Another nice day here- little cooler than usual, but Joelle and I spent the day doing not much of anything, having dinner, and then sort of just existing. And that’s ok. A lot of little things by today’s standards in the news but would be major week long stories in normal times, but the one that stood out was the Pope snubbing Vance and instead having his number two in command lecture him on the virtues of charity and compassion.
It won’t change a thing, of course, because the right wing is already a bunch of cranks who no matter who the pope is or what they do it won’t be “Catholic enough,” and when you add to that the fact that JD Vance is really not the sharpest kid in the room and definitely not when there are only two people in it, he’ll just view it through the prism of “Why did they not bow down to me we’re the United States I’m the Vice President” lens and reinforce his belief all the elites are against him and become more of a total dick.
BTW- Is it just me or is this year’s butter lamb one of the better ones?
Overnight Open Thread: Let The Revolution Begin!
Viva BrisVegas
At Easter it’s always good to remember the message of the Gospels.
Which is, “Be excellent to each other”.
Not, “Let’s kill the weak and suck the marrow from their bones”.
Aussie Sheila
Loved the snub delivered by Pope Francis. To an insufferable twerp whose deep commitment to Catholicism goes way back to…..2019. Lecturing the Pope on catholic theology is one thing. But seeing him being lectured by someone who isn’t the Pope is even better.
Makes this Easter one to savour.
Vance is the worst.
Jay
JDivan is so tone deaf, it’s not funny
Ugly American taken to 4.0
Aussie Sheila
@Jay:
In addition he has all the zeal of a ‘convert’ and none of the understanding of the real thing. He’s so utterly pathetic he’s physically nauseating.
sab
@Aussie Sheila: But he is Ohio’s best, sad to say.
Chetan Murthy
@sab: i was going to say hey now there’s Sherrod Brown but then I remembered he got turfed out in November.
ETA: and further to your point, it could have been Josh Mandel. Wouldn’t that have been fun?
sab
My Irish American Catholic husband sneers at JD Vance. Husband is actual working class, so he doesn’t give a rat’s ass that JD went to Yale for law school. Still thinks JD is a twerp.
sab
@Chetan Murthy: Turfed out by Bernie Moreno, Colombian immigrant luxury car salesman who hates immigrants and imported cars. You cannot make this stuff up.
Chetan Murthy
@sab: Immigrants who wanna slam the door shut behind ’em, hell they wanna deport people already here, b/c they “didn’t come here the right way, unlike meeeeEEE!!!” Jesus.
NotMax
Vance would have whined that the Pope wasn’t wearing a suit and tie.
Gretchen
When I was a kid « He thinks he’s more Catholic than the Pope » was a slam about someone’s baseless arrogance. Now it’s a description of some of these guys. Rod Dreher, who is on his third religion, has actually said that Pope Francis, the Jesuit, doesn’t understand Catholicism. Rod, of course, thinks he does. Vance, on his third name and at least second religion, is much the same.
These folks who leave « faith not works » churches think that, like evangelicals, you just have to have your moment of acceptance and you’re done. Catholicism depends on works, and you can live a good life and then screw it up by sinning horribly by sending innocent people to an overseas gulag. If you don’t make a sincere repentance, there goes your eternal life. So sorry, JD.
NotMax
In case some of y’all weren’t already aware of it, the Pope is also a King.
The only line of non-hereditary absolute monarchs.
Baud
This song should be remade into “We’re the Kings in America.”
Aussie Sheila
@Gretchen:
Exactly. ‘More Catholic than the Pope’ was a slam in my family as well. And we weren’t Catholic. It was a slam against unthinking orthodoxy adopted in ignorance.
Aussie Sheila
@NotMax:
Indeed. Except the Pope is ‘elected’ by a collegiate of Cardinals, a bit like the way Monarchs were prior to the rise of the modern states in Western Europe.
something fabulous
I had the worst headache today and didn’t go to any of the protest related activities, felt both sad and guilty-ish about it. Looking forward to hearing all the reports!
Think I was mostly just not hydrated enough. Drank a ton of water through the day and fell asleep for two hours around 7pm because i’d slept so poorly the night before, so now here I am. Howdy y’all!
Geminid
@sab: I see Mr. Yost, Ohio’s Attorney General, has entered the race to succeed Mike DeWine as governor. I didn’t think that fast-talking creep Vivek Ramaswamy would have clear path in next year’s primary, despite Trump’s early endorsement. Reports are that Lt. Governor Jim Tressel might also throw his hat in the ring.
Gretchen
@Geminid: ugh. If the choice is between Yost and Ramaswamy a feral raccoon would be preferable.
I continue to be fascinated by guys like Ramaswamy, Vance and Rubio who aren’t lily-white or whose families aren’t just thinking that they can slip into the racist party and nobody will notice them and associate them with all those people they’re trying to deport.
@Geminid:
Princess
@Gretchen: I hope the Dems run someone plausible. At some point the economic shit will hit the fan and the gop will become vulnerable to us picking off a few positions.
Geminid
In the category, Rome meetings that did happen yesterday: White House envoy Steve Witkoff and assistants met “directly and indirectly” for over four hours with Iran’s Foreign Minister Arangchi and his people. The topic was Iran’s nuclear program, and the venue was the Omani Ambassador to Italy’s residence.
According to Axios reporter Barak Ravid:
U.S. and Iranian accounts of the meeting were also positive.
The Omanis said the parties agreed that technical teams would meet in the next few days in Muscat to continue working on the details of the deal.
Axios’s Ravid also reported that Witkoff met with Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, yesterday morning before his meeting with Arangchi. Grossi has spent a lot of time and effort in recent years on the “Iran file.”
Gretchen
@Geminid: Or we could have just kept Obama’s original nuclear deal if Trump’s tiny ego didn’t demand torpedoing everything Obama did.
Aussie Sheila
@Gretchen:
Bingo!
eclare
@Gretchen:
Yep. And honestly, looking at Ukraine, there is no way I would give up a nuclear program now. The US has proven that it cannot be trusted.
Ohio Mom
@Princess: So far, Ohio Dems aren’t. Our lone candidate is Dr. Amy Acton, who directed the Ohio Health Department during the first part of Covid.
She was hated for being the woman who nagged us about masking and distancing and Red Ohio hasn’t forgotten.
I’ll vote for her of course, I’m used to voting for Democrats who are going to lose.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax: lololol
sab
@Ohio Mom: I probably won’t be voting at all, since I took my husband’s last name when I married him. Sigh.
HinTN
@sab: What I don’t understand about the SAVE Act is that Real ID has been a thing for years. Admittedly, it was time consuming for Mrs H to assemble all the documentation to demonstrate the chain of custody of herself from birth certificate, through marriage license, into the TN Driving License with the “Gold Star” (gives me the willies) demonstrating that she today is she who was born.
Please don’t think I don’t know this IS designed to disenfranchise women, especially POC and those of lesser economic means, but it had been around four a good long time.
artem1s
Less of two evils
Pope Nope had his chance to fend off the fascists and chose to both sides the election just like the feckless media. He could have stayed silent. He could have quoted the beatitudes or Matthew 25:35-40. He never had anything to say about Biden’s abortion stance. So why frame Kamala as an ‘evil’ choice? Centering Choice as an ‘evil’ is just another way of saying ‘original sin’ and women shouldn’t be allowed to have dominion over men.
different-church-lady
A win is a win.
RaflW
NYT: “Mr. Vance’s Catholic faith permeates his socially conservative politics.”
Um.
‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.’
‘Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.’
But really, JV Dance, these from the Sermon on the Mount fit your Vatican visit perfectly ~
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” and “if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
Trivia Man
@NotMax: great watch, thanks
wenchacha
Looks like the Pope caved. Damn that forgiveness and love shit.
Also, too, happy Easter.
https://apnews.com/article/pope-vance-us-migration-c9fc577cabff138de7bd8026133994fc
Ruckus
@Jay:
Only 4.0?
He’s worse than that….
Ruckus
@sab:
And he’s correct!
wmd
It’s a very good one. But that could just be that it’s been a year or more since we’ve seen one, and maybe one of those is the pinnacle of Betty’s traditional culinary artistry.
I’m tempted to search out the others and post the links…
WaterGirl
@wmd: No need to search them all out; I’ve got them all tagged with butter lamb.
thalarctosMaritimus
@NotMax: Would the Dalai Lama count as an additional line of non-hereditary absolute monarchs?
The Lodger
@Aussie Sheila: I love that the Pope delegated the lecture to the vice principal.