Amusing Dallas

By Fr. Wilson ( articles ) | May 07, 2003

Dallas is getting much more amusing now that Rod Dreher has crashed on the town (at least, more amusing than it was when I lived there eighteen years ago!). Here's a tidbit posted by publisher Wick Allison on the "D" Magazine blogsite. It is accompanied there by a picture of Baghdad Bob, Saddam's spokesman:

MOHAMMED SAEED AL-SAHAAF MEETS HIS MATCH Bronson Havard, chief spokesman for Bishop Charles Grahmann and one of the reasons his tenure has been such an unmitigated disaster, touts his boss's record in today's News, giving him credit for, among other things, the growth of the Church in Dallas (!). (What Koolaid are they drinking at the Chancery?) Anybody who doesn't see the world his way, like columnist Rod Dreher (or, I presume, yours truly) is a terrible person, who is probably racist, xenophobic, and anti-Catholic. Unfortunately, Bronson is not a person who should call other people names. He has his own track record to deal with. The Catholic World News discovered this little bit of history about Bronson's attempt to blackmail the State Fair of Texas. Wick Allison · 04:08 PM

And here's an electronic letter now appearing on the Dallas Morning News site:

Lucky to have Dreher

Re: "News won't give bishop ounce of credit," by Bronson Havard, yesterday's Viewpoints. According to Bronson Havard, the "newly arrived" Dallas Morning News columnist Rod Dreher is guilty of "arrogance, stridency and viciousness." Now how could it be that Mr. Dreher changed so fast? When in New York, Catholics who knew him regarded him as serious, sober and reflective.

It is not hard to figure out why Mr. Havard is angered by Mr. Dreher. Mr. Havard was a staunch supporter of the failed ABC show Nothing Sacred. His hero was Father Ray, the pro-abortion hippie-dippie priest who exploited the poor and defied the church. Unfortunately, it was precisely those malcontents in the church (exemplified by Father Ray) who created the sex abuse scandal.

The Dallas Morning News is lucky to have Rod Dreher. It is clear that a new Catholic voice is needed in Dallas. --William A. Donohue, president, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, New York, N.Y.

No, Dallas was never so fun in Bishop Tschoepe's day, or Bishop Gorman's.