It seems that not all reporters bought Nancy Pelosi’s “hearts full of love” nonsense from her statement this morning. At the end of her subsequent press briefing, Sinclair’s James Rosen asked as Pelosi walked away from the podium, “Do you hate the president?” Pelosi wheeled around and began berating the reporter even while he explained that the context of it came from an accusation by Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) about anger and hatred being the impetus behind impeachment.
In her rebuttal, Pelosi raised her Catholic faith as an absolution against accusations of hatred:
The press conference ended with a tense exchange as Pelosi was leaving, after a reporter in the front row shouted a question asking if she hated the president.
“As a Catholic, I resent you using the word hate in a sentence that addresses me,” Pelosi said, stunning reporters in the room who have long known her to be composed under pressure. She then aggressively rejected the notion — fueled by Republicans — that Democrats are impeaching Trump because of personal animosity.
In an extraordinarily rare display of anger, Pelosi marched back to the podium to answer the question for the full set of cameras: “Don’t mess with me when it comes to a word like that.”
Ahem. While we Catholics aspire to put aside hatreds, simply calling one’s self Catholic is not an alibi from it. Neither are bizarre bon mots like “hearts full of love” used as a description of an angry, seething process such as that seen in the House Intelligence Committee last month or at times during the House Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday. Hatred is evidenced in acts as well as rhetoric, and while Pelosi wasn’t personally part of any of those events, her caucus members certainly acted in a manner which validates Rosen’s question. The personal animosity toward Trump from Democrats has been visceral at least since November 9, 2016, and it has only grown more and more evident ever since.
Besides, there’s nothing special about Catholicism in that sense anyway. Every mainstream Christian denomination teaches against hatred, as does Judaism, and most other religions outside of their extremists. Every one of those faiths have lots and lots of people who fall short of their ideals but struggle to do better, too.
Speaking of which, just how much credibility should we put in Pelosi’s protestation of a Catholic alibi for hate when she continues to promote and advance abortions in the US and around the world? The Catechism has a few things to say about that, one of which is that material support for abortion is an excommunicating act latae sententiae (by the act itself, rather than requiring a judgment), a point in which Canon Law 1398 is also specific. If we are to judge Pelosi’s state of mind based on her Catholicism, surely this goes to credibility, no?
Addendum: Looks like Donald Trump’s not convinced about the sincerity of Pelosi’s Catholic love for him:
Nancy Pelosi just had a nervous fit. She hates that we will soon have 182 great new judges and sooo much more. Stock Market and employment records. She says she “prays for the President.” I don’t believe her, not even close. Help the homeless in your district Nancy. USMCA?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2019