BIG C CATHOLICS

Ed Whelan The following by Ed Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a former law clerk to the late Justice Scalia, discusses Judge Neil Gorsuch's recent nomination to the Supreme Court. It originally appeared in the January 31, 2017 edition of National Review Online under the subheading "Rocky Mountain native Neil Gorsuch has an impressive judicial record as an originalist." _____________________________________________________ On the Saturday afternoon last February when he received word of Justice Scalia’s death, Neil M. Gorsuch “immediately lost [his] breath” and “couldn’t see... for the tears.” In his grief over the death of a justice he deeply admired and emulated, Judge Gorsuch could hardly have imagined the series of events that would lead to his being selected today to fill the Scalia vacancy. And while he has rightly recognized that no one could ever replace Justice Scalia, there are strong reasons to expect Justice Gorsuch to

EPPC President Ed Whelan, a former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia and an expert on the Supreme Court confirmation process, will offer extensive commentary on President Trump's Supreme Court nominee immediately following the expected announcement Tuesday evening at 8:00 ET. Be sure to visit Mr. Whelan's award-winning blog, National Review Online's Bench Memos, both tomorrow and throughout the confirmation battle. And follow Mr. Whelan ( @EdWhelanEPPC ) and EPPC ( @EPPCdc ) on Twitter for links to his articles and media appearances as they happen. Sign up for Mr. Whelan's email list for frequent disseminations of his writings. ________________________________ Prayer for the Faithful Witness of Catholics in the United States (By Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke) O Lord Jesus Christ, You alone are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In Your Church You show us the Way, You teach us the Truth, and You give us Your Life. Grant, we humbly beg You, that, always a

George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center , discusses the abysmal state of our politics in " Confessions of an 'Elitist' " wherein he laments the systematic rhetorical degradation of opponents. Political correctness has wholly eviscerated traditional notions of civility in the conduct of public discourse. Weigel writes: The term "elitist" has been bandied about so promiscuously in this election cycle that it’s become virtually content-free. Yet "elitist" is also being weaponized as a scare-word to prevent legitimate criticism of ideas, attitudes, and behaviors once thought beyond the pale, even in the rough-and-tumble of politics (which, as Mr. Dooley reminds us, "ain’t beanbag"). That kind of bullying is bad news for an already degraded political culture. So let me offer these Confessions of an Elitist in the hope that they might encourage others to push back against the “anti-elitist” though