Right Wing Media Lash Out At Pope Francis During U.S. Visit | Media Matters

[Fred Sanders]

From David Brock's Media Matters watchdog of the media:


Right-Wing Media Lash Out At Pope Francis During U.S. Visit

Research 8 hours and 30 minutes ago ››› JULIE ALDERMAN & NICK FERNANDEZ

"Right-wing media are attacking President Obama and Pope Francis for what they're characterizing as the hypocrisy and cowardice of their joint remarks at the White House marking the beginning of the pope's first-ever visit to the United States.

Pope Marks First Visit To U.S. By Visiting Obama At The White House

Pope Francis Meets With President Obama On The First Full Day Of His U.S. Tour. Pope Francis spent the morning of September 23 at the White House on the first full day of his tour of the United States, which will include stops in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Philadelphia. President Obama welcomed the pope on the South Lawn of the White House, where both leaders gave a brief public remarks that saw the pope endorse Obama's climate change agenda."

Read More: http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/09/23/right-wing-media-lash-out-at-pope-francis-durin/205746

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The list of crazed right wing babblers quoted in the MM article forms a long and convenient reference list of right wing hate sites and is a clear lesson in who they really are.....messengers from sites without any message a sane person would want to hear.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

1. Notice rightwing hack Bill Donohue and his one-man Catholic "League" are noticeably silent

Limbaugh can call the Pope a communist, Coulter can say Catholics aren't to be trusted, and Savage Weiner can call Francis the anti-Christ, but supposed anti-Catholic watchdog Bill only takes issue with important stuff like David Bowie using religious imagery in a music video or Kevin Smith making a goofy film.

[left-of-center2012]

2. I may be wrong

I may be wrong, and this may be prejudiced ...
but I assume most right wingers are evangelical Christians and
I suspect they are not too fond of Catholics or African-American U.S. Presidents.

[FreakinDJ]

3. No you are not wrong

[JDPriestly]

33. Wrong.

The facts are just too sad to summarize here.

But Catholic Charities and Catholic Workers' organizations are great. So it is a mixed bag.

[nomorenomore08]

35. Plenty of far-right-wing Catholics (a la Mel Gibson and his father) out there.

They're probably sobbing in their Communion wine over the current Pope, and I couldn't be happier about that.

[pnwmom]

42. Mel Gibson and his father are not Roman Catholics.

Like Protestants, they reject the Pope and the rest of the Church hierarchy.

They bought a church building and are actually a Church unto themselves -- they choose to call themselves Catholic, based on their view that they are the "real" Catholics.

But is true that there are other very right wing Roman Catholics, including a lot of the bishops who were appointed by John Paul and Benedict. Even those bishops, however, accept the Church's teachings on poverty and our obligations to help.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Still a WASP vs Catholic Nation

and right wing Catholics are divided at that.

Right Wing vile hatred and venom at anything that doesn't advance
their agenda is palpable.

A very sad state of affairs

[NonMetro]

5. I Knew It!

It's already started. People are already dividing, taking sides for and against the Pope. But everybody should have known when Boehner staged this political event that it would lead to trouble - and sure enough, it has. And this is just the start. The US government has just shown extreme favoritism and promotion of the Catholic Church. Deny it, if you will, but that's the proverbial "bottom line". The only thing missing so far is the triumphal ticker-tape parade for "his holiness" in Times Square!

[pnwmom]

15. Reality check: the Dalai Lama not only gave a long speech to Congress,

he was given a Congressional Medal of Honor.

And he also met with President Obama.

Did you complain about "extreme favoritism and promotion" of Buddhism and the Dalai Lama?

https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1370&bih=805&q=dalai+lama+obama&oq=dalai+lama+obama&gs_l=img.12..0j0i8i30j0i24l2.1225.10439.0.12585.40.28.12.0.0.0.163.2890.19j9.28.0.ccynfh.3..0...1.1.64.img..0.40.2906.QQwZRXZBvUE


http://www.dalailama.com/messages/acceptance-speeches/congressional-gold-medal

Speech by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama at the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony (Video of His Holiness's acceptance speech here.)

President Bush, Speaker Pelosi, Senator Byrd, my fellow Laureate Elie Wiesel, Honourable Members of Congress, Brothers and Sisters.

It is a great honour for me to receive the Congressional Gold Medal. This recognition will bring tremendous joy and encouragement to the Tibetan people, for whom I have a special responsibility. Their welfare is my constant motivation and I always consider myself as their free spokesperson. I believe that this award also sends a powerful message to those many individuals who are dedicated to promoting peace, understanding and harmony.

On a personal note, I am deeply touched that this great honour has been given to me, a Buddhist monk born of a simple family from the remote Amdo region of Tibet. As a child I grew up under the loving care of my mother, a truly compassionate woman. And after my arrival in Lhasa at the age of four, all the people around me, my teachers and even the housekeepers, taught me what it means to be kind, honest, and caring. It is in such an environment that I grew up. Later my formal education in Buddhist thought exposed me to concepts such as interdependence and the human potential for infinite compassion. It is these that gave me a profound recognition of the importance of universal responsibility, non-violence, and inter-religious understanding. Today, it is a conviction in these values that gives me the powerful motivation to promote basic human values. Even in my own struggle for the rights and greater freedom of the Tibetan people, these values continue to guide my commitment to pursuing a non-violent path.

SNIP

[NonMetro]

25. Perhaps That Shouldn't Have Been Done, Either?

But there is very little comparison, IMO. It was definitely not as big a deal as this, and it's not like there are 60 million Buddhists living here basking in his reflected glory.

[pnwmom]

29. If you had listened to what he has said on this visit, you would know that Catholic progressives

found a great deal to be happy about in his multiple addresses.

[uhnope]

26. great rebuttal! nt

[Fred Sanders]

18. What "trouble" has "this led to"? Although the trouble this will bring the GOP and their fascist

agenda is clear enough.

[NonMetro]

27. And You Know This Will Bring Trouble To the GOP?

How do you know that? I read an article in the news today which said the Pope could never support the Democratic Party because of abortion and gay marriage. Do you think Republicans are not going to use that against the Democrats? I think they will, and I think that's one of the reasons they had him speak to congress: to lend moral support for their plans to shut down Planned Parenthood, to browbeat Democrats on abortion, and continue their war on women with renewed vigor and purpose. How is any of that "trouble" for the GOP? He supports the GOP!

[pnwmom]

28. He doesn't support the GOP. If that's why they invited him they got a lot more than they bargained for.

They had to listen to him "promote" the Golden rule, and use it as a lesson on how we should treat all immigrants.
They had to listen to him telling everyone in Congress how they should be cooperating and compromising with each other for the common good.
They had to listen to him talking about economic justice and helping the poor.
They had to listen to him talking about respect for life at every stage -- and immediately connect that to opposition to the death penalty.

They had to listen to him extol the work of Martin Luther King, and Abraham Lincoln, and Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton.

He absolutely does not support the GOP. Neither does he support the Democrats. He supports the common people, and the common good.

You clearly didn't listen to anything he said; you're just reacting based on your preexisting anti-Catholic views.

[NonMetro]

45. I Listened To His Entire Speech

Do you seriously believe that John Boehner and the Republicans didn't know where the Pope stood on all of these issues before they invited him to speak before their Republican congress? Do you think these same Republicans didn't know exactly how to deal with the things on which they disagree?

Look: we call Republicans dumb, and that's a good thing! But, they're not really that dumb. These are crafty political manipulators who know exactly what they are doing, and this visit by the Pope fit right into their plans - see abortion, gay marriage, and separation of church and state.

I'll say this, and every Democrat should know it: this political event staged by the Republican Party was not staged to benefit Democrats - and it won't!

[ChazII]

47. Agree 100%. n/t

[Fred Sanders]

31. The entire RW media and the GOP have vocalized their hatred of the Pope as a hoax?

[TommyCelt]

41. "How do you know that?"

Because the Pope isn't an American citizen, and as such supports neither the GOP nor the Democrat agenda.

Damn did you even READ his speech?

[FairWinds]

6. Yeah, and I really need George Will to tell me . .

how wrong the Pope is.

[Hortensis]

9. You mean the "false prophet ...trailing clouds of sanctity?"

I'm actually enjoying the RW attempts at damage control, preemptive and reactive, as this moral hurricane smashes through all their constructs.

[Fred Sanders]

10. Preemptive, emptive or post-emptive, the Pope just blew a gaping hole through their entire plan to

take America back to near the stone age, and all the attacks on the Pope have only served to wake more folks up to how insane they have become.

[Hortensis]

11. This is a wound that thousands of spiritual leaders across the nation,

Last edited Mon Sep 28, 2015, 09:43 AM - Edit history (1)

Catholic and other, will keep probing, not just in the months ahead but likely for years to come. Climbing out of the hole may take us time, but all the Kochs' money and all the Kochs' men aren't going to make Pope Francis's message just go away. This was the right time for it.

[bucolic_frolic]

16. Not only that

it was a barnburner of a speech, with a message for the ages, millennia
of distilled human wisdom to morally guide solutions to modern political,
economic, and environmental problems. It was one for the history books
that will be remembered and read about for hundreds of years.

The GOP response to this is what, exactly? Greed is good, pass the caviar?

[Fred Sanders]

17. If the pre-response is any indicator, the post response will be even more vicious and eye-opening

to the world and maybe some more Americans.

One can wish.

[Hortensis]

44. ..."millennia of distilled human wisdom to morally guide decisions..."

Yes!

On a less elevated note, maybe some congregations will eventually toss their prosperity ministries and replace them with ones that even, occasionally, teach on moral issues. A few months ago I attended a local church with a friend looking for a new one -- half the time spent singing unconditional adoration of God, followed by equally lengthy "inspirational" instruction on how to cash in on it by just telling God what you want, then wrapping up with a prayer and one more adoring song, and out.

[rladdi]

7. And we the American people can never trust a religious right individual. They survive in lies.

Just look at Huckabee and his words about Obama. Huckabee is no more a real Christian than I am. He is a fraud. A real Christian would not speak like the Republicans are doing. GOD does not condone those words of HATE.

[Fred Sanders]

8. Well said. And also pointed out by the Pope that Christians do not behave like the GOP does.

[Hortensis]

12. Huckabee is almost literally a snake oil salesman. He may well

end his days in obscurity, trying to huck fake cancer cures on cable TV to a few true believers.

[Bluenorthwest]

13. And centrist Democrats overlook his insults to LGBT families in a way that demonstrates their own

intense bigotry. They pretend he did not attack reproductive choice because they really don't support it either.
Very bigoted speech.

[NonMetro]

46. That's What I Say, Too!

These folks who think Repuplicans got more than they bargained for when they invited the Pope to speak to their Republican congress, are acting as if the Republicans didn't know what he was going to say about various issues when they invited him. I'll ask this again: does anyone seriously believe that the Republicans invited the Pope to speak to their Republican congress to damage the Republican Party? Does anyone realize this was done, as you have pointed out, for the exact opposite reason: to damage the Democratic Party?

You know, I've already been called a "Pope hater" for saying this, and that's fine. It says more about those calling me names than it does about me, because I don't hate the Pope, and I don't hate Catholics, either. I am simply concerned about this cynical use of religion by the GOP to advance their agenda in three critical ways: abortion, gay marriage, and tearing down the wall of separation of church and state.

To think otherwise is to believe this political event happened in a vacuum. It didn't.

[geretogo]

14. Did we expect anything different from the animal farm ? Cockroaches and Swine can never be any

thing different than what they are , animals on the bottom of the food chain .

[rpannier]

19. This, I believe, is creating a huge dilemma for the right

They're used to going on the attack, the supposed liberals in media give credence to the reich-wing talking points, many liberal politicians modify their statements and the reich wins

Francis won't modify what he says and I think the right is confused about what to do
If they go on a more viscous attack, which they often do, they run the risk of losing the more conservative Catholics out there who may not agree with the Pope, but are old enough to remember the rhetoric from the evangelical Protestants; people like Peggy Noonan, the Mara family (NY Giants owners) and the Mc Mahons
So they have to find some way to channel their inner hatred in a way that doesn't push the monied Catholics from their camp

With Obama they feel they can say whatever stupid, vile crap they want.
The Pope is much harder because his support does cut across into some conservative circles (especially non-white, conservative Catholics)

[Fred Sanders]

22. I have to confess I have little understanding of the Protestant and Catholic schism, or how it

plays politically, but I do know the rule of God is the enemy of the rule of law, and I have chosen my side.

[pnwmom]

30. Here's the bottom line:

In 2015, the schism of Protestants and Catholics isn't that important. Most liberal Catholics and Protestants have more in common with each other than most RW Catholics and Protestants.

[JDPriestly]

34. "the rule of God is the enemy of the rule of law"

Interesting statement. What do you mean?

Are you speaking about the history of law beginning with Hammurabi who was Babylonian and is credited with authoring an early code, or the law of the Old Testament? Roman law which led to the Civil Code in Europe?

Or are you just talking about our Constitution and the separation of church and state.

Your statement is intriguing and I am wondering what your thoughts are behind it.

Just interested. Not challenging or snarking you. Just an intellectually interesting statement. What is the "rule of God"? Maybe because I am a Unitarian, I have trouble defining that.

Please explain. Thanks. Very interesting comment.

[Fred Sanders]

37. I think I can give a best answer by rephrasing. "The rule of law is the enemy of the rule of God".

Meaning a secular society will always be vulnerable to attack by any religion that seek to impose the rules of that religion on all of the society.

Sharia law and 'Maria' law - and any other religious code of political and moral rule - are obviously attempts by those that believe in God's law to replace man's law....and both and all are equally wrong.

It is not like this is the first time in the history of the world that a religion has tied itself to monied interests and the media in order to storm their way into a position of political and social power.

Wasn't the lesson of Hebdo, after the massacre, in their own editorial, that secular law must never surrender to religious law, but is always under attack and has to be actively defended?

[JDPriestly]

39. Thanks. Good explanation.

[WiffenPoof]

20. I Tuned in KBRITE...

...one of the programs just couldn't help themselves. They were highly critical of the whole Pope event.

[Skidmore]

21. You know all of those kids who used to get poor marks in

citizenship and did not play well with others? Well they are all teabaggers now. This is the conclusion which I have drawn. Antisocial all.

[Fred Sanders]

23. A good analogy are the Religion controlled public school systems of Saudi Arabia, and we know how

that turned out.

Which serve as convienent models for what Religion wants, and effectively has, in some parts of America...or all parts if the GOP somehow controls all three branches of federal government.

[chapdrum]

24. When the mighty right

ignores the Pope's advice, then it's soon to follow that those responsible for damaging what remains of the natural world will be free to follow suit.

Pipe dream: The Pope publicly invites various CEO's to the Vatican or, better yet, requests that he be hosted at corporate HQ.
He has a chat with CEO(s), and then publicly reports the outcome.

Give the right credit for this much: When they don't like the message, they don't care whom they trash.

[nikto]

32. Just proves that all rightwingers go to Hell

[nomorenomore08]

36. Conservative media attacking the Pope? It's like a dream come true!

[NonMetro]

38. Media Matters Cited 7 People, Most Not Widely Known?

To "prove" their point? and 2 of the 7 were actually critical of Obama, and most of the others were the usual claptrap about commies and climate change. And of course, they offered Ann Coulter. Well, what do we expect from her?

[pnwmom]

40. They are widely known among teabaggers. Not surprisingly, they don't have high profiles here. n/t

[Ferd Berfel]

43. THe Pope took a huge steaming DUMP on

about 90% of everything that the republicans stand for.

If the Reich is to continue to pretend that they are the party of 'god' they have to run him down.

The Pope appears to be very "New Testament" were god (and Jesus) is more about "Love" and more of a socialist. The Republicans seem to have embraced the hateful, vengeful, spiteful god of the Old Testament. Is god Bi-polar?