Peterr

Mitt Romney has a big problem ahead, as he is faced with headlines that feature words like bankruptcy and layoffs. The Bain business model, as Paul Krugman noted, enriched Romney and his cronies at Bain at the expense of ordinary workers at the companies they bought.

Reuters paints this picture vividly, as they tell the story of a Kansas City steel mill that Bain purchased, looted, and led into bankruptcy. Even more devastating is the reaction of at least one conservative former Armco worker, who is featured in a new anti-Romney ad put together by Moveon.org. “They [Bain] walked out of here with millions. They left us with nothing.”

Way to reach out to the conservative base, Mitt.

On Wednesday, Boeing dropped a bombshell on the state of Kansas, announcing that they were closing their plant in Wichita, sending ripples throughout the region.

What makes this plant closure announcement different from others, however, is that in the battle to win back the military tanker contract, Boeing’s CEO promised Kansas Senator Pat Roberts, then-Senator (and now governor) Sam Brownback, and other members of the Kansas Congressional delegation that Boeing would build the tanker in Wichita if the Kansas delegation could prevail on their colleagues to award them the contract.

Roberts and the rest of the GOP is not pleased that after winning the contract, Boeing decided to build elsewhere and close the plant.

Imagine that. A corporation would deceive members of Congress when it suits them. Awwwww . . .

As 2011 comes to a close, millions continue to be without a job, and far too many haven’t had a job for at least half of the year.

To the MOTUs, these are statistics; to me, they are the people I see almost every day. They are my neighbors, my parishioners, and my friends. For them, my new year’s wish is that they find the jobs they so desperately seek. For the MOTUs, my new year’s wish is that they pay the taxes to fund the safety net my neighbors, parishioners, and friends so desperately need.

The Smithsonian magazine highlights — and supports — evolution in the cover story of their January issue. Online, they go even further, with additional information and links.

Cue the TheoCon heads exploding in five, four, three . . .

A senior North Pole official, operating under a grant of anonymity, provided a copy of a letter sent from the Congressional GOP leadership to Santa.

It starts like this: “We in the GOP Congressional leadership are concerned about the growing dependence in our nation on handouts, and the increasing expectation that you can get something for nothing. . . .”

Rick Perry’s claims notwithstanding, not all Christians think LGBTs should be discriminated against. Yesterday’s Minneapolis Star-Tribune carried a powerful pro-equality voice: retired ELCA Presiding Bishop Herbert Chilstrom.

The tide is turning, both inside the church and beyond. And it’s not moving in favor of bigotry, homophobia, exclusion, and hate.

Mostly underneath the radar of the national media, religious leaders and communities are participating in the Occupy movement. But these people are there, and the movement is energizing them to become more involved as a matter of putting their faith into action by challenging injustices and standing up for the poor and oppressed.

This is not right. You are not alone. This must change. With these three phrases, the mighty are brought down and the lowly lifted up.

On this Thanksgiving Weekend, I am thankful for all who stand up to bullies.

Institutions faced with allegations of criminal misconduct like the rape of children have a choice. The president of Penn State, following the model used by the bishops of the Roman Catholic church, backed his athletic director and VP for finance unconditionally when they were indicted. But the Board of Trustees took a different path, demanding openness to wherever the investigations by prosecutors takes them. That kind of institutional loyalty will, in the long run, help Penn State come to grips with what has happened in their midst — much more so than attempts to cover up, make excuses, and otherwise keep silent.

I’ve been a campus pastor, and my heart goes out to the campus pastors at Penn State. But one of them has a much tougher assignment than the others: Father Matthew Laffey. The Roman Catholic church in Philadelphia is facing a remarkably similar criminal indictment of Monsignor William Lynn, the former assistant to the former Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua. Lynn faces trial next March on charges that he protected priests he knew to be pedophiles, with the knowledge and support of his boss, the Cardinal. It doesn’t help matters for Father Matthew that Penn State’s Catholic campus ministry is in the middle of constructing the Suzanne Pohland Paterno Catholic Student Faith Center. (That’s Mrs. JoPa.)

Good luck with all that, Father Matthew.

Daniel Avila, a lawyer for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, has resigned over a column he wrote ascribing same-sex attraction to Satan. Church Lady jokes aside, Avila’s resignation reveals a great deal about the USCCB’s efforts to get religious exemptions to various federal regulations on health care and providing social services with federal money.

Avila’s apology seems more aimed at his former employers at the USCCB than to LGBTs, which says a great deal about the political priorities and goals of the USCCB.