Shields' take on 2008
Mark Shields offered some of his typically amusing and on-target observations about American political life during one of today's closing sessions of the Catholic Roundtable Social Ministry Gathering.
Some highlights:
On 2006 elections:
"2006 was not a Democratic victory. It was a stunning Republican defeat."
On covering the Republican primaries:
"I had to remind myself that the guy with three wives was not the Mormon . . . . I guess in this field Bill Clinton could run as the family values candidate."
On Obama:
"He is the most exciting in terms of candidate appeal since Robert Kennedy. He's the rare candidate who goes beyond the red-blue divide, and in 2008 the country desperately wants to break out of the red-blue paralysis."
On Hillary:
"She's been a good candidate in a bad campaign, but every campaign is a reflection of the candidate."
On party enthusiasm:
"One way to tell if a party is growing? Is it spending its time looking for converts or looking for heretics?" According to Shields, this year Republicans have spent most of their time looking for heretics. I think this parallel might also apply to the contemporary Catholic church in America.
On November:
"The question is not am I better off than I was four years ago, and it's not are you better off than you were four years ago, it's are we better off than we were four years ago? Are the strong among us more just; are the weak among us more secure?"
On an exit strategy for Iraq:
"If we leave, Iraq will be overrun by Iraqis and that, of course, would be unacceptable."
posted by Kevin Clarke @ 2:11 PM
7 Comments
Links to this post
7 Comments:
Good quotes. He's a funny guy.
After years of perusing my diocesan newspaper and seeing Democratic candidates routinely bashed in editorials and letters to the editor, it is odd for me to come to a Catholic site such as this where most people seem to be for Sen. Obama.
Would you support Barack Obama if he supported ending the war in Iraq and supported bombing Asia to kill two million Asians each year?
Anonymous, while I did vote for Sen. Obama in the primary, I have not yet made up my mind to vote for him in the November election. My previous comment was more a sign of my amazement at the difference between my diocesan paper and this site.
I suppose the 2 million Asians you mention are analogous to the number of abortions performed in the U.S. If I do vote for Obama, it will be despite his stand on abortion. I really don't think that voting for another Republican will decrease the number of abortions. Also, the Bush administration has damaged America's international standing, done little to help the lower rungs of society and probably hurt the environment. So, I may decide to go with the Democrats in hopes that they can correct the country's present course.
It has crossed my mind recently that it would be ironic if the Catholic Church benefits from a revival of civic activism and social involvement that might result if Obama's crusade is successful.
I enjoyed reading these comments made by Shields. Thanks for sharing them.
Glad you liked them FB. Shields is, as my grandmother might say, a real pistol. And thanks for stopping by so often. We appreciate your patronage. Tell your friends about us!
I told my sister to whom I give this magazine as a subscription but she isn't comfortable with blogging. I wish there were more readers/commenters. I love a good discussion; there is so much to learn from others.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home