During the 2008 Election season, Catholic groups and other social justice organizations have come together to try to change the national conversation to include a substantive discussion of government for the common good. Catholics and people of faith across the country will gather together this summer for a historic meeting – The Convention for the Common Good.

Make Plans Now to Join Us In Philadelphia!

Come help chart a new vision for our country, one that is not based on narrow partisan agendas but a concern for the common good.

Come help affirm a platform that addresses many of the pressing social justice issues of the day – health care, poverty, economic justice, immigration, global warming and promoting a culture of life.

If I lived in this town, I'd definitely be attending this priest's parish!

Here are some really profound thoughts about George Washington.

Hey... take it for what it is. It's a lot more profound than anything being discussed in politics today!

I accidently came across a very disturbing video of teen girls beating up on another teen girl on YouTube.

(YouTube removed the original video. Here is the news report)

Another teen, this one a male, pointed out that the girls were charged as adults and challenged that.

Pope Benedict XVI gave a message to the United State in anticipation of his upcoming trip. Says the theme of his visit is, "Christ Our Hope!"

"Jeus Christ is hope for men and women of every language, race, culture and social condition. Christ is the face of God present among us."

The focus on hope sounds eerily similar to a certain presidential campaign.

Senator John McCain says that, as a veteran, he supports our troops. Yet John McCain is not getting on board with S22, a bill that would provide full education funding for veterans who served on or after September 11, 2001.

Sign the peition demanding John McCain to stand behind his claims to support our troops and support this bill.

 

There will be a trial date set at a hearing on April 25th, just 3 days after the key Pennsylvania Primary for the Fraud Case Paul v. Clinton in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

The New York Times reported on the new rift between Clinton and long-time Clinton ally, and fomer Presidential candidate, Bill Richardson because of Richardson's public endorsement of Barack Obama. In the article, the Times quotes another Clinton ally, James Carville, as saying:

An act of betrayal.

Mr. Richardson's endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic.

Fox News -- [cough], [cough], [choke] -- later did an interview with Bill Richardson when they asked him to respond to that statement by James Carville...

Richardson rightly opined that Carville's statement was reflective of a sense of entitlement to the White House on the part of those who make up the Clinton camp.

If Richardson is Judas, who does that make Hillary? To paraphrase a 1988 Vice-Presidential debate, I know Jesus... And, Hillary, you're no Jesus!

Recall the video clip I just posted of Barack Obama's speech regarding race and politics. Then... look at this clip that took pieces of that speech out of context, mixed it with snippets of other people's speeches and made Barack Obama's speech sound ugly. Shame on them for using cheap video editing equipment so egregiously.

Actually, this is not only George W. Bush's gift to us, this is our gift to ourselves, through our "consumerist" philosophy to life; a philosophy that, if I were referring to sex, would be referred to as Bohemian.

For those paying attention, this is not supposed to be a clip of John Stewart ranting about Eliot Spitzer. It's supposed to be about Geraldine Ferraro, Hillary Clinton, Brack Obama and Dwight Hopkins. I'm sure the Daily Show will fix this in short time.

Okay. This video of Barack Obama's pastor, Dwight Hopkins, ranting about race and presidential politics has been circulating the internet and mainstream media for a short while now...

Obama has since distanced himself from Hopkins, but has had to defend his own position on race and where it fits into his political process. He seems to be doing a fairly effective job. But let's be honest here. Obama would not have to be taking time away from discussing his policies and his vision for America to discuss his race if he were... not black; i.e. if he were white. That, in itself, tends to lend truth to some what Wright was said in this video clip.

I was supposed to attend a live simul-cast event to witness the panel of Iraq war veterans discussing their experiences and their opposition to the war in Iraq. Circumstances conspired to prevent that from happening. But here is a good report of some of what was discussed by the panel: US/IRAQ: Rules of Engagement "Thrown Out the Window".

Not content with Obama and Hillary getting all the attention, Governor Eliot Spitzer had to go get himself wrapped up in a public sex scandel.

The New York Times reported earlier today that Spitzer was caught in a Federal wiretap pursuing the services of a prostitution ring. That Spitzer could be that dumb is, in itself, amazing.

You know. I feel kinda guilty complaining about this, primarily because I do it too. But I am getting really upset with mainstream media spending so much time discussing the "process" of running for the Presidency and spending so little time engaging the substantial issues involved the candidates' proposed platforms and policy initiatives.

It just seems, because of our mainstream media myopic focus on process, it is too diffifult to engage, on a popular level, in any serious policy dialogue regarding the "Next American Preident."

John Hagee doesn't think so. Whew! And I was worried there for a minute!

Now that John McCain has secured the Republican nomination, it seems time to take a closer look at the man vying to govern the United States. Specifically, since John McCain fashions himself as the "Straight-talk Express," I want to have a quick look at his integrity.

Most people who no longer get to call ourselves "youths" recall that John McCain was one of five senators who took sizeable campaign contributions from Charles Keating of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association in turn for pressuring regulators not to seize the S&L which had essentially become insolvent due to its role in what was, at the time, the junk bond crisis.