Donald Trump thinks Pope Francis is “too political” because he will visit a camp of migrants during his stop in Mexico. This comes while Trump is seeking – and getting! – support from Christian voters. I bet he hates the idea of the Pope building showers and toilets in Rome for the homeless – those loafers – and speaking with tolerance about gays, asking “Who am I to judge?” It seems clear to me that Trump does not have normal human compassion. His success with Americans as a sneering tyrant on a reality television show has further emboldened his unchecked infantile impulses. Yet some Americans, professing religious values, fall for him. He’s their kind of guy. Trump’s criticism of Pope Francis reminds me of another papal trip to Mexico, which I covered, oh my goodness, 37 years ago. The new Pope, John Paul II, in his first overseas trip, arrived in the Zócalo, the center of ancient Mexico City. The Pope issued a call for the Catholic clergy of Latin America to get back in uniform and deliver the sacraments and not bring some semblance of self-determination to the poor. Don’t be political, in other words. The coded words sent a message all over Latin America, allowing governments to clamp down on activism toward the poor, including in Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s native Argentina. This Pope has seen repression up close, has been deeply scarred by it. The latest Trump outburst reminds me of Mexico in February of 1979 when I twice met Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of El Salvador, who spurned luxuries and slept in a peasant hammock and encouraged help for the poor. I wrote about my encounters with Romero a year ago: http://www.georgevecsey.com/home/i-once-met-a-potential-saint-archbishop-romero I asked Romero whether the words from Mexico City did not put religious activists in trouble all over Latin America. His response was a somber yes, without any sign of fear or weakening. A year later he was assassinated while saying Mass. Trump has surely never heard of Oscar Arnulfo Romero. I assume he knows nothing of the desaparecidos, the thousands of Argentines who were taken away, never to be seen again. Trump knows gold-plated bathrooms and tactical bankruptcies and serial marriages. The Pope builds toilets and showers for the homeless. In an ancient ritual of humility and service, he washes and kisses the feet of Muslims and convicts. Trump wants to build a wall. Boasts that Mexico will pay for it. And many Americans professing religious leanings are charmed by him. * * * (Terrific article about Trump's world view:) http://www.salon.com/2016/02/12/donald_trumps_white_america_is_revolting_new_numbers_show_just_how_noxious_the_gop_front_runners_coalition_is/
Gene Palumbo
2/12/2016 12:09:10 pm
A beautiful post, George. Thanks for it.
George Vecsey
2/12/2016 04:21:28 pm
Gene, as you know, I have read it, and it is a lovely book -- the memories of the staff that gave him a plush room, and how he resisted because he wanted to sleep in a hammock, a la gente.
Ed Martin
2/12/2016 12:24:50 pm
Years ago I read a column in the NYTimes sports pages by a writer I did not know, in California for the Super Bowl. In a week full of glitter and hype he wrote of a Latina housekeeper in the hotel.
George Vecsey
2/12/2016 04:24:19 pm
Ed thanks. I have to say, I cannot remember or locate that exact column. I do remember the Russian bellman at the little hotel in West Hollywood, when the excess rain was rushing down the hilly street, and I asked him if he'd ever seen it rain like that, and he said, "Well, during the war in Vladivostok." But that probably wasn't it., Anyway, thanks so much.
bruce
2/13/2016 04:16:34 pm
ed,
Hansen Alexander
2/12/2016 12:46:11 pm
You hit Trump right on his massive ego. I am doing a satirical interview with HIS EGO right now if you want to consider running it soon on your space here.
Brian Savin
2/12/2016 01:11:20 pm
George, two thoughts come to my mind in sharing your outrage. The first is, when does it end?
Sam Toperoff
2/13/2016 05:45:37 am
When you've got the old mojo going, you're tough to beat one-on-one. Smart and edgy.
George Vecsey
2/13/2016 09:20:06 am
Sam: Merci.
bruce
2/13/2016 03:20:06 pm
George,
Brian Savin
2/13/2016 03:49:22 pm
Today's NY Times editorial is on point of this thread, in the sense of using migrants, even children, to pander for votes. This one isn't about Trump:
John McDermott
2/14/2016 01:04:00 am
The view from Europe is not encouraging. People here are appalled by the idea that Trump might actually become the President of the USA. The Germans had the great Helmut Schmidt, who recently died in his '90's. Now they have the courageous Angela Merkel who probably doesn't get enough credit, but still qualifies as a "stateswoman", the noblest form of political life. The Italians, who repeatedly chose their version of Trump, Silvio Berlusconi, as their leader, don't understand Trump and Americans' support of such a crass and crude figure. Compared to Trump, Berlusconi was Franklin D. Roosevelt. Mostly what I hear from people over here is "What has happened to America? What is going on there? How can America even think about a Trump as the leader of the free world?". I don't know how to answer them and only say that all countries change, all cultures evolve, and that while America has been going down the wrong road now for a while and Trump will only take it further in that direction, I believe the majority of Americans would still never support someone like him. I only hope I am correct.
George Vecsey
2/14/2016 03:34:02 pm
John, I hope you are right...You've been here until recently.
John McDermott
2/16/2016 04:00:47 am
George, I can't escape this vision I have of Trump closing the door at night, laughing out loud and toasting all the "Suckers!". You are right, there are a lot of Americans who allow themselves to be directed by crass and vulgar television, propaganda masquerading as journalism and garbage "reality" and "talk" shows. They are looking for, and will support, anyone who will tell them their fears and their anger are justified. Sounds like the Germany of eighty years ago, a people looking for a strong leader to take them out of their misery and restore their country to its former state of unquestioned world supremacy.
George Vecsey
2/16/2016 01:06:44 pm
I think I saw the Brown Shirts mugging protestors at some of the Trump rallies, with him egging them on. In his genes, from what I read...GV
Brian Savin
2/14/2016 04:18:47 pm
An interesting analysis of how the U.S. culture has evolved to give rise to candidates like Donald Trump is published in this Weekend’s Wall Street Journal, entitled “Trump’s America” by a political scientist, Charles Murray, whom I do not know but has strong ties to corporate America through his affiliation with the American Enterprise Institute:
George Vecsey
2/14/2016 06:20:18 pm
Brian, thanks, I will read...I appreciate your suggestions.
bruce
2/14/2016 05:43:58 pm
brian,
Brian Savin
2/15/2016 01:55:43 pm
Bruce, thanks. I had no idea that Murray was one of the authors of "The Bell Curve" that caused both consternation among many interest groups and much intellectual study twenty years ago. No wonder the WSJ gave his Trump essay a banner headline. It is a damn thoughtful essay that I read as implicitly condemning the new stratification of American society and identifying some of its causes. I also read it as ratifying much of what Chris Hedges has been railing about from the left for years in a way that makes Spengler look like a pussycat (I hope that isn't a Trumpism). Indeed, doesn't Spengler criticize democracy as nothing but the political weapon of money?
bruce
2/15/2016 02:06:26 pm
brian,
Brian Savin
2/15/2016 07:24:41 pm
I have been following the blog of the former Greek Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis, since the Greek government's confrontation with the debt "solution" imposed on them last year by the EU at Germany's insistence. Just now, he commented on the ludicrous proposition that Bernie Sanders is an extremist and unrealistic. I think his two paragraphs, quoted in the reference below, brings American discussion back to reality:
bruce
2/15/2016 07:31:54 pm
brian,
Brian Savin
2/16/2016 09:09:52 am
George certainly has an interesting collection of friends, and I'm honored to be allowed to participate some. As to the American political scene, the international perspectives on this blog are fascinating and hard to get at this truly human level. Comments are closed.
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