Cafeteria Catholicism A No-Go
Former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn, Clinton’s Ambassador to the Vatican, says Caroline’s pro-choice stance would make her ”a mistake” as Obama’s woman in the Holy See. Italian press is abuzz with Kennedy rumors. Boston Herald.
Flynn said while he understands the famous Kennedy clan is close to Obama, selecting Caroline could hurt the new president politically as the holiest of weekends approaches.
“Obama picked up 58 percent of the Catholic vote. What does he need a big controversy for on Easter weekend?” Flynn said. “Easter is the season of hope.”
I dunno, if she represents the Obama admin’s views, why not? Anything else would be dishonest. It’s not like the ambassador to the Soviet Union was expected to be a commie, or the ambassador to the Court of St. James a royalist. On the other hand, the Vatican isn’t Russia or Great Britain.
I just want to make it clear that I’m not in the running for this, and would not be a good choice. Due to profound inner conflicts between my ancestral northern barbarian heathen idol worship and my birth into the One True Church that our king established when he needed a divorce, plus the right-wing warmongerism and modern hedonism, it really wouldn’t work.
In other religion news, O’s scoring political points for throwing a White House seder. He’s inviting all his friends, the AP reports, though I bet the spirit of ecumenicalism and chumminess passes over the Rev. Wright. I was trying to find out yesterday from a couple of my primary Yiddish sources what the best word is for a goy who tries to horn in, more Jewish than the Jews. “Someone from New York,” said a guy from New York. “Schnorer,” said another, though that technically means a moocher. Yiddish, by the way, is the best language I know about for describing shmucks and shnorers … bounders, bunglers and schemers of all sorts. Yiddish constructs elaborate linguistic relationships, like shlemiel, an inept bungler, and shlemazel, the one who is bungled upon.* As Mashie, one of my Yiddish sources, puts it, “The shlemiel drops a piano he’s trying to hoist into his apartment. The shlemazel is the one it lands on.” Here’s my cousin Danielle, who is now Jewish, on being a Christmas shnorer.
* Thanks BigHenry in comments for typo spotting services rendered.
Topics: everything
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:25 am Comments (4) on Thursday, April 9, 2009
4 Responses to “Cafeteria Catholicism A No-Go”
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April 9th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
A seder in the White House, huh? If the God of Protocol shows mercy, they won’t serve honey-baked ham.
April 9th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Jules,
Your Yiddish sources missed a typo: It’s “shlemazel” not “shmazel”.
The word “shlemazel” comprises two parts: “shle” which is the root for “bad”; and “mazel” which means “luck”. Hence, “shlemazel” is literally “bad luck”. You may also know that the joyous “Mazel Tov”, which people exclaim after the Jewish groom stomps on the wine glass, means “Good Luck”, the Hebrew word “tov” meaning “good”.
April 9th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
BTW, “schmuck” might be used in place of “bounder, bungler, and/or schemer”, but what it really means is “dick or prick”, as in “penis”.
April 9th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
That’s my typo. Great language. Always open to more insight on Yiddish and its descriptions of the human condition.