Rep. Kennedy 'milked' confrontation with Bishop Tobin for political reasons, expert says

Boston, Mass., Dec 3, 2009 / 05:48 am

Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) has decided to pull out of the Communion controversy after unsuccessfully “milking" his confrontation with Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, said Joe Fitzgerald, a political analyst from the Boston Herald.

Fitzgerald wrote: "Patrick Kennedy’s announcement that he’s 'not going to indulge in this debate any longer,' referring to his rejection of Catholic Church beliefs, was reminiscent of a strategy George Aiken floated at the height of the Vietnam War: 'Declare victory and pull out!' the late Vermont senator suggested.”

The Boston Herald columnist added that Kennedy was pulling out after "having milked his confrontation with Bishop Thomas J. Tobin for all it was worth after igniting it by indiscreetly disclosing a private communication he had received from the latter."

"Kennedy, like other pols before him, thus discovered it was much easier to profess his faith than it was to actually practice it, so he decided to cast himself as a martyr."

"Why not? There’s never been a better time to beat up on the Catholic Church. It plays well to malcontents and dissidents who’ve long resisted its teachings, and to activists and anarchists who resent its disapproval of their agendas," Fitzgerald said.

It brings to mind a puckish thought from Ronald Reagan: 'I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress'.”

Fitzgerald's column is available at: http://news.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view/20091202immoral_society_perfect_host_to_kennedys_catholic_crusade/srvc=home&position=also