Bush in Rome

US President George W. Bush is in Rome today, after the G-8 Summit wrapping up in Germany he is embarking on a European tour. In Italy, he has met with the Pope, Benny - he likes to call him Benny, and Italian PM Romano Prodi. According to the GAM:

The highlight of Mr. Bush's day was his first-ever meeting with Pop Benedict, a fellow religious conservative, in the Vatican.

Despite the unreported typo (there are two! spot the second one) that makes the Benny sound like an Archie Comics character, this wins some kind of prize for the no-shit category. The GAM went on to report that Benny's Catholic, the Ayatollah is Muslim and Tom Cruise is an adherent of the Church of Scientology. Wonders never cease. Though putting Bush and the Pope's religious conservatism on the same level is...a little weird. I guess it comes with a cultivated image.

Nonetheless, the Leaders of the Catholic and Free Worlds (which you can imagine as a Venn diagram if it helps) got down to important business. Namely: AIDS in Africa and peace in the Middle East. If there is anything that can solve those two of the worlds problems, its two white guys talking about it in Rome. Apparently, the recent kefuffle with Vladimir Putin also came up. To which the Pope said "Stick it to the Red bastard." Also, because Europe is into that, there were riots.

And no, President Bush didn't get lost during Rome's Pride Month celebrations...those two gentlemen are part of the Pope's elite Swiss Guard. You have to be pretty elite to pull that outfit of. I wonder where they were last week...