Tag Archives: culture/society

CNN Misinterprets Pope’s Condom Remarks; NBC Offers Accurate Coverage

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on CNN Misinterprets Pope’s Condom Remarks; NBC Offers Accurate Coverage

On Monday's Newsroom, CNN's Kyra Phillips gave a false impression of Pope Benedict XVI's recent comments about condoms. While the Pope stated that condom use “can be a first step…on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed,” Phillips stated that the pontiff ” says condoms are okay sometimes .” Refreshingly, Monday's Today show on NBC accurately covered Benedict's remarks. The anchor previewed CNN correspondent Atika Schubert's report on the pontiff's comments 10 minutes into the 9 am Eastern hour with her inaccurate description: “Well, the Catholic Church and condoms: two things that have never really gone together until now. The Pope, quoted in a new book, says condoms are okay sometimes. Now, that's a talker! ” After a commercial break, Phillips continued with another misleading statement: PHILLIPS: Pope Benedict is bending a bit when it comes to condoms. A new book actually quotes him as saying that they are okay to use in certain circumstances, like to prevent disease, not birth control. It's the first time the Church has ever talked about exceptions to the condom rule. …Here's a part of what the Pope says in the book. See if your eyebrows raise a little bit. It says- quote, ' There could be single cases that can be justified. For instance, when a prostitute uses a condom .' Say what? (laughs) Doesn't it kind of sound like the Pope is justifying prostitution, too? Surely not, but what a bizarre analogy. read more

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Kathleen Parker Falsely Claims Alexander Hamilton was an Illegal Immigrant

Posted on November 19, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on Kathleen Parker Falsely Claims Alexander Hamilton was an Illegal Immigrant

On Thursday's Parker-Spitzer, CNN's Kathleen Parker bizarrely and inaccurately claimed that Alexander Hamilton came to the United States illegally and drafted the Constitution: “Let's remember… a lot of Americans did come through the back door such as Alexander Hamilton. He got off the boat from the West Indies, and all he did was write the Constitution and become the first Secretary of the Treasury .” Parker raised this false history during a discussion of Pedro Ramirez, Fresno State University's student body president, who was outed as an illegal immigrant by a student newspaper . After playing clips from Ramirez and his opponent during the student election, who is also the president of the Fresno State College Republicans, the CNN host displayed sympathy for the college student: “This is kind of a classic though, isn't it, really? I mean, you've the college Republican versus the illegal immigrant, and it's kind of a classic clash, you know, that corresponds to this immigration debate we're having in this country. And clearly, when you put a human face on the illegal immigrant, it's a different story. I mean, nobody wants to punish this young 22-year-old .” [ Video embedded below the page break ] read more

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Matthews: GOP’s ‘Pledge to America’ is the Biggest Cover Up Since Watergate

Posted on September 23, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on Matthews: GOP’s ‘Pledge to America’ is the Biggest Cover Up Since Watergate

Chris Matthews thinks the Republican Party’s Pledge to America is all part of a ploy to hide the more “radical” ideas of their party as he, on Thursday’s Hardball, announced that the GOP “manifesto” could be “the biggest cover up since Watergate.” Matthews went on to speculate that with the Pledge, the Republican members of Congress were doing their best to “disguise the much more serious, more radical proposals” of the Tea Party. The suspicious Matthews then went on to tally the allegedly secret agenda of the GOP that was “hidden under the table.” [ audio available here ] The following Matthews rants were aired on the September 23 edition of Hardball: CHRIS MATTHEWS: Plus House Republicans unveil their Pledge to America today and it could be the biggest cover up since Watergate. Their manifesto showcases all the predictable soft sell proposals you’d expect from establishment Republicans but goes radio silent on the more radical ideas of their party. The wild stuff, you know, about changing the Constitution. And make no mistake, the fringe on the right will have a strong voice if Republicans win control of the Congress. … MATTHEWS: Coming up, the Republican Party unveils its so-called Pledge to America and it may be just the biggest political cover up since Watergate. It’s a modest plan full of familiar proposals. You know the good stuff – cut taxes, cut spending, but the big question is, does it really hide or disguise the much more serious, more radical proposals that the Republicans Party has, that it has in mind. The Tea Party stuff we hear about all the time. How come that’s not on the paper? Let’s talk about what’s being covered over, in this pledge. You’re watching Hardball, only on MSNBC. … [5:13pm] MATTHEWS: Let’s take a look at what’s on the paper. Here are some of the points in the pledge, on paper. On tax cuts it calls for making the Bush tax cuts permanent. No surprise there. On business tax cuts it calls for giving small businesses a deduction equal to 20 percent of their business income. It calls for a cap on new government spending. For the repeal of the health care bill. Repeal! And fully funding, I don’t know where this came from, missile defense. Full funding of missile defense. There’s an odd one for ya…Here’s what I think is being hidden under the table. Here’s what Republicans are, actually been talking about during this campaign. Changing the 14th Amendment to that guarantees citizenship to people in this country. Let’s listen to somebody making that proposal. It’s not on the paper here. SEN. LINDSAY GRAHAM: People come here to have babies. They come here to drop a child. It’s called drop and leave. MATTHEWS: And Republicans are talking about actions that would shut down government if they take control of Congress. Let’s listen again. NEWT GINGRICH: Stage one of the end of Obama-ism will be a new Republican Congress in January that simply refuses to fund any of the radical efforts. MATTHEWS: Shut down. Some talk about repealing the 17th Amendment, which allows for direct election of U.S. senators. They’re also talking about privatizing Social Security, which is addressed in a number of places, but particularly in Republican Congressman Paul Ryan’s so-called Road Map to America’s Future. It seems to me, Todd Harris, that a lot of the nice stuff is put on this paper here, but the stuff we’re hearing out at the meetings, the Tea Party meetings, the more radical voices have been muffled here.

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Matthews: GOP’s ‘Pledge to America’ is the Biggest Cover Up Since Watergate

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CNN Hints Pope is Guilty of Mishandling Abuse Case, Leaves Out Details

Posted on September 23, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on CNN Hints Pope is Guilty of Mishandling Abuse Case, Leaves Out Details

CNN played an excerpt of its upcoming documentary “What the Pope Knew” on Thursday’s Newsroom (see CNN’s commercial promoting the documentary at right), and if this preview and its past coverage of the Church abuse scandal is any indication, the documentary left out key information in order to paint Benedict XVI in the worst possible light. Correspondent Gary Tuchman failed to explain how then-Cardinal Ratzinger’s handled a specific case from Wisconsin. Anchor Kyra Phillips introduced the excerpt from the documentary 24 minutes into the 9 am Eastern hour. The segment focused on the case of Father Lawrence Murphy, who was the priest and headmaster for St. John’s School for the Deaf in Milwaukee. Phillips noted that as many as 200 boys at the school were raped or sexually abused by Murphy and stated it was “one of the most notorious cases of sex abuse in the Catholic Church.” Tuchman interviewed Terry Kohut, one of Murphy’s victims. The correspondent stated that “fifty years ago, when he was just 10 years old, Terry, who is deaf, was sent to the St. John’s School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What happened there to Terry and up to 200 other deaf boys is now central to the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, and to the question of what Pope Benedict, then Cardinal Ratzinger, knew about it all.” This introduction gives the false impression that Ratzinger was a cardinal five decades ago, when he actually was a priest and college professor in Germany during the 1960s. After playing the first clip from his interview of Kohut, Tuchman continued that “Father Murphy has…been identified by dozens of deaf men who say he raped and sexually abused them as children for years. Father Murphy’s abuse would come to the direct attention of Cardinal Ratzinger, but his handling of the case would stun Murphy’s victims.” The CNN correspondent didn’t explain the then-cardinal’s handling (perhaps an explanation is given in the larger documentary), but only played a sound bite from David Gibson of the PoliticsDaily blog, who back in April 2008, at the time of the Pope’s visit to the U.S., accused Benedict XVI of irresponsibly exercising his office as pope . Gibson made a new accusation in his clip: “I think what the Murphy case shows is the d eference that Cardinal Ratzinger and Pope Benedict would always give to the priest .” Actually, then-Cardinal Ratzinger involvement in the Murphy case was minimal at best. Father Thomas Brundage of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee rebuked the New York Times and other media outlets earlier in 2010 for their sloppy reporting on the Murphy case. Fr. Brundage, who presided over Murphy’s canonical/church trial, stated that he had ” never once been contacted by any news organization for comment .” He also noted that he had ” no reason to believe that he [Cardinal Ratzinger] was involved at all . Placing this matter at his doorstep is a huge leap of logic and information .” Jimmy Akin of the National Catholic Register reported on April 5, 2010 that the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith (CDF), the Church body which Cardinal Ratzinger led before coming pope, held a meeting on the Murphy case in 1998. Ratzinger wasn’t even present at this meeting, which was led by his deputy, then-Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone. According to a memo from that meeting, Archbishop Bertone was ” appalled at how long this case [had] been allowed to linger .” Akin also explained that “the reason that the CDF was involved in this case is that it involved a priest accused of sexual solicitation in the confessional—not because it involved paedophilia. At the time, the CDF did not have a mandate to cover paedophilia (those were normally handled by the local bishop or, if appealed to Rome, by a different Vatican court—the Roman Rota).” The Register writer concluded that “[o]ne can still criticize the way the CDF handled the case, but the memo does not reveal a portrait of Bertone—much less Ratzinger—as unwilling to take action against Fr. Murphy .” At the end of his report, Tuchman asked Kohut why he was participating in the lawsuit. His answer: “I want the see the Vatican- because I’ve been waiting for all these years for them to excommunicate- defrock Father Murphy, but they haven’t.” Murphy died in 1998 , and as Father Brundage explained in his response to the New York Times, ” he was still the defendant in a church criminal trial ” at the time of his death. Defrocking or excommunicating the now deceased priest seems like a moot point. On May 3, 2010, Tuchman gave a report on Anderson Cooper 360 which tried to cast the Pope in the worst light possible regarding another abuse case, and omitted key details in that instance as well. This kind of slanted coverage is not at all surprising, given how CNN has run such reports on the abuse scandals since March 2010. On March 26 , Phillips used the scandal as a pretext to bring on three left-wing/heterodox Christians who all advocate radical changes inside the Catholic Church. She even gave their agenda her endorsement. On April 16, correspondent Jessica Yellin misleadingly asked , ” Why is he [Pope Benedict] having such a hard time saying he’s sorry? ” Phillips herself went further on June 11, stating that “we haven’t heard” the Pope say he’s sorry for the scandals. The full transcript of the segment from Thursday’s Newsroom: KYRA PHILLIPS: At a small school for the deaf in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as many as 200 deaf boys were raped or sexually abused by the priest and headmaster. It was one of the most notorious cases of sex abuse in the Catholic Church. Today, a CNN exclusive: the first interview with one of those victims, who’s now suing Pope Benedict. It’s part of a special CNN documentary examining what Pope Benedict did or didn’t do about this crisis. Our Gary Tuchman has the story. GARY TUCHMAN (voice-over): At a lakeside retreat in northern Wisconsin- KOHUT (to dog): Come. TUCHMAN (voice-over): Terry Kohut tries to escape his past. It isn’t easy. Fifty years ago, when he was just 10 years old, Terry, who is deaf, was sent to the St. John’s School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What happened there to Terry and up to 200 other deaf boys is now central to the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, and to the question of what Pope Benedict, then Cardinal Ratzinger, knew about it all. Terry Kohut has never spoken publicly about the horrors he endured at St. John’s. Until now. TUCHMAN (on-camera): What did he do to you? KOHUT (through translator): And then it was that afternoon, I went into his office. The door was closed, and Father Murphy said, ‘Take your pants down.’ TUCHMAN (voice-over): Father Lawrence Murphy was the headmaster and priest at St. John’s for more than two decades. He was a charismatic fundraiser and respected church leader. But Father Murphy has also been identified by dozens of deaf men who say he raped and sexually abused them as children for years. Father Murphy’s abuse would come to the direct attention of Cardinal Ratzinger, but his handling of the case would stun Murphy’s victims. DAVID GIBSON, POLITICSDAILY.COM: I think what the Murphy case shows is the deference that Cardinal Ratzinger and Pope Benedict would always give to the priest. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What actually happens in court- TUCHMAN (voice-over): Today, Terry Kohut is suing the Vatican for what Father Murphy did to him at St. John’s. His lawsuit is the first to ever specifically name Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict. Until now, Terry Kohut has been anonymous, named only as John Doe 16. KOHUT (through translator): Yeah, I was confused as to why it was happening. I mean, he was a priest. You know, I was trying to figure out what- I mean, I can’t believe a priest would do that. THUCHMAN (voice-over): The priest is believed to have picked out victims who were especially vulnerable, or had been through tragedy already in their young lives. Terry Kohut fit that pattern. KOHUT (through translator): My brother was electrocuted- died when I was 10. And when I was 11, my father hung himself. And at 12, my favorite dog died, and it tore me up. And I saw Father Murphy, and I thought that he could be a second father. TUCHMAN (on camera): Tell me why, Terry, you’ve decided to file suit- what do you want to see happen? KOHUT (through translator): I want the see the Vatican- because I’ve been waiting for all these years for them to excommunicate- defrock Father Murphy, but they haven’t.

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CNN’s Tuchman Hints O’Donnell is a Totalitarian Due to Anti-Media Remark

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on CNN’s Tuchman Hints O’Donnell is a Totalitarian Due to Anti-Media Remark

CNN’s Gary Tuchman blasted Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell on Tuesday’s AC360, suggesting that the Republican was like the leader of a totalitarian regime, after she dared to say that the media should be left out of certain campaign events: ” I think, for most Americans, that gives you a little chill. When we go to places like Cuba and Iran and North Korea and China, we’re often kept out ” . Anchor Anderson Cooper led the 10 pm Eastern hour of his program with the latest on O’Donnell’s candidacy, particularly her interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity the previous hour. Tuchman, who was reporting live from Wilmington, Delaware, raised the issue of her finances, and after reporting on two recent local events which the Republican attended, went into his lamentation over her stab at the media: TUCHMAN: One final thing we should mention is that, during this program, she said that the media was pushing and shoving at that particular event. I will tell you- I have been covering politics for almost 30 years, and it was nothing out of the ordinary. They were coming up to her. That’s what happens with any high-profile political campaign. And she also mentioned that, perhaps, it would be good if the media was kept out of certain events. And frankly, I think, for most Americans, that gives you a little chill. When we go to places like Cuba and Iran and North Korea and China, we’re often kept out. The media is kept out. There’s no free reporting, and it’s just something that we really don’t like to hear in the United States of America- to keep the media out . Here we have the CNN correspondent attacking a candidate who hold no office at the moment, when highest officeholder in the country, President Obama, and his Democratic allies in Congress, teamed up to break his campaign promise to “broadcast health care negotiations on C-SPAN.” Even Tuchman’s own colleague, Jack Cafferty, attacked Obama and the congressional leaders for their lack of transparency during a January 6, 2010 commentary . One wonders if he would have held those politicians to the same standard he’s holding O’Donnell. Just under two minutes later, Cooper raised the Senate candidate’s slam on the media with guest Erick Erickson. The conservative called out Tuchman for his remark: COOPER: I get the hatred of the media and stuff and stuff , but to hear a major candidate for U.S. Senate saying like- well, you know, they’re hurting my campaign by asking me questions, and they’re taking pictures of my dad on the lawn- I’m certainly sympathetic to that. ERICKSON: Right. COOPER: Someone’s family shouldn’t be bothered and stuff. But if she actually made herself available to the media, rather than run away and refuse to ask questions – ERICKSON: You know, Anderson- COOPER: I mean, it just seems odd . ERICKSON: Frankly, that’s the issue there. She doesn’t care about the national media, and she doesn’t really need to. It’s kind of the Rand Paul strategy in Kentucky. He’s raising a lot of money. He’s up on the air in Kentucky. He’s now 20 points ahead- although, admittedly, she’s behind. But they’re focused on local media, and the national media attacks- to have Gary bring up the point about Christine saying maybe there’s some events that the media shouldn’t go to, and then jumping to this is like in China and Korea and Cuba- I mean, when you hear- conservatives hear that, they’re thinking, obviously, this is biased, whether it is or not. I mean, she’s playing to her base, and the media’s just helping her .

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CBS ‘Early Show’ Touts ‘Lady Gaga vs. The Pentagon’ Over ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

On Tuesday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez promoted singer Lady Gaga calling for an end to the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy: “A unique showdown shaping up today in the Senate…it’s Senator John McCain versus Lady Gaga. The Senator wants to keep the ban, but the world’s biggest pop star is throwing her support behind the gays who want to serve in the military.”   Correspondent Michelle Miller noted of Gaga: “…recently she’s become more vocal with her political leanings, urging her Twitter followers – she has a record 6.4 million of them – to write their senators over ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.'” Miller concluded: “…the singer known for being out there, hopes her gay friends in the military will simply be allowed to be out.” Throughout the report, a headline on screen read: “Lady Gaga Vs. The Pentagon; Pop Star Takes On ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy.” All the sound bites in the segment were in favor of overturning the policy, three from the pop singer herself and one from an outed gay soldier who escorted Gaga to MTV’s Video Music Awards. The only time given to the other side was after Miller’s report, when Rodriguez mentioned: “…the reason John McCain opposes this, he’s waiting for the results of that Pentagon study on how this repeal might impact the, you know, troops who are serving right now.” Here is a full transcript of the segment: 7:15AM ET MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: A unique showdown shaping up today in the Senate over whether to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ it’s Senator John McCain versus Lady Gaga. The Senator wants to keep the ban, but the world’s biggest pop star is throwing her support behind the gays who want to serve in the military. CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reports. [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Lady Gaga Vs. The Pentagon; Pop Star Takes On ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy]     LADY GAGA: Doesn’t it seem to be that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is backwards? MICHELLE MILLER: Lady Gaga held court in a Portland, Maine park, calling for the repeal of the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy. A controversial Senate vote is set for later today. GAGA: Doesn’t it seem to you that we should send home the prejudice? The straight soldier who hates the gay soldier!   MILLER: Under the law created in 1993, more than 13,000 soldiers have been discharged. David Hall, who escorted Lady Gaga to last week’s Video Music Awards, says he’s one of them. DAVID HALL: A female cadet went to my commander, said I was gay. I made no comment. I was rated number one in my class, had a pilot slot, and then they discharged me just based off of what she said. MILLER: Lady Gaga is more known for selling 50 million singles and her outrageous outfits than for her political statements. But recently she’s become more vocal with her political leanings, urging her Twitter followers – she has a record 6.4 million of them – to write their senators over ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ The current law bans gay soldiers from serving, and forbids military leaders from asking about sexual orientation. Essentially encouraging gay troops to keep it secret. GAGA: I thought equality meant everyone. MILLER: 60 Votes are needed to avoid a filibuster and repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ the singer known for being out there, hopes her gay friends in the military will simply be allowed to be out. Michelle Miller, CBS News, Portland. RODRIGUEZ: I think it’s important to say John – the reason John McCain opposes this, he’s waiting for the results of that Pentagon study on how this repeal might impact the, you know, troops who are serving right now. SMITH: Right. And as serious as the subject may be, did it look like she had a fake nose on? RODRIGUEZ: I didn’t notice. SMITH: Okay.

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CBS: Americans ‘Angry’ Over Bad Economy, ‘Taking It Out On’ Obama

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

At the top of Tuesday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith proclaimed: “Angry Americans. A new report declares the recession officially over. But many of us are not feeling it. Even taking on the President himself.” Later, he seemed to portray the President as a victim: “…a lot of Americans are still suffering its [the recession’s] effects, and are taking it out on President Obama.” In a report that followed, correspondent Bill Plante noted how “numbers may be going in the right direction” but touted “frustrated” Obama supporters speaking out at a Monday CNBC town hall. In between clips of those voters, Plante sympathetically remarked: “On the defensive, the President responded by outlining some of his administration’s accomplishments, but admitted that things aren’t where they need to be.” He concluded the report: “So the reality is that improving statistics aren’t very convincing to voters who are worried about jobs, and that is the reality the President and his party face going into the November elections.” Introducing a brief report on the stock market reaction, co-host Maggie Rodriguez looked for a silver lining: “The average American may be skeptical about an economic recovery, but the reaction on Wall Street to the end of the recession shows that investors are optimistic.” Business and economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis declared: “…yesterday, stocks responded positively to the news that it is now behind us. The Dow ended higher by 145 points, putting it on track for the best September in 71 years.” Smith later interviewed Obama economic advisor and new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Elizabeth Warren. He lobbed softballs to her, starting with: “…you’ve spent a good time of your professional career studying the middle class, and quite frankly, worrying about the middle class. As we get this kind of news that we got yesterday that the recession was over, so many people in the middle class are saying, ‘it doesn’t feel like it at my house.’ When do you think it might feel like it at our house?” A headline on screen read: “Anger Over the Economy; Despite Recession’s End, Americans Frustrated.” Smith fretted over Warren not being able to enforce enough new regulations on business: “Can these industries really be regulated? But regulated in a way that – I mean, there will be so much pressure from them for you to do as little as possible. This will be a giant tug-of-war in the days going forward, to see who really does get control.” Warren replied that her job was “to start pushing back,” adding “I intend to do it as hard as I can.” Only at the end of the interview did Smith touch on Warren’s controversial nomination process: “By charging you with creating this agency, is this the best compromise possible? Because a lot of people wanted you to head the agency, and they said, ‘well, you’re not confirmable.'” Smith did not challenge Warren on whether her backdoor appointment broke the administration’s promises of transparency. Here is a full transcript of the September 21 segment: 7:00AM ET TEASE: HARRY SMITH: Angry Americans. A new report declares the recession officially over. But many of us are not feeling it. Even taking on the President himself. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I’m one of your middle-class Americans, and quite frankly, I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted of defending you, defending your administration. SMITH: We’ll talk live with one of President Obama’s closest economic advisers. 7:02AM ET SEGMENT: SMITH: Now to the economy. A new report says the ‘great recession’ is over. According to a nonprofit research group, the recession began in December of 2007, and ended in June of 2009. But a lot of Americans are still suffering its effects, and are taking it out on President Obama. Senior White House correspondent Bill Plante has more. Good morning, Bill. BILL PLANTE: Good morning, Harry. The numbers may be going in the right direction, but if there was any doubt that most of America doesn’t yet feel things improving, listen to what a frustrated voter had to say to President Obama at a CNBC town hall meeting. [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Fed Up; Voters Confront Obama On Struggling Economy] UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I’m one of your middle-class Americans, and quite frankly, I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are right now. I have been told that I voted for a man who said he was going to change things in a meaningful way for the middle class. I’m one of those people, and I’m waiting, sir. I’m waiting. I don’t feel it yet. PLANTE: On the defensive, the President responded by outlining some of his administration’s accomplishments, but admitted that things aren’t where they need to be. BARACK OBAMA: As I said before, times are tough for everybody right now. So, I understand your frustration. But what I am saying is, is that we’re moving in the right direction. PLANTE: But the President knows that the only real answer is providing jobs. And that saying the recovery takes time doesn’t play well with voters. UNIDENTIFIED MAN: And what I’m really hoping to hear from you is several concrete steps that you’re going to take, moving forward, that will be able to re-ignite my generation. Re-ignite the youth who are beset by student loans. And I really want to know, is the American dream dead for me? OBAMA: Absolutely not. PLANTE: But that disillusionment is echoed on main street, on both sides of the aisle. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN B: I’ve been disappointed. Unbelievably disappointed. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yeah, in what? WOMAN B: From both sides. I feel like nothing changes. And so there’s no point, really. Everything will stay the same. No matter what I do, I could for or against and it’ll stay exactly the same. PLANTE: So the reality is that improving statistics aren’t very convincing to voters who are worried about jobs, and that is the reality the President and his party face going into the November elections. Harry. MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: I’ll take it here. Bill Plante, thank you very much. SMITH: Alright, Maggie. RODRIGUEZ: Thanks, Harry. The average American may be skeptical about an economic recovery, but the reaction on Wall Street to the end of the recession shows that investors are optimistic. Let’s go to CBS News business and economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis, she’s at the New York Stock Exchange this morning. Good morning, Rebecca. REBECCA JARVIS: Good morning, Maggie. And we all know how much the ‘great recession’ battered down stocks. Well, yesterday, stocks responded positively to the news that it is now behind us. The Dow ended higher by 145 points, putting it on track for the best September in 71 years. But still, as we all know, the struggles on main street, they do persist, and we’re seeing that in the issues that the ‘great recession’ raised for all of us. It wiped out 7.3 million American jobs. 21% Of our net worth was wiped out between December of 2007, and June of 2009, the official end of the recession. And economists believe it will take significant amounts of time just to regain the pre-recession levels on the employment front. In fact, some economists believe it will take as long as 2013 just to get back to normal employment levels in this country. Another key in all of this is housing prices, and Wall Street will be watching a bunch of data this week on that. Maggie. RODRIGUEZ: Alright, Rebecca Jarvis at the stock exchange. Thank you, Rebecca. Back over to Harry. SMITH: Alright, Maggie. Joining us from Washington with more on how the White House plans to turn the economy around is the new head of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Elizabeth Warren. Good morning. ELIZABETH WARREN: Good morning. SMITH: Let me ask you, before we get to the particulars of your job and the creation of this agency, I just want to ask you a philosophical question. Because you’ve spent a good time of your professional career studying the middle class, and quite frankly, worrying about the middle class. As we get this kind of news that we got yesterday that the recession was over, so many people in the middle class are saying, ‘it doesn’t feel like it at my house.’ When do you think it might feel like it at our house? [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Anger Over the Economy; Despite Recession’s End, Americans Frustrated] WARREN: Well, we have to remember that we have a problem in the middle class that didn’t just start in the fall of 2008. We have a problem that’s been under way for 30 years, of squeezing, chipping, hitting on the middle class. Flat wages, rising core expenses, families reached a point where they really couldn’t save, they turned to credit, and the credit industry has drained billions of dollars out of their pockets. So, it’s a – it’s going to take time to rebuild the middle class. I mean that – that really is part of the problem here. We’re starting now with this new credit, Consumer Credit Bureau, and that’s going to be one piece of it. I hope it’s going to patch a big hole in the bottom of the economic boat. But there’s still work to be done in a lot of areas. On wages, on housing, on student loans, on retirement security. It’s not just one thing that went wrong, and it’s not just one thing that’s going to fix it. SMITH: Can these industries really be regulated? But regulated in a way that – I mean, there will be so much pressure from them for you to do as little as possible. This will be a giant tug-of-war in the days going forward, to see who really does get control. WARREN: You know, I’m not a Washington person. I never really wanted a job here. I had this idea for this agency, and thought, that’s it, you know, other people will take care of it. The President asked me to come here, and to start to work immediately. Not to worry about titles, not to go through all that business, but to start to work to set up this agency, to start pushing back. And that’s exactly what I intend to do. And I intend to do it as hard as I can. SMITH: By charging you with creating this agency, is this the best compromise possible? Because a lot of people wanted you to head the agency, and they said, ‘well, you’re not confirmable.’ WARREN: You know, I don’t know the politics. But I don’t see this as a compromise at all. There was one option, and that was to go the confirmation route, and I’m told that would take about a year, during which I couldn’t do any work on the agency. And this is the part that amazes me, I wouldn’t be allowed to talk about it. Or, I could not have that title, and I could get to work right now. And so, I said to the President, I want to go to work right now. I don’t care what you call me. Let me go to work and let me try to help. And when I’m no longer any help, I’ll leave. SMITH: Elizabeth Warren, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us this morning. WARREN: Thank you. SMITH: Do appreciate it. RODRIGUEZ: So important to point out that the organization that deemed the recession officially over also was very careful to say, it may be over, but the economy is not recovering. That was a ‘by the way’ that’s important, as Americans are realizing. SMITH: A slow recovery. Yeah, right. RODRIGUEZ: A slow recovery and we could still dip into another recession. Which we all hope won’t happen.

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Newsweek to American Guys: We Can Learn Some Lessons from Europe on How to Be a Man

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

“To survive in a hostile world, guys need to embrace girly jobs and dirty diapers,” argued the Newsweek writers Andrew Romano and Tony Dokoupil in the subheadline of their September 20 article “Men’s Lib.” The writers set out to explain “[w]hy it’s time to reimagine masculinity at work and at home.” If American men want to be competitive in a global economy, they argued, they need to suck it up and get comfortable with the idea of working traditionally “girly jobs” and/or being stay at home dads: It’s possible to imagine protectionist trade and immigration policies boosting blue-collar employment at the margins. But the U.S. can’t stop globalization. If male morale—and the American economy—are ever going to recover, the truth is that the next generation of Homer Simpsons will have to stop searching for outsourced manufacturing jobs and start working toward teaching, nursing, or social-service positions instead. Fair enough. But Romano and Dokoupil also cast their gaze across the Atlantic, arguing America needs public policies that emulate European countries on paid parental leave, particularly paid paternal leave (emphasis mine): In 1995, Sweden passed a simple but revolutionary law: couples would lose one month of leave unless the father was the one who took it. A second use-it-or-lose-it month was added in 2002, and now more than 80 percent of Swedish fathers take four months off for the birth of a new child, up from 4 percent a decade ago. And a full 41 percent of companies now formally encourage fathers to go on parental leave, up from only 2 percent in 1993. Simply put, men are expected to work less and father more. By altering the roles of the Swedish father and the Swedish worker, Sweden’s paternity-leave legislation has, in turn, rewritten the rules for Swedish men (and, by extension, women). “Swedish dads of my generation and younger have been raised to feel competent at child-rearing,” writes Slate’s Nathan Hegedus, an American who experienced the system firsthand. “They simply expect to do it, just as their wives and partners expect it of them.” If a man refuses time at home with the kids, he faces questions from friends, family, and, yes, other guys. Policy changes produced personal changes—and then, slowly but surely, society changed as well. The implication is clear: American society must be engineered to catch up with the needs of a rapidly-changing global economy, and what better mechanism to make that progress than government. In fairness to Romano and Dokoupli, they do make a case for personal, spousal, and parental responsibility by American men at the close of their article: Ultimately, the New Macho boils down to a simple principle: in a changing world, men should do whatever it takes to contribute their fair share at home and at work, and schools, policymakers, and employers should do whatever they can to help them. After all, what’s more masculine: being a strong, silent, unemployed absentee father, or actually fulfilling your half of the bargain as a breadwinner and a dad? But the fact that this duo of  writers feel the need to preach this message is a window into the condescending view many liberal journalists take on the great unwashed masses who aren’t reading their pontifications.

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CNN: Vatican Conducting ‘Inquisition’ Against Dissenting Nuns

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

On Friday’s American Morning, CNN’s Carol Costello followed up on her biased report from the previous day , which promoted Catholic women posing as priests, with a second report on dissenting Catholics, focusing on heterodox nuns inside the U.S. Costello promoted the claim of the nuns, who accuse the Vatican of conducting an ” inquisition ,” or wanting to ” silence nuns when they disagree with the Pope .” Substitute anchor Drew Griffin gave a brief on Pope Benedict XVI’s second day in the U.K. 25 minutes into the 6 am Eastern hour, just before his colleague Kiran Chetry introduced the correspondent’s report. Chetry proclaimed how the Vatican is apparently ” squarely at odds with American nuns ,” and that many of these nuns ” feel they’re under siege from the Church, which is questioning the quality of their religious life .” Costello picked up where the anchor left off: “[T]he Vatican is now conducting two sweeping investigations of American nuns…the Vatican hopes to have a better understanding of how nuns live their lives in the United States. Nuns don’t see it that way, though. Many think these investigations are nothing short of interrogations, designed to take away all they’ve gained .” Costello led her report by featuring Sister Maureen Fiedler, a liberal public radio host who attended the “ordination” of seven women on the Danube River in 2002. Fiedler stated during her first sound bite, “Some of my friends asked me why the Vatican officials suffer from a deep seed hatred of women .” The correspondent continued by describing how “the Vatican ordered two sweeping investigations into the religious views and lifestyles of American nuns- investigations that have alarmed many sisters like Marlene Weisenbeck, whose organization represents thousands of American nuns across the country.” Sister Weisenbeck was president of the Leadership Council of Women Religious until August 2010. She led the organization when it endorsed ObamaCare , contrary to the stance of the U.S. bishops’ conference. Costello played two sound bites from the nun during her report. After reading some of the questions from a questionnaire which was sent as part of the investigations, and playing a second clip from Sister Fiedler, the CNN correspondent described how at “this year’s Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), some nuns say these investigations feel like an inquisition, and are fighting back by boycotting all or part of the questionnaire.” She continued by reading Fiedler’s “fears” over the investigations: “Fiedler says many nuns, who haven’t lived in convents or worn habits since the 1950s, fear the Vatican wants to force them back into both . She also fears Rome wants to silence nuns when they disagree with the Pope on issues like gays in the Church or women’s rights , something the Church now allows them to do.” Later in her report, Costello played two clips from Father Joseph Tobin of the Vatican’s Congregation for Religious, who was also featured in her Thursday report on women “priests.” He again gave mild responses to the correspondent. Near the end of the segment, the CNN correspondent noted how “CNN analyst John Allen tells us he expects the Vatican investigations will wrap up by December, and adds if the Vatican wants nuns to return to more conservative lives, they should just be patient, because young women, who are considering sisterhood, are more conservative than their elders .” But Costello featured none of these more orthodox nuns during her report, such as those represented by another umbrella group of nuns, the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious. The president of the Council, Mother Mary Quentin Sheridan, expressed her support of the American bishops’ opposition to ObamaCare , contrary to the stance of the LCWR. Griffin asked Costello a bizarre final question: “You know, Carol, what’s interesting about this is- these women, who are in the Catholic Church, have been fighting with the Church forever for a greater role, in taking part of this. But are there any financial ties between these nuns and the Vatican? I thought that nuns in this country pretty much were financially independent and had to raise money on their own. So, I’m wondering just why they even care what the Vatican says? ” Well, if these nuns want to consider themselves Catholic and appear to be Catholic, they should care what the hierarchy of their own Church says and support its teachings, something that many of the nuns who are part of the LCWR refuse to do. The full transcript of Carol Costello’s report from Friday’s American Morning: GRIFFIN: Welcome back. This is the ‘Most News in the Morning,’ and it is day two of Pope Benedict’s historic trip to Britain. There he is meeting with students at a Catholic school today, and then religious leaders in London. Yesterday, for the first time, the Pope admitted the Church failed in handling priest sex abuse cases. He’s expected to meet with victims tomorrow. CHETRY: Well, in this country, the Vatican is squarely at odds with American nuns. Many of them feel they’re under siege from the Church, which is questioning the quality of their religious life, and the sisters are having their say. Carol Costello is live in Washington with an “A.M. Original” for us this morning. Hey, Carol. CAROL COSTELLO: Good morning- CHETRY: So what’s going on with the Vatican and the nuns? COSTELLO: Well, Kiran, the Vatican is now conducting two sweeping investigations of American nuns. The latest round of ‘visitations’ are now underway, and the Vatican hopes to have a better understanding of how nuns live their lives in the United States. Nuns don’t see it that way, though. Many think these investigations are nothing short of interrogations, designed to take away all they’ve gained. SISTER MAUREEN FIEDLER: Some of my friends asked me why the Vatican officials suffer from a deep seed hatred of women. COSTELLO (voice-over): On Sister Maureen Fielder’s Washington radio show- FIEDLER: Could they be serious? COSTELLO: The role of women in the Catholic Church is a popular one. The talk has been heated ever since the Vatican ordered two sweeping investigations into the religious views and lifestyles of American nuns- investigations that have alarmed many sisters like Marlene Weisenbeck, whose organization represents thousands of American nuns across the country. SISTER MARLENE WEISENBECK, LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS: We weren’t quite expecting to walk into this kind of a process that would test our authenticity and our integrity. COSTELLO: One of the investigations involved a two-part questionnaire consisting of 120 detailed questions like, ‘What is the process for responding to sisters who dissent publicly from Church teaching and discipline?’ ‘How does the matter of the dress of your sisters lend to the dignity and simplicity of your vocation?’ And this, ‘What are the procedures for dealing with matters such as civil disobedience, criminal activity, sexual improprieties, et cetera?’ FIEDLER: I think they want to be able to control what nuns do. They- you know, in every aspect of their lives. COSTELLO: (women singing) At this year’s Leadership Conference of Women Religious, some nuns say these investigations feel like an inquisition, and are fighting back by boycotting all or part of the questionnaire. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. Are we ready for prayer? COSTELLO: Fiedler says many nuns, who haven’t lived in convents or worn habits since the 1950s, fear the Vatican wants to force them back into both. She also fears Rome wants to silence nuns when they disagree with the Pope on issues like gays in the Church or women’s rights, something the Church now allows them to do. FATHER JOSEPH TOBIN, CONGREGATION FOR RELIGIOUS: Some of it might be a very deep seeded misunderstanding. COSTELLO: The Vatican is hoping that Father Tobin, who was just appointed the number two official for religious life, can help calm the fear surrounding these investigations. TOBIN: There is a need for a dialogue, and I think dialogue means that the two parties are honestly conversing in search of the truth. COSTELLO: Sister Marlene hopes that’s true, but- WEISENBECK: There is no turning back. I don’t think that that happens in any kind of living organism. God doesn’t turn the Church- doesn’t turn creation in opposite directions. COSTELLO (live): In other words, there is no turning back the clock for American nuns. Our CNN analyst, John Allen, tells us he expects the Vatican investigations will wrap up by December, and adds if the Vatican wants nuns to return to more conservative lives, they should just be patient, because young women, who are considering sisterhood, are more conservative than their elders. And many, Kiran, are even willing to return to wearing habits, although, convents- maybe not so much. CHETRY: That’s interesting. And what is the fallout, if anything, about boycotting all or part of that questionnaire you were referring to? COSTELLO: You know, we don’t know. Everything surrounding these investigations is quite mysterious. The Vatican isn’t talking much about it. But they’re hoping that Father Tobin can calm fears and get more nuns to answer the questionnaires and also to answer- you know, there are going to be people from the Vatican coming in and having one-on-one conversations with nuns, and they’re hoping that the nuns will feel comfortable doing that if their fears are- you know, calmed down somewhat. We’ll just have to see. We don’t know. GRIFFIN: You know, Carol, what’s interesting about this is- these women, who are in the Catholic Church, have been fighting with the Church forever for a greater role, in taking part of this. But are there any financial ties between these nuns and the Vatican? I thought that nuns in this country pretty much were financially independent and had to raise money on their own. So, I’m wondering just why they even care what the Vatican says? COSTELLO: Well, I think you’ve hit the nail on the head, and the Vatican is certainly aware of that because nuns own universities. They own their own property. They very much- you know, work for charity and social justice issues. They’re very much on their own and independent, yet they’re very important to the Church, because they do a lot of work inside the Church and for Catholicism worldwide. So, the Vatican wants to keep them. The nuns know that they have a certain amount of financial power, and they don’t really need the Vatican. But- you know, they’re loyal Catholics, and it’s not like they want to split from the Church or anything. They love Catholicism. So, hopefully, all will be mended soon. But these investigations- nobody knows exactly why they’re being conducted, and that’s just creating all of this turmoil that doesn’t necessarily have to be there. GRIFFIN: Yeah. Well, thanks, Carol. I mean, there is the faith and then there is the Catholic organization, and I guess that’s where the two are disjointed from each other at the moment. But it’s been an interesting couple of days- couple of [unintelligible]. Thanks so much for that. COSTELLO: Thank you.

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CNN: Vatican Conducting ‘Inquisition’ Against Dissenting Nuns

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CNN Marks Pope’s UK Visit By Highlighting Women ‘Priests’

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Predictably, Thursday’s American Morning on CNN marked the Pope Benedict XVI’s first day in the UK with a report on dissenting Catholic women who claimed they are ordained priests, contrary to the teachings of the Church. Correspondent Carol Costello took a misinterpretation of a recent Church document on ordination as fact, and ran only one sound bite from a Vatican official. Substitute anchor Drew Griffin introduced Costello’s report 24 minutes into the 6 am Eastern hour with the misinterpretation of the Catholic document, forwarded by the mainstream media outlets such as Time magazine, that it condemns the simulated ordination of women as ” a crime similar to pedophilia .” However, a July 16 Reuters story quoted Monsignor Charles Scicluna’s clarification: “Scicluna, an official in the Vatican’s doctrinal department, said there was no attempt to make women’s ordination and pedophilia comparable crimes under canon … law ….While sexual abuse was a ‘crime against morality,’ the attempt to ordain a woman was a ‘crime against a sacrament .'” The CNN correspondent began by highlighting the apparent negative response the Pope is receiving in the UK due to his visit: “You heard Kiran mention that Pope Benedict is now in Britain. He’s there to appeal to the millions of Catholics in that country. But his visit is not without controversy. Many tickets remain unsold, which suggest many of Britain’s Catholics are indifferent to his presence.” She continued by introducing the subject of her report: “You could argue many American Catholics feel the same way, because of the way the Vatican handled the sex abuse scandal. Some say it’s time for a change in leadership- a big change, that includes women.” Costello repeated her misleading interpretation of the Church document later in her report: “[C]ertainly, the Vatican made that clear when it restated recently that ordaining women as priest was a great offense, on the same level as pedophilia .” She asked one of the women “priests” featured about it: “When you saw that, what went through your mind?” The correspondent’s lone Catholic voice in her report gave a very mild refutation of this spin: COSTELLO (voice-over): Father Joseph Tobin, appointed by the Vatican to oversee religious work worldwide, says though the Vatican quickly said the comparison was inadvertent and wrong, the ordination of women is still a serious crime. FATHER JOSEPH TOBIN, CONGREGATION FOR RELIGIOUS: The Catholic Church has traditionally not arrived to the point that it believes that it is the will of God. Now, I think I have to accept that. Throughout the report, Costello featured clips from the dissenters’ worship services throughout the report. She acknowledged that “they [the women “priests”] hold Mass where they can, in their own homes or in non-Catholic churches, ministering to small, mostly female congregations, who say the traditional Catholic Church is not meeting their needs .” But what the clips of the services made clear is that all of the self-proclaimed female clerics are hovering near or after retirement age, and so is much of their congregation. Contrast this with the AP’s September 15 report noting how “thriving U.S. orders [of nun] typically are younger, which makes them closer in age to potential newcomers. These orders also emphasize traditional practices, like wearing long, flowing black-and-white habits, and educating students.” Which of these two groups has a future? CNN has long been a promoter of left-leaning heterodox dissenters inside the Catholic Church. Just over two weeks earlier, commentator Jack Cafferty himself called for the ordination of women , as he highlighted the advertising campaign of a British organization calling for such simulations of ordination. Earlier in 2010, Cafferty devoted five segments over a 20 day period to bashing the Catholic Church. Anchor Kyra Phillips falsely claimed during a June 11 segment that Pope Benedict XVI hadn’t apologized for the priestly sex abuse scandal, and endorsed the dissenters she brought on during two segments during March and April. The network as a whole devoted a series of a slanted segments on the abuse scandal during the first months of the year. The full transcript of Carol Costello’s report from Thursday’s American Morning: GRIFFIN: Time now for an ‘A.M. Original,’ something you’re only going to see on American Morning. Female Catholic priests- the Vatican vehemently opposed to the idea, calling it a crime similar to pedophilia. Well, despite the Church’s stand, more women are pursuing the calling of the priesthood, and Carol Costello has the story, joining us live in Washington. Good morning, Carol. COSTELLO: Good morning, Drew. You heard Kiran mention that Pope Benedict is now in Britain. He’s there to appeal to the millions of Catholics in that country. But his visit is not without controversy. Many tickets remain unsold, which suggest many of Britain’s Catholics are indifferent to his presence. You could argue many American Catholics feel the same way, because of the way the Vatican handled the sex abuse scandal. Some say it’s time for a change in leadership- a big change, that includes women. COSTELLO (voice-over): (piano music) For most Catholics, this is curious- women in priestly robes- GLORIA CARPENETO, ROMAN CATHOLIC WOMEN PRIESTS: Mary is a part of that Trinity. COSTELLO: Preaching from the altar- ANDREA JOHNSON, ROMAN CATHOLIC WOMEN PRIESTS: This is the Lamb of God. COSTELLO: Consecrating the bread and wine- something considered a serious crime by the Catholic Church. Gloria Carpeneto considers herself a Catholic priest, ordained thanks to an unnamed male bishop, who secretly ordained the first female priests and bishops in 2002. COSTELLO (on-camera): Have you ever met the secret bishop? CARPENETO: (laughs) (unintelligible) secret bishop? COSTELLO: The secret bishop? CARPENETO: No, I have not met the secret bishop. COSTELLO: Because if anyone ever found out who this bishop was, he would be done. CARPENETO: It would be a tremendous personal risk for this bishop to come out. COSTELLO (voice-over): According to canon lawyers, though, the secret bishop has automatically been excommunicated, or banned from participating in the Church, because he knowingly violated church law. And certainly, the Vatican made that clear when it restated recently that ordaining women as priest was a great offense, on the same level as pedophilia. COSTELLO (on-camera): When you saw that, what went through your mind? CARPENETO: I was horrified. I was horrified. I thought, for myself, I didn’t like that notion of, suddenly, I’m in the swimming pool (laughs) with people who have been accused of sexual abuse- crimes against children. COSTELLO (voice-over): Father Joseph Tobin, appointed by the Vatican to oversee religious work worldwide, says though the Vatican quickly said the comparison was inadvertent and wrong, the ordination of women is still a serious crime. FATHER JOSEPH TOBIN, CONGREGATION FOR RELIGIOUS: The Catholic Church has traditionally not arrived to the point that it believes that it is the will of God. Now, I think I have to accept that. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first women bishops to be ordained in the United States of America. (audience applause and cheers) COSTELLO: But even the threat of excommunication isn’t stopping Catholic women from what they consider the priesthood. Carpeneto says there are now five bishops, 47 priests, 10 deacons, and 16 candidates in formation in the United States, all of them illegitimate in the eyes of the Catholic Church. JOHNSON: What many people say to us is- well, why don’t you go somewhere else where you’re accepted? COSTELLO (on-camera): I was just going to ask you that. I mean, why stick with Catholicism when Catholicism obviously isn’t supportive of you? JOHNSON: It’s Catholicism that needs us. (at religious service) May our God be with you. COSTELLO (voice-over): And so they hold Mass where they can, in their own homes or in non-Catholic churches, ministering to small, mostly female congregations, who say the traditional Catholic Church is not meeting their needs. COSTELLO (on-camera): So if you had a meeting with the Pope, and you could see Pope Benedict, what would you say to him? MADELEINE ROTHE, RC WOMEN PRIESTS PARISHIONER: I’m not sure I’d like to have a meeting with this pope just because I don’t think he’s very open and that’s a huge road block. COSTELLO (voice-over): It’s the kind of spiritual road block that Carpeneto was trying to remove, and the Catholic Church is resisting. COSTELLO (on-camera): Is it up to God? CARPENETO: Yeah, I think it is up to God, and I think God has said to me you can be ordained. COSTELLO (live): So how important is this movement? I asked our Vatican analyst John Allen, and this is what he told me. He said- you know, you look at the poll numbers, large numbers of Catholics support the ordination of women priests. At the same time, most Catholics are not willing to follow these women before the Church gives its blessing. And, Drew- you know, I asked these women who consider themselves priests, if they’ll ever be recognized in the eyes of the Church in their lifetime, and all of them said, sadly and emphatically, no. GRIFFIN: But they consider themselves pioneers, maybe, for the future? COSTELLO: They consider themselves rebels. They say, unless they force the issue, things will never change. GRIFFIN: All right. Carol Costello, a very interesting report. Thanks, Carol.

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