In the United States of America, politics is serious business. And the mix of politics and religion is a volatile brew almost unimaginable here in sedate Canada.
Andrew Sullivan today posted the following political advertisement on “The Daily Dish”. It apparently originates from and is funded by a group of Roman Catholics in preparation for the US Presidential election in November.
I cannot imagine what to make of such an advertisement.
To view Sullivan’s comment see:
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/05/the-catholic-vote.html
11 comments
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May 23, 2012 at 8:09 pm
jaqueline
oh I think it is clear what to make of such an advertisement, it is just that there are not enough words to adequately describe it.
May 23, 2012 at 8:12 pm
jaqueline
except maybe it should go back to the fire and brimstone from which it came.
May 24, 2012 at 11:07 am
Tress
very appropriate that the whole thing is in darkness!
May 24, 2012 at 5:31 pm
jaqueline
oh Tress, that made me laugh most heartily!! Wonderful!
May 24, 2012 at 9:52 pm
Kim
Obama got some seriously bad advice a while back when part of his health reform forced Catholic owned organizations to offer contraception to its employees as part of their health care packages. Up until then he had secured a good share of the Catholic vote, who were willing to hold their nose and vote Dem rather than for the GOP. It openly antagonized them and was foolish advice. It likely won’t decide an election, but it will contribute to further dividing the American people. One more neighbour against another. Instead of looking at what values they share.
And the timing for his public stance on gay marriage was not lost on those who understand how political fundraising works leading up to November.
I genuinely think that man has a good heart and might have accomplished something in spite of how the GOP has fought him at every turn. But in any area where he could have sat down and compromised with them, his handlers undermined any chance of it in order to score cheap political points, once again showing the disregard all politicians have for the voters intelligence.
By the time enough voters see the honest and straightforward policies that Ron Paul espouses, he will be too old to govern anyway. Too bad. An old fashioned GP might have done some real healing the the U.S. of A
May 25, 2012 at 6:28 am
jaqueline
There is a lot of admiration for Ron Paul, from both ‘sides’ Jon Stewart for instance adores him. I certainly would not mind him being President. And these big minds in England reckon that true reform is coming from the right, perhaps not from Paul but the way they describe the ideas those conservatives seem to think along his lines.
It probably was poor political advice Kim, but I am wondering how many Catholics are on board with that view point anyway. Anyway the catholic stance on contraception is based on a complete misreading of the story of Tamar and ought to be changed……However considering how that we are already paying through the nose for being women I am sure we could have held off to avoid the stupid objection to derail a really good reform.
The contraceptives issue is not one of birth control. it was one of the need for many women to use contraception for basic health and to deny them that would have be wrong.That is what the healthcare covers. I am glad Obama stuck up for women.
May 25, 2012 at 11:33 pm
Kim
He didn’t stick up for women, he rubbed the Catholics face in the dirt. Catholic women and/or their partners who choose contraception have done so for many elections and voted Dem as well. But Obama insulted their religion, straight up. He didn’t need to do that for women to know he was on their side. That was just dumb politics (just ask Mark Shields). I can respect the Catholic position on birth control and be happy to live alongside them in all their beliefs.
There would be all sorts of room for our fellow countrymen if people could just be authentic and drop all the agendas. Well………………………………………………..that was certainly naive!
Oh, and I am not buying the “already paying through the nose for being women” when we are in Canada. Look at Christie Clark! She is every bit the lying, mischievous manipulator that Gordo ever was.
I know my girls will have every opportunity to be caught up in the rat race as any guy will.
I am still trying to resurrect the ninetie’s “Mens Movement”, but all my drum kits are rented out to Montreal at the moment.
May 26, 2012 at 9:41 am
jaqueline
I suppose the chronic unequal wages and career paths being waylaid if you want children when it is healthy in your twenties; or if you choose your career you risk birth defects or failure past 35 could be mentioned.
but actually Kim,
“paying through the nose”…refers to paying for menstruation supplies, contraception, especially for major haemorraging which used to kill women in their hundreds before the pill,
pain meds and vitamins to manage menstrual pain. we get no tax breaks, no discounts we spend hundreds of dollars each year just because we are women.
I was trying to be delicate.
May 25, 2012 at 8:21 am
lindsay
http://www.cc2w.org/about-us/
The couple behind the ad, Manny and Adriana, apparently defend their decision to have 7 children, especially in this day and age when people don’t tend to have as big families any more. But Manny, he is a physician in the US, he can probably afford to take care of his 7 kids and a stay-at-home wife. A lot of people can’t.
Al, he converted to Catholicism later in life, he has 3 kids. It would be interesting to know about the relationships between Manny and Al, are they buddies? Is Al also from Fort Lauderdale?
Okay, so these 2 guys and, oh, yeah, the lady working behind the scenes for parental rights are organizing the first Stand Up Rally to demand that ALL our health care laws respect religious freedom! http://www.cc2w.org/events/ … it’s a pity their ad doesn’t reflect this …. it seems more to be trying to push a particular Catholic perspective on everyone …. I wonder if they realize they stepped over a line … ah, probably not …
Cool ad, very provocative, like the music … creative job by Jeremy and Tiana from Florida
http://www.creative-lab.com/what_we_do/
May 26, 2012 at 9:26 am
lindsay
Now Manny and Adrianna might want to take a look at how these guys do it … thousands of orthodox Jewish men in a against the internet … http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18155404
I love these guys … I don’t necessarily agree with what they are saying … but check out how as a community they are focused on a common goal … preservation of family … which seems to be similar in many ways to Manny and Adriana’s goal … There doesn’t appear to be any line over-stepping here … why? Their focus is on their own community and their own personal lives … they don’t appear to be trying to score points in social media or with US politics … they are not trying to influence anyone else outside of their community … and what’s remarkable is they managed to get all those thousands of people together for a rally without the help of the internet … or social media …. which tells me they already are coming from a place of being a strong community … and they seem to be doing it in a way which allows them to remain true to their own values … These guys are not trying to influence me but yet I can’t help smiling when I watch this video … it tickles me ….
May 25, 2012 at 10:03 am
John
I can’t imagine that the YouTube ad was created or endorsed by official Roman Catholicism – the hierarchy generally avoid being so blunt and obvious. I see from some of the posts here that the video was probably created by a couple of private Roman Catholic citizens. The piece is a classic work of propaganda in every sense – there is something perhaps of Mel Gibson’s brand of Roman Catholic propaganda in it actually.