We have a new pope and Trump shtick that's getting old

White smoke, this time from the tailpipe of the BuzzTruck, means our mechanic can make another boat payment. In other emissions-related news this week:

“Habemus papam” (or in English, “Oh, my Papa”: The conclave of cardinals in Rome selected a new Roman Catholic pontiff on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV, American-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost. Some past writings by Prevost on a social media account expressed criticism of deportation policies of the Trump administration and Vice President J.D. Vance, calling his interpretation of Christian doctrine “wrong.” Coincidentally, Vance, a recent convert to Catholicism, was among the last to have an audience with Pope Francis before his death.

J.D., don’t take it personally if you don’t get a Vatican invite for a while. Leo’s going to be busy with moving in, ordering new business cards, sending thank-you notes to the other cardinals (there are 132 of them, after all), getting fitted for new vestments, and updating the Vatican WiFi password.

More proof that the White House is being replaced by a Spirit Halloween store: In the span of a few days this week, President Trump’s Truth Social and White House social media accounts posted AI-generated images of Trump in papal regalia — while a period of mourning was still in effect for Pope Francis — and as a oddly buff Jedi for May the 4th “Star Wars” festivities, although the red lightsaber Trump held would have indicated he was not Jedi but a Sith lord and aligned with the Dark Side. When some raised objections to the image of Trump as pope, he insisted he had nothing to do with the post but that the “fake news media” couldn’t take a joke and that “Catholics loved it.”

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/the-buzz-we-have-a-new-pope-and-trump-shtick-thats-getting-old/