What a week of astounding
foreign influence on America as Pope Francis led a trio of international heavyweights
onto American soil resulting in a seismic tsunami of epic proportions when it
comes to America's role in the world, and the American agenda at home.
Pope Francis stopped in Cuba on the way and blew the doors off the
Communist regime with his non-threatening message of peace and call to end the
Cuban embargo by America . Once the Cuban people saw Cuban President
Raul Castro at the Pope's side for every Mass he delivered, they came out by
the millions to welcome the Prince of Peace from the Vatican .
Next, the Pope journeyed
to the heart and soul of America
as millions flocked to hear his message in Washington ,
D.C. , New York City ,
and the City of Brotherly love Philadelphia .
The first Jesuit Priest to become Pope in history and the first Pope
ever from the Americas stunned the news media and politicians as he took on the
most contentious and divisive issues of the day.
In our nation's capitol,
he was the first Pope to address a joint session of Congress and he literally
brought down the house. In the process
he inspired the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, to resign from his position
as third in line for the presidency, and his congressional seat from Ohio .
The smiling, soft-spoken
Pope from Argentina
taught all the politicians a lesson on humility, service, and love for all
human beings. Clearly uncomfortable with
the royalty and riches of capitalism, he became energized, and animated when diving
into the crowds to embrace the handicapped, kiss the babies, take selfies with
the youth, and highlight the rich American heritage resulting from open
borders.
No matter how serious or
contentious the issue, the Pope did not hesitate to embrace it from immigration
reform to abortion, neglect of the elderly to refugees in Syria , the need
for giving hope to the masses to the shame of sexual abuses in the church. His visits to Harlem ,
to programs providing care for the downtrodden, to meeting prison inmates,
overshadowed his amazing addresses to congress and the United Nations.
Whether the 266th Pope was
meeting in the White House with the 44th President of the United States ,
or addressing the United Nations General Assembly in their 70th year in
existence, the Pope cast an amazing aura.
The fact the Popes have been around for 1,982 years, and he was the
direct line of succession from St. Peter the apostle who walked with Jesus
Christ, gave a mystical quality to the joyful and hopeful Pope.
His words struck at the very
heart of humanity when he said sexual abuse by priests and others caused,
"God to weep." His insistence
that climate change required action for the good of our future generations, or
that the sanctity of life must be protected from the womb to the end of life,
resulting in his call for an end to the death penalty, left pundits gasping for
air.
The gentle smile from this
78-year-old pontiff allowed all Americans and citizens of the world to hear his
words, not just the 1.2 billion Catholics, and his Inter-faith service at
Ground Zero of the World Trade Center of New York with clergy from every major
religion of the world proved he was serious.
As the Pope was flying from
Washington to New York the Chinese President, Xi Jinping
and his wife were arriving at the White House.
As leader of the second most powerful economy in the world, Obama has
accused China of many things,
including every major cyber attack on the US .
In addition, China has expanded their defense capability and
violated the territorial rights of islands off the coast of China by
building an airport at that location. It
seems the islands are near major Pacific shipping lanes.
Of course, the USA has been
using cyber attacks and infiltration and monitoring of computers and phones for
fifteen years against foreign countries.
The big difference is Edward Snowden proved we do it while the Obama
administration cannot prove the Chinese did.
President Xi Jinping
immediately announced plans by China
to reduce their military by 300,000 soldiers, ten percent of their entire army. Then he agreed to secure international
approval of the island annexation, and said China would commit to participating
in the climate change treaty in November. As one of the biggest polluters in the world
because of their rapidly expanding economy, it shocked world leaders China was
prepared to do their part.
By now, the Pope and
Chinese president had beaten Obama by embracing massive and significant changes
in the world landscape without being told to or lectured by America . Unfortunately, for the president, the world
was not through with him.
On Saturday with the Pope
in Philadelphia
and Chinese President on his way to the United Nations in NYC, Russian
President Putin requested a meeting with Obama.
Now Putin is the one world leader who can get to the president just by
opening his mouth or smiling.
Obama has refused to meet
with Putin for over two years because Putin snatched Crimea back from the Ukraine and Russia
is still causing fits in the Ukraine . As Obama waffled on whether to meet Putin , Russia
also announced approval of a new security pact with Syria ,
Iran , and Iraq , stunning
the American intelligence services when he made the announcement, the same day
as his meeting request.
Syria is Obama's greatest
foreign policy failure, Iraq is the biggest war disaster for Obama, and Iran only
agreed to limiting production of nuclear weapons because Russia (Putin) and
China were partners in the negotiations. Suddenly, Obama found himself shoved off the
stage of public opinion by the Pope, China ,
and Russia ,
and it was all happening on American soil.
Stay tuned for the
results.