TRUMP'S NOMINEE, THE DEBATE, AND PRESIDENTIAL ILLNESS
It seems like this week has included a year's worth of news in just seven days. One week ago today President Trump officially nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg during an event held in the White House Rose Garden. We still have our doubts, however, concerning her lifelong involvement with the group, People of Praise. Here is one
interview with a former member who considers the group a cult. On a more personal level, Amy Coney Barrett seem like an outstanding woman of character, intelligence, and compassion. We invite our readers to watch this
interview with her from a year ago. It gives great insight into her life, faith, and family. In today's hyper-partisan climate, with Democrats willing and ready to say and do anything to keep SCOTUS seats open, we're not surprised the president choose someone who is a woman, is Catholic, and has a large family that includes two adopted children from Haiti (though one prominent "anti-racist" professor has
called her a racist for adopting black children). Whether or not she's the best choice for a SCOTUS justice remains to be seen.
On Tuesday night President Trump contended with Joe Biden during the first presidential debate. To say the debate was contentious would be an understatement. Although Trump routinely calls the former vice president "Sleepy" Joe,
name-calling during the debate was nearly one-sided. Biden called Trump a "racist," "Putin's puppy," and twice called him a, "clown." For some reason Biden also thought it was presidential to tell the president to "shut up." Biden would have been much better off trying to look presidential rather than trying to "out-Trump" Trump. For his part, President Trump was on full offense, repeatedly interjecting over the voices of both Biden and moderator Chris Wallace. Voters did not, however, see a Biden stricken by dementia - which for some would mean a Biden debate victory. While perhaps less personally offensive than Biden, the president failed to mention several important issues that, in our opinion, would have led to a crushing Biden debate defeat. As it stood, many people thought it was a draw - though C-SPAN viewers and Hispanics gave Trump the hands-down win.
About forty-eight hours after the debate's conclusion, President Trump began showing symptoms of coronavirus - which was confirmed shortly after midnight on Friday. During this time Hope Hicks, Bill Stepien, Kellyanne Conway, Chris Christie, and senators Thom Tillis and Mike Lee have all tested positive for the disease. President Trump has since been admitted to Walter Reed where he plans to work until he returns to the White House. His team of doctors
gave a positive report this morning and the president has returned to (limited) tweeting. How it impacts the election remains to be seen. Joe Biden has
pulled all negative ads against the president. As it pertains to the president's poll numbers, sicknesses such as this often lead voters to have more sympathy with their more humanized leader. For example, since being diagnosed with coronavirus this summer, Brazil's President Bolsonaro saw
his poll numbers flip and now holds his
highest approval since April 2019. Something similar was seen in the UK, where Prime Minister Johnson's coronavirus diagnosis led his approval rating jump
from 47% to 61%. Time will tell how this impacts the president, but we should all pray for his quick and speedy recovery.
Much has also been said about how the president picked up the virus. Early speculation focused on Hope Hicks, who seems to be the first person to show signs of sickness. While the media has pointed out around a half-dozen people to contract the virus following the president's Rose Garden roll out of his SCOTUS nominee, reports this morning revealed that Chris Wallace and the debate commission decided not to test participants ahead of the debate bur rather rely on an "honor system when it came to the people that came into the hall
from the two campaigns" (emphasis ours). While headlines seemingly attempt to - like always -
blame the president, Wallace's own words reveal that no testing was done on the members of
both campaigns. We find it highly likely that the president was infected during his time at the Ohio debate.
I. POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
BECCHIU UPDATE: More news has been revealed surrounding the recent sacking of Cardinal Angelo Becciu by Pope Francis. It appears Becciu was involved in multiple Vatican loans - some
non-repayable - to family projects/organizations. It also seems like he had a hand in a series of property investments that used Vatican funds. Now twenty million Euros has been spent from the pope's discretionary account and Becciu likely had something to do with it. More
from Taylor Marshall.
PELL RETURNS: Cardinal Pell is
returning to Rome from Australia. It seems more and more likely that the cardinal, who had been in charge of cleaning up the Vatican Bank, was set up for imprisonment in his home nation because he was uncovering corruption in the bank. His chief rival, Bicchiu, has been removed - now is the time for Pell to finish what he started. Before leaving Australia he told reporters: “I hope the cleaning of the stables continues in both the Vatican and Victoria.” We hope so, too.
KANSAS CITY BISHOP & VOTING: Bishop Johnston of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph (Missouri) is calling on all Catholics in his diocese to vote based essentially on
pro-life/right to life principles. The message could not be clearer and Republicans could not be happier, yet we must be cautious about framing elections solely in terms of the
right to life. Although we wouldn't disagree with the outcome of the bishop's call, an appeal to the rights of the individual is not the argument we would make. There can be no culture of life without creating a culture of protection, yet Catholics - both lay and ordained - struggle in making the case for the masculine protective duties that create a culture of life.
II. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND AMERICA 
