Defending the 12th century since the 14th; blogging since the 21st.

Catholicism, Conservatism, the Middle Ages, Opera, and Historical and Literary Objets d'Art blogged by a suburban dad who teaches law and writes stuff.


"Very fun." -- J. Bottum, Editor, FIRST THINGS

"Too modest" -- Elinor Dashwood

"Perhaps the wisest man on the Web" -- Henry Dieterich

"Hat tip: me (but really Cacciaguida)" -- Diana Feygin, Editor, THE YALE FREE PRESS

"You are my sire. You give me confidence to speak. You raise my heart so high that I am no more I." -- Dante

"Fabulous!"-- Warlock D.J. Prod of Didsbury

Who was Cacciaguida? See Dante's PARADISO, Cantos XV, XVI, & XVII.


E-mail me

 
Postmodern Outlook Express. Successive arrivals in my in-box this morning:

Land's End -- 2008 swimwear is here! More beautiful styles....

followed by

Sophia Institute Press -- Why does God permit evil?
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:33 AM

 
Bishop Braxton v. Luke Johnson
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:24 PM

 
WFB, RIP. I know, lot of us "got over" him at some point in our lives, for one reason or another, but come on, admit it, those of us who can remember the Johnson administration (never mind the Innocent III administration) were impressed that someone could be a conservative intellectual with equal emphasis on both elements of that expression, and a lot of us wouldn't be conservatives today, in any sense, without that example.
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:10 PM

 
Murder Me Elmo
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:50 PM

 
A consolation prize for Harry-Hermione 'shippers for whom therapy hasn't worked? Ages ago (in movie-star years), Emma Watson said that dating either Daniel Radcliffe or Rupert Grint would be sorta like incest. Well, s'il faut en croire The Daily Mirror, the Waelsung spirit enraptured Emma and Dan as they stopped in at a London pub around 10 on Valentine's night, and later disaparated together.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:49 PM

 
The New York Times and the affair it wants you to think John McCain had, without actually producing any evidence that he did

The New Republic takes credit for goading the Times into publishing an "investigation" so premature that it is easily characterizable as a smear.

Noting the thinness of the facts the NYT actually nailed down after months of investigation, TNR's Gabriel Sherman notes:

The story is filled with awkward journalistic moves--the piece contains a collection of decade-old stories about McCain and Iseman appearing at functions together and concerns voiced by McCain's aides that the Senator shouldn't be seen in public with Iseman--and departs from the Times' usual authoritative voice. At one point, the piece suggestively states: "In 1999 she began showing up so frequently in his offices and at campaign events that staff members took notice. One recalled asking, 'Why is she always around?'" In the absence of concrete, printable proof that McCain and Iseman were an item, the piece delicately steps around purported romance and instead reports on the debate within the McCain campaign about the alleged affair.

To his credit, Times executive editor Bill Keller more than once delayed the story, telling his bloodhounds that whispers from ex-staffers about their own conversations with McCain wouldn't cut it. Says Keller:

"Our policy is, we publish stories when they are ready. 'Ready' means the facts have been nailed down to our satisfaction, the subjects have all been given a full and fair chance to respond, and the reporting has been written up with all the proper context and caveats."

But, if Gabriel Sherman is to be believed, 'ready,' as herein defined, is reached as soon as The New Republic is about the publish an article about how The New York Times is investigating, but not finding any facts about, a leading politician's alleged affair.
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:16 PM

 
Reproductive Rights Prof Blog (you can imagine) says:

Funny how McCain seems to attract the admiration of both pro-choice and anti-choice groups. Let's just hope that in the general election his true (anti-choice) record is made crystal clear.

posted by Cacciaguida at 6:46 PM

 
The other candidate has virtually secured his party's nomination; his supporters are telling you, hey, take credit for a well-fought campaign, but recognize the inevitable and drop out -- but enough about Hillary Clinton....
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:51 PM

 
Cardinal Kasper Hails "New Climate" With Russian Orthodox. What, have they got two months of summer there now?

No, seriously -- after years of labor, Russian Patriarchs no longer nail Catholics' heads to the floor, and instead merely screw their pelvises to the cakestand. Should be on DVD soon.
posted by Cacciaguida at 9:53 PM

 
Anniversary of world premiere (1914) of Zandonai's FRANCESCA DA RIMINI. Six months later, war broke out.

You can listen to excerpts here. The to-die-for DVD (remastered) is here.
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:53 AM

 
Lost: good write-up of Season 4 Episode 3, "The Economist." (I didn't say the write-up is in "The Economist," I said the episode title was "The Economist." Sheesh.)

Also, try the Sawyer Nickname Generator: what would he call you?
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:51 PM

 
"World's Fattest Man" Drops 570 Pounds -- but enough about Mike Huckabee's resume....
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:46 PM

 
So Mae West was introduced to Bishop Fulton Sheen at a party, and after they talked for a while she said, as was her wont, "Come up and see me sometime!"

Bishop Sheen, rather flustered, said, "Oh, well, I -- I can't, you know, it's -- it's Lent!"

"Well, when you get it back, come up and see me sometime!"
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:56 PM

 
Pope Benedict's first miracle: he causes the New York Times to get a Catholic-related story right!

Specifically, the NYT, unlike many other media, correctly notes that the Holy Father's revision of the Tridentine version of the Good Friday prayer for the Jews pleases neither the ADL et al. nor the rad-trads. To me, this contradictory opposition raises a strong presumption that the Holy Father has gotten it right (I mean, in addition to the presumption that he would be entitled to just because he's the Holy Father).

I admit to a little unease over setting a precedent for post-Summorum Pontificum revisions of the TLM. Plus, the old language of "veils" and "hearts" had a certain beauty; I'd have been comfortable with leaving it alone, rather than stepping into the inevitable pile of leadership by changing it.

However, I think this precedent is pretty self-limiting. Besides, the fact that the change is disliked by -- well, by the particular spokesmen who dislike it -- establishes that pleasing these spokesmen is not the agenda. And that's a good precedent.

Also, I think Fr. Z. is right that this change is important above all

for the liturgical life of the Church because the 1962 Missale Romanum is now demonstrably a living liturgical book of the Church again. It is not a museum piece or a fly in amber.

posted by Cacciaguida at 1:37 PM

 

LONDON (AFP) - Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.

Hat-tip: TKB
posted by Cacciaguida at 6:13 PM

 
Super Tuesday: Mark you calendar to vote McCain in November. Today, vote Ron Paul.

Update: Huckabee wins West Virginia. Well, duh.
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:51 PM

 
If there's one thing more than another than I dislike about Pat Buchanan's writing, it's his habit -- vividly on display here -- of tossing around first names or nicknames of statesmen ("Ike," "Bibi") and names of obscure capitals as synecdoches for their governments ("Tbilisi"). These are well-known pundits' tricks for simulating knowledge, but few have mastered them as well as Mr. Buchanan.

In case Mr. Buchanan really wants to know "what guarantee is there a President McCain would nominate and fight for the fifth jurist who would vote to overturn Roe v Wade," he might click here.

And btw, I am not Juan Hernandez.

posted by Cacciaguida at 12:17 AM