OK. I’ve had quite enough out of these guys. Seriously. L’Osservatore Romano seems to be praising Obama, at least according to news reports. I don’t speak or read Italian but all the news reports seem to be reporting the same thing. That there’s a great big puckering sound coming out of Rome from the newspaper.

According to CNS, the Vatican newspaper said,

“The search for a common ground: This seems to be the path chosen by the president of the United States, Barack Obama, in facing the delicate question of abortion,” the newspaper said.

Are you kidding me? That could be a quote right out of Scott McLellan’s mouth if you just added a few Uhm’s and uhhh’s and odd pauses between words for no apparent reason.

The newspaper seems to be hanging their hat on the fact that Obama said that signing FOCA isn’t his highest legislative priority.

THAT’S BECAUSE IT WOULDN’T PASS, GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But make no mistake, Obama is still mucho committed to the pro-abortion agenda. He just doesn’t have the votes necessary. Do you really think he wants to be slogging out a brutal battle against parental consent laws and for partial birth abortion during his Presidency. No way.

But here’s the thing, this kind of article from Rome is just damaging because a lot of people put themselves out there on this Notre Dame issue. Hundreds of thousands of people signed the petition to stop Obama from being honored at Notre Dame and over 70 bishops spoke out against it.

And then the newspaper which many people see (erroneously) as being the mouthpiece of the Pope comes out the day after Obama speaks and praises Obama for what? Sounding like Rodney King asking why we all just can’t get along just a month after allotting taxpayer money to support ESCR efforts?

This will almost certainly be played up in the media and many many good people will feel undercut by this article. And they’ll start feeling like the Vatican doesn’t really have their back on this issue.

But don’t worry, all the folks against Obama being honored at Notre Dame were mentioned too. You ready for this one:

“Yesterday, too, as could have been predicted, there were protests. But from the podium set up in the basketball arena, the president invited Americans of every faith and ideological conviction to ‘work in common effort’ to reduce the number of abortions,” it said.

The newspaper noted that Obama had called for reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies, facilitating adoption and supporting women who want to carry their babies to term, and that he had also spoken of drafting a “conscience clause” for medical personnel who are morally opposed to participating in abortions.

Did you catch that line: “Yesterday, too, as could have been predicted, there were protests. That’s what we get. A snarky aside tossed out so they can get back to their main point of praising Obama?

Everyone knows Obama has absolutely no interest in reducing the number of abortions as the abortion industry is one of his biggest financial backers. And that’s what it comes down to for these folks. Dead babies means mad cash.

And guys, Obama’s talking about a “conscience clause” but one of the first things he actually did was put under review the actual conscience clause that was already in place from President George W. Bush. Putting it under review is the first step toward dumping it. As always, Obama says one thing and does another. And L’Osservatore Romano falls for it?

Here’s some text from theAP’s report on the article:

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican said Monday that President Barack Obama was clearly looking for some common ground with his speech at the University of Notre Dame about abortion.

The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano said Obama’s speech at the leading Catholic university on Sunday confirmed what he had said at a recent news conference — that signing the so-called Freedom of Choice Act in the U.S. Congress wasn’t his highest legislative priority. The bill would protect a woman’s right to have a child or end a pregnancy…

The article didn’t mention the protest by dozens of U.S. Catholic bishops who denounced Notre Dame for honoring Obama because his abortion rights record clashes with fundamental church teaching.

Instead, it simply quoted Obama as inviting all Americans to work together to reduce the number of abortions and unwanted pregnancies, and concluded he was searching for common ground on the “delicate question of abortion.”

The Vatican has been open to Obama ever since his election, despite his record on abortion and support for embryonic stem-cell research, which the Vatican also opposes.

In addition, L’Osservatore Romano gave Obama a positive review after his first 100 days in office, saying in a front-page editorial that even on ethical questions Obama hadn’t confirmed the “radical” new direction he had discussed during the campaign.

All I can hope is that all the translators were out late last night and messed this up really badly and when they sober up in the morning they’ll realize it and straighten all this out. But I’m not hopeful.

This is incredibly disappointing.

One thought: I wouldn’t want to be in the same room with Archbishop Burke when he reads this thing. Whew.