A discussion with the journalist Gareth Gore, author of the new book "OPUS: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church"
Greg, did you happen to catch John Oliver last weekend? He got into your favorite topic - the courts. And he had some choice words to say about your bugaboo, Lenny Leo. It’s good that someone with that high of a profile is focusing on this a month out from Election Day. Hopefully it will sink in for some who haven’t grasped what we are dealing with. Here’s a link if you missed it and want to watch. https://youtu.be/j3w8-d_fnqE
Thank you, BusyBusyBee! I thought of that too, but couldn't remember where I saw it, and of course it was John Oliver, the only show I watch...ahem, religiously.
Thanks for the link, BBB. We should also acknowledge Senator Sheldon Whitehouse for his "Scheme" videos regarding - as he called it - the captured court. He started this series in May 2021. I agree, though, that it takes someone like John Oliver to get the word out. How many people would proactively go to the Senate Floor for a lecture series on the Federalist Society and Leonard Leo...not many, I suspect. I watched the first 13, but there's 34 of them that he has created!
Humans are often no damn good. Religious zealots, politicians, rich people, poor people, folks of every stripe can wander into the ‘no damn good category.
On the other hand, most often, people just want to go about the business of pursuing happiness. So I believe that people can be good to each other.
Wallet open, ready to speak out, I believe that our system will allow the good guys to prevail. Not only politicians, but virtually all government officials and officers are willing to push back against illegal orders from above. Semper paretus. Billserle.com
I agree, Bill, and I am hopeful. I think 10 percent of humanity, the violent and extremist sliver, ruins it for the rest of us, who just want to get along.
Today's piece as well as Mr Serle's comments about there being "no damn good" people at every level reminds me, as much on the seamy side of life does, of my former job. By the time I qualified to be an airline pilot, I'd flown with a lot of guys, from my students and passengers to instructors all the way up to The Powerful, chief pilots and FAA examiners. I wasn't totally naive. Taking a job as one of the first women airline pilots, I expected to be harassed -- exactly because "some people are no damn good." But somehow, at that fairly young age, I guess I still believed that justice would prevail. I knew some of my fellow pilots would be no damned good. I knew, even, that some managers would be no damn good. But I didn't expect the "powers that be" to do harm and get away with it. I didn't expect that level of rot at the very top.
This Ops Dei thing is rot sanctioned at the top. Trump and Vance are rot at the top. We're all so used to accepting that some people are just no damn good. But now, far too many people have started accepting "no damn good" at the very top. I keep hearing, "Oh, Trump, that's just the way he is, but he promises he'll (fill in the blank) for me." But "no damn good" doesn't keep its promses. No matter how wonderful "no damn good" sounds, if you put "no damn good" in charge, it won't work out well for you.
Thanks for this, Maureen. In a world of "no damn good," Trump still takes the cake. A terrible human being by any metric, shitty friend, shitty uncle/brother/father/grandfather/husband, shitty business partner, shitty employer, shitty boss, shitty lover...you name it. He is a monumental failure as a person. And half the country doesn't give a shit.
Oh. Ye flawed do-gooders. I gave up on Christianity when the nuts took over, but I remember enough of the Gospels to know that these cretins resemble Jesus not in any way whatsoever. They are just greedy, power-hungry bastards who see a way to use and abuse all the while maintaining their image as the speakers of truth. They are just the personification of evil, as were the Spanish Inquisition power brokers. Just what we don’t need, and just what the founders tried to avoid for the country for which they gave their all.
You gave it up when St. Paul saw the light in Damascus? LOL, just kidding. Although there is a part in ACTS where one of the Roman procurators literally tells him he's crazypants. (Again, my Aramaic is rusty.)
For me, I support anyone's religious beliefs, right up until the time when they are trying to change how OTHER people live. And certainly when they INSIST. My general rule of thumb is: any religion that exists to prepare for some sort of End Times is not one I want any part of.
Like Scientology, Opus Dei has, of course, a whole department somewhere to issue denials of their obvious agenda when called out on it. It's not the mystery they think it is. Whenever a group of, as Bill Serle so eloquently put it, humans that are no damned good get together, they know what they're doing and generally know it's wrong for the majority of people. So, they're either litigious like Scientology, issue public statements to refute truth-telling like Opus Dei, or sometimes both, like Trump. All of these groups are cults in one form or another. Thankfully we, although not quite enough of us, have learned to see through the gaslighting, and are able to see bullshit when it's presented to us. Although they won't, these "groups" need to understand that "freedom of religion" in the Constitution, also means freedom FROM religion.
I'm also a lapsed Catholic who has also not been in a church, except for a funeral, since about 1985. And that should be more than OK in America, but we seem to have more and more religious tests in our secular government than ever before, right up to the radical Catholics on the SCOTUS. I don't want to see government officials talking about their religious beliefs anywhere, and even when making speeches as a private citizen, like Bill Barr at Notre Dame, should curb the desire to foist religion on the graduating students, because private citizen while making the speech or not, they will still be seen as representing the government. But they just can't stop proselytizing no matter where they are, apparently. Ugh! Just stop (I know they won't).
Another book to pile on my Kindle. Thanks, Greg!
Also, a book reminder that Randy Rainbow's new book, "Low Hanging Fruit" (LOL) comes out on Oct 8th, the same day as "MELANIA." I know which one I have pre-ordered.
Thanks, Steve. The transcript of Barr's speech is on the DOJ website. I'm not sure if he was there in a personal capacity, if it's there among the official AG documents. Which makes it worse.
Although Barr's speech is useful to read. I don't agree with him, but at least I have a better understanding of where he's coming from. Whereas Leo is just a gaslighter extraordinaire.
I confess to being at least a little tempted to read the Melania book. Nina B is on the podcast coming up. She wrote a book about the Trump women. And she says that there is a cone of silence around a good decade of Melania's life where it's impossible to know anything about her, and that she hopes Melania will weigh in on that in the book...although my guess is, it's just the Michelle Obama book run through Google translate into Slovenian and back again...
Thanks Greg, very interesting, I learnt what Opus Dei is really about.
Opus Dei, alt right, Putin. What do these hate organizations have in common? Donald John Trump is the figurehead they use. They plie him with platitudes, an extremely cheap cost and expect one thing in return, become 47 at which point they discard him like the piece of shit he is. The real victory, get JD in the Oval so that a true convert is at the helm. Whether they simply off 45, 25th amendment him or send him to the nut house, JD in and Project 2025 becomes a reality. The real danger before our very eyes. Thanks for opening mine a bit wider.
Thanks, Old Man. They view Trump as a tool, and nothing more. It's Machiavellian, but worse because it's devoid of morality. So many OD-adjacent folks were in the Trump Administration in that last year: Cipillone, Mulvaney, Cuccinelli, Eugene Scalia. Eye-opening.
As each day passes my fear of a dipshit 45 steal, led by the likes of Miller grows. Nail biting has become knuckle biting. Sadly while I feel there are enough good people, the volume of lies is so huge that good people are wavering under their weight.
Funny L. Ron Hubbard was mentioned in this piece. As I began reading, the first thing that crossed my mind was this is Scientology on mega steroids. Now I’m thinking that maybe old L. Ron got his idea from Opus Dei.
Judge not lest ye be judged (Matthew 7:1), the Golden Rule, and Tim Walz’ motto, “mind your own damn business” are essentially the same thing: acknowledgment that each soul is a Sovereign Being who deserves the right to be free of interference and manipulation by other sovereign beings. Similarly, the influence of Opus Dei in SCOTUS, Christian Nationalism, and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine are essentially the same thing: making decisions that affect others’ lives against their will because there is the power to do so and it benefits the perpetrator. People need to be discerning—which is not the same thing as being judgmental—especially in an election season, and ask about things that potentially affect their lives (along with Billy Crystal’s Dr Ben Sobel in “Analyze This”), is this the first thing or the second thing?
Well out, Earl. Thank you. If Donald was about to stone someone to death, and a guy jumped out and said, "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone," Trump would be like, "Okay, sure," and fire away.
I knew about Opus Dei a little, around the edges. It’s very scary stuff, especially when people in power, like Bill Barr, or Clarence Thomas are in the picture. Thank you Greg for this deep dive into Opus Dei.
Can’t wait to listen!
Slightly off topic, yet related…
Greg, did you happen to catch John Oliver last weekend? He got into your favorite topic - the courts. And he had some choice words to say about your bugaboo, Lenny Leo. It’s good that someone with that high of a profile is focusing on this a month out from Election Day. Hopefully it will sink in for some who haven’t grasped what we are dealing with. Here’s a link if you missed it and want to watch. https://youtu.be/j3w8-d_fnqE
Thank you, BusyBusyBee! I thought of that too, but couldn't remember where I saw it, and of course it was John Oliver, the only show I watch...ahem, religiously.
Haha. Same. 🤣
Thanks for the link, BBB. We should also acknowledge Senator Sheldon Whitehouse for his "Scheme" videos regarding - as he called it - the captured court. He started this series in May 2021. I agree, though, that it takes someone like John Oliver to get the word out. How many people would proactively go to the Senate Floor for a lecture series on the Federalist Society and Leonard Leo...not many, I suspect. I watched the first 13, but there's 34 of them that he has created!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyg5hj7I21i1Aqcaym9TRFrpWjPN9_ms
Whitehouse has been on this for years. Alex Aronson, of course, was his chief counsel...
I’ve watched about half of them and should probably catch the rest. Thanks for the reminder that there are more to watch.
I need to catch up, too!
Thanks for letting me know. I like him of course, but I don't watch it regularly. Glad to see him on this.
Humans are often no damn good. Religious zealots, politicians, rich people, poor people, folks of every stripe can wander into the ‘no damn good category.
On the other hand, most often, people just want to go about the business of pursuing happiness. So I believe that people can be good to each other.
Wallet open, ready to speak out, I believe that our system will allow the good guys to prevail. Not only politicians, but virtually all government officials and officers are willing to push back against illegal orders from above. Semper paretus. Billserle.com
There are enough who buy the bullschittery and can make life a misery for so many. Texas is getting a clue.
I am going to steal your spelling of "bullschittery." I love it!
I stole it from somebody. Pass it on…
I agree, Bill, and I am hopeful. I think 10 percent of humanity, the violent and extremist sliver, ruins it for the rest of us, who just want to get along.
We mapped many of the major Opus Dei players in DC politics in this interactive relationship map and their involvement in Project 2025.
"Project 2025: How Opus Dei Turns Women Into Handmaids"
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/09/20/project-2025-how-opus-dei-turns-women-into-handmaids/
Thanks, Deepak. Keep up the good work!
Today's piece as well as Mr Serle's comments about there being "no damn good" people at every level reminds me, as much on the seamy side of life does, of my former job. By the time I qualified to be an airline pilot, I'd flown with a lot of guys, from my students and passengers to instructors all the way up to The Powerful, chief pilots and FAA examiners. I wasn't totally naive. Taking a job as one of the first women airline pilots, I expected to be harassed -- exactly because "some people are no damn good." But somehow, at that fairly young age, I guess I still believed that justice would prevail. I knew some of my fellow pilots would be no damned good. I knew, even, that some managers would be no damn good. But I didn't expect the "powers that be" to do harm and get away with it. I didn't expect that level of rot at the very top.
This Ops Dei thing is rot sanctioned at the top. Trump and Vance are rot at the top. We're all so used to accepting that some people are just no damn good. But now, far too many people have started accepting "no damn good" at the very top. I keep hearing, "Oh, Trump, that's just the way he is, but he promises he'll (fill in the blank) for me." But "no damn good" doesn't keep its promses. No matter how wonderful "no damn good" sounds, if you put "no damn good" in charge, it won't work out well for you.
How right you are. When “No damn good” rules, opposition has a steep climb.
Thanks for this, Maureen. In a world of "no damn good," Trump still takes the cake. A terrible human being by any metric, shitty friend, shitty uncle/brother/father/grandfather/husband, shitty business partner, shitty employer, shitty boss, shitty lover...you name it. He is a monumental failure as a person. And half the country doesn't give a shit.
TGIF🎉🎉🎉
Opus Dei: Toxic masculine desire for control at all costs.
These guys have a pathological need to control, and probably a third of the world thinks we need a strongman in charge, so they go along with it.
Feels like a severe lack of grounding.
Toxic masculinity indeed, Rick, and control. But I suspect, with this particular group, it comes from a place of deep shame.
Oh. Ye flawed do-gooders. I gave up on Christianity when the nuts took over, but I remember enough of the Gospels to know that these cretins resemble Jesus not in any way whatsoever. They are just greedy, power-hungry bastards who see a way to use and abuse all the while maintaining their image as the speakers of truth. They are just the personification of evil, as were the Spanish Inquisition power brokers. Just what we don’t need, and just what the founders tried to avoid for the country for which they gave their all.
You gave it up when St. Paul saw the light in Damascus? LOL, just kidding. Although there is a part in ACTS where one of the Roman procurators literally tells him he's crazypants. (Again, my Aramaic is rusty.)
For me, I support anyone's religious beliefs, right up until the time when they are trying to change how OTHER people live. And certainly when they INSIST. My general rule of thumb is: any religion that exists to prepare for some sort of End Times is not one I want any part of.
My UU church is so far from that. Accepting, never proselytizing…. Wish I had found them years ago.
Like Scientology, Opus Dei has, of course, a whole department somewhere to issue denials of their obvious agenda when called out on it. It's not the mystery they think it is. Whenever a group of, as Bill Serle so eloquently put it, humans that are no damned good get together, they know what they're doing and generally know it's wrong for the majority of people. So, they're either litigious like Scientology, issue public statements to refute truth-telling like Opus Dei, or sometimes both, like Trump. All of these groups are cults in one form or another. Thankfully we, although not quite enough of us, have learned to see through the gaslighting, and are able to see bullshit when it's presented to us. Although they won't, these "groups" need to understand that "freedom of religion" in the Constitution, also means freedom FROM religion.
I'm also a lapsed Catholic who has also not been in a church, except for a funeral, since about 1985. And that should be more than OK in America, but we seem to have more and more religious tests in our secular government than ever before, right up to the radical Catholics on the SCOTUS. I don't want to see government officials talking about their religious beliefs anywhere, and even when making speeches as a private citizen, like Bill Barr at Notre Dame, should curb the desire to foist religion on the graduating students, because private citizen while making the speech or not, they will still be seen as representing the government. But they just can't stop proselytizing no matter where they are, apparently. Ugh! Just stop (I know they won't).
Another book to pile on my Kindle. Thanks, Greg!
Also, a book reminder that Randy Rainbow's new book, "Low Hanging Fruit" (LOL) comes out on Oct 8th, the same day as "MELANIA." I know which one I have pre-ordered.
Thanks, Steve. The transcript of Barr's speech is on the DOJ website. I'm not sure if he was there in a personal capacity, if it's there among the official AG documents. Which makes it worse.
Although Barr's speech is useful to read. I don't agree with him, but at least I have a better understanding of where he's coming from. Whereas Leo is just a gaslighter extraordinaire.
I confess to being at least a little tempted to read the Melania book. Nina B is on the podcast coming up. She wrote a book about the Trump women. And she says that there is a cone of silence around a good decade of Melania's life where it's impossible to know anything about her, and that she hopes Melania will weigh in on that in the book...although my guess is, it's just the Michelle Obama book run through Google translate into Slovenian and back again...
This was excellent. I have shared it on social media with hopes it gets a lot of attention. Thanks, Greg.
Thank you, Ellen!
Thanks Greg, very interesting, I learnt what Opus Dei is really about.
Opus Dei, alt right, Putin. What do these hate organizations have in common? Donald John Trump is the figurehead they use. They plie him with platitudes, an extremely cheap cost and expect one thing in return, become 47 at which point they discard him like the piece of shit he is. The real victory, get JD in the Oval so that a true convert is at the helm. Whether they simply off 45, 25th amendment him or send him to the nut house, JD in and Project 2025 becomes a reality. The real danger before our very eyes. Thanks for opening mine a bit wider.
My thoughts exactly.
Thanks, Old Man. They view Trump as a tool, and nothing more. It's Machiavellian, but worse because it's devoid of morality. So many OD-adjacent folks were in the Trump Administration in that last year: Cipillone, Mulvaney, Cuccinelli, Eugene Scalia. Eye-opening.
As each day passes my fear of a dipshit 45 steal, led by the likes of Miller grows. Nail biting has become knuckle biting. Sadly while I feel there are enough good people, the volume of lies is so huge that good people are wavering under their weight.
Funny L. Ron Hubbard was mentioned in this piece. As I began reading, the first thing that crossed my mind was this is Scientology on mega steroids. Now I’m thinking that maybe old L. Ron got his idea from Opus Dei.
More important than anything to L Ron was evading taxes. He has that in common, too, with the current crop of rightwing weirdos.
Judge not lest ye be judged (Matthew 7:1), the Golden Rule, and Tim Walz’ motto, “mind your own damn business” are essentially the same thing: acknowledgment that each soul is a Sovereign Being who deserves the right to be free of interference and manipulation by other sovereign beings. Similarly, the influence of Opus Dei in SCOTUS, Christian Nationalism, and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine are essentially the same thing: making decisions that affect others’ lives against their will because there is the power to do so and it benefits the perpetrator. People need to be discerning—which is not the same thing as being judgmental—especially in an election season, and ask about things that potentially affect their lives (along with Billy Crystal’s Dr Ben Sobel in “Analyze This”), is this the first thing or the second thing?
Well out, Earl. Thank you. If Donald was about to stone someone to death, and a guy jumped out and said, "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone," Trump would be like, "Okay, sure," and fire away.
God died in 54 but the myths continue.
The mouth breathing Elmer Gantry's have discriminated and mentally harassed me since they cut my umbilical cord.
LOL.
I knew about Opus Dei a little, around the edges. It’s very scary stuff, especially when people in power, like Bill Barr, or Clarence Thomas are in the picture. Thank you Greg for this deep dive into Opus Dei.