Originally published at: Saved! Pete Hegseth Gives the Pope Leeway to ‘Do His Thing’ - TPM – Talking Points Memo
Hello, it’s the weekend. This is The Weekender 
Finally, Pope Leo XIV has permission. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Friday conceded some authority to the pope. “The pope’s gonna do his thing, that’s fine,” Hegseth said, answering a question about the pontiff’s criticism of the administration’s war on Iran. As far as temporal…
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Saturday’s Heather and Paul:
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The Christianity espoused by Hegseth and his lot is based primarily on the old testament. My question is ARE they that stupid? Or do their supporters not care as long as ass kicking is the primary goal.
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In today’s on line NYT Maureen Dowd’s column equates trump’s mess in Iran with “The Ransom of Red Chief”. Perfect metaphor.
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Pope gotta pope.
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And voters gotta vote.
Boy, will the administration be upset when we do in November.
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The similarities between Henry VIII and Trump are amazing and I’m not just talking about size. Henry had to be constantly told how great he was , In fact before the conflict with the Pope, Henry was called the “Defender of the Faith”
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Drunkard says what?
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Breaking with decades of tradition, the White House Correspondents’ Association will not feature a comedian at its annual gala this Saturday night. Instead, “the world’s most celebrated mentalist,” Oz Pearlman, will entertain the throngs of journos, politicos, corporate overlords and Beltway influencers at the Washington, D.C. Hilton.
Among those luminaries will be President Donald J. Trump who, in his capacity as president, has previously boycotted the event. This time around he’ll deliver an address. The president seems to be feeling confident about his performance, as evidenced by this social media post:
In honor of our Nation’s 250th Birthday, and the fact that these ‘Correspondents’ now admit that I am truly one of the Greatest Presidents in the History of our Country, the G.O.A.T., according to many, it will be my Honor to accept their invitation, and work to make it the GREATEST, HOTTEST, and MOST SPECTACULAR DINNER, OF ANY KIND, EVER!
According to his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, he’s even been working with joke writers to prepare for the occasion…
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The WHCA dinner is going to be a trainwreck.
There’s so much wrong with the way this is going to go - 180 degrees away from what it should be.
The Guardian said, in their newsletter this morning,
Tomorrow is the White House correspondents’ dinner, where in 2011 Trump was infamously mocked by Barack Obama and Seth Meyers – an event some say was the moment that convinced him he had to run for president. The “nerd prom”, once a staple in the calendars of presidents and Washington power brokers, has been shunned by Trump throughout his time in office. But this year the anti-free press president will be the guest of honour in a room full of news executives and journalists; a bizarre and troubling dynamic explored in this column by Margaret Sullivan.
While we will send our reporters to cover Trump’s appearance, the Guardian has chosen to send advocates for the freedom of the press to take the place of senior staff.
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If it wasn’t clear from our ‘First Draft’ newsletter yesterday, Zeteo will not be at today’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
We will not join our media colleagues in partying with Donald Trump, an authoritarian who seeks to curtail the First Amendment and criminalize journalism, who puts masked agents on the street to racially profile and kidnap people and kill people, who jails foreign students for their pro-Palestine speech, who seeks to denaturalize US citizens, who has made it US policy to summarily execute people at sea, who is massacring children and threatening the global economy with his disastrous war in Iran.
There is no reason to don a tuxedo and celebrate this racist wannabe tyrant. There is nothing to be gained by showing up to the dinner with the hopes of offering any small act of protest. Members of the industry should skip the event instead, and refuse to provide a televised backdrop for Trump’s vitriol and hate…
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Who will back out and cancel at the last moment, to be replaced by Kid Rock.
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Excerpt:
Bardella said the prevalence of Talarico yard signs in Republican-dominated communities is a striking indicator of genuine voter engagement—something rarely seen from Democrats in conservative areas of Texas.
“A Democrat in Texas is not inclined to put yard signs in their front yard. It’s not something you take a big billboard out usually to make yourself a target in this era that we live in…I am taking my walk around the block and seeing Talarico signs, that’s really interesting.”
“That tells me there’s actual grassroots enthusiasm for this candidate. Voters are genuinely excited to see a candidate talk to them again.”
According to Bardella, Talarico’s appeal stems from his direct engagement with voters across ideological lines. “He meets you where you are. That’s why he’s so powerful as a candidate and on the stump,” Bardella noted.
He’s witnessing this activity in Dallas neighborhoods that traditionally vote heavily Republican—areas where, as he put it, “all the dads I see at school are MAGA.”
“If I’m seeing that in Texas, in Dallas, in communities that I know vote hardcore Republican, and that type of presence is being felt in literally my own backyard, that tells me there’s something very big happening across this country in places that we’re not even thinking of right now,” Bardella said.
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Who else knew that Grindr had a "Head Of Global Governmental Affairs?
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Maga puppets get their strings pulled all the time over silly issues.
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Reflections in a jaundiced eye.
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Friday conceded some authority to the pope. “The pope’s gonna do his thing, that’s fine,” Hegseth said, answering a question about the pontiff’s criticism of the administration’s war on Iran.
The arrogance of these incompetent, deluded, failed men continues to blow my mind. They are this way because of misogyny, plain and simple. They’ve been coddled their entire lives.
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Just for the record:
Oz has been on Howard Stern, having been on America’s Got Talent, during Howard’s time as a judge. He’s actually a real nice guy, but he’ll be entirely over his head with this event.
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