Hey, the Pope is here this week.  Did you hear?  Sounds like his crowds are just ‘yuuge.  He’s pretty much taken over all the networks.  They all run these hours-long shows with the same name:  “Pope Francis in America.”  Even Al-Jazeera.  But he’s talking so softly, and has that accent that can be difficult to understand.  Sometimes he insists on speaking Spanish.  How’s he going to compete in this time when we all shout at each other?

I have to admit, I was hoping he’d rip about 535 new ones when he addressed Congress.  But he didn’t.  Of course this gentle man would never do that.  Instead, he lifted them up.  He talked about inclusion and how we are all immigrants and life and the environment.  He told them they could do the job – that WE can do the job.  He didn’t call them out for all the times they punted on opportunities to do the right thing, to help people in need.  Even when he was directive about things like getting rid of the death penalty, his message was fundamentally Christian:  repentance and salvation.  He charged us all with our human obligation to help others.  Don’t keep score, just do it.

He’s still here, and a lot of us are basking in that Pope aura.  The crowds are testament to that.  I think we all needed a good dose of hope and joy.  Hold the cynicism, please.

I saw that Donald Trump had trouble filling a hotel ballroom yesterday.  He was booed today, too.