Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17

by A. Joseph Lynch

I. POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

BECCHIU UPDATE: Cecilia Marogna, who we reported on last week, has now been arrested for embezzling $560,000 through her deals with disgraced ex-cardinal Becchiu. Reports are now emerging that Cardinal Parolin has been removed from the Vatican Bank's oversight board. Stay tuned for more updates.

YOUTH BEATIFIED: Carlo Acutis, a 15-year old daily Mass goer who set up a large online database of Eucharistic miracles, has been beatified. The youth died of cancer in 2006 and is being hailed as a model of holiness for today's youth.

CATHOLIC BARRETT TESTIFIES: Judge Amy Coney Barrett testified this week before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Barrett went toe-to-toe with Democrat Senators, even "revealing" her notes by holding up a blank notepad. Pro-Lifers should be happy to hear how Barrett understands the notion of "super-precedents" - and how Roe v. Wade is not one of them. 

II. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND AMERICA

WHO WILL WIN: It's hard to believe the polls. Pollster Steve Deace explains why the polls are wrong - even the conservative leaning Rasmussen poll, which had Biden up by 12 points. Rasmussen's model was based on Trump garnering only 76% of the Republican vote - even through Trump is polling at 94% approval among Republicans according to Gallup. George H.W. Bush took in only 73%  of the GOP vote in 1992 - but that was because of Ross Perot siphoned off the vote. Can anyone really believe Trump would do as bad? Given the "shy voters" unwilling to say for whom they'll vote, peripheral questions seem to indicate a Trump victory. According to Gallup 56% of Americans predict Trump will win. According to a FoxNews poll, 49% of Americans believe their neighbors are secretly voting for Trump. A local bakery in Pennsylvania has predicted the past three elections through cookie sales for each candidate. This year Trump cookies are outselling Biden cookies 3-1. It's not scientific, but one would think these are all strong signs of a Trump victory. 

ARE YOU BETTER OFF? Gallup has been asking voters for decades if they're better off after a presidential incumbent's first term in office. 44% of voters said yes under Reagan in 1984, 38% under Bush in 1992, 47% under W. Bush in 2004, and 45% under Obama in 2012. President Trump just set a new record with 56% of voters saying they are better off now than four years ago. Biden has since told these voters to vote for Trump.

NO SHOW IN ARIZONA: Biden and Harris made their first joint campaign event this year in Arizona. There was only one problem: none of their supporters showed up. In the weeks following Labor Day, Trump drew over 250,000 people to his rallies while Biden drew a measly 84.

MORE MAIL IN VOTE ISSUES: There is no shortage of stories related to problems with mail in voting. In California a mail thief made off with ballots as he raided mail boxes. A postal worker in New Jersey as been arrested for dumping ballots. 50,000 defective ballots were sent to voters in Ohio. Pennsylvania has rejected 372,000 ballot requests while a Pittsburgh mailman was arrested for stealing mail. In Kentucky over 100 absentee ballots were found in a dumpster. Voter fraud aside, Newsmax points out the user error risks of voting by mail - risks that Democrats are embracing.

ENDING LOCKDOWNS: As Democrats tout the World Health Organization and continued lockdowns, the WHO is now warning against lockdowns. Will Democrats heed the warning?

III. CULTURE OF LIFE, CULTURE OF PROTECTION

DAY OF RAGE: As America observed Columbus Day, Leftists attack Columbus and the American nation during their self-proclaimed "Day of Rage." More statues were toppled, including Teddy Roosevelt and the freer America's slaves, Abraham Lincoln.

LORD OF THE RINGS UNVEILED: Lovers of Tolkien's world are wary of the new billion dollar Amazon TV series based in Middle Earth after reports of nudity and sex planned for the show. Fan's of Tolkien want his vision, not the twisted vision of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones. 

BIDEN EMBRACES TRANS: At his town hall this week Biden embraced the trans movement - even among minors. The Washington Post reminds us how Biden has always moved leftward with the sexual revolutionaries in his party. Anyone who thinks he'll be a moderate on these or other issues is sorely mistaken.

NBA THROWS IN THE TOWEL: It appears that the NBA might be moving away from BLM following their ratings free fall. More from Steve Turley.

Spirits vs Souls: What's the Difference?

We invite our AoA readers to watch the latest video from the Dr. Pence inspired YouTube channel Religion, Sex, and Politics. Click on the picture link below or the following link to watch the new video: Spirits vs Souls: What's the Difference?

Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10

by A. Joseph Lynch

I. POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

FRATELLI TUTTI: Pope Francis has just released his newest encyclical, Fratelli Tutti (On Fraternity and Social Friendship). We will provide AoA readers with more analysis soon, but we invite you to read the full text before reaching any conclusions.

BECCHIU UPDATE: Ex-cardinal Becchiu, the corrupt chief rival of Cardinal Pell, is alleged to have sent $700k to an account in Australia. Could the money have been used as part of an attack on Pell, who was wrongfully convicted of abuse? More from Taylor Marshall. Another report alleges he embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars to a female intelligence expert who spent the money on handbags and shoes. We certainly expect more to come from this story.

SCANDAL IN NEW ORLEANS: It was revealed that two priests have been arrested after involvement in heinous sex scandals. One priest, Travis Clark, was caught committing BDSM sex acts with two women on the altar of his parish church. He had just recently been appointed the new chaplain at a local Catholic high school after the former chaplain, Pat Wattigny, was arrested for preying on a young male student at the school. The investigation on Wattigny has been going on for months, and the information about Clark was only ascertained through court records. Rod Dreher rightly condemns Archbishop Gregory Aymond for his silence and for treating the situation like a bureaucrat rather than an episcopal-father. He hits the nail on the head. Bishops today act much more like CEOs looking out for the corporation rather than protective shepherds looking out for the flock.

II. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND AMERICA

VP DEBATE: In this week's Vice Presidential debate, Mike Pence masterfully defeated Kamala Harris and earned his place on the Trump-Pence ticket. More commentary from Taylor Marshall. Pence was particularly effective in hammering the Biden-Harris ticket on court-packing, taxes, and fracking. Harris did herself few favors with her eye-rolls, demeanor, and penchant for lying. It's hard to tell how much it will impact the race, but Pence's calm-yet-strong message should help people on the fence vote for the president next month. 

TRUMP'S POLLS: At first glance the polls should frighten many a Trump supporter. Even the conservative-leaning Rasmussen has Trump down by 12 points nationally among likely voters. Yet a closer look at the swing states - the states that will decide the election - reveals that Trump is polling better now than he did at this time in 2016. And the most accurate poll from 2016 has Trump and Biden separated by only 2.6 percentage points. Gallup, another very accurate poll from 2016, revealed its findings when asking voters if they are better off now than four years ago. 45% said yes under Obama and 47% said yes under G. W. Bush in 2004. Both went on to win re-election. Gallup announced that Trump has set the record with 56% saying they are better off now than four years ago. Gallup also revealed that 56% (compared to 46% for Biden) believed Trump is a "strong and decisive" leader. So while some polls spell doom and gloom, other very accurate and important polls give the president a good dose of hope in the home stretch.

25TH AMENDMENT... FOR BIDEN? Although Pelosi seeks to pass a law under the 25th Amendment that would allow Democrats another way to remove Trump from office, the president believes it's really aimed at later removing Biden should he win next month.

BIDEN'S INFOMERCIAL: NBC recently gave Joe Biden what amounted to be a nationally televised one hour infomercial. The town hall meeting in the battleground state of Florida featured "undecided" voters who sounded an awful lot like Biden supporters. In fact it was revealed that sister network MSNBC previously featured some of the "undecided" voters as self-identified Biden supporters.

2ND DEBATE CANCELLED: The story of Pence's decisive victory over Harris in the VP debate was overshadowed by the Debate Commission's unilateral decision to make the second debate virtual. One might think the time was intentional. In any case, the debate has since been cancelled due to the president's rejection of sudden change. It might have been a good move as the "neutral" moderator was a former Biden intern. Yesterday Bob Dole responded to the problems with the supposedly non-partisan Debate Commission, comprised of both Democrats and Republicans, by saying he knows all the Republicans on the commission... and none of them support President Trump. It's time for an entirely new way to run future debates.

TOOMEY RETIRING IN 2022: Pennsylvania senator, Pat Toomey, has announced he will not seek re-election in 2022. We're not surprised. Toomey is a fiscal hawk - which according to trends in the GOP under Trump - is a voter bloc less and less a part of the new GOP voter core. While 2022 is a long way away, the 2022 Senate election map looks to another tough year for Republican.

III. THE NATIONS

CARAVAN CANCELLED: Another wave of Latin Americans headed north to the US has been stopped... in Guatemala. As the president continues to build the wall, his arrangement with Mexico and the nations of Latin America is an effective wall to itself.

SYRIA DECEPTION: Leaked documents reveal how UK-US intelligence helped push a deception regarding the war in Syria, particularly in painting a rosy picture of the Salafi/Wahhabi terrorists as freedom fighters against Assad. We are not surprised. We've already covered the Assad chemical attack as false flag operation meant to push Trump into war against Syria. Readers should also recall that the infamous Mr. Steele of the Steele Dossier was a part of UK intelligence. Neither British intelligence or Salafi extremists (Saudi Arabia included) ought to be trusted.

ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN WAR: Over three hundred have died in the latest battle over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave within the Shia-Muslim nation of Azerbaijan. A tentative ceasefire was just reached. Learn more about the two nations in this AoA Map on Monday post.

IV. CULTURE OF LIFE, CULTURE OF PROTECTION

YELP YELP'S "RACISM!": The crowd-sourced, business review site, Yelp, is making a stunning move that could have a chilling effect on American businesses. Now anyone who accused a business of being racist - perhaps it failed to post a BLM sign - will now be labeled online as accused of racist behavior. What could possibly go wrong with such a policy?

NETFLIX INDICTED: The streaming service Netflix has been indicted by a Texas grand jury due to its sexualized depiction of underage girls in the lewd movie Cuties. Netflix was forecast to gain 500,000 new subscribers in the third quarter, but due to the movie fall out, Netflix looks to lose 2 million subscribers - and that was before the indictment. 

RIOTERS FREED: The Far Left extremist DA in Portland is dropping charges on hundreds of rioters. This is precisely what has kept the riots going. While one would hope the current mayor is voted out office, sadly the woman who is beating him at the polls is the Antifa candidate. So much for Antifa being just an idea.

MICHIGAN PLOT DERAILED: A plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, was stopped by law enforcement. Although the media wants to portray the group as far Right, pro-Trump extremists, at least one co-conspirator, Brandon Caserta, is an anarchist who has called Trump a tyrant. It remains to be seen how this will impact the coming election, but Whitmer was just rebuked by the Michigan Supreme Court over her emergency powers abuse. With an agitated populace under the governor's thumb it would be no surprise to see Trump win big in Michigan next month. 

Democrat or Republican: Which are YOU?

We invite our AoA readers to watch the latest video from the Dr. Pence inspired YouTube channel Religion, Sex, and Politics. Click on the picture link below or the following link to watch the new video: Democrat or Republican: Which are You?

Religion, Nations, and Geopolitical Review: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3

by A. Joseph Lynch

THE WEEKLY BRIEF

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

MAIL IN VOTER ISSUES ROUND UP: As media continues to say that there is "no evidence" to support President Trump's concerns over mail in voting, here is a quick round up of articles and research that clearly supports the president's words (seven voting issues in seven different states):

• Investigating ballot harvesting in Minnesota.
• Illegal ballot collecting in Maryland.
• Discarded mail in ballots in Pennsylvania.
• An election was entirely invalidated in New Jersey.
• Multiple ballots sent to more than 1000 people in Virginia.
• Nearly 100,000 NYC voters sent ballots that did not match return envelopes. 
• California sends universal mail in ballot to parents of a voter who hasn't lived in California in over ten years.
• Jimmy Carter's commission document on elections. Page 54 of the PDF reads: "Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud."

THE WINNER IS: Who won the first presidential debate? C-SPAN respondents said Trump - by a whopping 69%. Latino television network Telemundo asked Latinos who won and the response was nearly identical. 66% of Latinos thought Trump won. 

THE PLATINUM PLAN: President Trump made outstanding inroads with blacks since 2016. Some polls had him at 36% approval among blacks - which is one reason why Democrats had to back BLM no matter how violent things got. Trump has now unveiled his "Platinum Plan" for blacks, which includes helping blacks gain access to half a billion dollars in capital, declaring the KKK and Antifa as terror organizations, and provide school choice. Trump is promising a lot, but unlike Democrats, he fully intends to keep his promises. Read more from the president's website.

UNEMPLOYMENT DROPS AGAIN: Although most analysts expected the US to have double-digit unemployment through next spring at the least, President Trump continues to lead the country's unemployment numbers in the right direction. Unemployment stood at 13.3% in May, 11.1% in June, 1-/2% in July, and 8.4% in August, the numbers of September - 7.9% - is far ahead of what economists expected. 

WHO'S COUNTING? President Trump will be off the campaign trail in the coming days, but a look back at September reveals Biden has a long way to go if he's going to catch up to Trump's attendance numbers. According to the Gateway Pundit, President Trump gathered more than 240,000 people to his rallies since Labor Day while Biden's total attendance during the same period was a measly 84 people. If this is any measure of enthusiasm or election day turn out, Trump has this election in the bag.

THE PROUD BOYS: Contrary to what Joe Biden and the Left thinks, the Proud Boys are not white supremacists. Although even Wikipedia tries to spin the group as such - saying some its members have  "ties to white supremacists" - the group describes itself as "western chauvinist." The group is currently led by a black Cuban American of all people. It smacks as something akin to Fight Club with a more robust ideology. Like the Knights of Columbus, the Proud Boys have four degrees of membership (which I've heard have changed over the years): the first degree involves pledging one's self to western civilization, the second degree is a severe physical hazing that involved demonstrating mental acuity, the third degree involves a pledge against masturbation, and the fourth degree required a physical altercation in defense of the Proud Boy values. President Trump rightly denounced them on Thursday night - but we suspect for the wrong reasons. Men do need a brotherhood and sexual self-control - but allegiance to westernism over Christianity makes their efforts flawed from the start.

III. CULTURE OF LIFE, CULTURE OF PROTECTION

BOARDROOM DIVERSITY: California is mandating diversity in corporate boardrooms. Although common sense would say the best person for the job should be hired, the revolutionaries on the Left have little common sense to be found. But truth be told, California's boardrooms are already radically Left on social issues - so Newsom might just be preaching to the choir as far as California is concerned.

GUTTING AN OATH: The Navy announced it was changing the Navy SEAL oath to use words that were gender neutral. To our knowledge, no woman has made it far enough in SEAL school to ever take the oath - but we're sure the Navy has plans for this to change as quickly as possible. Trump has already said he would quash it, but it would be wise for the President to remove women from combat roles altogether.

NO TEXAS INDICTMENT: When a shooter opened fire in a church containing 250 churchgoers, a named Jack Wilson killed the shooter with one shot. He was later awarded the Governor's Medal of Courage by Greg Abbott. It was just announced that a grand jury decided not to indict Mr. Wilson over the shooting - to which we all must ask: Why would a prosecutor ever convene a grand jury in the first place?