Michael Sean Winters

A roundup of political news and commentary: To open the economy early; making of a stimulus package; Georgetown University pays its food service contractors while closed; solidarity in the time of social distancing

Distinctly Catholic: That the president would be willing to expose unseen thousands of people to an early death in order to increase his reelection prospects is no surprise, but why are Catholics following this libertarian suit against protecting life?

Distinctly Catholic: This week, Senate Democrats refused to be bullied into signing off on a bill with no oversight, and our democracy is a bit more safe.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Remembering Archbishop Pilarczyk; full-blown Malthusian ugliness at the White House; Elizabeth Warren still the Democrats' "ideas factory."

Distinctly Catholic: It is up to Biden — and to all Democrats running for office this fall — to remind voters that the party has always believed government can be a force for good in people's lives, a belief that is not utterly self-evident.

Distinctly Catholic: To those who object that it is morally wrong to politicize a crisis, I remind them that the goal of electoral politics is to gain political power so as to achieve particular objectives, the first of which is protecting the citizenry.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Some showing indifference to health of others; coronavirus will reveal class lines; Democratic Illinois representative loses his seat; new book says Trump is not an aberration

Distinctly Catholic: Moments like these bring people to show their truest selves, if not always their best selves. Holding out false hopes is dangerous. It encourages people to not take the threat seriously.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Ideological purposes of coronavirus; St. Patrick's Day in Boston; Trump administration's response to the crisis; Bernie Sanders' policies

Distinctly Catholic: By the 1980s, it was clear that conservative Catholics were firmly in the Republican camp and more liberal Catholics stayed with the Democrats. 

Distinctly Catholic: If former Vice President Joe Biden is still in the driver's seat this time next week and as he starts considering running mates, he has to remember that his two biggest obstacles to victory in November remain his dismal numbers with young people and Latinos. 

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Catholic hospitals' anti-union policies clash with bishops' guidelines; the Post throws shade at the Times; Happy anniversary, Holy Father.

Distinctly Catholic: Progressive Catholics who have not yet voted should cast their ballots for Sanders. The larger the delegate share Sanders brings to the convention this summer, the better.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Coronavirus creates havoc; Raymond Arroyo angers Anti-Defamation League; Hillary Clinton says Bernie Sanders is not a strong candidate; the failure of Elizabeth Warren's campaign

Distinctly Catholic: I attended one of Warren's town halls in New Hampshire. I have never seen a more gifted communicator on the campaign trail. In the autumn, it all started to fall apart.

Distinctly Catholic: Conservative and liberal narratives both start with a reading of American history and then look for religious rationalizations for stances arrived at by other means.

Distinctly Catholic: As Niebuhr outlines in these two answers to the problem of Christ and culture, the conversionists' more hopeful attitude toward culture is what distinguishes them from the dualists.

Distinctly Catholic: The synthesists are always averse to "either/or" approach characteristic of the radical Christians and, indeed, the "both/and" approach has become dominant in the Christian church and exemplified in the great of all synthesizers, Thomas Aquinas.

Distinctly Catholic: The attempt to tailor religion to the circumstances of our time and place ends up omitting the uncomfortable. Any system of Christian thought that is too tidy, too sensible, too comfortable, has not sufficiently wrestled with the scandal of the cross.

Distictly Catholic: It seems like there is no escaping the divisiveness that has seeped into the church from the ambient political culture. Columnists hurl slogans, not insights. Distinctions are shunned lest they expose something that helps "the other side." How can we break out of this divisiveness?