Without Confronting Trump's Evil Head On

A beautiful man stares into the vile, mascaraed eyes of our national nightmare and doesn't blink.

Courtesy of Time

In Italian, it is called “Il bacio della morte.” It means the kiss of death. In the iconic scene, Michael Corleone aggressively kisses his brother and informs him that “he knows it was him.” If you have never seen The Godfather, I say no more. JD Vance, looking pretty in a gentle hue of springtime mascara, was granted an audience on Easter Sunday with Pope Francis less than 24 hours after the Pope had declined to meet with him.

It will go down in world history as “L’incontro della morte,” or “the meeting of death.” JD Vance met with the ailing pontiff for only a few minutes but managed to threaten the great and saintly man several times by offering him his “best wishes” and, fatally, “I pray for you every day.” It was those words, a call to the dark forces of all that is rancid, weak, and evil in humans, that served as the executioner’s bullet. Within hours after Vance passed on his bad energy to the pope by shaking his frail hand, a hand that represents the goodness of God in more ways than Vance, Trump, or anyone aligned with MAGA could ever perceive, he breathed his last.

Pope Francis, however, took on this last battle for us, for good people all over the world. He took the hand of the devil and by doing so pitched himself into a fight to the finish with Donald Trump, JD Vance, all of the little misfits and miscreants surrounding those two, and all of the vileness that is MAGA. Then, with all the power his faint heartbeat could muster, he elegantly declared that MAGA and Trump are not the will of God but rather the articulate representation of man’s lowliest and ugliest. He looked into Vance’s eyes and let it be known that everything Trump and MAGA stand for goes against the teaching of the Church, the words of Jesus, and human decency.

Vance seemed emotional. The dissipating presence of a great but dying man, one as good as the Argentinian fan of soccer, samba, and green mate tea, was still so much more than the aberration that now represents the United States of America. That is why he seemed overwhelmed. Directly before him was a man whose entire life had been spent giving voice to the people Vance and Trump happily crushed under jackboots. Vance is smart enough to understand the moment’s juxtaposition: darkness meeting with light on the holiest day in the Christian faith. Vance and Trump represent a ravenous desire to end lives and make people miserable, and Pope Francis is the symbol for giving the downtrodden and lost a meal and a warm bed to sleep in. Francis was hope. Trump, Vance, and MAGA represent everything Pope Francis dedicated his life to fighting.

“On this day, I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas! For all of us are children of God!” the message implored, in part.

“There can be no peace without freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and respect for the views of others,” the pope’s message also declared.

“I appeal to all those in positions of political responsibility in our world not to yield to the logic of fear which only leads to isolation from others, but rather to use the resources available to help the needy, to fight hunger and to encourage initiatives that promote development,” the message said. “These are the ‘weapons’ of peace: weapons that build the future, instead of sowing seeds of death (Final Easter Address)!”

The final Easter message of Francis was a call to people everywhere to fight the fascism taking hold in the U.S., Russia, China, Germany, and so many other countries. A shadow has been cast over the world. Donald Trump and his clan of liars, rapists, billionaires, cultists, and racists are working tirelessly to ensure that tens of millions end up in poverty for no reason other than to declare yet another national emergency. The next emergency will be the one he uses to declare martial law. The next emergency will be the one he uses to silence any and all opposition to his ignorance and hate.

JD Vance met with a great human being who radically, in my view, transformed the meaning of “the Catholic faith.” JD Vance was a messenger of evil and hate. He represented the words of Donald Trump:

Happy Easter to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting and scheming so hard to bring Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, the Mentally Insane, and well known MS-13 Gang Members and Wife Beaters, back into our Country,” Trump wrote on April 20. “Happy Easter also to the WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Judges and Law Enforcement Officials who are allowing this sinister attack on our Nation to continue, an attack so violent that it will never be forgotten (Trump Marks Easter)!”

He ended his message by calling former president Joe Biden a “moron.”

If anyone can find even the slightest hint of Christian goodness and charity in the words of Donald Trump, I will send you a free “Resistance” t-shirt. Nonetheless, Trump is hailed as a servant of God in churches all over red country. Trump is a false prophet.

Pope Francis is a loving and kind human. Sadly, his last words may be little more than wishful thinking:

Love has triumphed over hatred, light over darkness and truth over falsehood. Forgiveness has triumphed over revenge. Evil has not disappeared from history; it will remain until the end, but it no longer has the upper hand; it no longer has power over those who accept the grace of this day (Final Easter Address).

Let’s end this, however, on an upbeat note. Maybe Pope Francis used up his last hours on this Earth to pass on his magic and love to the vile and small JD Vance. And, maybe, Vance heard him. Maybe JD Vance will not become a block to the worst: Donald Trump and MAGA.

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