31 October—Isn’t it strange that Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and Flávio Bolsonaro in Brazil—until Monday, thanks to Donald Trump’s enthusiastic help in skipping the country—are bitching that the recent elections didn’t go their way because of voter fraud?

It certainly sounds like Donald Trump’s influence. As Trump sees it, there are two kinds of elections: the ones he and his toadies win and the ones that are stolen by fraud. QED. Of course, Trump naturally thinks in terms of fraud because he’s such an unrepentant—and now, thanks to a wayward Supreme Court majority—apparently unpunishable grifter.

And as America’s grifter-in-chief rails about nonexistent voter fraud while his taxpayer-funded personal shyster firm, the Department of Justice, blazes new trails in illegal election interference (as well as widespread intimidation not restricted to voting), full marks go to Pope Leo for taking his American citizenship seriously and dutifully exercising his franchise. As the boys in the Vatican put it, “The Holy See Press Office confirms that in keeping with this long-standing practice of civic participation, he has submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago.”

Illinois doesn’t require party affiliation for registered voters, and Robert Prevost, alias Leo XIV, has voted in both Democrat and Republican primaries through the years, simply declaring his party preference. (We won’t get into the stupidity of effectively open primaries, which invite all manner of shenanigans that are lawful but awful.)

Of course, we don’t know whom Robert Prevost has voted for. Ever. And we won’t even speculate.

Incidentally, it was 42 years ago today that Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi—by two of her trusted Sikh bodyguards. Her son Rajiv succeeded her as PM and he too was assassinated. Given the sitting American vice president and the all the unfit links in the 25^th Amendment’s current chain of succession—i.e., everybody but everybody in Donald Trump’s corrupt cabinet—assassinating the president would simply be an exercise in futility. Still, the Secret Service . . .