Here we are again at a moment of clarity and concinnity — or what should be. It may be a happy accident that Hillsdale is presenting its three-week course, A Land of Hope, at the same time the nation is taking part in another great cultural “unsettling,” or it may be intentional. In either case, unless you’re already learned in the American founding, this is an overview worth your “shelter-in-place” time. 

I mention it because I’m feeling small-p protestant sentiments about the American Catholic bishops about now, most eloquently expressed in an article at CRISIS Magazine by Peter Maurice titled, ‘Catholic Democrat’ is an Oxymoron. 

“As he was closing the narthex doors, I asked his take on the corona virus, not yet a “national emergency.” He replied. . . Well, the virus was one thing, but what really worried Father K. were ‘the Democratic Party disease and the Chinese disease.’”

Detractors . . . might misconstrue “Chinese disease” as an ethnic slur. They would err. Father K. has no simple-minded prejudices, but he knows what any adult has no excuse for not knowing. Like all communist states, the Chinese hate and persecute Christianity. The “disease” is godless ideology, not ethnicity.

Just so with the Democratic Party disease: it has its own godless ideology.

Maurice goes on to compare Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo’s (Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences) admiration of China as the nation that best fulfills the Church’s social doctrine to the Catholic diocesan press’s (and, presumably, its bishops) support for the Democratic Party’s social programs. The bishops seem loathe to risk the 40 percent of the USCCB’s budget provided by politicians by pointing out that the Party of Death’s social programs immiserate people (see Cuba, Venezuela), steal the dignity of work and family, cause people to live in effluence (East Germany, China) harming the planet, stifle dissenting opinions (“climate deniers”) … not to mention being in conflict with anti-socialist social teachings promulgated by, for instance, Pope Saint John Paul II.

How much safer it is to focus on the party’s concern for the climate and migrants, and not raise a stink about the “preeminent” life issue that is now Trump’s by default. Thus, under the USCCB’s “Do’s and Don’ts Guidelines During Election Season,” we encounter this insufferably high-minded brag: The Church does not and will not engage in partisanship. She will exhibit no bias for or against any party. Thus, even when Agent Orange addresses in person the March for Life, or cuts the allowance of Planned Parenthood, he isn’t accorded the honor of a pun, let alone an approving editorial. This on the one hand/on the other hand balance tips the scales in favor of the party of death.

Maurice shockingly notes that a third of the US Bishops’ conference does not list life as the preeminent issue for Catholics discerning how to vote. One presumes this includes Blase Cardinal Cupich and Bishop Robert McElroy, who “found such language foreign to the ‘magisterium’ of Pope Francis.” They’re wrong about that (Pope Francis says it is the preeminent issue) and they’re wrong to separate Pope Francis’s “magisterium” from continuity with the 2,000-year Magisterium of the Church. Inexcusably, the Faithful Citizenship media doesn’t even mention the Church’s preeminent anti-abortion stance. No wonder about 50 percent of Catholics vote Democrat every election. If “clarity were common, the Catholic vote might be a reality to be feared and courted.”

Maurice finishes:

There are questions that would tax the ability of the subtlest casuist to resolve. This isn’t one of them. Some things are in their nature mutually exclusive. A red card can’t be a king; a vegetarian can’t be a cannibal; oil and water won’t mix. So let’s not complicate it overmuch. You may either describe yourself as a “devout Catholic” or enable the party that promotes abortion, same-sex marriage, gender anarchy, and the descent into paganism of post-Christian America. It’s not a head-scratcher. Only one party has a passion for this degraded ideology. It’s not the stupid party, weak and feckless as it sometimes is.

As Bertie Wooster advised the would-be fascist dictator Sir Roderick Spode, some things remain stubbornly either or. Spode, with his brown shirt and funny mustache, aspires to be a fascist dictator. But his other passion, unbeknownst to his storm troopers, is designing lingerie. No, no, my dear Spode, cautions Bertie every time the strongman snaps his stiff salute, You really must choose. One or the other, not both. We’ve come to a strange pass when we need to look to Bertie rather than our bishops for such clarity.

“The Democrat disease is godless ideology,” or as Klavan describes, the idolatry of “isms,” such as progressivism. It should go without saying that abortion is a graver immoral than restrictive immigration policy or “climate change” concerns. It is self-evident, to quote Thomas Jefferson, that free societies such as the US dramatically improve the environmental conditions under which people live. Compare East and West Germany before unification. Compare China and its unbreathable air and disease breeding wet markets to any city in the US — even LA! Market economies serve the common good. Conflicting ideas can be harnessed to that purpose under our American system of separated, limited powers and enshrined sovereignty of the people in a system of self-rule of, by, and for the people. 

Yes, many of the founding ideals are universal to humankind, which is what makes the American experiment so profound and exceptional. But, the government instituted to protect our natural and civil rights must be held accountable to the people of this great land — not the entire world. It must serve our interests and protect our rights first and in common with our fellow citizens, not by picking winners and losers — not by favoring some victim group or another. This is the social compact we’ve agreed to.

When Fr. K speaks of the Democrat illness, this is what he means. The sickness that has afflicted the Democrat Party that pits it in a battle to the death with these founding principles. 

I can count the number of times I’ve heard the pro-life message from the pulpit on half of one hand. But, the USCCB and Pope Francis constantly natter on about the need to welcome the stranger and steward the planet. About how “we” (by which they mean free and prosperous peoples) have neglected the poor. 

Well, your excellencies, if we are to believe every person is created by God in His image and likeness, is intended for heaven, and has a role to play in the salvation of the world, it would seem not killing inconvenient, unwanted people would come first. When “climate change” (sneer quotes warranted) and immigration policy have equal moral weight to God-created people — and, honestly, we all know these other concerns are vastly greater to Democrats — how are we to distinguish the bishops from garden variety progressives?

The American founding had a Protestant flavor because it was skeptical of the inherited wisdom of the (primarily Anglo) culture from which it emanated. If Catholics are “protesting” the confused moral message coming from the USCCB, it is because of these chestless and, frankly, brainless bishops who refuse to see the lies told by Democrat ideology and the truth that it was for freedom that Christ set us free.

God bless America, God save the Church from confused and confusing shepherds, and God bless us everyone.

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu (RINO) has shut down the Granite State. He has issued a “Stay at Home” order effective March 27, at 11:59 p.m., through May 4. The NH Attorney General has issued a memorandum to law enforcement in the state advising them that they can arrest and charge people for violating the governor’s emergency orders.

I emailed my town’s chief of police to ask him if he was going to arrest me for leaving my house. He said no. But there are also state troopers (one who lives down the road from me) and sheriff’s deputies around as well.

Our state motto is, absurdly, “Live Free or Die.”

In order to get back to normal, we need an actual plan. A plan starts with the following steps:

1: Figure out where you want to get to; the goal.
2: Figure out how you can get there.

Here is my plan.

The Goal is simple enough — we need to get back to normal life, for a huge range of reasons. But in order to get there, we need to achieve what is called “Herd Immunity.” Herd Immunity is achieved when enough people are already immune so that an illness cannot explode in a population. According to the Wall Street Journal Friday, we get to herd immunity with between 40-70% of the population. According to other sources, we might need more than that. Once we have herd immunity, the risks of someone who is “at risk” go down – way down. Normality can be achieved when we have it.

How to Get There: We must find out who is immune. We do not need certainty – this is statistics, after all. If we had a test that showed that a person is 90% certain to be immune, then that is data. It is not perfect data, but it is data we can use, uncertainty and all.

Immunity is known through detection of antibodies. The presence of a certain kind of antibody (IgG) will tell you whether your body has immunity to Coronavirus. (The length of that immunity is not known for sure yet, but according to the same WSJ article, it is between one year and the rest of your life).

In recent days, companies have started offering tests that will tell you whether you have the infection (IgM), and whether you have the antibodies for immunity (IgG). These are fingerprick tests that take 10 minutes and can theoretically be done anywhere. They say they are better than 90% for false results.

Whether from this company or another, everyone – not just medical professionals – should be tested. It is the only way to know whether it is safe to be up and about. It is the only way, for example, for a medical volunteer to know whether they are at risk themselves, or at high risk of infecting others. I strongly urge everyone to ask their doctor or other health care professional to order and use Corona tests. Once we reduce the uncertainty, we reduce the fear. And we increase safety and all the good things that come from a resumption of normal life – the things that come with herd immunity.

Thanks for reading.

“Power undiluted by fatigue is not heroic; it is professional.” — Pavel, The Quick And The Dead

Pavel, a former Spetsnaz master of fitness, has been an exercise guru in this country for years. He’s been, at least for the past decade, my go-to guy for all things Kettlebell.

The newest offering from Pavel, The Quick And The Dead, is for experienced minimalist exercisers; it is, he says, a great workout for “older model Terminators.” I’m in. One of my goals for this enforced isolation is to find workout techniques that let me circumvent or mitigate my injuries, debilitations, and impingements. This book looks like it is well worth investigating.

I’m not really into the bio-science of a lot of Pavel’s writing, to include this one. Power is blah blah blah Myosin blah blah blah maximal tissue respiration rate blah blah reactive oxygen species blah. But his workouts and technique instruction are all always top-shelf. I’m still in the reading/assessment/testing phase of the workout, but I’m optimistic.

This workout is not for beginners, as stated in the book. You need some time to build the infrastructure and the knowledge base to truly exploit the workout and avoid injury. If you’re looking for a great start point, I recommend Enter The Kettlebell, the workout that started me on my journey, lo those many years ago. Sadly, I can no longer execute a heavy load KB Clean & Press, a cornerstone of Enter. All the medical chicks in my life, super nurse Mrs. Mongo, new nurse Rain, nursing student Prom Queen, and even our own beloved and sage NP @vicrylcontessa, have told me to get over myself and move on. Sigh. Okay. Movin’ on.