Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29

by A. Joseph Lynch

I. POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

BREAKING THE NARRATIVE (I): Liberals have long delcared Francis one of their own and conservatives are all too happy to agree. The liberal and "Never Francis" conservative narrative of Francis, however, was brought down a notch or two following the promulgation of Querida Amazonia, Francis' post-Amazon synod apostolic exhortation - a document which the National Reviews says reveals his conservatism.

BREAKING THE NARRATIVE (II): If we needed further evidence of Francis' departure from the liberal and conservative narrative, we learned this week that Francis is most displeased with James Martin and how he used his papal audience to push his homosexual agenda in the Church. An anonymous bishop from a private episcopal meeting described what Pope Francis has said: "The Holy Father's disposition was very clear: He was most displeased about the whole subject of Fr. Martin and how their encounter had been used. He was very expressive, both his words and his face — his anger was very clear. He felt he'd been used."

SLAYING DRAGONS: A great interview of author Charles Fraune by Taylor Marshall on Fraune's new book on exorcisms, Slaying Dragons.

II. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND AMERICA

TRUMP'S HISTORIC WIN: While focus in New Hampshire's primary was placed on the Democrats, what went under-reported was President Trump's record vote in the state's GOP primary. In previous re-election bids, Obama received 49,000 votes in New Hampshire's primary while W. Bush and Clint received 54,000 votes and 77,000 votes respectively. President Trump blew these numbers away as he received over 120,000 votes. It's certainly a good sign for the President's re-election.

NEVADA CAUCUS: We saw fewer problems with technology in Nevada's Democrat caucus while Bernie won in a landslide. Sanders now has a commanding lead with 45 delegates, nearly double the 25 held by second-place Buttigieg and 15 more delegates than the combined total of Biden (15), Warren (8), and Klobachar (8).

BLOOMBERG BUST? Mayor Bloomberg has spent around half a billion dollars to gain zero delegates. It remains to be seen how he will perform on Super Tuesday in the states where he has spent much more attention and funds. With his name not on the South Carolina ballot and his focus on Super Tuesday people have wondered why he has risked taking the debate stage ahead of the Nevada caucus where he had little to gain and much to lose. Pat Buchanan described Bloomberg's dismal debate performance this way: "Bloomberg learned what it is like to be thrown up against a wall and frisked." With billions in the bank, Bloomberg is the one candidate who can survive a disastrous day at the polls on Tuesday.

PATRICK OUT: Democrats have lost their last black candidate for the presidency. Deval Patrick, the former governor of Massachusetts, has dropped out. In many ways this marks a turning point in the Democrat party. It has become the party of rich white feminists (Warren), crony money and power hungry politicians (Biden), homosexuals (Buttigieg), socialists (Sanders), and billionaires (Bloomberg). With Trump gaining support among African Americans and Hispanics, is the GOP the future home of racial diversity and support for the working class?

THE REPUBLICAN STEELE: Lindsay Graham plans to see a Senate investigation into Biden and Ukraine corruption, yet he says he is hesitant to take the information from Rudy Guiliani's investigation in fear of becoming the "Republican Christopher Steele." Graham seems to forget that we've already had a Republican Steele. It was "Never Trumper" John McCain who passed Steele's total fraud dossier to the FBI. See our past AOA commentary for more.

NSC OVERSTATEMENT: There is definitely collusion afoot, but Russia has nothing to do with it. It's a collusion between the "deep state" - actors within the government opposed to the Trump agenda or from other politicians outside the mainstream - and the elite media. Often something gets "leaked" or reported, saturated in the public mind through media attention for a day or two, then quietly backtracked when it is revealed as fake news. This is exactly what happened this week after it was widely circulated that intel supposedly revealed Russia was helping Bernie and Trump.

III. THE NATIONS

PHILIPPINES - TIME TO LEAVE? President Duterte plans to end the US military presence in his country. Pat Buchanan thinks we should accede, leave, and let Duterte know we'll never come back - even if the Philippines need military aid. What isn't being said is that the Philippines is the largest Catholic nation in Asia and America is the largest Christian nation in the world. The two should be natural allies, yet we seem to be moving apart. That being said, Duterte and Xi are two strong leaders of neighboring nations and their cooperation may be more important than hosting American military forces aimed squarely to counter China.

MORE SAUDI WAR CRIMES: The Saudis kill more than 30 civilians in Yemeni air strike. So far over 100,000 Yemenis have died at the hands of the Saudis. Have we cut funds to the Kingdom yet?

TRUMP IN INDIA: President Trump was met by tens of thousands of Indians this week as he made a presidential trip to India. More from Dr. Steve Turley.

CORONAVIRUS SPREADS: As the virus spreads, the CDC is warning of "significant disruption." Debunking myths.

IV. CULTURE OF LIFE, CULTURE OF PROTECTION

WAR IN NYC? The NYC police sergeants union has declared war against Mayor de Blasio for his anti-police posture and rhetoric. Meanwhile a new state bail law is wreaking havoc. One man has been arrest 139 times and can't be held in jail due to the new law. He's thanking Democrats, saying, "Bail reform, it's lit!"

SAVING BABIES IN AUSCHWITZ: The story behind a Catholic Polish midwife who delivered 3,000 babies in Auschwitz. 

PRAYER IN SCHOOLS: President Trump is working to protect it.

NUTTY NO MORE? The "nutty" 9th Circuit Court is still nutty, but becoming less so. As we reported last September, under Trump court "of 29 judges went from 6 conservative appointments as of 2016, to 13 under Trump - only two judges shy of a conservative majority." This week the "nutty 9th" upheld an anti-abortion Trump policy while the US Senate failed to gain enough Democrat votes to ban infanticide. If the GOP can continue to hold the Presidency and the Senate beyond November, they just might see the "nutty 9th" less nutty than the Democrats in the Senate.

GHOSTING ON THE RISE: An increasing number of younger employees are "ghosting" their employers by mysteriously leaving their jobs by failing to show for work and never formally quitting.  One study shows 50% of Gen Z (or iGen) and Millennial have "ghosted" at least one job while the same can be said of 35% of Gen Xers and only 19% of Boomers. The trend reveals something of the attitude and and lack of maturity in many young entrants to the job market. They may not know it, but it's bad for them in the long run.