As I kept a relatively close eye out for the white smoke that would signal the selection of a new bishop of Rome last week, I was struck that the selection process might be a great way to get this country “off the schnide,” as they say in the sports world. That selection process is called the papal conclave and is basically a meeting of the College of Cardinals that is convened inside the Sistine Chapel for the purpose of choosing a new pope. They have been doing it that way almost 750 years, when Pope Gregory X decided it …