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| MONDAY, JULY 2 |
| ROE V WADE President Trump said he would likely not ask potential Supreme Court candidates if they would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. But, as this USA Today article notes, all 25 candidates on President Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees have received approval from the Federalist Society, whose leadership disagrees with the Roe decision. READ |
| SUPREME COURT SHORT LIST This article offers short profiles on all 25 candidates. The article breaks them down into: the five frontrunners, the four other serious contenders, followed by the remaining 16 candidates. READ |
| TOO RADICAL? Liberal Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-IL, worries that Democrats are moving too far to the left, which she says will doom the party to lose the White House in 2020. “I think that you can’t win the White House without the Midwest. And I don’t think you can go too far to the left and still win the Midwest,” she said. She made the comments in reaction to a self-described socialist who defeated the No. 4 Democrat in the House. READ |
| QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Kennedy’s retirement highlights what’s wrong with American politics. The outcome of so many policy questions should not depend on one person (or position) in a democratic republic. The cure for today’s dysfunction is not for one party to succeed in stacking SCOTUS with like-minded justices. Rather, it is to reduce the power of the courts to decide issues that should be resolved by the people’s representatives in Congress. Expect dysfunction to continue so long as both Democrats and Republicans embrace judicial supremacy.” -James Wallner, author of On Parliamentary War and Death of Deliberation. |
| MEDIA DISCONNECT WITH AMERICANS President Trump’s immigration policies have generated white-hot media scrutiny, but it appears that Trump’s policies are well within the mainstream of the American people. A recent poll found that 64% of Americans believed that the illegal immigrant families captured at the border should be sent home. Just 36% said they should be allowed to stay. READ |
| THE LEGACY OF JUSTICE KENNEDY Anthony Kennedy was Ronald Reagan’s worst mistake. And let’s not forget, Anthony Kennedy only made it to the Supreme Court after a relentless and ruthless smearing of Robert Bork by Sen. Ted Kennedy. READ |
| CONVERSION THERAPY Last week, the Supreme Court overturned California’s law which forced pregnancy care centers to speak about abortion. Some legal scholars say that the Court’s ruling could doom other restrictive laws which restrict therapists from assisting people with unwanted same-sex attraction. READ |
| CIVILITY TO CIVIL WAR? “Our culture has left its population raw without intermediary institutions to buffer the deep divide between those who are man-centered and those who are God-centered,” writes Paul Mureno at the CatholicVote Blog. READ |
| SCANDAL Critics demand answers in the the wake of the sex abuse scandal involving Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. “The most important reason why the secret remained secret so long [is that] people who knew the truth, and could provide solid evidence, declined to do so,” said Philip Lawler, author of The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston’s Catholic Culture. READ |
| IT BEGINS… The Holy Father rejected a plan by the conference of German bishops, but kept the door open for individual bishops to make a decision. And now, a German bishop announces communion for Protestant spouses in “individual cases.” READ |
| CATHOLIC BOOKSTORE After a series of crises and setbacks, Christopher Hagen and his family are working to keep the doors open of one of the world’s oldest theological bookstores. READ |
| MONTH OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD Did you know that the month of July is dedicated to the Precious Blood of Our Lord? The feast was instituted by Pope Pius IX, but the devotion goes back to the early Fathers. If you’ve never heard of this devotion, here’s your chance to learn more. READ |
| SAINT OF THE DAY Saint Oliver Plunkett may not be a household name in the United States but he certainly is well known in the British Isles. The Archbishop of Armagh, Saint Oliver Plunkett led his archdiocese through the rough days of persecution of Catholics. Finally apprehended, Saint Oliver was hanged, drawn, and quartered July 1, 1681. READ |
| DAILY READINGS “Remember this, you who never think of God.” (Ps 50:22) READ |
| TRUTH |