April 18-20, 2008 – What an inspirational weekend we had!  We followed Pope Benedict XVI around New York City, where he hung out at the United Nations on Friday, led a mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Saturday, and thrilled tens of thousands of his faithful flock at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. 

The Pope traveled surrounded by bulletproof glass in a customized Mercedes-Benz SUV that we were not able to board.  Another popular figure who seems to inspire blind faith in his followers, Barack Obama, in contrast, allowed journalists to join him on his whistle-stop train trip through southeastern Pennsylvania on Saturday.  It appears that none of the “angry and bitter” folks came out to cheer on their political candidate along the way.  We can’t say if these Pennsylvanians were “clinging to religion”, but gosh, Obama’s supporters did seem downright zealous.