Solution or Existential Threat

There are many reasons people back Donald Trump and are willing to ignore his “issues.” Let’s call them issues for now to not get bogged down with his problems while trying to fathom what to do with our own. Donald Trump, the man, is not the real threat to the survival of our democracy, it is the ambitions of his clever enablers that should keep us up at night.

One of the main ambitions of some on the extreme right is the shift of control from Congress to the executive branch. This group seems to believe an almighty president with more power could right the ship. When asked where they see the “checks and balances” on that power, they point to Congress. That is the same Congress that is the subject of their ire for its inability to get anything done. How would that work?

Another message from this alt-right group with roots in the Heritage Foundation of the 1970s, is their pro-business anti-government policy. Their mission is the elimination of much of the federal government. They believe many professional federal employee positions should be eliminated and the remaining employees should lose their job security and protection.

One current Heritage Foundation leader believes that our government employees are communist agents of the Russian and Chinese governments. Joseph McCarthy would have loved this group had he not died in 1957. Joe would have also loved our current demagogue, Donald Trump.

José Clemente Orozco's painting The Demagogue]

Demagogue defined: A popular leader in a democracy who gains that popularity by arousing the common people against the elites often using oratory that appeals to the emotions of that group, scapegoats minority groups, and exaggerates their fears for emotional effect. A demagogue’s rhetoric will numb the crowd to reasoned deliberation and encourage fanatical popularity. They regularly overturn established norms of political conduct. They will use false flattery and will evade discussing vital issues while promising anything they believe will garner support. They will appeal to racial, religious, and class prejudices. Demagogues thrive in democracies since power is derived from the people, they can appeal to the crowd’s baser instincts to have them relinquish the power they crave. They regularly advocate violence without deliberation and admonish those with more moderate considerations. Anyone not supporting their violent course will be labeled as weak and disloyal. They will seek to expand their power by diminishing constitutional limits and justify the power grab as mere expediency necessary to a proclaimed end.

The Heritage Foundation and others who follow its mandates are a threat to our continued existence as a democracy. While some of their founding initiatives were sound, they have devolved into an almost unrecognizable agent of its former self. They initially (1989) developed and supported the basics of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) and Mitt Romney’s health care plan in Massachusetts (aka Romneycare). Today they abhor the ACA. Things changed in 2012 when Jim DeMint left the Senate to head the Heritage Foundation. A 2013 report on the costs of amnesty was based on their position that “Hispanics and Blacks are intellectually inferior to Whites and have trouble assimilating because of a supposed genetic predisposition to a lower IQ.”

This group occasionally gets things right. When Donald Trump was merely “candidate Trump” in 2015, they stated on a Fox News panel, “Donald Trump’s a clown.” When he surprised them and won the presidency, they changed their tune and became his mentor helping him with his transition into the presidency and assisting him to staff his administration. Over 66 foundation employees and alumni got positions in the Trump administration.

Some see Donald Trump as an existential threat and others see him as a quick solution to what they believe to be wrong with our current government. The assertion that our current government is broken will find agreement on both sides of the aisle. How it got broken is less important than the proper fix. Now is not the time for the abandonment of our democracy in the hope that an authoritarian replacement will be the simple answer. Strychnine can cure the common cold, but it is hardly the right treatment.

Florida's Witch Doctor General

Dr. Joseph Ladapo was handpicked by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to be his Surgeon General because he supported the anti-vax and anti-mask efforts that the governor wanted. DeSantis had national political aspirations and wanted to be seen as the champion of the anti-government restrictions brought about during the Covid pandemic. Dr. Ladapo had good paper credentials but having a good education doesn’t guarantee sanity.

Dr. Joe had no experience in public health policy and his support of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug, to fight Covid had limited anecdotal support and only limited emergency authorization from the FDA which was later withdrawn. Ladapo had been among 20 doctors who wanted to stop all COVID-19 vaccinations until they had been tested for a full two years. Luckily, this rogue ultra-right-wing medical coalition known as America’s Front Line Doctors (AFLD), was ignored and an estimated 14.4 million deaths from COVID-19 were prevented in the first year.

Most of this is old news but the foundation of Dr. Ladapo’s anti-vaccine stance was not fully understood. He promoted hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria pill that had no scientific evidence of effectiveness but opposed the mRNA vaccine. Why would he take such a stance?

We may now know why he objected. The mRNA vaccine contains genetic material that provides instructions to our immune system on how to fight the virus. It would seem that Dr. Ladapo’s anti-vax stance was based more on voodoo medicine than science. His objections were based on religious beliefs, not medical beliefs.

Ladapo’s reasoning was laid bare during a Jan 4, 2024, Steve Bannon podcast where the good witch doctor claimed that these mRNA vaccines were the "work of the devil." He called the vaccines, “the Antichrist of all products.” He claimed they showed “disrespect” to the human genome, “and that is our connection to God.” WTF?

Steve Bannon Podcast with Dr. Ladapo
Florida's Surgeon General
January 4, 2024

While mainstream Christian leaders have urged their followers to get vaccinated, a small splinter group has twisted Biblical references to make their argument against vaccination. They claim that the vaccine is “the mark of the beast,” as referenced in the Book of Revelation, predicts the second coming of Christ. In this final book of the New Testament (author unknown), the writer discusses prophetic visions that include a Seven-Headed Dragon, the Serpent, and the Beast.

Equating the Covid-19 vaccine and other mRNA shots as “the mark of the Devil” is to say that during the end times of the Apocalypse, the Devil will rule the earth (not Trump, but the really, really scary one) but only for a short time (damn term limits) and he will then be vanquished by Jesus. During the Devil’s eviction from the earth, Jesus will know the evil ones as they will have been marked, hence the “mark of the beast.” Since Dr. Ladapo has told us from his official position as Surgeon General for all of Florida that the COVID mRNA vaccines are the mark of the Devil, only the unvaccinated will get into heaven.

DeSantis admits to getting vaccinated for COVID-19 early on so he could “keep doing his job.” He took the Johnson & Johnson vaccine so he wouldn’t risk being “out of pocket for two weeks because I got infected.” I guess he will be staggering around during the Apocalypse marked like the rest of us and damned for eternity. He now advises against vaccination unless you are over 65. His macho stance against masking and vaccinations saw Florida suffer double the death rate of the rest of the nation, adjusted for age, during the 2021 Delta variant wave of July through the end of October of that year.

If you want to do a deeper dive into the netherworld of this Mobius strip medical-religious logic I suggest jumping into the Google rabbit hole with a search of America's Front Line Doctors and their belief that lizard people run our government and demon sperm cause gynecological problems. Two of the AFLD leaders were ophthalmologists but only one was still licensed, and one was arrested in the mob on January 6th.

Political Violence in America

 In interviews in Iowa leading up to the caucus vote on January 15, 2024, discussions involved fears of WWIII and Civil War II.  A New York Times article covering the event was titled “On the Ballot in Iowa: Fear. Anxiety. Hopelessness.”  Bill Bradley, a former NJ senator who ran for the Democratic nomination in Iowa in 2000, remembered his time in that state.  Back then they debated health care and taxes; today it is a more violent story.

The lead Republican candidate was doing his campaigning outside courtrooms away from Iowa as he defended himself against 91 felony counts across two state courts and two federal districts and civil trials in New York.  The violence and threats of violence are real.  The mob boss who would be president (again), uses outright threats and thinly veiled threats against all those he perceives as enemies.  

His own party fears him, not politically as might have been the case years ago, but they fear for their personal safety and the safety of their loved ones.  Bulletproof vests and private security details must be considered for any who dare to speak ill of the man who would be king.  Judges and prosecutors and their staff have become targets of the minions within Trump’s evil empire.  He survived his second impeachment vote partly because Republicans feared reprisals from his supporters.  One commented that, had the ballot been secret, he might have been found guilty.

Ten Republican House Representatives did brave the wrath of Trump and voted to impeach him for his role in the insurrection of January 6th.  The House vote was 232 to 197.  He was impeached and the case went to the Senate.  While the majority of the Senate voted to impeach, the count was 57 guilty to 43 not guilty, they needed 67 guilty votes to impeach (he had already unwillingly left office).  Seven Republican Senators had voted for his conviction.

Since that House impeachment vote on January 13, two Representatives (Gonzalez-Ohio, Kinzinger-Illinois) who voted to impeach were forced to announce retirements after death threats from Trump supporters.  Liz Cheney lost her seat as the House Republican Chair in a behind-closed-door meeting with no recorded vote.  She was then ousted from the Wyoming Republican Party.  She was also censured by the RNC for investigating the Capitol assault because they deemed January 6, 2021, “legitimate political discourse.”  Apparently, Cheney’s political discourse was not deemed legitimate.

Others who also voted to impeach are now facing the wrath of Trump with challenges to their tenure with Trump endorsements to rivals for their jobs and, those not up for election, have been silenced.  Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader discussing the January 6th insurrection claimed that Trump was, “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.”  He later did an about-face and actively worked on Trump’s acquittal on impeachment charges.  Was the fear of Trump the reason for this change of heart?

Why all the fear?  Just ask Paul Pelosi, the 82-year-old husband of Nancy Pelosi.  One of the Trump faithful, indoctrinated by Trump conspiracy claims of a stolen election, beat the elderly Pelosi with a hammer and put him in the hospital.  A 2020 study by ABC News found 54 cases of violence, threats, and assaults where Trump was claimed to be the inspiration.  A review of over 500 federally prosecuted cases for menacing behavior against public servants showed a 178% increase during Trump’s presidency. 

The former president doesn’t have to do any of the dirty work himself.  The mere hint that he is displeased with someone or doesn’t like what they are doing is enough to inspire violence against that person.  In true mob boss fashion, he uses “sleep with the fishes” type hints that provide just enough vagary to avoid direct connection with any legal fallout.  Even those directly connected with Trump, like Rudy Giuliani, have such power by proxy.  Rudy just suggested that two election workers were “swapping USB ports” to rig the election and they were hounded and threatened with violence.

Trump, as capo di tutti i capi (boss of all bosses), commands an army of underbosses, and soldiers.  In this mob, there are no “made” men as everyone is expendable, except the “don.”  They are all “volunteers” in this army as it is also a cult and loyalty is a one-way street.  Even those he hires are likely to be left wanting if they try to get paid.  Trump is notoriously tight-fisted with his own money.  Some, like Sidney Powell, are true nut jobs.  These people blindly follow his bidding, perhaps hoping some of his wealth and fame will fall their way.

Throughout the “reign of Trump,” we have heard comparisons with mobsters and mob jargon.  Trump himself likened the plight of Paul Manafort to Alfonse Capone.  Roger Stone said he would never “roll on Donald Trump.”  Trump’s former attorney, Jay Goldberg compared Michael Cohen to Sammy “The Bull” Gravano who brought down Gotti.  Trump was worried that Cohen would “flip.”  Trump himself has been compared to John Gotti, “The Teflon Don,” who got acquittals in three big trials that had been influenced by jury tampering, juror misconduct, and witness intimidation.  While Gotti eventually died of throat cancer in prison, Trump’s fate is still uncertain.  The mob references, however, still seem appropriate.  He has brought the charisma of Charles Manson, the Blackshirts of Benito Mussolini, and the mob mentality of John Gotti to American politics.

With such rhetoric and threats of violence, will a truly free election ever again be possible?  Will the 2024 election be free of intimidation?  Can volunteer poll workers feel free to fulfill their civic duty?  Can they still support democracy, or will they be intimidated and replaced by those who might have questionable motives?  Election boards and election supervisors will not be risk-free positions in the future. 

We are well beyond the era of the “hanging chad,” made famous during the Florida election debacle of 2000, and more in the era of hanging Chad, if Chad happens to get targeted by Trump or one of his anointed.

Twisted Christianity; Where Did It All Go Wrong?

Christianity, like most religions, is well-intended and has goodness and kindness at its core. The Golden Rule of treating others as we would like to be treated is a good thing. People who follow any religion that adheres to the basic tenets of goodness and kindness to their fellow man have my full support. While I no longer follow any religion, I respect those who do. I also respect those who do not follow any specific religious doctrine but live their lives with decency and respect for others.

The question raised in my title has to do with what now passes as “religion,” but abandons the teachings of their faith. They ask, What Would Jesus Do (WWJD) but ignore the truthful answer. I speak of the “religious” movement labeled White Christian Nationalism (WCN). As one might deduce from just the title, race plays an important role in this movement. It has, using assimilation, many within the evangelical movement. According to a Pew Research poll, 24% of Americans identify as evangelical, and 68% of those are avid Trump supporters.

Some would trace the White Christian Nationalism movement back to 1954 and the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision that deemed racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. That decision was 9-0. Part of the backlash following that decision was the expansion of private religious schools that relied on the constitutional separation of church and state to continue with their brand of “separate but equal.”

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
the first televangelist

While the Brown decision may have provided the initial impetus for Christians to begin twisting the teachings of their Bible to protect their racist beliefs, it was the movement of televangelism that brought money and power to the equation. The first such “televangelist” was the Catholic bishop, Fulton J. Sheen in 1951, who enjoyed a wide following. I watched him at his blackboard as he explained Catholicism and, between takes, his invisible angel erased that board for his next segment. He preceded the likes of Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell, Jim and Tammy Faye Baker, Pat Robertson, and Kenneth Copeland. There was money and power in preaching with Kenneth Copeland said to be worth over $750M.

Kenneth Copeland and his $36M jet
that brings him closer to God

Copeland and Trump have a few things in common. They both like money and will do anything to get as much as possible. Copeland, in one instance, promised relief for Haiti and solicited donations for that purpose. He then spent that money to repair one of his airplanes. Trump has similarly conned people with his scam Trump Foundation “charity” that was nothing but a slush fund for him and his children. Both Copland and Trump have been married three times.

With that much money at stake, it is no wonder that some of these individuals would seek to maximize their impact with appeals to some of the baser instincts of their followers. This would entail a further twisting of the teachings of Jesus and a headlong move into politics. It was no more about “spreading the word,” it was about motivating people to part with their money. Separation of church and state was no longer convenient; separation of people from their money was paramount. It is a one-way street where religion can be intricately involved in government and politics but the government must keep their hands off their religion, especially their money.

Many leaders of the religious right promoted fear and talk of Armageddon. Their followers were told that their American way of life was under attack. Their only recourse was to wrap themselves in the flag, carry a Bible, a gun, and a cross, and defend with violence if necessary those who oppose their will. The angry militant extremists we saw in Washington on January 6th had received the message from their leaders and were willing to overthrow our democracy to ensure that this nation would be run as a Christian-based society. They falsely claim that America was founded upon Christian beliefs and a return to that ideal may require violence.

This group would have its followers believe that America was the “Promised Land” for Europeans and want to ignore the fact that these same people were fleeing religious persecution. They no longer wanted a mandated national religion as had existed throughout Europe. They eventually drafted our Constitution that expressly outlined that objective. The white Christian nationalists would have you believe the Constitution gives them the mandate to enforce Christian beliefs as laws governing all Americans.

Perhaps they have their personal Delorean time machines and have rediscovered the mandate of Pope Nicholas V in 1452 that granted Portuguese king Alfonso V the right, “To invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens [Muslims] and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed, and the kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.” This decree, a so-called Doctrine of Discovery, justified African slavery and a form of white supremacy for lands yet undiscovered.

Pope Nick V

I’ve read our Constitution and I see no reference to the Pope Nicholas V decree. I do see, however, the First Amendment that states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Even with that level of clarity in the opening line of the First Amendment, a recent Brookings Institute survey asked people if they agreed or disagreed that, “God intended America to be a new promised land where European Christians could create a society that could be an example to the rest of the world.” The response was that 30% of Americans agreed with that statement. This figure was even higher (52%) among Republicans and higher still (56%) among evangelical Protestants.

With the specter of Armageddon threatening their way of life and the manufactured religious mandate of outlawing all abortions without regard to consequence, this new White Christian National movement has slogans like God and Guns, borrowed from the Lynyrd Skynyrd album of that name. Violence is an accepted response to that perceived threat. People died and many were injured in the violence surrounding January 6th with much of it done under the guise of religious fervor and misguided patriotism as directed by their appointed Messiah, Donald Trump.

Many within this movement believe that Donald Trump is devout. They can ignore what he says and does. Infidelity, rape, sex with porn stars, lying, cheating, stealing, conning students, etc., are minor character flaws that can be overlooked. We know he held a Bible once and had his picture taken outside a church. What more proof do you need of his religiosity?

All WCNs would consider themselves evangelicals but not all evangelicals are WCNs. Some evangelicals are merely devout followers of “the good news” of salvation or the gospel. The term evangelical comes from the Greek word euangelion which essentially means good news. Evangelicals are important in the political arena as they are the essential core of the Republican base. In this new age of extremism, politics and God are equals.

Evangelicals are well represented in the Bible Belt that is most prominent in north Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, southern and western Virginia, West Virginia, upstate South Carolina, and east Texas. There are other strongholds of evangelical support outside the traditional Bible Belt that includes Missouri, Oklahoma, and Florida.

Twisted Christianity? Yes, the Republican Party now has a White Christian Nationalist component that promises its unwavering support as long as that party does its bidding. White Christian Nationalist Mike Johnson is now the Speaker of the House and could be the poster child for the WCN movement.

If you are anti-Black, anti-immigrant, antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and/or anti-LGBTQ, you can put on your MAGA hat, put on your American flag shirt, wave your Bible, and your message may not be challenged because you are a patriotic Christian. With Trump as your savior, the shield of infallibility is yours. As long as you profess that you are a white Christian conservative, your views may not be challenged. You have God on your side.

WWJD has been replaced by WWTD

The MAGA Collective

As a fan of the sci-fi series Star Trek, I find one of the more fascinating antagonists from this fictional universe, The Borg, bears a striking similarity to what we identify as MAGA. Perhaps it would be helpful to reflect on the defined structure of this fictional nemesis.

They were known as The Borg Collective and exhibited traits with a beehive-like parallel. The Borg Hive consisted of a collection of drones who had been assimilated from other alien species linked together as cybernetic organisms functioning as a single body. This body was ultimately governed by a Borg Queen. The Borg Queen was the only entity within this collective with complete autonomy. The Borg were driven by a single objective which was to conquer without mercy or compassion.

Functioning like an organic computer, each alien species component is connected via a subspace network toward a common goal. Through this collective consciousness, they share the same thoughts and speak with a collective voice. When they target a new subject for assimilation they will state, “Resistance is futile.” That target and its biological and technological information are then added to the collective.

In today’s environment, we find the singular head of over one-third of the Republican party has used his own version of mind control. He parrots their fears, desires, and spiritual goals as his own. His objective is to conquer all obstacles without mercy or compassion. As a sociopathic narcissist, he is singularly suited to this role as he will do whatever it takes to benefit himself while assimilating others in his mission. They submit willingly to his spell and will do his bidding even at the cost of their own freedom or well-being. As a spoiled billionaire, his minions are truly an alien species but one he understands how to control. He cut his teeth mesmerizing the masses over fourteen years of hosting The Apprentice. In the series, contestants are divided into two teams pitted against one another. In the political arena, he has split our nation into two groups and pitted them in a battle threatening our democracy for the first time since the Civil War. If you have gotten this far and don’t see the parallels within our current MAGA Collective, with its groupthink connected through its own subspace network, perhaps you should lower your shields and surrender your ship.