text: I'm going to risk saying that you are correct in this one matter, Marty.  Yet I would hasten to add that there is no mistaking the USCCB supporting and sharing the political and social positions, if not goals, of the GOP.  Their history in supporting many issues (and I exclude the abortion matter from this because it is a given) that the GOP has been quite rabid about is a long and clear one.  And there have, over the past 20 years or so for certain and in a growing chorus of bishop's voices recently, statements and letters and recorded interviews where individual bishops have made statements that border on outright punishment for those Catholics who oppose them.  God knows what has been said behind closed church doors as well, but some of it is leaked by sources close to the incidents.  To deny the existence of it is every bit as bad as allegations made that have no factual support.  I suggest the truth lies somewhere in the middle, as is the case with most things in life, yes?