Video Meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor

Garry Wills....I see he's provoked 28 comments on Amy's site. He's a really interesting dude.
1) He's an intellectual with the highest credentials. He's not a knee-jerk liberal on political matters (he wrote for Nat'l Review a long, long time ago), so you would think he would be broad-minded enough to be credible on other matters. The fact that he is Catholic also gives him credibility in that you would think he would be fair to the Church. Here, you might think, is the perfect writer for the Church - someone who's fair-minded, broad-minded, not a Church Triumphalist nor a Jack Chick....
2) He's still Catholic. That amazes me, given that he believes the Church is wrong about just about everything that the modern world holds dear (i.e. birth control, abortion, etc). I just don't "get" why he's still Catholic except as a superior marketing ploy - the New York Times adores a someone from inside since they don't have to be accused of anti-Catholicism. It seems like just as it is hard to be an Amishman and believe that modernity is okay, it seems strange that someone who is Catholic should not believe the Church has infallible authority. I mean, isn't that what sets Catholics apart? The truth claim that the Church has authority given to it via apostolic succession?

I've decided that the faulty premise, and it is a huge one, is that the fact he is Catholic gives him credibility. That could easily be a detriment rather than an advantage. He probably was hit by nuns in grade school in the 50s and never forgave them for it. Many who grew up during that time have axes to grind against the institutional church. Plus he might've fallen to "Justice Souter" disease - i.e. someone who falls in love with his press and moves to the liberal side of things.