A Contrast in Character

There has been a tremendous contrast that happened in the last couple of days. Two very different people, faced with difficult decision, came to two very different conclusions. One person chose what was popular in hopes of furthering his career and his ambitions. In exchange he was lauded by the President and “welcomed” into his political party. The other person is a person of character who chose to step out of the lime light and hold fast to her principles rather than compromise her beliefs and be the cover for actions that were contrary to her faith and her convictions.

The first person of course is Senator Arlen Specter, a man who faced a very tough primary battle in his last election and won after President Bush supported him and helped in his campaign. During that same term he has now switched his political affiliation from Republican to Democrat, despite the fact that just a month ago he claimed he would not. His stated reason for switching parties is that he has looked at the polls and determined that he will lose a Republican primary bid.

Better to change sides, than to lose an election.

Senator Specter claims that this will not change the issues that he takes a stand on, particularly the upcoming card check legislation that he currently opposes. Of course that might be the case and I certainly hope that it is, however at this point it doesn’t seem that Senator Specter can be trusted to keep his word, after all, a month ago he said “I am a Republican”. Senator Specter has an election coming up that he obviously desperately wants to win. He will be relying heavily on funding from his national and state party to get the funding he needs for this election. You would hope that he would return the MILLIONS of dollars that the state Republican Party has already given to his campaign, but that would mean he will need that much more support from the Democrats. If the Democrats are close on the card check legislation, you can bet that they would pressure Senator Specter to vote with his party, after all, they control the purse strings and Senator Specter has already demonstrated that he will do anything to win this election.

Senator Specter has never been a conservative and the Republican Party will be better without him.

The second person is Mary Ann Glendon, a lawyer of considerable note and a strong advocate for the rights of unborn children. She was picked by the University of Notre Dame to receive a very prestigious award, the Laetare Medal. As part of receiving this medal she would be giving an address at the university commencement ceremonies, also a great honor. The university also requested the President attend and speak at the commencement. He agreed and they have decided to present him with an honorary degree despite the fact that Notre Dame is a Catholic university and is naturally opposed to abortion and the pro-choice agenda. President Obama however is perhaps the most strongly pro-abortion president in history. They have received considerable criticism for their decision and just this week, Mary Ann Glendon wrote a letter that included the following:

First, as a longtime consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, I could not help but be dismayed by the news that Notre Dame also planned to award the president an honorary degree. This, as you must know, was in disregard of the U.S. bishops' express request of 2004 that Catholic institutions "should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles" and that such persons "should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions." That request, which in no way seeks to control or interfere with an institution's freedom to invite and engage in serious debate with whomever it wishes, seems to me so reasonable that I am at a loss to understand why a Catholic university should disrespect it.

Then I learned that "talking points" issued by Notre Dame in response to widespread criticism of its decision included two statements implying that my acceptance speech would somehow balance the event:
• "President Obama won't be doing all the talking. Mary Ann Glendon, the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, will be speaking as the recipient of the Laetare Medal."
• "We think having the president come to Notre Dame, see our graduates, meet our leaders, and hear a talk from Mary Ann Glendon is a good thing for the president and for the causes we care about."

Rather than serve as cover or as “balance” for the event and for actions that she obviously opposes, she has decided that she will not be attending the commencement and also will not accept the Laetare Medal from the university.

Mary Ann Glendon is a person of principles and Notre Dame University has a lot it could learn from her.