Friday, January 05, 2007
Vacation Musings
1) Under "The Vatican Isn't Always Right" Column (well, column 1 of that category), the soon to be installed Archbishop of Warsaw appears to have been a communist spy. Will the Vatican do the right thing and stop this installation? Given that Roger the Responsibility Dodger is still in charge in Los Angeles in spite of his blatant crimes, I doubt it.
2) In the second column under the same title, the Vatican's response to the righfull execution of Saddam Hussein is appaling in that the Vatican Cardinal and others (not the Pope) who initially popped off does not seem to understand either the reality of the situation or the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Let's see if Cardinal Martino can grasp the plain meaning of the following from the Catechism:
2267 Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.
If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.
Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent."
Now, the question should be if the killing of Saddam was an absolute necessity. I would argue that the situation with Hussein was so grave, that his return would cause much greater damage given the fact that it is a real possibility given the civil war like situation in Iraq. If you thought Napoleon made a mess in his second stint as emperor of France, just imagine what Hussein would have been able to do. Also, given the widespread loyalty of Baathists to him, it is highly likely that many of the killing committed by Sunni Baathists were done in an attempt to further destabilize the situation so that the U.S. would pull out, and Hussein, backed by the Baathists of Syria, would return to his position of dictator and his murderous ways.
3) USC should have played Ohio state, and, no, not in Glendale, Arizona. It is about time to put the BCS to rest and get back to tradition. Given the fact that USC smoked Michigan in the second half of the Rose Bowl, I really would have liked to have seen the traditional Big Ten - Pac Ten matchup of champions.
4) Will someone please stop giving mediocre Notre Dame football teams big paydays? The Fleeing French gave no indication on the field during the regular season that they belonged in a game of the stature of the Sugar Bowl. LSU confirmed it. If we are to be stuck with the awful BCS, then it should be modified so that Notre Dame cannot go unless they have defeated at least one top ten team as ranked at the end of the regular season. Additionally, they need to have not lost more than one game. Some may call this overly harsh, but since ND refuses to join a conference (a move that would really expose its constant weakness), they should't be granted such an easy pass to any BCS game.
5) I still want Kiflin fired (and you can heave-ho the OL coach too). If SC cannot have a balanced attack, something is dreadfully wrong.
2) In the second column under the same title, the Vatican's response to the righfull execution of Saddam Hussein is appaling in that the Vatican Cardinal and others (not the Pope) who initially popped off does not seem to understand either the reality of the situation or the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Let's see if Cardinal Martino can grasp the plain meaning of the following from the Catechism:
2267 Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.
If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.
Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent."
Now, the question should be if the killing of Saddam was an absolute necessity. I would argue that the situation with Hussein was so grave, that his return would cause much greater damage given the fact that it is a real possibility given the civil war like situation in Iraq. If you thought Napoleon made a mess in his second stint as emperor of France, just imagine what Hussein would have been able to do. Also, given the widespread loyalty of Baathists to him, it is highly likely that many of the killing committed by Sunni Baathists were done in an attempt to further destabilize the situation so that the U.S. would pull out, and Hussein, backed by the Baathists of Syria, would return to his position of dictator and his murderous ways.
3) USC should have played Ohio state, and, no, not in Glendale, Arizona. It is about time to put the BCS to rest and get back to tradition. Given the fact that USC smoked Michigan in the second half of the Rose Bowl, I really would have liked to have seen the traditional Big Ten - Pac Ten matchup of champions.
4) Will someone please stop giving mediocre Notre Dame football teams big paydays? The Fleeing French gave no indication on the field during the regular season that they belonged in a game of the stature of the Sugar Bowl. LSU confirmed it. If we are to be stuck with the awful BCS, then it should be modified so that Notre Dame cannot go unless they have defeated at least one top ten team as ranked at the end of the regular season. Additionally, they need to have not lost more than one game. Some may call this overly harsh, but since ND refuses to join a conference (a move that would really expose its constant weakness), they should't be granted such an easy pass to any BCS game.
5) I still want Kiflin fired (and you can heave-ho the OL coach too). If SC cannot have a balanced attack, something is dreadfully wrong.
