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...soldier and the lawyer may both love this country with equal passion," Barack Obama said in his elegant Notre Dame commencement speech, "and yet reach very different conclusions on the specific steps needed to protect us from harm." You can say that again. In recent weeks, the President and just about every other major politician from both parties have been boggled by soldier-lawyer disputes. Some have been small: whether or not House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was adequately briefed on the CIA's use of waterboarding in 2002. Others cut to the core of asymmetrical warfare, especially the question...
...President appeared to understand this when he spoke at Notre Dame's commencement, addressing the possibility of common ground and the need for "open hearts, open minds, fair-minded words." Protesters were gathered outside; the issue of a Catholic university honoring a pro-choice President had roiled the campus for weeks. But rather than defend his position on the issue or even explain it, Obama talked about how to talk about it. "I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away," he said. "Because no matter how much we may want to fudge it - indeed...
Read "Unpacking Obama's Notre Dame Address...
...course, the Notre Dame kerfuffle has political roots as well. The protesters aren't accusing the university of violating church teaching but rather of violating a 2004 policy that the USCCB approved in the midst of vigorous debate over John Kerry's presidential candidacy. The statement, titled "Catholics in Political Life," was speedily drafted in response to questions about whether Kerry should be denied communion because of his pro-choice positions. Catholic institutions, it read, "should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles." When the bishops approved the statement, it wasn't clear whether...
...wedge between the President and rank-and-file Catholics are Catholic Republicans, who worry about losing more voters to the Democratic Party. Newt Gingrich wasn't yet a Catholic when the 2004 statement was debated and approved. But the new convert was the first to speak out against Notre Dame's commencement speaker. On March 24, the Republican former House Speaker weighed in on his Twitter account, which appears to have limits on capital letters: "It is sad to see notre dame invite president obama to give the commencement address since his policies are so anti catholic values." There...