The LuLac Edition #802, May 1st, 2009

PHOTO INDEX: Attorney C.J. and Maureen Bufalino of Dallas, recently made a donation to Wyoming Valley Children’s Association for its Celebrating Every Child’s Next Step Campaign. The agency provides therapy for children with developmental and neurological disabilities and preschool education to all children. In front is Abigail Frazier. In back, from left: Maureen Bufalino, Kristina Ramos, Clarissa Snyder, Dawn Gaudino, board member, Wyoming Valley Children’s Association, C.J. Bufalino and David Drauschak, Bishop Joseph Martino and U.S. Senator Robert Casey, Attorney C.J. Bufalino and our 1964 logo.

ATTACKING CASEY

Once more Bishop Joseph Martino has set his sights on U.S. Senator Bob Casey. The Bishop released a statement saying that because of a Casey vote for the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius to be the new Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Bishop would recommend that Casey be denied Communion at a Mass he was attending. When I was a kid, I remember how the Catholic Church made a point of saying that church and state where separate in that 1960 election involving John F. Kennedy. Now 49 years later, the Catholic Church, at least in this diocese wants to punish a duly elected public official like a school boy who cut in line. If the Church is going to make pronouncements in this democracy, then maybe there should be guidelines and consequences.
1. If Casey is going to be singled out as a sinner in this diocese, then maybe the Bishops of America should have rules in every diocese for every Catholic politician. For years I have heard the church decry “cafeteria Catholics”, those members of the fold who pick and choose what to believe. Seems to me that if Casey cannot be prevented a sacrament in Boston or New York, then why Scranton?
2. I have said this before, I’ll say it again. Of all the people to pick on, why Bob Casey? He is a decent man who has over and over put his country first. Casey has been a leader in helping the less fortunate in his public service career. Is that not serving Christ by helping those in need? Bob Casey has no control over what a fellow politician believes in just as Bishop Martino had no control over the priests in the sex abuse scandals that have been well documented. Are those “convicted” priests refused Communion? Does not another sacrament, “Confession” provide forgiveness?
3. The ranting of this Bishop make the fundamentalist Christian movement of the late 80s and early 90s seem like an ultra liberal movement. This is America, the Bishop like any other American can have an opinion but to judge a man’s commitment to his religion on just one vote is just plain wrong. Should there be a litmus test now to get into a church? Does the Bishop realize Bob Casey is Pro Life and that he has members of his flock who are Pro Choice? You embarrass the Pro Life guy because he’s a public figure but you let the anonymous Pro Choice people in your church have Communion? How is that fair?
4. It is my firm belief that with the situation in this country with the economy, then maybe all religions should pay property taxes. If you want to dictate policy, if you want to have a seat at the governing table, then do what other businesses and individuals do: pay for it with taxes.
The character assassination of Mr. Casey is just another part of Bishop Martino’s legacy in this diocese. At first his statements seemed harsh, then surprising, followed by debatable. Now many Catholics have grown numb to the statements from the Chancery Building. Many Catholics I know don’t take anything he says seriously. When Bishop Martino leaves this diocese, he will have accomplished what no other leader did as the head of the church: he will leave a faithful divided and confused. If that legacy gets him a red hat, then maybe we should all re-think our commitment to the support of this diocese.

SOUTER GOES SOUTH

Supreme Court Justice David Souter has announced his retirement at the end of the current term. Souter checked with two older justices, John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg to determine if they were going to retire. His reasoning was that he did not want two vacancies to be filled due to the court’s workload. Souter was a Republican appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, largely on the recommendation of New Hampshire's former Gov. John Sununu, who had become the first President Bush's chief of staff. But Souter surprised Bush and other Republicans by joining the court's more liberal wing. At 69, Souter is nowhere near the oldest member of the court. In fact, he is in the younger half of the court's age range, with five justices older and just three younger. So far as anyone knows, he is in good health. But he has made clear to friends for some time that he wanted to leave Washington, a city he has never liked, and return to his native New Hampshire. Factors in his decision no doubt include the election of President Obama, who would be more likely to appoint a successor attuned to the principles Souter has followed as a moderate-to-liberal member of the court's more liberal bloc over the past two decades. Pressure will be on President Obama to appoint a woman or a Hispanic. Others have said that this current court does not have a jurist on it that ever held public office.

JUDICIAL CANDIDATE BIO

As part of our on going series in covering the Luzerne and Lackawanna County Judicial races, we are going to do brief profiles on those candidates running. In today’s edition, we start with Attorney C.J. Bufalino. The order was determined by our lottery at the LuLac Forum this past week.

C.J. BUFALINO

C.J. Bufalino comes from a family of attorneys that span three generations in Luzerne County. Bufalino’s campaign has been front and center utilizing the three R’s, RELIABLE, REPECTED, READY. Here’s a brief recap of his career:
Experience
Attorney
C.J. Bufalino Law Offices, P.C.
Self employed attorney engaged in the general practice of law with an emphasis on family law matters.
November, 1985 to Present
Guardian Ad Litem
Luzerne County, PA
Counsel to minors in child dependency cases
2000 to January, 2009
Family Law Master Luzerne County, PA Appointed by the court to hold hearings with regard to family matters.

2000 to Present Zoning Solicitor Dallas Borough, PA Counsel to the Dallas Zoning Hearing Board.

2006 to Present Counsel First National Bank Counsel to bank relative to enforcement of creditor rights through collection remedies, including representation in breach of contract, foreclosure and bankruptcy filings.

1999 to Present Solicitor Community Counseling Services

1998 to Present Law Clerk Honorable Gifford S. Cappellini Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas

June, 1985 to August, 1995 Law Clerk to Senior Visiting Judges Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas May,

2002 to December, 2008 Community Activities Head Coach Wyoming Seminary Junior Varsity Basketball

1985 to 1992 Head CoachWyoming Area Varsity Basketball

1992 to 2000**District Champions

Member of the Board of Trustees, Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School

Member of the Wilkes-Barre Chapter of UNICO

Member of the Pennsylvania Society

Member of the Luzerne County Bar Association

Member of Gate of Heaven ParishVolunteer Coach - Rock Recreational Center, Shavertown.

Volunteer Member of Annual CYC Fundraiser Campaign.
Here is a video of one of the commercials the candidate is running on local TV.

1964

Senator Barry Goldwater receives more than 75% of the votes in the Texas Republican Presidential primary.....Some 400-1,000 students march through Times Square, New York and another 700 in San Francisco, in the first major student demonstration against the Vietnam War. Smaller marches also occur in Boston, Seattle, and Madison, Wisconsin....... Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore, hitchhiking in Meadville, Mississippi, are kidnapped and beaten by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Their badly decomposed bodies are found by chance 2 months later in July, during the search for 3 civil rights workers – Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner....Statewide, Senate Democrats demand a full scale investigation into what they term as pressure tactics used by the Scranton administration in its revamp of the state unemployment compensation program. Some Senators were upset because during the debate on the law, uniformed state Troopers were on the floor of the Senate. Members wanted an inquiry into who called the Troopers and why………..45 years ago today, Phillies pitcher Jim Bunning goes 3-0 with a victory over the Milwaukee Braves and their ace Warren Spahn. Richie Allen homers while Danny Cater and Bunning’s battery mate Gus Triandos lead with two hits apiece in the 5 to 3 win….Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania had their 25th annual meeting. Officers elected were George Bell, President, Judge Frank Pinola, Vice President and Atty. Frank Townend, Treasurer….at the Forty Fort Theatre, the political thriller “7 Days In May” is shown while Paul Newman’s “The Prize” plays at the Luzerne Theatre……and after weeks on the nation’s charts, the British invasion momentarily comes to an end with Betty Everett’s “Shoop Shoop Song” taking the number one song slot in America and LuLac land.