Branson Bound!

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Jorge Medina is a retired Roman Catholic Cardinal from Chile whose chief claim to fame until recently was that he made the official announcement of the election of Pope Benedict XVI to the world. But being retired doesn't mean that Jorge has to stop making news.

Madonna (the singer, not the mother of Jesus) is making her first concert tour of Chile, and, being Madonna, she is salaciously stirring controversy as she struts her stuff in front of whooping and hooting South American audiences. "This woman," the Cardinal is reported to have said, "comes here and in an incredibly shameless manner, she provokes a crazy enthusiasm, and enthusiasm of lust, lustful thoughts, and impure thoughts." (Sounds to me like a man who has at least one hand in his pants pocket!)

Just for the record, Cardinal Medina made those comments during his homily at a Mass in honor of Chile's late military dictator, Augusto Pinochet, who caused the deaths of over three thousand dissidents during his seventeen-year reign of terror. (Hey Jorge, what was the penance for that little atrocity?)

Also for the record, the crowds at Madonna's two Chilean concerts were huge, with some people waiting in line for up to three days for tickets.

Madonna is a now fifty-years-old, and while she still apparently has the ability to stir lustful thoughts, at least among Catholic ancients and Alex Rodriguez, I suspect that the days of her world tours are numbered. And although I've never seen her perform in person, sooner or later I will probably catch her act - in Branson!