I assumed he would blame America’s lack of piety on neoconservatives, by which he would be sneakily alluding to Jews, in his piece in the Spectator that Derb recommends. But really, he saves his ire for “Catholic neoconservatives,” and, remarkably, leaves the Jews out of it: “To compare apples with apples, the most prominent conservative Catholics in the United States are the so-called neoconservatives. They are indifferent or hostile to the traditional liturgy, defend the discovery of democratic capitalism as an event of ‘incarnational significance’ (Michael Novak), and have routinely defended US foreign policy against explicit statements of John Paul II. Catholic neoconservatives represent the triumph of ‘Americanism’ in the Church. They are more Republican than Catholic, more loyal to George Bush than to any Pope. In secular, anti-Catholic France, a Catholic has to be resolute, even courageous; in America, he just goes with the flow.”
If this is the essay of the week, Derb, what’s the book of the month?