Dear Jolters, On the cusp of Father's Day weekend, there's lots on which NRO is pontificating, starting with The Pontiff and his controversial encyclical. Today NR expounds, formally, on Laudato Si' -- our editorial's title, "Laudato No: Praise Not Pope Francis's Crude Economics," maybe says it all. NR's magisterium is sharp and detailed. And, of course, hits the papal bull of the pope's lefty admirers: The same Western liberals who abominate the Catholic Church as an atavistic relic of more superstitious times, who regard its teachings on abortion and contraception as inhumane and its teachings on sexuality as a hate crime today are celebrating Pope Francis's global-warming encyclical, Laudato Si', as a moral mandate for their cause. So much for that seamless garment. It may be that the carbon tax, like Paris, is worth a Mass. Rupert Darwall's pointed essay, "Pope Francis's Vow of Poverty—for All," says Laudato Si' is "a throwback to the limits-to-growth debate of the early 1970s," which hurts the poor. And: It is the Club of Rome (a think tank founded in 1968 to limit population growth and "to stop the suicidal roller coaster man now rides") without abortion. Self-evidently, population growth without economic growth can only result in growing immiserization. And then my esteemed colleague, Rich Lowry, in the Corner, says the encyclical is "as bad as advertised." Another church. This one in South Carolina, a scene of murder. Horrible, horrible. This being America, though, situation-exploiting began, led of course by our let's-be-clear president, who called for more gun-control laws. Our Charlie Cooke has this to say about the idiocy of a more-laws effort. Specifically: I'm sorry to be a killjoy, but the truth is the truth: Had the Democratic laundry list of 2013 been implemented in its entirety, what happened this morning would have gone down in exactly the same way. Oy! You surely heard that Obama, thin-skinned, gets riled at criticism that he is harming Israel, that he can't stand Bibi, et al -- and that he thinks he is a de facto sorta-Jew. My intelligence is too limited to begin to understand this . . . insanity. But Jay Nordlinger has at it in his new Impromptus column. It's an absolute joy to read: Do so and share it please. I am not much in the mood for my pinch-hitter / pinch-runner gag. Tough day for this former altar boy to see the pope, whom I love, getting dinged. Rightly, I think. The Holy Spirit surely has other, more important reasons for having him oversee the Big Enchilada. Oremus. Still, if I had chosen a relief pitcher, at the urging of reader Don C, it would have been the great (at least in 1959, when he had a crazy 18-1 record) Elroy Face. But this particular weekend, we will honor a starter, and tip our cap, to Hall of Famer Jim Bunning, who on Father's Day in 1964, on the mound for the Philadelphia Phillies, tossed a perfect game against the New York Metropolitans.
Now you all be nice to your dad, or pray for his soul. Big Jim will be back later next week, and Patrick Brennan will be assuming these Jolt duties until then. I think I've been sent down to the minors. God bless, Jack Fowler Publisher |
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