Today on Kresta - January 28, 2010

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Jan. 28

4:00 – State of the Union Address: Obama’s America After One Year
President Obama took the extraordinary step in Wednesday's State of the Union address of slamming the Supreme Court for last week's decision striking down limits on corporate spending on political advertisements, ruling that the Court had "opened the floodgates" to special interests and foreign corporations in elections. And it appears that one of the Justices in the audience didn't agree. As Obama spoke, Justice Samuel Alito shook his head and appears to mouth the words, "not true." We analyze the speech and talk about this shocking moment. Political scientist Paul Kengor joins us.

4:20 – Relief Efforts in Haiti: Live From the Triage Unit
"Urgent" relief operations in Haiti are ending as aid deliveries are satisfying most immediate needs, United Nations and U.S. aid officials said today. International efforts are shifting toward helping sustain Haitians, including the estimated 800,000 residents of the capital Port-au-Prince left homeless by the Jan. 12 quake. About 250,000 people have already left the city for the countryside, and locally grown food is beginning to arrive in the capital. Col. Rick Kaiser, commander of the U.S. Army’s 20th engineering brigade, said drinking water supplies had been restored and the electrical grid may return to operation within several weeks. We talk to Fr. James Bromwich, a Priest in the archdiocese of Louisville who is currently outside of Port au Prince where he is offering his services as a priest and as a triage/trauma nurse.

4:40 – Doesn’t Pro-Choice Mean You are For Choice – So Why the Uproar Over Tebow Ad?
Priests for Life commented today on the efforts of pro-abortion groups to keep CBS from broadcasting a Focus on the Family ad featuring quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother during the Super Bowl. They ask “Why should it bother people who call themselves pro-choice if women watch Pam Tebow and her son Tim on Super Bowl Sunday and freely decide to choose life? Would fewer abortions be a bad thing?” What happened to safe, legal and RARE? We talk about it with Janet Morana of Priests for Life and the Silent No More Awareness Campaign.

5:00 – State of the Union Address: Obama’s America After One Year
President Obama said last night that he will work with Congress and the military to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bars gays and lesbians from openly serving in the armed forces. Obama made the remark in his first State of the Union speech during a short litany of civil rights issues, which included his successful hate crimes bill, a move to "crack down on equal-pay laws" and improvement of the immigration system. We talk about this portion of the speech and much much more with Gary Bauer.

5:20 – Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas – Greatest Catholic Theologian?
Saint Thomas Aquinas, was an Italian priest and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian. He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology, and the father of the Thomistic school of philosophy and theology. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy was conceived as a reaction against, or as an agreement with, his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law and political theory. One of the 33 Doctors of the Church, he is considered by many to be the Church's greatest theologian and philosopher. On this, his feast day, we discuss his life and contributions with Aquinas scholar, Dr. Roger Nutt of Ave Maria University.