Prepare for the Obama-Benedict meeting spin

As this post goes live, Barack Obama will be meeting for the first time with Pope Benedict XVI.

I will be shocked shocked if the mainstream interpretation of this meeting does not include such conclusions as a) the meeting was an unmitigated success involving two enlightened individuals b) the meetings was a validation of Obama's presidency and major parts of his agenda and c) the meeting was a refutation/dismissal of the widespread criticism Obama has received from dozens upon dozens of Catholic bishops and hundreds of thousands of American Catholics.

Of course it is none of these things. It is a meeting of the most powerful man in the world with a Pope who is charged with safeguarding the universal Church.

Surprises may happen, of course, remember how well the Vatican handled the visit of House Speaker (and convenience Catholic) Nancy Pelosi? Obama's visit to the Holy Father will take place on the pope's home turf.

The early word from the Obama administration is hardly encouraging. Instead, it's more of the same. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, himself a Catholic, said yesterday: "The President often refers to the fundamental belief that each person is endowed with dignity." 

I'm sorry but I almost want to stop reading there because, of course, Barack Obama totally ignores the teaching of the Church that unborn children also are endowed with dignity. It's like someone claiming as common ground "we all agree not to shoot people between 2pm and 12pm", and then shooting them precisely at 1:59PM. Such a person can't claim to be against shooting.

Anyway, we'll see.

Also of note: Dan Gilgoff wrote a piece yesterday "How Meeting the Pope Can Change Obama's Rocky Catholic Narrative". 

I think it's analysis is superficial. The substantive and fundamental disagreements between Obama and Pope Benedict won't be solved with a single meeting. There is also an inability to grasp that what American bishops do is not what the Pope is charged to do, when it comes to relating to the American President. 

The fact that the pope and American bishops may treat Obama in different ways does not show that they hold different opinions about him, but that they have diverse ways of dealings with the problematic he presents.

Even on the international stage, I hardly think the pope has any cause to be impressed with Obama's track record so far. The President, after all, has quickly seen to the federal funding of international "reproductive health" initiatives, which basically equal contraception and abortion - both soundly condemned by the pope in his most recent encyclical.

Also, President Obama has managed to side with the dictator in both significant conflicts currently taking place in troubled counties (Iran and Honduras). This is hardly the tactic that the pope would probably consider appropriate when he speaks about how a just government should serve as oppose to exploit the common good of its citizens.

And climate change? Please. The current Cap & Trade bill being introduced in the Senate is widely-agreed to have almost zero impact on the global environment, and will instead only leverage more taxes on average Americans, reducing the possibility of their human development. And an economically weaker America has diminished potential to do good in the world.

I could go on, but hopefully my point is coming across. I fail to see what the Pope and President Obama have in common, save good words. Only Pope Benedict's words are true and he follows up on them through action.