No Soup for You

Today we spent in meeting after meeting, planning my trip to America in April to worship with the faithful, tend to the sick, minister to the unwashed, etc, etc. I said I had hoped we could squeeze in a few days in the Poconos, but Cardinal Bernie firmly nixed that idea and Father Antonio added that “the security would be a bitch”. I told Antonio to watch his language in front of “God’s Messenger on Earth” and made him drop and give me 150 Hail Mary’s. He did, but I didn’t feel, in the end, that he was very contrite.

It was decided that Father Guido would be in charge of security for the trip. He had brought in a consultant to assist with the details. I must say that this advisor did not appear to be particularly intellectual, but he certainly was a BIG man with thick neck, lumpy face, out sized hands, and a body mass that suggested a lifetime with very few missed meals. Guido said his name was Vincente, a boyhood friend from Detroit, that Guido had trusted him with his life many times in the past and had complete confidence in him. I found great relief in the knowledge that both God and Vincente would be watching our back.

Franco Zeffirelli dropped by mid-afternoon with a pair of brown loafers for me to try on. He said John Paul II had favored them over the “fruity” traditional red slippers that I prefer. “John Paul II was the Pope of the People. They all loved him. And lately, Joseph, you’ve been coming across like a bloodless Teutonic.” Well, I am what I am. After he left, I tossed the loafers to the pack of Papal curs, that live beneath my window and keep me up til all hours of the night with their barking, howling, and some other activity involving an intricate dance of sorts with one mongrel behind and on top of another. As a party trick, Cardinal Anselmo will sometimes channel St. Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of the Animals. I’ll ask him about this dance tomorrow.

People for the American Way has started a petition to be sent to the Senate encouraging them to reject immunity for the telecoms. If you’re in agreement, you may go the the link below and sign the petition yourself. A good use of about 30 seconds, IMHO.

http://www.pfaw.org/go/StopImmunity

your pal, cooper

And while we’re talking politics, I think both of the Democratic candidates have shown some class in the last 24 hours - both in the debate last night and also in regards to the policeman that lost his life today escorting Hillary’s motorcade. Apparently this same officer had assisted Barack’s entourage recently when they were in town, so both Obama and Hillary stepped away from the campaign long enough to offer comforting words to the policeman’s family on this sad day.

And cooper…thanks for the link.

cooper, I did my patriotic PFAW duty, even though my congressman was connected at the golf club to Tom Delay, and is essentially a waste of air, earth, water, and fire. Same goes for Gerard Half-Baked.

Methinks I just put myself on another mailing list, but that’s okay. Thanks Cooper.
Well, I’m thinking Hillary’s closing statement at the debate was a percursor to a concession speech. The next week or so should be interesting.
Piglet, if that’s all the repubs can come up with, that’s pretty good.

I can’t picture Hillary dropping out before the convention. Just my gut feeling. There definitely has to be a place for John Edwards in the new Cabinet–the only question is where. Maybe he can be assigned to more than one? Lord knows every single department needs cleaning up.

Here’s a story that hasn’t gotten much traction in the MSM. It seems the Dallas PD claims that the Secret Service told them to stop checking bags at the Obama rally in Dallas the other day.

http://www.star-telegram.com/251/story/486413.html

Being from Dallas, I find this disturbing on many levels. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? The SS denies the story, leaving us to wonder where the “order” came from.

And even that wouldn’t be so bad if not for the fact that a couple of weeks ago, after his endorsement of Obama, Ted Kennedy was asked by an interviewer if the Kennedy charisma might not also come with the “Kennedy curse.” (I can’t remember who it was. Not O’Reilly. Maybe Chris Matthews?) Just poor taste, or a meme planted by Karl Rove?

Thanks for that link, becca.

I read the TimesOnline article about Obama, and this could indeed be Murdoch talking, becca and brian. But the writer doesn’t really understand how the American system works. Assume he’s correct and Obama really is a French-style socialist: high taxes, lots of spending on education (what’s wrong with spending on education?) and welfare, protectionist trade policies, etc. Then assume he is elected president. Will he be able to implement those policies wholesale? No, he won’t; there’s too much inertia in the system, too many people who disagree. But he will set the policy example, and he will push the policy decisions in that direction, and IMHO we need that. Our pendulum has swung too far the other way.

Sharon, that story from Dallas is nothing but freaky, especially the fact that everybody says the other guy gave the order. Thank the Lobster nothing actually went wrong. As for the “Kennedy curse” - I think a lot of us have that little fear lurking in the back of the brain. I wouldn’t take Karl Rove’s word for the time of day, and it’s been bothering me. I comfort myself that, because of that, presidents are much more heavily protected than Kennedy was. Except maybe in Dallas?? Man, is that scary.

Wow, gillian - he must be a Libertarian. Other considerations aside, they definitely deserve two gold stars: one for their stand on Iraq, and one for their adherence to the Constitution, in particular the Bill of Rights.

Dirk, I know exactly what you mean. My Heather does that same tit flashing thing, too.

Hedera, perhaps Fanny got drunk celebrating Ratatouille´s Oscar win? Speaking of Oscars–here´s hoping that enthusiasm for No Country for Old Men is a sign of good things to come in the election.

Note to Fanny: comment #18 (between David’s “Wow, gillian…” and gillian’s “Dirk, I…” comments) appears to be spam, based on the destination of the link.

Yes, Tammy and I had prepared a comment so eloquent, and with such astuteness of thought, that we were assured the Nobel Prize in blog commenting. But Fanny ate it, and now it is lost to the ether.

Kjell, only after I’ve been back in Dallas for a few days. And I think the correct term is “Yeeeee Haaaaa!” WF can confirm or deny this.

Sharon, I’ll have to defer to jerrytct. Dallas IS almost as far north as some of them yankee states.