Harrison Butker, Joy Behar, Kathy Griffin...
It has been a bumpy two weeks since we last talked
As a self-described terminally lapsed Catholic, I’d be remiss if I failed to point out that Harrison Butker’s comments at a Catholic college are exactly why I left the Catholic Church. So sure, he made the mistake of saying all the bonkers beliefs in one uninterrupted chain of thought. But those views aren’t exactly unknown.
Weirdly, he chose the same speech to criticize the church itself. Especially priests. From his speech, reprinted in full and without any kind of “we do not endorse this” language in The National Catholic Register.
But make no mistake, before we even attempt to fix any of the issues plaguing society, we must first get our own house in order, and it starts with our leaders. The bishops and priests appointed by God as our spiritual fathers must be rightly ordered. There is not enough time today for me to list all the stories of priests and bishops misleading their flocks, but none of us can blame ignorance anymore and just blindly proclaim that “That's what Father said.” Because sadly, many priests we are looking to for leadership are the same ones who prioritize their hobbies or even photos with their dogs and matching outfits for the parish directory.
Appointed by God? Misleading? Photo opps!
Has he not seen Spotlight?
Then he spends two more paragraphs bashing the only people who might have listened to his speech and thought, yes! Finally! Someone said all the things. To wit, “Yes, we absolutely should be involved in supporting our parishes, but we cannot be the source for our parish priests to lean on to help with their problems.”
But that weirdness was overshadowed when, in the same breath, he invoked goddess to generations, Taylor Swift:
This undue familiarity will prove to be problematic every time, because as my teammate's girlfriend says, familiarity breeds contempt.
I’m with Behar on this one: GET A THERAPIST!
HURRAH for Kathy Griffin
I have never appreciated Kathy Griffin more than now, and I was a fan of her photo shoot. But why now? Because far too often, our icons on the left get kicked and stay down.
Al Franken. Sinead O’Connor. Paul Reubens. Janet Jackson. (There’s loads more, that’s just off the top of my head.)
Worse, sometimes they flip on over to the dark side. Roseanne Barr. Naomi Wolf. Russell Brand. Probably loads more of those, too.
It’s not like she’s been sitting around wallowing. She has been through lung cancer, got half a lung removed. She became addicted to pills and got sober. Her mother died. Now she’s going through a divorce and embarking on a 40-city comedy tour? Way to fucking go!
Of course I read her funny, charming interview in the Tampa Bay Times. But I liked even better what Bill DeYoung got out of her for St. Pete Catalyst.
Also, shout-out to Jim Carrey for standing up for his friend in this old clip I came across while diving into the Griffinverse. Back then, legions turned against her. Carrey pointed out the hypocrisy while getting in his own jab that “trying to cover for this president is like putting cancer on a melanoma, it’s not only unsightly, it’s dangerous.”
Yes, My Book Is Still Out In 11 Days!
I wrote about the real-life characters behind the book and planned to share more this week, but instead decided to wait till a few more of you have read the book. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
What I can report is that I bought a new phone charging stand which had an unfortunate circle of green light surrounding its base that I could NOT turn off, so I took about every last light blocking sticker I had in the house to cover the light. IT WORKED. Then, clear as day the following morning, I see the on/off switch with an arrow pointing at it. Which I also covered. The red arrow is only to help you spot both things.
So… that’s how it’s going.
Though for real, I am SO EXCITED about all the events I have planned in the coming weeks! Check out the events page on my website for a full list (not including book clubs, reply to this email if you’re near St. Pete or would like to have me Zoom in to your readers circle!)
And, my deepest thanks to The Gulfport Gabber for Amanda Hagood’s GORGEOUS review of the book. For whatever reason, media outlets LOVE to cover indie bands. Indie books? Not so much.
Please support them by checking it out!
Oh right, you can still nab a signed preorder!
And finally, for my own favorite media post of the week (which supports the above photo as well), from my Instagram:
Last but not least… FREEBIES!
See you on the other side of my first novel being out in the world!
YOUR TURN!
Let’s hear:
What thing did you do that sucked a lot of time lately?
What weird thing do you think gets ignored by the media?
*If your answer was Harrison Butker… why do you think that is?
**Even if your answer wasn’t Harrison Butker, why do you think that is?
What events do you have planned this summer? And by events, I mean, what’s in your TBR beachstack?
Your anecdote about the phone charger is so me. As we say here in TX, 'if it had been a snake, it woulda bit me'.
I’ve always loved Joy Behar. She’s the fast talking-wity-shoots from the hip aunt we all need in our lives. And Kathy Griffin occupies a special place in my heart. I love and respect anyone who stands by their convictions, does it their way, and stands up for others even when it’s not popular to do so.