Took a photo this morning on the lawn of the Municipal Building in my little town of Maplewood, NJ, showing the Ukrainian flag (displayed for the past three years in support). As I left, I passed a woman who told me, “I’m here to take the same picture.”
I live in a great town.
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Republican Party in 2026: not at all offended about being compared to Saddam Hussein, but dying on the hill that the WH should look like a Cheesecake Factory.
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Catholic bishops (including popes) tend to be very (or at least somewhat) conscious of the impression a picture can give. I am sure the "no public photos" part of the invite played into the decision to go for some of them.
I don't know why people doubt this so strongly.
Damn, it was worse than I thought.
readsludge.com/2026/10/26/mu…
Well, if he hasn't sufficiently shamed his father before now, he's really doing it this time.
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NEW via me and @AlejaCorazonHM: *Multiple* bishops now suggesting/outright claiming they were "manipulated" by White House staffers into the recent viral Oval Office prayer video.
Another says they were "assured that no photographs would be made public." religionnews.com/2026/10/26/…
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Stephen King hit a nerve. I’ve never seen Elon so angry at him
Another Trump chump lying to his audience.
Obama wasn't making fun of the Cheesecake Factory, he was making fun of Trump decorating the White House the way Saddam Hussein would decorate a Cheesecake Factory (anyone who's eaten there knows how over-the-top that would be).
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Lmao they sent Bessent, a billionaire, to Cheesecake Factory to say how good it is….btw Obama wasn’t talking about the food
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A 4th bishop...
+Naumann: “The bishops were assured that no photographs would be made public. They came to have a discussion on important policy matters. As Catholic bishops, they pray with everyone, but do not endorse candidates or political parties.”
time.com/article/2026/10/26/…
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The Heritage Foundation adviser who recruited 12 bishops to pray over Trump in the Oval Office claimed a Ph.D. from an Italian university that doesn’t grant doctorates. His listed bachelor’s school is a high school.
A Vatican official called the meeting an insult to Pope Leo XIV. thelettersfromleo.com/p/heri…
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NCR EDITORIAL: Bishops' prayer for Trump may have been sincere, but for POTUS, it was pure politics. This is not a time for political naivete. More…
#Trump #Catholic #prayer #WhiteHouse
ncronline.org/node/342681 via @NCRonline
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The Frog and the Scorpion Part MMLDXXVI:
This is the way diehard rightwingers operate -- remember Pope Francis getting ambushed with the Kim Davis meeting at the end of his 2015 visit by his own ambassador, Archbishop Viganò: 1/3
sojo.net/articles/vatican-po…
A strong and direct apology from Milwaukee Archbishop Grob for that Oval Office fiasco:
"I did not go without reservations. I wish I had heeded them."
Also a very good explanation of what really went down with White House manipulations:
archmil.org/posts/a-public-a…
I must be getting old, since I can't remember the time that Trump is talking about, when stores wouldn't put up Christmas trees.
Trump: If Abdul and the Democrats win, they will create a nightmare of terror until you cannot even have a Christmas—remember when I started the war on preserving Christmas? We’re saying Christmas again. Remember when the stores were afraid to put up Christmas trees. Now, they are all saying Merry Christmas again.
There's a difference between "praying with" and "praying over", with Paula White from Trump's staff right in the midst of them.
"CatholicVote" would be screaming invectives against these bishops if this scene was taking place with Biden.
"The internet is on fire with criticism of the 12 bishops who prayed over President Trump in the Oval Office.
Let me remind everyone that bishops are priests and pastors and should not have to apologize for praying over presidents. This assault on public prayer is based on a secular vision of life—not the essential evangelization required by the Gospel.
Not only should we give them the space to be evaluated outside the secular political lens, they should give that grace to themselves in the face of this unwarranted criticism.
“As I prayed about, I thought that this is what Catholics do. We pray for people,” said Archbishop James Golka. “No matter whether we agree or disagree on anything, we always pray for our country and leaders.”
Imagine the church restricting who it could dialogue with or preach to: it would be a a history without Ambrose preaching to Theodosius; without John Paul II converting General Wojciech Jaruzelski on his death bed; without Fr. Hugh O’Flaherty befriending Nazi Herbert Kappler in prison.
The right and duty to witness to figures in authority dates back to the time of Caesar.
Those men all did many things worse by orders of magnitude than this leader, who has also done some things exceptionally well, whatever the honest criticism of some of his policies are.
I also question the selective outrage potentially at work here. Do honest Catholics believe this outrage would exist for praying over Obama, Biden, or even George W.?
These men were there as priests and they prayed as priests do. That is a win for the faith, no matter the man in the presidential chair.
Archbishop Golka was right. This IS what Catholics do."
– CatholicVote President & CEO Kelsey Reinhardt
@catholickelsey
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So the First Lady’s rep is spreading Russian disinformation. Once upon a time, this would’ve been a major scandal.
Exclusive Senior Adviser to First Lady Melania Trump Marc Beckman claims Russian kids are being kidnapped too #BothSides
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
A UN commission found Russia's deportation of Ukrainian children is a crime against humanity; ICC issued warrants for Putin over it. No evidence supports claims of Ukraine systematically kidnapping Russian children.
news.un.org/en/story/2026/…
icc-cpi.int/defendant/vlad…
ohchr.org/en/press-relea…
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You know the “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory” line was good because of how angry they are about it.
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This is a man who knowingly took up Nazi rhetoric to gin up the hatred behind an ongoing ethnic cleansing of Haitian refugees from his own state.




























