The political right is not going to give up the cozy alliance that the U.S. Catholic bishops have forged with it in recent years without a fight. Pope Francis represents a direct repudiation of that alliance, and so he himself is becoming the target of many right-wing American media commentators and political figures.
Jonathan Moseley of the Northern Virginia Tea Party recently announced that Jesus is "weeping in heaven" over Pope Francis's advocacy for the poor. Because capitalism. Because Jesus was a capitalist.
And as many of you will perhaps know, Rush Limbaugh continues to open his mouth and spew poisonous nonsense about Pope Francis's advocacy for the poor. Yesterday, he responded to President Obama's speech about how the widening gap between rich and poor in the U.S. threatens our entire society by saying that the president is "having an orgasm" over the pope's words about poverty.
In case you're in a petition-signing mood, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good has uploaded a petition to its website calling on Limbaugh to retract his mean-spirited statements about Pope Francis. That petition is here.
Another petition I recently signed: the Koch brothers, who are right-wing Republican operatives and whose fingerprints are all over tea-party legislation throughout the U.S. attacking workers' rights and blocking attempts to deal with climate change have just announced a donation of $1,000,000 to Catholic University of America. Faithful America is asking people to sign a petition calling on Catholic University of America to turn down the donation.
The graphic: the 1866 petition of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and other American women for women to be accorded the right to vote.
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