The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Let’s start with the good news this week. From Chicago to Chiclayo to Vatican City we have the selection of a true leader, Pope Leo XIV, may he long serve as a counterweight to all the ynoph yenolab in this upside-down, evil, Maga induced brain fog we are currently in and may be for sometime. ]
The American Pope, Bob Prevost of Chicago, or Padre Roberto in his adopted Peruvian hometown of Chiclayo where he served as Bishop, has roots in Italy and Acadia, as well as growing up on the South Side of that uniquely rough and ready city of the wide shoulders, Chicago.
Yeah, no bone spurs on that one. Just ready to plug in and do some good in the world.
Leo is his new pope name, after the previous Leo XIII, who served at the end of the 19th Century into the 20th and was known as the “Pope of the Workers” for advocating what is today known as Catholic Social Teaching, the precursor to the Liberation Theology that led to the martyrdom of many clergy and laity in Latin America in the seventies and eighties for siding with and in some cases leading the people’s right to defend themselves from oligarchy and human rights abuses.
I don’t know what the thinking was in the conclave of cardinals, but there is certainly the optimism now that Trump on the world stage may be at least countered and neutralized by the presence and the street cred of the first American Pope. Amen.
In other good news, Harvard found the Magna Carta 1300 AD edition on a shelf somewhere this week, magically reappearing at this time to remind us of the documentary evidence that we, the people, have long opposed absolutist power.
And, no coincidence, that very day the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen showed up in Manchester UK on a new tour to deliver a rock and roll lecture on freedom, America, and why dictators suck. A goodness pop up.
Moving over to the ugly side of the ledger.
Yeah, that’s our Donald accepting a bribe from Qatar. Also he’s back in DC.
His Middle East tour was big on emoluments and self-dealing with no public mention of human rights, democracy, or values of any kind beyond personal greed. It was disruptive and included renewal of normal relations with the new Syrian administration, which I would categorize as just a shade less bad than outright ugly.
What about tariffs? Remember those, my amnesiac people? They are still here, not disappeared as Ms. Barbie Leavitt would have us believe. And will be a significant drag on economic activity hurting red and blue alike.
The economy is in a tailspin. Buckle your seat belts for inflation and more old man Donald griping about the Fed and Joe Biden being to blame for the price of goods. No bueno.
And don’t even think about buying more dolls, little girl.
Is this Trump critiquing consumerism like some mid-2010s hippie child at a barbecue on a porch in Northern California? No, it’s just a random word salad. Eventually, given probabilities and such he will be quoting Che Guevara, and the Maga faithful will have more to mull on.
