Monday, May 18, 2009

Tolerance for ye but not for thee?

But Obama called for "open hearts, open minds, fair-minded words" in the midst of such persistent debates.

"I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. Because no matter how much we may want to fudge it -- indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory -- the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable," Obama said.


That was from the President's address at the Notre Dame commencement ceremonies on Sunday. For a man that has a AAA rating from NARAL and a voting record that exhibits absolutely zero wiggle room on the subject of abortion, we're curious as to how he would define "debate".

And here's Trinity Washington University president, Patricia McGuire speaking at Trinity's own commencement exercises on the protesters at Notre Dame:
"The real scandal at Notre Dame today is not that the president of the United States is speaking at commencement," McGuire said. "The real scandal is the misappropriation of sacred teachings for political ends. The real scandal is the spectacle of ostensibly Catholic mobs camping out at Notre Dame for the specific purpose of disrupting the commencement address of the nation's first African American president. This ugly spectacle is an embarrassment to all Catholics. The face that Catholicism shows to our new president should be one marked with the sign of peace, not distorted in the snarl of hatred."

Because nothing says "fair-minded words" like slamming young people for exercising their 1st amendment rights and thinly-veiled charges of racism and accusations of hatred for daring to express views contrary to hers.

H/T: Hot Air

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not really related, but reminded me of the topic from the other day, "More equal than the rest of us?"...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/health/19well.html?scp=2&sq=florida%20hospital%20gay%20rights&st=cse

- Mongo, Actually, Doesn't Want to Visit Anybody in the Hospital. Has a Policy of Stearing Clear of Them. But to Each Their Own...

Foxfier said...

Robert Alonso, a spokesman for the public trust that runs the Miami hospital, Jackson Memorial, said it typically did not comment on pending litigation, but added that the hospital grants visitation if it doesn’t interfere with other emergency care. “The primary legal point is that the amount of visitation allowed in a trauma emergency room should be decided by the surgeons and nurses treating the patients,” he said.Later mentions that children under 14 aren't allowed in trauma at all, usually. (Imagine the response of a little five year old girl seeing her daddy, in the hospital, chopped to bits in a car accident and this policy makes perfect sense--especially to the folks trying to keep the folks alive. The risk of infection is also a scary thought.)

Since it was at least two years ago, and the oldest kid is listed as 15, all the kids would've been too young. Having three (probably distraught-- vacation suddenly is mom's in the only level 1 trauma unit in the county) children around her might also effect both the woman's memory and what language could be used to update them on Pond's condition.

For the second case, nobody was interviewed to see what the policy on people staying overnight in a hospital room was-- shoot, no mention of the hospital at all.

The coverage kinda stinks of someone writing a story instead of a news report-- notice how often the PC victims are quoted, and the policies of the hospitals in question only mentioned as an afterthought?
(See also: that "experiment" where they put a world-famous violinist in the subway during the rush *to* work to see if people would stop to listen-- right, let's get fired because the music is lovely; failure to do so shows we're soulless...)