The Globe AND The Herald have both

fallen like a ton of bricks for the current buzzfeed about Cardinal Sean O'Malley's pontifical chances at the upcoming Conclave. It is nothing but cheap heat of the Herman Cain variety, the Cardinals for reasons of geopolitics alone would never go for an American Pope, unless their backs were up against the wall. But Morrissey Blvd and One Herald Square are naive that way and so they fall for the bait, hell I can recall Cardinal Medeiros coming in for a little of that positive buzz prior to the two Conclaves in 1978. The College of Cardinals historically eschews transparency so these sorts of stories have to be expected, the Italian Media are past masters of tossing Potential Papacies around with airy abandon, the local papers of course eat it up. I still think the fix is in, exactly who I can't say...But Pope Benedict is a consummate Vatican Insider (and a bit of a sneak) and I doubt he'd abdicate without having secured the succession in a manner that safeguards his own interests.