It’s time for a reality check after the Pope’s visit

The Pope brought the members of Congress to their feet, and House Speaker John Boehner to tears. And we all know he cries easily but he was on the verge of sobbing for close to an hour as he sat behind Francis.

Even if you’re not religious, seeing the Pope in all white, almost looking like he was floating as he spoke, and seeing the enthusiastic reception as he talked about the “common good” inspires one to say, “Wow! Maybe Congress won’t shut down the government after all! The prophecy that ‘the wolf shall dwell with the lamb’ is coming true before our eyes.”

Except for one thing: the Tea Party isn’t buying it. On CNN, Tea Party spokesperson Scottie Nell Hughes said what no one else would.

“No disrespect to the Pope, I’m glad for what he stands for…if he would have come in and said ‘listen, you know what, you guys need to have security on your border, you need to make sure you sit there and provide for the general welfare but be responsible in your taxation.’ If he wasn’t so progressive with his wealth redistribution, would he still be getting this red carpet meeting by President Obama?”

“Ok Scottie, Scottie, Scottie…” CNN host Don Lemon broke in.

It was too much for Lemon, but Hughes wasn’t finished:

“He is saying open up immigration and walls. The Vatican has one of the strongest walls possible. I haven’t seen these refugees being brought into the Vatican yet,” Hughes said.

And I know &#8212 you can dismiss her as just one voice, but she represents a pretty powerful group, and they vote. And the one thing even the Pope can’t change about Congress is that they are elected. They don’t live in a win-win world. They only win if the other guy loses.
And every member of Congress knows that when the wolf dwells with the lamb, only one of them wakes up the next day.