Huffpost has a story up by Sam Stein describing a letter from an organization called Catholic Advocate that makes some startling accusations against Catholic Senators and Catholics in general.
UPDATE: Great link from comments. Thanks jetskreemr.
The letter itself is linked to in the Stein story and it is pretty hard core. Some highlights:
Real Catholics need a new voice - not the likes of Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi who have campaigned as Catholics while voting to undermine the values that we hold most dear.
The same can be said for the five "Catholic" senators sponsoring the Freedom of Choice Act, namely:
John Kerry (D-MA), Barbara Mikuski (D-MD), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Patty Murray (D-WA) and Maria Cantell (D-WA) is:
It is with Christian Charity - and in fraternal correction that we say to them:
You can't be both Catholic and Pro-Abortion!
Wow, with Christian Charity no less are these folks and others that support these measures told that they are not real Catholics.
Now I am not the most religious person but I did spend 12 years in Catholic schools so I thought I would call the Senator from Kansas that appears to have the power to determine who a real Catholic is and who isn't.
The conversation went something like this:
Me: My name is xxxxxx and I am in possession of a letter from a group called Catholic Advocate that has Senator Brownback's name all over it and is soliciting funds based on certain anti-abortions rhetoric contained in the letter, are you aware of the letter?
Brownback rep: Yes I am.
Me: Did the Senator authorize the use of his name in this letter and the solicitation of funds to Brownback c/o this organization?
Rep: Yes he did authorize the group to use his name.
Me: Well as a Catholic that supports President Obama's legislation referenced in your letter, that means according to the Senator that I am not a real Catholic. Can I talk to the Senator or someone on his staff that could explain the Senator's ability to make such a determination?
Rep: Um, okay, let me get the communications director on the phone.
Five minutes later on hold....
Rep: I just spoke to the communications director and he told me that Senator Brownback did NOT authorize his name to be used by this organization and he has reached out to the organization and the mailing house responsible for distributing this letter and advised them that the use of his name, signature, or likeness was not authorized.
Me: Well thank you for your time and clarifying that. I hope the Senator actually does disassociate himself with this letter because I think it is pretty outrageous for him to question whether people are true Catholics.
Well, she went from full authorization to complete denial in a matter of about five minutes. I sure hope Brownback gets this shoved very deeply up his nose. I find it hard to believe that he had NO knowledge of this. If it is true, then I would think Catholic Advocate has some explaining to do because they seem to be raising money on false pretenses.
Christian Charity indeed.
UPDATE 2 Brownback changes story
Per Sam Stein at Huffpost, the letter is legitimate according to Catholic Advocate.
I'm happy to provide you with a confirmation that the letter we sent out bearing Senator Brownback's name is legitimate. Glen Chambers, Chief of Staff for Senator Brownback sent the following email to Dr. Deal Hudson yesterday morning:
As I mentioned to you over the phone, I think we have gotten to the bottom of the confusion of the mail piece. Neither the Senator nor I had seen the letter or were aware of it. I figured out that you did get permission to use his name on the piece from a former campaign staffer in February of last year. However, as I mentioned, we'd like to stop any future mailings you have planned using the Senator's name. Sorry about the confusion.
Huh? You got permission last year to send out letters with Brownback's name without his first reviewing them? This doesn't even make sense. WTF is going on here?
I thought I heard that name Deal Hudson before. He is the clown that was fired from Fordham after having sex with a 18 year old student and other sexual escapades that cost the university $30,000.00. Nice.