On Wednesday, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn will head up to Washington, DC to check out Pope Francis, who'll be in the States for eight days or so, blessing things and telling us to feed the poor and such.
It's the pope's first visit to the U.S., which Buckhorn said in a written statement is monumental.
“This is a historic moment for the United States," Buckhorn said. "Having been born and raised Catholic, it is truly a humbling experience to join the President of the United States in welcoming Pope Francis for his first visit. His compassion for so many and inclusive and uplifting messages are truly refreshing. His presence here will leave a lasting impression on millions for years to come.”
One thing we likely won't hear praise from Buckhorn on is the Pope's last stop.
Pope Francis will have just come from Cuba, where he met with former president Fidel Castro.
Buckhorn, meanwhile, may very well be literally the only Tampa Bay area Democrat who hasn't visited the island nation as relations between the U.S. and Cuba began to warm in recent years. (Seriously, we can think of maybe one or two elected Dems that haven't.) That could be due to political calculation ahead of a possible run for governor, or maybe he's just not a ham guy.
But it's pretty unlikely the two will get to chat about that, though, or anything.
During his visit, the Pope will meet with President Obama, deliver an address to a joint session of Congress and visit Catholic Charities' headquarters before heading to New York to address the United Nations and visit the 9/11 memorial.
It'll be interesting to see what he says during his stay, and how Our Nation's big, famous, loud, rich, infantile blowhards react.
He's likely to address immigration and the environment, and, given his relatively progressive stance on those issues, even if he isn't exactly the mega-liberal some have made him out to be, his comments could draw fire from the likes of GOP lawmakers and presidential candidates.
We personally can't wait to see how Donald Trump reacts to the Pope's forthcoming comments on immigration, or what, say, Ben Carson says about the Pope's sense of urgency on climate change.
Should be a hoot.
