On a Positive Note, It's What He Believes

During the War of 1812, Master Commandant Oliver Perry wrote to Major General William Henry Harrison "we have met the enemy and they are ours."

One hundred fifty-eight years later, cartoonist Walt Kelley adapted the line to Earth Day and wrote "we have met the enemy and it is us."

Fifty-four years later, we have found the perfect Republican and he kicks for a living. The New York Times notes that, in his graduation speech at Benedictine College, devout Catholic and Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison

Butker encouraged men to be “unapologetic in your masculinity,” referenced “the deadly sins” of homosexuality, and criticized Catholic priests for deriving “their happiness from the adulation they receive from their parishioners.” In attempting to drive home his point, Mr. Butker invoked lyrics from Ms. Swift’s song “Bejeweled” without mentioning her or Mr. Kelce by name.

While nether Catholic nor pro-life and one of  the few liberals who is not pro-Pope Francis, I largely agree with this guy who in his bio describes himself in that way. However, here we are:
 

Truth? What truth did Butker say in his speech? No mention of Jesus of Nazareth, No mention of the Gospels, No mention of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount; No encouragement to help the poor, to stand with the least of brothers and sisters. I could go on. Very troubling. https://t.co/XdMJk2xqVw

— CatholicProgr (@CatholicProg) May 17, 2024

But Butker is motivated by more than an apparent longing for a pre-Vatican II world.  According to the Times piece

Despite his stance on women in the workplace, his mother, Elizabeth Keller Butker, has a distinguished career. She is a medical physicist in the department of radiation oncology at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Pretty impressive that is, and very likely a (justifiably) well-paid position held by a woman Butker has expressed great admiration for. Also

In the speech, Mr. Butker encouraged men to be “unapologetic in your masculinity,” referenced “the deadly sins” of homosexuality, and criticized Catholic priests for deriving “their happiness from the adulation they receive from their parishioners.” In attempting to drive home his point, Mr. Butker invoked lyrics from Ms. Swift’s song “Bejeweled” without mentioning her or Mr. Kelce by name.

“This undue familiarity will prove to be problematic every time,” Mr. Butker said, “because as my teammate’s girlfriend says, ‘familiarity breeds contempt.’”

He may not know that "familiarity breeds contempt" dates at least to 1851 but unless unusually unaware, the kicker with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering knows that the phrase has been in fairly common usage for generations.

I have little doubt he would not have any problem, either, with the continued employment of Fox News' Laura Ingraham, The never-married Ingraham, mother of adopted children, wanted Trump critic LeBron James to "shut up and dribble" but praised Butker's remarks. 

Ingraham, a convert from Protestantism to Catholicism, is paid approximately $15 million annually to be a primetime Fox News host. In this case, politics does not make strange bedfellows; Ingraham is a woman of wealth who is beloved by millions of (misguided) followers.. Butker's mother seems to be a very well-accomplished professional; Taylor Swift, phenomenally popular and rich.

They're the good ones, in this worldview. Old-fashioned, traditional Catholic morality, stripped of concern for the poor and suffering, is the ideal. Comfortable that where there is a lot of money to be made, values can be compromised, Harrison Butker is today's nearly perfect Republican.

 

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