Kennedy Hubris: The Family Legacy!

Some things never change and Kennedy hubris is one of them. It's the family legacy! Patrick Kennedy, Congressman from Rhode Island, recently took the Catholic bishops to the woodshed for refusing to endorse a heatlh care plan that includes coverage for child-killing and other atrocities. (The bishops often deserve a trip to the woodshed, but never for supporting Catholic doctrine and never by one of the Kennedy bratpack!)

Kennedy had the chutpah to accuse the bishops of fanning "flames of dissent and discord....I can't understand for the life of me," he said, how they could oppose it. Well, that makes sense. How could a Kennedy imagine that anyone really believes and accepts the teachings of the Church, even her leaders. After all, the Kenndys don't and they are paragons of moral virtue...just ask them.

No one can deny that the Kennedys are experts on dissent; they get a lot of practice after all. Except for Eunice Shriver is there a single one who doesn't dissent from Church doctrine on murdering children and endorsing sodomy? Meanwhile they play Church with gusto like Daddy/Uncle Teddy who made sure the pope knew how hard he tried to be a faithful Catholic caring about the little guys (except for the little guys in the womb).

Ah...but when you are a Kennedy, dissent is in the eye of the beholder and it is dissent from the liberal political agenda that is unthinkable and beyond comprehension, not dissent from God's law. After all, God had only one Son and He wasn't nearly as popular as the Camelot boys and their offspring. Jesus certainly could never have been elected to public office coming from the ranks of the hoi poloi working class. Ugh! He actually had callouses on his hands and dirt under his fingernails. (He did know a little about choice wine, though.)

Patrick Kennedy's lecture didn't sell with his bishop as Catholic Culture reported.

Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, fired back that Kennedy's statement was "irresponsible and ignorant of the facts." He disclosed that the [sic] had written to Kennedy (and other members of the state's congressional delegation) to explain that the Church supported health-care reform, but would oppose any bill that "threatens the life of unborn children, requires taxpayers to pay for abortion, rations health care, or compromises the conscience of individuals."

"Congressman Kennedy continues to be a disappointment to the Catholic Church and to the citizens of the State of Rhode Island," Bishop Tobin said. "I believe the Congressman owes us an apology for his irresponsible comments."

I wouldn't want the bishop to hold his breath waiting for an apology from a Kennedy. Arrogance, hypocrisy, and chutpah are not the ingredients from which apologies are made.