UNITED STATES
Voice from the Desert

[Bob Hoatson reflects on last night’s election results]

Tom Doyle

When I first saw Bob’s reflections on the election joined with his reflections on VOTF I was struck by how much on target Bob is with his thoughts on both. I suggested that his thoughts get as wide a circulation as possible.

The one aspect of the election campaign that irritated me the most was the clumsy and insulting intrusion of the U.S. Bishops. They viewed the campaign and the office of president pretty much the way they view everything: an entity subordinate to them and an entity that must submit to their scrutiny and their demands. For as long as anyone can remember the bishops have held themselves out to be the official, divinely instituted arbiters and interpreters of moral law, theology and the meaning of the scriptures. Whether their interpretation…