Ex-Rendell firm bills Pa. $1.8M -- report
Gov. Ed Rendell's former law firm has billed the state $1.8 million as special counsel for privatizing the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a pet project of the governor's, according to documents posted on an Internet site. Read More
Fumo will quit race, sources say
State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, besieged by legal, health and political problems, is expected to announce today that he will not seek reelection, sources said. Read More
State primary blitz begins
The Democratic presidential campaigns staked out turf Tuesday ranging from a college campus south of Pittsburgh to a factory near Philadelphia. Read More
Catholic Judge agrees to civil unions
A judge in Middlesex County , NJ who is also training to become a Roman Catholic deacon has said he is willing to perform civil unions in his position on the bench.
John A. Jorgensen, a municipal court judge for the past 15 years had worried gay-rights activists because he has refused to perform civil unions. After officiating what he estimated as hundreds of marriages, Jorgensen stopped doing weddings in January 2007, shortly after New Jersey's civil union law was signed.
But Monday, as the Senate Judiciary Committee took up his nomination to become a Superior Court judge, Jorgensen said he is willing to perform either type of ceremony and has been available to do so since November.
"I'm fully in support of the civil union act. I think that any time we can have an expansion of the rights and equalities of individuals, it's a very good thing," Jorgensen said at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Well he has traded one problem for another. That being the teaching of the Catholic Church.
The church said Monday that clergy must consider their faith at all times, regardless of their other roles.
"The Catholic Church teaches unambiguously that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Therefore, priests and deacons may never officiate at same-sex unions," said the Rev. Msgr. William Benwell, vicar general of the Diocese of Metuchen, where Jorgensen is studying.
"Ordination produces a permanent change in a deacon's fundamental character that cannot be separated from his secular profession or other responsibilities. In other words, a deacon, or a priest for that matter, cannot step "outside' of his priesthood or diaconate to officiate as a civil official at a union not recognized by the church."
It seems like Mr. Jorgensen has a decision to make. Does he want to be a deacon and serve God or a judge and serve man?
Story
John A. Jorgensen, a municipal court judge for the past 15 years had worried gay-rights activists because he has refused to perform civil unions. After officiating what he estimated as hundreds of marriages, Jorgensen stopped doing weddings in January 2007, shortly after New Jersey's civil union law was signed.
But Monday, as the Senate Judiciary Committee took up his nomination to become a Superior Court judge, Jorgensen said he is willing to perform either type of ceremony and has been available to do so since November.
"I'm fully in support of the civil union act. I think that any time we can have an expansion of the rights and equalities of individuals, it's a very good thing," Jorgensen said at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Well he has traded one problem for another. That being the teaching of the Catholic Church.
The church said Monday that clergy must consider their faith at all times, regardless of their other roles.
"The Catholic Church teaches unambiguously that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Therefore, priests and deacons may never officiate at same-sex unions," said the Rev. Msgr. William Benwell, vicar general of the Diocese of Metuchen, where Jorgensen is studying.
"Ordination produces a permanent change in a deacon's fundamental character that cannot be separated from his secular profession or other responsibilities. In other words, a deacon, or a priest for that matter, cannot step "outside' of his priesthood or diaconate to officiate as a civil official at a union not recognized by the church."
It seems like Mr. Jorgensen has a decision to make. Does he want to be a deacon and serve God or a judge and serve man?
Story
SPITZER EXPECTED TO RESIGN TODAY
From the story: Eliot Spitzer is going to resign his post as governor. Sources tell CBS 2 HD he's using the resignation as a bargaining chip with the feds. But after negotiating all day there was still no deal Tuesday night. Spitzer doesn't have the luxury of playing deal or no deal. Experts agree that his involvement in a prostitution ring makes him damaged goods. "I think his career is politically at an end," noted criminal defense attorney Ronald Fischetti told CBS 2 HD. (WCBS)
As John Podhoretz explains, Spitzer has been a crook for a long time. (Commentary Magazine)
From the Boston Globe: Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is faced with an awkward choice: Call for the resignation of a fellow Empire State Democrat and raise comparisons with her own husband's behavior as president, or keep quiet and risk the appearance of condoning Spitzer's alleged offense. (Boston Globe)
Gallup notes “As of December 2006, just 22% of Americans held state governors in high esteem for their moral character.” (Gallup)
In a bizarre op-ed, an evolutionary biologist tells us why he believes Spitzer was just doing what comes natural. (LA Times)
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