Author Archive: Bill Black
I'm a baby boomer, lefty Democrat, Boston Irish Catholic, born in 1953. I work as a public affairs consultant in Washington.
I’m Good
Problem solved on the contraception issue, as far as I’m concerned. Haven’t heard from the bishops yet, but the Catholic Health Association has weighed in:
“The Catholic Health Association is very pleased with the White House announcement that a resolution has been reached that protects the religious liberty and conscience rights of Catholic institutions,” Sister Carol said in a statement. “The framework developed has responded to the issues we identified that needed to be fixed.”
The Republicans are unlikely to give up the fight, but I hope that will be seen as political opportunism. And let them defend denying women access to birth control.
Gail Collins Gives Me Pause
In today’s New York Times, Gail Collins takes on the contraception issue in a very powerful way. As noted elsewhere on this blog, I have expressed sympathy with the Catholic Church. I won’t restate my case, except to say I do respect the Church’s consistency on issues of procreation. Still, I can also see the other side and wish there was some way to “split the baby,” so to speak.
Here are the two most powerful excerpts from Ms. Collins’ piece:
When I was first married, my mother-in-law sat down at her kitchen table and told me about the day she went to confession and told the priest that she and her husband were using birth control. She had several young children, times were difficult — really, she could have produced a list of reasons longer than your arm.
“You’re no better than a whore on the street,” said the priest.
That just pisses me off. And then her summation:
We are arguing about whether women who do not agree with the church position, or who are often not even Catholic, should be denied health care coverage that everyone else gets because their employer has a religious objection to it. If so, what happens if an employer belongs to a religion that forbids certain types of blood transfusions? Or disapproves of any medical intervention to interfere with the working of God on the human body?
I had been thinking about the Christian Scientist. What do they do? Can they forbid coverage of any real treatment of their employees? I am also hearing that many states require this coverage without much controversy. If the Church is already offering such coverage, then the precedent is there. What are we arguing about?
It is a tough issue and I am getting wobbly.
Downton Abbey and the Superbowl
I have just discovered the BBC program, Downton Abbey and I’m totally hooked…and I’ve only seen 4 episodes. I will blog about the show sometime in the future. But for now, I must share this very funny video. I share it even though I’m still grieving about the outcome of the game.
The Catholic Church and the Contraceptive Rule
I have a somewhat grudging respect for the Catholic Church’s position on reproductive issues. Unlike many among the anti-abortion activists, the Church’s position is logically consistent. Fundamentally, the Church holds that human life is sacred from the moment of conception through natural death and human beings should not intervene either at the beginning or the end of life. Granted, the Church seems to place more emphasis at the beginning of this continuum than the end. It seems obsessed with sex and pregnancy, but when it comes to the death penalty, not so much. Moreover, it is a bit strange that one billion Catholics are expected to take guidance on sex and procreation from a small group made up exclusively of men for whom sex of any kind is a sin. Continue Reading
Kevin White, “Boats in the Hahbah”
Bill Black and Kevin White at the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston
Kevin White has died. He was a political colossus in Boston in my formative years. He had a legendary career, running the gamut from liberal reformer to political boss over the course of his four terms.
Looking back on his time in office, the drama is remarkable. He was Mayor when Martin Luther King was killed and kept the city from exploding. In 1972, he was privately selected by George McGovern to be his running mate, only to have Teddy Kennedy put the kibosh on the idea. There would be only one national Democrat from Massachusetts and wouldn’t be somebody not named Kennedy. And then the tragedy of bussing, that ripped the city apart and tainted the final years of his career.
The one story I have that will probably not make the papers has to do with the assassination of Martin Luther King. At the time, White’s top assistant was Barney Frank, my old boss. At the time, Barney was in his 20’s. That night, the soul music mega star, James Brown, was scheduled to appear at the Boston Garden. It was a volatile situation. In Barney’s recollection, he said that, in confronting that extraordinarily scary night, all he could think in his 25 year old mind, “So, when are the adults going to show up to fix this?” Continue Reading
24 Hours in a Monastery, St. Anselm’s Abbey
The Chapel at St. Anselm's Abbey
I spent 24 hours at St. Anselm’s Abbey as a sort of “mini-retreat.” What follows is an account of that experience. I’m posting it mainly for my own record, for posterity, as it were. It’s a long post and I doubt many of the vast numbers of my readers will be interested, so feel free to pass this one by.
Romney and Taxes
Mitt Romney gave a revealing quote when addressing the fact that his effective tax rate is dramatically lower that most Americans. Explaining that he paid his taxes according to the law, he said, “The American people don’t want as their president someone who pays more than they owe in taxes.”
They don’t? Why not? Is it some kind of moral or intellectual failure to pay anything but the minimum possible amount in taxes? Apparently, for him and his ilk, it is their patriotic duty to put their money in the Cayman Islands because to pay more than you need to in taxes reflects badly on you in some way.
It shows how deeply the anti-government strain runs in the Republican mind. Remember Kennedy’s famous call to action? “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” It motivated a generation of public spirited young people. It inspired the Peace Corps. Seems kind of quaint now. Certainly, among Republicans, it’s an apostasy. I remember in the last campaign when Joe Biden said it was patriotic to pay taxes, he was ridiculed by Republicans.
So, Mitt Romney just takes for granted that Americans would think less of him if he didn’t contribute as little as possible to the government formed by the divinely inspired Constitution.
The sad part is that he may be right.
Two Gentlemen of Verona
I attended the premier of Two Gentlemen of Verona last night with my daughter, Bridget. It was a very fun evening. At the dinner in advance of the play, the director described his vision of the play, saying that he sought to depict adolescence in all its choas, raging hormones and irrationality. I think he succeeded.
The play was very creatively produced. The set was somewhat spare with metal stairs and bridges criss-crossing the stage. Lots of running about and up and down stairs. There were also hints of modern day like a huge Campari sign and and Apple logo. At one point, the familiar IPhone Marimba ring is heard and some of the lines are spoken into the device. At various points in the play, modern pop songs are either played or sung, including at the finale of play. In the director’s dinner remarks he seemed almost apologetic for the liberties he took. And I think sometimes these kinds of things can get out of hand and you lose the “Shakespeare-ness” of the play. But I thought it worked. There were many hearty laughs. And the real dog that had a role was a big hit, particularly with my daughter. I think I got the message Shakespeare intended, even with the all the non-Elizabethan elements, including the occasional gunshot.
So, I recommend the play strongly. It was fun and accessible. If you are a purist, however, you should probably stay away. As Bridget and I got on the elevator to get to our car, there was one other attendee with us. He asked how we liked it. Both Bridget and I said we liked it a lot. When I asked him what he thought, he paused and said slowly, “Different…”
My Father’s WW II Letters
Bill and Helen Black, June 14, 1952
Thanks to my amazing cousin, Bob Black, the Official Black Family Genealogist, I have come into a priceless stash of letters from my father to his sister, Ann, during World War II. The letters run from July, 1943 to July 1945 when he was 25 years old. I spent yesterday working my way through them chronologically and was transported. It seems his original posting was Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Then, he went to San Antonio and, from there, overseas to England. He got the job he wanted as a machinist and was assigned to the Ninth Air Force Service Command Base Aircraft Assembly Depot in England.
I may blog more about these letters as I process them mentally and emotionally, but two excerpts really struck me. The first one had to do with his arrival in France. I have a memory of him telling me that he landed at Normandy some time after D Day, but I have never been able to document the fact. Well, I now have documentation.
Here’s what he wrote on July 22nd, 1944, about six weeks after D Day.
They have eased up on the censorship enough so that I can say that we came to France the hard way – landed on the beach. It was quite a thrill tho as we approached the beach head to think that we were landing in another foreign country. I kept thinking of how Peter [his brother] had come to France + comparing the circumstances. As for the beach itself, at high tide, it might have been any part of the Cape [Cod]. Boy, how it reminded me of it. Of course, at the Cape, you wouldn’t see a lot of destroyed barges laying about. For the next four or five days, it was kind of rough. I lived in the truck + ate K rations….
And then, his letter written May 9, 1945, the day after V-E Day.
Even with VE day, there still isn’t much to write about from here. It would be just our luck to [be] stuck out in the country when the end came. It’s almost not fair to have to just carry on when you know that everybody that can is celebrating. I’ll be they are still raising hell in Paris.
Here’s what my father was missing.
V-E Day, Paris, May 8, 1945