Oh, To Be a Fly on the Wall Posted by Michael Signer

So, according to Scott McLellan in the gaggle this morning, there were three Presidents, not one, on the hours-long flight to Rome this morning for the Pope's funeral:  Bush I, Bill Clinton, and Bush II -- all sitting right together on Air Force One.

Is anyone else struck by how strange this must have been?

Even though Clinton and George H.W. have been traveling together for weeks now raising money for the tsunami victims, it still strains the brain to imagine all three talking for several hours -- but maybe, just maybe, they talked about Scott Appleby's terrific article in Foreign Policy about how the new Pope needs to reach out, rather than reject, modern Islam -- and how cutting-edge ethicists in both faiths need to push their political wings toward progressive ends, especially on the intersection of poverty and instability, and the pursuit of just wars -- see, e.g.:

... the next pope must be the architect of a Christian-Muslim dialogue that fosters alternatives to policies and programs that violate the principles of Catholic social teaching. These principles include the preferential option for the poor, the sanctity of human life, and the need to formulate policies serving the common good rather than narrow interests. Muslim religious values lend themselves to this communitarian construction of society, but much work must be done by Catholic and Muslim ethicists to achieve shared visions on issues ranging from “just war” to birth control.

Alas, it was probably all long pauses, Clinton playing hearts, 41 munching pork rinds, and 43 making fratty jokes.  The above -- well, it's just a flight of fancy (okay, wince, I know -- sorry, long day at the office).

Comments

[henryharison]

Hmmm. Citing Hurlburt's comments, too -- perhaps we need two popes: one for the MidEast and one for Latin America.

[muhtar]

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