Damage Done

From CNN:

(CNN) – Sister Simone Campbell got what may have been the biggest media platform of her life on Wednesday night, when she addressed the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. But the Catholic nun had plenty of star power before that. ...

They had seen her on "The Colbert Report," pushing back on the Vatican's crackdown on American nuns, or read about the "nuns on the bus" tour that Simone organized to decry Rep. Paul Ryan's federal budget proposal. ...

By asking her to speak at their convention, the Democrats appear keen to capitalize on Campbell's budding celebrity at a moment when the official Roman Catholic Church has been critical of the Obama administration, claiming that it is infringing on religious liberty.

And at a convention that is revolving largely around an alleged GOP-led "war on women," Campbell is a poignant feminist symbol. She has stood up to the Vatican's criticisms of American nuns for what the church says is their fixation on progressive advocacy at the expense of promoting socially conservative positions. ...

On Wednesday night, Campbell said that Obama's health care law and expanding Medicaid coverage "is part of my pro-life stance and the right thing to do." It was the biggest applause lines in her speech, which was filled with big applause lines.

"Paul Ryan claims his budget reflects the principles of our shared Catholic faith," Campbell said later in her speech. "But the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that the Ryan budget failed a basic moral test, because it would harm families living in poverty.

"We agree with our bishops," Campbell said. "I am my sister's keeper. I am my brother's keeper.

Isn't Obama's brother living in poverty in a hut in Kenya?

Anyway, as soon as I read that bishop's simplistic critique of Ryan's budget, I knew this was going to happen. A foolish and ill-timed critique of Paul Ryan's budget by an ill-informed bishop (or committee) who simply refused to do his homework is used as a weapon by the liberal Catholic wing in America against a solidly pro-life, faithful Catholic with an impeccable pro-life voting record. As though Paul Ryan's views on the budget are in any way comparable to the grave matter of protecting innocent lives in the womb. The criticism is totally baseless. Paul Ryan himself answered it. This is just throwing out old, tried and tested talking points.