Phony "Pro-Life" Catholic from Charlottesville Sells Out on Funding Planned Parenthood
(Hat tip: Creative Minority Report)
The Catholic Key Blog has the story about the Catholic fraud, Tom Perriello:
Twenty Democrats in the House of Representatives joined all but 9 Republicans last week in voting to defund Planned Parenthood in an amendment offered by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) to the Labor / HHS Appropriations Bill. The Amendment failed, but I'd like to share some information about these prolife Democrats, as well as some info on two betrayers who should have been among their number.(emphasis added)
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Two Representatives not among the 20 are Reps. Tim Ryan (D-OH) and Tom Perriello (D-VA).
Ryan used to be pro-life and now has a 0 per cent score from NRLC. We've written about him before and about the disastrous patronage bill he is sponsoring for Planned Parenthood and NARAL ludicrously named the "Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act".
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A second Democrat of interest not among the 20 voting to defund Planned Parenthood is Freshman Congressman Tom Perriello (D-VA). Perriello won his seat in one of the most surprising upsets in the November election, unseating longtime Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode. Goode had served in Congress as both a Democrat and Republican for five terms easily defeating adversaries in each contest. Perriello beat him out of a sixth term by only .24 percent of votes cast.
Perriello is an excellent campaigner and organizer and was an early adopter of the attractive "common ground" rhetoric. In fact, he was a co-founder of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and in 2006, Catholic News Service wrote of him, my emphases:Tom Perriello, a co-founder of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, told CNS that efforts by the Democratic Party to reach out to Catholics, especially in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia, states with close, key Senate races, seem to have succeeded.Perriello the candidate was coy about his position on abortion, but his record in Congress is unambiguous. He has earned a 0 per cent rating from National Right to Life Committee and is a co-sponsor of the Ryan-DeLauro Planned Parenthood bailout bill. In his actions, the "common ground" Catholic Democrat is indistinguishable from forthright supporters of the abortion industry.
The "life does not end at birth" campaign of 2004, organized by a coalition of Catholic groups led by Pax Christi USA, was the start of efforts aimed at persuading voters to choose candidates on a broader basis than abortion alone, Perriello said. Catholics in Alliance this year had a series of ads headlined "As simple as right and wrong," which picked up that theme and which have resonated with evangelicals and Catholics alike, he said.
Perriello is optimistic about that success meaning the end of the sense that Democratic candidates must support abortion "rights" to get anywhere within the party.
[Read the whole thing]
My Comments:
Of course, it comes as no surprise to some of us that the ranks of the leadership of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good are filled with frauds.
And, like the Ohio-based fraud discussed in the links immediately above, this fraud, Perriello, hits somewhat close to home. Not only is he from Charlottesville, but the solidly pro-life Virgil Goode, who Perriello defeated to win his congressional seat, is a friend of mine. Finally, Perriello's father, a well-respected pediatrician who helped to found the pediatric practice that we took our kids to when we lived in Charlottesville, recently passed away and his funeral was held at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, which is the parish where Sarah and I were received into the Church.
Although Virgil Goode has decided to forego running against Perriello for his old seat, a stiff challenge is expected from the GOP. Now that my friend Virgil has decided not to run, if I were still living in the 5th District (and were still Mayor of Columbia), I would have probably run against Perriello, myself, in 2010.
Labels: Culture of Death, Democrats, Dissident Catholics, Hypocrites, Liars, Pro-Life, The Common Good, Voting Your Values
posted by Pro Ecclesia 9:31 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
"To allow racism to reign in our hearts ...is to cooperate with one of the great evils that has afflicted our society. In the words of Brothers and Sisters to Us, “It mocks the words of Jesus, ‘Treat others the way you would have them treat you.’" Bishop Blase Cupich of Rapid City
I do not claim to know what is in Virgil Goode's heart, but he made many purposeful racially divisive statements. Racism is also an intrinsic evil. Are these really our only two choices? Must we choose between two intrisic evils? Isn't there a better candidate out there?
I've never once heard Virgil make a racially divisive statement. I know he made a controversial statement regarding Islam, one with which I disagreed, but it was hardly a statement that was outside the mainstream (i.e. he didn't say anything a lot of people weren't already thinking).
On the other hand, I've heard our President and several of his close associates make racially divisive statements, including one the President made on national TV during last week's press conference.
And I utterly reject the implication that Virgil is a racist by your equivalence of an imagined "racism" on his part that is even close to being on par with voting to use tax dollars to fund the nation's leading provider of abortions.
He said ""We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy . . . allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country." He also repeatedly used the dehumanizing term "anchor baby" during a debate. I consider these statement divisive. Perhaps you do not. However, migration is also considered a human right by the Catholic Church.
I agree that such statements are "divisive" in the sense that there is a division of opinion on illegal immigration in this country (mostly against, by the way).
I happen to disagree with Virgil on immigration and agree with the U.S. Bishops (although I think they need to more fully develop what the human right to migration entails ... surely it doesn't completely eviscerate the right - some might say "responsibility" - of a government to place reasonable controls on their borders and reasonable limits on immigration).
But I don't see those comments as evidence of "racism". Nor do I see the comments as intrinsically evil. And I certainly don't see those comments as even close to being morally equivalent to voting to fund the single largest provider of abortion with tax dollars.
If you move back, I'll vote for you!
I voted for Goode and think that part of his loss was due to phone calls made the night before the election claiming that he had encouraged -- and would continue to encourage -- the porn industry in Virginia (I don't remember the call verbatim, but think it even suggested he had appeared in a porn film). Thank goodness for the Internet so I could look up the issue -- but I am sure other people did not and turned away from Goode based on those calls.
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