘s disobeying the Vatican. And that could create additional damnation of her soul or add to the time of her suffering in purgatory. What is a secular... What is a secular lawyer arguing before a secular court that this could mean more time in purgatory for this woman?

"O'Reilly's only intension was to try and drag the left into the mud with the radical religious element, without ever mentioning a hateful thing the left has said on this issue. I never thought I would see a Father call O'Reilly on his own spin."