Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, MAY 8

by A. Joseph Lynch

I. POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

PRIEST'S MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE: A priest in Columbia recently entered into a deep mystical experience during Mass and came out of the experience with a message: no more Communion on the hand. Video of what took place has gone viral in Latin America. We hope it becomes a watershed moment leading to a renewed devotion to the Real Presence. As Latin America is the current "source church" for global Catholicism, her love of Christ in the Eucharist could wash over the whole Church.

US BISHOPS, BIDEN, & COMMUNION: Will the bishops ban Joe Biden from receiving Communion? Perhaps. The real question is: why did they wait so long? Even the severe criticism of Biden by Archbishop Naumann came far too late to play any role in forming Catholic consciences ahead of the 2020 election. And where are the bishops concerning Biden on homosexuality? Biden brags that he pushed Obama to accept gay marriage, and Biden himself even officiated a gay marriage. When it comes to homosexuality, there Biden doesn't even attempt the "Cuomo defense" ("I'm personally opposed to this, but don't want to impose my beliefs on others"). But of course when it comes to homosexuality and feminism (e.g. women in combat or women on the altar), the bishops are silent. 

US BISHOPS AND REFUGEES: The US Bishops showed their support for an increase in the number of refugees into the US this year. What is left out of their statement is how much money they rake in from the federal government in assisting these refugees once they're in the country. 

II. US POLITICS

DESK OF DONALD TRUMP: President Trump has created a new way to reach readers via a twitter-like feed called From the Desk of Donald Trump. Follow the link to keep up to date on his announcements. 

BIDEN SPEECH FALLS FLAT: Biden's first speech to Congress was down nearly 50% from President's Trump first speech four years ago. In an attempt to spin the disaster to the vast majority of American's who tuned out, one new outlet claimed 85% of Americans approved of the speech. To this even the Leftist fact-checking site Snopes had to shoot this blatantly false stat down. If we want to see what Americans really thought of the speech, see this picture that shows the likes to dislikes from major outlets streaming the speech online.

CENSUS AND ELECTION: Richard Baris and Robert Barnes recently discussed the US Census predications for election turn out, noting their predictions are known as the most accurate. Yet somehow the Census was off by five million votes - where did these votes come from? For more on this, see the 12:45 mark of their discussion. And speaking of the census, the results are in and seven congressional seats will be moving - and five of these seats will be given to red states. 

RAIDING GIULIANI: Remember when Trump was warned not to "retaliate" on Hillary Clinton once he won the White House? How only a dictator would seek retribution on his political opponents? The recent raid on Rudy Giuliani, Trump's lawyer, is proof that only Republicans must play by the rules. The politically liberal attorney, Alan Dershowitz, called the raid unconstitutional as the govern seized private communications between Giuliani and President Trump, despite these communications being under attorney-client privilege. How soon before these communications begin being leaked to the press? In another twist, Giuliani revealed that the Hunter Biden hard drive - containing evidence of real crimes - was left behind by the  FBI. 

STEELE'S SECOND DOSSIER?  As Schumer once said regarding President Trump and the intelligence community: "...you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday to get back at you." Once again we are reminded of just how badly the intelligence community wanted to get rid of President Trump as it was revealed that Steele worked up a second Trump dossier during the Trump administration. It is not yet known if the dossier was used by the FBI in any investigation (but we wouldn't be surprised if it was).

CHAUVIN MISTRIAL? Despite his conviction it appears that Derek Chauvin might be headed to a new trial. This week it was revealed that a juror lied on his pre-trial questionarre regarding his activism as a picture was found of him at a BLM rally wearing a shirt connected to George Floyd's death. As election lawyer Robert Barnes has argued, we need to know the names of jurors during trial. It's not always possible for a defense attorney to find evidence of juror bias without some assistance from the general public. Social media sleuths found evidence of bias  in a few days, imagine what bias we'll find on the eleven other jurors if only we knew who they were.  

III. THE NATIONS

NO BOUNTIES AFTER ALL: The intelligence community is no longer insisting that Russia offered bounties to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan. The fake story was all the rage last summer, and Biden continued to hammer it all the way to Election Day (see the 2 minute mark from this presidential debate clip). It's all but clear that anti-Trump members of the intelligence community pushed the fake story out in order to damage the president, and now that they got what they wanted the "intelligence" is being "corrected". 

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: The US government has officially recognized the mass killings of Armenians by the Turks in 1915 for what it was: a genocide. Though the declaration brings renewed tensions between the US and Turkey, it was a truth of history worth recognizing. Turkey and Armenia had been working to bury the hatchet until negotiations broke down in 2018. Turkey subsequently backed Azerbaijan in a brief war against Armenia - a war in which Armenia was all but defeated. 

CHRUCH MILITANT BLUNDERS: Church Militant may be an excellent source for news regarding the scandalous behavior of clergy in the Church, but they need to find a better person for their foreign policy videos. In a recent video, Church Militant labeled Russia, Iran, and China as "anti-Catholic foreign powers".  Okay we understand the partisan divide on Iran and China, but Russia? Did Church Militant follow anything Trump said or did concerning Russia these past four years?

IV. CULTURE OF LIFE, CULTURE OF PROTECTION

BLM-BIG TECH HYPOCRISY: Big Tech worked to censor news stories that investigated a BLM co-founder and avowed Marxist, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, who has spent millions to buy properties across the country. It turns out that the same Big Tech censors donated $7.5 million to groups controlled by Cullors. Cullors, like all other far Left race-baiting leaders, are grifters and hypocrites.

IVY LEAGUE BLACK EDUCATOR SPEAKS OUT: Dr. Glenn Loury, a black ivy league educator, is going viral in his rejections of (racist) critical race theory. Listen to his discussion on the plague of critical race theory in our schools.

PRIVATE SECTOR REGULATION: In the latest example of Big Government colluding with Big Business, the White House plans to let the private sector dictate the fate of unvaccinated Americans. The government would certainly find itself in court if it enacted a strict vaccine policy, but what about the major corporations that will undoubtedly force Americans into the vaccine if they are to enter the marketplace? We suspect lawsuits will follow, but this act is a clear sign of how Big Government liberals are using Big Business liberals to push their agenda.