Week of Habemus Novus Pontifex
^{(We have a new Pope)}
Pope Leo XIV, Trump Birthday Parade, Tariff Terror, Due Process to be Suspended

Editor Joe Gandelman at The Moderate Voice goes to mainstream news and social media for reaction to Pope Leo XIV.

Turns out conservatives are in meltdown.

Those outside of Trumpville kind of like a Pope who urges a more Christlike approach toward migrants and others who are marginalized.

Key continuum:
As with Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, the Reverend William Barber, and Pope Francis before Leo, when it comes to spiritual leaders, there is simply nothing that triggers MAGA Christians quite like the teachings of Jesus. Their perverted theology of exclusion dictates that they must reject anyone who represents a barrier to the theocratic fever dreams they have for this nation.

Key rejection:
There is no place in their congregation of cruelty for an empathy that seeks to walk inside the shoes of another, no room for a soft heart toward those crushed by poverty and sickness, a zero tolerance policy regarding the outsider or the foreigner seeking refuge.
 
So, Trump’s disciples and sycophants are unleashing all manner of vitriol toward Pope Leo, and that will be the story for a bit, but it isn’t the big story. He could have just as easily been another papal candidate whose life and ministry had been marked by benevolence and decency, and received the same unrelenting flood of outrage.

She does have a way with razor sharp words.

Bryan Dawson of Mastodon creates a largely correct post. Not a direct quote, but an accurate paraphrase of multiple statements by Dwight David Eisenhower on whether to have a military parade to flaunt American power:

Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit examines Donald’s knowledge of history and finds there is no there there.

Key amplification:
But then he escalated his legal threats to include the New York Times because they published an article that correctly reported that legal experts regarded his case as “baseless.”

News Corpse reports (for real) that the very same interview is nominated for an Emmy award.

Juliet narrates her report in audio format, with a very brief print summary.

Key victims:
Americans who were promised great prosperity and success in exchange for a lifetime of hard work, only to find themselves swindled and left with virtually nothing

Key self-demolition:
This is the fall of Mike Lindell, Michael Cohen, Rudi Giuliani, and so many others. Obsessed with a conman and addicted to the koolaid, they laid prostrate upon the dark alter of Trump and sacrificed their wealth, career, future, loved ones, and perhaps their very soul for that which is objectively corrupt, offensive and untrue.

There is a singular focus held by Musk and those with whom he communes. It is the declining birthrate around the world.

PZ Myers looks at the data and is reassuring. Humanity is not fading away. But it will take mankind a couple of centuries to double again. (Is that supposed to be bad?)

But let’s not be too reassured. There is something more that normal folk ought to find disturbing in that Musk obsession.

Key justification:
Trump has said the justice system is a “rigged system” run by “radical left lunatics”…

Key danger:
Authoritarian governments are based on the idea that some people are better than others. This translates into the idea that some people have special insight based only upon their superiority. They don’t have to listen to experts, who just muddle the clear picture the leader can see. When reality intrudes on that vision, the problem is not the ideology of the leader, it is obstruction by political opponents.

The same analysis is available in audio format, as Richardson narrates in podcast.

On upholding the Constitution:
…it’s clear when Trump said, “I don’t know,” what he meant was what he finished his sentence saying, which is, I don’t know where the Supreme Court is going to come down on whether deporting these illegal migrants is constitutional or not.
It’s very obvious.

[Note: The question posed to Trump: Don’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as President?
Trump answer: I don’t know.]

On due process:
He said he is not sure the level to which they are entitled due process.

[Note: The question posed to Trump: Your secretary of state says, everyone who’s here, citizens and non-citizens, deserve due process. Do you agree, Mr. President?
Trump answer: I don’t know. I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.]

Tommy’s gentle headline:
CNN Anchor Bristles When Trump Fan Accuses Media of ‘Hoax’ on Trump’s Bombshell ‘Uphold The Constitution’ Answer

So is it wrong to single out immigrants, no matter how peaceful, no matter how innocent of any offense?

The administration has found a remedy to this inequality. The Trump administration is ready to suspend due process altogether.

Bold, right?

driftglass pretty much had to show up to join a peaceful assembly of citizens out front. Problem is Noem heard there might be actual people, so she fled: moving the event to some obscure location then hightailing it out of town.

So much for bold…

Hackwhackers helpfully provides video that pretty much captures the new office holder:

You may prefer a complete transcript (pdf).

Infidel753 says Wait a DAMN Minute!!

Turns out India has been enduring terrorist attacks on civilians for a long time, attacks supported by Pakistan’s military.

Key international response:
Reactions from most governments have comprised the usual mealy-mouthed expressions of “concern” and calls for both countries to “de-escalate”, as if years of systematic mass murder of random civilians and efforts to deter any more of the same were roughly equivalent actions. Israel and the UK, at least, have firmly declared support for India’s right of self-defense.

Key moral timidity:
“Both sides” is the lazy response of the ignorant who can’t be bothered to learn about the actual background of a conflict. Those of us who do understand what’s happening know that India in this case is as worthy of unstinting support from the West as Ukraine and Israel are.

He is sincere, having abandoned the Republican Party over …well… pretty much all that the party has become.

Key priority:
I don’t agree with you on very many issues, but we can set “issues” aside for the next couple of fights to focus on defeating the greater threat to the Constitution, Trumpism.

He is for protests, but urges us to abandon protests that seem designed to alienate:

Key singular reason
Say it with me: “President J.D. Vance.”

Fair enough.
One proviso: The first moral duty of a political party, just ahead of winning, is an honest presentation of core values.
Appealing to the greatest number and to greatest degree possible but, above all, honest.

To that extent, James, Democrats should follow your own good example.

Key historical similarities:
I find myself drawn to three comparators: the Jim Crow south; the early 20th century (the red scare, the Palmer raids, J. Edgar Hoover); and the Franco regime after the Spanish civil war.

Key strategic alternatives:
The question is whether that means we ought to oppose them in distinct ways, or whether we should rely on the same techniques that have defeated godless fascism or other non-religious despotisms. I suspect the answer is the latter.

Brian favors Christians employing tried and true methods that have worked before, especially continuous proclamations of bigotry‑free religious values.

Key agreement (from host Eric Metaxas):
That gives you total moral authority, you know, when you sacrifice for others. Then they should shut up and do what you say.