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| WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27 |
| FLOWER POWER The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that a California law forcing pregnancy care center to provide information about abortion was unconstitutional. “Governments must not be allowed to force persons to express a message contrary to their deepest convictions,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy. READ |
| SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS TRAVEL BAN The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the travel restrictions on seven countries imposed by President Donald Trump are constitutional. Justice Sonia Sotomayor compared the travel ban to President Franklin Roosevelt’s order interning Japanese-Americans during World War II. Chief Justice John Roberts responded: “[I]t is wholly inapt to liken that morally repugnant order to a facially neutral policy denying certain foreign nationals the privilege of admission.” READ |
| LEFT-WING UPSET This is an upset similar to House Majority Whip Eric Cantor losing in 2014. Rep. Joe Crowley, the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, just got trounced in the Democratic primary by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who identifies as a Democratic socialist. Crowley had been considered a potential successor to Nancy Pelosi. Ocasio-Cortez is a near-lock to win this very blue district in Bronx and Queens. READ |
| AMERICA: DANGEROUS FOR WOMEN? Are they joking? Among 193 U.N. member states, “women’s rights experts” rank the United States as the 10th-most dangerous country for women — almost as bad as Nigeria. READ |
| POLITICS & VIOLENCE Rep. David Schweikert, R-AZ, says he received more death threats in 2017 than every other year he’s been in office combined. “My fear is this is the playbook of a lot of our brothers and sisters on the left — they’re going to get fringier and fringier, louder and louder, angrier and angrier, and as you and I know, we sometimes have some folks in our society who aren’t completely healthy,” said Schweikert. READ |
| 2020 Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he’s considering a 2020 run for president, as a Democrat. READ |
| U.S. FREEZES PALESTINIAN AID The United States has reportedly suspended aid to the Palestinian Authority because of the newly-passed Taylor Force Act, which requires Palestinian officials to end payments to terrorist groups. READ |
| GOSNELL MOVIE GETS DISTRIBUTOR A movie about abortionist Kermit Gosnell now has a distributor and will appear in more than 750 theaters nationwide on October 12. The movie stars former Superman actor Dean Cain as the lead detective. READ |
| THE SEAL OF THE CONFESSIONAL Many priests have been imprisoned or died to protect the seal of Confession. Take for example, Saint John Nepomuk who refused to tell the king what the queen had confessed. He was thrown off the Charles Bridge in Prague, and drowned. READ |
| JOHN PAUL II AND ECONOMICS A George Weigel pushes back at some misconceptions of Pope John Paul II’s views on economics held by San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy. READ |
| SAINT OF THE DAY Saint Cyril of Alexandria was instrumental in the Church’s doctrinal statement that there is one person but two natures in Christ. The practical implication of this teaching is that we believe that Jesus is truly God and truly human. This definition was the source of much controversy in the early Church. READ |
| DAILY MASS READINGS “Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.” (Ps 119:33) READ |
| SUPREME COURT After two critical 5-4 decisions by the Supreme Court, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted out this photo to remind everybody who kept the vacant Supreme Court seat open so that it could be filled by Neil Gorsuch. READ |