I'm a little late coming to the party on this one, but I've found this conversation fascinating. Part of the issue, I think, is that no one person or group owns the Catholic 'brand.' Even within formal Catholicism we understand the Church in multiple ways -- as institution, as hierarchy, as the People of God, as hundreds of independent legal entities (dioceses, religious orders, universities), etc. Nobody gets to speak exclusively for what it means to be Catholic.

If I'm going to defend NCR's right to call themselves 'Catholic' (and I have, many times), I should also acknowledge Church Militant's right to do the same. I have no problem with that. Intelligent people can separate the wheat from the chaff for themselves. 

But I do have a problem when the media singles out only one voice as representing "THE" Catholic perspective, which I think is the product of lazy journalism and the relentless need to feed the beast in the world of the 24-hour news cycle.