THEY THREATENED THE POPE!!!
Pedro L. Gonzalez
@emeriticus
The Catholic Church has become the greatest moral critic of Donald Trump and JD Vance. In response, the White House made a thinly veiled threat about using military force against it. The Trump-Vance administration is not just anti-Catholic–it is against any higher power other than its own authority.
https://x.com/emeriticus/status/2041935208807571895?s=20
Pentagon Threatened the Pope After He Criticized Trump
It was so bad that Pope Leo changed his plans to travel to the U.S.
Relations between the United States and the Catholic Church have not been the same since January, when senior U.S. defense officials shared an abrasive message with a Vatican official.
Days after Pope Leo XIV delivered his State of the World speech, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby summoned Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s U.S. representative, to a closed-door Pentagon meeting for a bitter lecture.
“The United States,” Colby said, according to a blistering new report by The Free Press, “has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.”
One U.S. official present at the meeting brought up the Avignon papacy, a period in the fourteenth century in which the French monarchy bent the Catholic Church into submission, ordering an attack on Pope Boniface VIII that led to his downfall and subsequent death and forcing the papacy to relocate from Rome to Avignon, a region inside France.
The Trump administration had taken issue with the pope’s critique of its militaristic proclivities. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top Pentagon officials were particularly aggrieved by portions of Leo’s January 9 speech in which the pope argued that “a diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force,” and that “war is back in vogue, and a zeal for war is spreading.”
The pope’s address was dissected line by line and interpreted as a hostile message toward the administration, reported Letters from Leo Substack writer Christopher Hale.
It was difficult not to interpret Leo’s comments as an immediate commentary on Donald Trump’s second administration, which had at that point bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities, kidnapped Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, fiercely advocated for the dissolution of NATO, and threatened America’s allies, including claiming that the U.S. would seize control of Canada and Greenland.
But the blatant intimidation tactic is the first of its kind ever made by American officials to the Catholic Church. There are no public records of any previous meetings between Vatican and U.S. officials at the Pentagon, let alone an instance in which the world power suggested that it could force the Bishop of Rome into captivity.
The Vatican was so alarmed by the Pentagon’s warning that Pope Leo canceled his plans to visit the U.S. later in the year, reported Hale, who noted that “many in the Vatican saw the Pentagon’s reference to an Avignon papacy as a threat to use military force against the Holy See.”
Shawn Ryan
@ShawnRyan762
The Pentagon summoned the Pope’s ambassador, told him the United States has the military power to do “whatever it wants,” and warned that the Church better take its side.
They even invoked the Avignon Papacy, a dark chapter in history when a government used military force to bend the Church to its will.
So where exactly does this end? If the Pope refuses to fall in line, what’s the next move, bomb the Vatican?
https://x.com/ShawnRyan762/status/2041990673222570488?s=20
Slop Spelunker
@slop_spelunker
The Pentagon threatening the Pope. Let that sink in. The US military is now bullying the Vatican because the Pope had the audacity to call for peace. This country has lost the plot entirely.
8:07 PM · Apr 8, 2026
https://x.com/slop_spelunker/status/2042046625866990075?s=20
Pedro L. Gonzalez
@emeriticus
Steve Bannon once floated to Jeffrey Epstein a plot to “take down” Pope Francis during Trump’s first term. It is for this and other reasons that people take seriously the report about the Trump-Vance administration threatening Pope Leo to bend the knee or else. These people are insane. Their hunger for power is bottomless. Moral resistance will be met with intimidation and threats, whether it’s in America or in Rome.
https://x.com/emeriticus/status/2042086696745934958?s=20
Brian Allen
@allenanalysis
🚨MAJOR CONFIRMATION: A Vatican source close to Pope Leo XIV just told NBC Chicago the Pentagon meeting with the Vatican’s top American diplomat was “most unpleasant and confrontational.”That’s now four separate news outlets describing the same meeting the same way.
The Free Press broke it. Newsweek confirmed it. http://Military.com reported it. Now NBC Chicago has a source inside the Vatican describing it directly.
This is what that meeting was:
Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby summoned Cardinal Christophe Pierre to the Pentagon — an unprecedented act with no public record of ever happening before — and delivered this message:
“The United States has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.”
https://x.com/allenanalysis/status/2042405754745852365?s=20
Pope Leo didn’t leak it to CNN or MSNBC
No. He did the skip and made sure it leaked to
NBC-CHANNEL 5
CHICAGO
He went straight to the hometown.
And, by that, he knew it would get on the other CHICAGO Stations.
And thus, out to America.
BWA HA HA A HA HA HA HA
Brian Allen
@allenanalysis
🚨 The Pentagon summoned the Pope’s ambassador to a closed-door meeting and threatened him.Named official. On record.
Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby called Cardinal Christophe Pierre to the Pentagon and delivered this message:
“The United States has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.”
Then a U.S. official invoked the Avignon Papacy — the 14th century moment when the French monarchy used military force to physically remove the Pope from Rome and bend the Church to its will.
The Vatican understood the reference immediately.
The Pope’s planned visit to America for the 250th anniversary celebration was cancelled.
And then something remarkable happened.
The Pope didn’t retreat. He pressed harder. He called the war unjust. He called Trump’s threats unacceptable. He told Americans to call Congress.
https://x.com/allenanalysis/status/2042306865019961353?s=20
Ed Blum Is Trying to Keep Black Kids Out of School Again
The latest target of the conservative legal movement’s most aggrieved white guy: a Congressional Black Caucus scholarship program for Black students in their districts.
By Madiba K. Dennie April 10, 2026
Fifty years ago, the 17 Black members of the House of Representatives launched the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, a policy research and educational institute aimed at empowering the Black community. Since 1988, the CBCF has awarded over $12 million in college scholarships to Black students in districts represented by Caucus members.
Last week, an organization that calls itself the American Alliance for Equal Rights filed a lawsuit arguing that the scholarship program violates federal civil rights law. “Racial discrimination is wrong no matter which group it favors or harms,” said the organization’s president, Edward Blum, in a press release.
If that name sounds familiar to you, it may be because the Edward Blum who runs the American Alliance for Equal Rights is the same Edward Blum who runs Students For Fair Admissions, the organization that won a Supreme Court ruling in 2023 striking down the race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and University of North Carolina as unconstitutional discrimination. Evidently, just in case Black people still get admitted to college, Blum wants to make sure they can’t afford to go.
In the year following the SFFA decision, nearly 50 colleges and universities eliminated, paused, or altered race-conscious scholarship programs worth at least $45 million. Some did so preemptively, while others did so under pressure from Republican officials and activists like Blum, a retired stockbroker who has made a second career as a professionally aggrieved white man. Bankrolled by deep-pocketed conservative donors, Blum has brought dozens of lawsuits challenging programs designed to remedy discrimination in schools, workplaces, elections, and more.
https://ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics/ed-blum-cbc-scholarship-lawsuit/
Dittie
@DittiePE
Children in Lubbock, Texas were admitted to the hospital with liver damage. Not from measles. From vitamin A toxicity — because their parents followed RFK Jr.’s advice and gave them cod liver oil to treat measles. He is the sitting U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.
This is not the first time this has happened. In 2019, RFK Jr. traveled to Samoa and ran the same anti-vaccine campaign.
Vaccination rates dropped to 31%. Five months later: 5,700 cases. 83 dead. Most of them children under 4. He called it a “natural experiment.” The Senate confirmed him as HHS Secretary anyway. https://yahoo.com/news/after-rfk-jr-recommends-vitamin-a-as-a-measles-treatment-some-texas-patients-show-signs-of-toxicity-214353603.html
https://x.com/DittiePE/status/2042560976784945407?s=20
Fox News Politics
@foxnewspolitics
WARRIORS FIRST: Hegseth cuts 93 military fellowships at Harvard, Princeton, replacing them with Hillsdale and Liberty University. New schools were selected for “intellectual freedom” and limited ties to foreign adversaries. Hegseth holds degrees from both Princeton and Harvard’s Kennedy School.
https://x.com/foxnewspolitics/status/2041879082762432844?s=20
Mike Quigley
@RepMikeQuigley
Pete Hegseth has cut ALL educational funds for active-duty service members at Harvard and Princeton (despite him attending these schools) in favor of Christian-affiliated colleges.
Our service members deserve the support they need to finish their studies, regardless of which school they attend or their religious beliefs.
I’m again calling for Hegseth’s resignation on the grounds of limiting academic freedom and disregarding the separation of Church and State.
https://x.com/RepMikeQuigley/status/2042291959302164796?s=20
The United States versus Elon R. Musk
@Needle_of_Arya
Why am I always saying that white leftists are just a carbon copy of their bigoted, conservative fathers? Because they hate non-compliant, feminist brown women in the same way that their fathers do. They hate feminist white women in the way that their fathers do.
8:59 PM · Apr 9, 2026
https://x.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/2042422176448725352?s=20
UH HUH
UH HUH
Tater Tots McGee
@tatertotsconor
Commentary account
I wish people would just admit that they hate Biden and blame him for everything because they hate the fact that he stood by his principles and respected the Constitution. You wanted him to be like Trump. That is the reality. You want a Democratic Trump. It’s never gonna happen.
6:06 PM · Apr 9, 2026
https://x.com/tatertotsconor/status/2042378757017882933?s=20
THEY WERE A PAID OP
Fly Sistah 🪷
@Fly_Sistah
These people followed Vice President Kamala Harris all over the country during the campaign & even now during her 107 Days book tour, but they aren’t protesting Trump’s war on Iran. They don’t think it’s safe to protest under Trump but encouraged people to vote for Trump.
https://x.com/Fly_Sistah/status/2042243215433068629?s=20
Cool Girl
@Tea_witdre
Those people were using the struggles of the Palestinians to grow their social
Media platforms, build and audience, find a niche of bonding through complaining and profiting from the anger they were fanning. That’s why you aren’t seeing them. They NEVER gave a fuck and we said it
https://x.com/Tea_witdre/status/2042247268841955370?s=20
Furkan Gözükara
@FurkanGozukara
Absolute bombshell on Sky News. An expert correspondent reads the leaked 2002 email from Melania Trump to Ghislaine Maxwell. She asks about Jeffrey Epstein and Palm Beach. The White House is in full panic mode trying to completely disassociate from the massive scandal.
https://x.com/FurkanGozukara/status/2042342055389614301?s=20
How many times does it need to be said?
How many times does it need to be pointed out?
IT WAS NEVER ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
IT WAS NEVER ABOUT PHUCKING CRIMINALS.
Joaquin Castro
@JoaquinCastrotx
Last year, Dr. Ezequiel Véliz was named 2025 Resident of the Year at UT Health, Rio Grande Valley.
Last week, ICE detained him in McAllen, Texas—ripping him away from his family, his life, and his patients.
The Trump Administration’s mass deportation campaign is destroying lives. ICE is not going after the worst of the worst, they are targeting people like Dr. Véliz, who has been living in the U.S. for nine years, married to a U.S. citizen, and meeting the healthcare needs of a severely underserved population. Dr. Véliz should be released immediately.
https://x.com/JoaquinCastrotx/status/2042312261444743383?s=20
The Intellectualist
@highbrow_nobrow
Forest Service to Close 57 of 77 Research Sites
The U.S. Forest Service, which manages 193 million acres of public land, is undergoing a sweeping restructuring under the Trump administration that will eliminate all regional offices, relocate its headquarters, and close roughly three-quarters of its research facilities—57 out of 77, according to multiple reports on the reorganization plan.
https://theintellectualistofficial.substack.com/p/forest-service-to-close-57-of-77
https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/2042366944985432428?s=20
Jimmy Tobias
@JamesCTobias
The guy overseeing Trumps’s dismantling of the Forest Service btw is a multimillionaire rancher and tech executive who has a history of petty disputes with the agency
https://x.com/JamesCTobias/status/2042269436623593721?s=20
Christopher Hale
@ChristopherHale
Devout Catholics in the MAGA movement are learning, many for the first time, how much their political allies despise the faith.
12:04 PM · Apr 9, 2026
https://x.com/ChristopherHale/status/2042287672308183233?s=20
The United States versus Elon R. Musk
@Needle_of_Arya
Now that the strategic alliance of politically conservative white Catholics with white Evangelicals has fulfilled its goal of reversing Roe, they are no longer of any use, and relations between the two sides is moving back to its 1972 default: open anti-Catholic disrespect.
https://x.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/2042424433042997415?s=20
The United States versus Elon R. Musk
@Needle_of_Arya
No one, literally no one, clings so desperately to dynastic white privilege as the white leftist, even sometimes more so than their sibling who inherited all of Daddy’s privilege.
9:40 AM · Apr 9, 2026
https://x.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/2042251269923111046?s=20
Marc Elias
@marcelias.bsky.social
A new lawsuit filed Friday seeks to force the DOJ to divulge communications between senior officials and election deniers during the department’s ongoing efforts to obtain state voter rolls and relitigate President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss. http://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
https://bsky.app/profile/marcelias.bsky.social/post/3mj5vn4g6r22q
The name Harmeet Dhillon keeps coming up as one of Trump’s potential nominees to be the next U.S. Attorney General.
As it turns out, Harmeet Dhillon was the leader of a gang of hard-Right students at Dartmouth College back in the 1980’s. Other members of the group included Dinesh D’Souza, and Laura Ingraham.
While at Dartmouth, Dhillon and her fellow rightwingnuts engaged in a months-long sustained antisemitic smear campaign aimed at the college’s liberal Jewish president.
https://www.rawstory.com/harmeet-dhillon-2676694115/
These assholes also thought it was amusing to gain access to confidential student data and use it to out closeted gay students to their families.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/dinesh-dsouza-indictment-dartmouth-outed-gay-classmates/
Acyn
@Acyn
Kamala Harris: it is not just about the individual, it is about the apparatus, if you will — I would refer to talk about the cronies who are allowing this to happen. Members of Congress. I’m going to use the F word, who are feckless. It is an appropriate F word
https://x.com/Acyn/status/2042648451046138032?s=20
UH HUH
UH HUH
👑 Mr. Weeks 👑
@WonderKing82
Every single election Bernie Sanders switch from independent to Democrat. He wins then switches back to independent. He ran for President twice, he switched from independent to Democrat and when he lost, he switched back to independent. That’s what I call a political whore.
9:20 PM · Apr 9, 2026
https://x.com/WonderKing82/status/2042427586618278043?s=20
TerryH2O
@terryh20.bsky.social
Follow
I am not certain about what Melania was doing on tv today. Either she was distracting from her husband’s illegal war in Iran or getting ahead of some new Trumpstein revelations, I hope it’s the latter. Time to release the files!
https://bsky.app/profile/terryh20.bsky.social/post/3mj3nzi7k3s2w
BUT DEI WAS THE PROBLEM>???
New York Times: “As the Trump administration seeks to fill a national shortage of air traffic controllers, officials are targeting a new talent pool: gamers.”
“The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday is making a recruiting push aimed at avid players of video games, as the agency strives to fill thousands of vacancies that lawmakers have said leave the traveling public less safe. In a new YouTube ad, the agency is using flashy graphics and the promise of six-figure salaries to convince video game enthusiasts to apply their trigger fingers in service of air safety.”
Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊
My gob is smacked. My instincts tell me this will not turn out well for Rethuglicans.