text: Rarely do I agree with Archbishop Chaput, but I agree with intellectual consistency. I  much admired Notre Dame's welcoming of and honoring of President Obama--and even more so the articulate and  public reasoning for doing so. We have no idea how much pressure Fr. Jenkins and his board faced when confronted with "ND must not honor men who don't reflect Catholic values and the teachings of the magisterium." They were threatened by influential and wealthy donors: "If you honor Obama, you lose our support and our millions." They chose principle. 
  
  If we support the principle, the reasoning and the courage attendant to the Obama event, we must not change the rules for his successor. ND said "assent to Obama's record and policies was not necessarily to be inferred. But he is the POTUS and we have a tradition." 
  
  The earned credibility of what Notre Dame said demands consistency. And.....
  
  I don't want to hear from the Newman Society: "We told you those Irish Libs were lying."