Decoffinated Pope

Things don't look good for John Paul II.

VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II (search) was rushed to a hospital in Rome late Tuesday night after suffering a "crisis of larynx spasms," the Vatican said.

Shortly after midnight, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said that because of the spasms, "it was decided to urgently hospitalize" the pope. He was taken to the hospital at 10:50 p.m.

The pope has been suffering from the flu since Sunday and apparently suffered a "breathing crisis," a Vatican official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

This guy needs to step down as Pontiff. I'm absolutely serious when I say this. He should abdicate while he can. My guess is that he's not quite "there" anymore, but even assuming perfect mental health, his physical health has so degenerated to make the Roman Catholic Church appear weak by comparison.

It will be interesting to see how the next couple of weeks go for him, but as we've seen from the last few years, he's not getting any healthier. I mean, for crying out glaven, he's using a wheeled throne like Captain Christopher Pike did on Star Trek!