Politiks As Usual: In The News 3/9/14

Most Corrupt Town in America in Danger of Being ‘Wiped Off the Map’

Is Ben Carson 2016's Sleeper Candidate?

I Was On Death Row, And I Was Innocent

Former 17 Year Marijuana Addict Urges Other States To Say No To Recreational Pot

No, Atheism and Conservatism Are Not Compatible 
 
Santorum: GOP Should Follow Pope's Example to Gain Followers
 
Obamacare Surcharge Appearing on Restaurant Bills Across the Country
 
George Will: Obama Donor Investigating IRS Scandal ‘Kind Of A Sham’ 
 
NBC Warns: Midterm Election 'Holds the Fate of the Rest of the Obama Presidency'
 
Ed Schultz Goes from Supporting Keystone to Comparing It to 'Vietnam' 

Chick-Fil-A Targeted By Black Mob

Iraqi Bill Would Allow 9-Year Old Girls to Marry, Husbands to Demand Sex

Can a Jew Get Down With Hot Jesus From 'Son of God?'

Koch Industries Responds To Harry Reid Attacks

Vatican Takes Rolling Stone to Task for Errors in Pope Francis Profile

Breitbart.com:

Imagine, on Super Bowl Sunday, if a sports reporter piped up and said things like, "Hey, since it's called football, can you touch the ball?" or "Hey, what's with the blocking and tackling? That's kind of mean," or "Hey, touchdowns, those are important, right?"

Yeah, that wouldn't end well.

No one would tolerate a sports reporter that showed that level of ignorance about a subject he's chosen to address, but when it comes to the Catholic Church in general and the pope in particular, the under-informed just let their freak flag fly.

Contrary to popular opinion—and the attempts of the mainstream media to portray him as such—Pope Francis is neither a politician nor a pop star. But all popes are public figures and, as such, get a full range of news coverage, from adoration to condemnation (some get both in one papacy).

Normally, the Vatican, which exists in a head space unlike any other, doesn't get visibly upset about the negative coverage, unless it's seriously inaccurate (hence the eventual removal from the Vatican Web site of the Pope Francis "interview" with octogenarian La Repubblica editor Eugenio Scalfari, who recreated the chat solely from memory, with decidedly mixed results).

When Time magazine named Francis its Person of the Year for 2013, the Vatican acknowledged it, essentially saying, "Yeah, of course you picked him. Duh." But it was left to bloggers, Twitter, and other media outlets—including, interestingly enough, Politico—to note errors in Time's bio of the pontiff (it originally cited his "rejection of church dogma," which hasn't actually ever happened), prompting a rewrite.

The Vatican's general attitude seems to be gratitude for the nice or neutral coverage and a resigned indifference to the negative and unusual. When gay magazine The Advocate named Francis its Person of the Year in December, the Vatican was unruffled. Of course, it helped that the article was well-researched and well-written. While the writer obviously didn't agree with all of Francis's (and the Church's) position on issues relating to persons with same-sex attraction, at least he understood them and was able to find some (accurate) common ground.

For its February issue, Rolling Stone put Francis on its cover—months after featuring a Tiger Beat-worthy photo of doe-eyed Boston Bombing terror suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnev—accompanied by a long feature piece featuring a lot of purple prose and factual errors about the papacy.

For example, writer Mark Binelli refers to the pope as "supposedly infallible," which displays a complete lack of knowledge about the meaning of papal infallibility, answers about which are just a Google away. And he refers to Jesus as a "homeless proto-hippie."

Don't worry, there's more.

At one point, for reasons that seem more related to the writer's inner life than that of his subject, Binelli compares Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's appearance to that of "Nightmare on Elm Street" character Freddy Kreuger, saying, "he looked like he should be wearing a striped shirt with knife-fingered gloves and menacing teenagers in their nightmares."

Apparently no one told these Catholic teens at the 2005 World Youth Day gathering in Cologne, Germany, that, upon seeing Benedict, they should run for their lives.

RELATED:  9 ridiculous claims in Rolling Stone’s cover story on Pope Francis

Politiks As Usual: In The News 1/12/14

Senate Support For Iran Sanctions Bill Reaches Veto-Proof Majority

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Vatican: Media Uses ‘Manipulation’ of Pope’s Statements to Fit Agenda
 
Unemployment Rate Drops as Workers Leave Labor Force
 
Being A Democrat Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry
 
‘Year of Action’: Obama Vows More Executive Orders
 
'Girls' Star Lena Dunham: People Who Don't Like Seeing Me Naked Need Psych Help
 
Where's the Media Outrage? Virginia Democrat Compares Republicans to Violent Rapists
 
Blogger’s Incarceration Raises First Amendment Questions

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Politiks As Usual: In The News 12/15/13

Kerry Comments Add to Mystery About Rogue CIA Agent Missing in Iran

Hillary Clinton, Too Cozy With Banks?

Has Hollywood Seen The Light? Biblical Films Abound!

Ron Christie to MSNBC Guest Claiming Tea Party Is 'Racial': 'I Will Not Sit Here and Allow You to Say That'

Arapahoe High Gunman: Republicans Are the Party of 'Let 'em Die'

3 Reasons Why Our Teenagers Can't Find Jobs

Honeymoon Cut Short: Court Overturns Australia’s First Same-Sex Marriage Law

Is Conservatism Being Marginalized On Capitol Hill - by Conservatives?
 
O, Come Let MSNBC Adore Lord Obama
 
Ex-Gay Group Files Sexual Orientation Discrimination Complaint with Department of Justice
 
Pope Francis Addresses ‘Ultraconservatives’ (and Limbaugh?) Calling Him a Marxist
 
Mike Huckabee Talks 2016, But Is Anyone Listening?

Rush Limbaugh Fires Back at ‘Phony’ Outrage Over Him Saying the Pope’s Preaching Marxism

Mediaite.com:

Rush Limbaugh caused quite a stir this past week after declaring that Pope Francis is preaching “pure Marxism.” Limbaugh fired back on his radio show Thursday, mocking the “soap opera” that always seems to plague him any time he opens his mouth.

He sighed about yet “another manufactured controversy” over his remarks and liberals trying to turn him into a “villain in this massive soap opera script.” He contrasted the over-the-top coverage of his Sandra Fluke remarks with the absolute silence over Martin Bashir‘s.

Limbaugh admitted that he’s just tired of it at this point; of people using him as a convenient punching bag whenever they discover something particularly egregious he’s said.

“I don’t like immersing myself in these contrived, phony things with these people acting like they’re so outraged by this. They’re not outraged by it.  They’re energized by what they think is another opportunity to take me out. They don’t care what I really said about the pope. That’s not the point of it. The point is, “Oh, wow!” I mean, every day they’re hoping I step in it, as they define stepping in it. So to heck with it.”

RELATED:  The pope as Marxist: Is Limbaugh right?

Politiks As Usual: In The News 11/10/13

 

Former Homeless Man Loses Benefits For Failing To Report $850 Found On Sidewalk

'Worse Than Hell' In Typhoon-Ravaged Philippines 

Christian Rocker Tops Tim Tebow As Christian Youth Leader 

An Open Letter To Pope Francis

George Will: Other Than Nixon ‘Has There Ever Been a Worse First Year of a Second Term?’

CBS Issues Benghazi Apology

Pew Poll: 60% Oppose Obama on Immigration Reform

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word 

Unemployment Among Black Youth 393% Higher Than National Rate

Father of Bristol Palin's Son Seeking At Least Equal Custody

White Republican Wins Election By Convincing Voters He’s Black
 

CBS Lies and Hypes Pope Francis As 'One of the Most Progressive Popes in Modern Times'

Just like the Godless Left: attempting to turn Pope Francis into one of their own:

Friday's CBS This Morning heralded how supposedly, "Pope Francis is already being described as one of the most progressive popes in modern times" after six months as Bishop of Rome. Charlie D'Agata asserted that the pontiff is "the friendly face of the Vatican, the people's pope", and played up how Francis' apparent "spirit of spontaneity, openness, and inclusion has courted controversy...It includes extending an olive branch to the gay community." [MP3 audio available here; video below]

On Wednesday, NBC Nightly News also underlined how Pope Francis seemingly "has changed the tone in a church plagued by the sex abuse scandal, emphasizing Church teaching on helping the poor and social justice....it's not just what the new pope says that's a sign of a changing church – it's what he does – getting close to people...enjoying the crowds that flock to him."

Anchor Charlie Rose introduced D'Agata's report by emphasizing the Pope's personal style: "Francis is bringing more big changes just by keeping things simple." The CBS correspondent picked up where Rose left off, and outlined the specific differences between Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI:

CHARLIE D'AGATA From his first day on the job, Pope Francis made it clear things were going to be different around the Vatican....At his inauguration, he decided against the bullet-proof, air-conditioned Popemobile, instead opting for the open-top version and making stops along the way....This is the friendly face of the Vatican, the people's pope.

Instead of moving into the lavish Apostolic Palace of his predecessor, Pope Benedict, Francis opted for an understated guesthouse room. He finished his first Mass at St. Peter's Square on an informal note...[and] stepped out of the church and into the street like any ordinary priest, catching nervous security guards off-guard....And when 1,400 Harley-Davidson motorcycles lined a route in Rome, Pope Francis came along and blessed them all and their owners.

Of course, the Apostolic Palace wasn't built by Benedict XVI, but a 16th century pontiff, Pope Sixtus V, and has been used by the successors of St. Peter for centuries. Also, while Pope Francis doesn't live in the papal apartments inside the palace, he still uses other facilities in the building.

D'Agata ended the segment with his "one of the most progressive popes in modern times" line. This labeling is beyond premature. Early in his papacy, Francis seconded the findings of a doctrinal critique of a dissenting coalition of American religious sisters, which was released during Pope Benedict's tenure. The left-wing Daily Beast decried the Argentinian pontiff for this move: "For all the renewal that Francis promises, the cold, hard reality is still that the Catholic Church is still one of the most misogynistic organizations around, no matter how popular the new pope might be."

Exactly a week earlier on CBS This Morning, correspondent Mark Phillips hyped Pope Francis' prayer and fasting vigil for peace in Syria as a "religious street protest". Phillips also all but hinted that the pontiff had "taken sides" with Russia's Vladimir Putin and against President Obama in the international debate over military strikes in the Middle Eastern country.

RELATED: Don't be fooled. Pope by name, pope by nature

Associated Press Vatican Reporter Cheers Pope Francis Opposing 'Poisonously Homophobic Culture' of Catholics

Newsbusters.org:

The media is imagining a whole new Pope that it can hug and squeeze and calls its own. In its narrative, Pope Francis is a liberal modernizer, and everything he does sweeps that caveman Pope Benedict under the rug. See AP's Vatican reporter Nicole Winfield at the end of the pope's trip to Brazil: "The Francis Revolution is underway. Not everyone is pleased."

Catholics see the two popes as very similar in doctrine, if not in personality. But Winfield is going looking for traditionalist Catholics who are wailing and gnashing their teeth in defeat, for Francis is supposedly driving out the "poisonously homophobic culture" that surrounded the "dusty, doctrinaire" realm of Benedict. So much for AP's policy discouraging the use of "homophobia" in news stories!

Four months into his papacy, Francis has called on young Catholics in the trenches to take up spiritual arms to shake up a dusty, doctrinaire church that is losing faithful and relevance. [That sounds like a grammatical error, even if it isn't.]

He has said women must have a greater role - not as priests, but a place in the church that recognizes that Mary is more important than any of the apostles. And he has turned the Vatican upside down, quite possibly knocking the wind out of a poisonously homophobic culture by merely uttering the word "gay" and saying: so what?
Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, had coddled traditionalist Catholics attached to the old Latin Mass and opposed to the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council. That group greeted Francis' election with concern — and now is watching its worst fears come true. Francis has spoken out both publicly and privately against such "restoratist groups," which he accuses of being navel-gazing retrogrades out of touch with the evangelizing mission of the church in the 21st century.

The Pope is hoping to evangelize the secular modern world, but AP thinks he's just trying to slap Catholics in the face to force the modern world into the church. Winfield's piece certainly proves AP has swept away any "retrograde" notion of a just-the-facts wire service. This purple prose reads just like a column for their client The Huffington Post.

The new pope did make waves by insisting the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate should not use the traditional Latin Mass. But that move could be interpreted in other ways than as a campaign against "navel-gazing retrogrades." For example, as a Jesuit, he could be trying to shake up this religious order without trying to crush the previous pope's welcoming of the old Latin rite in every church.

Winfield argues Pope Francis is crusading against "restoratist groups," but wherever you search for that term, it only turns up Winfield's article. It seems impossible to find a quote where the Pope (or anyone else outside AP) uses that term. It must just be that imaginary Pope the media adore.

RELATED: Pope on gay priests: “If someone is gay, who searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?”

Politiks As Usual: In The News 5/27/13

Tea Party Surges After IRS Flagging

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Sen. Coburn: Holder Investigating DOJ a ‘Total Conflict of Interest’

Media Claims Pope Gave Atheists Pass into Heaven

Scientist Corrects Gullible Reporter: ‘Climate Change’ Not Causing More Tornadoes

French Gay Marriage Opponents Stage Big Paris March

Mayor's Office No Certainly For Weiner 

Obama Officials Are 'Criminalising Journalism', Says Republican Senator 

Alex Jones Responds To Maddow’s Take Down: ‘I’m Attracted To Mr. Maddow, And That Really Conflicts My…’

Mayor's office no certainty for Weiner

Mayor's office no certainty for Weiner

Politiks As Usual: In The News 3/18/13

 Pope Wades Into Crowds, Shocks Bystanders In Rome

Atheism Is A Religion Too

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Dr. Ben Carson: Obama Trying to 'Destroy This Country'

Government Steering Americans Toward a Tele-Work, Tele-Shop, Mass-Transit Future

GOP Plans Fewer Debates, More Community Outreach

Ed Schultz: ‘I Don’t Think MSNBC Has Slighted Me’

Bill Maher Defends Iraq War, Bush: ‘It’s A Country That’s Standing, I Thought It Wouldn’t Be’

Karl Rove Slams Sarah Palin for CPAC Remarks

Do Women Belong In Racing?

Ann Coulter Blasts Chris Christie, Says He’s ‘Off My List’ For 2016 In Fiery CPAC Speech

Anti-God Social Liberals Attempt To Smear New Pope Francis I

Mediaite.com:

The media’s obsession with the Catholic Church’s position on things like abortion, marriage equality, and contraception always strikes this practicing Catholic as completely missing what it means to be Catholic. My faith, along with that of most Catholics, isn’t determined by the Church’s political fights of the day. Efforts by fellow journalists to jam Church teachings into the traditional left/right American political spectrum are futile as its views do not fit nicely into either camp. When somebody shouts about this pope being extremely conservative I roll my eyes as a conservative in the typical American sense would not rail against austerity measures, income inequality, and “unfair economic structures” that hurt the poor. Pope Francis has lived a deeply humble life with a strong focus on aiding the less fortunate and that is a major part of what it means to be a Catholic. It’s not just about faith in Jesus Christ for us, good works matter, too. 

My fellow libertarian compatriot and devoted follower of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Andrew Kirell, put out a post on these controversial subjects and how they relate to our new Holy Father. The post is a laundry list of concerns central to so many in the press. It is true that many in the Catholic hierarchy are immensely conservative when it comes to sexual morality issues and in some instances even places those concerns over their concerns about social justice issues. 

This pope cares deeply about both but his actions in Argentina as well in as in the first 48 hours of his pontificate tell us that he cares more deeply about matters of social justice and may be even be more “liberal” than at first glance.

As a Jesuit, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was a tireless champion of the downtrodden and poor throughout Argentina. Bergoglio routinely spoke out on behalf of the poor going as far as to liken the conditions in Buenos Aires to slavery due to corruption. He made some of his sharpest remarks on the lives of the less fortunate during a gathering of bishops in 2007, saying that their region is mired in deep poverty. 

“We live in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most yet reduced misery the least. The unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers,” he told the bishops, lumping in the plight of the poor with the expansion of the globalization. 

Francis shed the extravagant trappings usually afforded to some Catholic cardinals, preferring, instead, to stick to his Jesuit roots. This is a man who would ride the bus with the lowest of the low in his archdiocese so he could see the problems they face daily. He lived in a simple apartment and cooked his own meals. 

It is believed that one of his biggest influences, though, was a Salvadorian archbishop steeped in liberation theology who was later assassinated for his outspokenness on behalf of the poor. While he eschewed support for liberation theology with its close ties to the Latin American left he still managed to challenge the government in his native Argentina for the awful living conditions faced by the poor. 

“Let’s not tolerate the sad spectacle of those who no longer know how to lie and contradict themselves to hold onto their privileges, their rapaciousness, and their ill-earned wealth,” Bergoglio said during a national televised homily. 

In addition to strongly opposing austerity measures that disproportionately impact the poor has railed against the child slavery and the abuse of children. He is known to have zero tolerance for child abuse and his reign as archbishop of Buenos Aires has been largely blemish free, unlike some cardinals that were speculated on as potential popes. 

The Catholic church has been around for more than 2,000 years with an unflinching foundation based around moral tenets given by God, It has arguably done more for the poor and hungry than any other institution on the planet. But it's charitable deeds and true faith teachings will never stop anti-God, social liberals hellbent on smearing the church because of the misdeeds of a select few--all in an effort to make the church a villain, get people to leave the church and instead join the morally bankrupt, liberal agenda.

RELATED: Pope Francis I Is No Fan Of Homosexuality, Abortion, Contraception, And Same-Sex Adoption