Public square

Schrödinger’s Mitch?

[Can McConnell be alive and dead at the same time? In Trump’s America, perhaps.]

Jul 28 • SDG

Every election now matters: MAGA and the future of democracy and rule of law

[LONGREAD: The future of U.S. democracy and rule of law are at stake in every election, including the midterms, in which MAGA is on the ballot.]

Jul 24 • SDG

American unreality under Trump: Notes on the state of the Union at 250 years

[LONGREAD: reflections for the U.S. semiquincentennial]

Jul 7 • SDG

Bishop Barron’s fig leaf withers as Pope Leo moves forward on just war theory

[the more Pope Leo, President Trump, and Bishop Barron talk, the flimsier Bishop Barron’s rhetorical bid for unifying middle ground becomes]

Jun 30 • SDG

‘Magnifica Humanitas’: Three quick observations (and a geeky P.S.)

[Pope Leo declares just war ‘now outdated,’ apologizes for legitimization of slavery by the Holy See, and calls treatment of migrants a ‘litmus test…

May 26 • SDG

Pope Leo actually calls out Trump’s lies

[OK, NOW the pope and Trump are feuding?!]

May 6 • SDG

Bishop Barron vs. Pope Leo? War and Church teaching

[LONGREAD: The president and the pope really are at odds. Bishop Barron seems to want to separate them into non-overlapping magisteria.]

Apr 22 • SDG

Pope: [is Catholic]; Trump & Vance: ‘Not like that’

[LONGREAD: hubris, hectoring, lies, and damned lies]

Apr 17 • SDG

Pope Leo: on Trumpian war blasphemy. Bishop Barron: still on Mamdani ‘collectivism.’

[two episcopal Chicago natives, two very different scopes of what concerns them]

Mar 31 • SDG

Cesar Chavez and the mysteries of duplicity and integrity

[LONGREAD: From Jean Vanier and Bill Cosby to countless mentors and relatives, might anyone we think we know be a monster? How are we to live with the…

Mar 23 • SDG

Immigration, deportation, and Catholic principles: 21 points

[UPDATED: on the “intrinsic evil” of deportation]

Mar 3 • SDG

Racism, Trump, and implausible deniability

[Catholic leaders are calling on the White House to apologize for sharing a racist video clip. Why is an apology needed, and would it matter?]

Feb 9 • SDG

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