Joseph Cella

What a Difference One Month Makes

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 2/13/2008 10:22 am
Just one month ago, Fidelis, a low-level right-wing organization always on the look-out for anything that might suggest anti-Catholic bigotry, especially as it pertains to Bush judicial nominees, was crowing that “social conservatives” had spoiled John McCain’s “campaign surge”:
A victory in Michigan would have locked in John McCain as the GOP front-runner, but conservatives suspicious of the Arizona Senator overwhelmingly voted against him Tuesday, handing the perceived front-runner a major defeat. “Social conservatives remain unconvinced whether John McCain is truly committed to the fundamental issues of life, faith and family. In the face of new developments on stem cell research, McCain continues to support using taxpayer dollars to fund embryo-killing research. On marriage, he not only voted against the federal marriage amendment, he has barely uttered a word on protecting the traditional family on the campaign trail. Values voters are looking for strong leadership in defense of life and family, and John McCain has yet to show how he will lead on these issues,” said Brian Burch, President of Fidelis. ... “Other conservatives are frustrated with McCain over immigration, his opposition to tax cuts, and his leading role in limiting the free speech of pro-life groups, and other advocacy groups during election campaigns. Put simply: John McCain hasn’t closed the sale with conservative voters,” continued Burch.
But apparently, in just one month’s time, McCain has managed to “close the sale with conservative voters” on all of these issues, because Fidelis has just endorsed him:

Fidelis Political Action, the political arm of the one of the fastest growing Catholic advocacy organizations, today announced that they have endorsed Senator John McCain in his bid for the Republican nomination for President. Brian Burch, President of Fidelis Political Action issued the following statement: “Fidelis is pleased to join a growing chorus of conservatives nationwide in supporting Senator John McCain in his bid for the presidency. As a Catholic based advocacy group, Fidelis believes McCain’s pro-life record, his commitment to selecting judges who will respect the Constitution, and even his controversial positions on immigration and torture merit the support of Catholics, and we are proud to stand with him as he prepares for a very difficult election ahead. … “The stakes of this election are too large to ignore. Abortion supporters are awaiting the opportunity to eliminate eight years of progress on pro-life legislation by electing a President who supports abortion. There are six justices on the Supreme Court over the age of 68, and granting a President Hillary or President Obama the opportunity to fill possible vacancies would be disastrous. Our endorsement of Sen. McCain is not simply a compromise endorsement. America needs the experienced leadership of John McCain.

What a miraculous turn of events! Do you suppose the presence of Joseph Cella - a former Fidelis president, Fred Thompson-backer, and anti-Rudy activist – on McCain’s newly announced Virginia Family Issues Leaders committee had anything to do with that?

Catholics Against Rudy, But For Thompson?

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Monday, 7/16/2007 4:36 pm

A few months ago, the New York Observer reported that various right-wing Catholic activists were gearing up to target Rudy Giuliani’s campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.  

One of those efforts, Catholics Against Rudy, is in the process of gearing up while the other, headed by Joseph Cella of Fidelis, doesn’t yet have much to show for its bold goals:

Mr. Cella says that the organization will try to provide a comprehensive, Web-based “clearinghouse” of issue-based opposition research, and that it will also engage in the distribution of more traditional negative literature, as when the group recruited a handful of volunteers to network and pass out its anti-Rudy materials at the South Carolina debate earlier this month.

“More is afoot—not just from us, but others,” said Mr. Cella, who has also served as an editor at the popular conservative Web site Redstate.com. “It will be edgy. Creative. Hard-hitting.”

Cella and his organization, Fidelis, seem to exist primarily to level accusations of “anti-Catholic” bigotry against Democrats, which is why his anti-Giuliani work was interesting … and which makes this development all the more intriguing:

Now the Christian right is eyeing former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, who is thought to be on the verge of entering the race. And Thompson is waging a rigorous behind-the-scenes effort to win its support.

U.S. News has learned that [Fred] Thompson recently hired Bill Wichterman, who served as conservative outreach director for former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and Joseph Cella, president of a conservative Catholic group called Fidelis, to lead the effort. The aides are arranging more meetings between Thompson and conservative Christian leaders and have launched a rapid-response operation to fend off attacks on Thompson's conservative credentials.

But Cella is not the only right-wing figure that Thompson has approached - and he seems to be winning a lot of converts:

Stem Cell Research Opponents Warn of Egg 'Harvest'

Submitted by Anonymous on Wednesday, 4/11/2007 5:16 pm

As the Senate once again debates funding for embryonic stem cell research, many right-wing groups are reminding us of their fervent opposition. Focus on the Family’s Carrie Gordon Earll, who says embryos discarded from fertility treatments can be adopted, says “”We oppose destroying these embryos or any young humans for research.” Joseph Cella of Fidelis, Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, and Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee similarly voice their objections, and Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition claims that the bill constitutes persecution of “people of faith”:

This shows utter contempt and disdain by the United States Senate for people of faith.  And let it be made very clear, supporters of this legislation can no longer consider themselves friends to historic Christianity.

Meanwhile, the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ warns that “the potential of the emergence of a market for the sale and harvesting of eggs would be immense,” a scenario grimly predicted by Cathy Ruse of the Family Research Council in a Washington Times op-ed as mass “exploitation” of “the bodies of young women” as “human hens”: “If embryonic stem cell researchers have their way, young women will soon be paid to lay eggs on demand like chickens in a factory farm, but with more pain and personal risk.”

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Joseph Cella Posts Archive

What a Difference One Month Makes
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Wednesday 02/13/2008, 10:22am
Just one month ago, Fidelis, a low-level right-wing organization always on the look-out for anything that might suggest anti-Catholic bigotry, especially as it pertains to Bush judicial nominees, was crowing that “social conservatives” had spoiled John McCain’s “campaign surge”: A victory in Michigan would have locked in John McCain as the GOP front-runner, but conservatives suspicious of the Arizona Senator overwhelmingly voted against him Tuesday, handing the perceived front-runner a major defeat. “Social conservatives remain unconvinced whether John McCain is truly committed to the... MORE >
Catholics Against Rudy, But For Thompson?
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Monday 07/16/2007, 4:36pm
A few months ago, the New York Observer reported that various right-wing Catholic activists were gearing up to target Rudy Giuliani’s campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.   One of those efforts, Catholics Against Rudy, is in the process of gearing up while the other, headed by Joseph Cella of Fidelis, doesn’t yet have much to show for its bold goals: Mr. Cella says that the organization will try to provide a comprehensive, Web-based “clearinghouse” of issue-based opposition research, and that it will also engage in the distribution of more... MORE >
Stem Cell Research Opponents Warn of Egg 'Harvest'
, Wednesday 04/11/2007, 5:16pm
As the Senate once again debates funding for embryonic stem cell research, many right-wing groups are reminding us of their fervent opposition. Focus on the Family’s Carrie Gordon Earll, who says embryos discarded from fertility treatments can be adopted, says “”We oppose destroying these embryos or any young humans for research.” Joseph Cella of Fidelis, Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, and Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee similarly voice their objections, and Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition claims that the... MORE >