In keeping with his penchant for surprises, Pope Francis brings Cardinal Burke back to the Vatican high court. According to this Associated Press report:

Francis appointed Burke as a member of the Apostolic Signatura on Saturday. Members serve as advisers to the court, which currently is headed by a longtime Vatican diplomat, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti.

Francis removed Burke as the court's prefect in 2014 and named him envoy to the Knights of Malta lay religious order. The pope then effectively sidelined Burke from that job this year after he intervened in a condom scandal that led to a governance crisis in the order.

Burke continues to work as a canon lawyer and most recently headed the Vatican sex abuse investigation of Guam's suspended archbishop. READ SOURCE HERE

This just in from every major news agency in the country: Roy Moore, the "firebrand outsider", has defeated his rival, Mr. Strange, who was backed by Trump and the republican establishment. To highlight a few:

From the Washington Post: “Roy Moore Wins Alabama’s GOP Senate Primary… Alabama Republicans on Tuesday voted decisively to nominate Roy Moore, a former state Supreme Court judge, for a U.S. Senate seat, delivering a rebuke to President Donald Trump and the GOP establishment that supported his rival.” Finish the story HERE

From the New York Times: “In a race that began as something of a political afterthought and ended up showcasing the right's enduring divisions, the victory by Mr. Moore, one of the most tenacious figures in Alabama politics, will likely embolden other antiestablishment conservatives to challenge incumbent Republicans in next year's midterm elections.”  Read this story HERE

From Fox News: “The winner of the runoff will become the favorite in December's general election against Democrat Doug Jones, a lawyer and former U.S. attorney during President Bill Clinton's administration. Jones is perhaps best known for prosecuting Ku Klux Klansmen responsible for killing four black girls in the 1963 bombing of a Birmingham church.

The winner of that race will complete the Senate term started by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and be up for re-election in 2020.” Read it HERE

REMNANT COMMENT: It should be noted that President Trump made it very clear that he would support Judge Moore if, in fact, he won this election, and that Luther Strange (Moore's opponent) did have the endorsement of the NRA and the NRL. Both candidates--Moore and Strange--spent the past couple of months tripping over themselves trying to prove their Trump cred.

So although the Far-Left loons at CNN are trying to spin this as a defeat for Trump, it must be said that this is without question a major defeat for the Far-Left. Ever since Judge Roy Moore came into the crosshairs of the notorious Southern Poverty Law Center well over a decade ago, he's been the punching bag for the pro-gay "marriage" crowd, the anti-Constitutionalists, the pro-aborts, the Ten Commandments haters and all the rest of the Christophobic legions.

But don't take my word for it. Let's go directly to Wikipedia in order to help us fully bask in the light of this monumental defeat for the radical Left:

Moore was elected to the position of Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2001, but removed from his position in November 2003 by the Alabama Court of the Judiciary for refusing to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments commissioned by him from the Alabama Judicial Building, despite orders to do so by a federal court. Moore sought the Republican nomination for the governorship of Alabama in 2006, but lost to incumbent Bob Riley in the June primary by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. He sought the Republican nomination for the office again in 2010, but placed fourth in the Republican primary.

Moore was again elected Chief Justice in 2013, but was suspended in May 2016, for directing probate judges to continue to enforce the state's ban on same-sex marriage despite the fact that it had been overturned. Following an unsuccessful appeal, Moore resigned in April 2017, and announced that he would be running for the United States Senate seat which was vacated by Jeff Sessions, upon his confirmation as Attorney General of the United States.  He defeated incumbent senator Luther Strange in the September 26 Republican primary.

In the years preceding his first election to the state Supreme Court, Moore successfully resisted attempts to have a display of the Ten Commandments removed from the courtroom. The controversy around Moore generated national attention. Moore's supporters regard his stand as a defense of "judicial rights" and the Constitution of Alabama. Moore contended that federal judges who ruled against his actions consider "obedience of a court order superior to all other concerns, even the suppression of belief in the sovereignty of God."

After all the time and treasure the Southern Poverty Law Center spent trying to destroy this good man, it really does feel awfully nice tonight to congratulate the new senator from the great state (and home state of the SPLC) of Alabama.  Well played, Judge. Obviously, he who laughs last laughs best. So laugh it up, Your Honor. God bless you.