It is totally consistent with Christian Nationalism that revers the angry Old Testament god, who, although having created imperfect beings and placing them in an imperfect world, smites the fuque out of them for being "bad."
"For the folks who were in that room Tuesday, faith isn’t a bedrock ordering principle for life. Instead, it’s a sauce for the main dish of political identity."
I had in mind this explanation of what faith is, and is not, for this crowd.
Also for those folks, I offer the following from Rev. Jim Wallis: "Christianity is not a religion that gives some people a ticket to heaven and makes them judgmental of all others. Rather, it’s a call to a relationship that changes all our other relationships."
It's a terrible confusion about the definition of "power." Most of the religious see religion as a buttress to their personal identity. It can double as a weapon. When in reality, a trascendent faith eschews personal identity. (I know this is difficult, but most true things are.)
Faith's essential character is paradoxical. It is the most counter-cultural thing imaginable. It goes against the common wisdom of psychology. It is the trust that a flourishing life is found when one's primary goal is NOT to expand or embrace a personal identity. It is to let go of an identity project and in doing so, experience the expansiveness of a different type of consciousness. This is not a new idea. I didn't cook it up. It's a very front loaded Eastern idea. And it is the core understanding of what it means to lose oneself for the sake of, let's say, the kingdom of God. It's very radical because it is our nature to want to embrace and form a highly focused and distinctive identity. We assume that by being unique we will find our place. The paradox is that one will find out the meaning of life by abandoning that project.
I would love to be present when MAGA Mike meets his Maker. I'm sure God will have a few questions as to why he endorsed Trump:
"Mike, why did you support a man who took from the poor to give to the rich? Who sexually assaulted women? Who defrauded students and charity contributors and tax payers? Who underpaid workers? Who treated immigrants like animals? Who claimed to never have done anything to require him asking for forgiveness? Why, Mike? Why? This man you exalted shows none of the fruits of the Spirit, yet practices all the works of the flesh as illustrated in Galatians 5. On what moral basis could you condone such a man to lead an entire nation? Compassion and love declined while this man was in office. Hatred and divisiveness and violence grew. Can you explain how this was acceptable to you when you claim to be a follower of my Son, Jesus Christ? Was your faith that hollow? Joe Biden believed in Me, Joe Biden went to church to worship Me. Why did you always portray him as evil? It just doesn't make sense to me, Mike. Enlighten me, please ... your life may depend on it."
I am not perfect, by any means, and I know I will have things to answer for when my time comes. But I pity Mike Johnson - he's going to have a lot of explaining to do.
Is it possible that ultimate Trump boot licking Christian hypocrite MAGA Mike has a red line he won't cross for him- rich, powerful men f***ing underage girls?
Matthew 6:5-6: (5) “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. (6) But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Explain how publicizing how he and his son are no-porn buddies is consistent with that.
Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
Saying Bless You Heart is not good. It is a subtle dig. I think Justin was not being kind to Johnson, rather saying what you said, Johnson’s got no heart.
I learned about that little dig after living in Georgia. Like you mentioned, it means something else other places. I have enjoyed adopting the Southern version.
I hadn't heard the bit about the dinosaurs and the Ark. Maybe *they* ate the unicorns and that is why we don't see 🦄 anymore. (If we're doing conspiracies, I get to use emojis.) Ain't that Mike a peach.
I suspect they were rubber or plastic dinosaurs like you can buy at the toy store. Noah's grandchildren pretended to *eat* the dinosaurs. It helped to pass the time while drifting around in a wooden zoo.
Yes, did God have another German officer move Stauffenberg’s briefcase so that the explosion would not kill Hitler? And why didn’t God simply intervene before that disturbed young man shot at Trump, missing him but killing the firefighter? And why didn’t God intervene in the flooding in Texas? Surely, whatever mysterious plan that God has for humanity, it doesn’t include terrorizing and drowning young children? The Christian Right’s claims about God’s intervention in the world are always so politically self serving. As frightening as “1984” is, it is “The Handmaid’s Tale” vision of a dystopian America that scares me the most.
To a lot of Christians, God is just a genie who responds to THEIR invocation of magic words. I used to give people the benefit of the doubt. I thought that they must have a more sophisticated or nuanced belief system, but, like me, could only express things through the insufficient tools of human language. But no, people are who they seem to be. The capricious and arbitrary God they invoke is the one they believe in.
When I was a kid an evangelical lady across the street said God told her to run hot water down the drain when it was clogged with grease and lo and behold, it drained!
Praise be to God the Plumber, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!
Kurt, I agree with you. Orwell's dystopian world seemed to emerge from the world between the end of WWI and the world that evolved following the end of WWII. Atwood's dystopian world seems to have evolved from the world that existed in the '80s: Rise of oligarchs, decline of religion, the coursening of society and loss of civility. Unfortunately, her world is much closer to today's truth.
Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinkley on March 30, 1981 at the Washington, DC, Hilton, sustaining a wound in the side, a broken rib & collapsed lung (pneumothorax). He underwent emergency surgery and was released from the hospital on April 11.
Trump got his ear grazed in an assassination attempt. He has a bronze sculpture of the event with the famous raised fist, and they’re going to put a 9 foot tall bronze statue like that in his proposed statuary garden of American heroes.
Ronald Reagan didn’t return to the Hilton site to commemorate the occasion, and I don’t recall him ever mentioning it again.
There is a really funny meme with Groucho and the Society Lady. The bubble over the Society Lady reads, "I believe Donald Trump was sent by God." The one over Groucho reads, "What? Did he run out of locusts?"
That's really funny. We need more funny. These folks are deadly serious. So deadly serious, I sincerely hope they don't kill us all in their eagerness to be raptured up.
That’s easy: “God’s ways are not our ways.” The eternal evangelical get out of jail free card except all the other times when they swear to know exactly what God wants. Hint: it usually coincides with what they want.
Hitler did not kill himself in a bunker. Obviously, FDR had him taken out because Hitler would have squealed about damning evidence concerning a certain American Democrat president.
It’s a good thing Johnson only believes in biblical justice.
I’m Jewish, Johnson is definitely in way over his head. Yahweh (Sadistic God) is going to go full Old Testament on this guy. Not to mention Trump, and all of the ignorant rubes who idolized false prophets…:)
7 assassination attempts. And his true believers were absolutely convinced that Der Fuehrer's miraculous survival was proof of his divine mission. But when the Russian tanks rolled in, God hung him out to dry.
"In other words, the tape was doctored." Rosemary Woods, where were you?
The better question is when and under whose control was the tape at the time was it "doctored"? After all, Blondi's DOJ had the whole file on her desk for a while, and then they decided to release the tape as the main (read: only) evidence of suicide? Heck, I can play conspiracy theorist, too.
Another important tell is the way Bondi attempted to slip the Epstein memo in on a Friday night release. How cheesy is that? If she had done this on the up-an-up and held a legit news event regarding their findings...it would have gone better.
Me thinks that actually it was Trump who told her to try and slip the memo out there. I think he's been much more involved in her decision making on this than has been publicly reported.
If this Epstein thing has been all Bondi...then she's an idiot...from that "Epstein Phase 1" publicity stunt to a midnight memo release is a terrible look for being "transparent".
Jeff, you're right about the effort to mimic the Friday Night Massacre, hoping that the dust will have settled by Monday's new cycle. And you certainly know that she is not going to take a cr-p without touching base with the basest of them all first. This is most definitely NOT an effort that would have been undertaken by a mere underling.
Friday afternoon (especially Memorial Day through Labor Day) or holiday weekend release of bad news is taught in Introduction to Public Relations course I attended as undergrad.
Any news organization looing to amplify the Epstein stuff should have Julie Brown on speed dial. As the reporter that originally broke the story, stuck with it for years, and finally got people interested, her depth of the details and the questions that are still unanswered is better than anyone else.
I don't think the MAGA cult members are going to ever be convinced of Trump's complicity in the horror, but the girls that were abused deserve justice. If revealing the identity of ALL the people involved in the depravity ruins their "reputations", I think the trade off is worth it.
Julie Brown is very good and totally victim centered. She is about the only media person who even mentions the victims in more than passing.
Michael Wolfe has released portions of his Epstein interview tapes where Epstein talks about his relationship with Trump. Not a good look for Trump. Epstein relates a tale he alleges Trump told him about a sexual encounter Trump had in Bergdorf Goodman. Trump and Epstein were best friends in the 90's. The thing about these stories is Epstein had his own axe to grind with Trump, so who knows how much is valid.
Me, too. Exposing identities is part of that justice. Pedophiles are revealed all the time so wealthy people who are pedophiles should be revealed, too.
Give it two weeks and we’ll see if Trump can wish this story away. I’m feeling JVL-ish today, I guess. I suspect this being the largest of Trump scandals means it goes away in 2 weeks rather than 48 hours.
3+ times a week, Trump does something that alone would sink any other presidency. Trump will distract us from Epstein—it’s just that this scandal is a little more fun for the unserious American people. But Trump does play by different rules. No rules, really. Ever since he came down the golden escalator, the #1 rule in American politics is: Trump always wins. Even when you think he’s lost, he wins.
Sure hope I’m gonna prove wrong. I need more caffeine.
While I have always subscribed to the "What idiotic thing can I say or do today to distract the libs and make them forget about yesterday's nonsense while chasing today's shiny object" theory of the Felon's go-to-tactic, this is one we can not let go. We Shall Override should be our motto this time around.
I have a quick sort of sheepish response to Egger's post (which is very good!). The non-sheepish part is that there's actually a much older history to the weird not-really-religious-but-kind-of-and-also-it's-happening-in-a-secular-context dynamic he's describing, it traces all the way back to the Cold War with various business-types secretly bankrolling people like Billy Graham (in the YouTube with Sam Stein Egger says something like, Billy G wouldn't have liked this, but actually, Billy G had been doing something very similar!). The sheepish part of the comment is that I know this because I wrote a whole book about it (an actual legit/academic book) (I'm an academic) called The Shadow Gospel which accounts for the history --again, all the way back to the Cold War-- of literally everything Egger is writing about, including the framing of Dems as demons (also in the YouTube the guys were a bit puzzled by Trump calling democrats evil but that is just liberal devil stuff that has been happening for decades and decades). The basic argument of the book is that the driver of a LOT of the religious right isn't love of God, it's hatred of the liberal devil ----something that drove a wedge within Christianity (between what we call theological and demonological elements) decades ago, the weird shadowy energies of which Trump has harnessed. Basically, what Trump is doing is a particular sort of shadow Christianity that might say the word God but it's talking about something else entirely (liberal/leftist evil). Just if anyone is interested! Sorry to self-promote!
This is a great point. It's funny--even as I said "Billy Graham" on the video the other day I was sort of wincing, because I don't know all that much about him specifically and wished I'd thought of a better example off the top of my head. My point was just to say that there's a major difference between a religious political power base that's centered on actual faith leaders and one that's centered on business people who consider themselves believers but are mostly just political hangers-on. Anyway, how do I find your book!!
Ah so nice to hear from you Andrew! Thanks for your response. I am a regular listener/reader and was jumping up and down wanting to join the conversation (The Bulwark has been my go-to place for sanity and perspective for ages and since January as I've been working on this follow-up book it's been an absolute lifeline). Billy Graham is such a slippery figure...one of the fascinating things about him (besides how much he railed against the liberal/communist devil in the 1950s) is that he actually started out as a pretty fringe figure, but through some amazing comms by the New Evangelicals --and their unbelievably aggressive campaign to paint Mainline Protestants as, you guessed it, the liberal devil (although "liberal" meant something different at the time, it was more aligned with the social gospel which the Evangelicals used to "prove" that Mainline churches were full of Communists)-- they, the Evangelicals, were able to self-mainstream, bringing their narrative about the liberal (Communist) devil with them! The history is totally bonkers and it draws in all kinds of weird overlaps between secular and religious elements, including huge injections of (under the radar) cash from these oil tycoons and other business-types (who were also funding organizations like the John Birch Society plus more respectable publications like the National Review and a host of other rightwing media, helping to further crystalize the figure of the liberal/leftist devil through incessant multi-channel repetition). At the time Billy Graham was like, er, thanks for all your money, Texas Oil Tycoons, but let's keep this between us because I don't want people to think I/the Evangelical movement as a whole is a corporate product, which it kind of was. Really wild stuff. But I'd be happy to send you a PDF of the book, just send something to my university email (wphilli2 [at] uoregon [dot] edu) and I'll zip it over! Thanks again for your comment!! And for all the work you and the team is doing.
When I started posting on Fox News after Trump won his first election...one of the first things I picked up from those posting was the absolutely blistering hatred they had of Hilary, Obama and Susan Rice. It wasn't just a "don't like their politics" thing...it was a deep-seeded hatred of the evil these demons brought upon our country. I might be exaggerating a little on that last statement, but the fact that I sensed the hatred being deeper than just differing political views isn't. It was palpable and notable to me back then so that's why I'm posting about it today. You're right...this has been building for decades...not just in the Trump era. I think that Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gringrich were key components that made it mainstream and Trump was the accelerant that made it take off like a rocket ship.
Look no further than the stories from last week describing how many Texan's wanted to decline Federal funds for the creation of an emergency alert system for major storms and flooding.
They called it "Biden Money" and it was therefore evil.
The money was finally accepted, but they used it for other things.
Yeah in the Shadow Gospel book we spend a LOT of time talking about the various precursors to all of this...in the 90s you see an interesting shift from Evangelicalism being the hub of a lot of the liberal/leftist/Dem devil talk (and it was very very literal in those networks, with all kinds of overlap with talk of the actual apocalypse) to what we call the Church of Fox News, where the evil liberal becomes a good television character. It's all so enormously strange but does account for the fervor you see that goes so far beyond disagreement over policy! We talk about it as quasi-religion, but it's not God that's at the center of the discourse...
I bought and read y'all's book, and it was great! Thank you for writing it; it's really colored my thinking on how evangelical Republicans view Democrats after decades of their demonization in rightwing circles. It's pretty bleak as far as the prospects of Democrats ever winning over people like that, but your book offered me a lot of insight as to why it's so bleak.
Oh that's really cool! Thanks Don. We're actually in the (rather frenzied) process of finalizing and submitting the manuscript of the follow up book, which focuses on the broadening popularity of demonology (talk about bleak) during the first 6 months of Trump 2.0. It's much more focused on the underlying myth/legend/storytelling element (the chapters are titled: Myth, Legend, Ritual, Exorcism, Combat, Hell), with history still (the first two chapters compares MAGA storytelling to stories told by the First and Second Klans), but a lot more contemporary analysis, including a ton of rhetorical analysis of things like the Hegseth hearings and Bukele/Zelenskyy WH meetings and various Trump speeches etc. Initially when we were planning the SG book we expected it would mostly focus on the Trump Era; we figured we'd write a chapter or two about the history, then pivot into the present moment. But by the time we got to chapter 5 and realized um we're still in the 1990s, we had to reassess: our one book was going to be two books. Needless to say, it's been terrible to write!
I bet the sequel has been Hell to write. It's all very depressing stuff, and being contemporary rather than historical probably makes it even harder to get through. I'll beer you both strength to get through to the finish line, because I know how depressing it must get.
The new book sounds fascinating though, and I'll keep an eye out for it, and make sure not to read near any upper story windows. Judging from the chapter titles, assuming they're in order, things just get worse and worse by the end of the book. The rhetoric you see from these people is so over the top and disgusting, but man a lot of people are convinced by it. And with the modern media environment, where things get wings online, and people live in these bespoke little realities rather than actual reality, and with AI propaganda popping up and seeping in, more trouble is ahead. Much more trouble.
Oh, and maybe when y'all are a little less busy Tim should have you as guests for the pod.
It really has been such a strange process to work on this follow up book. Luckily (luckily?) I have some experience with the pace and overwhelm and also the existential panic that goes into writing an academic study of hellscapes--- my PhD dissertation in 2012 (which was the basis of my first book in 2015) was on trolling on 4chan, which of course quickly moved into the political/Trumpy realm, and since then the MAGA-trolling cusp has been my primary research focus. So I kind of knew what to expect when we dove into the project in January, but it was still completely gutting, a different level of gutting than anything I'd experienced until then. It did help me process things, at least. But there was never an escape from the granularity of what was happening.
As for the media side of things, the book talks a lot about the trolling element and the ways that the information environment created permission and incentive --really, selected-- for Trump and everything we're seeing now. So the conversations are huge and unwieldy and there are so many reasons beyond Trump that we have Trump. Which is why the only reasonable expectation for the foreseeable future is indeed trouble and much more trouble. All the more reason to try to make sense of it all, I think...anyway thanks again for reading the book and kind words, I hope you're finding a healthy balance in all of this! (i.e. appropriate worry and also still living life).
I’m not by nature a conspiracy theorist, but the Epstein case certainly makes me one.
The Trump administration’s complete cover up of it while treating their base like they think they are stupid has me reaching for the tin foil to make a hat.
We should not less this go until we get real answers about whether they were lying then or they are lying now. It cannot be both.
I have no idea how well vetted this specific video is, but personally I don't find the facts of it difficult to believe. Trump was never a great seducer of women, just like he was never a master of the universe billionaire businessman. It was all facade based on cheap tricks.
That was such a weird comment. There was a big pause before the word "life." I don't know what other word(s) he was searching for and decided on that one.
“There is no doubt that he was miraculously saved by God in order to lead our great nation again.”
I dunno Speaker Johnson, you've got your perspective, and I've got mine. God maybe could have pulled that one off without taking a father from his kids. For me, I'm more inclined to see Trump's old friend Satan's handiwork at play in Butler, PA.
I confess to having become a trifle sick of repeating the core truth about the Epstein list.
It is, I repeat, inconceivable that the list does not exist. Follow my logic, please, while of course I defer to The Bulwark's wisdom and inside understanding.
It is impossible, simply illogical, beyond belief, that Epstein's criminal enterprise of sexual predation could have been run from mental notes. The list contains the names and access data on Epstein's 'clients,' stating their 'interests' for Maxwell's 'procurement.' It also contains all the Maxwell data, to offer to 'clients' with such proclivities. No enterprise of any size or complexity can operate without these data. Epstein's professional and predatory lives were a complex maze that had to be recorded, in detail. Once again, I rest my case.
Once more, to the point of reader boredom, Epstein died (murder, suicide) because he was a grave threat to the reputations of many elites. At any rate, he knew he faced a miserable future life, in court or in jail.
PS In response to a phone call from a friend about anyone's right to personal 'diversions,' there is an infinitely huge, yawning chasm between consensual adult play, and predation on minors.
"But Johnson said yesterday that he is dissatisfied with what the administration has done, and wants it “to put everything out there.”
Then why exactly did he lead his caucus in voting against the release?
" Mike Johnson. He’s a Trump loyalist who said just this week of President Trump that “There is no doubt that he was miraculously saved by God in order to lead our great nation again.”
You real sure it was God that saved him? Maybe you need to read Revelations again, or at lest read Cree Hardegree
The one thing the Trump administration excels at is stepping on rakes. This doctored tape thing is a perfect example. Keep on trucking on with the first thought that comes to mind for your coverup. Don't look down for the consequence that might be hidden in the grass. Same thing with Signal gate. Don't check your text group for the reporter hidden in the names.l
If I were a conspiracy psychologist I might be tempted to say these folks can't stop themselves from failing. They don't have the self insight to step back, self check, and change course. A fatal flaw for sure in Trump, but he's hardly the only one.
Only if they are painted bright orange. Trump stepped on another one by ordering the incineration of tons of food meant for starving kids in Africa. Rather than distribute the food before it's expiration date, he decided to save American's some tax dollars. It could have been distributed for the cost of one of his golf trips to Bedminster.
“Now President Trump is claiming that the Epstein case files “were made up by” James Comey, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. These are the same files that were supposedly meticulously reviewed this year by his own Justice Department and FBI, and whose authenticity they found no reason to question.”
Seriously, why are we even entertaining these ridiculous allegations? We all know it’s BS, and not even worth our time.
Bottom line: Trump and Epstein were best friends, they are fellow “pedo” travelers and the quintessential SOUL mates for morally bankrupt and despicable human beings.
Let’s face it, Trump was credibly accused of rape by 16 woman and at least one of them was a minor: 13 year old. And if the accusations aren’t enough, then just consider Trump’s own actions.
Access Hollywood Tape
E Jean Carol
USA Teen Pageant (walking in on teenagers nude).
Appointing Acosta as Labor Secretary
Attracted to his own 15 year old daughter, who he wanted to date.
Epstein claimed they were best friends for 10 years.
Trump is was on his plane multiple times
Videos showing the two having a ball and discussing women’s looks.
Are these the actions of an innocent man who hardly knew Jeffery Epstein? Here is just one case of the 16 lawsuits against Trump for sexual assault:
"Jane Doe" aka "Katie Johnson" – 1994. Lawsuit filed June 2016, refiled October 2016 as reported by Buzzfeed and others, then dropped in November 2016.
Jane Doe is an unnamed plaintiff, who has also gone by "Katie Johnson" in legal papers. She claims she was repeatedly raped by Trump and Jeffery Epstein at Epstein's New York City apartment in 1994, when she was 13 years old. A witness, also given a pseudonym — "Tiffany Doe" — said she recruited "Jane Doe" and others. Doe, using the name "Johnson," gave an interview to the Daily Mail in which she said she did not know who Trump was at the time of the alleged attack but identified him later when she saw him on television. It is not known why she withdrew the lawsuit. She has not spoken publicly or withdrawn her rape allegation since then.”
I've been debating going on FB and posting something very similar to your post...which is excellent btw. I just want to violently shake my MAGA friends and scream at them "A normal and sane person doesn't make shix up like trying to blame Comey, Obama and Biden!" Followed by saying...."And the reason he does it is because you have been buying it for the past decade!"
It's just not that hard to figure out he's a con artist, but they simply do NOT want to believe it. They are literally choosing to believe something that their common sense is telling them not to. They are living examples of cognitive dissonance.
Thank you...I feel much better now...after my rant.
Thank you Jeff, and it wasn’t a rant; I hear you loud and clear.
We have been living through this BS for at least a decade, but if you’re from NY like me, then it’s been an eternity. Trump is the quintessential salesman; he could sell snow to an Eskimo; however, it doesn’t make him legitimate or credible.
And it’s not like we don’t have substantial evidence on our side proving what a morally bankrupt charlatan this man truly is. Therefore, I just don’t get it.
I’m just wondering why the Bulwark even bothers with this nonsense. It’s bad enough the MSM analyzes this nonsense as nauseam, which is why I don’t even bother watching cable or the mainstream news networks.
As to why these people still refuse to admit they voted for a conman? As Mark Twain famously said, “it’s easier to fool a man, than to convince him he’s ever been fooled!”..:)
One can only imagine what historians will make of this madness some day. I'm trying my best to document my opposition and dismay at what 1/2 our country says, thinks and believes...so my ancestors don't think I was buying it.
Historians in the distant future are going to dig up Heather Cox-Richardson's letters and wonder what the fork was wrong with people and this timeframe will become a semester class in history
There is no doubt that he was miraculously saved by God in order to lead our great nation again.”
Waiting for the Mike Johnson theological/historical take on the Adolf Hitler survival of an assassination attempt.
Waiting for MAGA Mike to explain how taking from the poor and giving to the rich is consistent with his Christian beliefs.
Christian beliefs? You mean his performance as a Christian, don't you? And a poor performance it is.
It is totally consistent with Christian Nationalism that revers the angry Old Testament god, who, although having created imperfect beings and placing them in an imperfect world, smites the fuque out of them for being "bad."
Fuque that pussified "Woke Jesus" philosophy.
See Andrew's great piece.
Well said!
???
"For the folks who were in that room Tuesday, faith isn’t a bedrock ordering principle for life. Instead, it’s a sauce for the main dish of political identity."
I had in mind this explanation of what faith is, and is not, for this crowd.
Also for those folks, I offer the following from Rev. Jim Wallis: "Christianity is not a religion that gives some people a ticket to heaven and makes them judgmental of all others. Rather, it’s a call to a relationship that changes all our other relationships."
It's a terrible confusion about the definition of "power." Most of the religious see religion as a buttress to their personal identity. It can double as a weapon. When in reality, a trascendent faith eschews personal identity. (I know this is difficult, but most true things are.)
Faith's essential character is paradoxical. It is the most counter-cultural thing imaginable. It goes against the common wisdom of psychology. It is the trust that a flourishing life is found when one's primary goal is NOT to expand or embrace a personal identity. It is to let go of an identity project and in doing so, experience the expansiveness of a different type of consciousness. This is not a new idea. I didn't cook it up. It's a very front loaded Eastern idea. And it is the core understanding of what it means to lose oneself for the sake of, let's say, the kingdom of God. It's very radical because it is our nature to want to embrace and form a highly focused and distinctive identity. We assume that by being unique we will find our place. The paradox is that one will find out the meaning of life by abandoning that project.
I would love to be present when MAGA Mike meets his Maker. I'm sure God will have a few questions as to why he endorsed Trump:
"Mike, why did you support a man who took from the poor to give to the rich? Who sexually assaulted women? Who defrauded students and charity contributors and tax payers? Who underpaid workers? Who treated immigrants like animals? Who claimed to never have done anything to require him asking for forgiveness? Why, Mike? Why? This man you exalted shows none of the fruits of the Spirit, yet practices all the works of the flesh as illustrated in Galatians 5. On what moral basis could you condone such a man to lead an entire nation? Compassion and love declined while this man was in office. Hatred and divisiveness and violence grew. Can you explain how this was acceptable to you when you claim to be a follower of my Son, Jesus Christ? Was your faith that hollow? Joe Biden believed in Me, Joe Biden went to church to worship Me. Why did you always portray him as evil? It just doesn't make sense to me, Mike. Enlighten me, please ... your life may depend on it."
I am not perfect, by any means, and I know I will have things to answer for when my time comes. But I pity Mike Johnson - he's going to have a lot of explaining to do.
Another chance for me to say, "Don't hold your breath".
I have come to believe that this is a war on the poor.
You're correct.
60 years ago it was the war on poverty, now the Christian Nationalists want to wage a war on the poor.
Yeah, like he really has any.
Is it possible that ultimate Trump boot licking Christian hypocrite MAGA Mike has a red line he won't cross for him- rich, powerful men f***ing underage girls?
Is he Christian or a Prosperity Gospel adherent?
Matthew 6:5-6: (5) “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. (6) But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Explain how publicizing how he and his son are no-porn buddies is consistent with that.
Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
The man thinks dinosaurs were on Noah's ark. He's clearly touched in the head. Bless his heart.
Save your blessings: From what I can see, read, and hear, he ain't got one.
Bless your heart. The expression means the opposite in the south. FYI.
???😳
Saying Bless You Heart is not good. It is a subtle dig. I think Justin was not being kind to Johnson, rather saying what you said, Johnson’s got no heart.
OK, thanks for the ins and outs of Southern cynicism.🥂
I learned about that little dig after living in Georgia. Like you mentioned, it means something else other places. I have enjoyed adopting the Southern version.
You mean that it is meant, gasp, sarcastically???
Yep!
I hadn't heard the bit about the dinosaurs and the Ark. Maybe *they* ate the unicorns and that is why we don't see 🦄 anymore. (If we're doing conspiracies, I get to use emojis.) Ain't that Mike a peach.
Google "Ken Ham" for more young-earth creationism alternative facts. Or maybe don't - lol.
I suspect they were rubber or plastic dinosaurs like you can buy at the toy store. Noah's grandchildren pretended to *eat* the dinosaurs. It helped to pass the time while drifting around in a wooden zoo.
Chris Smither got it right - and set it to music:
https://youtu.be/JVbj0Wcb5go?si=I9l3Tt4Wdb7N4nn7
Yes, did God have another German officer move Stauffenberg’s briefcase so that the explosion would not kill Hitler? And why didn’t God simply intervene before that disturbed young man shot at Trump, missing him but killing the firefighter? And why didn’t God intervene in the flooding in Texas? Surely, whatever mysterious plan that God has for humanity, it doesn’t include terrorizing and drowning young children? The Christian Right’s claims about God’s intervention in the world are always so politically self serving. As frightening as “1984” is, it is “The Handmaid’s Tale” vision of a dystopian America that scares me the most.
God sent Trump a warning shot but he ignored it.
That's what occurred to me. God was trying to get Trump's ear, so to speak, as a warning to repent before it's too late.
Good pun.
And perhaps God tried warning Trump about climate change with, not just a burning bush, but whole states burning.
Trump doesn't hear, see, feel, taste, or smell anyone but himself, whom he believes is God.
"God was trying to get Trump's ear..." Funny! (Not that violence is okay.)
That is a satisfying perspective.
Now I like that. Good one.
To a lot of Christians, God is just a genie who responds to THEIR invocation of magic words. I used to give people the benefit of the doubt. I thought that they must have a more sophisticated or nuanced belief system, but, like me, could only express things through the insufficient tools of human language. But no, people are who they seem to be. The capricious and arbitrary God they invoke is the one they believe in.
When I was a kid an evangelical lady across the street said God told her to run hot water down the drain when it was clogged with grease and lo and behold, it drained!
Praise be to God the Plumber, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!
"Jesus in the sky with diamonds": the motto of Prosperity Theology
The late Prosperity Gospel preacher Norman Vincent Peale has a lot to answer for.
Kurt, I agree with you. Orwell's dystopian world seemed to emerge from the world between the end of WWI and the world that evolved following the end of WWII. Atwood's dystopian world seems to have evolved from the world that existed in the '80s: Rise of oligarchs, decline of religion, the coursening of society and loss of civility. Unfortunately, her world is much closer to today's truth.
Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinkley on March 30, 1981 at the Washington, DC, Hilton, sustaining a wound in the side, a broken rib & collapsed lung (pneumothorax). He underwent emergency surgery and was released from the hospital on April 11.
Trump got his ear grazed in an assassination attempt. He has a bronze sculpture of the event with the famous raised fist, and they’re going to put a 9 foot tall bronze statue like that in his proposed statuary garden of American heroes.
Ronald Reagan didn’t return to the Hilton site to commemorate the occasion, and I don’t recall him ever mentioning it again.
I thought God liked modesty.
May those raised-fist bronze statues of Trump eventually suffer the same fate as the public statues of Confederate VIPs in Virginia.
Johnson was talking real fast, like a kid explaining how the dog ate his homework.
There is a really funny meme with Groucho and the Society Lady. The bubble over the Society Lady reads, "I believe Donald Trump was sent by God." The one over Groucho reads, "What? Did he run out of locusts?"
For me, Donald Trump brings to mind the Plague of the Boils more than the Plague of the Locusts.
That's terrific! Groucho (or George S. Kaufman) would have written exactly that!
I wish George S Kaufman was around today, so he could shout of his priceless insults at Trump: "Donald, do you have any unexpressed thoughts?"
That's really funny. We need more funny. These folks are deadly serious. So deadly serious, I sincerely hope they don't kill us all in their eagerness to be raptured up.
It was a flash on Instagram, and when I saw it, I could just hear his voice. It's one of the few memes I wish I'd been fast enough to save.
!!!
That’s easy: “God’s ways are not our ways.” The eternal evangelical get out of jail free card except all the other times when they swear to know exactly what God wants. Hint: it usually coincides with what they want.
Hitler did not kill himself in a bunker. Obviously, FDR had him taken out because Hitler would have squealed about damning evidence concerning a certain American Democrat president.
It’s a good thing Johnson only believes in biblical justice.
I’m Jewish, Johnson is definitely in way over his head. Yahweh (Sadistic God) is going to go full Old Testament on this guy. Not to mention Trump, and all of the ignorant rubes who idolized false prophets…:)
Hitler himself thought god had saved him and it justified his divine mission.
7 assassination attempts. And his true believers were absolutely convinced that Der Fuehrer's miraculous survival was proof of his divine mission. But when the Russian tanks rolled in, God hung him out to dry.
Yes. I guess God decided Stalin was more to His liking, after all.
I wonder what God is going to decide about Trump's connection to the Epstein files.
Up is now down, and the reverse.
I am pretty sure that Hitler survived nine assassination attempts.
You heard it.
"In other words, the tape was doctored." Rosemary Woods, where were you?
The better question is when and under whose control was the tape at the time was it "doctored"? After all, Blondi's DOJ had the whole file on her desk for a while, and then they decided to release the tape as the main (read: only) evidence of suicide? Heck, I can play conspiracy theorist, too.
Be careful! You might have too much fun and forget how to stop! Many such cases!
😉 Got it.🥂
When someone hands you a tape emphasizing that it is "raw" footage, and it's missing parts, alarm bells ring.
There would be no conspiracy theorists were it not true that we humans are conspiring creatures. It comes along with the gift of foresight.
Another important tell is the way Bondi attempted to slip the Epstein memo in on a Friday night release. How cheesy is that? If she had done this on the up-an-up and held a legit news event regarding their findings...it would have gone better.
Me thinks that actually it was Trump who told her to try and slip the memo out there. I think he's been much more involved in her decision making on this than has been publicly reported.
If this Epstein thing has been all Bondi...then she's an idiot...from that "Epstein Phase 1" publicity stunt to a midnight memo release is a terrible look for being "transparent".
Jeff, you're right about the effort to mimic the Friday Night Massacre, hoping that the dust will have settled by Monday's new cycle. And you certainly know that she is not going to take a cr-p without touching base with the basest of them all first. This is most definitely NOT an effort that would have been undertaken by a mere underling.
Friday afternoon (especially Memorial Day through Labor Day) or holiday weekend release of bad news is taught in Introduction to Public Relations course I attended as undergrad.
Any news organization looing to amplify the Epstein stuff should have Julie Brown on speed dial. As the reporter that originally broke the story, stuck with it for years, and finally got people interested, her depth of the details and the questions that are still unanswered is better than anyone else.
I don't think the MAGA cult members are going to ever be convinced of Trump's complicity in the horror, but the girls that were abused deserve justice. If revealing the identity of ALL the people involved in the depravity ruins their "reputations", I think the trade off is worth it.
You're absolutely right to praise Julie's work--Tim had a video last night summarizing a bunch of her Epstein reporting, if anybody's interested.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about-ae9
Tim's video helped me with the details. I also re-listened to his interview with her and there was a lot of ground covered.
Julie Brown is very good and totally victim centered. She is about the only media person who even mentions the victims in more than passing.
Michael Wolfe has released portions of his Epstein interview tapes where Epstein talks about his relationship with Trump. Not a good look for Trump. Epstein relates a tale he alleges Trump told him about a sexual encounter Trump had in Bergdorf Goodman. Trump and Epstein were best friends in the 90's. The thing about these stories is Epstein had his own axe to grind with Trump, so who knows how much is valid.
Me, too. Exposing identities is part of that justice. Pedophiles are revealed all the time so wealthy people who are pedophiles should be revealed, too.
"vaguely Jesus-scented wealth creation"... Andrew always has such great turns of phrase. :)
Came to the comments to call out this line specifically. So good. Andrew never misses!
I also came to note this - what a perfect turn of phrase.
Give it two weeks and we’ll see if Trump can wish this story away. I’m feeling JVL-ish today, I guess. I suspect this being the largest of Trump scandals means it goes away in 2 weeks rather than 48 hours.
3+ times a week, Trump does something that alone would sink any other presidency. Trump will distract us from Epstein—it’s just that this scandal is a little more fun for the unserious American people. But Trump does play by different rules. No rules, really. Ever since he came down the golden escalator, the #1 rule in American politics is: Trump always wins. Even when you think he’s lost, he wins.
Sure hope I’m gonna prove wrong. I need more caffeine.
If it doesn't go away, look for the redacted version from DOJ that like the altered video will be touted as only the "credible" information.
While I have always subscribed to the "What idiotic thing can I say or do today to distract the libs and make them forget about yesterday's nonsense while chasing today's shiny object" theory of the Felon's go-to-tactic, this is one we can not let go. We Shall Override should be our motto this time around.
I have a quick sort of sheepish response to Egger's post (which is very good!). The non-sheepish part is that there's actually a much older history to the weird not-really-religious-but-kind-of-and-also-it's-happening-in-a-secular-context dynamic he's describing, it traces all the way back to the Cold War with various business-types secretly bankrolling people like Billy Graham (in the YouTube with Sam Stein Egger says something like, Billy G wouldn't have liked this, but actually, Billy G had been doing something very similar!). The sheepish part of the comment is that I know this because I wrote a whole book about it (an actual legit/academic book) (I'm an academic) called The Shadow Gospel which accounts for the history --again, all the way back to the Cold War-- of literally everything Egger is writing about, including the framing of Dems as demons (also in the YouTube the guys were a bit puzzled by Trump calling democrats evil but that is just liberal devil stuff that has been happening for decades and decades). The basic argument of the book is that the driver of a LOT of the religious right isn't love of God, it's hatred of the liberal devil ----something that drove a wedge within Christianity (between what we call theological and demonological elements) decades ago, the weird shadowy energies of which Trump has harnessed. Basically, what Trump is doing is a particular sort of shadow Christianity that might say the word God but it's talking about something else entirely (liberal/leftist evil). Just if anyone is interested! Sorry to self-promote!
This is a great point. It's funny--even as I said "Billy Graham" on the video the other day I was sort of wincing, because I don't know all that much about him specifically and wished I'd thought of a better example off the top of my head. My point was just to say that there's a major difference between a religious political power base that's centered on actual faith leaders and one that's centered on business people who consider themselves believers but are mostly just political hangers-on. Anyway, how do I find your book!!
Ah so nice to hear from you Andrew! Thanks for your response. I am a regular listener/reader and was jumping up and down wanting to join the conversation (The Bulwark has been my go-to place for sanity and perspective for ages and since January as I've been working on this follow-up book it's been an absolute lifeline). Billy Graham is such a slippery figure...one of the fascinating things about him (besides how much he railed against the liberal/communist devil in the 1950s) is that he actually started out as a pretty fringe figure, but through some amazing comms by the New Evangelicals --and their unbelievably aggressive campaign to paint Mainline Protestants as, you guessed it, the liberal devil (although "liberal" meant something different at the time, it was more aligned with the social gospel which the Evangelicals used to "prove" that Mainline churches were full of Communists)-- they, the Evangelicals, were able to self-mainstream, bringing their narrative about the liberal (Communist) devil with them! The history is totally bonkers and it draws in all kinds of weird overlaps between secular and religious elements, including huge injections of (under the radar) cash from these oil tycoons and other business-types (who were also funding organizations like the John Birch Society plus more respectable publications like the National Review and a host of other rightwing media, helping to further crystalize the figure of the liberal/leftist devil through incessant multi-channel repetition). At the time Billy Graham was like, er, thanks for all your money, Texas Oil Tycoons, but let's keep this between us because I don't want people to think I/the Evangelical movement as a whole is a corporate product, which it kind of was. Really wild stuff. But I'd be happy to send you a PDF of the book, just send something to my university email (wphilli2 [at] uoregon [dot] edu) and I'll zip it over! Thanks again for your comment!! And for all the work you and the team is doing.
When I started posting on Fox News after Trump won his first election...one of the first things I picked up from those posting was the absolutely blistering hatred they had of Hilary, Obama and Susan Rice. It wasn't just a "don't like their politics" thing...it was a deep-seeded hatred of the evil these demons brought upon our country. I might be exaggerating a little on that last statement, but the fact that I sensed the hatred being deeper than just differing political views isn't. It was palpable and notable to me back then so that's why I'm posting about it today. You're right...this has been building for decades...not just in the Trump era. I think that Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gringrich were key components that made it mainstream and Trump was the accelerant that made it take off like a rocket ship.
"Demoncrats," and they're serious as a heart attack.
Look no further than the stories from last week describing how many Texan's wanted to decline Federal funds for the creation of an emergency alert system for major storms and flooding.
They called it "Biden Money" and it was therefore evil.
The money was finally accepted, but they used it for other things.
"stupid is as stupid does"
Yeah in the Shadow Gospel book we spend a LOT of time talking about the various precursors to all of this...in the 90s you see an interesting shift from Evangelicalism being the hub of a lot of the liberal/leftist/Dem devil talk (and it was very very literal in those networks, with all kinds of overlap with talk of the actual apocalypse) to what we call the Church of Fox News, where the evil liberal becomes a good television character. It's all so enormously strange but does account for the fervor you see that goes so far beyond disagreement over policy! We talk about it as quasi-religion, but it's not God that's at the center of the discourse...
I bought and read y'all's book, and it was great! Thank you for writing it; it's really colored my thinking on how evangelical Republicans view Democrats after decades of their demonization in rightwing circles. It's pretty bleak as far as the prospects of Democrats ever winning over people like that, but your book offered me a lot of insight as to why it's so bleak.
Oh that's really cool! Thanks Don. We're actually in the (rather frenzied) process of finalizing and submitting the manuscript of the follow up book, which focuses on the broadening popularity of demonology (talk about bleak) during the first 6 months of Trump 2.0. It's much more focused on the underlying myth/legend/storytelling element (the chapters are titled: Myth, Legend, Ritual, Exorcism, Combat, Hell), with history still (the first two chapters compares MAGA storytelling to stories told by the First and Second Klans), but a lot more contemporary analysis, including a ton of rhetorical analysis of things like the Hegseth hearings and Bukele/Zelenskyy WH meetings and various Trump speeches etc. Initially when we were planning the SG book we expected it would mostly focus on the Trump Era; we figured we'd write a chapter or two about the history, then pivot into the present moment. But by the time we got to chapter 5 and realized um we're still in the 1990s, we had to reassess: our one book was going to be two books. Needless to say, it's been terrible to write!
I bet the sequel has been Hell to write. It's all very depressing stuff, and being contemporary rather than historical probably makes it even harder to get through. I'll beer you both strength to get through to the finish line, because I know how depressing it must get.
The new book sounds fascinating though, and I'll keep an eye out for it, and make sure not to read near any upper story windows. Judging from the chapter titles, assuming they're in order, things just get worse and worse by the end of the book. The rhetoric you see from these people is so over the top and disgusting, but man a lot of people are convinced by it. And with the modern media environment, where things get wings online, and people live in these bespoke little realities rather than actual reality, and with AI propaganda popping up and seeping in, more trouble is ahead. Much more trouble.
Oh, and maybe when y'all are a little less busy Tim should have you as guests for the pod.
It really has been such a strange process to work on this follow up book. Luckily (luckily?) I have some experience with the pace and overwhelm and also the existential panic that goes into writing an academic study of hellscapes--- my PhD dissertation in 2012 (which was the basis of my first book in 2015) was on trolling on 4chan, which of course quickly moved into the political/Trumpy realm, and since then the MAGA-trolling cusp has been my primary research focus. So I kind of knew what to expect when we dove into the project in January, but it was still completely gutting, a different level of gutting than anything I'd experienced until then. It did help me process things, at least. But there was never an escape from the granularity of what was happening.
As for the media side of things, the book talks a lot about the trolling element and the ways that the information environment created permission and incentive --really, selected-- for Trump and everything we're seeing now. So the conversations are huge and unwieldy and there are so many reasons beyond Trump that we have Trump. Which is why the only reasonable expectation for the foreseeable future is indeed trouble and much more trouble. All the more reason to try to make sense of it all, I think...anyway thanks again for reading the book and kind words, I hope you're finding a healthy balance in all of this! (i.e. appropriate worry and also still living life).
That sounds like it’s going to be a fascinating book,
Thank you Linda! It's the strangest thing I've ever worked on...
The Shadow Gospel is now on my must-read list, so I'll be ready for the follow-up!
Thank you! I'd love to know what you think!
I will check this out!!
Awesome and if you do I'd love to hear your thoughts!
I’m not by nature a conspiracy theorist, but the Epstein case certainly makes me one.
The Trump administration’s complete cover up of it while treating their base like they think they are stupid has me reaching for the tin foil to make a hat.
We should not less this go until we get real answers about whether they were lying then or they are lying now. It cannot be both.
Well, there ARE two sides to every mouth😏.
Let's get this story back into the mix:
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/donald-trump-rape-lawsuit-dropped-230770
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeLoTf9QUqI
I have no idea how well vetted this specific video is, but personally I don't find the facts of it difficult to believe. Trump was never a great seducer of women, just like he was never a master of the universe billionaire businessman. It was all facade based on cheap tricks.
It was in his blood, from the early days when those were the only kind he could afford until Daddy came up with big bucks.😏
Boy, it's hard to keep up. If the Epstein files were created by Obama and Biden, why won't Trump release them ?
“He was never a big factor in terms of life.”
That was such a weird comment. There was a big pause before the word "life." I don't know what other word(s) he was searching for and decided on that one.
Am thinking it more likely that he dropped a word, that word being 'my.'
I thought that too, but if he wanted to distance himself from Epstein, it would have been appropriate to say "my life."
Yes, but it's always stream of conciousness with him, and the tell is in what he omits on the fly.
I think he was going for something like people's day to day lives, but instead he belched out a phrase that sounded like he's trying to learn English.
And it's not going all that well.
“There is no doubt that he was miraculously saved by God in order to lead our great nation again.”
I dunno Speaker Johnson, you've got your perspective, and I've got mine. God maybe could have pulled that one off without taking a father from his kids. For me, I'm more inclined to see Trump's old friend Satan's handiwork at play in Butler, PA.
I confess to having become a trifle sick of repeating the core truth about the Epstein list.
It is, I repeat, inconceivable that the list does not exist. Follow my logic, please, while of course I defer to The Bulwark's wisdom and inside understanding.
It is impossible, simply illogical, beyond belief, that Epstein's criminal enterprise of sexual predation could have been run from mental notes. The list contains the names and access data on Epstein's 'clients,' stating their 'interests' for Maxwell's 'procurement.' It also contains all the Maxwell data, to offer to 'clients' with such proclivities. No enterprise of any size or complexity can operate without these data. Epstein's professional and predatory lives were a complex maze that had to be recorded, in detail. Once again, I rest my case.
Once more, to the point of reader boredom, Epstein died (murder, suicide) because he was a grave threat to the reputations of many elites. At any rate, he knew he faced a miserable future life, in court or in jail.
PS In response to a phone call from a friend about anyone's right to personal 'diversions,' there is an infinitely huge, yawning chasm between consensual adult play, and predation on minors.
In my book, consenting adults can do whatever they want. However, preying on children is the lowest of the low.
Of course, Mike. My point, precisely.
I know, I just wanted to jump on the bandwagon! 😀
"But Johnson said yesterday that he is dissatisfied with what the administration has done, and wants it “to put everything out there.”
Then why exactly did he lead his caucus in voting against the release?
" Mike Johnson. He’s a Trump loyalist who said just this week of President Trump that “There is no doubt that he was miraculously saved by God in order to lead our great nation again.”
You real sure it was God that saved him? Maybe you need to read Revelations again, or at lest read Cree Hardegree
The Cree Hardegree article mentioned above is a really good summary of events.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-168348482
The one thing the Trump administration excels at is stepping on rakes. This doctored tape thing is a perfect example. Keep on trucking on with the first thought that comes to mind for your coverup. Don't look down for the consequence that might be hidden in the grass. Same thing with Signal gate. Don't check your text group for the reporter hidden in the names.l
If I were a conspiracy psychologist I might be tempted to say these folks can't stop themselves from failing. They don't have the self insight to step back, self check, and change course. A fatal flaw for sure in Trump, but he's hardly the only one.
We need to start a Go Fund Me for a large rake purchase and delivery to the WH.
Only if they are painted bright orange. Trump stepped on another one by ordering the incineration of tons of food meant for starving kids in Africa. Rather than distribute the food before it's expiration date, he decided to save American's some tax dollars. It could have been distributed for the cost of one of his golf trips to Bedminster.
aka hubris
Or operating from panic.
Some days I think they're just dumb, other days I think they think they are on a mission from God.
Thank you for keep this in public eye.
Let’s remember and point out the women who were trafficked, abused during Epstein’s decades of terror.
Exactly. These girls need to have their stories told and believed. They deserve justice.
"History doesn’t repeat itself. But sometimes it rhymes." ... for example, with crimes.
“Now President Trump is claiming that the Epstein case files “were made up by” James Comey, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. These are the same files that were supposedly meticulously reviewed this year by his own Justice Department and FBI, and whose authenticity they found no reason to question.”
Seriously, why are we even entertaining these ridiculous allegations? We all know it’s BS, and not even worth our time.
Bottom line: Trump and Epstein were best friends, they are fellow “pedo” travelers and the quintessential SOUL mates for morally bankrupt and despicable human beings.
Let’s face it, Trump was credibly accused of rape by 16 woman and at least one of them was a minor: 13 year old. And if the accusations aren’t enough, then just consider Trump’s own actions.
Access Hollywood Tape
E Jean Carol
USA Teen Pageant (walking in on teenagers nude).
Appointing Acosta as Labor Secretary
Attracted to his own 15 year old daughter, who he wanted to date.
Epstein claimed they were best friends for 10 years.
Trump is was on his plane multiple times
Videos showing the two having a ball and discussing women’s looks.
Are these the actions of an innocent man who hardly knew Jeffery Epstein? Here is just one case of the 16 lawsuits against Trump for sexual assault:
"Jane Doe" aka "Katie Johnson" – 1994. Lawsuit filed June 2016, refiled October 2016 as reported by Buzzfeed and others, then dropped in November 2016.
Jane Doe is an unnamed plaintiff, who has also gone by "Katie Johnson" in legal papers. She claims she was repeatedly raped by Trump and Jeffery Epstein at Epstein's New York City apartment in 1994, when she was 13 years old. A witness, also given a pseudonym — "Tiffany Doe" — said she recruited "Jane Doe" and others. Doe, using the name "Johnson," gave an interview to the Daily Mail in which she said she did not know who Trump was at the time of the alleged attack but identified him later when she saw him on television. It is not known why she withdrew the lawsuit. She has not spoken publicly or withdrawn her rape allegation since then.”
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/assault-allegations-donald-trump-recapped
I've been debating going on FB and posting something very similar to your post...which is excellent btw. I just want to violently shake my MAGA friends and scream at them "A normal and sane person doesn't make shix up like trying to blame Comey, Obama and Biden!" Followed by saying...."And the reason he does it is because you have been buying it for the past decade!"
It's just not that hard to figure out he's a con artist, but they simply do NOT want to believe it. They are literally choosing to believe something that their common sense is telling them not to. They are living examples of cognitive dissonance.
Thank you...I feel much better now...after my rant.
Yeah. Trump wants these people's votes and their investment in the side-hustle of the day. He doesn't care what they think about anything.
Thank you Jeff, and it wasn’t a rant; I hear you loud and clear.
We have been living through this BS for at least a decade, but if you’re from NY like me, then it’s been an eternity. Trump is the quintessential salesman; he could sell snow to an Eskimo; however, it doesn’t make him legitimate or credible.
And it’s not like we don’t have substantial evidence on our side proving what a morally bankrupt charlatan this man truly is. Therefore, I just don’t get it.
I’m just wondering why the Bulwark even bothers with this nonsense. It’s bad enough the MSM analyzes this nonsense as nauseam, which is why I don’t even bother watching cable or the mainstream news networks.
As to why these people still refuse to admit they voted for a conman? As Mark Twain famously said, “it’s easier to fool a man, than to convince him he’s ever been fooled!”..:)
One can only imagine what historians will make of this madness some day. I'm trying my best to document my opposition and dismay at what 1/2 our country says, thinks and believes...so my ancestors don't think I was buying it.
Historians in the distant future are going to dig up Heather Cox-Richardson's letters and wonder what the fork was wrong with people and this timeframe will become a semester class in history
Agreed…:)