The Influence of Religion in Politics

I’m just old enough to remember the 1960 presidential campaign in which some Republicans assailed John F. Kennedy for his Catholic faith. It was whispered loudly that Kennedy would be tempted to side with the pope instead of the U.S. Constitution if there ever were an issue putting the two at odds. On its face, the charge seemed bigoted and absurd, even to a 9-year-old. In his commentary on April 27 (“The Unholy Alliance Against the Filibuster”), Jack Miles raised that specter again. Only this time, it’s not quite so absurd.

In last fall’s letter to U.S. bishops, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger called for denying Communion to candidates supportive of a pro-choice stance on abortion while waffling on those who were in favor of the war in Iraq and the death penalty. These were plays right out of the Bush campaign playbook. And when George W. Bush increased his support by 6 points among Catholic voters (in swing states like Ohio), it was enough to guarantee four more years.

With an alliance of neoconservative Christians and conservative Catholics dictating to the Republican majority, how can checks and balances like the Senate’s filibuster survive?

Ken Wilson

Valley Village

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This commentary concludes that the United States is being overthrown in a putsch by the Senate majority to change the rules over the filibuster. He quotes a German emigre historian who witnessed the rise of Nazism to make a connection between the Bush administration and the Third Reich, including a few cheap shots at Pope Benedict XVI.

I’m aware that liberal Democrats want to do away with “the state-by-state winner-take-all system,” but it doesn’t mean that President Bush was voted into office illegitimately. And yes, the Constitution empowers the president to nominate judges of his choice pending Senate approval without a super-majority vote.

The real putsch in this situation is coming from the radical left.

Clyde Feldman

Sherman Oaks