This week, at the behest of Pope Francis, bishops from around the world will travel to Rome, where they will discuss how to protect minors from sexual predation by the clergy. This first-of-its-kind meeting marks a significant change for the Church, which has heretofore denied wrongdoing, silenced the abused, and protected abusers. The meeting is meant to teach bishops how to stop abuse, to encourage clergy to hold each other accountable, and how to listen to (instead of ignoring or discrediting) victims. 

As the Church faces this long-needed reckoning, however, other ghosts from its past are surfacing. The New York Times has reported that the Vatican confirmed the existence of an internal document offering guidance for dealing with children fathered by priests. This piece may lead to an outcry by the children of priests and spark yet another sex-related scandal involving the Catholic Church. 

In the United States, a Protestant denomination faces a similar challenge. The Southern Baptist convention, the largest evangelical denomination in the nation, has just announced initial recommendations for dealing with a sex abuse scandal that shook the denomination to its core: nearly 400 church leaders have been accused of assault since 1998. In addition to the initial recommendations for rectifying the problem, the subject will also be a primary topic at the denomination’s annual convention. 

More about religion. 

The public debt of the U.S. government has now hit a record $22 trillion for the first time in its history. The new report from the Treasury Department was released today, as reported by NPR. The news was reported together with data from the Treasury that tax revenue has been dropping and federal spending is …

The acting defense secretary of the United States, Patrick M. Shanahan, arrived in Baghdad yesterday for a ‘surprise visit’ to the Iraqi capital. He met with Iraqi leaders to discuss American troop involvement in the region and future strategies against the Islamic State. One of the topics of conversation was over what remains of the …

Severe weather is coming. This morning, about a third of Americans will wake up to a winter storm that will likely cause significant floods and blistering cold temperatures. Over 100 million people are under some winter alert, stretching from coast to coast, with millions facing a flood threat according to CNN. The Northeast, including Philadelphia, …

Delivering the response to the State of the Union is an excellent way for rising political stars to gain even more national attention. Stacey Abrams hardly needed more national attention, after her narrow defeat in the Georgia gubernatorial election––an election married by allegations of voter fraud or manipulation.

But the response can also be a curse. Marco Rubio’s famous water bottle moment haunted him for months. Last year, Joe Kennedy III put on so much lip balm before his response that he looked like he was drooling.

No one will be making fun of Stacey Abrams’s for her speech. The only memes that will gain traction will be positive ones. That’s because she did a fantastic job.

She began with a story from her childhood. She described her parents teaching them the values of charity and hard work. From there, she pivoted brilliantly to the government shutdown, when she helped hand out food to government workers relying on handouts to survive. She blasted Trump for the shutdown and for using government employees as pawns in a political game. It was by far her strongest moment. 

Coming in a close second for her most powerful topics was voting reform: This is the next battle for our democracy, one where all eligible citizens can have their say about the vision we want for our country. We must reject the cynicism that says allowing every eligible vote to be cast and counted is a ‘power grab.’”

For the remainder of her time, Abrams hit the major Democratic talking points: LGBTQ rights, abortion availability, tax reform, health care reform, and racial justice. Her points were well delivered here, full of passion and compassion. She carried herself with grace and poise. She was, in short, surprisingly presidential. 

Abrams ended her response with a better call to unity than Trump managed. She acknowledged that she disagreed with the president, but she made it clear that she does not want him to fail. She wants him, and our nation, to succeed. She also reminded us all that compromise is the only way we as a nation can win.

In terms of accuracy, Abrams stuck closely to facts in her short, ten-minute response. NPR adds details and sources to some of her claims. NBC’s fact checking similarly supports her claims.

Three State of the Union responders have gone on to become president. Stacey Abrams’s performance may make her the fourth––after all, a 2028 presidential run is already on her spreadsheet life plan.

In choosing Abrams, The Huffington Post opines, the Democratic Party leadership have signaled the direction they want the party to head in the upcoming years. Moreover, her staging––backed by a diverse array of women––signals that the party is leaning heavily towards two key issues: women and minorities. This is perhaps unsurprising, given the midterm election results which swept it more women (and minority women) than ever into offices around the country. In selecting Abrams, the Democrats may be telling voters that the message has been received. 

Watch Stacey Abrams’s response here:  

More politics.

There’s a phrase I use a lot. I picked it up from a buddy of mine who works at FEMA and used to work at the Department of Veterans Affairs. I use this phrase when something doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to be done: “It’s good enough for government.” When you think about it, it’s kind of sad that this phrase exists. It implies that any work one does for the government is inherently subpar. It just needs to be good enough to get by, and the standard for “getting by” is pretty low. That’s what makes this recent CNN poll so tragic: four out of ten Americans think the current federal government is the worst they’ve ever seen. Only nineteen percent of respondents say that the government is doing a good job of governing.

When it comes to Trump more specifically, numbers are a little more balanced. Nearly fifty percent of participants in that poll (49 percent) believe that Trump has changed the government for the worse. Forty-three percent say that Trump has changed the government for the better––that’s actually four percent up from 2017. So while most Americans believe that the government stinks to high heaven, they’re split on Trump (with a slight lean towards dislike). 

When you look at some of the major issues facing the government, it’s easy to see why people are so negative on it. Take, for example, immigration. It’s all you hear about on the news, and the government actually shut down over the issue of immigration. Here’s the issue, though, 81% of Americans would like to see a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Sixty percent disagree with the plan to build a wall––three percent higher than June 2018. The majority of Americans want to hire more border patrol agents, though. 

From the outside, it seems like all of this has an easy solution: compromise. Higher more border patrol, get a bit creative with border security, and forget about the wall. In fact, fifty years ago that would have been a no-brainer. Now that political compromise has become a dirty word, however, politicians feel that they cannot make this seemingly easy, cross-the-aisle agreement. 

Things aren’t likely to change with Trump’s fear-based leadership style. He’s used to trying to intimidate opponents in negotiations, and he’s used to winning the American people over through fear. That’s not likely to change, and as long as that’s the case, compromise will be a long time coming. 

Between bouts of stirring up political frenzy, it seems that Trump spends sixty percent of his time doing…well, who knows what. Sources say that his “executive time” consists of watching TV or calling aides to find out about his reputation. He also uses that time to have off-the-record meetings, meetings that he tries to hide from aides in case they leak the meetings to the press. Trump’s unconventional political style may have been a draw for some votes, but it’s proving to be a challenge for the entire government.

More news.