Chapter 20: Myth—Politics Doesn’t Matter

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The President does his best to nominate good judges to the Court.

The Senate is charged with the duty of verifying that they are good judges. However, once they are in the job for life, only the House of Representatives has any power to do something about abusive Court behavior. And, the only things they can do are “impeach” or amend the Constitution.

We entered 1960 with a declaration from Pope John XXIII that Catholics had a duty to support moral candidates and parties. The penalty is ex-communication if they didn’t. So what happened in 2004 when 48% of

Catholics voted for Kerry and his party, which advocated immoral policies opposed by the church? Consider these events in 1960 for further context.

1960 — U.S. Elects Kennedy President,

Platform: New Frontier & Rights of Man!

Year Date Event Headline in Chronicle of 20th Century 20

1960 Jan 24 “Pope John XXIII inaugurated today the first synod on church discipline … Catholics would be liable to ex- communication if they join or vote for political parties or persons promoting heretical ideas or doctrines.”

Jan 31 JFK Announces bid for presidency Feb 13 French tests atomic device; becomes 4th nuclear nation

Feb 7 More biblical texts uncovered in Israel Feb 27 Negro sit-ins integrate lunch counters May 7 Humphrey quits as Kennedy wins [easily] again

May 23 Israel captures Eichmann, death camp chief July 8 Soviet Union indicts Gary Power U-2 spy plane pilot

July 15 Kennedy named; Johnson takes 2nd place Aug 7 Castro nationalizes all American property

Sep 26 Kennedy and Nixon meet in first TV debate Oct 12 Nikita bangs desk with shoe at U.N. session Nov 9 Kennedy elected by narrow margin [of 120,000 votes]

Dec 1 Birth control pill to go on sale in U.S.