16 July 2016. Two Versions of the Trump Golden Calf

Here’s the original, with Pope Francisco in the image

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Here’s an edited version making the rounds of the web now

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The first is more apropos… it means that Dolan and those favouring the rightwing are at odds with their Church. Well, our rightwingers are at odds with HH. Both our righties and the papist righties unite to support Republican filth. Both our First Hierarch and the Pope of Rome oppose the right. Interesting, no? Both our rebellious righties and their papist analogues use the “Pro-Life Movement” as the reason for their rebellion. Tells you much about the Pro-Life Movement and its evil, doesn’t it? There’s a wrong way of being right… a way that converts good into evil. That’s the Pro—Life Movement… no one who’s pro-oligarch, pro-capital punishment, pro-war, and anti-single-payer healthcare can be truly Pro-Life… no one. Unfortunately, for all their bluster, they’re just the usual lot of Mammon worshippers and Pharisees. Do have a care… frauds are about, and they all thump their chests and tell you what great Christians they are.

They lie…

BMD

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13 September 2015. Vote AGAINST the Republican Anti-Life Programme

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I wrote this 2½ years ago… it’s still as true as ever…

The so-called “March for Life” is coming up. The usual cast of suspects is making the usual Sturm und Drang concerning it. At one time, before I wised up, I supported the Pro-Life Movement. Then, I looked beneath the surface, and what I saw appalled and repelled me. The same pols who supported so-called “Pro-Life” measures were also for:

• perpetual warfare in foreign parts
• the gutting of the social safety net to fund corruption-riddled defence contracts
• opposition to single-payer healthcare to benefit their corporate paymasters
• derisory tax rates upon their wealthy contributors
• the promiscuous use of the death penalty
• the increasing role of the “security state”
• using prison as a “solution” to the so-called “drug problem”
• shitcanning all labour and environmental regulations in favour of libertarian “economic freedom”
• the extending of personal and human rights to corporations

Whew… and that’s NOT exhaustive! In short, they OPPOSED what the late John Cardinal O’Connor rightfully called “the seamless garment”. There’s a reason why Timothy Cardinal Dolan didn’t come out in favour of Wet Willy in the late presidential election… Willy was AGAINST the “seamless garment”, and Dolan couldn’t support him without ripping up Catholic social teaching.

We have loud sorts amongst us. Follow the money… Potapov is (or was) a mid-level US government flunky (a propagandist targeting the Orthosphere, no less!)… Freddie M-G is (or was) an apparatchik at NPR… Dreher and Mattingly are rightwing stink-tankers… Webster is a stink-tanker and a chaplain in the US Army Reserve. When you add in that Lyonyo’s a member of the CFR (Anne Schmemann works in a CFR office that issues mendacious and self-serving apologias for American aggression abroad) and that Serge Schmemann and Sophia Kishkovsky are part of the New York Times Pravda-machine (the jewel in the crown of the American Corporate Media), well, what does that tell you? They’ve all sold out to the godless powers-that-be for a comfortable life and above-average incomes. You can follow Christianity or you can follow Sergianism. It’s interesting… the ones who loudly accused the MP hierarchy of “Sergianism” during the Sov era now stand exposed as Sergianist cheerleaders for Free Market buccaneering and bloodsucking. Fancy that… what they criticised, they now espouse. God DOES have a sense of justice, doesn’t He? Do you want to honour Christ, or shall you worship Mammon (the Almighty Dollar)?

Choose well… your eternal destiny does rest upon it…

BMD

Who’s More Fallible on Economics: Paul Ryan or Pope Francisco?

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Last week, US Representative Paul Ryan (R–WI) said about Pope Francisco Bergoglio, the head of the Catholic Church, “The guy’s from Argentina; they haven’t had real capitalism in Argentina”. With a wave of Ryan’s hand, he swept away the tension between his political stance and his faith… the conduit of an omniscient God simply doesn’t know what real capitalism looks like. As Politico pointed up, Pope Francisco keeps saying things that are outside the Republican Party‘s economic worldview. In November, we figured that Francisco’s criticism of capitalism might bring him into tension with Ryan; after all, saying that trickle-down economics “expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralised workings of the prevailing economic system” essentially condemns Ryan’s political orthodoxy.

Ryan offered his response in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel… somewhat amusingly focused on his support for a casino in the state. He said, “The guy’s from Argentina; they haven’t had real capitalism in Argentina. They have crony capitalism in Argentina. They don’t have a true free enterprise system”. Ryan seems to suggest that one can’t comment on another country’s economic system without having lived there for an extended period. Francisco’s social views aren’t a small problem for American conservatives. Earlier this month, NBC and The Wall Street Journal polled Americans on their views about the new pope. Nearly two-thirds of Democrats approved of the job he’s doing; fewer than half of Republicans did. Religion is central in much of American conservative philosophy, so, having the leader of one particularly influential religion directly attacking the GOP‘s economic ideology could leave rightwingers a bit unsettled.

For Ryan, it’s particularly bad. As 2016 approaches, he’s trying to reposition himself as a champion of the poor, even earning a laudatory profile in BuzzFeed for his efforts. As Jonathan Chait points up in New York, Ryan’s born-again commitment to the poor isn’t a new talking point. In Chait’s words, “It might seem odd that Ryan’s determination to keep his love of the poor quiet would nevertheless leak out in the media, over and over again. It’s impossible to disprove the suggestion that Ryan has grown obsessed with helping the poor. However, what exactly does this mean? He’s devoted his entire career to policies that would, as first-order effects, increase the incomes of the rich, and decrease the incomes of the poor. Ryan has always argued that the first-order effects are less important than the deeper incentives he’d unleash… cutting taxes for the rich and reducing subsidies for the poor would make both work harder”.

Those are the sort of policies Pope Francisco explicitly commented upon. To which Ryan feebly responds, “Yeah, well, Argentina’s lame”. As he puts together his presidential campaign team, expect to see a staff member whose only job is to keep an eye out for white smoke coming from a chimney in St Peter’s Square.

26 December 2013

Philip Bump

The Wire

http://www.thewire.com/politics/2013/12/who-more-fallible-economics-paul-ryan-or-pope-francis/356503/

Editor’s Note:

Francisco Bergoglio tied up the Righties’ nicks in a knot. They make all kinds of noise about how “religious” they are… now, one of the most major religious figures in the world says, in essence, “Thou fools and hypocrites! Depart from me and go into the outer darkness where there’s wailing and gnashing of teeth, to your father in Hell”. Ryan’s particularly torpedoed… he’s revealed as a piss-poor Catholic who believes more in Ayn Rand’s maunderings than in the teachings of Our Lord Christ. Since he spits on Our Lord Christ… is Dolan going to refuse Ryan communion publicly for attacking the Catholic Church’s teachings and its leader? Don’t hold your breath… the Catholic hierarchy doesn’t take the “seamless garment” concept seriously any more… it’s become a “tattered garment”, as they obsequiously repeat the Republican Party’s godless Me First ideology. It’s why I’ll have nothing to do with the so-called US “Pro-Life” movement.

One of the main reasons why Democrats favour Pope Francisco is that there’s a higher percentage of Catholics in Democratic ranks than there are in the Republican Party. The GOP has made itself into a “sectarian-friendly” body, which means that it has a very high proportion of anti-Catholic Know Nothings amongst its base. It’s become the default Party of Evangelicals, Mormons, and other sectarians. Ergo, of course, they don’t like Francisco. They’re nutters who believe that the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon (and that all of the rest of us will roast in Hell after the Judgement). Therefore, the Republican reaction against the pope is more a result of their religious lunacy, not their politics (which is why Orthodox shouldn’t have anything to do with Evangelicals and their ilk).

Yes, the Righties are “religious”… but without any relation to Real Christianity, the Real Church, or the Real Christ (Jayzuss isn’t Jesus… do ponder that). Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity…. don’t forget WHO said that…

BMD

 

21 January 2013. Oppose the Anti-Lifers Who Pose as “Pro-Lifers”… It’s What God DEMANDS of You

______________________________

The so-called “March for Life” is coming up. The usual cast of suspects is making the usual Sturm und Drang concerning it. At one time, before I wised up, I supported the Pro-Life Movement. Then, I looked beneath the surface, and what I saw appalled and repelled me. The same pols who supported so-called “Pro-Life” measures were also for:

• perpetual warfare in foreign parts
• the gutting of the social safety net to fund corruption-riddled defence contracts
• opposition to single-payer healthcare to benefit their corporate paymasters
• derisory tax rates upon their wealthy contributors
• the promiscuous use of the death penalty
• the increasing role of the “security state”
• using prison as a “solution” to the so-called “drug problem”
• shitcanning all labour and environmental regulations in favour of libertarian “economic freedom”
• the extending of personal and human rights to corporations

Whew… and that’s NOT exhaustive! In short, they OPPOSED what the late John Cardinal O’Connor rightfully called “the seamless garment”. There’s a reason why Timothy Cardinal Dolan didn’t come out in favour of Wet Willy in the late presidential election… Willy was AGAINST the “seamless garment”, and Dolan couldn’t support him without ripping up Catholic social teaching.

We have loud sorts amongst us. Follow the money… Potapov is (or was) a mid-level US government flunky (a propagandist targeting the Orthosphere, no less!)… Freddie M-G is (or was) an apparatchik at NPR… Dreher and Mattingly are rightwing stink-tankers… Webster is a stink-tanker and a chaplain in the US Army Reserve. When you add in that Lyonyo’s a member of the CFR (Anne Schmemann works in a CFR office that issues mendacious and self-serving apologias for American aggression abroad) and that Serge Schmemann and Sophia Kishkovsky are part of the New York Times Pravda-machine (the jewel in the crown of the American Corporate Media), well, what does that tell you? They’ve all sold out to the godless powers-that-be for a comfortable life and above-average incomes. You can follow Christianity or you can follow Sergianism. It’s interesting… the ones who loudly accused the MP hierarchy of “Sergianism” during the Sov era now stand exposed as Sergianist cheerleaders for Free Market buccaneering and bloodsucking. Fancy that… what they criticised, they now espouse. God DOES have a sense of justice, doesn’t He? Do you want to honour Christ, or, do you want to worship Mammon (the Almighty Dollar)?

Choose well… your eternal destiny does rest upon it…

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Monday 21 January 2013

Albany NY