father thorpus: days 8 and 9

so in the afternoon, a motion from the floor came,
unlooked for, to reconsider the vote on A161.  This
was entirely unexpected by most of the house.  The
deputy who so moved also let everyone know what she
intended by this: to restore the blue-book language
which preceeded the big hearing and the committee's
swing to the right -- essentially, to restore the rich
Anglican fudge that had first been proposed to the
commission.  It was just that language that NT Wright
railed against as being entirely inadequate to
Windsor's requests.  The motion to reconsider needed
2/3 support to pass.  If it passed, the substiution
would be made, and the house would vote on A161 again,
it needing only 50% + 1 to pass.  Essentially, then,
it was easier for the orthodox to defeat it at the
level of the motion to reconsider than to let it go
through and then have to defeat the fudgy resolution
on the floor.  The vote to reconsider was taken: it
received 59.1% support -- not enough to reconsider.
The fudge had been defeated, but we still had nothing
but silence to give back to Windsor's call for
moratoria on gay bishops and gay unions. 

An analysis which I heard from my delegation, which
seems accurate to me, is that normally the moderates
in the middle vote with the left wing progressives
against the right wing orthodox.  In this resolution,
however, the ends were played against the middle.
Neither the progressive left wing nor the orthodox
right wanted fudge: both have called for clarity one
way or the other.  It was the moderates who wanted to
apologize without apologizing, to have their cake and
a chance, if the cards were skillfully played, to eat
it too.  But they lost.

there was an evening session at 7:30 which I was not
able to attend, and from what my delegation has told
me nothing substantial was decided. 

Day 9: last day, last chance.

There are some 40 resolutions that need concurrence,
having already been passed in the HoB.  There are
others that will probably never get considered by
either house.  Rumor is that Werner and Griswold are
both interested in stringing all this legislation out
as long as possible to avoid debate, or perhaps to be
able to say to the Communion, "We tried, we really
did, but we were just too busy to get a Windsor
response through.  Sorry."

More later.

Thorpus +