Since the Pfleger Pfiasco broke people have been sending me links tovideo of Msgr. Jim Lisante, a Long Island priest, saying some rather mocking things about Barack Obama as well as some other pointed political comments during an invocation at a recentNew York State Republican Party dinner. (Rudy Giuliani was also there,andDick Cheney too.) Msgr. Lisante, like Father Pfleger has done much good work in his priesthood, and is rightly well-regarded. But he's also gotten into hot water forwhat some see as politicking. I hesitated to post on either Pfleger or Lisante, but in light of the discussion on Pfleger below, and the lack of any (public) action (or much discussion) about Lisante's comments, I wonder what are thebounds of political involvement for clergy? There are rules against priests holding political office. But priests are often involved in helping politicos--Archbishop Chaput has confessed to his post-ordination campaign work for Jimmy Carter (until he saw the light--the archbishop, that is).Is Pfleger's sanction the result of the nature of his awful performance? The content? The context? The publicity? And what, if any, rules did he trangress that Msgr. Lisante did not? Or is Pfleger's case rendered particular by his longstanding battles with his bishop? (In fact, every bishop of Chicago.)You can watch the Lisante video here...