• Barack Obama,  Caroline Kennedy,  Catholicism,  Vatican

    Vatican Blocks Obama Appointment of Caroline Kennedy as United States Ambassador to The Holy See

    Caroline Kennedy

    Caroline Kennedy responds during an interview, Friday, Dec. 26, 2008 in New York

    Well, what does Kennedy expect? She is in favor or abortion and gay marriage.

    Vatican sources told Il Giornale that their support for abortion disqualified Ms Kennedy and other Roman Catholics President Barack Obama had been seeking to appoint.

    Mr Obama was reportedly seeking to reward John F Kennedy’s daughter, who publicly gave her support to his election bid. She had been poised to replace Hillary Clinton as New York senator, but dropped out amid criticism that she lacked enough experience for the job.

    The Italian paper said that the Vatican strongly disapproved of Mr Obama’s support for abortion and stem cell research. The impasse over the ambassadorial appointment threatens to cloud his meeting with the Pope during a G8 summit in Itay in July.

    Ms Kennedy, 53, has said that she supports abortion. Raymond Flynn, a former US ambassador to the Vatican, said earlier this week that Ms Kennedy would be a poor choice.

    “It’s imperative, it’s essential that the person who represents us to the Holy See be a person who has pro-life values. I hope the President doesn’t make that mistake,” he told the Boston Herald. “She said she was pro-choice. I don’t assume she’s going to change that, which is problematic.”

    And, Caroline Kennedy reportedly has the run of the mill Obama appointment tax problems too.

    Obama may have a real problem on his hands finding soemone from his Far Left constituency to appoint to The Holy See.

    Oh well……


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    links for 2009-04-11

    • Governor Sarah Palin has urged the Secretary of Defense not to reduce the Missile Defense Agency’s budget. In a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Governor Palin outlined her concerns about the proposed $1.4 billion in budget cuts to the agency.

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    • Right to Life officials announced Thursday that, in addition to speaking to a sold-out crowd of 2,180 during the 6 p.m. banquet in The Centre's Bill Brooks Exhibition Hall, Palin will appear before people paying $16 per ticket to watch a live broadcast feed in the building's auditorium.

      Right to Life officials had been working for weeks to confirm Palin's appearance in the auditorium with theater seating, where 564 of an available 2,500 tickets have been sold.

      Palin, the Republican Party's 2008 nominee for vice president and a possible 2012 presidential candidate, will be accompanied by her husband, Todd Palin, and the couple's baby son, Trig.

      Right to Life Executive Director Mary Ellen Van Dyke said Palin's appearance in the auditorium "makes this event extra special."

      (tags: sarah_palin)
    • New rockets will by 2016 account for at least 80% of the strategic missile forces in Russia as it replaces its Soviet-era arsenal with new nuclear-capable missiles, the military said Friday.

      "Plans for the development of the Russian strategic rocket forces through 2016 foresee a decrease in quantity and a transformation in quality at the same time, " Nikolai Solovstov, the commander of Russia's strategic missile forces, told reporters.

      "Rocket systems with an extended shelf life will account for roughly 20%, while new rocket systems for at least 80% of the forces," said Colonel-General Solovtsov, quoted by the Russian news agencies.

      In December, he announced that Russia would by 2020 replace its Soviet-era arsenal with new nuclear-capable intercontinental missiles capable of overcoming anti-missile defense measures by enemy states.

    • The weather was so nice in fact, that, after President Obama received his economic briefing and met with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in the Oval Office, the POTUS and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton decided to hold their 4:15 meeting out behind the White House—next to the swing set installed for the Obama girls in March.
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      "I hate to say this, but he's a serial exaggerator," Rove told FOX News. "If I was being unkind I would say liar. But it is a habit he ought to drop."

      Rove added: "You should not exaggerate and lie like this when you are the Vice President of the United States."

      Biden's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, although Biden spokesman Jay Carney told Fox on Wednesday: "The vice president stands by his remarks."

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