I read on the internet of a Steve Bannon + Raymond Burke axis. They are both patrons of the Dignitatis humanae institute, a reactionary program run by a former minion of Bannon.  I cannot figure out what the title Dignitatis humanaeinstitute could mean. Anyway, it looks like just another cell of the kind that tries to justify present-day reactionaries who have never accepted democracy by an appeal to an ideologically correct “Western Tradition” that never was.

Bannon, of course, recalls Mussolini, and Burke wants to be an anti-pope. This partnership seems likely to please many in this era of Trump. It is, in one way, a union of opposites, for Cardinal Burke is a notable clotheshorse (I’m sure his tailors’ bill would evoke a gasp) and a by-the-book ceremonialist, while Steve Bannon cultivates skid-row chic and is a leading figure of the New Rudeness. But shared resentment can easily bring opposites together.

We can get an idea of what this coupling can produce from Bannon and Burke’s willing tool, Archbishop Viganò. I have wondered of what see Viganò is the archbishop, probably somewhere in partibus infideliumwhere he can fit right in.

I wonder if these two could add to their team that leading Catholic and ubiquitous reactionary apologist Newt Gingrich. Newt simply oozes with long-standing resentment and has useful connections at the Vatican through his spouse, Callista, Trump’s ambassador to the Holy See, and to Opus deithrough Fr. John McCloskey who brought him into the Church.

What more mischief is the Bannon + Burke combination planning? One cannot know, but can probably guess that it will be hypocritical and well-supported financially.