We Must be Talking

  Socialism in American Elections               Gerry OShea Prior to the November election, all the polls in Florida predicted a very tight race. They were wrong because President Trump won the state with plenty to spare. These results were among the first to be announced and they were buttressed by declarations from Texas   where the Democrats had run a very ambitious and expensive campaign, only to come in a distant second. Exit interviews at various polling stations in both states revealed that large numbers of Hispanic voters, especially with Cuban and Venezuelan backgrounds, had voted for the incumbent, President Trump. The Republican campaign had repeatedly warned that voting for Joe Biden and, especially, Kamalla Harris, amounted to support for the socialism of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez – both long dead but who cares about a detail like that when emotions are being stirred. Democrats knew that the old Cuban emigrants were committed conservatives, suspicious of any candi

  Divisions in the Catholic Church              Gerry OShea The Catholic Church in the United States is in the throes of a major crisis. About 900,000 members leave the church every year. This accumulated leakage has led to no less than 13% of the American population identifying themselves as former Catholics. No doubt, the sexual abuse crisis where clergymen took advantage of their power by engaging in sexual behavior with young boys and girls is the principal reason for the exodus of so many Catholics from the family religion that they grew up with. The abuse by trusted religious adults did untold harm, but even worse, was the widespread cover-up by prelates stretching all the way to the papal chair. This crisis is ongoing as witnessed in the recent Vatican report on the egregious behavior of Theodore McCarrick, who was finally defrocked by Francis, the suspension of Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, who is accused by two former parishioners of sexual attacks, and Fr. George R

  Mr. Biden’s Leadership Challenge            Gerry OShea King Solomon is presented in the bible as the epitome of wisdom. The story goes that God gave him the opportunity to ask for whatever gift he deemed most important, and he did not choose wealth or grandiosity, as most leaders would, but pleaded instead for the gift of wisdom. One biblical story shows how well the king understood human nature. Two women were brought before him claiming motherhood of the same baby. Each made emotional pleas that the baby was hers. Solomon called for his sword proclaiming that he would divide the child and give each one half. At this, the real mother objected and offered to let her opponent have the baby rather than allow the death of her child. Needless to say, Solomon banished the phony mother. President Joe Biden, a practicing Catholic who is well-versed in the two Testaments, will have to pray for Solomonic insights when he considers how to deal with serious accusations of illegality agai