Pope Francis evicts "enemy" Cardinal Burke

The rumours have been confirmed. Pope Francis evicts his US critic, Cardinal Raymond Burke, from the Vatican. 

A useful commentary of events leading to the eviction of the pope's "enemy" is provided at the beginning of the above podcast video.

Pope Francis has attracted much criticism from commentators. Traditionalist Anglicans have looked on in bemusement as he appears to be guiding the Catholic Church along the path to ruin, the path already trod by the Episcopal Church in the US, the Church of England and the Church in Wales, among others.

Having sown the seeds of hope for change among revisionists, the Vatican is trying to draw a line on women’s ordination and homosexuality in new letter to German bishops.

That will not stop revisionists from pecking away as they seek to make the Church conform to the pattern of this world rather than be transformed as the Anglican Church in the West has witnessed 

What hope can there be for a Church when Christians who practice their faith by obedience to the word rather than apostates are regarded as the enemy?

Then and now

Fighting the enemy WW1   Source: The Telegraph

Ignoring the enemy Covid-19  Source: WalesOnline

Get Cummings

The PM's Chief Advisor running the gauntlet of hate                                                                                                                                        Source: internewscast

Regardless of which side of the fence you find yourself in the 'Cummings must go' campaign, the treatment he and his family have had to endure as glimpsed in this tweet is not British. It is a disgrace. 

Following the example of snowflake no-platformers, get Cummings campaigners have been acting as judge and jury. A witch hunt designed to ensure the departure of the Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister, thus settling old scores after Remainers lost the vote to remain in the EU. 

Allegedly unbiased TV presenters who are paid vast amounts of money by the cash strapped BBC decided that Dominic Cummings' actions when he and his wife were required to self-isolate were reprehensible. The man was guilty regardless of circumstances, timing or his use in the fight against the common enemy, Covid-19

Possibly emboldened by the fact that BBC Breakfast's presenter Naga Munchetty was let off  after she 'breached BBC rules', presenter Emily Maitlis launched into her Newsnight introduction with: "Good evening. Dominic Cummings broke the rules. The country can see that and it is shocked the Government cannot. The longer Ministers and Prime Minister tell us he worked within them the more angry the response to the scandal is likely to be.... He made those who struggled to keep the rules feel like fools and has allowed many more to feel that they can flout them".

 Crackpot Acting LibDem Leader Sir Ed Davey described the breach as "brilliant journalism". The BBC has since said that "an introduction about Dominic Cummings on Tuesday's Newsnight did not meet the required standards of due impartiality".

'Journalists' and MPs following the pack have been lining up to demand the PM's Chief Advisor should either resign or be sacked regardless of his value in combating the Coronavirus. The Church of England's duplicitous bishops have also weighed into the Prime Minister with "lied to, patronised and treated as mugs" although one has to acknowledge their considerable expertise in that area. 

This week we have been celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the rescue of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from Dunkirk. The coverage of the BBC today is in marked contrast with the desire for victory regardless of the cost in 1940.

The get Cummings campaign has completely lost sight of the need to beat the real enemy, Covid-19.

Sir Keir Starmer has tweeted: "Boris Johnson's unwillingness or inability to do the right thing has left the Government looking untrustworthy and unprincipled. Worst of all he's undermined the public health advice that keeps us all safe, just to keep one aide in his job. Our nation’s health must come first."

Sir Keir is correct. Our nation's health must come first. For that reason MPs, the media and Anglican bishops should stop doing what they accuse Dominic Cummings of having done, putting the country at risk. 

The issue has been flogged to death. 

It is the vendetta that is more likely to undermine the Government's fight against Covid-19 with mischievous suggestions that people should perhaps make their own judgements rather than follow government guidelines.

Postscript [01.06.2020]

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Blasts Bishops over Cummings Controversy

"Controversy is ridiculously overblown, says George Carey

Hysterical, coarsened and divisive nature of debate is creating a dangerous culture war that could harm civic life, he says."

Margaret Thatcher: divisive to the end

This morning while hospital visiting I overheard an elderly couple telling anyone who was prepared to listen what a wonderful person Margaret Thatcher was. Clutching a copy of  the Daily Mail, the essential guide for working class Tories, they were pressing all to agree that Port Stanley should be re-named Port Margaret in recognition of Mrs Thatcher's conquering of the "enemy without" adding that she had "done more for the working class than all union officials put together".  The only response came from a frail old man as he shuffled away reminding them that the "enemy within" were the successors of the Bevin Boys who helped us win the real war.

Margaret Thatcher could claim some remarkable achievements but that unguarded comment about the enemy within was not one of them. Her policies split the country and problems created for the mining communities linger on today as families continue to pay the price of their convictions. At the top of the scale those who were to gain most from the Thatcher revolution have learned nothing as they continue to line their pockets while the rest of us are told to tighten our belts. At the bottom of the scale people worry not only about the cost of living but about the cost of dying with the average cost of a funeral exceeding £3,000. It is understandable therefore that people regard spending £10 million of tax-payers money on what appears to be a state funeral in all but name as a grave error of judgement. 

But at the end of the day this is what politics is all about. There have been many fulsome tributes and some entertaining speeches in both Houses showing parliament at its best. The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition set examples of propriety in the Commons while Baroness Shirley Williams, another remarkable female politician, gave us a woman's perspective from the Lords where Mrs Thatcher's ever faithful servant Norman Tebbit expressed his profound regret of having "left her at the mercy of her friends"! 

Mrs Thatcher served her party well but she was dropped when she became a burden to them. Now, in death, her image is being restored, projecting her as the person who "saved" Britain and made Britain "great" again. That's politics for you but apart from the enormous cost of this exercise it sets a dangerous precedent by drawing the Queen into the political manoeuvering. The Queen's attendance at the funeral appears to endorse the suggestion implied here that she gives royal approval to a period of great divisiveness in which we still live today. That is a matter of great regret.