Whoa

Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post just printed online this article concerning the Obama-Notre Dame fiasco. What strikes me is that this (by her own admission, unemphatic) pro-choice writer sorts through the issue very evenhandedly and in a way sympathetic to Holy Church. She applauds Prof. Glendon's recent decision to refuse the Laetare Medal from Notre Dame, so as not to share a platform with Obama, and so as not to legitimate the honors to be given him. She works through the question of why this issue is so important to us (Catholics), and what the President might do in order to display goodwill, tact, and poise.

Let's hope he does it, because the administration of Notre Dame hasn't the sense anymore. An alternative scenario would be a large-scale boycott of the commencement exercises by the graduating class. That would send an excellent and powerful message to both the President and to Notre Dame's administration.

Mary Ann Glendon

If you don't know about this woman, you should. Atop a pile of accomplishments and scholarship, she has defied stereotypes at every turn. For example:

"What is clearly 'old-fashioned' today is the old feminism of the 1970s — with its negative attitudes toward men, marriage and motherhood, and its rigid party line on abortion."

She is a professor at Harvard Law School and was the US Ambassador to the Holy See, appointed by President Bush. She resigned her position on Jan 19, whether as a formality or because she would not serve under Obama, I cannot say. Check her out on Wikipedia.