CBS Evening News airs Donohue saying Sebelius nomination is "an insult to Catholics" without noting her Catholic support
Please upgrade your flash player. The video for this item requires a newer version of Flash Player. If you are unable to install flash you can download a QuickTime version of the video.
SUMMARY: On the CBS Evening News, Randall Pinkston aired a clip of Catholic League president Bill Donohue saying that President Obama's selection of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be secretary of Health and Human Services "is an insult to Catholics." But Pinkston did not mention the support Sebelius has received from Catholics United and numerous other Catholics, or that one of the Republican U.S. senators from Kansas, whose support of Sebelius Pinkston noted, is Catholic.
On the March 1 edition of the CBS Evening News, correspondent Randall Pinkston aired a clip of Catholic League president Bill Donohue saying that President Obama's selection of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be secretary of Health and Human Services "is an insult to Catholics." But while Pinkston noted that "[b]oth U.S. senators from Kansas -- Republicans -- endorse her appointment," he did not note that one of those Senators, Sam Brownback, is himself a Catholic. Nor did Pinkston note the support Sebelius has received from Catholics United and numerous other Catholics.
Pinkston reported that the Sebelius pick "is not without controversy. Sebelius, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, has received harsh criticism from anti-abortion groups." He then aired a clip of Donohue saying that Sebelius "is the champion of abortion rights right through term, and for Obama to choose somebody who has sown such division within the Catholic community to head HHS really is an insult to Catholics."
But Pinkston did not note that several of Sebelius' supporters are Catholic, including Brownback. In a February 28 blog post, the nonprofit advocacy group Catholics United "announced a new initiative intended to educate Catholic leaders and laity on Governor Kathleen Sebelius' record and to stand behind her nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services." On March 1, Catholics United released a statement of support for Sebelius from "26 Catholic leaders, scholars and theologians."
Additionally, Pinkston did not note that Donohue has a history of controversial remarks regarding gays and lesbians, Muslims, Jews, and others. These included his statement that "[p]eople don't trust the Muslims when it comes to liberty," his reference to the "gay death style," his assertion that "[t]he gay community has yet to apologize to straight people for all the damage that they have done," his repeated reference to "gook jokes" in a 2002 debate with Columbia University student Andy Hao about purported anti-Catholicism, and his assertion that Hollywood "is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular."
From the March 1 edition of the CBS Evening News:
PINKSTON: She is not without controversy. Sebelius, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, has received harsh criticism from anti-abortion groups.
DONOHUE: She is the champion of abortion rights right through term, and for Obama to choose somebody who has sown such division within the Catholic community to head HHS really is an insult to Catholics.
PINKSTON: But Governor Sebelius has at least two powerful GOP allies. Both U.S. senators from Kansas -- Republicans -- endorse her appointment and complimented President Obama for sending a Kansan to the White House. Randall Pinkston, CBS News, New York.
I'm a Catholic, and I'm Pro-Choice. I'm also divorced. Most American Catholics are Pro-Choice. MILLIONS are divorced.
Every time we have a Pro-Choice Catholic nominated for high office, we can expect to hear these self-appointed Guardians Of All That Is Catholic making idiotic pronouncements like this. When are they going to go after Divorced Catholics, too? Isn't divorce still a sin in the Catholic Church?
I don't know any Catholics who look to Donohue for advice on what it means to be a good Catholic. He's not the Pope, or a Cardinal, or a Bishop. I wish the media would stop giving him so much authority.
I hate to get off-topic, but I like to bring up divorce whenever people bring up the "sanctity of marriage" silliness.
On topic, Kansas Catholics don't have a problem with Sebelius. The only Kansans who do are the anti-choice fringe and Dubya's 22%-ers. I'm happy for Sebelius, but she was the strongest Democratic politician in the state and without her the party is leaderless.
If people were truly sincere when they bleated "the sanctity of marriage," they'd be in favor of strict divorce laws.
If people were truly sincere when they opposed marriage for homosexuals because "marriage is about raising children and they can't have children," they'd oppose marriage between people who physically can't have kids. They'd also promote mandatory divorce between married people who don't have kids.
And if people were truly sincere when they argue that "abortion is murder," they'd admit that they have been sitting on their asses while "murders" are being committed down the street from them, and have to explain why they aren't throwing themselves in front of abortion clinics, committing acts of sabatoge to prevent abortions, etc. But they aren't. They just like to puff up their chests and crow.
SHHHHHH! No being logical! They can't hear that, anyway; they only hear themselves and those who agree with them.
And if Catholics truly believe that life begins at the moment fertization of the ovum then "conditional baptism" should be performed on and funeral Masses should be conducted for the used tampons of all sexually active Catholic women "just in case" a little blastula missed the implantation bus to uterus.
I'm just saying, ya know what I mean?
I live in Kansas too and you are correct about Sebelius' popularity in Kansas. She is very popular. She regularly draws support from both Republicans and Democrats in the state. She is a pragmatist and she has a good record of getting things done. She is a great choice for this nomination; although, as a Kansan, I am sad that we lost such a strong leader!
I was raised as a Catholic and still live in an area that predominantly Catholic. Some of the Catholics I know who have been divorced also got annulments from the Church...some after after having multiple children. Therefore, they are still "good" Catholics. What a joke...
"Joke" is exactly the way to put it.
When my wife and I divorced, we discussed the possibility of an annulment. We didn't have any kids, and I suspect it would have been a very easy thing to arrange. We both agreed however that we didnt' have any actual grounds for an anullment, so we weren't going to "play the game" for "appearences."
I agree with you, Donahue is a nut, liar, hater.
Ok, maybe the Donohue does not speak for everyone, but give me a break. Did anyone here google "Catholics United"?? They are an on-line advocacy group. You have to be kidding me!!!!!
The Pope has been clear on this issue. The Catholic League is a huge, well established group. To pretend that Catholics United is on the same scale as the Catholic league and the Pope is a joke. CBS did not mention them because no one has ever heard of them.
Ok, maybe the Donohue does not speak for everyone, but give me a break. Did anyone here google "Catholics United"?? They are an on-line advocacy group. You have to be kidding me!!!!!
The Pope has been clear on this issue. The Catholic League is a huge, well established group. To pretend that Catholics United is on the same scale as the Catholic league and the Pope is a joke. CBS did not mention them because no one has ever heard of them.
From the Department of Redundancy department.
To pretend that Catholics United is on the same scale as the Catholic league and the Pope is a joke.
How could anyone be on the same scale with a person who is infallible? Except maybe Rush Limbaugh, of course... ;>)
I think you make a legitimate point here POV. Catholics United certainly could be considered a "fringe" group within the Catholic church. It seems somewhat disingenious for MMFA to use them to make the broader point about Catholic support for Sebelius. That's kind of like pointing to the "log cabin Republicans" and asserting that there are plenty of homosexuals who support the GOP.
My feeling, as a recovering Catholic, is why do we even have to consider their point of view, given their obfuscation and hypocrisy. Is it possible that their dogma may destroy as much as it uplifts? Why can't that question be asked?
I'd like to see it asked. I don't recall seeing Protestant ministers asked to pass judgement on Protestant nominees, or Rabbis being asked to pass judgement on Jews, etc. etc.
I can't imagine that one Catholic in 100 gives a flying damn what Donohue thinks about Sebelius, or anyone else for that matter. So why is he being consulted here?
i think their birth control policy is totally destructive. telling already poor people they will burn in hell if they use birth control contributes to a lot of suffering.
Religion in general does more harm than good, marginally speaking, and the Catholic church is one of the worst offenders in this regard, due to their dark-age superstitions about contraception. (And yes, I'm catholic. But they've still got their head up the posteriors on this issue, and many others.)
Thier missionaries go to countries full of starving orphans who parents died of AIDS and tell them NOT to use condoms. This created MORE starving childeren and MORE dead parents. Then they take pictures of these starving childeren next to their dead parents and bring these pictures back to the states, showing them to me in an attempt to guilt me into giving them money so they can go do more missionary work!
And good doen by the church could be done without all the dogmatic strings attached. Most of the harm done would not happen if we didn't have religion to divide us and motivate us to fight with and hate one another.
Sebelius has been a very effective governor , and is very popular in Kansas. This sideshow is just more negative b.s. from the right wing.
I've noticed that many if not most of the most strident anti-abortion voices are those who have never in a position to ever need one.
p.s. I've never met any person who "promotes" abortion.
I consider Donahue an abortion and I know there were nuns who promoted him. So I'd say those nuns promoted abortion.
Strong words. I'd say, he's just a lonely goatherd, with a very small flock.
He's scum. He's the Catholic's James Dobson minus the ordainment. These people have no place making public policy.
But I've met a few who promote killing abortion doctors.
Given the fact that she herself is Catholic, and many Catholics support her, Donohue's statement can be revised to "She's an insult to Troglodytes."
Who gives a crap if it is an insult to Catholics? It would be an insult to every one who voted for him if Obama had nominated someone who is NOT pro-choice. It's an insult to the entire country that Donohue and others like him try to bully our govt into adhearing to the standards of their religion.
My wife was raised Catholic...in fact she won an award in elementary school from the CL. However a-holes like Donohue turned her atheist, and she likes to say it is true what they say about girls who go to parochial schools. They marry Jewish guys (like me) ;)
Exactly. I remember my mother telling me that some people opposed JFK when he was running because they thought a Catholics first allegiance would be to the church. Times have sure changed. But the right wing hasn't.
Another fine example of right wing prejudice. When it was Kennedy, they were all so darned sure the pope was gonna be meddling in our affairs. It took Reagan to get the right wing to "turn an eye" to their prejudices (read winning was more important than their beliefs). To this day the right wing hates catholics 364 days a year. They love them once a year when they announce their annual "there are more christians than any other religion in the world" figures (the one day where catholics get counted among the born again!).
This is pretty funny stuff...mmfa trys to rebut the story by listing a handful of catholics who support Sebelius...including the liberal Catholics United, who support Roe v Wade.
-- How exactly does one promote “health and human services’ by killing unborn children? -- Catechism On Line
-- She is...a WRONG choice for Catholics and for the true common good -- Catholic On Line
-- Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius should not receive Communion until she publicly repudiates her support for abortion rights and confesses her error, said Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kan.
"The spiritually lethal message, communicated by our governor...has been in effect: 'The church's teaching on abortion is optional!'" Naumann writes -- USAToday
Yep, there is a whole lot of rancor from catholics about the nomination of Sebelius...despite the rather puny effort by mmfa to make it seem otherwise.
You miss the point (nothing new.) This MSM outlet provides only one side- the Catholics who say they dissaprove of Sebelius. Nobody is arguing that there are Catholics who dissaprove of Sebelius. But where is the balance- the many, many Catholics who approve of her selection?
The bottom line for me and a lot of people here is even more succinct- we don't give a damn what the Catholic Church thinks of the next Secretary of HHS. And we don't know why the media keeps telling us that we should.
Sorry jamele...but I didn't miss any point.
mmfa makes a weak point about the catholic support for Sebelius by citing a small group of liberal catholics out of the mainstream from the catholic church...and you follow up with some anecdotal claim about widespread support.
A catholic nominated to head the HHS...who supports abortion...will draw a firestorm from the catholic community...you know it and I know it.
It will draw a firestorm as you say but only from the most vocal of the extreme. I come from a large Catholic family. Forty seven first cousins, six other siblings and many more in our extended family. And most of my friends are Catholics. My wife and I have each been married twice (each widowed the first time) so there are six large families in our family.
I'm not saying we represent the norm, but there are very few who are staunch opponents of abortion, even fewer against birth control and about evenly divided on the death penalty and the War in Iraq. The Church has taken very strong positions on al of these.
I don't think the Church speaks for the average Catholic anymore. If the Church wants to start having a test before they allow anyone to receive communion or attend mass, there will be few people left.
I'd say that most of the Catholics I know would be excommunicated for one thing or another if the Church ever examined them and their beliefs. With most it's sort of a "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
I know this is only anecdotal, but the group I'm talking about includes hundreds of people.
-- I'm not saying we represent the norm, but there are very few who are staunch opponents of abortion --
Here's a little food for thought concerning normalcy from a Marist College Poll of all Americans, not just catholic:
13% - Abortion should never be allowed
15% - Only to save the life of the mother
32% - In cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother
24% - Up to the 3rd month
8% - Up to the 6th month
8% - Anytime
king...I'll tell you this for nothing...sometimes anecdotal evidence is better than the most sophisticated polling...especially when it comes from close associates or family members as you described.
Let's see... according to the poll you cite, 87% are in favor of an abortion of some kind. The 47% (the 15% and the 32%) who want limited abortions make a distinction between a fetus and the life of the mother. In cases of incest and rape, the fetus will most likely come to term without any complications. And even in life-threatening situations, the mother still has THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE to terminate the pregnancy or carry it to term. That 47% makes the argument for choice and they don't even realize it.
Just a little food for thought
When offered food for thought, Wesley will choose to starve.
Your poll is a bad poll, Wes. It was commisoned by the Knights of Columbus, and framed the question to get the results it wanted. Try here:
link
You'll note that 49% favor abortion rights, 48% oppose it.
A catholic nominated to head the HHS...who supports abortion...will draw a firestorm from the catholic community...you know it and I know it.-- wesley
Not any more than the Catholic nominated by the Democratic Party for President of the United States in 2004.....who supported abortion....did. Moron.
Kerry received a solid majority of the Catholic vote that year. Didn't you notice. Some firestorm.
Get a clue: the vast majority of American Catholics, of which I am one, don't give a rat's damn what self-important dopes like Donohue think.
-- Kerry received a solid majority of the Catholic vote that year -- jamele
Let me offer a little reality from the Pew Research Center...Pres.Bush received 52% of the catholic vote and John Kerry received 47%.
-- U.S. Catholic voters are split on the issues of abortion...between those who attend church at least twice a month and those who attend church less often, according to a survey released Tuesday (Oct. 14) by the Knights of Columbus.
Sixty-five percent of non-practicing Catholics identified themselves as "pro-choice" on abortion, compared to 36% of practicing Catholics...The survey revealed that 76% of pro-choice non-practicing Catholics said abortion should be significantly restricted. -- USAToday
Who won the Catholic vote? McCain or Obama? 'Nuff said.
To the uneducated, perhaps it is "nuff". Your welfare check is waiting.
It is 'nuff. We live in a demoracy. The majority elected Obama. In fact, only one presidential election in the last 20 years resulted in the Republican getting more votes then the Democratic candidate, and that was a very small margin. All of these Democratic presdients were pro-choice, accurately reflecting the will of the people who put them in power. Obama is no different except that he won by an even more impressive margin then his democratic predecessors.
Quite right, Wesley- I mispoke, Kerry only got 47% of the Catholic vote, after a Catholic Bishop told people that no good Catholic could vote for him.
In 2000 Al Gore, who did NOT have any Catholic Bishop openly opposing him, got 48% of the Catholic vote.
Point is, American Catholics don't follow one leader who tells them who to vote for. I don't believe that one American Catholic in fifty even knows who Donohue is, let alone looks to him for guidence.
Dude, most Catholics don't belong to focus groups, just the church itself (which BTW, doesn't recognize Donohue, or the Catholic League in any official capacity AT ALL.) And if you consider how many of the church's teachings (contaception, divorce/remarriage, Death Penalty, War) are considered "optional" by Catholics both conservatives AND liberal, you would be a fool to think that this idiot (Donohue) somehow speaks for all, or even a large majority of them. He speaks for the same religious nutcases (catholic and otherwise) who consistenlty vote republican due to "social issues" (only the ones of their own choosing though*) despite the fact that they are getting screwed economically.
* Abortion, Contraception - NO (agree w/ church)
* Death Penalty, War - YES (disagree w/ church)
* See - Hyper-Religious Catholics are no more principled than every other Uber-Christian who votes for War, Guns, the Death Penalty, etc... No principal is sacred as long as YOUR GUY wins.
>>How exactly does one promote “health and human services’ by killing unborn children?
No one is kiling unborn children. Howevver, if we force women to have back alley abortions, we will sacrifice their lives.
By the way, as a former Cathoic, I think the church is further loosing credibiity by not denouncing demagouges like Donahoue. Also, if you can't be a good Catholic and be pro abortion, why can you be a good Cathoic and be pro death penalty and pro war?
I think the church is further loosing credibiity by not denouncing demagouges like Donahoue. Also, if you can't be a good Catholic and be pro abortion, why can you be a good Cathoic and be pro death penalty and pro war?
Amen, brorther! Not to mention that using religion for your opnw personal, economic and political gains would constitute taking the Lord's name in veign. Mixing religion and politics is not just dangerous politically, it's also blasphemous.
You are right Wes. But those millions of people do not support the radical view of MMFA, so they dont count. MMFA only counts a group that until today, no one had ever heard of.
If they are conservative, they don't count. Conservatives are irrelevant.
More Catholics voted for Obama than McCain.
What "millions of people"?
DONOHUE: She is the champion of abortion rights right through term, and for Obama to choose somebody who has sown such division within the Catholic community to head HHS really is an insult to Catholics.
You know what, Bill? That sounds like something that you and the Catholic community need to work that out among yourselves. Or do you think Barack Obama chose Kathleen Sebelius just to p!ss you off?
And he pulled that little tidbit right out of his ass.
as noted by a true insult to humanity.
Like your opinion means anything to anyone. Conservatives are irrelevant and should be dismissed as such.
Lets see what you think in a year......when the stimilus fails....which it will....when the Mesiah is down to 40% aproval, and when it looks more and more like Carter 2. You and Barack will all wish we could go back. Hillary will have never looked so good.
And if you're wrong...? I know that's probably hard for you to consider since you seem so heavily invested in failure...and I'm sure, above all else, you want to say you were right, huh?
If I am wrong I stand to make a lot of money. I dont believe that will be the case however.
You wish it's not the case. Your guy got us into this mess. It will take a lot of work go get us out. Thank goodness we have a smart, capable, and courageous leader.
You know, pointy, even if Obama WERE to plummet to a 40% approval rating, that would still be NEARLY DOUBLE what your boy Dubya' polled for the last couple of years of HIS maladministration. He could only DREAM of pulling down numbers like that. He would have KILLED for numbers like that.
But that's the future. That's pure 'optimistic' speculation on your part, that the stimulus will fail and that the nation will be worse off. Reality, on the other hand, shows us that Obama and his policies are EXTREMELY popular with the American people, and that the cons are deeply mistrusted after their eight year of fleecing and grifting.
What he doesn't understand is that Americans don't like republicans so the people will stick with Democrats through these critical times. Republicans can't do anything for average Americans as witnessed by the last eight years but for some unknown reason they think Americans will trust them [again] with the economy.
I have no doubt they will. With out Carter, Reagan would not have been possible. Had it not been for slick wille.....GW would have never ever won. Its only a matter of time..............
GW didn't win his first election. He won the second election because he ran on his bogus national security credentials which some people bought.
FDR won four times in similar times. Conservatives used the same arguments that we’re seeing now (they’re like a broken record) and he was able to increase the Democratic majorities in the Congress. Too bad we have term limits so Obama won’t be able to run four times.
***BREAKING NEWS***
The Catholic League has just issued an apology to Rush Limbaugh in which the group acknowledged that it was wrong to speak on behalf of itself and Catholics rather than allowing the great leader, Rush Limbaugh, to do so first. ;>)
It wouldn't surprise me...
Didn't Kathy Griffin call the Catholic League "a dude with a computer?" HAHAHAHAHA. Donohue "is an insult to Catholics."