The scandal of Notre Dame's decision to give the radically pro-abortion Barack Obama a graduation audience, loads of positive publicity and even an honorary degree cannot be blamed only on ND President, Rev John I. Jenkins. Frank Walker concludes it reflects an even deeper problem, a kind of spiritual dry-rot corrupting the university's Board of Trustees....A review of the Board of Trustees at Notre Dame does NOT reveal a particularly strong Catholic identity. There are board members whose actions and associations put them in a position directly at odds with Church teaching and in line with the Obama administration. At the Notre Dame board we see a group of well-connected well-heeled individuals from all sectors of society, and at the most prominent levels. Taking a stand against inviting the President of the United States would likely jeopardize membership in the elite club where they travel. Therefore it is highly unlikely that there will be any movement from within the board to rescind invitation to President Obama.
Among the Trustees Walker looks at are:
* a whole bunch whose institutions received Obama's best efforts in winning them government earmark money;
* U.S. Court of Appeals 7th District Justice Ann Claire Williams (a Clinton appointee who ruled that the Department of Justice could not subpoena hospital abortion records to enforce the ban on partial birth abortions);
* Philip B. Rooney, Chairman of Claddagh Investments and former CEO of Waste Management Inc. (who was indicted by the SEC in a massive fraud case for which WMI management eventually settled for $30.8 million in penalties and the permanent disbarment of Rooney by the SEC from being an officer in a public company.);
* Dr. Mary Anne Fox, the chancellor at U.C. San Diego (who recently announced the opening of a new research facility where the school will cultivate and experiment on human embryonic stem cells);
* and several others.
