April 26, 2025

The conversation at St. Peter's.


ADDED: For the annals of Things I Asked Grok: Isn't there some expression along the lines of "He would upstage the corpse at a funeral"?

(Oh! I see. The stock expression is "He could upstage the bride at her own wedding.")

IN THE COMMENTS: Hassayamper said: “I've heard ‘He's always got to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral’ to describe someone who can't resist being at the center of attention.” Yes! That’s what I was looking for. You beat Grok. 

84 comments:

Eva Marie said...

So the Pope was in on it. Well played.

Peachy said...

Name that tune in 4 seconds?

Eva Marie said...

Sometimes you have to sacrifice a Bishop.

Gerda Sprinchorn said...

That floor is spotless.

Gerda Sprinchorn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hassayamper said...

I've heard "He's always got to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral" to describe someone who can't resist being at the center of attention.

tcrosse said...

"Bless me, father, for I have sinned. It has been 50 years since my last confession...."

Eva Marie said...

Fisher sacrificed the queen instead, but she’s already dead.

Amadeus 48 said...

Alice Roosevelt Longworth said, “My father (Theodore Roosevelt) always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral,
the bride at every wedding and the baby at every christening.”

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Good idea leaving J.D. Vance at home.

William said...

I wonder if they kept the floor than buffed and polished during the Renaissance? Imagine living in some bleak Norman Castle and seeing this for the first time.

Jamie said...

tcrosse @10:15, my very thought!

Aggie said...

@Narr, that's the Tim Burton version.

David Duffy said...

Not exactly the Pink Floyd “Money” but close enough. The camera flash on Jesus baptism painting—memorable. They both could use wild John present with his camel hair, leather belt, chomping on locust and wild honey.

Narr said...

@Aggie--I'm older than Tim Burton and have used it since he was knee-high to a Nazi Jewkrainian.

I saw a Tim Burton movie and enjoyed it.

mezzrow said...

quote stolen from a Steven L. Miller tweet:
"I'm not really expert, Mr. President but I believe it's combination of NIL celebrity, lack of focus on playing football and team not wanting to deal with his dad's press conferences every week..."

Peachy said...

Opposite of Biden cabal.
Come on - this is the ultimate in transparency.

RCOCEAN II said...

Per the Homily: “Pope Francis incessantly raised his voice, imploring peace and calling for reason and honest negotiation to find possible solutions ... ‘Build bridges, not walls,’ was an exhortation he repeated many times.”

So, I guess Zelensky squirmed in his seat a little when he heard that.

RCOCEAN II said...

As for peace in Ukraine. Russia needs assurance that Ukraine will not use the pause to rearm and restart hostilities. And that Ukraine will recongnize Crimea is gone, and that some sort of referumdum (sic) is neccessary for the occupied donbas territory

RCOCEAN II said...

BTW, did Biden travel and go to important events? Of course, CV-19 stopped him at first, but afterwards?

narciso said...

yes but he often embarassed us, at normandy and other places,

Lazarus said...

What's the strange glow on the painting in the upper left? The Holy Spirit?

Lem Vibe Banditory said...

Reddit is beside itself that Trump wasn’t wearing black.

Limited blogger said...

Did Z. have a coat and tie on?

Howard said...

It does the Pope a great honor to negotiate ending a war like nobody's ever seen at his funeral.

Lem Vibe Banditory said...

While I see a man trying to save lives at a funeral… others noticed Macron wouldn’t shake hands with him.

jim said...

Well yea, may be he just wants some good publicity, but it would be quite an epithet for Francis if this led somewhere.

Kakistocracy said...

Did the Pope in death bring Zelensky and Trump together…might those few minutes truly bring the war to an end by Trump standing up to Putin? Francis will have achieved his greatest outcome if that is the result…it’s crucial to stand up to tyrants like Putin.

Wince said...

Pope Francis’ corpse was later seen asking President Trump if they could take a “selfie” together.

Peachy said...

People must die (war/disease/jabs) so elite democratics in (and out of) power can get and stay magnificently wealthy.

DINKY DAU 45 said...

yes stand up to Putin dont see that happening. Just give Putin everything he wants FUK the rest of em..

wild chicken said...

What's that noise?

Peachy said...

Putin began the war under Crook Joe.

mikee said...

Ukraine as a dirty money laundering center. Russia as a repeat war criminal. Trump wanting both sides to stop killing each other. Trump comes out of this three way comparison looking like the moral one.

john mosby said...

Trump is standing up to Putin by:

- Pumping and fracking again - reducing the price of Russia's number one product, and providing countries with an alternative to the gas-station-with-an-army;

- Directing the West's attention to the Arctic;

- Making Europeans actually spend money on defense and write feasible war plans for confronting Russia, if that's what they really want to do;

- And finally by starting the process of making the US economically and politically stable again, so that we must be considered seriously in the calculations of Russia and other great powers. If Russia is a gas station with an army, and Communist China is Canal Street with an army, America is refusing to be a credit card with an army.

JSM

Mark said...

"Did Z. have a coat and tie on?"

He managed to wear black, unlike Trump

Peachy said...

Trump wore Democrat Blue - and the left are throwing another dutiful meth-induced rage tantrum.

Rory said...

As always, Yes, Minister nailed it: https://youtu.be/TeW3FltKvGM?si=Dss726aIm4c82DZI

Yancey Ward said...

Trump should cut Zelensky loose and simply offer to sell the Ukrainians all the weapons for which they or the Europeans can pay. You will see in short order just how committed the Europeans really are to pay for this.

john mosby said...

Wearing a black suit and black long tie (or just the tie, if you're a working man who doesn't own many suits) at a funeral is a Euro/Brit thing. It has not been an American thing, except among the laptop class who watch a lot of foreign movies/TV.

Trump wore a blue suit and solid blue tie, which, quelle surprise, Biden and Clinton wore to Jimmy Carter's funeral:

https://dnyuz.com/2025/01/09/at-jimmy-carters-funeral-a-rare-image-of-presidential-unity/

Even the Prince of Wales, ex officio the arbiter of men's appropriate dress, wore a blue suit to the Pope's funeral, although he did throw on a black tie:

https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/article35122461.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200/2_Pope-Francis-Funeral-Vatican-City.jpg

JSM

Earnest Prole said...

Microphones picked up Trump whispering, “I fucked up when I promised the Ukraine war would end in 24 hours.”

john mosby said...

Trump did join in the Euro custom of applauding the casket as it passed.

JSM

Kakistocracy said...

“Trump expresses doubts Putin is willing to end the Ukraine war, a day after saying a deal was close” ~ AP

Finally, Trump says something accurate. What made him finally come to that conclusion?

Lucien said...

Those are kinda cheap looking chairs for St. Peter's.They don't have to be ornate, but could you at least have sturdy wooden chairs.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Heard part of the Mass. The Kyrie Eleison. Took me back to the Latin Mass of my youth. Almost sang along with them.

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

I didn't know much about Trump until the 2015 Forbes profile on him--highlighting the endless argument about where, if at all, Trump belongs on the richest 20 or 100 or whatever. Trump hosts a lunch at the Tower, shows the Forbes folks around. You get a sense that the Forbes folks were a bit charmed despite themselves--maybe like Maher mor recently.

At one point the apartment sort of spikes over 5th Avenue, like a triangle, and Trump gets a superb view of what is going on. A huge crowd is gathering. Oh yeah, the Pope is here. Comments on the Popemobile, the little Fiat that is also used. People down below start to notice Trump, and yell up at him. He says he'd better back out of the way. "This isn't my day, it's the Pope's day." Not many of us will find ourselves saying that.
<a href="https://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/09/30/donald-trump-pope-francis-fiat-popemobile/>Philadelphia magazine link.</a>

BUMBLE BEE said...

CNN Reports: "Behind closed doors the Pope is still focused and energetic"
H/T Babylon Bee

Jim at said...

He managed to wear black, unlike Trump.

Do you realize just how stupid you sound when you focus on shit like this?

Larry J said...

Trump is trying to end a war, and as usual the Leftists are sniping like the whiny little bitches they are.

Rosalyn C. said...

I saw pictures of Joe Biden grinning and taking selfies with his admirers and I thought, where's his ice cream cone? What a goof ball. OTOH, he's obviously enjoying his retirement, finally.

Wince said...

Trump is there on a mission from God.

Wince said...

“OTOH, he's obviously enjoying his retirement, finally.“

Not as much as we are.

Hassayamper said...

He managed to wear black, unlike Trump

The Prince of Wales wore a blue suit too.

I have no doubt that if Trump had worn a black suit, Mark and the other ankle-biters would have groused that he was trying to upstage the future King, or should have worn a double breasted coat, or whatever. They criticize him for talking to Zelensky, just like they would do if he had not talked to him. They call him a hypocrite for invoking the name of God in his remarks at the death of a Pope, and would call him a religious bigot if he didn't.

Every single day they wake up looking for some angle, any angle, that will allow them to shit on Trump and his supporters, and every night they go to bed the same way. What a miserable existence. Why am I even responding to such a worthless and stupid individual?

Earnest Prole said...

Those are kinda cheap looking chairs for St. Peter's.They don't have to be ornate, but could you at least have sturdy wooden chairs.

I was just there. The chairs for the masses (pardon the expression) are clear lucite and exceedingly modern. Somehow they are perfect. The chairs in the Trump photo look like a hotel ballroom in New Jersey, which is also somehow perfect.

Big Mike said...

Why am I even responding to such a worthless and stupid individual?

@Hassayamper, good question. Laugh at him, mock him, but don’t bother him with facts. He’s got talking points; in his world that’s waaayyyy more important than facts or logic or reality.

Rusty said...

Jim at said...
"He managed to wear black, unlike Trump.

Do you realize just how stupid you sound when you focus on shit like this?"
It's Mark. That's about as deep and nuanced as he gets.

Hassayamper said...

Hey, I see I got a shout-out from the Professor in a post addendum. Second time for me.

That's the third-best thing that has happened to me today, except for opening my eyes for another day by God's grace, and giving my wife a good-morning kiss.

Mark said...

Rusty, remember you guys going on about Obama's tan suit?

I do. Keep up.

Kakistocracy said...

The 2025 conclave will not center on doctrinal disputes but on whether the decline of institutional Christianity demands a return to tradition or a transformative renewal, as embodied by Pope Francis.

The Catholic church has shown great capacity for change and renewal in the last 80 years. The church is a centralist entity, which is struggling with the very diverse circumstances and cultural background of its global membership.

I think their challenge is to find the right level of decentralization to stay relevant in both, liberal Europe and socially conservative southern countries without losing their common core. It’s a constant struggle the Catholic church has managed successfully for over 2000 years, but it’s getting harder, because the differences between liberalism and conservatism are more extreme than ever. And the overall greater personal freedom in many countries has made it easier to shop around for a church or even a religion that suits people‘s preferences.

Jim at said...

Rusty, remember you guys going on about Obama's tan suit?

What color suit was Biden wearing today, Mark?

Yancey Ward said...

"I do. Keep up."

LOL! The critique was really not about Obama's suit being tan but, rather, it being empty. As I remember it almost everyone at Althouse actually liked the tan suit. So, I guess that just makes you hypocrite.

Big Mike said...

“I've heard ‘He's always got to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral’ to describe someone who can't resist being at the center of attention.”

I first heard this applied to Lyndon Johnson. Althouse is too young to remember the fellow. Trump is too quiet and self-effacing to be compared to him.

DINKY DAU 45 said...

CONCLAVE Ralph Fiennes, and being reared a Catholic, altar boy, Catholic grade and High Schools until had enough and bailed and got Born Again. I can see .especially now after Francis passing how the BRAVE NEW WORLD is definitely surrounding us as it was forseen long ago. The fallacy of man being ruled by man brings us to where we are today,a total shipwreck of hate, failing society, the kings throwing crumbs to the serfs and becoming more and more unashamed as they tout their superiority and continue to fatten the calf. Francis, at least tried to lead by the Gospel of Christ experience, even though part of the elite, he tried humility, kindness ,care for the "serfs" of the world but still lived in a walled castle, God bless his soul, not his fault just the way time and man has drawn it up. Maybe the Pope in CONCLAVE really did have something going on ,everyone up in here will belong gone most likely before we find out. grab your undies and your panties and hang on. Lord you have a heck of a sense of humor. YOU JUST NEVER REALLY KNOW.. PATER NOSTER QUI ES IN CAELIS:

Joe Bar said...

Am I alone in hoping some good comes from this meeting? It would be nice if the US and Ukraine could come to an agreed approach!

Jerry said...

Big Mike said: "Trump is too quiet and self-effacing to be compared to him."

Also much, much less vulgar. Johnson was famously so.

boatbuilder said...

Fascinating. Not "behind the scenes" but right there where the entire world can see that Trump and Zelenskyy are talking. No bugs. No aides. No reporters.

Unless the chairs are bugged. And both Trump and Zelenskyy are wired.

4D chess.

Ralph L said...

"did Biden travel and go to important events? "
He went to the Queen's funeral in Sept '22 and wandered around at the G summits.
I suppose security is so tight nowadays, it's less of an imposition on everyone else for POTUS to attend, but I preferred it when the VP went to foreign funerals.

The chairs are bizarre. Real gold on 1970s steel frames? Real crimson silk damask? Don't they clash with the cardinals' red robes?

Deep State Reformer said...

You can see this same image of a face to face serious talk at most funerals. Very human.

Kakistocracy said...

BB wrote: "Fascinating. Not "behind the scenes" but right there where the entire world can see that Trump and Zelenskyy are talking."

Maybe without Vance around to wreck things again and incite conflict, Zelensky can get a few things through to the president.

Narr said...

Among the many (many!) things I had forgotten about "Earthly Powers" was the account of the Lateran Treaty between Il Duce and the Vatican, which involved the former giving the latter a huge bribe in the way of cash and ownership of some important banks and other businesses.

As Burgess has it, the RC church finally got rich. Later than I and most good Prots would have thought, but it makes sense.



doctrev said...

"When the enemy's envoy's speak in humble terms, but continues his preparations, he will advance. When their language is deceptive but the enemy pretentiously advances, he will retreat. When the envoys speak in apologetic terms, he wishes a respite. When without a previous understanding the enemy asks for a truce, he is plotting."

If Zelensky or any of the Euro trash in his orbit was smarter, he would realize President Trump talks very sweetly to people he otherwise considers his enemies. Without some small actual demonstration of goodwill, it's usually worthless. Zelensky is arrogant even by the standards of Jews used to being waited on by American politicians, so he doesn't realize that wearing his stupid turtleneck to a funeral only continued to justify President Trump -never- helping his stumpy rat face.

Rocco said...

Wince said...
Trump is there on a mission from God.

@ THE SOUL FOOD CAFE

ARETHA: Help you boys?

ELON: You got any white bread?

ARETHA: Yes.

ELON: I'll have some toasted white bread, please.

ARETHA: You want butter or jam on that toast, honey?

ELON: No ma'am, dry.

TRUMP: You got any Big Macs?

ARETHA: Best damn Macs in the state.

TRUMP: Bring me four Big Macs and a Diet Coke.

ELON: And some dry white toast please.

ARETHA: You all want anything to drink with that?

ELON: No ma'am.

TRUMP: A Diet Coke.

gadfly said...

Bubba tells me: "Anyway, like I was saying, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it. There's, um, shrimp ka-bobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, pan-fried, deep-fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich... That's, that's about it."~Forrest Trump

wsw said...

No fake doric columns in this op, though.

Barry Dauphin said...

“don’t worry, President Zelinsky, I’m sure Macron will pay for your defense“.

Iman said...

“Oh yeah, the Pope is here. Comments on the Popemobile, the little Fiat that is also used.”

He coulda had an Abarth!

Big Mike said...

@Jerry (6:33), well, Democrats often confuse vulgarity with authenticity. They do to this day.

wendybar said...

Hey Mark, where is your dig at Biden for wearing a Navy suit and taking selfies like Obama at Mandela's funeral?? What is up with that???

Tina Trent said...

What is being upstaged? Is it just that we're out of practice seeing a president doing his job?

Rusty said...

Mark said...
"Rusty, remember you guys going on about Obama's tan suit?

I do. Keep up."
Nope. But you do.

GRW3 said...

I've noticed something about the blue suit. In this picture and in wide shots with other people (some also wearing blue suits) it's pretty clear it's a dark Navy Blue suit, just like he wears all the time in the Whitehouse and around. Base on that it's obvious that the inflammatory pictures have been photoshopped to brighten the blue.

MBR said...

Can't resist or can't help?

mikee said...

Lucien, the chairs are not only sturdy enough to use for large numbers of attendees at Basiclica events where seating occurs, they are stackable, which allows compact storage when not in use. Such is the adaptation of the Church to modern needs.

Josephbleau said...

Nice marble work, the church still makes a good buck telling everyone to save the poor.

Post a Comment

Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 2 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.