The poor don't have a prayer in today's Washington

[yallerdawg]

Source: WaPo, by Dana Milbank

*****

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) did not give a reason when his chief of staff this month told the Rev. Patrick Conroy, a Jesuit priest and House chaplain, to resign or face dismissal.

*****

He prayed to God that lawmakers would help “the least among us.”

He prayed for them to follow the example of St. Nicholas, “who fed the hungry, brought hope to the imprisoned, gave comfort to the lost.”

He admonished lawmakers “to serve other people in their need” and “to pray for the unemployed and those who work but still struggle to make ends meet.”

After an immigration deal collapsed, he urged “those who possess power here in Washington be mindful of those whom they represent who possess little or no power.”

He prayed for lawmakers to be “free of all prejudice” and, after the Parkland, Fla., school shooting, to “fulfill the hopes of those who long for peace and security for their children.”?

*****

Only in this perverted time could a priest lose his job after committing the sin of crying out for justice for the poor. But then, look around: Everywhere are the signs of a rising kleptocracy. The $1.5 trillion tax cut did make winners of corporations and the wealthy. And actions since then show that the Trump administration is making losers of the poor.

*****

Read it all at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-poor-dont-have-a-prayer-in-todays-washington/2018/04/27/70f52bd8-4a43-11e8-8b5a-3b1697adcc2a_story.html

[Cartoonist]

1. Is that a picture of the first prayer before Congress?

How did those white guys get such good seats?

[yallerdawg]

2. I'll pretend your serious.

This is a modern representation of the "Sermon on the Mount."

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God.

Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven.

[Cartoonist]

4. Pretend all you want

In fact, you HAVE to pretend in order to think that that's an accurate picture of anything.

[Voltaire2]

6. Sermon on the mount or was it the plain?

In one gospel Jesus gives his talk on the top, in another the same event is placed on the plain and the text is quite different. It is not noted at all in the other gospels.

The picture is therefore as good a representation of a mythical event as any other.

[guillaumeb]

8. To pretend is the better option.

[MineralMan]

3. What is Jebus doing at Canyonlands National Park?

I've stood right there. I doubt that Jesus has visited that park. Few people have, really.

[Mariana]

5. We should elect more Christians into the House and Senate!

If only they had a majority, just imagine what they could do for the poor and sick and ...

Oh. Right.

[Eko]

9. lol.

[MaryMagdaline]

7. Your headline should be the headline across the country

[edhopper]

10. It seems that the more Christian a politician claims to be

the less "Christan" they act.

[Lordquinton]

11. Paul Ryan, lifelong Catholic

That was missing from the OP.