November 15, 2020 Column Father De Celles


McCarrick Report. As I write this (Tuesday morning), I hear that the long awaited “McCarrick Report” has just been issued by the Vatican. There is no time now, given my publishing deadline (early this week, due to Veterans’ Day), to comment on it with any kind of deliberateness. I will do so next week. In the meantime, you can find a copy of it online and read it yourself. Lord have mercy.

“Dewey Defeats Truman.” This was the famous front page headline of the Chicago Daily Tribune on November 3, 1948, declaring New York governor Thomas Dewey the president-elect the morning after the 1948 presidential election. President Dewey isn’t very well known in history, since he never was actually president. You see, the Tribune made its announcement before all the votes were counted. Which reminds us that the press doesn’t get to decide who the president is, the voters do. And often when the press tries to proclaim a president, they are wrong.

            Today we find the press and the whole media establishment, having “decided” that Former Vice President Joe Biden is now “President-Elect Biden.” But here’s the reality: no one is elected president until the all the votes are counted and certified by each state and there is a clear, uncontested winner. Actually, that’s not even exactly correct: there is no president-elect until the actual electoral college votes to elect him on December 14.

Of course, none of that has happened yet: they are still counting the peoples’ votes in lots of states (including key states with close totals), no state has certified their counts, lawsuits have been filed challenging the counts, and the members of electoral college haven’t even been named.

            But once again the press/media knows best, and has decided who the president-elect is, who won the election, before the election is even over.

            For four years the media has waged war on the incumbent, President Trump, never hiding their disdain for him and pushing every story that might injure him politically, assuming facts with no evidence, reaching conclusions without deliberation. And for the last few months they have been telling us that Biden was way ahead in the polls, and that there would be a crushing blue wave that was going to wipe out conservative governance across America. And they’ve suppressed any negative story about the challenger, Biden.

            They told us that Biden would win the popular vote in a landslide with between 11 and 8 percentage points—he is current ahead by only 3% points. They told us Biden would win most of the key states by large margins—but he either lost those states or is only ahead by less than 1% point (.45 in Arizona, .25% in Georgia, . 69% in Pennsylvania); the Washington Post told us he would win Wisconsin by 17%, but he’s currently only .7% ahead with 99% counted.

They assured us that mail-in balloting was fair and non-problematic, but now we see it’s resulted in all sorts of problems, including late counting of votes and charges of voting fraud, all undermining voter confidence in the outcomes.

            And now they tell us there are no credible claims of voter or election fraud or misbehavior, while the President’s legal team has documented evidence of wide election irregularities. Consider that the Supreme Court has already ordered Pennsylvania to separate thousands of mail-in ballots for judicial scrutiny.

            For 4 years the media chanted the mantra, “Trump lies.” But I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, “THE PRESS LIES ALL THE TIME.” They lied for 4 years, they lied before the election… but now we’re expected to accept their word that the election is over? Not me.

            And remember: they lie especially when it comes to traditional values voters, sometimes called “conservatives.” They really think we’re stupid, ignorant.  Why do we listen to them?

Oh, and social media. Big-tech thinks it’s so important it has the right to censor even the president for saying things they don’t like. Even though so far 71,563,681 million voters agree with him. Who do these oligarchs think they are? They spent millions of dollars, both in in-kind and direct donations, to sway the election, and now they tell us, “trust us, we know best.”

Moral Imperative. I don’t know who won the election—no one does yet. But I do know that we should not trust the media, at least filtering it through a thick net of reality and suspicion. You should seek alternative media sources, and defend the American Constitutional system that allows Trump to challenge the “results” in court—to prove his case.

            This rant of mine is not about defending a candidate. Its’ about defending our rights to a free and fair election. Your right to vote is negated if political machines cheat. And while mistakes are made in any human endeavor, including elections, intentional violations of the law, including election law, cannot be tolerated. If they are, then all election laws are meaningless, which in turn renders all elections meaningless, and so the right to vote meaningless.

            So, count the legal votes, give due process to legal claims, and determine the next president according to the law. God’s will be done.

Sign Up for Masses. Please please please, if you want to attend the 9am or 11am Sunday Mass you really need to sign up online, and then bring proof (the confirmation email) with you to Mass. No one will be admitted to these Masses before Mass begins without this proof/“ticket”. Anyone who comes without a ticket will not be admitted (have to wait outside) until after Mass begins. And the ticket/reservation is void once Mass begins, so if you come late to Mass, even with a ticket, you will not be guaranteed a seat.

            Apparently people have been ignoring these policies in the last few weeks. That will stop this weekend.

            Remember, this policy is not meant to turn people away—it’s meant to assure that you can get a seat at Mass if you just sign up. If you don’t sign up, I can’t be responsible for reserving you a seat.

            Also remember, I am simply following the order of the Bishop regarding capacity limits. In that context I’m also trying respect the concerns of parishioners over social distancing etc.

Sofi’s Birthday. Yesterday, Saturday, November 14, was the 10th birthday of Sofi Hills. As many of you will recall, as a newborn baby she was left in our parking lot, where she was found by a parishioner and rushed to the hospital. We continue to give praise to the Lord Jesus for saving her life that day, and that she has grown into a healthy vivacious little girl. Sad to say, the COVID restrictions make it impractical to have our annual birthday party for her this year. But I ask you all to say a special prayer for her today as a birthday gift to her.

Oremus pro invicem. Fr. De Celles