Chalk One Up For The Good Guys

I'm a little late on this one, but congratulations are due to Congressman-Elect Tom Perriello, who defeated incumbent Congressman Virgil Goode in Virginia's 5th Congressional District.

Tom was the founder of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, whose Vision is:

Our Catholic tradition calls us to participate actively in public life in the service of human dignity, social justice and the common good. These teachings – to put community before self, principle before profit, and the public interest before political expediency – are central to our Catholic tradition. Catholics in Alliance is committed to creating the necessary conditions for a culture of life that reverences the life and dignity of the human person at all stages over greed, materialism and the politics of division.

And Tom isn't just talk, he also walks the walk. According to Dahlia Lithwich of Slate:

A graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, Perriello worked to end atrocities in Liberia as well as with child soldiers, amputees, and local pro-democracy groups in Sierra Leone. He became special adviser for the international prosecutor during the showdown that forced Liberian dictator Charles Taylor from power. His work as a security analyst has taken him to Afghanistan and Darfur.

Indeed, Tom Perriello is exactly the type of candidate whom the Bishops have been calling for, and whom they should now be praising:

Perriello has also been a part of a groundswell of young progressives whose religious faith motivates them to seek social change through public service. One of the most startling aspects of his 2008 campaign was his pledge to tithe 10 percent of his campaign volunteers' time to local charities. Time they could have spent stuffing mailers and phone-banking went to building houses for the poor.

Of course, Arch-Partisan-Prelate Bishop Charles Chaput sees such commendable priorities as a "disservice to the Church."

What makes Tom's win even more special is the fact that the voters of Virginia chose to send home one of the most bigoted, religion-hating men currently staining the halls of Congress. I'll address the Church's position on Immigration in the future, but for now just tuck away in your mind Congressman Goode's callous derision of children born to immigrants here in the United States "anchor babies". And remember, this is ArchBishop Chaput's guy. The guy who isn't doing a disservice to the Church, I guess.

(oh, and there's also that matter of Congressman Goode, typical "family values Republican", having bankrolled the producer of an unrated movie filled with drug-use and homo-sexual and bi-sexual sex scenes.)

Good riddance Virgil. Welcome Tom!