Picture this scenario:
Jane Doe has recently been appointed to a key position in the administration. One of the key roles of her new position is to insure and promote race equality. It is her job to insure that any legislation promoted by the administration does all it can to insure a level playing field for all races.
Suppose now that is has recently been revealed that Jane Doe, just last year, was a keynote speaker at a rally of the Ku Klux Klan. This organization, known as the KKK is described as follows on Wikipedia:
Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is the name of several past and present organizations in the United States that have advocated white supremacy, anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, racism, homophobia, anti-Communism and nativism. These organizations have often used terrorism, violence, and acts of intimidation, such as cross burning and lynching, to oppress African Americans and other social or ethnic groups.
Now, one could try to make the argument that just because Jane Doe spoke at the rally of the KKK, it does not necessarily follow that Jane Doe endorses all of the ideas of the KKK. Be that as it may, how many people would think that it is perfectly legitimate for Ms. Doe to continue in her key role to insure racial equality? Not many. So few in fact that I would venture to say it would be less people than members of the staff at the National Catholic Reporter who attended the Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite yesterday to celebrate Summorum Pontificum. We all know that Jane Doe would be booted, and rightly so, quicker than you could say Don Imus.
With that said, can one of the geniuses over at the USCCB explain why they think that it is perfectly acceptable that Kathy Saile, USCCB domestic policy director, was a key speaker at a WIN dinner.
‘WIN is Washington’s premier professional, political, and social network dedicated to empowering young, Democratic, pro-choice women.’
So why is it acceptable that the domestic policy director for a group that is supposed to be dedicated to the dignity of life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death (the defining issue of our time) is a speaker at a conference for a group whose self description advocates the destruction of innocent and defenseless life? It is not.
The USCCB must immediately confront this issue and make clear that this is not acceptable by taking the appropriate action. If they do not, they should just change the acronym to the USKKKB. U.S. Konference of Katholic Kollaborating Bishops.
September 15, 2007 at 11:31 pm
There are a number of ways a spokesman for the USCCB could respond:
1) Ms Saile appeared on her own behalf, and not as a representative of the USCCB.
2) Ms Saile’s e-mail went down, and her clearance did not go through the concurrence process in time for the event.
3) Ms Saile couldn’t find her Palm Pilot when she was supposed to erase it from her schedule, and when she saw it on there, assumed it was okay.
4) Ms Saile couldn’t find her @$$ with both hands.
5) We couldn’t find our @$$#$ with both hands.
6) All of the above.
September 17, 2007 at 9:23 pm
I tried to comment on this at the USCCB site & couldn’t find a ‘contact us’. Also tried to find an online way to contact Nuncio Sambi & couldn’t. I am SO tired of hearing these type of stories…5 years after the scandals broke, it doesn’t look like they’ve learned anything. Can you please tell me who to complain to? (don’t say my local ordinary…this type of thing is way off his radar)
September 18, 2007 at 3:42 pm
“I tried to comment on this at the USCCB site & couldn’t find a ‘contact us’.”
I’m shocked, just shocked.
September 19, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Thanks, David, for a good laugh on a bleak topic 🙂 You have to laugh, or you’ll cry. You have been far more generous than you should be however. The closest answer to the truth is
5) We couldn’t find our @$$#$ with both hands.
Can I suggest that a much more likely scenario (although not one the bishops would admit to) would be:
“7) Our advisors insisted we hire this woman or they we call us “mysoginist, patriarchal and heirarchical dinosaurs who oppress truth and women” and we are still smarting from the beating they gave us last time we took their luxury coffee machine away so we daren’t oppose them on this smaller issue. (A smaller issue because it has less impact on the budget than the coffee meachine so the accountants won’t be coming upstairs to give us a beating too!) If anyone wants us we’ll be hiding in the lavatory.”
September 20, 2007 at 7:48 pm
By the same measure, the Pope should not be speaking at the pro-abortion United Nations (as he has announced he will). Benedict XVI and Ms. Saile are a perfect pairing, aren’t they?