From Heather Horn, a guest post at Charles Pierce's blog that pretty well captures my feelings on the new pope:

my studiously maintained suspicion has been under constant assault since his election. It was bad enough when the first photos in March showed him rejecting that ridiculous footstool and making a statement by standing on the same level as the cardinals. Then came pope-on-a-bus and what, in my losing battle to maintain disapproval, I now refer to as Marriottgate. I can't read the news these days without running into some charming quote, some optimistically open pronouncement — though rarely as liberal or as new as the papers make it sound — hinting at his sense of consistency and conscience and self-awareness.

Maybe Michael Potemra is right and this is really just some kind of conservative jujitsu.  If so, he'll have the last laugh (along with many others).  But for now, I'm content to enjoy the sense of surprise and to hope that it portends something more.