Commenting on the Pope Francis/Kim Davis meeting.

1.  In my lifetime, it's one of the  biggest letdowns since Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon in 1974.  The Nixon pardon was announced on a slow-news Sunday in that pre-internet era.

2.  One can't be surprised at the secrecy since the Francis visit was clothed in "people's pope" garments--and seemingly crafted to appeal to those who like their Catholicism centered on big-picture Social Justice (climate change, abolition of the death penalty, curbing rampant greed) instead of inflexible doctrine on gay marriage, contraception, abortion, etc.

UPDATED 10/2/15: Link to the Vatican's clarification of the encounter:
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/10/02/_statement_on_popes_meeting_with_kim_davis/1176270

The human rights abuses of Henry Kissinger--overlooked by mainstream media.

Let's start with something recent:
"[Bob] Woodward writes that when Gerson asked Kissinger why he supported the [Iraq] war, he replied, “Because Afghanistan wasn’t enough,’ … In the conflict with radical Islam, he said, they want to humiliate us. ‘And we need to humiliate them’ … In Manhattan, this position got him into trouble, particularly at cocktail parties, he noted with a smile.”

For more information on the career diplomat [who was depicted in the mainstream media as the globetrotting "Super K" in the 70s] and his darker side: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/415715

Yes, it's true: George W. Bush autobiography to be called DECISION POINTS.

Presuming someone advised George Butch, Jr. aka George W. Bush that titling an autobiography DECISION POINTS is a good idea reminiscent of Richard Nixon's book SIX CRISES.

A better title for the Bush book: PLUGGING MY EARS WITH CEMENT.

Re passing of Robert McNamara--who helped make Vietnam War.

This Will Bunch column about McNamara, who passed away early this morning, is worth reading:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/will-bunch/robert-mcnamara-and-ameri_b_226188.html

Sarah Palin--she'll be back.

Given the deep desire some Americans have for simple-minded, "I feel it in my gut so it's true" demagogues, it's safe to say that Sarah Palin stepping down as governor of Alaska will lead to a Richard Nixon-in-1968 or Ronald Reagan-in-1980 comeback:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/08/sarah-palin200908
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31726640/ns/politics-more_politics/
http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/politics/2009/07/03/palin_resigns/?source=newsletter
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-03/did-a-scandal-sink-the-uss-palin/?cid=hp:mainpromo2
http://www.slate.com/id/2222221/
http://www.slate.com/id/2222230/

Except that Palin--a dimbulb compared to Nixon or even Reagan--will have to rely almost 100% on divisiveness to make that comeback possible.

Ron Howard: despite FROST/NIXON, he tilts right.

I saw FROST/NIXON last week and pronounce it Ron Howard's WAG THE DOG--a deftly made and relative low-budget/schedule film that entertains, enlightens and provides a chance for Howard to do something with gravitas, prestige and awards-season potential between making THE DA VINCI CODE and the forthcoming ANGELS AND DEMONS.

But, to be honest, Howard (who voted for Nixon in 72 and supported Obama this year) is conservative and his earlier films show it.

Exhibit A: Witness the scenes where Kathleen Quinlan's mom had a meltdown over the teen daughter's mild liberalism in APOLLO 13.

Exhibit B: Witness the dumb subplot (that marred an otherwise good film) where Paddy Considine's workers'-rights "radical" and residents of a NYC poor-people's "Hooverville" were maligned as malcontents in CINDERELLA MAN.

Having pointed out the above, it's safe to hypothesize that the character in FROST/NIXON that Howard had the most sympathy for is Kevin Bacon's Nixon acolyte/camp follower.