As A Catholic, I’d Like Nancy Pelosi To Shut Up

It was a terrible question. Followed by an outrageously awful answer.

Perhaps you heard or saw Nancy Pelosi’s press conference yesterday where she feigned profound sadness over rushing ahead with articles of impeachment even as champagne corks were no doubt being popped all over Capitol Hill by delighted Democrats.

As the speaker was about to leave the room, Sinclair Broadcasting Company reporter James Rosen asked if she hated Trump.

An insipid question. What, exactly, was the point? Yes, I know that supporters of the president are accusing House Democrats of being motivated by their loathing of Donald Trump. But did Rosen really think Pelosi would admit that she despises the president?

Instead of ignoring the reporter or replying with a terse “no.” Pelosi lost her composure and went into a bizarre finger-wagging frenzy that ended this way:

“As a Catholic, I resent your using the word hate in a sentence that addresses me,” she sputtered. “I don’t hate anyone. I was raised in a way that is full, a heart full of love, and always pray for the president. And I still pray for the president. I pray for the president all the time.

“So don’t mess with me when it comes to words like that,” snapped Pelosi as she turned to leave.

A heart full of love? Please. She’s a politician. Their hearts are full of a lot of things. Love is rarely in evidence.

Here’s a thought, Madam Speaker, avoid the “As a Catholic” line when ducking questions that make you squirm.

Those three words remind many Catholics that while you claim to be a devout Catholic you’re one of the most powerful abortion enthusiasts in the country.

Look, I don’t make it a habit to judge how other people practice their religion. Lord knows, I’m far from a good Catholic myself. But one of the basic, unshakable tenets of our faith is opposition to abortion. All abortions. The Catholic church regards the snuffing out of an innocent life as the ultimate dark act of hate.

Yet we all know abortion is a constitutionally protected right in the U.S. and thus Catholic politicians are in a tough spot. I get it. They may not want to impose their religious beliefs on others, while personally opposing abortion.

But Pelosi goes way beyond the long-abandoned Democratic mantra that abortions should be “safe, legal and rare.”

Not only does the speaker support abortion, she supports the grisly practice of late-term abortions and has said that she wishes she could scrap the Hyde Amendment, which was passed by Congress in 1976 to ensure that the American public would never see its federal taxes used to pay for this procedure except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.

"I do not think it is good public policy, and I wish we never had a Hyde Amendment,” Pelosi said recently, “but it is the law of the land right now and I don't see that there is an opportunity to get rid of it with the current occupant of the White House and some in the United States Senate."

Pelosi has departed sharply from Catholic Church teachings on fundamental doctrine. That’s her right.

But she ought to at least have the decency to stop yapping about what a good Catholic she is and knock off the Pelosi the Pious act.