Why Am I Not Surprised...

Former Presidents Bush and Clinton, on the viewing of the Pope. Their thoughts:

The former President Bush told reporters traveling with the delegation aboard Air Force One that the pope "was unforgettable."

He said he had met the pope for the first time when he was vice president, bringing his son, Jeb, a converted Catholic, along for the visit. Though he and the pope had disagreed sharply on the Persian Gulf War, with the pope sending him a cable opposing the invasion of Kuwait, the elder Bush said he wished he had had time to discuss with the pope the notion of a "just war" which the pope had supported.

Clinton, talking separately with reporters on the plane, said the pope had demonstrated support for NATO actions to end genocide in Bosnia and Kosovo.

He said he had met "two great popes" in his lifetime, John Paul II and John XXIII. Clinton said he recognized that John Paul "may have had a mixed legacy," but he called him a man with a great feel for human dignity.

And, Clinton said, noting the throngs the pope would consistently draw, said, "The man knows how to build a crowd."

Lemme' get this straight: Though former President Bush disagreed with John Paul II, he respected him and wanted to engage him on deeper inquiries, with something to be gained by both sides.

Clinton simply admired his apparent publicity machine. Oh, yeah, and we're supposed to infer that the Pope was a Clinton supporter (or that Clinton was correct in his handling of Bosnia) because the Pope "demonstrated support for NATO actions to end genocide in Bosnia and Kosovo." What?

Clinton then speaks in astoundingly narcissistic terms of the Pope's "mixed legacy" and that he had "a great feel for human dignity." Are you kidding me? As if the Pope was aiming toward higher poll numbers when he stood out against communism, abortion, premarital sex and divorce. And a "mixed legacy" he will not have. John Paul II will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the most influential and courageous men in the 20th century.

Clinton's rabid focus on "legacy building" is obvious. As is his opportunistic nature to take ANY media event and make it all about himself.

But this is perhaps the richest part:

Some of Congress' best known Catholics also will attend, although not as part of the official U.S. delegation. Among them are Sens. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

Kennedy and Pelosi, good Catholics? With their voting histories, political views (Terri Schiavo notwithstanding), and outright hatred of everything the Pope stood for, it's a wonder he's not spinning.