Links for 3/31/20

When you write about the Catholic Church, you realize pretty quickly that unprecedented events are rare in an organization that has been around for more than 2,000 years and which values tradition more than innovation. So, I was more than a little surprised to see this statement from the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops. They offered an essentially anodyne call for ethical norms governing any allocation of scarce health care resources. Near the end, we read this: "This statement is signed by all the Catholic Bishops of Texas with the exception of Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler."

I am aware of times when a state bishops' conference cannot attain unanimity and no statement is issued. Also, times when the bishops on the losing side of a vote nonetheless defer to the will of the majority. Also, though more rarely, times when the bishops in the majority list their names, and if anyone notices a name or two is missing, you can conclude that they opposed the resolution. But, never have I seen bishops call out one of their brethren for failing to stand together like this statement.

Relatedly, though unsurprisingly, EWTN's Raymond Arroyo interviewed Strickland on his show last Thursday. He demonstrated that he completely understands the concept of subsidiarity and Arroyo demonstrated that he misunderstands prudence. Arroyo is also not very astute about the way that viruses move through a population, echoing the president's briefly touted, now abandoned, idea that we approach social distancing restrictions county-by-county. It is no surprise that Arroyo is more interested in parroting White House talking points than shedding light on an issue. Also, no surprise that Strickland is the Roman Catholic answer to Mary Baker Eddy. In both cases, we can say with Sunday's Gospel reading — and Jesus wept. More on all this tomorrow.

Someday, someone will find a cure for this horrible virus. But, a cure for ideological blinders may be more elusive. At Vanity Fair, Bess Levin looks at the last-minute objection to last week's stimulus bill raised by some conservative senators such as Lindsey Graham, Ben Sasse, Rick Scott and Tim Scott. They were concerned that the additional $600 per week in unemployment insurance benefits would create a "disincentive to work." More on this tomorrow as well.

Nothing quite so American as the idea of one-party government. Oh, wait. That isn't American, despite the fact that President Donald Trump has admitted encouraging Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the coronavirus task force, not to deal with Democratic governors who are not sufficiently "appreciative" of what a "great job" the administration has done. Forbes has the story.

The president was upbeat by the end of last week, noting the market was having a good rebound. Of course, by the end of last week, the U.S. also surpassed China as the country with the most reported cases of COVID-19 and we learned that millions of Americans had lost their jobs. But, hey, so long as the market is going back up! Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reportedly began a meeting on Capitol Hill last week by quoting Pope Francis, to which Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin replied, "While you are quoting the pope, I am going to quote the markets."