At least Fox host Neil Cavuto wasn’t having any of it. He called the donors’ gripes, “PATHETIC!”
On at least two different occasions, Fox Business Network’s Charles Gasparino complained that wealthy donors to the renovation of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York were getting merely “good” but not “great” seats for the pope’s prayer service there today.
On Tuesday, Gasparino visited Your World to discuss what Cavuto called “a little brouhaha.”
Gasparino, who seemed to think it was his job to advocate for the donors, explained, “They wanted better seats” and thought the seats they were getting were “lousy.”
GASPARINO: As you know, a lot of Wall Street guys gave a lot of money to this. They raised a lot of money over the last couple of years to renovate this thing. They thought they would have better seating.
Gasparino said he had called the archdiocese and confirmed that the donors will get “good seating.” But good is not enough for those Masters of the Universe. “Clearly, there’s a lot of feathers ruffled among the Wall Street guys that gave a lot of money,” Gasparino added. “And I will say this. You know, we – I’ve been beatin’ up on Wall Street for years. Wall Street does a lot of good things. Wall Street creates a lot of wealth. This country has a lot less wealth inequality than the country that - “
We don’t know to which country Gasparino was going to compare the U.S. because he was interrupted by Cavuto but we do know that, thanks to Wall Street, we have the greatest income inequality in the developed world
“I’m just telling you,” Gasparino later continued, “A lot of those guys thought they should get better seating, given the amount of money they gave to refurbish cathedral.”
Cavuto wasn’t buying any of it. “Well, did they give a lot of money to the cathedral to get good seating if the pope comes to town or did they do it out of the goodness of their (hearts)? …These guys sound very smarmy, and they give capitalists a bad name, Gaspo.”
”You know what I don’t like? I don’t like being lectured by you or the pope,” Gasparino shot back. “Who’s going to renovate St. Patrick’s Cathedral if not them? You? Me?”
“If you’re saying that the price of their support for renovating a church is a front row pew to see the pope? PATHETIC!” Cavuto retorted.
“Yes, it’s pathetic!” Gasparino agreed. “But that’s the way the world works!” He laughed.
But that wasn’t enough. Gasparino appeared on The Real Story the next day to repeat his gripe to a much more sympathetic host, Gretchen Carlson. In her introduction, Carlson suggested the "slight" was just part of the pope's radical liberalism:
CARLSON: Pope Francis has been a harsh critic of capitalism but tomorrow he'll be in the Big Apple, a city fueled by big banks and the financial market. ...Church undergoing massive renovation funded by Wall Street but will there be a place for those contributors at the pope’s prayer service?
Anybody else think that Roger Ailes might be one of those wealthy donors upset at only getting a “good” seat?
Watch Fox put the one percent “entitlement society” over the pope’s prayer service below, from the September 22 Your World and the September 23 Real Story.
Philadelphia really strained the limits of endurance for Pope Francis and methinks gospel music wasn’t his cuppa yesterday evening: Arethra Franklin is wonderful but perhaps not the most soothing for someone with sciatica.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/25/politics/why-john-boehner-quit/
When I looked at the word “instead,” it seemed like the right word so I left it.
I’m totally bemused at the weird coverage that is being given – everywhere – of the Pope’s address before Congress: what I got out of it was total condemnation of $$$$ as an acceptable motivation for a true believer in the Creator (I didn’t catch the word “Christian” at all), focusing instead 1) on urging capitalists to give more attention to job creation and to protecting those more vulnerable (aka less capable) than them, 2) on the need to promote consensus instead of strife in all walks of life, 3) on the need for politics to work for the common good not governed by economics or finance (aka the 1%), 4) on the totally unacceptable indecency of the global arms trade, 5) on keeping the welcome mat out for immigrants (focusing on the need NOT to be afraid of strangers), etc.
Instead, practically all the media (Al Jazeera, included, more’s the pity) has focused on less controversial aspects, like climate change (the evidence has become so overwelmingly convincing that even GOPers are waking up) and eliminating the death penality (which I totally agree with, BTW, but the other topics of his address were a whole lot more important to my mind.)
“… the Big Apple, a city fueled by big banks and the financial markets,” says Sister Gretchen beaming with pride. Does anyone (else) think Pope Francis who gave up fancy wheels for a cheap, unpretentious Fiat and gave up fancy apartments in the Vatican is impressed by the hoarders of gold in New York City? Seriously?
The unintentional parody here is Gretchen admires the very things the Pope doesn’t. Who’s really warring with Christianity?!?
