as it always is in these kind of discussions…”Why don’t you expend the same energy in criticizing Our President and his failure to live up to Catholic standards?”

Well, he’s not Catholic. And believe me, as I’ve said before, there’s hardly anyone here, I would guess, who is full of unambiguous praise for the current administration.

Secondly, someone wondered about Arnold. I think if you look at who was out there giving vocal and pavement-pounding support to Arnold S., you won’t find pro-life groups or Catholic groups.

The current test case, of course, is the Pennsylvania senatorial primary. We’ve got a pro-life, fiscally conservative upstart running against “moderate” Specter. If the White House comes out and tries to give Specter that final push before the primary, I’ve no doubt that ideological fur will fly. What Kerry is to Catholics and political life, Toomey is to the GOP – a line in the sand and a challenge.