Joan - I've been saying that for a very long time and, no thanks to me, NCR has recently stepped up to the plate with its new format and some new authors. I think Michael is their Vatican trivia guy and he's never going to stop dueling with people the rest of us have never heard of, but he's now offset by new authors who write from different perspectives, e.g., women! I do think he should stop portraying his essays as addressing the nexus of religion and politics, though, because he can't help seeing it from the perspective of a single white male who believes, apparently sincerely, that today's Catholics care about what popes and bishops say and do. - Monica.