The tl;dr is Bernie says the Pope invited him to speak at the Vatican about problems with capitalism, but that seems to not be true in any respect.
This claim is quite unusual as popes generally stay out of other country's political affairs. The Pope did come to speak to the US Congress about global warming and related income issues, but that is a far cry from appearing to support a particular candidate for president during a primary season. Nevertheless, Sanders says on national TV that the Pope invited him. So then the President at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences comes out and says "Bernie invited himself." Which is later contradicted by the Chancellor of that institution claiming he personally invited Bernie. As for which person outranks the other one...I don't know, but it seems weird that a basic fact like this is not just known by the President or Chancellor. The only thing we can agree on is that Bernie is going, but he either invited himself or was invited by someone who isn't the Pope. Is the pope going to be there? No he is going to be in Greece on the 14th and 15th...Or maybe not.
Ok well what's he going to speak about? This is the funniest part IMO. So here is the initial summary of the event. Try to find Bernie Sanders there. He is listed under "Other Participants" along with 2 Associate Professors, on Page 10, and is nowhere to be found in the schedule itself. But if you look at the site today, they have updated it. He is given a name and a picture, along with a speaking time. That speaking time (on Page 7) starts at 4 pm and continues until the coffee break...at 4:10 pm.
So just to recap. Bernie says the Pope invited him to speak at the Vatican about problems with Capitalism. It turns out that:
1. The Pope did not invite him. At best the Chancellor of the organization holding this event did.
2. He initially was not invited to speak, merely to be there, and after he kept going on national media telling people the Pope asked him to speak...they shoved him in 10 minutes before a coffee break.
Ok so this is so far utterly bizarre. What makes this go from bizarre to insane is the context. Bernie NEEDS to win New York. if he loses New York by even a little bit, that makes his already highly improbable shots of winning closer to mathematically impossible. He would need to win something like 62% of all delegates after New York if he loses. So maybe he's up in the polls right? RCP Average put him down 14 points. 538 has Hillary winning 61-36. So why the FUCK is he leaving the country for a 10 minute speech 4 days before the primary in a state he MUST win, while trailing in polls somewhere between 15-25 percent?
Not only is all of this weird, he fought to have a debate in NY, on the 14th. Here is the fucking final weird twist in the whole insane thing. His speech is April 15th at 4 pm in the Vatican. There is a 2 hour debate on the 14th from 9-11 PM EST. A flight takes roughly 9 hours to go from NYC to Rome. Let's say travel and prep and everything else takes 2 hours total for both getting to an NY airport and through security, and getting through the airport in Rome to the Vatican. The debate ends at 11 PM EST. The Vatican is 6 hours ahead, so 5 AM. Then he takes an hour to get on a flight and go through security etc. Let's assume the flight leaves exactly at 12 AM EST (6 AM vatican time) with no other delays. the flight itself is 9 hours, so he arrives there at 9 AM EST (3pm Vatican time) literally ONE HOUR before his TEN MINUTE speech. Let's have him use his allotted one hour and he arrives exactly at the podium at 4 pm. He speaks for 10 minutes....and then leaves? So say he gets to the airport in Rome at 5:10 pm Vatican time. He flies back to the US which takes a little longer than the flight there, so say 10 hours. He arrives at the US 4 "hours" later at 9:10 pm. What does he gain from this? What the fucking actual fuck is the point of this?
beckyderp !Hi.HILLARY joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 13 minutes later[^][v]#667,509
Lol I enjoyed this.
TTEH !PUPenis69. joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 12 minutes later, 25 minutes after the original post[^][v]#667,511
Absolutely bizarre.
Margaret Archer, president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, said that Sanders invited himself. “Sanders made the first move, for the obvious reasons,” Archer told Bloomberg. “He may be going for the Catholic vote but this is not the Catholic vote and he should remember that and act accordingly—not that he will.”
According to Reuters, the Chancellor is senior to the President:
"I deny that. It was not that way," Monsignor Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo told Reuters in a telephone interview while he was traveling in New York. Sorondo, a close aide to Pope Francis, is chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, which is hosting the event. He said it was his idea to invite Sanders.
A Bloomberg report quoted Margaret Archer, president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, as saying that Sanders had broken with protocol by failing to contact her office first.
"This is not true and she knows it. I invited him with her consensus," said Sorondo, who is senior to Archer.
(Edited 8 minutes later.)
Lt. Judy Hopps joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 3 minutes later, 28 minutes after the original post[^][v]#667,512
Did you really sit there and calculate those flight time logistics just for the extra head scratch
Bernie's speeches are usually short and sour anyway but I fail to see why he's going to the Vatican at all. and especially now
he's Jewish for chrissake
Fake anon !ZkUt8arUCU (OP) replied with this 10 years ago, 7 minutes later, 36 minutes after the original post[^][v]#667,514
@667,509 (beckyderp !Hi.HILLARY)
Thanks! He honestly needs to fire his entire campaign staff for letting this happen. Unless this was all his idea, in which case he needs to have his head examined. The theory floated is that NY has a lot of Catholics, and they will view this as a tacit endorsement by the pope. That might have held water if his narrative of the Pope inviting him to speak were parroted by the major media outlets...but they are just as confused as I am, if they even mention it at all. So it's not good press, and even if it were, it strikes me as shameless pandering (the kind of thing he chides Clinton for doing all the time) so he's a hypocrite. It's like when McCain picked Palin to try to grab the female vote...except somehow even less comprehensible. There is no "female" or "catholic" vote really, and to think that this would earn him more votes than...you know, campaigning in the actual state itself, is just stupid and ill-advised. Also all of this is assuming he goes and gives his speech and comes back. If he sticks out for the whole event, he will get back to NY in the early early hours of the 17th, so he basically wasted two days of precious, irreplaceable campaign time on a flight of fancy.
And of course Sanders supporters think this is a genius move. My theory that Sanders has not insubstantial fanatical cult following seems to be growing stronger by the day.
Fake anon !ZkUt8arUCU (OP) double-posted this 10 years ago, 4 minutes later, 40 minutes after the original post[^][v]#667,515
@667,511 (TTEH !PUPenis69.)
Thanks! Makes sense. @667,512 (Lt. Judy Hopps)
I literally just googled flights from nyc to Rome and vice versa. It's not like I spent hours figuring this out. The timing issue though is particularly inexplicable. Not that anything about this makes sense from the POV of his campaign.
It sort of makes sense that he would get invited, in that the Catholic church is not super fond of of Capitalism, and Sanders is probably the highest profile US politician who will say bad things about it; but given that everything becomes politicized during the primaries, the Academy really shouldn't have invited him.
(Edited 2 minutes later.)
Anonymous E joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 2 minutes later, 42 minutes after the original post[^][v]#667,516
TL:DR pls?
Fake anon !ZkUt8arUCU (OP) replied with this 10 years ago, 47 seconds later, 43 minutes after the original post[^][v]#667,517
@previous (E)
I literally included a sentence at the beginning that starts "the tl;dr is...".
(Edited 31 seconds later.)
Metæ joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 23 seconds later, 44 minutes after the original post[^][v]#667,519
@OP > Bernie NEEDS to win New York. if he loses New York by even a little bit, that makes his already highly improbable shots of winning closer to mathematically impossible.
Perhaps a nod from the Pope will tip the scales for New York's Italian, Irish, and Latino voters?
Fake anon !ZkUt8arUCU (OP) replied with this 10 years ago, 2 minutes later, 46 minutes after the original post[^][v]#667,520
@previous (Metæ)
I think he just realized he needed a miracle to win so he flew to the Vatican to see if the Pope could arrange something.
beckyderp !Hi.HILLARY replied with this 10 years ago, 6 minutes later, 53 minutes after the original post[^][v]#667,522
Lt. Judy Hopps replied with this 10 years ago, 1 minute later, 54 minutes after the original post[^][v]#667,524
@667,515 (Fake anon !ZkUt8arUCU)
i didn't accuse you of spending hours but it's obviously wacky and u did go the extra mile to prove how wacky but I appreciate it I guess don't go getting all defensive jeez
what I have noticed coming of this tho merk is a whole lot of a talk. I've been keeping distance from current events and still have heard a buttload about 'sanders trip to vatican'. it gets him media attention at home, abroad, and it's hard to ignore. mentioning the pope and Bernie in the same sentence is enough to rile up his 'fanatical cult following'
the whole trip might be reasonable in some very roundabout, 2016-election kinda way
just doesn't make sense in any kind of real way. obv
im stumped as to why the Vatican would invite him now or ever tho and that whole scenario with monsignors calling chancellors liars is kind of sad
(Edited 2 minutes later.)
Lt. Judy Hopps double-posted this 10 years ago, 1 minute later, 55 minutes after the original post[^][v]#667,526
Fake anon !ZkUt8arUCU (OP) replied with this 10 years ago, 3 minutes later, 58 minutes after the original post[^][v]#667,529
@667,522 (beckyderp !Hi.HILLARY)
I never do what I should, only what I feel like. Thanks. @667,524 (Lt. Judy Hopps)
Sorry whenever I talk about bernie with my friends, my one pro-bernie friend just starts going on a rant about how he's getting cheated, everyone is corrupt, etc. and so I am pretty cautious about this. And yeah there is a lot of talk, and some press, but unless it is GOOD press I don't see how it helps him when he's so far behind. Regardless of if it's good or bad, this can't be how the campaign initially wanted this to go, so it is just amusing to me.
Lt. Judy Hopps replied with this 10 years ago, 6 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#667,532
@previous (Fake anon !ZkUt8arUCU)
Bernie bros are total freaks 100% of the time
yes the end result is still just a logistical mess. shuttlin' the poor old sand man across the globe. maybe it's just a stress test. he is old
have you seen anybody call him the sandman before
Fake anon !ZkUt8arUCU (OP) replied with this 10 years ago, 16 seconds later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#667,533
Also one last thing I noticed, though not really relevant, the brief summary of his work (on pg 12) is literally just the first couple sentences of http://www.sanders.senate.gov/about copypasted. His picture on an earlier page is also taken from here. Lazy interns.
(Edited 56 seconds later.)
Fake anon !ZkUt8arUCU (OP) double-posted this 10 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#667,535
@667,532 (Lt. Judy Hopps)
No I have never heard that. It is all about feeling the Bern, man.
TTEH !PUPenis69. replied with this 10 years ago, 20 seconds later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#667,536
Fake anon !ZkUt8arUCU (OP) replied with this 10 years ago, 51 seconds later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#667,537
@previous (TTEH !PUPenis69.)
Yes I fully blame the Pope for not personally writing a summary for each person attending.
Also > mad
(Edited 17 seconds later.)
Metæ replied with this 10 years ago, 4 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#667,542
@667,520 (Fake anon !ZkUt8arUCU)
Damlol. So given this trip is of dubious value and basically physically impossible, how does Bernie get out while saving face? Trump would just call the Vatican a bunch of "losers" and threaten to fire "dopey pope Francis" and turn St. Peter's basilica into a bordello.
piss pig replied with this 10 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#667,543
@previous (Metæ)
'The guy can barely speak English!'
DasSheeple joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#667,547
inb4 he time travels impressing everyone so much, he gets elected as the president of the world.
Can't wait for April 14th to see if he cuts it. It's some pretty tight timing.
Metæ replied with this 10 years ago, 39 seconds later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#667,548
Fake anon !ZkUt8arUCU (OP) replied with this 10 years ago, 7 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#667,554
@667,542 (Metæ)
It will be interesting to see what he does, but honestly at this point there are no "good" choices left. If he thinks that he is going to lose NY, I could see him just making the trip because this is something that he is personally passionate about, and figures he probably won't get a better opportunity than this to speak internationally. If he still wants to compete in NY, I think he has to stay and come up with some excuse as to why he couldn't make it. I dont know if he can pull the "I'm sick" card because he is on stage hours before his plane is supposed to leave, and probably won't pretend to be sick during the debate. If I were him I would TODAY thank the academy for inviting me, but say that as much as he would like to go, he has a duty to his supporters to campaign as hard as he can in NY, and he will look forward to attending next year's conference as POTUS. Again, kind of a lame cop-out, but what're you gonna do?
Trump would probably do that and he would rise about 5% in the national polls.
Anonymous H joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 20 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#667,561
@previous (Fake anon !ZkUt8arUCU)
The o and t in PotUS probably shouldn't be capital letters.
Funny topic, by the way. You did a good job pulling this all together.
(Edited 26 seconds later.)
Metæ replied with this 10 years ago, 3 hours later, 5 hours after the original post[^][v]#667,607
@667,554 (Fake anon !ZkUt8arUCU) > he will look forward to attending next year's conference as POTUS
Best way to play it.
Why is speaking at the Vatican so important to Bernie? I was under the impression Bernie's base isn't too big on organized religion, especially not one so regressive on LGBTQ issues, women, and abortion. The practicing Catholics I know take abortion and traditional marriage very seriously, like single issue seriously. The lapsed Catholics don't care about the Vatican or Pope anyway.
Lt. Judy Hopps joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 8 hours later, 13 hours after the original post[^][v]#667,662
@previous (Metæ) every catholic cares about the pope
Anonymous J joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 1 day later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#667,974
Ohh would he try to convince the Vatican to support pro choice and the legalization of marijuana? Would he try to convince the papacy to think about gender equality? Or "gun control".
I think the papacy just wants to convince this poor man to have some fucking confidence and try to lure some creativity out of this man.
this is a head scratcher.
Anonymous K joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 7 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#667,975
this is easy af- alzheimers
DasSheeple replied with this 10 years ago, 1 day later, 3 days after the original post[^][v]#668,415
Did Bernie take off already? Will he make it?
Adam Djensen joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 1 hour later, 3 days after the original post[^][v]#668,422
Kek
Adam Djensen double-posted this 10 years ago, 30 seconds later, 3 days after the original post[^][v]#668,423
I thought he was an angry atheist anyway, op?
DasSheeple replied with this 10 years ago, 24 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^][v]#668,430
Anonymous N joined in and replied with this 10 years ago, 3 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^][v]#668,466
@previous (D)
Which one upset you? > The Pope now as an excuse to meet the Lesbians that run Lesbos.
> He wanted to meet the head dude of Jesus for Jews.
Anonymous D replied with this 10 years ago, 9 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^][v]#668,470
@previous (N)
mostly the first one but everything he says is infuriating
at least it's just a picture of the pope instead of like 2 blonde girls kissing
Anonymous M replied with this 10 years ago, 12 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^][v]#668,473