AlQ says Aug 15 – lay down or we’ll flatten you

August 15 – in the Catholic Church it is the Feastday of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – in the Orthodox Church the Dormition of the Theotokos (the Falling Asleep of the God-bearer).

I only mention it because Al Qaeda, taking advantage of all the helpful cues given to them by George Galloway and others, is setting August 15th as a deadline for either acquiescence or obliteration.

And the only reason I mention that, is because it has been my observation that Marian Feast Days seem to work to the advantage of George W. Bush. I have my own theories about that, and I ain’t sharing them, but it seems, nevertheless, that significant things seem to happen – or fall his way – on dates related to Mary.

Many who watched the 2000 election recount closely maintain that December 8 was the day the tide began to turn in Bush’s favor. On that date, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Florida Judges Terry Lewis and Nikki Carr refused to throw out any of the 25,000 absentee ballots challenged by the Gore campaign in the Martin and Seminole counties. Just a few days later, on December 12 (the newly assigned Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe) everything fell into place for Bush. The Florida Legislature approved the 25 electors pledged to Bush, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the decisions of Judges Lewis and Carr and, most definitively, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled the Florida recounts unconstitutional, bringing the whole sad exercise to a close. The election of 2000 finally ended on the feast day of the new Patroness of the Americas.

In fact, now that I think of it August 15, 2004 was significant, also:

August 15, 2004: Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; With President Bush’s re-election campaign staggering under relentlessly negative media coverage, this date sees the oddly-timed Sunday (!) release of the book Unfit for Command, written with the co-operation of veterans of the Vietnam War who feel compelled to tell what they know of the challenger, Senator John Kerry. The book is ignored by the press and denounced by the left, but it is an immediate help to the Bush campaign.

Could mean nuthin’ of course. Or…who know? :-)

Having said all that: Those of you who read me regularly know I have no energy for apologetics, so I don’t bring this up in order to begin a long debate on doctrine, dogma, scripture or tradition, do don’t even bother going there. Google the subject and knock yourself out about it, but don’t look for a debate from me! :-)

UPDATE: Like Mary? Want lots of Marian links? Dave Kopel has assembled a terrific collection.