Did John Kasich just accuse the Pope of "pantheism"?

You might think so if you read the headline and the partial transcription at Real Clear Politics, but I've watched the video and did my own transcription:

"I read a great book on St. Francis of Assisi, who the Pope... models himself after. The environment was given to us by the Lord, and it needs to be taken care of. And it shouldn't be worshiped, that is called pantheism. So, I think the Pope pointing out the fact that we need to take care of the environment is good. I don't agree with his conclusion that all of it is bad because of free enterprise, because it's lifted people out of poverty, and he cares about the poor, and so do I. But, I mean, a nice warning to people about the environment. In my state, we've reduced emissions by 30% over the last 10 years. We want to develop renewable. So, I have no problem. If the Pope wants to talk about pollution and how we need to be conscious of it, good for him."

And after a question about legislation, Kasich indicated he didn't know what the Pope's legislative agenda is and: "Let's not get carried away... I think what he was trying to say is we care about the environment, and I agree with him."

Reading the presentation at Real Clear Politics, Meade said "I think the Republicans have their new Todd Akin" — that is, a dumb guy who will emit sound bites that will get a lot of attention and embroil other Republicans in distracting discussions that will tarnish them all. I was going to frame this post around that idea. But Kasich did not accuse the Pope of pantheism, nor did he equate environmentalism with pantheism. He didn't even distance himself from environmentalism.

But "pantheism" is a powerfully distracting word, and it would be helpful to Democrats to exploit whatever they can find to make Republicans seem to have some weird notion that environmentalism is religious heresy.

ADDED: You know, Kasich is a little blabby and he may be kind of dumb. I'd advise him to think about what he wants to say before he just starts riffing. Have a point and get to it. He was asked a question about whether environmentalism is a moral issue, and he began soberly telling us about his readings on theology. He may believe he's the thoughtful, educated man in the GOP group. That's a huge vulnerability! Remember, Todd Akin seemed to think he was lecturing us on science.....