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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/23/who-can-tame-trump-pope-leo-xiv-catholic-church-usa>
"The supreme court can’t do it – it’s packed with conservatives who owe him
their jobs. Congress won’t do it – Republicans slavishly follow his orders,
Democrats are ill-led and divided. For today’s White House, the concept of
constitutional limits on executive power is a quaint relic. The news media, or
sections of it, does its best amid constant legal threats. But, too often, they
pay him off. Brave reporters who insist on asking awkward questions are
insulted or silenced: “Quiet, piggy.”
So who will tame Donald Trump? Who will halt his rolling constitutional coup –
his ongoing evisceration of US democracy, civil rights, living standards,
global reputation and moral integrity? Voters may try to indirectly rein him
back in next November’s midterms (as they did recently in New York and
elsewhere). But those elections are a year away. The emergency is today.
What the US urgently needs now, metaphorically speaking, is a national
champion, a sort of modern-day Saint George to slay the dragon, save the people
and ensure the triumph of good over evil. Who, in reality, might fill this role
of moral saviour?
Step forward Leo XIV, the “American pope”, backed by the US conference of
Catholic bishops and the clergy and grassroots activists of the Catholic church
– unexpected, newly emerging standard-bearers for country-wide resistance to
the Trumpist scourge. The bishops threw down the gauntlet in a “special
message” this month. Inequality, immigration and civil rights are the
battlegrounds on which the church, and some other Christian denominations, have
begun to fight.
“We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. We pray for an end to
dehumanising rhetoric and violence,” the statement said. Citing the brutal
tactics of immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) agents, the bishops
deplored the “climate of fear” created by Trump’s policies, the profiling of
vulnerable citizens, shocking conditions in detention centres and lack of
access to pastoral care.
Expressing a view, rooted in scripture, that Britain’s Labour government and
other western countries would do well to heed, they went on: “We recognise that
nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just
and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good.” But creating
safe and legal pathways for migrants was the preferable, ethical solution.
Human dignity and national security were not in conflict, they said."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
