Back Home in Indiana
The politics of the contraceptive mandate get more interesting. This week Notre Dame joined the bishops of several dioceses in initiating lawsuits against the Health and Human Services department, claiming Mrs. Sebelius's mandate is a violation of religious liberty.
That's making for some interesting developments in Hoosierland. This afternoon the South Bend Tribune reports the GOP candidate who unseated Dick Lugar in the Republican primary, Richard Mourdock, announced during a visit to South Bend that he supported Father Jenkins and the Fighting Irish in their lawsuit. He added a little stinger:
"It's ironic that a graduate of Ball State should be here defending Notre Dame when a Notre Dame graduate, my opponent Joe Donnelly, refuses to do so," Mourdock said during a press conference at Republican Party Headquarters.
Mourdock also questioned Donnelly's non-support of the "Blunt amendment," which would have allowed employers with moral objections to the contraception mandate to opt out of it.
As Mr. Mourdock reminded his audience, Mr. Donnelly is a Notre Dame alum who has thus far been silent on whether he supports his alma mater in its lawsuit. He was also one of the handful of prolife Democrats whose votes for Obamacare pushed it through. In his case, his vote came after a call from former ND president Father Ted Hesburgh, who says he urged the Congressman to vote his conscience.
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Comments:
Jul '11
Re: Back Home in Indiana
Maybe it's time they rethink their strategy
Jun '10
Re: Back Home in Indiana
Mourdock is a talented politician. Donnelly has been hung out to dry.
May '10
Re: Back Home in Indiana
Mourdock should be able to take Donnelly to the cleaners on this issue.
Re: Back Home in Indiana
I know he's issued a statement, Bill, but has Fr. Jenkins spoken about the lawsuit in public? I get the feeling he'd be perfectly happy never being captured on camera attacking the administration. But of course such sheer haplessness will do no one, least of all Fr. Jenkins himself, any good--by now he's lost the liberals no matter how assiduously he remains hidden away in his office.
But I don't know the man--or the politics of the campus. All I know is that Notre Dame matters.
Am I being unfair to its president?
Re: Back Home in Indiana
Whose conscience did Ted Hesburgh ask Donnelly to vote?
May '10
Re: Back Home in Indiana
O what a tangled web Catholics weave for themselves when they put power and influence above truth and good.
Nov '11
Re: Back Home in Indiana
Peter Robinson: I know he's issued a statement, Bill, but has Fr. Jenkins spoken about the lawsuit in public? I get the feeling he'd be perfectly happy never being captured on camera attacking the administration. But of course such sheer haplessness will do no one, least of all Fr. Jenkins himself, any good--by now he's lost the liberals no matter how assiduously he remains hidden away in his office.
But I don't know the man--or the politics of the campus. All I know is that Notre Damematters.
Am I being unfair to its president? ยท 3 hours ago
It's a real shame what the word "liberal" has come to mean. I use it the same way you're using it here, too, although I try to say "Leftist" instead. I don't think Fr. Jenkins lost any classical liberals, but they seem to be largely extinct, or going by different names nowadays.
Re: Back Home in Indiana
UPDATE: Joe Donnelly still won't say whether he supports his alma mater's lawsuit, though he does say religious organizations should be exempt. He says he will continue to "monitor" the situation. I'd say that means Mr. Mourdock has found a nice soft underbelly here.
Regarding Fr. Jenkins, short answer is, "I don't know." Lots of people are unhappy with his statement. My view is that Father has done the right thing here, and deserves credit not carping for it. It really changes the dynamics for the bishops to have Notre Dame on their side. Remember Catholics for Obama in 2008? I'm not sure what Catholic venue (apart from Georgetown, ahem) they might appear at, and wherever they do they will be on the defensive.
All in all, it's a real turnabout from 2008.
Dec '10
Re: Back Home in Indiana
Paul Rahe remembers it right. Pelosi called Fr. Hesburgh to ask him to call Donnelly urging his vote in favor of Obamacare. Happy 95th birthday, Fr. Ted!
Re: Back Home in Indiana
The irony is that, starting with Bart Stupak, all those prolife Dems who ended up voting for Obamacare seem to be going down to defeat, one by one. It would be nice to see Mr. Donnelly be the next retired.
May '10
Re: Back Home in Indiana
Peter, I'm a conservative alumnus of ND who participates in a lot of online discussion concerning the school. And while it hasn't been fully recognized yet, I think conservative Catholics just got exactly what they've always wanted out of Father Jenkins-- or any president of ND.
In defending ND's Catholic character way back in an earlier Ricochet discussion, I said that the campus is steeped in Catholicism-- it's literally everywhere, and the students and faculty cannot help but be affected by it, regardless of their personal religious beliefs or practices. ND's particular problem has always been-- or at least since the Land O'Lakes statement, I think-- how its Catholic character is implemented through the school's governance. Specifically, the problem is how ND's governance relates to the Church hierarchy: the Bishops.
May '10
Re: Back Home in Indiana
Many are upset that Father Jenkins is not speaking out more loudly or forcefully on the HHS matter. What he has done, though, is defer the entire matter to the American Bishops. The point man for all responses in the media to the Obama administration has been Cardinal Dolan, and everybody who has been paying attention knows it. The coordinated lawsuit shows that ND and the other plaintiffs are moving in lockstep with the course the Bishops are directing.
Yes, it would be nice if Father Jenkins spoke out more publicly. But a lot of things would be nice, and we don't always get them. What is important, here, is that the school is doing it's best to properly defend the Catholic faith, rather than assert itself against the rest of the Catholic Church.
Unity at last? What a wonderful thing!
Edited on May 25, 2012 at 7:19pm