"Forgive me fadda, for I have sinnned. By the way, how much time ya got?"

How well I remember the Clintons and Gores in the cathedral, golf clapping (or staring at the stained glass) throughout the eulogy.

And a throwback to a joke you told here a while back: "Compared to Kerry, those guys are Saints!"

"Don't you know who I am!?"

Sorry, I had to do that.

Democrats are really a one-issue party: abortion. Kerry actually made it back to the Senate today to vote against a bill limiting abortion-on-demand. The only vote he's made since his campaign began.

This is nothing new for the Democrats... I remember waaaayyyy back in the mists of time. My mother watching the Kennedy's in church (he might've been catholic, but my parents still couldn't stand him - and he's tame by today's standards). Anyhow, one of the Kennedy women, who was divorced, received communion - my mother was livid. All she could talk about was how the Kennedy's could just do anything even violate church rules... Kerry is just continuing the tradition of the ones he admires most.

I wonder if Kerry's base will be alienated by his appearance in a church, or will they accept it as a "necessary evil" of the campaign trail?

I am certainly not a Kerry supporter, but I do not think that making false claims about him is wise. The story you quoted says "The Democrat also received Holy Communion during Mass at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church, despite the fact he is not a Catholic in good standing, reported LifeSiteNews.com."

To be a "Catholic in good standing" is a very specific thing, meaning essentially that one is entitled to take Communion. In practice, for most Catholics, to be "not a Catholic in good standing" would mean that you have not gone to confession in a while (and have something to confess).

I searched the LifeSiteNews.com site, and did not find any reference to a "fact" that John Kerry is not in good standing. There are several mentions of Archbishops who said they would not give him Communion because of his stand on abortion and other issues, but that is specific to those Archbishops and those dioceses. While I might agree with them that he is not a good Catholic, that is not the same as "not a Catholic in good standing."

In a Time article located at http://www.time.com/time/election2004/article/0,18471,605436,00.html, I found this quote:

"He is enough of a stickler for Catholic rules to have sought an annulment of his 18-year first marriage before marrying again."

Again, I'm not too thrilled with the notion that you can annul an 18-year marriage, but somebody gave him that annulment, so that is a moot point. If he is really a stickler for Catholic rules, I find it unlikely that he would have neglected going to confession or doing any other minor thing that would not leave him in good standing to receive communion.

I think this is an important point, especially in the context of your post. Coming to mass in a ski suit is obnoxious, but not really that big a deal especially in a resort town. My mother lives in Branson, MO, and the priests and congregation would most assuredly rather have you show up for Mass than stay away because you are not dressed right. Coming late is certainly obnoxious, having a superficial motive (a photo-op) is obnoxious, but only obnoxious.

Taking communion when you are not "in good standing" is much more than obnoxious. If it were true, that would be considered by most Catholics to be a serious infraction, and would definitely hurt Kerry in terms of the Catholic vote. So, if it's true, it's important, but if it's not true, it should be so noted in your post.

Thanks.