Standing Up to Donohue

Bill Donohue, the partisan Republican who heads the so-called Catholic League is going for a repeat of 2004, when he extolled the virtues of George Bush and the phoniness and depravity of John Kerry. See here for the gory details. Now, I have no problem with somebody making these arguments, with Catholics making these arguments. But I have major issues with a person who heads something called the Catholic League taking a partisan stance.

Here’s the latest: Donohue is still attacking the Obama Catholics, calling them “dissidents”, with nothing to back up his allegations (he himself dissented on some big issues, such as the war). And of course, he refers to the actions of one solitary bishop in Kansas —  not noting that this bishop went out on a limb here, with no support from the overwhelming majority of his brother bishops — plus the obligatory reference to Fr. Pfleger, while staying silent on priests who publicly back McCain (like Msgr. Jim Lisante) as well as other McCain-supporting Christian leaders like Hagee and Parsley, who say far more offensive things than Wright or Pfleger. His message is clear: dissolve the group.

I think Donohue feels a little scared, to be frank. In 2004, the inept Kerry team never bothered to respond. The Obama Catholics are a little more aggressive, asking why an organization like the Catholic League needs to spend time and energy smearing fellow Catholics and pursuing a Catholic agenda. Thye note he took it upon himself to “absolve the bigotry” of John Hagee– much as he did in the past when (irony or ironies) John McCain used the anti-Catholic stance of Bob Jones to protest Bush’s visit there. Back then, Donohue took Bush’s side and chided McCain, accusing him of “demagoguery: and “playing the politics of fear”.

For Donohue, it’s loyalty to party first, and Church second. Deal Hudson pointed out in his book that Donohue was one of the people recruited by Karl Rove to engage in Catholic outreach for Bush and the Republicans. Again, Donohue as a private citizen is entitled to do this. But he needs to change the name and mandate of his outfit. It would then be the “Republican Catholic League”, the foil for “Catholic Democrats”. That’s pretty much what it is already. Donohue should just end the charade.