In All Things

Our political bloggers will say more later about John McCain s surprising pick of Gov Sarah Palin of Alaska as his vice-presidential running mate For now one part of her biography is worth noting Palin s fifth child has Down s Syndrome which was discovered during prenatal testing Yet Pal

Barack Obama is the only American politician who can fill a stadium as he did last night in Denver By moving the venue from the smaller indoor arena to the massive outdoor one he did three things First he invited and received comparisons with John F Kennedy who accepted the Democratic nod i

For those of you who enjoyed Mary Doria Russell s bestselling science-fiction novel nbsp The Sparrow about a group of Jesuit scientists nbsp and lay colleagues who discover life on far-off planet with some tragic results comes this bit of casting nbsp news nbsp nbsp Many years ago there we

In conjunction with the party conventions this week and next Matt Malone S J is discussing E J Dionne s Souled Out Reclaimign Faith amp Politics After the Religious Right with Kathleen Kennedy Townsend the former lieutenant governor of Maryland and author of Failing America s Faithful

Sen Joe Biden gave a feisty speech last night And it wasn rsquo t difficult to see from whom he inherited that Irish feistiness His mother was in the hall and looked like she was ready to duke it out with John McCain and anyone else who would attack her son The news anchors all announced in on

Hillary Clinton s solid unambivalent endorsement of Barack Obama last night is the story of the day nbsp But Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer s speech should also turn heads nbsp A broad-shouldered ebullient former rancher with so much energy he couldn t quite stand still as he spoke to

Here s Michael Sean Winters America s regular blogger and author of Left at the Altar nbsp on slate com on the Dems and pro-life issues Catholics for whom abortion is the only issue are never going to vote for pro-choice Democrats Many others however are less certain about both abortion

Looking for some books on spiritual topics that won t rip open your backpack or crush your stomach while you re reading in bed Look no further James Martin SJ

You might not know it from this morning rsquo s press clippings but there were two unity speeches last night Sen Hillary Clinton rsquo s valedictory is front page and above the fold on every newspaper in America Buried at the end of the lead stories after noting the forgettable keynote address

Not to be outdone by the Democratic Conventioneers who have asked Sister Catherine Pinkerton to lead them in nbsp prayer nbsp the Republican National Committee announced this today Father Edward A Reese S J president of Brophy Prep in Phoenix will give the opening invocation at the Republica