Pope Francis, Russiaâs President Putin and Chinaâs President Xi walk into a bar…Well, it wonât be that type of week exactly, but all will be in the US over the next few days. There will be summits and mini-summits, and a few hallway meetings between them and individually, with Mr. Obama. But the game-changer is likely to be Pope Francis, who is bringing his message about Mr. Market, and how Mr. Market isnât working for the average Joe. In fact, many Republicans are suspicious of the Pope:
Rep. Paul Gosar, (R-AZ) says heâs boycotting Pope Francisâ appearance before Congress. He said:
If the Pope wants to devote his life to fighting climate change then he can do so on his personal time.
Rep. Gosar, who has received campaign contributions of $12,500 from oil and gas companies and $28,850 from electric utilities, doesnât believe in climate change. Apparently, he would rather the Pope devotes his speech to abortion, Planned Parenthood, and to the threatened religious liberties of County Clerks.
This Popeâs message causes discomfort for people on both sides of the aisle. Conservative Catholics used to welcome Francisâ predecessors ecstatically, and with open arms, but that was in the old days, when Popes were Popes:
Even when in the Reagan Library, todayâs GOP candidates canât duplicate St. Ronnieâs message:
The GOP debate brought the smell of roasted pig:
Views now differ on Paradise:
