"Instead, it makes them perversely grateful that he’s doing it so their hands can be clean."
But they aren't clean. They seem to think that voting has no moral consequence. They are wrong. If you vote for a liar, you have committed an act of falsehood. If you vote for a racist, you have committed an act of racism. If you vote for someone who promises violence, you have committed and act of violence. If you for vote for a corrupt person, you have committed an act of corruption. If you vote for an immoral person, you have committed and act of immorality. Especially if you vote for them BECAUSE they are these things.
MAGA Americans aren't really into self-awareness, especially the ones who are into performative Christianity. But the rest of us see them for who they are.
People are leaving Christianity because of the unclean hands of Christians. That and the "Punishers" eventually come for the Christians. Trump is doing it to them at the prayer breakfast: mocking his evangelical sycophants.
Uh - if they don't actually BELIEVE in God - what does it matter to them?
I think most of them are devout atheists.
The only things they worship are power and money.
Nearly every time trump back tracks its because he's cost one, or several, of the Big Guys money. He can do what he likes - but don't mess with the profits.
I think this is an under-rated comment. A lot of people are using "Christianity" as a cultural signifier, and have no deep attachment to either the theology or practice of Christianity. They like the idea of a Holy American Empire.
When public opinion is STRONG, Trump knows he has to back down. It's time to call Congress (202 224 3121) and the White House (202 456 1414) about ICE reform. The next 10 days are critical. Read about the 10 Democratic proposals to curb ICE.
They’re also willing to undermine nearly every value they say they have because of abortion. DOGE indirectly killing how many thousands of people doesn’t matter, downstream effects of cutting research doesn’t matter, maternal health doesn’t matter, etc.
If you are a Christian, you believe that God knows your heart, your intentions, and of course your deeds. I doubt many Christians who voted for Trump knowing exactly who he is will ever ask forgiveness. They should.
We went to a country music concert with a couple who had asked us to go. In the set, songs of pick up trucks and country life, the female singer delivered a long “sermon” of Jesus’ love and personal salvation… Jesus’ love washing away sins, then a religious song was covered. Evangelicals have leaned into the personal salvation part of the message and seemingly ignore the rest. If the outsiders would only seek Jesus’ love as well then things would be ok. Curiously the 4 Non Blondes song “What’s Up” (What’s going on…) was covered, the lyrics mentioning prayer sung most powerfully. They can support the immoral and illegal things the President is doing because their hands will be washed, they will be saved. If others would be “good” and “seek forgiveness” like them the President wouldn’t have to do these things, to protect their way of life.
They are using religion as a crutch so they can believe they are good people, even as they do evil things. Not just "good" people, but the very best people, the "chosen" people, god's people. The rest of us are those "other" people.
This has a very long history in America. The first ship that transported Africans to Virginia in 1619 trapped them into 12 generations of enslavement. But that doesn't mean that 12 generations of slave masters thought poorly of themselves. Quite the contrary! They developed an entire Christian theology to convince themselves that god created Black people to be the servants and slaves of white people. It's written right there in the Bible, dontcha know? The slave masters were doing god's work! Henry Louis Gates Jr. has written extensively about this in his books. Later, they used similar arguments to justify segregation. There are echoes of this tradition even today, as Republican politicians say out loud that Africans learned "useful skills" while enslaved. And the Southern Baptist Church comes right out of this theological tradition.
Gangs of armed thugs are violently abusing people on the streets of America today because tens of millions of white Christians prayed to the lord on Sunday and then voted for Donald Trump on Tuesday.
I'm not really, my parents taught me 60 years ago that wealth and power tended to be evil with an agenda of keeping people like us down and severely limiting our opportunities. I believe they were right.
Tired, yes, but still we do what we can. I signed up with Swing Left to participate in their door-to-door canvassing and then realized by bad back won't allow me to. So I'm supporting them in other ways.
And I'm not too tired to sit at my computer and share info with my fellow commenters. My brain isn't tired (yet).
Way to make me get educated so early in the day! I suspect his numbers are legion. The Knights Templar were surely up to no good. Religion starts with pure intentions but gets perverted to power in a nanosecond.
my feelings about religion are similar to sex; “Keep it to yourself and practice it in private”.
One reason why America is so complicated is that the original settlers were mostly religious fanatics, though of different sects. They left home to escape religious persecution by other religious fanatics..
Similar to when colonies are liberated from oppressors, and elect worse oppressors. Like Rhodesia>Zimbabwe. Humans seem to have an irrepressible need to dominate others. I’m still trying to figure out how to dominate a dog, so it’s probably a male trait.
Some did, in New England, Pennsylvania and Maryland; others just wanted land and $$. That would be those in New Netherland, the Tidewater, Appalachia and the Deep South that was settled by enslavers from Barbados.
See historian Colin Woodard's "American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America" - another reason we are so complicated.
My "beloved " ancestor on father's side is revered as a early settler to Virginia colony. If he was anything like my father he was most likely a drunk who was running out on family to escape going to jail.
As a Christian myself, it has always bothered me a little bit when fellow believers feel compelled to say grace at meals on public occasions, at restaurants, etc. I believe that most of them do it out of a sense of witness, or personal preference, but it always reminds me of this scripture: Matthew 6:6... "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." In reference to politics, it is even more important to include the previous verses in Matthew 6:1-5... "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 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." As an answer to Trump's personal musings about heaven, the fact that Trump likes to brag and blast his supposed good deeds all over the airwaves and Truth Social probably means that there is no heavenly reward waiting for him in the afterlife. His actions are always the opposite of what the bible teaches and it angers me that so-called Christians ignore the facts that their faith is supposed to be grounded in. None of us are saints, obviously, but they publicly undermine the very values they purport to believe in with their god-like worship of Trump.
Thank you so much. I don’t know scripture, but I know the public religious displays feel wrong. For me, Jesus is a moral compass, and it’s fairly straightforward. And personal. And preferably quiet, except for the singing, which I love.
"His actions are always the opposite of what the bible teaches" - bingo! More evidence of his morally depraved nature. He's infected by the same up-is-down philosophy of the totalitarians in Orwell's "1984": "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”
Trump reposted: "'4G wireless chips' were discovered 'embedded' in a 2020 Michigan voting machine, leading to the 'transmission of electronic data' and the manufacture of votes for Joe Biden. The video ends with a hard cut to a totally unrelated clip: two seconds of Barack and Michelle Obama’s grinning heads AI-superimposed onto the bodies of dancing apes."
Where's the outrage! Seriously, in what universe of any decency is this permissible? This manchild not only stomps on the Constitution and everything related to it, he consistently shows his blatant racism, sexism, and most other disgusting "ism" w impunity.
There's this interesting thing Supreme Court justices do: When it's an issue they oppose, they get realllll strict about Constitutionality and who is required to do what and how. (Example: undoing Biden's student loan actions) In other cases, when it's something that they support, the Constitution becomes more of a general guide that can be set aside in favor of this thing they really like. (Examples: criminal immunity for official presidential acts, letting partisan gerrymandering cover for racist disenfranchisement)
It's motivated reasoning, all the way down. If we fall for their "I'm just such a Constitutional purist!" pleading, we're being naive
Motivated reasoning. Well put. It's not considered a personality disorder, like narcissism, because it's common to most humans. Rather, it's just a flawed, psychological process.
We expect more from Supreme Court Justices. Call a spade a spade.
That is true, but Roberts knows as well as all of us do that a Republican majority and theSenate's 67 votes threshold can never be overcome in the 21st century. So yeah, he is also worthy of ire.
Yes, and when the Republicans insist they "haven't seen the video," play it right in front of them, it won't take but a few seconds, insist they watch it and then demand to know what they think of it. Have it preloaded and ready to fire. Do not let them off the hook on this. It is the most overtly racist thing I have ever seen from an elected official. My God, the fact that it was re-posted by the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES is stunningly reprehensible. Regardless of whether they can get it through the House, or not, Representatives need to start impeachment proceedings on this disgusting incident right now. Get it into the public eye so that even MAGA Fox viewers will be exposed and have no more excuses for continuing to support this evil man !!!
The WH clean-up on aisle Trump crew is saying "fake outrage," as it is part of a longer video w Trump as the Lion King. Even a 4th grader would know better than to put it out. There is no acceptable context, unless your a MAGA.
The MSM should know to take Trump seriously & literally. Chris Christie said Trump never does something by accident.
All of my grandparents came to the U.S. from Finland more than a century ago. I pretty much ignored my heritage until only a few years ago, when I started to study Finnish culture. One thing I learned is that the Finns generally consider religion to be a private matter, particularly when it comes to politics.
I seem to have absorbed that attitude by osmosis because I have always gotten nervous when Americans have interjected religion into political discourse. As a case in point, I don't think the state of Trump's soul is any of my business. What I care about are the impacts of his actions on our all-too-fragile republic. That this is being done in the name of a religion only underlines the wisdom of the founders in trying to separate church and state.
I feel very close to the same, Norwegian grand parents, and one Scotch/Irish
even my very preachy/churchy controlling one grandmother said the same
was hitting my pre-teens, spent a day playing dominos with her, she turned on that giant ( fake ) radio and billy graham went on & on, it ended, I looked up and said, I don't trust that guy. ( usually I got some type of shaming or punishment, like playing a little fun melody on piano while or during a hymn, slam on my hands
Some guy named Saul watched the coats of a gang as they killed Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and was going to get more to bring back in chains when a funny thing happened on the road to Damascus. He went on to become Apostle to the gentiles. The conversion of Donald Trump wouldn’t be easy, but it is possible, and sure would be awesome.
I think the difference will be that the Apostle Paul repented in this life - yeah it took a blinding shock to his system but he repented and did the Lord's work. Trump is not going to repent in this life and he will pay for it in the next and will receive a just judgement for his works while on the earth (per my religious upbringing).
Ideally, yeah, I'd like all of them to have profound epiphanies and become good, decent people.
But I truly believe Trump is psychologically and mentally incapable of even simple, honest introspection. I don't know that it was ever a thing he was able to do.
If he were truly incapable, that would mean he didn’t have free will, and free will is the one thing God has given every human being regardless of race, religion, or station in life.
He's not going to repent. He's got all these faux christians around him saying he's the very best thing since sliced bread. Why should he repent when they're all praying a path to Heaven for him?
I say let's deal with him now (impeachment, prison) and let God deal with him when he kicks off. When there is no justice there is no peace.
Thank you for that. I truly believe every person is deserving of forgiveness if they truly repent, even if it’s as they are standing before the locked pearly gates—if it is genuine (and Jesus will know what the heart truly holds). Your words were a salve to my aching heart.
Since when is Trump religious? Has he ever even walked into to a church to attend Mass or service, and not just to count up how much gold and marble is in tbe place?
Trump's spiritual advisor/booster Paula Michelle Furr-Knight-White-Cain is right about one thing: Trump has brought religion all over America and beyond. In the sense that most of us are praying daily for deliverance from masked, unbadged agents of the state (who can put even citizens in detention sans lawyers, and forget where the key is) and/or from the barrage of arbitrary state actions and/or the barrage of obscene memes (Karoline Leavitt: "what are you so bothered about, it's just a meme!"). In the old days, it was just math tests that would ensure prayer in schools, now we have the constant mercies of Donald Trump and his gang of criminals and sycophants and spiritual advisors to keep us on our knees.
Well, he did teargas a bunch of parishioners hanging out on the lawn of a church near the WH in his first term, so he could get a snap of himself holding a Bible upside down...
While campaigning in Iowa in the summer of 2015, he said, "When we go in church and I drink the little wine, which is about the only wine I drink, and I eat the little cracker."
Bill, thanks for continuing to beat the Epstein drum. It's maddening that the info which has come out is having serious repercussions in the UK, but zilch here.
The seeming majority of Christians (or at least the loud and politically powerful groups of 'em) embracing Trump immediately is part of what soured me on my own faith a decade ago. I think like many foul things he exposed within the GOP, it was there all along and I just didn't see it.
I think this is spot on about Trump's own relationship to the big Evangelical bloc, being their personal "Punisher" is so right.
Not a thought original to me, but perhaps the strongest argument against Christianity is Christians. But also, sometimes, the strongest argument for the faith. As a frail and often failing follower of Jesus myself, I try to keep both of those in mind at all times.
Individually or collectively? As a country, I think our electing him for the second time reflected who we collectively are now. The innocent always suffer.
Under Trump, people are definitely going backward now. Highest level of layoffs since 2009. Social safety net programs shredded. Entire industries being gutted - Ag, EVs, manufacturing. The dollar plummeting. People are right in believing the system is stacked against them. They just got the perpetrators wrong. It wasn't the Dems. It was the billionaires.
rlritt - I get the jest. You raise a point worth mentioning: many followers of the ways of Jesus DON’T really imagine a deity controls every human event, let alone so that every eventuality is just.
Except perhaps for sporting events? Other than clergy, athletes seem to be our most public people to cite this myth. I notice, however, that only after winning a contest. The losing team doesn’t generally thank god and give all glory to god for their loss. So even their sense of cosmic puppeteers is only about.600 for the better teams
As an IU grad I spent the fall shaking my head at the football team. Still don't quite believe it. But after each game I had to turn the tube off before somebody got a mic to the QB.
That made me chuckle. As a Raider fan I like the prospects of the UI QB being drafted. As a person I find him a little odd and off-putting for some reason. Maybe the religious thing but since I am religious I have to check myself
Many have, Tom, for at least the last 50 years, particularly the fundamentalist Evangelical ones who believe abortion is a sin, homosexuality is an abomination, and God created only two forms of humans - male and female. All of which comes from the Old Testament, not the Gospels.
Agreed Sandy. And I believe Jesus weeps about this. That is why I hope people can come to know the Jesus of the Bible and not the religion of the American right.
Yes, the teachings of Christ are not the same thing as any of the religions or pastors or politicians or anyone else who advocate them. They may be more or less related but they're never the same thing.
Christians who don't live by the teachings of the Gospel are not Christians. They're Christianists. Are you a member of a congregation or following on your own?
"By their fruits you shall know them," but I really try to grasp my judgements lightly. For many years, I've been a member of a small, very mixed (racially and ethnically) Lutheran congregation just over the Philadelphia city line in eastern Delaware County. We struggle with a lot of issues but, man, do we feed a lot of people. Also have an ESL program.
Great! Do you find your pastor, deacons and fellow parishioners walk the talk (AKA the teachings of the Gospels)? I find that in my Progressive Episcopal parish. I'm an ex-Catholic. Except I love the new Pope!
You soured on faux Christians. Your faith is something different. There are other Christian communities where they aim to live the teachings of the Gospel and love their neighbors. See the Progressive Episcopal Church that I recently joined - https://www.tpecusa.org.
'Unsurprisingly, at his age, Trump has the afterlife on his mind a lot.... “I want to try and get to heaven, if possible,” he’ll muse; or “I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to get me into heaven. I think I’m not maybe heaven-bound....”
'Trump plainly thinks he’s going to heaven.'
Trump is not seriously worried about the afterlife; if he were, he would be conducting himself very differently. Trump is not a Christian, he's just someone who finds Christians useful to himself and thus plays along. But there is no way Trump believes in any sort of an afterlife that exists as a punishment or reward for our earthly deeds. And on that I agree with him, but this belief of mine has not turned me into a monster who solely exists on earth to satisfy my personal desires no matter the collateral damage. It would possibly be helpful if Trump believed in an afterlife, but what he does speaks more loudly than what he says, and this is a man who does not think there is a heaven or a hell, who thinks the Bible is a political prop, or else a book you can sell for profit that is already written and ready to go.
In my book he traded his soul for all of the power and attention that he craves. I've never seen a clearer case of Faust and Mephistopheles come to life -- I'm at least half-serious in considering it as a possibility, and that we all are stuck as bit players in his personal drama.
It would make sense, because it's hard to see how we elevated the worst, least worthy man of our own free will as a nation rather than some divine intervention by a malevolent deity with whom he cut a deal. But, I tend to discount the supernatural while being bullish on the flaws of us evolved apes, so I have to conclude the blame for this sordid catastrophe is entirely our own.
Agree. And what does it say about the solid percentage of Americans who worship him, eyes wide open. None of Trumps’s ugliness was hidden! It was displayed with ever more vileness with each passing rally. A large part of our country shows traits of sociopathy.
I tend to blame those shit-head pastors who lead their flock astray in a political-filled rant every Sunday. I should also blame the congregation for allowing (ie: paying) that to happen.
I’ve read a few times that many pastors are dismayed because their flock demand the Trumpian hate. It’s hard to say who is leading who, I guess. It seems to be a feedback loop that picks up steam. It’s definitely a malignancy.
The one thing I am certain about with regard to That Man is, when the day comes that his death is announced, it will occasion the single biggest spontaneous celebration and expression of sheer joy here since World War II ended.
At least in the case of about half of our nation's population, and many others around the world. The problem is that there is some 30 to 40 percent of our own population that looks forward to the closest thing to him becoming President in his wake. Convince me that we are not screwed for decades to come with so many people refusing to flush equal parts autocracy and oligarchy down the drain, into the sewer, where it belongs.
Sometimes I think back to the day Old Joe won the election. It was the Saturday several tortuous days after the Tuesday election. Both relief and elation rumbled around in me like a happy earthquake. I took a long walk up steep hills and with each gulp of air I exulted in the ability to live free of T again. I can only imagine the freedom from T that his death will bring.
Agree, Alondra. I remember that Saturday and the jubilation in my neighborhood. The neighbors, some with children and dogs in tow, were in the business district Main Street, cheering and smiling. Cars drove down the streets honking.
When I am lying awake in the wee small hours, I sometimes get a picture in my head combining Oz, ticker tape parades, dancing in the streets, and bells ringing out…
Are we screwed for decades? I think the jury's still out on that, Tim. Depends too on your definition of "screwed". For me, that is losing the Constitution which begins if the Dems don't take the House in November. If we get a Dem trifecta in '28 (the best case), we will have at least a decade of Reconstruction 2.0 ahead of us. We won't be screwed, just extremely challenged. Hopefully enough Americans will rise to it to keep our liberal democracy alive.
I've lost a great deal of faith in the American people since 2015. I do not trust them to support democracy so much as the person and party who tells them what they want to hear, and does to their opponents what they want deep down inside but do not usually say out loud. A cancer has grown on our collective heart and soul, and I'm not convinced that it can be healed. Sorry to be so grim, but that's the way I see it, with so much open hatred for others, so little critical thinking applied, and so much intolerance for anyone who looks and thinks differently than they do. For the next generation at least, I don't see how to build a good house on such a flimsy foundation.
Thanks for recently letting us know when there's not going to be a Triad; I spent a couple of hours yesterday repeatedly checking for it. Hope JVL's OK.
Trump won TX-15 by 18 points, so normally I'd say that was a pipe dream. But a Dem just won a special election in Tarrant county in a district that Trump won by 17 points. And the GOP is hemorrhaging Latino voters. On top of that, the Dem candidate is likely going to be Tejano music star Bobby Pulido. So, who knows?
No I live in the 23rd — Jay Obernolte’s — district and I wouldn’t mind seeing him gone either, but Daryll Issa is a dinosaur who long ago outlived his usefulness.
Thanks for sending the link and I will have to take a look. The 22nd is not close to me — the Northern reaches of Darryl Issa’s in Murrieta and Temecula are much closer along with the 41st district which I see they have taken off their list after the most recent redistricting.
Taking the House is the minimum required to stave off Trumpism. Taking the Senate is possible. Don't denigrate taking the House. We'll take what we can get.
I'd argue winning both the House and the Senate is necessary. Clearly so to anyone half paying attention since at least April '25. Dems need to make this campaign. Despite their past.
Also join and support Swing Left (swing left.org) who is doing deep-canvassing, an approach they call GroundTruth, in these districts noted above: PA-07, -08 and -10, and CA-13, -22, and -48.
To me, one of the truly stunning things about this moment is the way in which it has revealed the absolute death of civic virtue. While there are still virtuous individuals (tens of millions of them in this country alone, or so it is much to be hoped), the idea of virtue as a core civic obligation, a kind of civic calling, has vanished from the public arena.
The ruling class, the extraordinarily wealthy, and even, God help us, a large swath of people who declare themselves to be Christian, no longer even pay lip service to virtue (and mind you: there's a lot to be said for a society in which rich, powerful men feel at the very least obliged to pay lip service to virtue).
They have abandoned the idea of the greater good in favor of a sort of authoritarian vision of power and wealth and of their absolute right to do absolutely anything they damn well want to do.
Our Christian nationalists in particular, unbound by the lessons of the cross, have abandoned the theological and the cardinal virtues in favor of a bizarre form of Kulturkampf gussied up with large, expensive gold cross necklaces. Our tech oligarchs, too, are much taken up with schoolboy religions in which perverse notions of Christianity intersect with leftover Ayn Rand delusions plus tech-speak nonsense about the Singularity and Mind-Uploading.
I don't know where all this ends: but I do know that only a rebirth of genuine virtue will save us--a sense that it matters for us all to be good, to be kind, to give the cup of water in Christ's name or in any other name you care to supply. I believe in rebirth: I believe it is possible. I pray it will happen.
Trump’s gotta have some Hieronymus Bosch level torture set up for him in hell. I want him regurgitating gold bars while angry black women chastise him. Idk get working on it Satan.
Given Trump’s own appetites and proclivities, I am sure the old devil can come up with some rather compromising situations for DJT, only this time he won’t be the dominant or in charge.
As he vainly made himself appear orange in life he shall be peeled like one in death. He shall hear all the thoughts of those around him who once pretended to respect him and see how they all thought he was a fool. As he corrupted his followers to turn away from morality he should… ok I’m still working on that one probably something involving a golden calf?
I am thinking more along the lines of all the women he has abused over the years. I am sure Satan has a couple of expert dominatrixes on hand for such a time as this.
Yeah I agree he should get something related to that. I just have a hard time thinking of something Trump could be tortured with about that. He has no empathy to others but especially women. I’m not sure he would be able to understand the torture of women he abused beating him up. I think he would view it all as unfair to him since I assume he thinks women have no agency and no right to complain. Devils really gotta work on that one.
Hell for him would be living in a quotidian bland but racially diverse exurb, surrounded by thriving immigrants and scholars. No one paying any attention to him, except perhaps the young women mocking him.
One day i hope we deport Musk back to South Africa and force him to watch a society where blacks rule over whites and things are mostly ok. I can just imagine his weeping.
"Instead, it makes them perversely grateful that he’s doing it so their hands can be clean."
But they aren't clean. They seem to think that voting has no moral consequence. They are wrong. If you vote for a liar, you have committed an act of falsehood. If you vote for a racist, you have committed an act of racism. If you vote for someone who promises violence, you have committed and act of violence. If you for vote for a corrupt person, you have committed an act of corruption. If you vote for an immoral person, you have committed and act of immorality. Especially if you vote for them BECAUSE they are these things.
MAGA Americans aren't really into self-awareness, especially the ones who are into performative Christianity. But the rest of us see them for who they are.
People are leaving Christianity because of the unclean hands of Christians. That and the "Punishers" eventually come for the Christians. Trump is doing it to them at the prayer breakfast: mocking his evangelical sycophants.
False religiosity is worse than no religion at all. I have the feeling Jesus would agree.
God knows what is in their heart. They can not escape that fact.
Uh - if they don't actually BELIEVE in God - what does it matter to them?
I think most of them are devout atheists.
The only things they worship are power and money.
Nearly every time trump back tracks its because he's cost one, or several, of the Big Guys money. He can do what he likes - but don't mess with the profits.
I think this is an under-rated comment. A lot of people are using "Christianity" as a cultural signifier, and have no deep attachment to either the theology or practice of Christianity. They like the idea of a Holy American Empire.
I agree 100 percent .
I think they know that, that's why they're so loud and pushy about it. Trying to drown out what their hearts are telling them.
None of these people are the Christians they claim to be.
Agree, Jeri. Here's two pieces of evidence: https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/trump-at-the-pearly-gates-national-prayer-breakfast-heaven-christians-evangelicals-epstein?utm_campaign=comment-list-share-cta&utm_medium=web&comments=true&commentId=210924374.
When public opinion is STRONG, Trump knows he has to back down. It's time to call Congress (202 224 3121) and the White House (202 456 1414) about ICE reform. The next 10 days are critical. Read about the 10 Democratic proposals to curb ICE.
https://kathleenweber.substack.com/p/the-most-important-thing-you-can
They’re also willing to undermine nearly every value they say they have because of abortion. DOGE indirectly killing how many thousands of people doesn’t matter, downstream effects of cutting research doesn’t matter, maternal health doesn’t matter, etc.
lol all the MAGAt will say to this is: "Nuh uh, I'm not a bad person, YOU ARE." And they are suddenly washed of all responsibility.
If you are a Christian, you believe that God knows your heart, your intentions, and of course your deeds. I doubt many Christians who voted for Trump knowing exactly who he is will ever ask forgiveness. They should.
We went to a country music concert with a couple who had asked us to go. In the set, songs of pick up trucks and country life, the female singer delivered a long “sermon” of Jesus’ love and personal salvation… Jesus’ love washing away sins, then a religious song was covered. Evangelicals have leaned into the personal salvation part of the message and seemingly ignore the rest. If the outsiders would only seek Jesus’ love as well then things would be ok. Curiously the 4 Non Blondes song “What’s Up” (What’s going on…) was covered, the lyrics mentioning prayer sung most powerfully. They can support the immoral and illegal things the President is doing because their hands will be washed, they will be saved. If others would be “good” and “seek forgiveness” like them the President wouldn’t have to do these things, to protect their way of life.
They are using religion as a crutch so they can believe they are good people, even as they do evil things. Not just "good" people, but the very best people, the "chosen" people, god's people. The rest of us are those "other" people.
This has a very long history in America. The first ship that transported Africans to Virginia in 1619 trapped them into 12 generations of enslavement. But that doesn't mean that 12 generations of slave masters thought poorly of themselves. Quite the contrary! They developed an entire Christian theology to convince themselves that god created Black people to be the servants and slaves of white people. It's written right there in the Bible, dontcha know? The slave masters were doing god's work! Henry Louis Gates Jr. has written extensively about this in his books. Later, they used similar arguments to justify segregation. There are echoes of this tradition even today, as Republican politicians say out loud that Africans learned "useful skills" while enslaved. And the Southern Baptist Church comes right out of this theological tradition.
Gangs of armed thugs are violently abusing people on the streets of America today because tens of millions of white Christians prayed to the lord on Sunday and then voted for Donald Trump on Tuesday.
Bukele at a prayer breakfast feels like a prelude to burning witches at the stake.
Hell is fillled with irreligeous priests and ministers.
It just took me 73 years to realize how deep that rot is.
JF, I think we who have lived decades in the US are all surprised at how deep the rot is.
I'm not really, my parents taught me 60 years ago that wealth and power tended to be evil with an agenda of keeping people like us down and severely limiting our opportunities. I believe they were right.
And by that time you are too tired to do anything about it.
As my father used to say 'he who sits on a hot stove shall rise again'.
Tired, yes, but still we do what we can. I signed up with Swing Left to participate in their door-to-door canvassing and then realized by bad back won't allow me to. So I'm supporting them in other ways.
And I'm not too tired to sit at my computer and share info with my fellow commenters. My brain isn't tired (yet).
Torquemada was a Dominican priest.
"Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything."
Sorry, it's Friday. ;)
Don't make me start humming Mel Brooks' "The Inquisition." (What a show!)
Too late dammit!
Way to make me get educated so early in the day! I suspect his numbers are legion. The Knights Templar were surely up to no good. Religion starts with pure intentions but gets perverted to power in a nanosecond.
my feelings about religion are similar to sex; “Keep it to yourself and practice it in private”.
One reason why America is so complicated is that the original settlers were mostly religious fanatics, though of different sects. They left home to escape religious persecution by other religious fanatics..
Europe had the good sense to kick the Puritans out. Here, we let them write the laws.
Yup, true and we're still paying the price.
Similar to when colonies are liberated from oppressors, and elect worse oppressors. Like Rhodesia>Zimbabwe. Humans seem to have an irrepressible need to dominate others. I’m still trying to figure out how to dominate a dog, so it’s probably a male trait.
When you master dogs, there is the cats merit badge.
I gave up many years ago, I serve the cats. 😾🙄🌊
Ya' think?
Is that your doggie in your picture??
Some did, in New England, Pennsylvania and Maryland; others just wanted land and $$. That would be those in New Netherland, the Tidewater, Appalachia and the Deep South that was settled by enslavers from Barbados.
See historian Colin Woodard's "American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America" - another reason we are so complicated.
American Nations is a great book. Thanks for mentioning it!
My "beloved " ancestor on father's side is revered as a early settler to Virginia colony. If he was anything like my father he was most likely a drunk who was running out on family to escape going to jail.
A tip of Amish hat
As a Christian myself, it has always bothered me a little bit when fellow believers feel compelled to say grace at meals on public occasions, at restaurants, etc. I believe that most of them do it out of a sense of witness, or personal preference, but it always reminds me of this scripture: Matthew 6:6... "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." In reference to politics, it is even more important to include the previous verses in Matthew 6:1-5... "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 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." As an answer to Trump's personal musings about heaven, the fact that Trump likes to brag and blast his supposed good deeds all over the airwaves and Truth Social probably means that there is no heavenly reward waiting for him in the afterlife. His actions are always the opposite of what the bible teaches and it angers me that so-called Christians ignore the facts that their faith is supposed to be grounded in. None of us are saints, obviously, but they publicly undermine the very values they purport to believe in with their god-like worship of Trump.
Thank you so much. I don’t know scripture, but I know the public religious displays feel wrong. For me, Jesus is a moral compass, and it’s fairly straightforward. And personal. And preferably quiet, except for the singing, which I love.
"His actions are always the opposite of what the bible teaches" - bingo! More evidence of his morally depraved nature. He's infected by the same up-is-down philosophy of the totalitarians in Orwell's "1984": "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”
The fox " news " credo .
Go to your room and pray to your father. And your father, who sees what is secret, will reward you.
Good idea but capable of perversion anyway-just look at how Epstein's rich friends, whoever they may be, were able to keep it to themselves.
Well, they didn’t keep *everything* to themselves. That’s the problem.
We are talking about two different things. One is a crime against humanity. The fact that you equate them is rather horrifying. Details, details.
You of course, misunderstand: I was replying to your earlier comment about your feeling about religion and sex.
So you can put your comment back into the column of hasty self importance.
“Of course”. You self-validate my impression.
His chief weapon is surprise. Surprise and fear. His two weapons are fear and surprise and ruthless efficiency. His three weapons are……well, IFYKYK
Trump reposted: "'4G wireless chips' were discovered 'embedded' in a 2020 Michigan voting machine, leading to the 'transmission of electronic data' and the manufacture of votes for Joe Biden. The video ends with a hard cut to a totally unrelated clip: two seconds of Barack and Michelle Obama’s grinning heads AI-superimposed onto the bodies of dancing apes."
Where's the outrage! Seriously, in what universe of any decency is this permissible? This manchild not only stomps on the Constitution and everything related to it, he consistently shows his blatant racism, sexism, and most other disgusting "ism" w impunity.
Thanks John Roberts!
He does not receive enough opprobrium, imho.
So let's give it to him in the next No Kings march, March 28th. More info here: https://www.nokings.org.
John Roberts did point out that if Trump is engaging in illegal/unconstitutional behavior, Congress may remove him from office.
My ire isn't directed at Roberts.
There's this interesting thing Supreme Court justices do: When it's an issue they oppose, they get realllll strict about Constitutionality and who is required to do what and how. (Example: undoing Biden's student loan actions) In other cases, when it's something that they support, the Constitution becomes more of a general guide that can be set aside in favor of this thing they really like. (Examples: criminal immunity for official presidential acts, letting partisan gerrymandering cover for racist disenfranchisement)
It's motivated reasoning, all the way down. If we fall for their "I'm just such a Constitutional purist!" pleading, we're being naive
Motivated reasoning. Well put. It's not considered a personality disorder, like narcissism, because it's common to most humans. Rather, it's just a flawed, psychological process.
We expect more from Supreme Court Justices. Call a spade a spade.
Well maybe now the "majority " will actually do something about it. Like expand the court...
description-accurate
My anger is mostly because Colorado sued to keep Trump off the ballot and Roberts's Court wouldn't let them keep Trump off the ballot.
That is true, but Roberts knows as well as all of us do that a Republican majority and theSenate's 67 votes threshold can never be overcome in the 21st century. So yeah, he is also worthy of ire.
And then empowered the unitary executive. Because absolute power is the American way?
Of course, it's not, if we define America by the Constitution which by design prevents absolute power. They're unAmerican.
Well , not solely . Immunity -- Roberts so the ONLY remedy is impeachment which has NEVER succeeded.
You answered your own question. If there is any decency left in the universe, it will not be found in the United States in 2026.
Oh, I'm proud as hell of Minnesota.
Understand and hard agree. I was speaking hyperbolically and did not intend to disparage the heroes in Minnesota or elsewhere.
You certainly were speaking hyperbolically and thank you for acknowledging that. Just curious - what is your motivation to do so?
Well said, Al!
Yes, and when the Republicans insist they "haven't seen the video," play it right in front of them, it won't take but a few seconds, insist they watch it and then demand to know what they think of it. Have it preloaded and ready to fire. Do not let them off the hook on this. It is the most overtly racist thing I have ever seen from an elected official. My God, the fact that it was re-posted by the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES is stunningly reprehensible. Regardless of whether they can get it through the House, or not, Representatives need to start impeachment proceedings on this disgusting incident right now. Get it into the public eye so that even MAGA Fox viewers will be exposed and have no more excuses for continuing to support this evil man !!!
Post was deleted. Of course, WH is blaming it on a staffer. Very original. Someone else falls on the sword for our "shithole" president.
well the useless trump has no real courage
It's absolutely equal parts insane and disgustingly racist. Of course it's crickets from the mainstream American media though.
The WH clean-up on aisle Trump crew is saying "fake outrage," as it is part of a longer video w Trump as the Lion King. Even a 4th grader would know better than to put it out. There is no acceptable context, unless your a MAGA.
The MSM should know to take Trump seriously & literally. Chris Christie said Trump never does something by accident.
I think that he's re-treading 2020 is a tell. The well of conspiracy has gone dry?
No, that well is endless, literally infinite. It's just that his limited brain can only hold so many simple topics, and it's saturated.
All these bizarre ideas! Venezuela is involved? WTF?
Chavez was part of Sydney Powell's schtick.
Weird!
Someone pointed out that he's down to just one speech, a one-size that fits rallies, prayer breakfasts, international financial summits, etc.
Trump's epitaph will refer to 2020.
May it be carved today.
Hell is the only place that sack of shit, Trump, is going.
I don't want him to go to hell. I want him to repent.
...the scales falling from his eyes, his arms, his legs, his tail....
Actually laughed out loud.
Yes, like Aslan removing the scaly dragon-flesh from Eustace Scrubb in Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
That's what I want for President Trump.
One of the best parts of "Dawn Treader"!
The people he was speaking to in that room want us to go to Hell. They'd bring back the Inquisition.
And jail Jesus (see Dostoyevsky's "The Grand Inquisitor").
All of my grandparents came to the U.S. from Finland more than a century ago. I pretty much ignored my heritage until only a few years ago, when I started to study Finnish culture. One thing I learned is that the Finns generally consider religion to be a private matter, particularly when it comes to politics.
I seem to have absorbed that attitude by osmosis because I have always gotten nervous when Americans have interjected religion into political discourse. As a case in point, I don't think the state of Trump's soul is any of my business. What I care about are the impacts of his actions on our all-too-fragile republic. That this is being done in the name of a religion only underlines the wisdom of the founders in trying to separate church and state.
Not much religion in politics in Canada. No prayer breakfasts, or that sort of thing.
I feel very close to the same, Norwegian grand parents, and one Scotch/Irish
even my very preachy/churchy controlling one grandmother said the same
was hitting my pre-teens, spent a day playing dominos with her, she turned on that giant ( fake ) radio and billy graham went on & on, it ended, I looked up and said, I don't trust that guy. ( usually I got some type of shaming or punishment, like playing a little fun melody on piano while or during a hymn, slam on my hands
You really do believe in miracles.
Well, yes.
I'd still go with impeachment while we wait for divine intervention.
I keep two files: impeachment and Article 15. Most items are cross-filed.
Yes, it's not either/or, it's both/and.
Some guy named Saul watched the coats of a gang as they killed Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and was going to get more to bring back in chains when a funny thing happened on the road to Damascus. He went on to become Apostle to the gentiles. The conversion of Donald Trump wouldn’t be easy, but it is possible, and sure would be awesome.
That would be a good bit for The Monty Python show.
I think the difference will be that the Apostle Paul repented in this life - yeah it took a blinding shock to his system but he repented and did the Lord's work. Trump is not going to repent in this life and he will pay for it in the next and will receive a just judgement for his works while on the earth (per my religious upbringing).
“The bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench.” -Isaiah 42:3. A thing may be unlikely but it is not impossible.
Jesus did have something to say about people who have already gained their rewards in this life.
I don't want him in Hell, I want him in jail.
How about BOTH
Ideally, yeah, I'd like all of them to have profound epiphanies and become good, decent people.
But I truly believe Trump is psychologically and mentally incapable of even simple, honest introspection. I don't know that it was ever a thing he was able to do.
If he were truly incapable, that would mean he didn’t have free will, and free will is the one thing God has given every human being regardless of race, religion, or station in life.
It can also mean he has free will to reject doing any introspection of any kind.
Also true. So far, it seems to be going that way.
Sorry to inform you that the only way this will end involves a coffin.
Hell will have to freeze over first.
Well, The Eagles did get back together and tour after Glenn Frey (RIP) said they would when “hell freezes over”, so……..🤞
(I am an atheist, so I don’t really have a dog in religious internecine warfare)
Sure, but if he started now, he may have to live to be 101 to stop confessing his crimes.
But, that would be a good thing.
Not that I think he will actually repent.
He's not going to repent. He's got all these faux christians around him saying he's the very best thing since sliced bread. Why should he repent when they're all praying a path to Heaven for him?
I say let's deal with him now (impeachment, prison) and let God deal with him when he kicks off. When there is no justice there is no peace.
I would also prefer genuine repentance with enough time to make genuine amends. Turning into end-of-the-story Scrooge would be great!
I'm not holding my breath.
A fine sentiment but I wouldn't hold my breath.
Ever the opportunist, if Trump repents it will be on his dying breath.
He has to have a soul and heart to repent. Since only sees himself as worthy, he is unable to repent.
His heart is at least two sizes too small.
The Grinch at least had a dog who actually loved him. I doubt anyone really loves POS.
10,000 likes for you sir.
And after his heart grew, he had the strength of ten grinches, plus two!
Agree. He has no moral core. And malignant narcissism is incurable, so it would indeed by a miracle if he repented.
Thank you for that. I truly believe every person is deserving of forgiveness if they truly repent, even if it’s as they are standing before the locked pearly gates—if it is genuine (and Jesus will know what the heart truly holds). Your words were a salve to my aching heart.
"I want him to repent."
...as a big, strong man, with tears in his eyes.
no, $$
Today would be good.
Since when is Trump religious? Has he ever even walked into to a church to attend Mass or service, and not just to count up how much gold and marble is in tbe place?
Trump's spiritual advisor/booster Paula Michelle Furr-Knight-White-Cain is right about one thing: Trump has brought religion all over America and beyond. In the sense that most of us are praying daily for deliverance from masked, unbadged agents of the state (who can put even citizens in detention sans lawyers, and forget where the key is) and/or from the barrage of arbitrary state actions and/or the barrage of obscene memes (Karoline Leavitt: "what are you so bothered about, it's just a meme!"). In the old days, it was just math tests that would ensure prayer in schools, now we have the constant mercies of Donald Trump and his gang of criminals and sycophants and spiritual advisors to keep us on our knees.
Makes one muse if Televangelism of Paula White is just another sham.
The only commonality is the grifting.
She has the Jimmy Swaggart seal of approval.
I think you can actually know it to be so. There is so much evidence.
Well, he did teargas a bunch of parishioners hanging out on the lawn of a church near the WH in his first term, so he could get a snap of himself holding a Bible upside down...
And then forgot to put his hand on the Bible during his inauguration.
Honestly didn't know that.
The bruises are from just being in the same room with it.
I didn't, either.
Just wow.
Burns
While campaigning in Iowa in the summer of 2015, he said, "When we go in church and I drink the little wine, which is about the only wine I drink, and I eat the little cracker."
"None of this, it should probably go without saying, is compatible in the slightest with the teachings of actual Christianity."
Yes, it should go without saying. But it is a measure of our low state that it cannot.
Bill, thanks for continuing to beat the Epstein drum. It's maddening that the info which has come out is having serious repercussions in the UK, but zilch here.
I think the Europeans will figure out the Epstein story before we Americans.
They have a much longer tradition of dealing with elites in a violent manner than us. It's something we should emulate more.
The seeming majority of Christians (or at least the loud and politically powerful groups of 'em) embracing Trump immediately is part of what soured me on my own faith a decade ago. I think like many foul things he exposed within the GOP, it was there all along and I just didn't see it.
I think this is spot on about Trump's own relationship to the big Evangelical bloc, being their personal "Punisher" is so right.
Not a thought original to me, but perhaps the strongest argument against Christianity is Christians. But also, sometimes, the strongest argument for the faith. As a frail and often failing follower of Jesus myself, I try to keep both of those in mind at all times.
Next time you talk to Jesus, could you maybe ask him what we did to deserve Trump?
Individually or collectively? As a country, I think our electing him for the second time reflected who we collectively are now. The innocent always suffer.
I think a lot of hardworking people were afraid they were going backwards financially. They probably were.
Propaganda and the amplification of social media didn't help.
Under Trump, people are definitely going backward now. Highest level of layoffs since 2009. Social safety net programs shredded. Entire industries being gutted - Ag, EVs, manufacturing. The dollar plummeting. People are right in believing the system is stacked against them. They just got the perpetrators wrong. It wasn't the Dems. It was the billionaires.
I had heard that there was some shenanigans going on with voting in a few swing states.
rlritt - I get the jest. You raise a point worth mentioning: many followers of the ways of Jesus DON’T really imagine a deity controls every human event, let alone so that every eventuality is just.
Except perhaps for sporting events? Other than clergy, athletes seem to be our most public people to cite this myth. I notice, however, that only after winning a contest. The losing team doesn’t generally thank god and give all glory to god for their loss. So even their sense of cosmic puppeteers is only about.600 for the better teams
As an IU grad I spent the fall shaking my head at the football team. Still don't quite believe it. But after each game I had to turn the tube off before somebody got a mic to the QB.
That made me chuckle. As a Raider fan I like the prospects of the UI QB being drafted. As a person I find him a little odd and off-putting for some reason. Maybe the religious thing but since I am religious I have to check myself
"only after winning" - excellent point. That's a very shallow and showy, and therefore ego-driven Christianity.
Well said Carolyn. My sincere hope is that Christians do not cause people to turn away from Christ.
Many have, Tom, for at least the last 50 years, particularly the fundamentalist Evangelical ones who believe abortion is a sin, homosexuality is an abomination, and God created only two forms of humans - male and female. All of which comes from the Old Testament, not the Gospels.
Agreed Sandy. And I believe Jesus weeps about this. That is why I hope people can come to know the Jesus of the Bible and not the religion of the American right.
Yes, the teachings of Christ are not the same thing as any of the religions or pastors or politicians or anyone else who advocate them. They may be more or less related but they're never the same thing.
Advocating is easy. Living by the teachings is hard and the only way you offer testimony to them.
Same, Carolyn. In my old age I stopped looking at other people and started looking to the cross.
Sherri, I would love to hear more about that. Please DM me when you can.
Christians who don't live by the teachings of the Gospel are not Christians. They're Christianists. Are you a member of a congregation or following on your own?
"By their fruits you shall know them," but I really try to grasp my judgements lightly. For many years, I've been a member of a small, very mixed (racially and ethnically) Lutheran congregation just over the Philadelphia city line in eastern Delaware County. We struggle with a lot of issues but, man, do we feed a lot of people. Also have an ESL program.
Great! Do you find your pastor, deacons and fellow parishioners walk the talk (AKA the teachings of the Gospels)? I find that in my Progressive Episcopal parish. I'm an ex-Catholic. Except I love the new Pope!
DM me! Would love to hear more
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.
Their three chief weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope... Ugh I'll come in again.
It all started with some trouble at mill.
Fetch... THE COMFY CHAIR!
[dramatic diminished chord] Not the comfy chair!
Their fanatical devotion was to power, just like the Catholic bishops who covered up their pedophile priests five centuries later.
You soured on faux Christians. Your faith is something different. There are other Christian communities where they aim to live the teachings of the Gospel and love their neighbors. See the Progressive Episcopal Church that I recently joined - https://www.tpecusa.org.
Trump believes, or at least wants us to believe, that he was ordained by God. There's a word for someone who has been ordained by God...king.
Meme featuring Margaret Dumont and Groucho Marx:
Margaret: “I believe Trump was sent by God.”
Groucho: “Why? Did He run out of locusts?”
You made me laugh out loud!
I think he wants to be Jesus' brother from another mother.
And he ain't it.
'Unsurprisingly, at his age, Trump has the afterlife on his mind a lot.... “I want to try and get to heaven, if possible,” he’ll muse; or “I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to get me into heaven. I think I’m not maybe heaven-bound....”
'Trump plainly thinks he’s going to heaven.'
Trump is not seriously worried about the afterlife; if he were, he would be conducting himself very differently. Trump is not a Christian, he's just someone who finds Christians useful to himself and thus plays along. But there is no way Trump believes in any sort of an afterlife that exists as a punishment or reward for our earthly deeds. And on that I agree with him, but this belief of mine has not turned me into a monster who solely exists on earth to satisfy my personal desires no matter the collateral damage. It would possibly be helpful if Trump believed in an afterlife, but what he does speaks more loudly than what he says, and this is a man who does not think there is a heaven or a hell, who thinks the Bible is a political prop, or else a book you can sell for profit that is already written and ready to go.
In my book he traded his soul for all of the power and attention that he craves. I've never seen a clearer case of Faust and Mephistopheles come to life -- I'm at least half-serious in considering it as a possibility, and that we all are stuck as bit players in his personal drama.
It would make sense, because it's hard to see how we elevated the worst, least worthy man of our own free will as a nation rather than some divine intervention by a malevolent deity with whom he cut a deal. But, I tend to discount the supernatural while being bullish on the flaws of us evolved apes, so I have to conclude the blame for this sordid catastrophe is entirely our own.
"...bullish on the flaws of us evolved apes."
That was bracing. I'm up now. ;)
Not all of us, of course. But if the non-Trump voters don't turn out in sufficient numbers in the midterms, it will be most of us.
Rupert Murdoch is a close 2nd
Or Leon. Always wondered, is his mother dyslexic and mixed up two letters on the birth certificate?
I didn't wanna give a 'like', but that is pretty original! I hate being stuck in my role as a powerless extra in life's one-act play.
Agree. And what does it say about the solid percentage of Americans who worship him, eyes wide open. None of Trumps’s ugliness was hidden! It was displayed with ever more vileness with each passing rally. A large part of our country shows traits of sociopathy.
I tend to blame those shit-head pastors who lead their flock astray in a political-filled rant every Sunday. I should also blame the congregation for allowing (ie: paying) that to happen.
I’ve read a few times that many pastors are dismayed because their flock demand the Trumpian hate. It’s hard to say who is leading who, I guess. It seems to be a feedback loop that picks up steam. It’s definitely a malignancy.
Very good point
Also, here is an excellent book on the topic:
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism by Tim Alberta
I've read about those pastors too. They move on to other congregations as Russell Moore and Beth Moore (not husband and wife) did.
Agree about the traits. What is says about that large percentage that they are similarly disordered, like their god. It says the nation is ill.
The one thing I am certain about with regard to That Man is, when the day comes that his death is announced, it will occasion the single biggest spontaneous celebration and expression of sheer joy here since World War II ended.
At least in the case of about half of our nation's population, and many others around the world. The problem is that there is some 30 to 40 percent of our own population that looks forward to the closest thing to him becoming President in his wake. Convince me that we are not screwed for decades to come with so many people refusing to flush equal parts autocracy and oligarchy down the drain, into the sewer, where it belongs.
Sometimes I think back to the day Old Joe won the election. It was the Saturday several tortuous days after the Tuesday election. Both relief and elation rumbled around in me like a happy earthquake. I took a long walk up steep hills and with each gulp of air I exulted in the ability to live free of T again. I can only imagine the freedom from T that his death will bring.
Agree, Alondra. I remember that Saturday and the jubilation in my neighborhood. The neighbors, some with children and dogs in tow, were in the business district Main Street, cheering and smiling. Cars drove down the streets honking.
When I am lying awake in the wee small hours, I sometimes get a picture in my head combining Oz, ticker tape parades, dancing in the streets, and bells ringing out…
Oz after the Wizard was exposed, when the Scarecrow was installed as the ruler of the Emerald City?
I was thinking more about the Munchkins and Glinda - but yours works , too.
Are we screwed for decades? I think the jury's still out on that, Tim. Depends too on your definition of "screwed". For me, that is losing the Constitution which begins if the Dems don't take the House in November. If we get a Dem trifecta in '28 (the best case), we will have at least a decade of Reconstruction 2.0 ahead of us. We won't be screwed, just extremely challenged. Hopefully enough Americans will rise to it to keep our liberal democracy alive.
I've lost a great deal of faith in the American people since 2015. I do not trust them to support democracy so much as the person and party who tells them what they want to hear, and does to their opponents what they want deep down inside but do not usually say out loud. A cancer has grown on our collective heart and soul, and I'm not convinced that it can be healed. Sorry to be so grim, but that's the way I see it, with so much open hatred for others, so little critical thinking applied, and so much intolerance for anyone who looks and thinks differently than they do. For the next generation at least, I don't see how to build a good house on such a flimsy foundation.
I really want to see a list of all the pastors in attendance at yesterdays breakfast.
Thanks for recently letting us know when there's not going to be a Triad; I spent a couple of hours yesterday repeatedly checking for it. Hope JVL's OK.
Maybe he's on vacation in a wonderfully tropical place with no phones or TV.
I can't complain. I'm sitting here in my house looking out at Doheney Beach.
Like those experiments with the mice desperately trying to get their dopamine hit. I am sure JVL would be delighted to hear that.
Me too.
Ditto.
The American people can send Trump to hell by voting Republicans out of office on Nov.3, 2026:
Give money to: http://www.dscc.org and https://dccc.org.
Vote these vulnerable Republicans out of office:
PA: Robert Bresnahan-08, Brian Fitzgerald-01, Scott Perry-10, Ryan Mackenzie-07
TX: Monica De La Cruz-15, Hal Rogers-05, OPEN-35, OPEN-22, OPEN-19, OPEN-10
FL: Maria Elvira Salazar-27, Anna Paula Luna-13, Cory Mills-07, Laurel Lee-15, Vern Buchanan-16
OPEN-02,
CA:Ken Calvert-41,Mike Garcia-27, Young Kim-40, John Duarte-13, Darrell Issa-48, David Valado-22
Trump won TX-15 by 18 points, so normally I'd say that was a pipe dream. But a Dem just won a special election in Tarrant county in a district that Trump won by 17 points. And the GOP is hemorrhaging Latino voters. On top of that, the Dem candidate is likely going to be Tejano music star Bobby Pulido. So, who knows?
I would love to see Darrell Issa gone.
Do you live in his district?
No I live in the 23rd — Jay Obernolte’s — district and I wouldn’t mind seeing him gone either, but Daryll Issa is a dinosaur who long ago outlived his usefulness.
Would you be interested in canvassing in CA-22? That's close to you, yes?
Thanks for sending the link and I will have to take a look. The 22nd is not close to me — the Northern reaches of Darryl Issa’s in Murrieta and Temecula are much closer along with the 41st district which I see they have taken off their list after the most recent redistricting.
Talking House is not enough: House and Senate.
Taking the House is the minimum required to stave off Trumpism. Taking the Senate is possible. Don't denigrate taking the House. We'll take what we can get.
I'd argue winning both the House and the Senate is necessary. Clearly so to anyone half paying attention since at least April '25. Dems need to make this campaign. Despite their past.
Also join and support Swing Left (swing left.org) who is doing deep-canvassing, an approach they call GroundTruth, in these districts noted above: PA-07, -08 and -10, and CA-13, -22, and -48.
Donations to the DCCC are good. Tim had a podcast with the chair here: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/democrats-preparing-2026-midterms-suzan-delbene-dccc-interview.
To me, one of the truly stunning things about this moment is the way in which it has revealed the absolute death of civic virtue. While there are still virtuous individuals (tens of millions of them in this country alone, or so it is much to be hoped), the idea of virtue as a core civic obligation, a kind of civic calling, has vanished from the public arena.
The ruling class, the extraordinarily wealthy, and even, God help us, a large swath of people who declare themselves to be Christian, no longer even pay lip service to virtue (and mind you: there's a lot to be said for a society in which rich, powerful men feel at the very least obliged to pay lip service to virtue).
They have abandoned the idea of the greater good in favor of a sort of authoritarian vision of power and wealth and of their absolute right to do absolutely anything they damn well want to do.
Our Christian nationalists in particular, unbound by the lessons of the cross, have abandoned the theological and the cardinal virtues in favor of a bizarre form of Kulturkampf gussied up with large, expensive gold cross necklaces. Our tech oligarchs, too, are much taken up with schoolboy religions in which perverse notions of Christianity intersect with leftover Ayn Rand delusions plus tech-speak nonsense about the Singularity and Mind-Uploading.
I don't know where all this ends: but I do know that only a rebirth of genuine virtue will save us--a sense that it matters for us all to be good, to be kind, to give the cup of water in Christ's name or in any other name you care to supply. I believe in rebirth: I believe it is possible. I pray it will happen.
Trump’s gotta have some Hieronymus Bosch level torture set up for him in hell. I want him regurgitating gold bars while angry black women chastise him. Idk get working on it Satan.
Given Trump’s own appetites and proclivities, I am sure the old devil can come up with some rather compromising situations for DJT, only this time he won’t be the dominant or in charge.
As he vainly made himself appear orange in life he shall be peeled like one in death. He shall hear all the thoughts of those around him who once pretended to respect him and see how they all thought he was a fool. As he corrupted his followers to turn away from morality he should… ok I’m still working on that one probably something involving a golden calf?
I am thinking more along the lines of all the women he has abused over the years. I am sure Satan has a couple of expert dominatrixes on hand for such a time as this.
Yeah I agree he should get something related to that. I just have a hard time thinking of something Trump could be tortured with about that. He has no empathy to others but especially women. I’m not sure he would be able to understand the torture of women he abused beating him up. I think he would view it all as unfair to him since I assume he thinks women have no agency and no right to complain. Devils really gotta work on that one.
Hell for him would be living in a quotidian bland but racially diverse exurb, surrounded by thriving immigrants and scholars. No one paying any attention to him, except perhaps the young women mocking him.
One day i hope we deport Musk back to South Africa and force him to watch a society where blacks rule over whites and things are mostly ok. I can just imagine his weeping.
I’m sure the lord of darkness can think of something
My imagination doesn't tend in this direction, but I think show tunes will be involved somehow.
I'd want Melania (she'd be there) tuning him up with a tire iron.