Steve Bannon, self-styled expert on everything, tells Charlie Rose in his upcoming 60 Minutes interview that the Catholic Church only supports DACA for their own interests. CBS This Morning:
STEVE BANNON: Look what he did on DACA the other day. OK, I don't agree with that DACA decision, but I understand how he struggled with it, I understand how he's giving the possibility of a legislative thing. And he said even last night in a Tweet-- even in a Tweet, he would rethink it. Trust me, the guys in the far right, the guys on the conservative side are not happy with this.
CHARLIE ROSE: I remind you, a good Catholic, that Cardinal Dolan is opposed to what's happened with DACA. Cardinal Dolan.
STEVE BANNON: The Catholic Church has been terrible about this.
CHARLIE ROSE: OK.
STEVE BANNON: The bishops have been terrible about this. By the way, you know why? You know why? Because unable to really-- to-- to-- to come to grips with the problems in the Church, they need illegal aliens, they need illegal aliens to fill the churches. That's-- it's obvious on the face of it. That's what-- the entire Catholic Bishops condemn him.
CHARLIE ROSE: They?
STEVE BANNON: They have-- they have an economic interest. They have an economic interest in unlimited immigration, unlimited illegal immigration. And as much as--
CHARLIE ROSE: --that's a tough thing to say about your church.
STEVE BANNON: As much as I respect Cardinal Dolan and the Bishops on doctrine, this is not doctrine. This is not doctrine at all.
CHARLIE ROSE: Let me talk--
STEVE BANNON: I-- I totally respect the Pope and I totally respect the Catholic Bishops and cardinals on doctrine. This is not about doctrine. This is about the sovereignty of a nation. And in that regard, they're just another guy with an opinion.
Like most conservative Catholics, Bannon is very, very selective about what he believes. He's one of those people who elevates the punitive parts and ignores anything having to do with helping the poor and showing compassion -- unless it's someone he already cares about, like a family member.
So the very idea is foreign to him, and easily dismissed.
After all, why would any sane person have empathy for people who were brought here as children, and don't know any other home?
Nah. When it comes to matters of human decency, I'm not gonna listen to a white-supremacist alcoholic who likes to knock women around.
UPDATE: (Karoli) Cardinal Dolan has responded. He is unhappy, as one might imagine.
"That's insulting and doesn't merit a comment," Cardinal Dolan said, commenting on Bannon's nonsense.
"This is not an issue of Catholic doctrine because it comes from the Bible itself and we Catholics are people of the book...And the Bible is clear, so clear that to treat the immigrant with dignity and respect, to make sure that society is just in its treatment of the immigrant is Biblical mandate."
Indeed.
