Has Pope Francis endorsed Bernie Sanders?

[Uncle Joe]

(snip)

The Vatican might seem an odd campaign stop for a nominally Jewish presidential candidate, but it has earned Vermont's Sen. Sanders the closest thing to a papal endorsement that a US politician can receive.

Although the Vatican has emphasized the pope's neutrality in the American election, the popular and media-savvy pope is at least expressing support for Sanders' signature positions.

"The optics are of a tacit papal endorsement of Sanders' views on social and economic justice," says R. Andrew Chesnut, the chair in Catholic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. "This, combined with Francis's recent rebuke of Donald Trump, leaves no question about whom the Latin American pope prefers in the American presidential contest."

Sanders spoke Friday for 15 minutes at a Vatican conference on the dangers of an "unregulated globalization" that concentrates wealth among a few to the detriment of the middle class, CNN reported. Adding to the visit's significance, Pope Francis defied expectations by meeting privately with Sanders in what the senator called an "extraordinary moment."

(snip)

"It goes without saying that I have my strong disagreements with certain aspects what the church stands for but [Pope Francis] has been out there talking about the need for a moral economy," Sanders said at a campaign rally in New York City, where supporters cheering his announcement of the Vatican visit apparently thought the jaunt to Rome was a good use of campaign time, CNN reported.

Pope Francis' clear focus since his papacy began has been for the poor, and many of his more overtly theological reforms aim to relieve struggling families. Sanders' speech on "the morality of our economic life" found "resonance" at the Vatican, Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs, who was present for Sanders' papal meeting, told CNN.

Climate policy is another area the two can agree upon, as Sanders is this US presidential race's most outspoken climate-change crusader. Pope Francis outlined his concerns about climate change in an encyclical and urged the United States to play a role in altering mankind's impact on the environment.

The pope has also taken a strong position against the death penalty and advocated mercy inside the prison system, Chesnut wrote for the Huffington Post. There, too, Sanders has historically promoted alternative rehabilitation measures and opposed capital punishment.

(snip)

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2016/0416/Has-Pope-Francis-endorsed-Bernie-Sanders

This is a good article.

[OKNancy]

1. what do you think?

[HooptieWagon]

2. No. And Bernie says no.

[lunamagica]

3. Andrew Chesnut need to follow the Pope's advice, and seek a psychiatrist

[BillZBubb]

4. No way the Pope would do that openly. But, yes, in a wink and a nod way, he's done it.

The Pope and Bernie are on the same page on environmental, economic and most social justice issues.

[NWCorona]

5. I Agee 100%

[Uncle Joe]

6. That's the way I took it, "tacit" being the keyword.

[uponit7771]

9. No he didn't

[BillZBubb]

10. Eat your heart out Hillbot, that is exactly what happened.

[uponit7771]

11. You know there are Sanders folk claiming these post don't exist right?

[magical thyme]

14. link? nt

[uponit7771]

15. Here yah go

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1753895

[magical thyme]

16. ah, well, this thread didn't exist when that post was written

[nolawarlock]

21. And that is what makes it so wrong

Why are we taking tacit endorsements from foreign governments?

[pdsimdars]

7. It is a shame that some are so focused on the election and their candidate

that they can't see this as a good thing for the poor and disenfranchised in the world, the WHOLE planet. The Vatican set up this conference to bring attention to this. Bernie was able to lend his voice too. Maybe if it were on a different topic Hillary would have been asked, women's issues maybe.

You would think that anyone with the slightest conscience or morality would be able to put aside their bitter partisanship for just a moment to celebrate this moment when some were able to speak out for the voiceless.

Let's not be small minded. Lift up your hearts and minds and celebrate this small ray of light. You don't have to celebrate for Bernie, he was just a small part, but celebrate for the poor of the world that some attention is coming to them.

[JackRiddler]

8. Effectively yes but of course not officially and that is why...

it's so important to the lying lie campaign to make it seem like Sanders was a thief in the night who snuck in to steal a handshake.

[Buzz Clik]

12. Delusional.

[berniepdx420]

28. Buzzy boy.. the irony of you calling someone dillusional..

great stuff ... really...

[lumberjack_jeff]

13. Of course not. He likes the socialist and the money-changer equally.

[Uncle Joe]

18. Can you imagine Trump being invited to give a speech to the

The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

[FlatBaroque]

17. He has done everything to endorse him up until actually saying the words. /

[BigBearJohn]

19. Thanks Uncle Joe!!

[nolawarlock]

20. My point is made

"The optics are of a tacit papal endorsement of Sanders' views on social and economic justice," says R. Andrew Chesnut, the chair in Catholic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. "This, combined with Francis's recent rebuke of Donald Trump, leaves no question about whom the Latin American pope prefers in the American presidential contest."

And if people think this is a good direction to go in, then I truly fear for the direction we're going in.

[Uncle Joe]

23. Jimmy Carter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg would agree with you, nolawarlock.

Jimmy Carter: U.S. Is an 'Oligarchy With Unlimited Political Bribery'

The 39th president said the 'Citizens United' ruling 'violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system'

Former President Jimmy Carter had some harsh words to say about the current state of America's electoral process, calling the country "an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery" resulting in "nominations for president or to elect the president." When asked this week by The Thom Hartmann Program (via The Intercept) about the Supreme Court's April 2014 decision to eliminate limits on campaign donations, Carter said the ruling "violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system."

The 39th president also voiced concerns that the limitless flow of campaign cash severely favors those already in office. "The same thing applies to governors and U.S. senators and congress members," Carter said. "So now we've just seen a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors, who want and expect and sometimes get favors for themselves after the election's over."

Carter's comments come as the 2016 presidential race tops 20 candidates, most of them Republicans. "The incumbents, Democrats and Republicans, look upon this unlimited money as a great benefit to themselves," Carter said. "Somebody’s who's already in Congress has a lot more to sell to an avid contributor than somebody who's just a challenger."

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also disagreed with the controversial Citizens United ruling that opened up campaign spending. She was among the dissenters in the court's 5-4 decision that erased campaign-spending caps, and called the ruling the "most disappointing" in her 22-year tenure on the court "because of what has happened to elections in the United States and the huge amount of money it takes to run for office."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/videos/jimmy-carter-u-s-is-an-oligarchy-with-unlimited-political-bribery-20150731

[nolawarlock]

24. So let's trade wealthy and powerful corporations for wealthy and powerful religious institutions?

What is the difference really?

I disagree entirely with Citizens United and believe it should be overturned, but why can't you comprehend that someone might not want to see either corporations or powerful religious institutions (especially those who are also foreign nations) overriding the will of the people? If you look at everything in terms of black and white, then one must be good if the other is bad. I don't like either scenario.

[Uncle Joe]

25. No one is trading anything, but wealthy and powerful corporations are the dominant players in

American Society and for that matter over much of the world.

Neither institution are without fault but to my knowledge the Catholic Church doesn't profit from war or mass incarceration.

Furthermore, while the Pope; the head of a 1+ billion religious institution at least acknowledges the science of anthropological climate change, the major fossil fuel corporations and their puppet Republican Party do not, this is the ultimate issue in regards to humanity or at least societal survival.

[nolawarlock]

26. Um ...

"the Catholic Church doesn't profit from war or mass incarceration."

Well, not any more.

[Uncle Joe]

29. Well this is 2016 and we have to deal with today's reality.

The major manipulators today are mega-corporate conglomerates; in some cases bleeding over from defense industries to massive media ownership.

[nolawarlock]

30. I'd also like to look to tomorrow ...

And replacing powerful and wealth corporations for powerful and wealthy religious institutions is no less scary, especially when we can see the excesses of religious devotion. As I've said elsewhere, I've never read about a suicide bomber who blew up a nightclub or a bus over a stack of cash and a six pack. Whenever someone does something that wacko, there's almost always religion attached and the exceptions usually involve some other sort of extreme ideological devotion. Greed is an evil to be sure, but it's a lot easier to negotiate with than zealotry.

[Uncle Joe]

32. Greed feeds terrorism and uses religion as the propaganda device or shield but make no mistake

about it, fundamentally the root comes from greed and the lust for obtaining or maintaining power.

Saudi Arabia funds and exports Islamic extremism: The truth behind the toxic U.S. relationship with the theocratic monarchy

(snip)

Saudi Arabia is one of the last places on the planet where crucifixions are still practiced — ordered by the government itself.

In recent years, the Saudi monarchy has also arrested at least two other peaceful teenage pro-democracy activists and sentenced them to death.

Furthermore, a Palestinian poet was sentenced to death by Saudi Arabia in November for renouncing Islam and criticizing the royal family.

In 2015, the Saudi regime executed 158 people, largely by beheading. On average, approximately half (47 percent) of people executed in Saudi Arabia are killed for drug-related offenses, according to Amnesty International. Every four days, then, on average, the Saudi monarchy executes someone for drugs — while its own princes are caught with thousands of pounds of drugs at foreign airports.

(snip)

http://www.salon.com/2016/01/06/saudi_arabia_funds_and_exports_islamic_extremism_the_truth_behind_the_toxic_u_s_relationship_with_the_theocratic_nation/

Again no one is replacing anything.

[nolawarlock]

34. Yes ...

Religious devotion has always been manipulated by those with purely financial agendas. That's no secret, but my point is that when these powerful people want folks to jump on busses with suicide bomb vests, they aren't doing do so with promises of cash.

[Uncle Joe]

35. That's where propaganda and brainwashing come but we didn't end up waging war against Iraq

because religion drove us there, this was corporate propaganda.

Poll: 70% believe Saddam, 9-11 link

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly seven in 10 Americans believe it is likely that ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the Sept. 11 attacks, says a poll out almost two years after the terrorists' strike against this country.
Sixty-nine percent in a Washington Post poll published Saturday said they believe it is likely the Iraqi leader was personally involved in the attacks carried out by al-Qaeda. A majority of Democrats, Republicans and independents believe it's likely Saddam was involved.

The belief in the connection persists even though there has been no proof of a link between the two.

President Bush and members of his administration suggested a link between the two in the months before the war in Iraq. Claims of possible links have never been proven, however.

Veteran pollsters say the persistent belief of a link between the attacks and Saddam could help explain why public support for the decision to go to war in Iraq has been so resilient despite problems establishing a peaceful country.

The president frequently has called the Iraq war an important centerpiece in the United States' war on terror. But some members of the administration have said recently they don't believe there is a direct link.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-09-06-poll-iraq_x.htm

Now whether you kill hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands or millions by committing suicide or killing them from afar due to advanced technological means, the end result; is the same bloodshed, death, misery, resentment, hatred and war.

[nolawarlock]

36. I never argued that greed doesn't generate wars

... but none of our troops strapped on suicide bombs. That level of crazy only comes from idealogical devotion. Greed just ain't powerful enough for that kinda behavior.

[Uncle Joe]

37. None of our troops had to, we're the most technologically advanced nation on the earth in

regards to warfare anyway.

Greed and the lust for power does drive war, if we as nation were waging war against an advanced power and had no other means to strike back, I have no doubt we would have people willing to commit suicide.

Throughout our history, Americans have been willing to fight to the death, knowing they stood no chance of survival, this would be called suicide by any other means.

[Autumn]

22. No, but it's obvious on some things they have much in common.

I think Climate Change was the main reason the Pope wanted to get a close up of Bernie in action. This Pope pays attention to everything.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. No, and he would not endorse any U.S. candidate.

The Pope is not only the head of the Catholic Church; he's the Vatican's head of state. So, like any head of state of any other country, he will not make an official endorsement. He has, however, indicated agreement with Bernie on issues relating to economic justice - and that's as far as he will go.

[Uncle Joe]

31. Climate change; which threatens human or at the very least societal survival along with their

stances against the death penalty and mass incarceration are a couple of others, although they do have their disagreements as well in regards to abortion and LGBT rights for example.

[Kalidurga]

33. It is a good thing I am not the head of any state.

Because I have the kind of personality where I don't mind making people shit bricks when I do things they don't like. Endorsing political candidates might be one of those things I would do.

[ucrdem]

38. Nopers

(dupe post, sorry)

[ucrdem]

39. No but we can pretend he did.

[Uncle Joe]

40. One thing is for certain, we don't have to pretend, that the Pope is endorsing Trump

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Hours after praying for Mexican migrants who died trying to reach the United States, Pope Francis singled out Donald Trump, telling reporters aboard the papal plane that anybody who wants to build border walls "is not Christian."

“A person who thinks only about building walls — wherever they may be — and not building bridges, is not Christian,” Francis said Thursday, according to a translation from the Associated Press. "This is not in the Gospel."

He added: "I'd just say that this man is not Christian if he said it this way."

Trump, a Presbyterian who has promised to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and build a wall along the U.S-Mexico border, strongly rebuked the pope's comments.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/18/pope-trump-is-not-christian-if-he-wants-to-build-a-wall-on-the-u-s-mexico-border/

[ucrdem]

41. LOL.

Forgot about that one.