We bloggers have to entertain at least a few obsessions. But, Jack Smith, the editor of the Catholic Key blog, which is the official blog of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph seems to have a particularly unhealthy obsession with Ambassador to Malta Doug Kmiec.
Smith has a post up that the makes a molehill out of a molehill. He notes that the State Dept. gave Kmiec a spanking because he has embarked on a variety of activities that are seemingly unrelated to his official duties as the conduit for bilateral relations between the United States and Malta.
Mind you, Kmiec is a man with a fertile mind and Malta is a country with a little more than 400,000 people, so I am sure the bilateral relations are not all that time-consuming. But, Malta has a rich history as a crossroads of civilizations, so Kmiec's work on inter-religious dialogue is better characterized as a deepening of his official duties, rather than a straying from them.
Smith's real issue is that Kmiec backed Obama in the last election. He speculates, without a hint of evidence, that Secretary of State Clinton, who ran against Obama for the nomination, is using this reprimand to spank an Obama supporter.
That seems highly unlikely: Whatever tension there was in their primary campaign against one another, Clinton and Obama have buried the hatchet. Smith should consider doing the same with Kmiec who is a loyal son of the Church.
