{"id":56634,"date":"2025-04-22T06:00:25","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T13:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=56634"},"modified":"2025-04-21T21:00:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T04:00:51","slug":"open-thread-april-22-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2025\/04\/22\/open-thread-april-22-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread April 22 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, Pope Francis died. Besides grieving for the loss of that good man, I can’t help feeling I’ve seen this movie before, and what happens next is not good. John XXIII was succeeded by Paul VI which was not great, John Paul I died so quickly I still wonder whether his death was facilitated, and then we got John Paul II and Benedict. We badly needed Pope Francis, and we still do, but he is gone. I won’t say meeting with JD Vance killed him, but I’m sure it didn’t help. Robert Reich<\/a>, on the other hand, wrote an impressive eulogy. (I am still running behind and today did not help with that BTW.)<\/p>\n

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The F* News<\/a> caught my eye with this headline. But it is a valid story worth reading. It appears that republicans now hate “others” so much that they even hate their tourist dollars. They’d rather starve or become homeless than accept furrin money now.<\/p>\n

This from The 19th<\/a> is positive as far as it goes – let’s hope it goes and keeps going. I’m familiar with DoD schools, having volunteered with one as part of a folk music trio with a male officer and a male civilian teacher in the latter’s fourth grade classroom. Don’t ask me to sing today – old age does not improve one’s singing voice unless one practices regularly, which I didn’t. But it’s still a fond memory.<\/p>\n

The price for this pay-per-view is $20.26, and I expect it to be well spent. I don’t know every name featured – but every name I do know is well worth a listen. The date is this Saturday. I hope that’s enough advance notice for everyone who wants to watch it.
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