Phoney War redux?

On September 3, 1939, two days after the German invasion of Poland, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany.

And they promptly launched a ferocious, unrelenting offensive in support of their beleaguered Polish ally

No, there was a half-hearted French invasion of the lightly-defended Saarland, quickly ended, some bombing by the British (much of it involving leaflets) and a few minor sea battles, but essentially the Western Allies chose to stand on the defensive while Poland was wiped off the map.

Eight months later, the Germans, fully ready for war, began it in earnest. It was France's turn to be invaded, swiftly defeated and dismembered.

Now that the Administration has indicated that it is in earnest in imposing its morality on Catholics, via a mandate for abortifacients, sterilization and contraceptives, what has been the response? So far, a pretty impressive list of episcopal protests, some of which are even surprising, given the men in question. But that is not enough. Not even close. As Paul Zummo and Patrick Archbold have correctly noted, this is a full-fledged declaration of war by the administration. And it is being led by a nominal Catholic, Kathleen Sebelius. One whose bona fides were loudly extolled by the usual suspects.

The next step is clear--Sebelius has to be excommunicated. Let me repeat: she must be excommunicated. Counseled beforehand, of course. But if she persists, excommunicated. There is no dancing around the fact any more. It apparently wasn't enough for her to celebrate the gory work and unfailing support of the late George Tiller (I find OR obnoxious, but hey--they had the proof). No, now she is the willing edge of the sword hacking the Catholic conscience to ribbons. Enough. No more.

There is precedent as well. In 1962, Joseph Rummel, Archbishop of New Orleans, excommunicated three segregationists who protested the integration of Catholic schools. In 2012, Kathleen Sebelius launched a nationwide assault countless Catholic schools, hospitals and other institutions. If she will not repent of it, she has to face the dreadful but necessary sanction of excommunication. Will there be shrieking and howls (oh, and with malicious irony, too) regarding the separation of church and state? Will there be soft-focus profiles of Sebelius' saintly qualities? Will there be the usual comments from speed-dial Catholic commentators, ever-ready to offer a critical soundbite when a bishop has to offend the leftist moral code? Count on it. But it still has to be done. The line has to finally be drawn. Otherwise, the nice-sounding episcopal protests will be another useless exercise in leaflet bombing.

Oh, and someone needs to smack Republican Gov. Sam Brownback upside the head for his recommendation of her for the HHS post. Heckuva job, Brownie.