Picking a Fight With the Pope: Dumb Idea

by admin | April 17, 2026 7:53 am

But your flag decal won’t get you into Heaven anymore

They’re already overcrowded from your dirty little war

Now Jesus don’t like killin’, no matter what the reason’s for

And your flag decal won’t get you into Heaven anymore

— John Prine

 

Beloved troubadour John Prine wrote Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore in 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War. At a live concert I listened to on Spotify, he said the song’s idea came to him while he was a mail carrier in Chicago. Back then, Reader’s Digest was highly popular. Prine said mail carriers hated the magazine for its small but bulky size. One issue included flag decals that kept falling out, forcing the beleaguered carriers to repeatedly stuff them back inside before delivering the magazines. Thus the idea arose for this classic anti-war song.

That song came to mind while subjecting myself to the daily torture of watching the television news, flipping between CNN and MS NOW. Faux News is a joke, a propaganda tool firmly in the oily grasp of President Orange Skin. The CNN anchor was interviewing a congressman about the illegal and ill-considered war that the United States and Israel launched against Iran, now in its seventh week. He wore a flag pin on his jacket lapel. This is apparently a legal requirement for any male politician appearing on television.

Women in the POS administration tend to wear tiny gold crosses. Witness the newly fired Pam Bondi, who, as attorney general, helped turn the Department of Justice into the [1]personal persecution machine for POS. She always wore a tiny gold cross, even while insulting members of Congress at hearings. (To U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, a constitutional law professor for more than 25 years: You’re not even a lawyer.) Her firing is fresh evidence that loyalty to POS is a one-way street. No matter how greatly his lackeys debase themselves, their tenure is always tenuous.

There should be no dispute that POS is increasingly demented. The now-deleted AI image of him — cloaked as Jesus laying hands on someone, with militaristic images in the background along with, yes, the American flag and the Statue of Liberty thrown in for good measure — is not just sacrilegious. It is batshit crazy.

Speaking of foolish, the war the United States and Israel have launched against Iran is going to be a strong candidate for the dumbest American war in our 250-year history. POS threatened to destroy an entire civilization — 90 million people — if Iran did not reach a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. As of now, a shaky ceasefire is being held by a thread.

Both POS and his Vice POS are inexplicably picking fights with Pope Leo, who is carefully calling for peace and less war, without naming names or being overtly political. As is his annoying habit, the Vice POS lectured the pontiff on theology — the head of the denomination to which he recently converted to and is writing a book about it (can’t wait to read that!).

Meanwhile, the least-qualified defense secretary in history, Pistol Pete Hegseth — who likely wears his lapel flag pin in the shower pinned to his tattooed chest — led a Pentagon prayer session to rally the troops for what he is calling the holy war in Iran. Pistol Pete said his prayer was based on a Bible passage in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. “They call it CSAR 25:17, which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17,” he said. (CSAR stands for Combat Search and Rescue, which recently successfully and admirably rescued two downed airmen shot down over Iran.)

Actually, Pistol Pete’s prayer was nearly identical to a monologue delivered by actor Samuel L. Jackson in Quentin Tarantino’s film Pulp Fiction, right before Jackson’s character kills someone. At least Pistol Pete didn’t quote from Snakes on a Plane, where Jackson famously shouts, “I have had it with these motherf**ing snakes on this motherf**ing plane. Everybody strap in!”

A few days after posting the image of him as Christ laying his hand on an ill, elderly man, POS was at it again. This time it was an AI image of Jesus embracing Trump. It is either Jesus or George Harrison. I am not sure.

This man has entirely too much time on his hands. Our nation and society are suffering from his dangerous, erratic behavior. As the sticker on one of our vehicles says, “Elect a Clown. Expect a Circus.” Boy howdy, do we ever have a circus.

Source URL: https://garyborders.com/pages/picking-a-fight-with-the-pope-dumb-idea/

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