I started Ramesh Ponnuru's book The Party of Death last night. One misconcpetion about it that should be cleared up is that, despite the obvious connotation of the title, it is not solely about Democrats. In Ponnuru's view, there exists a Party of Death that overarches the political party structure. Although it dominates the Democratic Party, its tentacles extend into the GOP as well. (Think Arlen Specter, Mike Castle, and the senators from Maine.)

Interesting notes so far:
* Roe v. Wade declared that "the Constitution is living, and the unborn child isn't."
* Mario Cuomo's famous "personally opposed, but..." speech used silence against slavery as an example of the proper course to take. "It is a mark of the strength of contemporary liberalism's commitment to abortion that one of its leading lights should have been willing to support temporizing on slavery in order to defend it."
* "To summarize the position of the Boxer Democrats, then: Abortion should be legal throughout pregnancy. Teenage girls should not have to inform their parents about it, much less get their consent. Nobody who would let the voters deviate from these positions should be allowed on a court. The Senate shouldn't even be allowed to hold a vote on such people. The law should not treat the murders of pregnant women as double homicides because it might lead people to look more negatively on abortion
And taxpayers should pay for abortions, just in case there are some going undone. But federal funds should not be allotted to ensure the health of the unborn. Each of these positions is extreme by the standards of public opinion -- but not by the standards of what the Democratic party has become."

It's a very good read so far. (I'm about 3 chapters in.)

I finished Divine Mercy in My Soul the other night. Very good read and very interesting. Really showed me how much better I have to become if I'm to even approach being worthy of Heaven on my own merits. (Fortunately, God doesn't expect us to get there on own. He's more Merciful than that.) I'll have some reflections inspired by my reading of it at some point, when I have more time.) Definitely worth the read, long though it is. (644 pages, plus footnotes.)