National

2013 was a brutal year for me personally, and for our nation. Tomorrow, I am going to kick this year in the ass as it heads out the door. But Andrew Sullivan, while taking note of the horror of 2013, looks on some of the bright side of the year that was. And Eugene Robinson discusses that how Obamacare, now that it is a reality that is here to stay, is dividing the Republican Party horribly.

Steve Benen says that even though 2013 was a bad year for President Obama, it is not, as some pundits describe it, the worst year EVAH!!!!! in all history for any human being alive or dead. Indeed, the President did accomplish some important things this past year...

Since it is Christmas Eve, I thought I would address a move Pope Francis made last week. During the 2004 election, conservative Catholics were strutting around like they owned the religion, and owned the country. They were emboldened by the socially conservative bent of President Bush and the Republican Congress. Remember, this was a Congress that came out of recess to solely address, debate and vote on the Terri Schiavo case. In the run up to the 2004 election, Boston Cardinal Raymond Burke announced that Democratic Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry was not welcome to receive communion in any church in his diocese. Well, Pope Francis removed Cardinal Burke from the Congreation of Bishops, which has great influence on finding the future leaders of the church. And it would seem that Burke's public statements about denying communion are the reason why. Here is Pope Francis' thoughts on the openness of the Church in his Evangelii Gaudium....