Guiliani has been married so many times he has rice marks on his face. If the Catholics don't boycott this abortion lovin' baby killer they may as well throw out the eucharist.

Indeed, Giuliani's Catholicism is more than flawed. If I understand his personal situation correctly, he should be described in the media as a "former Catholic" or a "lapsed Catholic." Is it accurate that he no longer practices the faith of his earlier life? I wish the media would focus on his religious practice as he practices it today and report their findings to the public instead of assuming that somehow he's a Catholic because he was as a child and as a young adult.

James said:

"It might be that Giuliani, because of his emotional personality, ethnicity and urban origins is insulated from any media story that he's a bad Catholic because he fits the sterotype of an American Catholic and Kerry definitely did not. Or, if communion denial stories don't get any traction as they did with Kerry, it might be because the media simply don't dislike him as much."

1. You say: emotional personality? Ethnicity? makes Giuliani better than Kerry? You mean Italians are better than the French? Are you really that shallow? Giuliani's previous wife found out about her ugly divorce -- from the newspapers.... and her kids are still not speaking to their dad Giuliana. Yeech.

2. And if the media simply disliked Kerry more -- guess that means you are admitting the media is more ultra conservative than liberal...

Its really laughable that Dr. Liberal from GU is infatuated with people who believe something and stick to it. He's now devoted 2 columns to the Catholic Church.

Welcome to Catholicism. There is no news here.

It's the economy stupid! It has been and it will continue to be.

Those who voted the abortion issue and won are now rewarded with an economic abortion.

Wall street patiently waited for the "other shoe" to fall only to find out it's a monster with many heads and many more than two feet. A blind man can predict where it will be when ALL the shoes have fallen.

No need to look. Jerry Brown, the candidate for president who coined the phrase "Slick Willy" said it the day the Iraq war began. America ceases to be what it once was, leader of the world and has set a course of gradual decline to insignificance. I can only argue with the "gradual" part.

The missing God vote is the only thing we have to be happy about. They got their way and now look at what we get from them.

Thank you, http://www.hoax-buster.org for giving us the information to understand it's not the God vote at all. It's the vote from hell and God never goes there no matter what the Apostle's creed says. But the creed is correct.

http://www.hoax-buster.org/sellyoursoul Jesus was fathered Lucifer and went back to Lucifer's domain upon His death, just like sacred scriptures tells us who can read, (pictures for the illiterates, thank you Mr Hunt). Jesus is the great anti Christ and the great anti democracy, (kingdom of God). Kingdoms and democracies are not compatible.

Jesus is the son of the being in the ball of fire says it all. Says all a sane person needs to know about religion and the God vote. It's the Devil vote and that will not go away.

It might be that Giuliani, because of his emotional personality, ethnicity and urban origins is insulated from any media story that he's a bad Catholic because he fits the sterotype of an American Catholic and Kerry definitely did not. Or, if communion denial stories don't get any traction as they did with Kerry, it might be because the media simply don't dislike him as much.

Professor Berlinerblau,

CONCERNING BISHOPS:

Of whatever kind and nature, and wherever located - and whether or not politicized - (with the exception of a few American Episcopal Church Bishops):

BISHOPS ARE BAD NEWS!

Most American voters understand this and will act accordingly.

Regards.

Archbishops DO NOT have the right to deny Communion to whoever he wants. The Catholic Church and these politically motivated archbishop have hijacked Christ's table for their own greed, power and sectarian motives. Who's table is it? It's Christ's and the invitation comes from Christ not from the Catholic Church and especially not from some bigoted archbishop. The archbishops should spend more time eliminating pedophiles among their ranks and less time interfering with politics. Why aren't they speaking out against killing for capital punishment and pre-emptive war. Are these lesser sins in regard to their First Commandment?

REPUBLIC of Space-Ship-Earth aka S.S. TELLUS aka S.S. GAIA aka S.S. EARTH!

Ki-Jana: (you and many more wish, Devil has many supporters)

The money Citibank, one of many banks in similar straits loaned and that will not be paid back came from deposits by people like me and you too. With limits it's insured by the evangelical government to a point. With the trillion being burned by the war and a couple more evangelical trillion not taxed we can look for double digit inflation.

As of Sept the inflation rate was over 33%. That wipes little people completely out. Bush is conservative, like a good evangelical president must be so he vetoed the bipartisan medical aid to impoverished children bill, (let the little tykes suffer I guess). It's time to, "go to your churches, temples, synagogues and mosques and pray" [G W Bush, 9-11-2001] (to Devil) again.

"Words, words, words, words; I'm so sick of words"

When a person comes to a position by faith (either pro or con), it is impossible to change them by facts. That's what this column (section) has become: a disgusting rant on both sides of issues(as has our entire national discourse)

Where are William Buckley and John Kenneth Galbreth (sp?)when we need them ? There are simply no statesman left.

Correction to my last post:

In my haste, I wrote "Sen" Pelosi. That should have been Rep Pelosi.

Mea culpa.

Bgone (if only),

You're right. The whole mortgage disaster is the fault of Citibank. I remember when I purchased a loan through them as well. They actually held a gun to my head and threatened to shoot me if I didn't sign. I'm so thankful to have survived such an ordeal.

Consumers only have consumers to blame. ARM's are not some secret, shady mortgage product that people couldn't learn about if they turned off the TV for two seconds and picked up a book. But it's far easier to blame someone else, isn't it. Not my fault if I didn't read the contract. Not my fault that I didn't understand that the housing market has ALWAYS been cyclical. Not my fault that I didn't spend 10 minutes running the numbers to find out if I coudl even afford the house.

Gee, honey, do you think it's a smart idea to purchase a $500,000 home when our family income is $45,000 a year? No problem hon. I've been watching Jerry Springer everyday, and apparently, we'll just flip the house when the ARM adjusts. If memory serves, there has never been a housing downturn, so this plan is guaranteed.

Dear Ki Jana -

I am a Democrat who is extremely disappointed in Sen Pelosi and her colleagues. I believe that their first order of business should have been to fully support Denis Kucinich's motion to impeach Cheney, followed by the immediate filing of articles of impeachment against gw bush.

But that's just me.

However, my disappointment with those in my own Party hardly serves as impetus to support the knuckle-dragging Republics and their full-frontal assault on our Constitution.

BTW - I can walk and chew gum at the same time, so I have plenty of room to "worry about" things like the poll numbers. I don't obsess over them. Had I not felt the need to respond to your post, I would have been done with them for the day.

That said, I find it a bit odd that a person who has time to type up pseudo-insulting monikers like "Senora" Pelosi and "Presidente" Bill Clinton finds room to criticize the way others spend their time. Wouldn't your time be better spent "worrying about" how YOU were going to enlist in the Army and ship out to fight the war that you support in Iraq? I mean, why not put your ass where your mouth is? Are you of age to be in the service? If so, why haven't you volunteered? I'm sure you can enlist online at goarmy.com this very minute. What's stopping you? You're not a chickenhawk, are you? Or, maybe you served already. If so, my hat's off to you.

Closing BTW - I wouldn't enlist to support gw bush's illegal war myself. Besides, I'm 53, and I already went through the draft process back in the early 70s when the Viet Nam war was just starting to wind down.

But that shouldn't stop you, KJ. I fully support your right and - from your comments - duty to enlist in the services and to support bush and his war.

Good luck with that.

Ki-Jana:

Let me help you out a little more. The $1.00 per hour increase in the minimum wage was enjoyed only by illegal aliens. Everybody else, except for Mr Mark and me of course is a rich and righteous republican.

In the news: Citibank is holding $400,000,000,000.00 in "rob the homeowner" sub prime loans. What goes round comes round.

All fits. Only Devil can help us now. Oops, sorry, meant to say God.

Ki-Jana:

Shouldn't "See Dan Rather" be "See crucified by the media Dan Rather?"

The media glossed over the fact that the one who typed the original of which Dan ONLY had a copy VERIFIED that it was what she had typed and was accurate.

That would be the "liberal" media.

Mr. Mark,

I think it's pretty obvious that fuzzy and questionable military records show up on both sides of the aisle. If you think it's just a republican issue or that the media somehow glosses over these issues if it's a republican, you're incredibly naive. See Dan Rather.

Congrats on your approval ratings of 21-30%. It must be unbelievably offensive to hear the news outlets using 11%. That's what you're concerned about? Seven or eight out of ten americans think the current Congress is a failure and you're worried that the media will continue to use nine out of ten? Good grief. How about railing against the fact that Senora Pelosi and her gang of socialists have completely abandoned everything they said to get elected. A year in Congress and the ONLY thing they can hang their hat on is that they passed a federal minimum wage that helps just virtually nobody. Wow. In exchange for hearing them drone on and on about America being the Great Satan, a minute fraction of the population gets an extra $1.00 per hour.

Ki-Jana:

Mr Mark could have been talking about "chicken" lieutenant Pat Robertson, former presidential candidate and pride of the Marines. He's the only Marine, (I doubt the Marines claim him) in the history of the Corps to suffer combat fatigue days before the battle began.

Mr Mark, you make an interesting point - why doesn't the sh*t ever stick to GOP candidates? They have Jesus to protect them. You know, Jesus son of Lucifer the biggest Devil of them all. Mr Clinton who voiced his approval for "death bed conversions" leading to the thought that he's waiting until he dies to convert can get on with it, according to the same bunch, missionaries of a sorts.

You know what the Bible says, http://www.hoax-buster.org/sellyoursoul Devil only helps His faithful in Christ.

Dear Ki-Jana -

A chickenhawk is a politician who avoids military service at all costs (ie: Cheney's 5 deferments and his "better things to do at the time" philosophy) but (and this is the crux of the issue) advances policies and philosophies that put other people in the line of fire.

By any stretch of the imagination, Bill Clinton was not a chickenhawk. You might call him a draft dodger, but not a chickenhawk.

Chickenhawks include guys like Rush Limbaugh who got a deferment from service in 'Nam because he had a cyst on his ass. Then there's the architects of the Iraq War, Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, both who skipped military service but had no problem tossing others into their ME meat grinder. Or, you might get your daddy to get you a place in the TNGAF, moving you ahead of others on that list (some of whom ended up going to 'Nam and getting killed) and then going AWOL from duty at your champagne unit.

BTW - if you doubt that there's a double standard in the media, here's a test you can perform over the next couple of days:

The media has been bashing Congress, saying that their poll numbers are lower than bush's, hovering at a horrible 11%.

Yesterday, Chris Matthews showed poll numbers from 6-7 major polls that showed bush at 24% and Congress anywhere BEWTWEEN 21-30% approval ratings.

Here's the test: see how many times in the next week/month you hear media types averring that "Congress' approval is at a dismal 11%."

See if you hear anyone mention that the approval numbers for Congress have more than doubled in a month's time as bush has hit an all-time low.

Or, see if you hear some combination of the two that stress the old 11% rating more than the rise in the polls.

Have fun.

Mr. Berlinerblau brings up a very fascinating piece that I luckily/unluckily forgot about since 2004. I lived and continue to live in Boston, where in 2002, we experienced one of the biggest catastrophes in American Catholicism. Priests, entrusted by the public and God, decided to manipulate, hurt and abuse children. There may be no worse crime in the world, as those children will never lead normal, adult lives.

And the following is what really perturbs me. The same church officials who for years kept these abuses quiet and out of the eye of the law, had and still do have the audacity to deny a Catholic the most fundamental cornerstone of their belief: that God became man and shared himself with his friends in bread and wine. I cannot imagine something more deplorable to do to a Catholic, despite their beliefs or sins. Some of the best ministry alive is amidst the prisons, where murders and rapists are still able to receive the Eucharist because we are all sinners, no matter the degree or severity.

I'm sorry Pope Benedict, I truly am. I am sorry that we have gotten to the point whereby we are being selective as to who should receive Christ in all His mystery. These men, if they choose to deny Giuliani as they did Kerry the life giving bread and the saving cup, should be ostracized from the Church for making God in their image and not the other way around.

The MSM favoring Republicans? What will O'Reilly and Limbaugh have to talk about now? Seriously, the good that can come out of a Giuliani candidacy is precisely that a) Republicans will have a harder time claiming to be the exclusive party of the religious faithful and b) the influence of the religious right will be diminished. sounds like a win, win. I have no hope that O'Reilly and Limbaugh will give up on the MSM being biased toward dems. 2 out of three ain't bad.

Mr. Mark,

When you refer to "chickenhawk military records" are you talking about former Presidente Bill Clinton? Maybe even chickenhawk military records only apply to those who don't run away to Canada like cowards.

And stop with the lies already about the SCHIP bill. How many times do you need to be corrected? Bush isn't against providing children with health insurance. Bush is against providing MIDDLE-CLASS AND WEALTHY children with free, government sponsored health care you moron. Apparently, Senora Pelosi wants to just tax the Hell out of tobacco so we can get one step closer to socialist health care for everyone. Puh-leeze.

And for anyone that has been brainwashed into thinking that socialist healthcare is the answer, go find the story on CNN.com this week about dental work being done by Brits on THEMSELVES. That's right. England has such great health care that some people have been forced to PULL THEIR OWN TEETH OUT or use SUPER GLUE TO STICK CROWNS BACK ON.

35% of patients not using dental service said that they CANNOT FIND A GOVT DENTIST NEAR WHERE THEY LIVE.

78% of private dental patients LEFT the National Health Service because their dentist STOPPED TREATING NHS PATIENTS or they could not find an NHS dentist.

But please, don't let the facts get in the way of your thinking. Just continue to regurgitate whatever Michael Moore and Senora Pelosi tell you.

Of course, the mainstream meda has its own biases that affect how similar stories affecting Democrats and Republicans are handled. As Bob Somersby has repeatedly demonstrated on the DailyHowler, for the mainstream media, only Democrats have character issues. Considering Guiliani's personal background -- the three marriages, the soap-opera meltdown of his previous marriage, his toxic relationship with his children -- were he a Democrat, does anyone believe he would be a serious candidate? So it's no surprise the press would give Guiliani a free pass on this issue as well.

I agree with the last poster. The MSM is terribly inept and incomptent informing the American people about the issues and the candidates. If you doubt this, witness how in 2000 the MSM sold all the Bush lies and obfuscations about his deserting the National Guard in Alabama and his well-documented cocaine use and drinking scandals, while putting down a candidate that was 100% better for the nation than Bush. The MSM has become so identified with the establishment that it has lost all its credibility. I certainly consider most of the US Press incomptent and stooges for politicians, and read all the idiotic things the MSM puts out with considerable skepticism and doubt.

"Flawed" catholicism? Last time I checked there was not mention of abortion in the Apostle's Creed the manifesto if you will of what you need to believe to be considered a catholic. Pro-choice catholics are not "flawed" in any sense of the word just as pro-life catholics are not flawed. I never hear a pro-death penalty catholic referred to as being "flawed" despite the fact that the church is against that practice as well.

Why doesn't the sh*t stick to any Republic?

Let's see - two days ago, our Coward-in-chief was carelessly throwing around WWIII as yet another play of his well-worn fear card. We learned that bush's illegal wire tapping of Americans predated the 9/11 attacks. We've learned that bush's mercenary army (Blackwater) has been roaming Iraq murdering civilians. We've heard from bush's former man in Iraq - Gen. Sanchez - that bushco is totally incompetent and has no plans of any kind in Iraq. bush and his Republic sycophants in Congress defeat the SCHIP bill, thereby denying basic health care to kids who have no insurance while those same Congress critters enjoy a health care plan that is the envy of the world. And the Republic presidential candidates are falling over each other in their laughable macho stances to be more idiotic than our sorry excuse for a president, to "out-bush bush," as it were.

So the question is: have any of these stories gained even a smidgen of the traction that John Edwards' haircut or Hillary's wearing a blouse on the Senate floor that some say highlighted her cleavage did? Where's the 24/7 debate by the punditry on how dangerous it is to throw around the term "WWIII" like a schoolyard taunt? Where's the outrage over children being denied health service to match the incessant blather over the winners-and-loser political scorecard the punditry keeps as a way to avoid discussing anything meaningful?

Imagine if the Democratic candidates had the records of their Republic counterparts. Imagine if most of the Democrats had multiple divorces and chickenhawk military records in their portfolios as do the top RW candidates. I imagine that by now we would have had a 2-hour expose on Hillary's former husbands if that were the case.

Is there any good reason that I shouldn't feel that there's a bit of media bias in covering and covering up for politicians, and that that bias leans heavily in favor of whitewashing RW foibles while amplifying the foibles of the Dems?

What do you think?

I agree with the last poster. The MSM is terribly inept and incomptent informing the American people about the issues and the candidates. If you doubt this, witness how in 2000 the MSM sold all the Bush lies and obfuscations about his deserting the National Guard in Alabama and his well-documented cocaine use and drinking scandals, while putting down a candidate that was 100% better for the nation than Bush. The MSM has become so identified with the establishment that it has lost all its credibility. I certainly consider most of the US Press incomptent and stooges for politicians, and read all the idiotic things the MSM puts out with considerable skepticism and doubt.

Pope Benedict has just named a large number of prelates to the College of Cardinals. Archbishop Burke is not among them. I would suggest that Burke's noisy "political" gesticulations from the second-tier diocese of St. Louis have largely been designed to ingratiate himself with the Vatican. Whatever the theological merits of his position on this subject, his strategy has been marked by a willingness to see his name in the paper on the right side of the abortion issue. But public clamor does not always avail, any more than did the absurdly expensive shrine-cum-giftshop-cum-restaurant dedicated to the dubiously authentic Virgin of Guadalupe he foisted on the people of La Crosse, WI (of all places) in an earlier effort to be noticed. Best solution to Archbishop Burke: ignore him.

People are voting based on whether the candidate swallows all of a silly belief, or just picks the parts he likes?
Belief, in a religion or a cause, arises out of fear. Fear creates conflict, internally and externally. Look around, this isn't hard.

The idea that these nonsense issues often decide the outcome of our elections is sickening. I understand the importance of religion, but our founding fathers designed our country as a secular nation. But basically this is just another case of people (and even more so, the press) giving more weight to personality factors, than to the actual issues. Just like in the 2000 election, when all the media wanted to talk about was whether Gore was too cold, or too pompous, or whatever...

Giuliani should be disregarded because he has no respect for the constitution, and because contrary to the myth that the national media continues to propagate, he has a terrible record on terrorism prevention (putting the terrorism response center in the World Trade center, against the advice of his own aids, is just the start of it). But mostly his candidacy should be ignored, because he is too inexperienced. The media loves to go on about Obama's lack of experience. Giuliani makes Obama look seasoned. In what way does being Mayor of New York, prepare you to be president?

I understand that this may become an issue in the Republican primary. I'm aware of the influence that so called values voters have on that party. But this is a nonsense horse race issue. I think that MSM owes it to the country, to try and elevate the debate by covering the substantive policy issues. If they did that, I think Giuliani would already be disqualified in most voters' minds, and this communion story wouldn't even be worth mentioning.

As a divorced and remarried Catholic, unless Mr. Guiliani has had canonical annulments on his prior marriages, he may not receive communion - regardless of his stand on abortion.

Rudy is divorced and unless he had his marriage annulled by the Catholic Church, he is not considered legally married by the church. Did he get an annulment? It's not easy to do. Was his third marriage a Catholic service? If not, he is not a Catholic in good standing. He cannot receive the sacraments (including communion) under any circumstances. Civil divorce is not recognized by the church.

Supporting an unjust war (which Pope John Paul II declared the war in Iraq) also goes against Catholic teaching. In my opinion support for this war is a much more serious offence against Catholic values concerning the right to life and social justice than supporting a woman's right to choose.

No matter how you slice it, Rudy is in trouble with the church.

One wonders if Burke would have let Kerry cut to the front of the line had he been convicted of child abuse. Perhaps Rudy can get into the Archbishop's good graces by joining NAMBL.

Here is a story you can add. I know a divorced woman that raised "his" children, was beaten, abused and neglected. After obtaining the courage to leave him and divorce him, she was refused communion by the "Church". Need I type more ?

In every situation, religious or not, the person who challenges overly strict authority appeals to, and is admired by, a lot of people.

Perhaps Rudy's Bad Catholic Boy persona will attract more votes, even from Catholics, than would a grown-up-alter-boy image.