Yes, one can be both a Democrat and a Catholic, though there are some people who would like to deem anyone who is a Catholic Democrat a "Nazi." Yes, there are some Catholics who seem to think that the Democratic party is the party of death. Funny thing is that most of these "comments" from Catholics are in response to ..... a MASS that is being held this Saturday in San Jose, at St. Joseph's Cathedral, 80 South Market, 7:15 a.m. You can also read about Catholic Democrats at: CatholicDemocrats.org.

This mass is sponsored by the California Catholic Democrats - by sponsored I refer to organizing the mass, getting the church, asking Father Jon Pedigo to celebrate the mass, handing out flyers and taking care of the details involved with holding a mass.

A website called "California Catholic Daily" has posted a story about the mass, and while the story itself is not too extreme, the comments are unbelievable. Remember, the comments I am reposting here are posted to this "Catholic" website. These people call themselves Christians, though there is little Christianity in their comments:

Posted Monday, March 24, 2008 6:52 AM By sfcatholic
Who is surprised here. Those in the Church have serious ties to the Nazi (oops I mean Demoncratic ) party. Yes, it is wrong, but we have seen little in any kind of "oversite" from Church leadership and we Catholics are "on our own". It is disgusting.

Posted Monday, March 24, 2008 7:44 AM By William C. Meredith
This is a political rally in support of an agenda against the teaching of the Church and should NOT be allowed by the Bishop in the Cathedral, or any parish church.

Let me just state what this mass is not sponsored by the bishop. The mass offered at the request of Catholic members of the Democratic Party. The decision to offer the mass was a pastoral response to a request to have a mass preceding the conference. The mass is not an endorsement of any kind; it is merely a mass for Catholics who are attending the Democratic Convention.

Now, back to these "Christian" comments:

Posted Monday, March 24, 2008 8:30 AM By Laurette Elsberry
A special Mass for the Party of Death! Given the far left social agenda of the "peace and justice" faction of Catholic clergy, this is not surprising. Also considering that no Democrat can be elected to a legislative position UNLESS he or she espouses abortion, a Mass for pro-abort politicians in a Cathedral is not unusual. It happens in Sacramento quite often.

Posted Monday, March 24, 2008 1:37 PM By Carlos M
They ought to call themselves the Demon-crats! They are certainly following satan's way!

Posted Monday, March 24, 2008 3:22 PM By Elizabeth
These people are not 'REAL CATHOLICS'. I don't mean to be unacharitable....... But, if I were the Holy Father they would be EX-COMMUNICATED in a NEW YORK MINUTE!!!!! End of STORY.............

Posted Monday, March 24, 2008 7:35 PM By Miguel
What a crock! The Dems are so shameless they will use the illusion of their christianity to get elected to continue the murderess attack on children in the womb! They hide their real agenda and the press never calls them out. It has to be satan's grand design. There is no other logical explanation.

Once again, yes, you can be a Catholic Democrat. I am, and I know there are many, many more of us out there.

Obama gave a speech yesterday, a speech that us already being noted as historical.

View the speech here:

All eyes are on the Presidential primaries, but this year also is shaping up as a good one for Democrats to solidify majorities in the House and Senate. We'll talk more about the House later, but I wanted to pass along the latest exciting news in the Senate. The first good news is that Democrats only have to defend 12 seats, while Republicans have 21 seats up for grabs.

One of the Republican seats is in Virginia, where Democrat Mark Warner is very popular and is almost certain to turn Virginia further blue. The Governor and one Senator are already Democrats in that changing state. Two more open seats, in New Mexico and Colorado, are leaning towards the Democrats, with cousins and current Congressmen Tom (NM) and Mark (Col) Udall leading the way.

Incumbent Republicans in New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Oregon are all facing serious challengers, with John Sununu of NH trailing heavily behind former Governor Jeanne Shaheen. In Minnesota, the path is cleared for Al Franken to win the nomination to face Norm Coleman. And in Oregon, Gordon Smith is facing a serious challenge from state House Speaker Jeff Merkley.

Already, that list would mark 6 Democratic pick-ups. Other states, including Alaska, where Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich has announced his intention to run against corrupt GOP dinosaur Ted Stevens, are also going to be in play. Senator John Cornyn of Texas is even facing low ratings in opinion polls.

The best news of all is how Republicans have failed to find candidates to run against Democrats in South Dakota and Arkansas. That frees up Democratic resources to focus on the states mentioned above. The only Democratic seat in danger at this point is in Louisiana, where Mary Landrieu has squeaked by twice before.

All in all, 2008 is shaping up to be a monumental year for Democrats in the Senate. To follow these races and more, go to dscc.org/races.

The year was 2004. My daughter was just a few months old and, since her birth, I had been on fulltime caregiving duty as a stay-at-home dad. Months of little sleep, hours of isolation in the nursery and too much time in front of the television watching DNA testing on "Maury" had taken its toll.

Knowing of my interest in Democratic politics, a friend sent me a note asking me to attend a kickoff for the 2004 "Call to Action" sponsored by the Santa Clara County Democratic Party. My partner, Jim - supportive of my need for greater adult interaction - offered to watch our baby so I could attend this grassroots, community-organizing event designed to ensure a Democratic victory in the November election.

Quietly strolling into the room packed with grassroots Democratic activists, I felt right at home with these like-minded Democrats who shared my passions for good government and reasonable public policy that would improve the quality of life for working families. Almost instantly, I knew that attending this community-wide"Call to Action" was, in fact, a personal call to action that was likely leading me to a brand new world.

Within a few short months, inspired by my new friends with the local Democratic Party, I founded a new Democratic club - the Silicon Valley LGBT Democratic Club. Later that year, with my infant daughter in tow, I organized a weekend bus trip of 80 gays and lesbians traveling to Reno, Nevada to help Senator John Kerry's efforts in this nearby battleground state. Despite the 2004 loss that had driven my interest in local Democratic politics, I was now a valued part of the local Democratic coalition.

In 2004, little did I know that attending that first "Call to Action" would later lead to being chosen for the 2006 Madge Overhouse "Volunteer of the Year" Award, to be elected one of the leaders of the LGBT Caucus of the California Democratic Party or even to my own 2006 bid for elected public office.

On Saturday morning, I attended the first 2008 "Call to Action" and was once again inspired by the boundless energy of so many fellow Democrats determined to win back the White House. No longer a stranger as I was now among so many friends, I couldn't help but wonder what new faces in the crowd might be one of our newest Democratic leaders or a future candidate for public office.

As I know so well, the collective "Call to Action" can also be a personal call to action that will forever change your life. I urge you to attend a future meeting of the 2008 "Call to Action" and join me and so many of your Democratic neighbors in working collectively to take back the White House!

People are just a bit too squeamish about "negative" campaigning and "attack" ads for my taste Seriously, I think everyone needs to get a grip.

I forget now if it was on Twitter, or on BlogHer, or on someone's own blog, but I recently saw a discussion where someone was incensed over what she perceived to be Hillary Clinton's negative campaigning.

And we all know there are lots of discussions going on about how Hillary should drop out because it will just perpetuate all of this fighting between the Democrats instead of focusing on the real issue of beating John McCain.

I myself have been extremely annoyed by the rather arrogant and, I think, subtly sexist tone Obama is taking every chance he gets.

But when I think more about it I really have to say: we all need to check our overreactions at the door and ask ourselves: Exactly what horrible, terrible, vicious attacking are we talking about?

That "phone call at 3AM" Hillary ad that has some people so steamed? Harmless. Doesn't say a word about her opponent. Harps on her experience as she's been doing for months and months.

Obama's comments about Hillary getting "desperate" and lashing out when she's "feeling down". Ok, I agree with Jon Stewart, seems like he'd be a dickish boyfriend, but this is an old political put-down...think Ronald Reagan and "There You Go Again."

Both of them having their staffs get worked up in a lather over comments from various opposing campaign workers and supporters? Getting campaign workers and supporters to step down, resign, back off, apologize?

I don't know. They're both doing it. And none of it, frankly, seems incredibly awful.

It's OK for Hillary to question Obama's experience, and for her to imply that he's all hat, no cattle. All inspiration, no perspiration. Even if you think it sounds a bit patronizing. Yes, I do think she'd be taking the same tack with anyone else who was 15 years her junior and had a similar resume.

It's OK for Obama to question Hillary's electability, "establishment" position and reputation as a polarizing figure. Even if you think he's basically spouting Republican talking points. He'd be talking about change no matter who he was running against.

I actually do not buy the media talking point that this race has been or is getting ever-more nasty. It actually hasn't...at least as far as I've paid attention. And for all you political junkies out there who are obsessed with every single detail of this race: I may pay less attention than you do, but I pay closer attention than about 99% of the electorate. So I'm betting that if I haven't noticed any actual egregious nastiness, then most other voters haven't either.

We don't need to perpetuate this Republican and Mainstream Media talking point that having Obama and Hillary continue to run is bad for the Democrats. I don't buy it.

We do need to stop expecting this to be a tea party and let the candidates make their damn case.

So, let me have it. What are the examples of campaigning that you think are incredibly nasty? Educate me.

Cross-posted at my personal blog

First of all, no that was not a typo in the title. From now on, or at least until the Repug Party can learn to say "Democratic," I will resort to calling them "Repug(s)," short for repugnant, which is what their party has become.

Repugs want you to hear what they say and ignore their deeds. For instance, Repugs are always talking about "fiscal responsibility" and how they are just so much better stewards of "our" tax payer money. Really? The facts show otherwise.

The NYT is reporting that:

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of dollars are missing and presumed stolen from the chief fund-raising arm of House Republicans, according to party officials who described the findings of emergency internal audits.

The financial records of the group, the National Republican Congressional Committee, may also have been falsified for several years, Republican officials said. The campaign committees of several Republican lawmakers may also have been victims of a scam that is now under criminal investigation by the F.B.I.

The audits were ordered after the abrupt departure several weeks ago of Christopher J. Ward, who had been treasurer of the committee. Lawmakers said that Mr. Ward, who served a similar role for dozens of individual members of Congress and their political committees, is the focus of the F.B.I.’s criminal investigation.

The Repugs can't even keep track of their own money, let alone ours. When given the opportunity to steal, they steal, when given the opportunity to lie, they lie, and when given the opportunity to lead they fail.

So, here we have the National Repugs not being able to manage money, and locally? Well, CA Repugs are bankrupt (morally as well as financially):

The current balance sheet shows that the California Republican Party is operating in the red - with $3.2 million in cash and $3.4 million in unpaid bills. The party's federal accounts, which are used for congressional campaigns, list $460,000 in debts.

The CA Repugs also have a problem with voters:

What was an 8.5% gap in registration in the last general election is now a 10 point gap, with Democrats holding a 43% to 33% advantage. On top of that, Democrats are turning out at the polls like never before in recent memory, excited about electing a Democrat to the White House. And the growing independent (or Decline-to State) voters in California side with Democrats on key issues. Polls from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) and the California Field Poll show this—and there is the potential for a Democratic blowout in November.

We have eight months until our nation goes to the polls and elects a new President and congress. With McBush as their candidate, the Repug party is going to have a hard time convincing the voters that eight more years of their leadership is good for our nation (checked the stock market lately? The other day Bush didn't even know that gas was headed towards $4 a gallon).

Don't get mad, get even, get involved with our local Democratic Party, join us on Saturday at our "Call to Action," learn what you can do locally to take our nation back from the failure of the Repug Party.