CNN Hypes Paul Ryan Getting His 'Knuckles Rapped' by Georgetown Priests
[UPDATE: CNN covered the story throughout the day, interviewing Fr. Reese from Georgetown University not twice, not three times, but a total of four times on Thursday. Aside from the liberal James Salt of Catholics United, no other guest appeared on CNN to discuss the issue.]
When liberal Catholics protested Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) speaking at Georgetown University on Thursday, CNN jumped all over the story and gave it 11 full minutes of coverage during the 9-11 a.m. hours of Newsroom. In contrast, when the Obama administration issued its birth control mandate and Catholic bishops voiced their staunch opposition, CNN mentioned the story once in ten days.
Anchor Carol Costello brought on two guests protesting Ryan's budget, and hosted no supporter of Ryan although she did read his own statement in defense of his budget. She reported the "collision of politics and faith" and that the congressman was "about to get his knuckles rapped by dozens of Catholic priests." The CNN headline blared "Fellow Catholics Blast Ryan."
So when the U.S. bishops – the highest Catholic authority in the country – stood in direct opposition to President Obama's contraception mandate, the story basically got shelved for ten days. However, when a GOP congressman spoke at a university, dissenting priests and laypersons received airtime from CNN.
The two guests were James Salt, executive director of the Soros-funded Catholics United – who dissented from the U.S. bishops in siding with the HHS contraception mandate – and Fr. Thomas Reese, a liberal priest and a past dissenter. Costello listed Catholics United as a "non-partisan" group, although it is funded by Obama-supporting billionaire George Soros.
<<UPDATE>> CNN hosted Fr. Reese three more times during the day to give his take on the Ryan budget. No bishop or other Catholic guest appeared on CNN Thursday, with the exception of fellow protester James Salt of Catholics United.
And CNN went to Fr. Reese not just for his side of the story, but for Ryan's as well. "After listening to Congressman Ryan, explain his side of this," anchor John King asked Fr. Reese. CNN's Brooke Baldwin even asked this: "Now your letter, Father, accuses Congressman Ryan of misusing Catholic teachings to justify his budget cuts. My question is, then, does that make the congressman a bad Catholic?"
And CNN asked Fr. Reese softballs like this one: "[D]o you at least find comfort in the fact that this version of the budget plan will likely not pass this Senate?"
But for CNN, statements from Ryan and devil's advocate questions sufficed to cover the "other side" of the debate.
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Comments
So, CNN is supportive of the Georgetown priests . . . until . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Thu, 04/26/2012 - 3:24pm.
. . . another report of priest pedophilia breaks out. Then they'll be all over them.
They always support priests
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 04/26/2012 - 3:32pm.
They always support priests who are talking about "social justice."
They ignore them when they're talking about abortion, birth control, or homosexuality (unless it's the priest scandal).
And it's interesting that they found no "collision of faith and politics" in the contraception mandate.
Which, BTW, Michelle is out there bragging about.
She might want to delay that "We made history".... it's not a done deal. They are still fighting it, and no Catholic institution is actually doing it yet.
HEY GANG! - IT'S THE 2012 WINNER OF THE CONTESSA BREWER AWARD!!
Submitted by Sgthulka on Thu, 04/26/2012 - 3:47pm.
Carol Costello - Ted Baxter in-a-bra.
As they "rap Ryan's knuckles
Submitted by celator on Thu, 04/26/2012 - 6:55pm.
As they "rap" Ryan's knuckles these Georgetown priests are running counter to what every Pope from Pius IX to Benedict XVI has taught regarding the role of the state and the economic conditions/liberty of individual citizens. Ryan's economic proposal is strongly rooted in subsidiarity (as Ryan himself admits)--local problems solved at the local level, the highest regard for personal freedom and the creation of a civic environment which promotes personal creativity, liberty and self fulfillment.
From Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum (1891) to Benedict XVI's Caritas Deus Est, the Church has condemned the highhanded, crushing hand of tyrannical government. To quote from Benedict XVI in Caritas Deus Est:
"The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person − every person − needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need.… In the end, the claim that just social structures would make works of charity superfluous masks a materialist conception of man: the mistaken notion that man can live ‘by bread alone’ (Mt 4:4; cf. Dt 8:3) − a conviction that demeans man and ultimately disregards all that is specifically human."
So the real question is (if the story is accurate), why are these priests going against the long standing teachings of their own church? That might be a subject the MSM could pursue.
We only hear about clergy that are on the MSM side
Submitted by OhioHistorian on Sat, 04/28/2012 - 11:07am.
I personally know about a dozen clergy, virtually all of whom are opposed to the debilitation of government on their people and their private lives. I will bet there are dozens more that I don't know that have similar opinions. Yet the ones that get publicized are these clergy and vowed who run the radical fringes of their church, believing for some reason that a Federal government is more charitable than their own church.
Thomas Alva Edison
What is this media schizophrenia about the Catholic Church?
Submitted by drsamherman on Thu, 04/26/2012 - 7:24pm.
One minute the media is coming down on the Church because of their doctrines on abortion, contraception and other social matters that run contrary to left-wing ideology. Then all of a sudden, the Church is so wonderful because some don't like Paul Ryan's budget. How very expected. Left-wing sociopathy never ceases to disappoint.
drsam, as I said above, they
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 04/26/2012 - 8:31pm.
drsam, as I said above, they love it when the RCC talks about "social justice," which, for some reason they think is the Church's only mission.
They think she should shut up about things like (gay) marriage, adultery, divorce and abortion.
Maybe this Georgetown priest can explain to us
Submitted by OhioHistorian on Sat, 04/28/2012 - 10:59am.
Maybe this Georgetown priest can explain to us the social justice of bankruptcy, of a country owing money it cannot pay back to its debtors. The problem is this Georgetown priest should be out ministering to the people surrounding Georgetown, the crack addicts, the people who are homeless, the people who are uneducated, etc, and are victims of the Government's not enforcing laws, allowing illegals to take jobs from people already here, etc.
My belief is that these priests need to open their churches to be soup kitchens, and they need to work the kitchens. The work of Christ was not done on a PA system. It was done one person at a time. And priests are called to be Christ to their flock.
One further point. In the days of Jesus, both Rome and Jerusalem had welfare programs for the needy, the widows, the beggars, etc. One was run by the government of Rome, and another by the temple. I seem to have misplaced the speeches by Jesus that the Romans and the priests of his day needed to be more generous to the poor. He told us that WE were the people to give, not some nameless government. It is by touching other peoples' lives that both we and the other people gain. Anyone who does prison ministry will recognize this.
Thomas Alva Edison
Isn't his answer in the Beatitudes?
Submitted by Galvanic on Sat, 04/28/2012 - 11:19am.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."