Jeff Prothro

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

If technology becomes the ultimate criterion, the human person risks being reduced to data, a cog in a machine or a commodity. If, however, technology is integrated with a wise perspective, it can become an instrument of growth, justice and fraternity. #MagnificaHumanitas

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.

[Jessica Riedl 🧀 🇺🇦 @JessicaBRiedl]

Sigh, here goes:
1) Sorry, most tariff costs ARE passed on through price hikes (see CBO, etc.).

2) Any remaining tariff costs "eaten by the business" come out of wages, job creation, and 401ks. So we pay either as consumers or workers. It's not coming out of the CEO's salary or some secret account.

3) The whole point of tariffs is to RAISE PRICES to discourage importing. So if you were right that they aren't raising import prices, wouldn't that be a case for eliminating this totally ineffective trade policy?

[Asbury UMC @VisitAsbury]

This week, we have a special video from our Director of Music, Lindsey Lang! Listen in as she tells us more about our annual Christmas Cantata, "Carols of Comfort and Joy," presented by the Asbury Chancel Choir and Worship Team this Sunday at 9 & 11 am.

https://t.co/4MSLAEXQ5l

[KSHSAA @KSHSAA]

KSHSAA 2025 Game Day Spirit Showcase -- Cheer edition

Class 5A

State Champion: St. Thomas Aquinas @STAsaints
Runner-Up: Piper @PiperPirates
Third: De Soto @DeSotoWildcats

[KSHSAA @KSHSAA]

Game Day Cheer 5A Finalists:
Piper
Shawnee Heights
Blue Valley Southwest
St. James
De Soto
St. Thomas Aquinas

[Jessica Riedl 🧀 🇺🇦 @JessicaBRiedl]

I had much to say about the recent harassment & doxing campaign against my family. I have no illusions that appealing to reason & basic humanity will matter to a mob that has exhibited neither. But I felt better putting out a response before moving on.
https://t.co/TlkJRpvK7y

[Jeff Prothro @jeff_prothro]

@IsaacDovere @Kevinliptakcnn

[melinda ribnek @MRibnek]

Trump’s “Pope image” wasn’t just trolling—though it certainly was that. It was also a display of narcissistic power. A message: I can mock your faith, and you’ll still serve me. He’s made his disdain for Christians clear over the years. He sees them as tools—for votes, for image, for loyalty. He finds them laughable, but useful. That post wasn’t made from conviction or even ideological contempt—it was made because he knew he could get away with it.

This wasn’t just about provoking liberals. It was about asserting dominance over his own supporters—especially the Catholics who populate his staff, his voter base, and much of the conservative movement. It was a calculated humiliation. He knows they won’t push back. He can post something that openly mocks the Pope, and instead of rebuke, he gets silence. That’s narcissistic control. That’s power. He’s testing how far he can go in mocking them, and they keep proving they’ll take anything.

Let’s also be honest: the same White House account has posted content far more morally grotesque. The ASMR migrant video didn’t just cross a line—it dehumanized people. It mocked the suffering of the vulnerable through dystopian theatrics—stylized, manipulative, and grotesquely disconnected from human dignity. And they did it proudly. That video, far more than a meme, should offend the conscience of every Christian. It should move us not just to critique, but to lament and protest

Of course we should point out the hypocrisy. Prominent Catholic figures—like Bishop Barron—have loudly condemned liberals for offenses a fraction, a hundredth, as serious as these. We’ve seen outrage over vague gestures or artistic missteps. But when Trump or his White House engages in direct mockery of the sacred, they go silent. And not just silence, complicity. Their outrage is selective. Their principles are conditional. Their witness crumbles in the presence of power.

But here’s the deeper truth: both of these images—the Pope and the migrants—represent the sacred. The Pope is a visible, overt sign of the sacred in our tradition. That’s why the meme was so brazen. But the migrant, the refugee, the vulnerable—they too are sacred. Perhaps not as visibly or ceremonially, but sacred in the most profound sense. We are called not just to recognize that sacredness, but to seek it out in them. And when the state mocks their suffering, it’s not just offensive—it’s sacrilegious.

I love Pope Francis. I mourn his death. I have deep reverence for the papacy and the Church. But when cruelty is aimed at the most vulnerable—when the sacred is desecrated not in symbol but in personhood—it strikes even deeper. That’s where offense becomes moral emergency. And when the loudest voices in our faith community stay silent—not just about a meme, but about the abuse of the sacred in human form—we see clearly what has been lost.

Because at the end of the day, we’re being shown something chilling: not just Trump’s cruelty, but the loyalty of those who refuse to challenge it. Even when their own faith is on the line. That’s power. That’s control. And it’s control based not just on fear, but on complicity.

This isn’t just about disrespect or trolling. It’s about power. It’s about a narcissist demonstrating he can mock both the overtly sacred and the quietly sacred—and no one close to him will dare object. That’s not strength. That’s a collapse of moral courage. And it’s not just politics—it’s spiritual failure.

[Jeff Passan @JeffPassan]

Now is as good a time as any to remind everyone that the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City (@NLBMuseumKC) exists to tell a deeply important American story -- one that is ultimately about triumph. Our history, good and bad, is all we have. Learning it is our duty.

[Jeff Prothro @jeff_prothro]

@NWSKansasCity Nooooooo!!!!

[Jeff Prothro @jeff_prothro]

@christopherrufo @elonmusk @DOGE I’m sure you’d have the same sentiment for anyone put on leave or fired because they once led or attended a small group that was labeled ‘DEI’, correct?

[Mike Beauvais @MikeBeauvais]

The NBA takes the gambling allegations against Terry Rozier very seriously.

Use code “FEDERALINVESTIGATION” for a $200 bonus on your first $5 wager with DraftKings, an official sports betting partner of the NBA.

[Jeff Prothro @jeff_prothro]

@NewsHour Hmmmm. Last time somebody refused to accept the notion ‘the office is bigger than one person.’

[The Atlantic @TheAtlantic]

Neil Young was never more paranoid or pessimistic than with 1974’s “On the Beach”—for good reason. Elizabeth Nelson looks back on the album 50 years later: https://t.co/E1nMd9ql7i

[Jeff Prothro @jeff_prothro]

@HawleyMO Due process sucks, don’t it?

[Jeff Prothro @jeff_prothro]

@jabai7617 @Rainmaker1973 I had a variation of this surgery at age 13 in 1988 and am very grateful. I honestly at this point in my life do not have any complaints though I am still hesitant to ski cuz the surgeon said that I shouldn’t ever ski following the surgery.

[Jeff Prothro @jeff_prothro]

@PaskeKSHSAA @KSHSAA @EudoraHS @CapFed I was always on it w the pop culture for Scholars Bowl!

[Jeff Prothro @jeff_prothro]

@natgrace79 Looking forward to Taylor’s Filioque diss track.