We’re B-a-a-a-ck!!!

That's right, kids, man with black hat is back in operation. (Cue the video at right.)

Aside from a teeny weenie enhancement of our cable service (for which we are now on hold for up to twenty-five minutes, listening to a light jazz jingle in a continuous loop while trying to remain calm), things are back to normal, and this is most assuredly NOT being typed with two thumbs on a smartphone.

Of course, our Fortnight For Freedom gig turned out to be a novena; that is, it only lasted nine days instead of fourteen before the lights went out. You have to wonder if there's a message there. But no matter, we've got one here, if you have nothing better to do than drive through the District of Columbia on the Fourth of July just to go to Mass. Ah, not just any Mass, you say. Fine, have at it. I'll be out in the western hinterlands with Sal's family, getting used to them getting used to me.

What could go wrong?
 

Oremus (Fortnight: Day 09)

O God our Creator,
from your provident hand
    we have received
our right to life, liberty,
    and the pursuit of happiness.
You have called us as
    your people and given us
the right and the duty
    to worship you,
    the only true God,
and your Son, Jesus Christ.
Through the power and working of your Holy Spirit,
you call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world,
bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel
to every corner of society.

We ask you to bless us
in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty.
Give us the strength of mind and heart
to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened;
give us courage in making our voices heard
on behalf of the rights of your Church
and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.

Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father,
a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters
gathered in your Church
in this decisive hour in the history of our nation,
so that, with every trial withstood
and every danger overcome—
for the sake of our children, our grandchildren,
and all who come after us—
this great land will always be "one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.
 

When Things Ain’t Over Till They’re Over (Fortnight: Day 08)

“It's always darkest just before they turn the lights on.” (Do you know where that line is from?)

By now, most Americans are aware of the five-to-four decision of the United States Supreme Court, which declared that the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) was constitutional. But that wasn't the big surprise. It was, rather, that the tie-breaker was not the perennial swing-voter Justice Anthony Kennedy, but the presumedly-conservative Chief Justice John Roberts. From sea to shining sea, those who were against the health care bill are wringing their hands. "This is the end of America as we know it," was the declaration of one right-wing yahoo who sends e-mails to yours truly every day while saying the same damn thing as three or four other daily e-mails also sent every day.

Let's keep a few things in mind.

One and a half centuries ago, the Supreme Court declared, in the Dred Scott decision, that slaves were property, not persons. A century later, their right to vote was affirmed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Four decades ago, the Supreme Court said that a woman had a right to kill her unborn baby. That ruling may crumble under its own weight within the next decade. And now, we are told we have to buy something we may not want, or pay a penalty which the President says is not a tax, but which Chief Justice Roberts says ... is. At least he's honest.

That might be why Erick Erickson is taking the news rather well.

Roberts forces everyone to deal with the issue as a political, not a legal issue. In the past twenty years, Republicans have punted a number of issues to the Supreme Court asking the Court to save us from ourselves. They can’t do that with Roberts .. [I]n forcing us to deal with this politically, the Democrats are going to have a hard time running to November claiming the American people need to vote for them to preserve Obamacare. It remains deeply, deeply unpopular with the American people. If they want to make a vote for them a vote for keeping a massive tax increase, let them try.

Then my Close and Personal Friend Steve Skojec drew my attention to a piece writing in The Atlantic, of how Roberts may have had the early landmark case of Madison v Marbury in mind.

And then there's Sarah Palin, a regular Pollyanna about the whole thing.

Thank you, SCOTUS. This Obamacare ruling fires up the troops as America’s eyes are opened! Thank God ... We now see that this is the largest tax increase in history. It will slam every business owner and every one of the 50% of Americans who currently pay their taxes ...

The thing is, she's right. While the rest of you wait for what Justice Antonin Scalia calls "nine hot-shot lawyers" to save you, you don't bother to save yourselves. The House of Representatives (guys you can vote for, unlike judges) can already vote to repeal, or at least defund, Obamacare. And if Romney wins the election AND the Republicans get sixty seats in the Senate (for whom you can also vote in or out), both sides of the Hill will kill it, and Romney (hey, there's another guy you can actually elect) will sign the death warrant.

I know what you're thinking right now. Yes, Romney pushed socialized medicine while Governor of Massachusetts. There's a big difference, my dear minions. That was a state program; this is a Federal program. Under our Constitution, states have the power to do things that are not given to the Federal government. You'd know that if you cracked open a book on the subject every now and then.

So you see, all is not lost, but you can't just sit there and wait for a knight on a white horse to rescue you from yourself and your abysmal ignorance of the laws and governance that affects you.

So quit your damn bitching, America, and get to work.

ADDENDUM: Hey, I forgot to include what Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said:

“Ironically, the Supreme Court has decided to be far more honest about Obamacare than Obama was. They rightly have called it a tax. Today’s decision is a blow to our freedoms. The Court should have protected our constitutional freedoms, but remember it was the President that forced this law on us.

“The American people did not want or approve of Obamacare then, and they do not now. Americans oppose it because it will decrease the quality of health care in America, raise taxes, cut Medicare, and break the bank. All of this is still true. Republicans must drive hard toward repeal, this is no time to go weak in the knees.”
 

Spanish: The “Loving Tongue”? (Fortnight: Day 07)

In many parts of the country, the Latino population is growing. No big secret there. Even in Cincinnati, service labor once performed mostly by those of African descent is now done increasingly by people of Hispanic origin.

They're not all the same, of course. In fact, some have suggested that there is a sort of pecking order. The South Americans look down on the Central Americans, and the Central Americans look down on the Salvadorans, probably due to association with gang activity. Among all the above, there are fair-skinned, non-black-haired, Caucasian-looking Latinos whose ancestry is more Spanish than indigenous. Bottom line, they're not all one people, but many.

Needless to say, there are many of them in the DC area, including northern Virginia. In fact, it is possible for one of them, depending on their circumstances, to rent an apartment or house, go to their job, go to a restaurant or bar, go to a movie, and go to church on Sunday, and never, NEVER, have to learn one word of English. And if they ever do need help with it, there's always the children, who have to learn English in school from day one.

Personally, and for all that is said about them, I never met a Latino or Latina with whom I had a problem. Rarely at most. Most of the people who work the grounds in my development are Latino. Some of them do repair work on the side, or know someone who does. I usually let Sal take care of those things for me. She has a rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, is herself ethnically half-Spanish (not uncommon in the Philippines, especially among celebrities and the upper classes), and has great negotiating skills.

All you "gringos" out there may have them to thank for the survival of this country, and not just for doing the work we won't do. They say it takes 2.1 children per family to reproduce the human race. Most of Europe is at about 1.4 or lower. America would be as well, but the influx of Hispanics to "El Norte" keeps us at -- you guessed it, 2.1.

Many of them are Catholic, if they haven't already been taken over by evangelicals. And contrary to the propaganda churned out by "experts" in Hispanic devotional practices, not all of them were raised on listening to Mariachi music at Mass. That genre would be confined to Mexico, and in fact, their religious practices are anything but iconoclastic, let alone enslaved to popular culture as we are led to believe.

Will died-in-the-wool Midwesterners like yours truly have to learn Spanish just to fit in? Actually, I think it's more up to them to learn English, which serves more or less as an international language of business and popular culture at this point in history anyway. The advantage to all speaking a common language is that one is more likely to have an understanding, and less likely to NOT have an understanding. However you slice it, they need us, and we need them, don't you think?

Or don't you?
 

“Bring me your tired, your poor ...” (Fortnight: Day 06)

So begins the poem by Emma Lazarus that reads on a plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty. The lady with the torch welcomes all those who would come to her shores.

That is to say, by the approved channels. There are millions of undocumented immigrants who do NOT got through those channels. Many are responsible for a disproportionate amount of violent crime. Many are a drain on the system because, while they do not pay taxes, they are able to avail themselves of public services, which includes sending their children to public schools. On the other hand, this writer has known of undocumented aliens who not only pay taxes -- it can be done if you have a taxpayer ID, like a business, and not a Social Security number -- but who hold down full time jobs to pay those taxes, and even have valid driver's licenses.

They're not here to cause trouble; they're here because the lady in the harbor (see above) beckoned them to our shores. Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin (née Maglalang), with whom this writer agrees on most things, suggests that if you believe your neighbor is undocumented, you should report them. She fails to mention that you have to be able to PROVE it, which is damn near impossible, otherwise you can get in more trouble than them.

Ever think of that, Michelle? Besides, nobody likes a snitch! Pahiya!

The Catechism of the Catholic Church upholds the right of a sovereign nation to protect and secure its own borders, so all this bleeding heart nonsense about giving illegals a pass is just that. But with between eleven and thirteen million of them, it's going to be difficult to get things under control anytime soon.

And you know what? We've missed the real problem here, which is not with too much illegal immigration, but with not enough legal immigration.

"Native" Americans have always complained about the onslaught of "foreigners" to our shores. The Irish, the Italians, the Poles, the Chinese, the Salvadorans -- the list goes on, from one generation to the next. We have to reopen Ellis Island, and/or create more of them. Sal will tell you (and I know this because she has told me) that it takes years for people in the Philippines just to get a visa here. And that's a country that we treated like crap, and they still love us. And immigrants will keep coming, over or under the wire, not only taking the jobs that "real" Americans don't want -- yes, Virginia, there are jobs in this economy that are beneath some Americans, including this one -- but creating new consumer demand, which in turn creates more jobs. (And more tax revenue, if only we could keep track of them, which you can only do ...)

If you knew what a bunch of Vietnamese businessmen did with an abandoned shopping center in Falls Church, Virginia -- I mean, they came here on overcrowded boats, you big dummies! -- you would know what is possible through a comprehensive immigration reform that comprehended opening doors instead of closing them. But it won't be if we don't let them in.

Make it easier for them, or they make it harder for you. What's it gonna be, America?
 

Misery Me! (Fortnight: Day 05)

One of the most common psalms prayed or chanted during Advent and Lent is Psalm 50(51), also known as one of the "penitential psalms." In the Western church, it is prayed during Lauds (Morning Prayer) and every Friday in the Divine Office. It is also sung during Mass on Ash Wednesday, and the First Sunday of Lent. If the Rite of Sprinkling is done before the principle Mass of a Sunday, the faithful chant the seventh verse.

Asperges me, Domine,
    Sprinkle me, O Lord,
hyssopo et mundabor,
    with hyssop and I shall be purified.
Lavabis me,
    Wash me,
et super nivem dealbabor.
    and I shall be whiter than snow.
Miserere mei, Deus,
    Have mercy on me, O God,
secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.
    According to your loving kindness.

In yet another demonstration of our Catholic faith influencing the culture in various and sundry ways, the old English term, “Misery me,” is likely a corruption of the opening words of the psalm in Latin: “Miserere Dei.” The times we live in may be enough to evoke one or the other.

It is said that “Ecclesia semper reformanda” or “the Church is always in need of reform.” Whether the Church, or the social order, any reform must begin from within. If our cause be a just one, we look to the Just One for mercy, for ourselves, for our Nation, and for the world.

Now is as good a time as any.
 

“Do” is NOT a Female Deer (Fortnight: Day 04)

Oh, if you ain't got the do re mi, folks,
You ain't got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas,
Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden,
A paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi...

The above is the chorus of a song by Woody Guthrie entitled "Do Re Mi" written during the Great Depression, about migrants from Oklahoma and neighboring states, who moved to California in search of a better life, and away from the dust bowl storms of the 1930s. It is also a Catholic invention. Jeffrey Tucker explains:

In his pedagogy, [an 11th century Benedictine monk named Guido d'Arezzo] adapted an existing song to illustrate the scale: Ut Queant Laxis, a hymn to St John the Baptist, who was then considered the patron saint of singers. On the first syllable of each ascending note, the words were Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol – the very foundation of music pedagogy to this day: do, re, mi, etc...

We're not putting you on, folks. From the Gregorian calendar to double-digit accounting,* the Catholic Church invented damn near everything worth admiring about Western civilization, including a rendition of the chant featured on our first video clip. On the other hand, She is probably not responsible for the second clip. In any case, the latter owes a lot to the former, which really DOES have the "do-re-mi."

Today, the Church in both the East and the West celebrates the Birth of John the Baptist. In the traditional form of the Roman Rite, this is a feast of the first class, which supersedes the Fourth Sunday of Pentecost.** It was John who condemned Herod for marrying Herodias, the former wife of his own brother, which was a violation of Mosaic law. Feeling threatened by a reminder of the common faith of the people, Herod had John arrested, and was later tricked into having him beheaded. The celebration of this feast during our Fortnight for Freedom could be a warning of days ahead, don't you think?

Or don't you?

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* "K.H." writes to inform me that the proper term is not double-digit accounting, but "double-entry bookkeeping." I don't know what either one is, I just write the stuff.

** Even so, the orations for the season are still included in the Mass, along with those of the feast.

(The above is adapted from an earlier entry in March of 2009. Some things never get old ...)
 

My Dinner With Gilbert (Fortnight: Day 03)

Sometimes, you have to travel a certain distance to find sufficient numbers of your intellectual equals in the same room, for the purposes of breaking bread. I got off work early, took three hours to drive fifty miles along the busiest highway east of the Mississippi, and had dinner in Fredericksburg with the local chapter of the American Chesterton Society. ACS president Dale Ahlquist sat at one end of the table, while English-American author and scholar Joseph Pearce sat at the other. We had a great time discussing the effects of contraception on the downfall of European civilization, why Muslim immigration would not necessarily result in their takeover of the continent (confirming the prediction of at least one prominent futurist), and why American college students, with the exception of those having been homeschooled, could barely construct a sentence.

I was very fortunate. Dad earned his degree in classical languages at Xavier University in 1948, and briefly taught English and Latin in public high schools east of Cincinnati. In kindergarten, I could already read books. In fact, I was actually taken to other classrooms at Milford South Elementary, and was invited to read in front of the other students, especially the kids in the back who required some sort of motivation, namely me. (To this day, I cannot imagine how that worked.)

Today I attend the annual IHM Catholic Homeschooling Conference, being held here in Fredericksburg. You would think that I would be a fish out of water attending a very family-oriented event. After all, I'm no Ozzie to anyone's Harriet, right? And you'd be right, but only to a point. This is one event where I can be at home with the like-minded, buy a few old books here and there, make kids of all ages laugh at my stupid jokes, and every now and then, have someone come up to me and say, “Hey, you’re that guy with the blog!”

It never gets old.
 

A Prayer by John Fisher (Fortnight: Day 02)

Good Lord, set in thy Church strong and nightly pillars that may suffer and endure great labors, which also shall not fear persecution, neither death, but always suffer with a good will, slanders, shame and all kinds of torments, for the glory and praise of thy holy Name.

By this manner, good Lord, the truth of thy Gospel shall be preached throughout the world.

Therefore, merciful Lord, exercise thy mercy, show it indeed upon thy Church.

Amen.

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John Fisher was a Catholic bishop in early 16th century England. He was executed on the order of King Henry VIII, for refusing to accept the king as Supreme Head of the Church of England, and for defending the Church's doctrine of papal primacy. He is commemorated in the reformed Roman calendar on this day, along with Sir Thomas More, who received the crown of martyrdom on the same grounds shortly thereafter. (Interestingly, the Church of England commemorates John Fisher, in their case on the 6th of July. Fact is stranger than truth ...)

POSTSCRIPT: The next installment for the Fortnight may be later in the day than usual, as yours truly will be in Fredericksburg, Virginia, visiting the IHM Catholic Homeschooling Conference. Till then ...
 

Ten Years After (Fortnight: Day 01)

“A young man from a small town with a very large imagination ...”

Ten years ago today, the weblog known as MAN WITH BLACK HAT began publication.

In the year of Our Lord two thousand and two, there were many new voices among those who practiced the Catholic faith, who discovered an emerging medium known as the “weblog” (or “blog” for short). Many of them were inspired by the outrage, at the news of scandalous behavior on the part of the clergy that was originating in Boston. It was less that we were unaware of such indiscretions before, either there or elsewhere, as much as there being sufficient numbers of Bostonians who were convinced, that their city and its environs was the center of the known universe, to call our attention thereto. As ridiculous as it may seem, their plan (or lack thereof) worked.

But it brought something more.

At a time when the Faith was under attack by those who were using the Scandals to fulfill their own nefarious ends -- we will speak of them later, won't we? -- and at a time when the same Scandals were shaking that Faith on the part those who would otherwise remain steadfast, these new voices emerged with the medium, and became the message.

It was in consideration of the above, that this writer did not know where to begin. So many pressing issues of the day. So many matters for reflection from the past decade. So many church chat pundits competing for attention. So. Little. Time.

Fortunately, the American bishops have come through with an inspiration for us. Beginning today, and through the Fourth of July, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is sponsoring a Fortnight For Freedom, to protest the government mandate that would force religious institutions to violate their sacred principles for the illusion of health care. (No, Virginia, birth control pills and the slaughter of unborn children is not health care, and even if it was, you can pay for it your damn self!)

The point (and we do have one) is that every day leading up to the Fourth, we will offer reflections on the blogospheric experience over the last ten years, the collective musings of faith and culture, of life and love, of fun and games, of a song and dance man who is keeping his day job.

That would be me. Stay tuned ...

UPDATE: Effective today, we are also introducing labels for every post, to facilitate searching by subject matter. You may also notice some tweaking of the page features now and then. Remain calm.