* cababarant *

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Pope Benny or Maddy?

I think after the initial "They're done already?" about the Papal Conclave, a feeling of disappointment started setting in. I was secretly hoping for the first brown pope ever (I was like "Go Arinze! Go Rodriguez Maradiaga! -- wow, that name's a mouthful). Kyle told me there's an Italian saying, "Always follow a fat pope with a skinny pope", essentially meaning that after a long-term guy, comes a short term guy. It looks like the Vatican is following this advice; Pope Benedict XVI is already 78 years old, only 6 years younger than JP II was at his death. And so the ghoulish Papal Death Watch continues. Wouldn't that kind of suck to get a job where people are already saying "Oh, he's a short-termer", which, when translated, actually means "Oh, he's a goner"?

Already Pope Benny doesn't seem to have that great charisma of JP II. The news channels keep showing that footage of JP laughing it up (although terribly ill) when he released the peace doves and they flew back in the building. This is always contrasted with Benny's awkward smiling and waving. The first thing I thought is, "that's not the kind of guy I can see kids running up to", and later that day a CNN correspondent read my mind and said the exact same thing. (Let's hope I don't always think the same way as CNN correspondents. Please.) He looks, well, like one of those old ladies who would scold kids for being too loud in a store. And speaking of scary old ladies, he reminds Kyle of Madeline Albright. Where has she been lately? Coincidence?

Who is who?

posted by sheryl | 9:49 PM |

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