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'God Bless This Pope': Francis Harshly Admonishes Trump And Vance

Pope Francis harshly criticized the Trump administration for its mass deportation of migrants in a public letter to U.S. bishops published Tuesday. In it he argues that the administration's treatment of migrants goes against church social doctrine and says that a policy built on force “will end badly.”

“The act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness,” the Pope writes.

The letter comes after Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, called on theology to legitimize a crackdown on migrants. “You love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country,” Vance said on Fox News. “Then after that, you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.”

“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups,” the first Latin American Pope writes. “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan,’ that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”

“God bless this Pope,” Mehdi Hasan, editor in chief of Zeteo, posted on X.

“When you get your Catholic teaching so wrong the Pope himself has to issue a correction,” Mollie Wilson O’Reilly, editor at large for Commonweal Magazine, posted on Bluesky. She added: “I'm being glib, but this is truly beautiful,and clarifying.”

“The Pope's letter today takes aim at every single absurd theological claim by JD Vance and his allies in conservative Catholicism (and the Catholic electorate) but he also defends the chief target of Trumpism -- the rule of law -- in a way few seem able to articulate,” David Gibson, director of the center for religion and culture at Fordham University, posted on X.

Gibson pointed to a portion of the letter: “This is not a minor issue: an authentic rule of law is verified precisely in the dignified treatment that all people deserve, especially the poorest and most marginalized,” the Pope writes.

“God bless this Pope,” Mehdi Hasan, editor in chief of Zeteo, posted on X.

“When you get your Catholic teaching so wrong the Pope himself has to issue a correction,” Mollie Wilson O’Reilly, editor at large for Commonweal magazine, posted on Bluesky. She added: “I'm being glib, but this is truly beautiful,and clarifying.”

“The true common good is promoted when society and government, with creativity and strict respect for the rights of all — as I have affirmed on numerous occasions — welcomes, protects, promotes and integrates the most fragile, unprotected and vulnerable. This does not impede the development of a policy that regulates orderly and legal migration. However, this development cannot come about through the privilege of some and the sacrifice of others. What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly” he adds.

The Pope also references Pope Pius XII, who wrote what Francis calls the “Magna Carta” of how the Church thinks of immigration. “The family of Nazareth in exile, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, emigrants in Egypt and refugees there to escape the wrath of an ungodly king, are the model, the example and the consolation of emigrants and pilgrims of every age and country, of all refugees of every condition who, beset by persecution or necessity, are forced to leave their homeland, beloved family and dear friends for foreign lands,” Pope Pius XII writes.

“This is the Pope also directly countering misinformation about the Catholic faith that is being expounded by the Catholic vice president,” Gibson told The Associated Press. “And it is the Pope supporting the Bishops as well."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Drawing A Sharper Line Between Legal And Illegal Immigration

It's not hard to understand why Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) voted for the Republican-written Laken Riley Act. The measure would force the federal detention without bail for undocumented migrants accused of any kind of theft. It is named after the Georgia nursing student bludgeoned to death by an undocumented migrant who had previously been apprehended for shoplifting and child endangerment.

A newly elected senator from Arizona, Gallego is a Democrat, a Latino, and fairly liberal. But he knows how frustrated most Americans have become about illegal immigration, fellow Latinos included.

That said, critics of the Laken Riley Act do have a somewhat valid point. The bill makes no provision to free those arrested if charges are later dropped or they are otherwise deemed innocent of the crime.

Problem is, this argument blurs the reality that being in the country illegally already constitutes lawbreaking. There have been efforts in liberal quarters to smudge the line between legal and illegal by giving driver's licenses to undocumented migrants or stopping local institutions from cooperating with immigration authorities.

And there's another reality. The undocumented population provides America with hard workers who are otherwise good people. A mindless mass deportation would send entire industries — hospitality, agriculture, construction — into crisis.

Let's dust off the good old idea of immigration reform that gives legal status to many undocumented migrants who have set down deep roots in this country — but stops illegal immigration in the future. Such legislation had gone far with bipartisan support but was killed by right-wingers opposed to anything resembling amnesty for lawbreakers.

Then there's Donald Trump. In his first term, he opposed requiring employers to check each new hire with a national database showing who may legally work here. Without holding employers responsible, there is no way to unplug the job magnet that attracts millions to sneak in at great personal risk. One suspects that Trump will drill loopholes into his bombast about mass deportations. His corporate supporters are undoubtedly whispering in his ear.

We must note that 11 other Senate Democrats joined Gallego in voting for Laken Riley. Some may have been moved by a recent gruesome murder on a New York City subway car. An undocumented Guatemalan who had been previously deported set a woman on fire, fanning the flames with a shirt.

The homeless shelter in which he lived obviously wasn't sharing information with the immigration authorities. Had Immigration and Customs Enforcement been sent a copy of his fingerprints, an innocent subway rider's life could have been spared.

Opposition to sanctuary city protections for undocumented migrants has been growing in generally progressive cities, Chicago as well as New York. And Latinos are part of it.

"There has been this misunderstanding about where Latinos are when it comes to border and border security," Gallego told Democrats. "I'm here to bring some more real truth about what people are thinking." Some senators, he added, are "largely out of touch with where your average Latino is."

For their own political survival, more Democrats must get on board with proposals they previously denounced as cruel but really aren't. It's true that undocumented immigrants commit fewer crimes than the native-born. But as Gallego notes, documented immigrants and their children are increasingly angry at the disorder caused by uncontrolled waves of migrants, especially to their communities. They complain of competition for jobs and housing, and crowding in the schools.

Spare us the line about this being a nation of immigrants. That is true, but this is also a nation of laws. The line between legal entry and the unlawful kind needs to be drawn with a Magic Marker. Shoplifters on the wrong side of that line don't belong here.

Reprinted with permission from Creators.

Bannon's 'Woke Right' Drives Split In MAGA Movement

During the United States' 2024 presidential race, much of the Republican Party rallied about Donald Trump's campaign. A long list of Never Trump conservatives endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, but they tended to be people who were no longer influential figures in the GOP.

President-elect Trump's victory was not the "landslide" his supporters say it was; he won the popular vote by roughly 1.5 percent. But he has the support of most Republicans in Congress.

In an article published by the London Evening Standardon January 7, however, journalist Sarah Baxter (who heads the Marie Colvin Center in upstate New York) argues that major divisions are emerging in the MAGA movement as Trump prepares for his return to the White House.

"The fall-out is already consuming the MAGA movement and has led to a split between nativist flame-throwers like Steve Bannon and globalist tech-bros like Elon Musk, as they wrestle for power and influence in the second Trump era," Baxter explains. "Musk, the world's richest man and biggest troll with his own platform, X, has the advantage for now, but the spat has the potential to tear MAGA apart."

Part of this MAGA infighting, according to Baxter, is what she calls the "rise of the woke right" — which she describes as MAGA Republicans who have strong feelings of victimhood.

"Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration expert at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, has identified five key features of the new woke right," Baxter writes. "These boil down to an obsession with identity politics; an ingrained sense of victimhood; a preoccupation with microaggressions; support for affirmative action for one’s own tribe; and a zero-sum mindset — somebody wins, somebody loses."

Baxter adds, "As with the far left, it can extend to glorifying foreign autocracies, such as Russia and Hungary."

Baxter describes "patriotic correctness" as "the right's version of political correctness."

"The biggest crybaby 'victims' are the January 6 rioters and their defenders, who have partially succeeded in rewriting the history of that day," Baxter says. "Those awaiting pardons by Trump fancifully promote themselves as unfairly punished patriots who stood up for 'We the People' in defense of the U.S. Constitution against hordes of Antifa and agent provocateurs in the FBI and 'deep state'…. The left's embrace of cancel culture has been enthusiastically adopted by the right."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Divisions Within GOP Are Threatening Trump's Tax Cut Package

President-elect Donald Trump has been calling for his GOP allies to pass "one powerful bill" that will tackle a variety of his legislative goals after he returns to the White House, from tax cuts to immigration and the U.S./Mexico border.

But some GOP senators, according to Politico, aren't as enthusiastic about the possibility of one big megabill as Republicans in the House of Representatives. And Bloomberg News reports that some Trump allies believe there is too much "infighting" among Republicans in Congress for the president-elect to get everything he wants on taxes in 2025.

In an article published on Wednesday, January 8, Bloomberg reporters Nancy Cook, Steven T. Dennis, and Billy House explain, "Republicans broadly agree that there's little room for error on what is a rare opportunity for the GOP to update the tax code without having to make any concessions to Democrats. There’s also time pressure: households and privately-held businesses will see their Internal Revenue Service bills rise if Congress doesn’t act by the end of the year. But Republicans openly disagree on how to meet that deadline."

The journalists add, "Hashing out those differences is likely to be a key topic of conversation later Wednesday when Trump meets with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill."

Cook, Dennis, and House note that Stephen Miller, Trump's pick for deputy White House chief of staff, has "pushed lawmakers to first pursue a border security bill" — and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) agrees.

"That pits them against House Republicans, many of whom want to cram all the party’s legislative goals — immigration, energy production and taxes — into a singular bill," according to the Bloomberg News journalists. "That's an approach that yields to the reality that the tiny House GOP majority — a fractious group of lawmakers willing to torch members of their own party during heated disputes — will have a hard time passing even one bill, let alone two."

Cook, Dennis and House point out that near the end of the 2024 presidential race, Trump, "promised to extend the personal tax cuts from 2017 and expand the state and local tax deduction, while also creating new tax breaks like no taxes on tips, overtime pay or Social Security checks."

"Trump has vowed to Wall Street executives that he would reduce the corporate tax rate to as low as 15 percent," the Bloomberg reporters observe. "That laundry list of promises surprised even some of his closest economic advisers, who privately said Trump was unlikely to turn all of this rhetoric into reality."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

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Smart. Sharp. Funny. Fearless

'God Bless This Pope': Francis Harshly Admonishes Trump And Vance

Drawing A Sharper Line Between Legal And Illegal Immigration

Bannon's 'Woke Right' Drives Split In MAGA Movement

Divisions Within GOP Are Threatening Trump's Tax Cut Package

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