Barack Obama, Notre Dame Controversy Is About More Than Abortion, Catholicism

Conservatives are coming out of the woodwork trying to jump on the pile in attacking President Obama as a result of this Fox News-manufactured controversy surrounding his commencement address at the University of Notre Dame and his receiving an honorary degree from the institution. That being said, I started to read this column published on the Fox News Web site and written by Paul Kregor.

In May 1995, his first year as Pennsylvania governor, Tom Ridge was invited by Gannon University, a Catholic college in Erie, Pa., to give the commencement address and receive an honorary degree. But the distinguished Republican and native son had a problem: he was a pro-choice Catholic.

Erie Bishop Donald Trautman expressed his “concerns.” Governor Ridge declined the degree.
“The last thing I would want is for those differences to distract in any way from this wonderful day of recognition for Gannon’s class of 1995,” said Ridge. His spokesman explained that the decision “came from the governor.”

Ridge did the right thing. He did the character thing.

Ridge exercised his right to choose not to accept the degree (according to the information in this column). However, if anyone thinks the hatred would be any less intense toward President Obama had he turned down this degree is living in fantasy land. This is not about the honorary degree and I almost question whether it is even about the abortion issue for a lot of the people who are hating President Obama. People like Alan Keyes are pimping the University of Notre Dame for their own selfish purposes.

This whole issue is about the hatred of Barack Obama. Abortion, Notre Dame and all the other issues coming up are smokescreens. President Obama has done the character thing. He could have taken the easy way out and run away screaming or decided not to accept the degree. Both would have been, particularly in this case, cowardly. We should not give into a vocal minority playing the role of extortionist and emotional blackmailer. Ridge did what he felt was right and President Obama is doing what he feels is the right thing to do.

Bigotry thrives when people shy away from it.

Fox News:
http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/05/17/kregor_obama_notre_dame/

Ken Blackwell Is Almost As Much Of A Nut As Alan Keyes

Why on Earth do conservative Republicans insist on continuing with this rhetoric of division and intolerance? Conservatives have taken a simple commencement address by President Barack Obama and now are working to use it as a cheap political weapon against him and to push their ultra-conservative views on abortion into the national spotlight.

Here is an excerpt from a Fox News column written by Ken Blackwell. Read some of the extremist rhetoric he is using about a president who has been in office a little over three months:

By Ken Blackwell
Fellow, Family Research Council/Former Vice President, Xavier University

Many are questioning why officials at the University of Notre Dame are inviting the most pro-abortion president in our history to receive an honorary doctorate of laws. Doesn’t this make a mockery of Notre Dame’s historic role as the premier Catholic university in America? Doesn’t this create a scandalfor the Catholic faithful as well as for the larger community of Americans who are not Catholic? Much of the fierce public debate has centered on why Notre Dame would extend such an honor. The divisions exposed by this invitation are deep and worrisome.

The divisions are created by men like Ken Blackwell who want to turn a commencement ceremony into a debate on abortion rights. The Ken Blackwells of the world are exploiting President Obama’s visit to the University of Notre Dame as a way of pushing their anti-abortion agenda. President Obama is there for the students of the University of Notre Dame and (at least to my knowledge), is not there to speak on the issue of abortion. Opportunists like Blackwell and Alan Keyes want to use this appearance by President Obama to try and jam a little deeper the wedge into the gap that exists between those who favor abortion rights and those who are opposed to abortion rights.

More from Blackwell:

I see another reason why President Obama is going to Notre Dame. He knows the truth of the maxim: divide and conquer. He has already succeeded in dividing the Evangelical community in America.Although most Evangelical Protestants, both black and white, are pro-life and pro-marriage, President Obama has been able to convince millions that he wants to limit abortions and uphold marriage as the union of one man and one woman. He has accomplished this feat while vigorously promoting pro-abortion and anti-marriage policies and personnel.

Talk about the politics of division. Ken Blackwell’s own words, throughout this column, are a clinic on the politics of division and intolerance.

Fox News:
http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/05/14/blackwell_obama_notre_dame/