Susan Sarandon vs. the Pope

The most surprising feud so far this week? Susan Sarandon versus the Pope. At the Hamptons Film Festival, the movie star mentioned that she had sent a copy of Dead Man Walking to the Pope: “The last one. Not this Nazi one we have now.” The Catholic League saw her inflammatory remark and retorted with its own personal attack, calling her a “despicable person.” The ADL piled on by saying her language was “hateful” and “vindictive.” So who’s winning the feud? Pope Benedict XVI is the real winner, writes the Atlantic Wire’s Alexander Abad-Santos, but it sort of works out for everyone. Sarandon maintains her role as a polarizing liberal activist, and the Catholic League and ADL continue, as expected, to be “trigger-happy when it comes to outrage.”