Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, a Catholic, on Pope Francis' biting critique of trickle-down capitalism and supply-side economics: "He's entitled to his opinion, but I think we should look carefully at what he's saying."
Odd. Had this pope stressed instead his opposition to abortion or gay marriage, Sen. Toomey would have embraced the emphasis as that of Christ's vicar. Yet when this pope slams unfettered capitalism of Toomey's Club for Growth variety, it's merely "his opinion."
And then there's Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, a Catholic, who offered this typically unthoughtful analysis of Pope Francis' critique: "The guy is from Argentina, they haven't had real capitalism in Argentina."
Well they didn't have real socialism in Soviet Russia or "Red" China, either. Would Ryan therefore argue that socialism is, at least theoretically, desirable? Somehow, I think not.
But what else should we expect from a Catholic congressman who refers to the pope as "the guy"?
So, if they can bring this level of disdain to bear on the man who is nominally their spiritual leader imagine what they think of each other.
Posted by: Peter G | December 26, 2013 at 04:40 PM
And the rest of us, PeterG. There is no bottom to that well.
Posted by: shsavage | December 26, 2013 at 05:13 PM
They disdain everyone who is not THEM. Tribalism at its finest, for all negative values of "finest".
Posted by: Janicket | December 27, 2013 at 11:21 AM