Political criticism of Lou Holtz

Notre Dame football is one of America’s storied institutions. From “win one for the Gipper” to “Catholics versus Convicts,” and from Knute Rockne’s perfection of the forward pass to Lou Holtz’ undefeated 1988 championship team, the Fighting Irish have always been newsworthy.

After last week, the emphasis is on “Fighting.”

Former coach Lou Holtz spoke at the Republican National Convention, where he endorsed Donald Trump and stated that Joe Biden was a “Catholic in name only.”

Now, the critics, from the media to former players to Notre Dame itself, have circled the wagons to jump on Coach Holtz.

In addition to his success at Notre Dame (where there is statue of him), Mr. Holtz is, according to Wikipedia, “the only college football coach to lead six different programs to bowl games, and the only coach to guide four different programs to the final top 20 rankings.” A member of the College Football Hall of Fame and longtime sports commentator, Mr. Holtz has also been outspoken on political issues, especially opposing kneeling at NFL games.

An opponent of political correctness, Coach Holtz disagrees with the push to remove the name “Fighting Irish:” “They were named the Fighting Irish because the Ku Klux Klan tried to attack the Catholics. They went down and fought the Ku Klux Klan, and that is where the name the Fighting Irish came from,” he said during a recent interview.

The elephant in the room is Joe Biden’s Catholicism, or, more accurately, lack thereof. When Coach Holtz said that Mr. Biden was a Catholic in name only, he was referring to the indisputable truth that the Democratic nominee is pro-abortion. Since the Catholic Church staunchly opposes abortion, anyone stating that Mr. Holtz’ assessment is wrong is either uninformed or dishonest.

The politically expedient answer from Catholic politicians playing both sides is “I’m personally opposed to abortion, but as an elected official, I’ll vote to keep it legal and unrestricted since my faith has no place in government.”

Bottom line: given his stance as a pro-abortion politician, Joe Biden cannot claim to be a Catholic in good standing since they are mutually exclusive which is why Mr. Biden was denied Holy Communion by a courageous South Carolina bishop.

Notre Dame President Father John Jenkins responded to Coach Holtz, stating: “We Catholics should remind ourselves that while we may judge the objective moral quality of another’s actions, we must never question the sincerity of another’s faith, which is due to the mysterious working of grace in that person’s heart.”

Father Jenkins also thought it necessary to distance the university from Mr. Holtz: “While Coach Lou Holtz is a former coach at Notre Dame, his use of the university’s name at the Republican National Convention must not be taken to imply that the university endorses his views, any candidate or any political party.”

And, what would an endorsement of Donald Trump be without calls of racism?

Former Notre Dame receiver Bobby Brown, who played under Coach Holtz, stated on his web show: “We feel as though the hero we loved and adored, that we would run through a brick wall for, died in front of our eyes on Wednesday night … We have literally shed tears because of it. It seems as though you’ve abandoned us based on your alignment with a man who is at least very sympathetic to racists, if he’s not a racist himself (per a column in the Chicago Tribune).”

And there you have it. Disagree with a single thing that the left embraces, be it the actions and demands of protestors, or opposing kneeling for the National Anthem, and one is automatically branded a bigot. Translation: Your opinion is only valid if it fits with the left’s agenda; otherwise, it’s “racism” time.

This author is by no means an apologist for Donald Trump. But in four years, the president has done nothing that can be reasonably construed as “racist.” Here’s a news flash: Supporting a border wall isn’t racist. Nor is issuing a temporary travel ban on terrorist-laden countries. Calling COVID-19 the “China virus,” while not necessarily politically prudent, is not racist. Neither is saying there were bad people on both sides in Charlottesville. And no, it is absolutely, positively not racist to defend police (as 99.9 percent are not racist and don’t engage in brutality) or oppose taking a knee.

This author disagrees with kneeling for the Anthem, but would never state that it’s unpatriotic to do so. In the same way, for the sake of consistency, the left must stop demonizing those with whom they disagree by invoking race when it isn’t warranted.

If it doesn’t, there will be a lot more than just Irish who are fighting.