Deadline day here in the USC offices (busy, busy), so I’ll keep today’s links short and sweet:
Obama addressed the country last night in his annual state of the union speech. Missing from the address was any acknowledgement of guilt in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, writes Bryan Cones: “While the vast majority of U.S. service women and men have conducted themselves honorably, some have not, and some have failed spectacularly. No commander has accepted responsibility for the atrocities committed under his or her command, nor have any of our intelligence agencies or operatives been charged for what are surely violations of the Geneva Conventions and U.S. law.”
Liz Lefebvre points out that also noticeably absent was any mention of abortion, contraception, or same-sex marriage. Given that Gallup polls are showing Americans are more dissatisfied with the economy than the country’s “moral and ethical climate,” it’s understandable why Obama chose to focus on the economy.
The New York Times reports that not long after sending some Catholics into hysterics (mostly of the mad, typing variety) over the HHS contraception mandate, the White House honored nine Catholic educators as “Champions of Catholic Education:” “’Irony is the word of the day,’ said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.”
Apparently getting sent to America is considered a demotion by the Vatican, who banished Carlo Maria Vigano, secretary general of the governorate of the Vatican, to Washington after he denounced “corruption and waste in the management of the Holy See.” Given our lack of religious liberty here in the U.S., we can only pray Vigano isn’t martyred. (I kid, I kid.)
And finally, there was this guy. Yeah, he said that. On video.
