Burnt Orange Report

Bush in Dallas Today

By Byron LaMasters

President Bush is in Dallas today, trying to out-Catholic John Kerry. The Dallas Morning News reports:

Among Catholics, the Knights of Columbus are known as the men with the capes, swords and "Three Musketeers" hats, the ones who raise millions for charities, most famously by flipping pancakes.

But at the White House, they're known as voters. Crucial voters. So President Bush is stopping by Dallas today to address the world's largest Catholic fraternal organization – 1.2 million strong in the United States alone.

The Knights are meeting this week at the downtown Hyatt Regency essentially for a religious convention. All but two U.S. cardinals and dozens of bishops will be on hand, which speaks to the influence and standing the Knights hold in the church.

The sitting U.S. president is always invited to the group's annual convention. In recent years, only Republicans have accepted. (John F. Kennedy, the only Catholic president, was a Knight; John Kerry, the first Catholic nominee since JFK, is not.)

The Knights don't endorse presidential candidates, and members arriving in town Monday had mixed feelings about Mr. Bush's visit. He will have to do more than trot out his opposition to abortion to get their votes, many said.

I really don't get it. Bush is a good Catholic because he's against abortion and believes in discrimination against gay people. Yet, John Kerry is a bad Catholic despite being against capitol punishment in most cases, supporting programs to create more jobs, getting health insurance for more kids, making health care more affordable for the elderly, and providing all qualified students with the opportunity to get a great college education. Catholics that claim that George W. Bush is more in line with their values must have forgotten that the Catholic Church used to believe in social welfare programs that helped people get ahead in life, instead of the current single-issue judgement of politicians by the rigidity of their opposition to abortion rights.

Anyway, some folks in Dallas are protesting the speech, so we'll see how the protest goes.