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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / Open Thread — Whited Sepulcher Edition

Open Thread — Whited Sepulcher Edition

by Anne Laurie|  February 18, 201611:02 pm| 43 Comments

This post is in: Election 2016, Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Religion

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pic.twitter.com/BBxSwQEops

— Liam Stack (@liamstack) February 18, 2016

Trump: "If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS… I promise you the pope would have wished and prayed Donald Trump was president."

— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) February 18, 2016

If ISIS attacks the Vatican, there are so many people I'd call before Donald Trump, starting with every guy in the North End.

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) February 18, 2016

Defending Trump from the Pope's criticism, Jerry Falwell Jr argued for separating Christianity and politics. pic.twitter.com/RkRjvOpSB5

— Liam Stack (@liamstack) February 18, 2016

I bet even Falwell Sr. would be laughing at this https://t.co/svMQr56p6n

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) February 18, 2016

GOP is heavily evangelical and often skeptical of Francis. So Trump's comments probably won't do him much harm. https://t.co/MDQ8FJh271

— Philip Bump (@pbump) February 18, 2016

Since I’m old enough (barely) to remember how ecumenical the “good Christian patriots” were about John F. Kennedy’s allegiance to his weird foreign cult, that last tweet was my first thought, too. But there’s another new tidbit of Vaticanology that got pushed off the lead by Trump’s bluster…

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis suggests women threatened by Zika virus could use artificial contraception

— Josh Lederman (@joshledermanAP) February 18, 2016

Big, as they say, if true. What with chemical abortions becoming better known/more available, the ‘modernizing’ Vatican forces are beginning to accept that they’ll have to refine the doctrine on ‘wrongly preventing potential life’ (no birth control) if they’re to have any chance of holding the line on ‘fetal personhood’ (abortion).

Openly racist Maine governor blames refugees for "Ziki fly" [sic] outbreak: https://t.co/JTQvWRbaBC pic.twitter.com/zCuWiuoljs

— Slate (@Slate) February 18, 2016

Here’s hoping the ‘Ziki fly’ bites LePage, and he transmits the virus to Donald Trump and/or Fallwell Jr via tongue bath.

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Previous Post: « MSNBC-Telemundo Town Hall: Clinton vs. Sanders
Next Post: Late Night Low-Hanging Fruit Open Thread »

Reader Interactions

43Comments

  1. 1.

    rikyrah

    February 18, 2016 at 11:14 pm

    I think Pope Frankie will come out on top.

  2. 2.

    PeakVT

    February 18, 2016 at 11:25 pm

    New Pope possibly the best at his job ever. LePage possibly the worst at his.

  3. 3.

    Geeno

    February 18, 2016 at 11:27 pm

    Pope Francis is trying to reconcile the dogma to real life. Do I agree with his every pronouncement? No – I’m not even catholic, but I agree with where he’s trying to direct religiosity – toward a more real life basis.

  4. 4.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    February 18, 2016 at 11:27 pm

    Vatican City has a big, classy wall around it, right? That should be good enough to protect it from ISIS – otherwise why would Trump be saying that we need one to protect us???!!?

    /snark

    In other news, Booman reminded us of an interesting fact:

    But base mobilization is more of a midterm strategy than a general election strategy. The Republicans have only succeeded in winning the popular vote once in the last twenty-eight years (in 2004), and they barely won the Electoral College that year. They need to change the shape of the electorate in their favor, because their base just isn’t big enough.

    2004 was a re-election year, also too.

    Yeah, that’s 6 elections completed after 1988 (we didn’t have national elections every year), but it’s still interesting to contemplate. Demographics and insane Teabagger policy positions should tilt the Presidency even farther away from them this year. With all of the doom and gloom, we should keep that in mind.

    While nothing’s guaranteed, things continue to be stacked in Team D’s favor for the Presidency, and the cycle is such that we have a very good chance of flipping the Senate. We should do what we can to make our team as strong as possible down-ballot to fight for every possible seat in the House and in the states, also too, so that we go into 2018 and 2020 working to make the gains more durable with sensible redistricting.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  5. 5.

    amk

    February 18, 2016 at 11:31 pm

    “So Trump’s comments probably won’t do him much harm”

    the racist pos picks up a few hundred more racist pos voters. yay.

  6. 6.

    TriassicSands

    February 18, 2016 at 11:32 pm

    The GOP has been tearing down that wall — no, not THAT wall, but the one between Church and State for political advantage for years now. Led by Antonin Scalia — and now joined by the other religious zealots on the SCOTUS (especially Alito), the right wing majority has been chipping away at the separation of Church and State. If the Republicans succeed in thwarting Obama’s nominee to the Court (almost certain unless Obama chooses someone that no Democratic president should ever choose), and they win in November (Definitely not certain, but HRC is polling poorly against individual Republican candidates (the last time I checked — and she did best against Trump, but, surprisingly, head-to-head, Sanders was doing better against the Republicans generally. That’s probably HRC’s baggage dragging her down.), then we’ll see yet another radical right wing ideologue, who, in all likelihood, will be another religious zealot.

    Falwell’s son claiming there ought to be a wall between Church and State is laughable. Any religious person with an ounce of intelligence should know that religion will fare best when there is a significant separation between Church and State. Sadly, right wing religion seems to come without even a modicum of intelligence.

  7. 7.

    moonbat

    February 18, 2016 at 11:35 pm

    Trump’s gift at this point is being pitted against a bunch of grifters, fakers, dimwits, and upper class twits. I suspect that he will not fair so well against anyone with a modicum of class or conviction. Pope Francis’ reputation is in no danger.

  8. 8.

    Mike G

    February 18, 2016 at 11:40 pm

    Shorter Pope:
    “Mr Trump, tear down this wall!”

  9. 9.

    hellslittlestangel

    February 18, 2016 at 11:45 pm

    @moonbat: Indeed, he is a giant among shrimps.

  10. 10.

    PhoenixRising

    February 18, 2016 at 11:48 pm

    “Jesus wouldn’t tell politicians how to run a country”?

    One of us needs to read a Bible.

  11. 11.

    Tenar Darell

    February 18, 2016 at 11:52 pm

    I don’t know where this fits, but not surprisingly, The Guardian tracks Trump’s bigotry, of all different types, with roots.

  12. 12.

    Luthe

    February 18, 2016 at 11:53 pm

    New Pope has opened the door to birth control being downgraded to “say ten Rosaries and think really hard about your life choices” territory. Abortion will probably still stay in “go straight to Hell” terrority, but it’s likely birth control will get tacitly approved in the interest of stopping those abortions in the first place. The Church is very slow to do so, but it can learn.

  13. 13.

    oldgold

    February 18, 2016 at 11:54 pm

    I like Pope Francis, but his remark concerning Trump is not where wisdom lies. Direct confrontations with skunks are to be avoided.

  14. 14.

    trollhattan

    February 18, 2016 at 11:54 pm

    Will await The Donald’s platform stance on this.

    California officials in charge of workplace safety voted down a proposal Thursday that would have put condoms on porn actors, heeding the call of scores of industry officials who said doing so would force them to make films nobody would watch.

    The state Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s Standards Board voted the measure down when only three members supported it, Cal/Osha spokeswoman Julia Bernstein said. Four yes votes were required for passage. The vote was 3-2 in favor, with two members of the panel absent.

    The board will now begin the process of considering a new worker-safety measure for the porn industry, Bernstein said.

    Whither that wallbarrier of some sort, The Donald? We already know what Pope Frank thinks.

  15. 15.

    El Caganer

    February 18, 2016 at 11:57 pm

    @trollhattan: Once again, government corrupted by Big Business…..or Big Johnson…or something….

  16. 16.

    slag

    February 19, 2016 at 12:00 am

    @PhoenixRising: I’d be thrilled with that idea if they would just stick with it rather than trying to impose their crazy Jesus’ will on the rest of us.

  17. 17.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    February 19, 2016 at 12:17 am

    @efgoldman:

    although Bobby “Bobby” Jindal is the lamest of ducks

    “Bobby” has left the building.

  18. 18.

    PeakVT

    February 19, 2016 at 12:20 am

    @efgoldman: The inter-state competition is definitely very strong these days. Still, LePage is just blatantly an ignorant jackass, which is a talent I don’t think any other serving governor has.

  19. 19.

    Seebach

    February 19, 2016 at 12:24 am

    Did you see Ann Coulter’s tweet about how Rubio is the Vatican’s Manchurian candidate?

  20. 20.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 19, 2016 at 12:27 am

    Re-downloaded Neko Atsume: Cat Collector after that Times think piece came out. http://nyti.ms/1XzwugV

    Nice to see it in English finally, and have a phone big enough for superfluous apps. Good times. I have five cats! And my one real cat. Which you can see here http://imgur.com/a/o1YrO

  21. 21.

    GregB

    February 19, 2016 at 12:31 am

    The Vatican has issued a new press release.

    Jerry Falwell Jr. can go fuck himself.

    -Pope Francis

  22. 22.

    amk

    February 19, 2016 at 12:39 am

    aaand donald dreck
    flipflops

    :http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-35610126

  23. 23.

    bluehill

    February 19, 2016 at 12:42 am

    Sometimes I think that Trump is a democratic sleeper agent. He has said a number of things that are heretical to right-wing orthodoxy, but his support doesn’t seem to suffer. 9/11 was Bush’s fault??? Tax the rich??? Too much money in politics??? Wow. It’s fun watching party leaders tying themselves in knots figuring out how to deal with him. Falwell arguing for separation of church and state. Hahaha. Only Trump could cause that. The evangelical base seems to have embraced Trump despite his clearly unchristian way of life. Another good one. Their hate of minorities is that strong.

  24. 24.

    Mike J

    February 19, 2016 at 12:46 am

    @bluehill: Republicans don’t give a shit about policy. They want a strong leader who will stand up and be an asshole to everyone they think has it coming. There is literally no policy he could put forth that would alienate his base as long as he called somebody stupid while he announced it.

  25. 25.

    bluehill

    February 19, 2016 at 12:54 am

    @Mike J: So true, but unfortunately they assess strength based on appearances, which explains their paradoxical love of Putin. Meanwhile Obama has Putin boxed in, the Russian economy has tanked, and Obama is viewed as weak.

  26. 26.

    Mike J

    February 19, 2016 at 12:57 am

    daveweigel ‏@daveweigel 12h12 hours ago
    Based on leaked internals I’ve seen, this could hurt Pope Francis in key Super Tuesday states.

  27. 27.

    Amir Khalid

    February 19, 2016 at 1:13 am

    @bluehill:
    There’s a story going around that Bill Clinton encouraged The Donald to run as a Republican. I don’t know how credible it is, but it’s out there.

  28. 28.

    OGLiberal

    February 19, 2016 at 1:23 am

    @Mike J: Exactly…as long as he “claims” (pretty sure he doesn’t believe half the shite he says) that he hates the same people they do, the baggers and God squaders will forgive just about any deviation from the standard wingman philosophy. Bush lied about WMDs, Iraq war a mistake, 9/11 Bush’said fault, Planned Parenthood does good work, etc? All OK as long as he continues to openly berate brown people and promises to make America great again. (I forgot when we stopped being the richest, most powerful, most militarily armed, most feared nation on the planet. Or is America only great when we’re really sticking it to the browns in our midsts?)

    But according to John Podhoretz (o, does his neo-con, son of failed, shunned by the Beats at Columbia, failed poet dad, arse hate Trump) Obama made Trump possible because he went on the Daily Show in 2010 and let Stewart call him “dude”. Nothing to do with conservatives dog whistling racist, sexist, etc -birthed BS the leaders of the GOP and their followers. Trump’s supporters love him because he says things that they would have said themselves, only they felt constrained by politically correct rules and normd. Now, they feel like the can say n-word or sp#c or other stuff because Trump made it OK. (

  29. 29.

    Central Planning

    February 19, 2016 at 1:28 am

    @El Caganer:

    Once again, government corrupted by Big Business…..or Big Johnson…or something….

    Big Rubber?

  30. 30.

    Central Planning

    February 19, 2016 at 1:36 am

    I woke up early this morning (flying Germany -> US) and caught the Donald town hall on CNN International.

    It’s funny to watch him try and walk back what he said about Bush/Iraq, the Pope, and just about everything else he says.

    Every question/response was this format: “What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?” “Obama is the worst president. You all love ice cream. I’ll make ice cream great again”

    Trump also said he would have the best business people in his cabinet. Cabinet positions going to donors/business people scares the hell out of me.

  31. 31.

    ruemara

    February 19, 2016 at 1:53 am

    I’m feeling musical tonight. So, here’s a little Ministry.

  32. 32.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 19, 2016 at 1:58 am

    @ruemara: Here is some more Ministry.

  33. 33.

    PurpleGirl

    February 19, 2016 at 2:02 am

    @Central Planning:

    Cabinet positions going to donors/business people scares the hell out of me.

    This already happens, by both Republicans and Democrats. They pick chief executives from large corporations to take certain spots, i.e. Obama had a banker as Treasury Secretary (name started with a T). Maybe not all Cabinet posts but some of them.

    Donors tend to be picked for special ambassadorial jobs: Democrats have picked Pamela Harriman (WJClinton) for the post in France, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg for Japan (or was it South Korea?). FDR had Joseph Kennedy and then Averell Harriman as ambassador to Great Britain. The actual diplomatic work is done by career foreign service staff but the big name is often a big donor in certain select countries..

  34. 34.

    sharl

    February 19, 2016 at 2:11 am

    If I am recalling correctly, in the past two or three days someone in comments here posted a link to an article from a Vermont source that addressed Bernie Sanders’ effectiveness while in public office(s). Can anyone point me to that, or the post that contained the relevant comment? Thanks to anyone who has this information, or at least a clue as to how to find it.

    The primary is usually all decided by the time Maryland’s voting date arrives (late April or early May, as a rule), but just to be safe, I reckon I should start researching this more diligently.

  35. 35.

    fuckwit

    February 19, 2016 at 2:17 am

    It just occured to me that the Rethug tactic, now and for a long time, has been the classic abusive spouse/parent pattern: DARVO.

    They’re bulliies. Troll is the most blunt example of it.

    The way they treat women, people of color, gays, non-christians, young people, really, everyone. They deny that they’re abusive. They go on the attack. They claim that they are the victims.

  36. 36.

    ruemara

    February 19, 2016 at 2:19 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Love that one! Have the album. Tape, really. But I’ve moved on to the modern sex rock thing. Some Velvet Revolver.

  37. 37.

    Mike J

    February 19, 2016 at 2:29 am

    @sharl: This one?

  38. 38.

    sharl

    February 19, 2016 at 2:32 am

    @Mike J: I think that’s it – thanks!

  39. 39.

    Frankensteinbeck

    February 19, 2016 at 5:21 am

    @fuckwit:
    I’ve been saying that for years. It ties into the racism, evangelism, and narcissism as well. They all rely on similar mindsets and encourage each other. You can see it starkly in their attitudes to welfare. Their explanations are paraphrases of ‘I’m hurting you to build character’. The media’s ‘brave’ makes perfect sense as ‘This hurts me more than it hurts you.’ Note how the media absolutely eats up abusive thinking.

  40. 40.

    SRW1

    February 19, 2016 at 6:24 am

    @rikyrah:

    I think Pope Frankie will come out on top.

    Missionary, surely.

  41. 41.

    Bill

    February 19, 2016 at 11:10 am

    The argument between Trump and Frankie is just so entertaining.

    First, the idea that Trump wants to pick a fight with the Pope speaks to just how far through looking glass we are. That said, I have no doubt that this will only help the Donald in the polls.

    But I also find Francis calling out The Donald for nor being “Christian” to be so very entertaining. “Christian” is essentially self defined. Trumps brand of hate fits in mainstream Christianity for large swaths of believers. At best, the pope could call Trump “Not Catholic,” but I suspect a large number of American Catholics would disagree with him on that one too.

  42. 42.

    J R in WV

    February 19, 2016 at 12:33 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Great photos, great kitteh!

    We always need more kitteh! In the little cat tree, does you cat ever go into that tube under the platform?

    Thanks for the Kitteh!!

  43. 43.

    justaguywholikescommentsonfacebook

    February 19, 2016 at 11:25 pm

    @bluehill: you’re the shit man. Love the comments.

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