We will get to the appropriateness of the term flatulence shortly, but first . . .
The Pacem en Terris Peace and Justice award (PeT award) is a local institution, started and still pretty much controlled by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport, the local bishop chairing its board. It has achieved a bit of out-sized notoriety – the sort that catches on when other liberals nod affirmatively when fellow liberals score a usually liberal speaker, a well-known fellow ring-knocker in a manner of speaking, with the notification of an award to them for their efforts on something appreciated by liberals. It is of the nature, “aren’t we wonderful, yes we are.”
In an effort to directly claim some sort of non-denominational aura. PeT loosened up at some point and allowed non-Catholics onto the board. But the loosening was superficial, they are still all largely of the same religion, the Religion of Liberalism, as liberals certainly control.
Of the fifty or so they have made awards to, many would rate a universal acclamation for their work for genuine peace and justice, Mother Teresa of Calcutta a case in point. If you can glom on to a person of such widespread acclaim, in spite of some of the rest, it is a coup. Others have been very well-known but most would only be recognized in leftist circles, the primary geometry of the award. The operating rule of the leftists apparatchiks that control it is that peace and justice is what they say it is.
OK now to the provenance of our headline use of “flatulence”, and why it fits the awarders. The use emits from the promoter of flatulence as an oh-so-clever tactic for “change.” The profound innovator, a recipient of the Pacem in Terris award, was none other than Saul Alinsky. This comes to us from none other than NBC News:
SANDERS FANS PLAN DNC ‘FART-IN’ PROTEST OF CLINTON NOMINATION
Using flatulence as a protest tool was, according to the Daily Kos, apparently the brainchild of Saul D. Alinsky, who coincidentally corresponded with Clinton while she was writing her 1969 Wellesley College thesis on his theories of community organizing.
After putting the word out about the fart-in through her national organization, the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, Honkala said she began receiving beans from all over the country: navy beans, baked beans, smoked beans, lima beans. She also received money to buy the high-fiber food, known for its gas-producing effects.
Indeed a commemorative “fart-in” might be a nice way to recognize the bond between the PeT award people and Saul Alinsky. They have certainly given their award to a number of gas-bags, most recently Sister Simone.
Why you gotta love Saul and the PeT people’s choice and insight into him (from Wikipedia) :
Alinsky died at the age of 63 from a heart attack near his home in Carmel, California, on June 12, 1972. He was cremated in Carmel and his ashes were interred at Mt. Mayriv Cemetery (the cemetery is now included in Zion Gardens Cemetery) in Chicago.[17][18] Shortly before his death he had discussed life after death in Playboy:[4]
ALINSKY: … if there is an afterlife, and I have anything to say about it, I will unreservedly choose to go to hell.
PLAYBOY: Why?
ALINSKY: Hell would be heaven for me. All my life I’ve been with the have-nots. Over here, if you’re a have-not, you’re short of dough. If you’re a have-not in hell, you’re short of virtue. Once I get into hell, I’ll start organizing the have-nots over there.
PLAYBOY: Why them?
ALINSKY: They’re my kind of people.
(from Wikipedia)
We don’t know if this “event” below actually came about but, in our opinion, it was unnecessary. The very notion of the Hillary Clinton candidacy stunk up the whole joint by itself.
Regarding other of the local peace prize recipients, who we previously commented on in an open questionnaire to Davenport Bishop Amos, who heads the Pacem en Terris board:
. . . I am wondering if, for the sake of consistency, you will call for the removal of the same Pacem in Terris award given to Bishop Maurice Dingman, bestowed in 1986,* now that it has come out that he was complicit as Chancellor of the Diocese in covering up sexual abuse by a priest of the diocese? Were his actions consistent with “peace and social justice” for the many victims of that priest, or did they contribute to the culture in the diocese to look the other way?
The St Ambrose University Board, which you now chair, removed the name of Bishop O’Keefe from its library for appearances as regards allegations of his roll in covering up sexual abuse. Why has Bishop Dingman not been scratched from the roster of the Pacem in Terris notables? Did his actions reflect courage and speaking truth to power?
Another award winner we neglected to mention, one who speaks truth to power with a hammer, is Fr John Dear. He notoriously beat up on an American peacekeeping platform, an aircraft designed to stop the aggressive enemies of justice (I hope the term gets-the-goat of any leftists reading this). He caused tens of thousand of dollars of damage, taking the aircraft out of service for three days. By the way, he was recently dismissed from the Jesuits for failure to abide by his commitments to the order. He was dismissed with the approval of Pope Francis (see here and here) .
We will appreciate the Pacem en Terrace Peace award board’s ~~consistency~~ when we see an award from them to a right to life “direct action” leader dedicated to peace in the womb using merely sidewalk protests and counseling in their efforts to speak truth to power. Heaven knows they would never honor someone damaging an abortion clinic.
DLH and R Mall
