What Kind Of Peace Do They Want?

The title of a DW program, DW is a German public television network, caught my eye. The title compared the desires for peace by both President Trump and Pope Leo XIV (click here for the program). There is no doubt in my mind that both Trump and Pope Leo XIV want peace. But our comparison should not end there. The next comparison we should make is means used by each person to achieve peace.

We can confidently claim that President Trump wants peace. How do I know that? It is because Trump is an authoritarian leader and all such leaders want peace. That is true of even leaders like Vlad Putin and Netanyahu. But there we should not shy away from examining their employed means to achieve peace.

Authoritarian leaders want to achieve peace through dominating those on the other side. Examples here include Putin's suppression of dissent by Russian citizens, his attempts to disappear opponents, and his invasion of Ukraine. For Netanyahu, his treatment of Palestinians provides his means to achieving peace. Yes, the October 7th attacks were horrible atrocities for which those involved must face severe consequences. But Hamas's October 7th attacks were not a first strike; those attacks were one of the many responses that Palestinian terrorists have made to Israel's brutal Occupation. Currently, the Occupation is being used as a cover for Israel's attempts to annex more and more land from the Palestinians.

And so now we come to Trump whose motto seems to be strike first and strike a deal later. He has attacked various nations, including important allies, with tariffs. He has written Executive Orders that target law firms that have represented the Democrats. He has been withholding funding from Universities including from their medical research. And, most recently. He is involved in tag-team wrestling attacks on Iran with Israel.

To attempt to negotiate first with another party while treating them as an equal, seems to be highly recommended by both Pope Leo XIV and his immediate predecessor. In other words, they strongly prefer  showing respect to the other party and seeking to be reconciled to using coercion. Another way to put it is that while Leo XIV urges mutual cooperation, Trump's first move is to attack so that he can force compliance by the other party. 

When we look at Trump's efforts to achieve peace in different parts of the world, including the US, it is clear that he favors the threat or use of force. How did he want peace to be achieved between Russia and Ukraine? He initially wanted Zelensky to accept a peace plan that called concessions to be made only by Ukraine. And so if Zelensky didn't acquiesce to Russia's demands, then the war would continue and Zelensky would be risking WW III. And, btw, the war is going the direction that this blog said it would; the war will eventually be won by Russia.

And note the disparity in time between Trump using tariffs as sanctions against America's former allies, such as those in NATO,  and his neglect to use of tariffs against Russia for invading Ukraine. Or look at how Trump proposed that Iran was to stop Israeli aggression with its Pearl Harbor surprise attacks on Iran. He demanded that Iran unconditionally surrender to Israel's violence. Or look at his proposal for peace in Gaza, and his silence on what is happening in the West Bank. He proposed a total ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

Or look at how he reacted to the small protests against ICE that were occurring in LA. He sent in the National Guard and the Marines when their presence was totally uncalled for and unnecessary.

The self-proclaimed premiere dealmaker of the world shoots first, with some kind of attack, and asks for a deal second. His use of tariffs was intended to create a shock effect in hopes that his targets would grovel for new trade agreements in response.

Now we need to look at how the new Pope looks at achieving peace. He is following in the footsteps of his predecessor. And his predecessor, Pope Francis, denounced the use of war. The new and, possibly,  improved Pope calls for peace to be achieved through mutual respect for the dignity of all sides.

Now some might regard Pope Leo's call for peace through mutual respect as proof that he is woke. And those who interpret the new Pope that way would be partially right. But where the new Pope is not woke doesn't address the question being asked by this article. 

And so no, the peace that Trump wants to achieve is not the same kind of peace that Pope Leo XIV wants to make. For employing mutual respect in contrast to attempting to dominate have nothing in common neither in terms of the means of achieving peace nor the kind of peace that is reached.

Historically, there have been times when dominating through force was necessary to achieve a just peace. WW II was an example of that when the Axis powers attempted to dominate the world. Overwhelming force was needed to arrest those efforts and reboot international relations. But in a nuclear age, we need to ask whether such efforts to dominate are not just counterproductive to achieving a just and long-lasting peace, but a serious threat to the whole world.

That being said, we must conclude that Trump and the Pope do not share the same desire for peace. And it is important to make that distinction. While the former is the epitome of the lack of self-restraint, the latter is the epitome of showing self-restraint. And this is an an important point to make lest we, in a state of confusion, conflate the desires for peace held by Trump and the Pope. Though both want peace, they don't want the same kind of peace.

The Other Strongman In The Room

 Both 2020 Presidential candidates were old men who are authoritarian by nature. And though Biden's authoritarianism dwarfs that of Trump, it is still there. It is there and it is fueled by purpose and position.

Biden's authoritarianism can be found in his lack of collaboration with reasonable Republicans in the stimulus relief package he is promoting. Yes, he listened; but did he collaborate to any significant degree? For what good is listening when there is no collaboration?

Biden's authoritarianism is also exhibited by his the military strike on Iranian militia groups in Syria. The strikes were said to be in retaliation for attacks on US forces in Iraq. But how are we to know? Suppose some nation bombed a group of Russians in the US. How would we interpret such actions? To whom are we accountable for bombing another nation?

Biden has set himself up for hubris by promising to both restore US leadership in the world and personally undoing the considerable damage President Trump caused at home. But those promises can easily become licenses for trying too hard, for overreaching, and for abuse of power. The US strike on Iranian militia groups in Syria provides a key example.

To whom is the US accountable to for its actions in the world? The answer is no one but the President and the rest of our own government. So the recent US military response is self-certifying. For there is no world court or international judicial body that the US is going submit its case to and wait for approval from before acting. Nor is there any international court or body that the US will make itself accountable to. In fact, the bombing was in response to our military presence in Iraq which has its roots in President Bush's invasion of Iraq. And in that case, to whom did President Bush believe that the US was accountable to? We have to realize that we are the biggest foreign presence in Iraq.

The Middle East is a mess in large part because we have relied on the rule of force there. And we do so because we can. As a result, some of our allies imitate us in doing the same. One only has to look at Israel's treatment of the Palestinians or Saudi Arabia's war on Yemen to understand the reliance on the rule of force by the US and its allies. 

One can also learn about our reliance on the rule of force by examining our history in the Middle East. Here, one only needs to look at long list of regime changes where we replaced uncooperative governments with tyrants .

Yes, Trump is a wannabe dictator. He wants to be the CEO of the nation and many of his Christian supporters want him to have the powers of a king and be able to overrule Congress and the Courts when they disagree.

And yes, Biden is not the wannabe dictator that Trump is. But Biden is a wannabe hero who rescues America and the world. In being such, his position allows him him to presume the power of being the ultimate judge over over others in his foreign policies. And in presuming such, he becomes like Trump in that he relies on no external reference points to judge any actions he wants to take--a traditional approach followed by his predecessors. His domestic approach however is more accepting of the judgments of the Courts than Trump's approach was.

This desire to be a wannabe hero and the power to act like one makes Biden a different kind of authoritarian leader than Trump is. But it still makes him an authoritarian leader. And it is the authoritarian part that we should resist. For it is authoritarianism that helps fuel hubris and its after effects.

What Has Trump Wrought?

 Because of the Trumpublican Party's coup attempt on the Electoral College, we still do not know who will be inaugurated this coming January 20. Most likely it will be Joe Biden, but there still exists a path to a 2nd term for Trump.

But besides all of that, it might be helpful to look at what Trump's first four years have wrought--assuming that he doesn't do anything significant between now and January 20th. His Presidency has destroyed reality, he has deeply damaged what is left of our democracy, and he has undermined The Constitution. 

It is rather obvious how Trump has destroyed reality. Building on previous efforts of popular conservative talk hosts, Trump has created a cult following who live by the motto: 'Trump said it. I believe. That settles it.' Here we should note that that motto is based on a religiously conservative Christian bumper stick I have seen on occasion. Only instead of Trump being the one who said it, it is the Bible. And that tells us the pedestal on which his cult members,  especially with many of them being conservative evangelicals, have place him. Thus, to his cult followers, what the Bible is to spiritual truth, so Trump has become to political truth.

We should note that, in some cases, his cult members believe what Trump says without demanding any evidence and/or despite what the evidence says in other cases. We only need to bring three examples to support what was just said. 

The first of those examples is climate change. Trump called it a hoax. Now in calling it a hoax, he went against vast majority of climate scientists as well as scientific organizations. In calling it a hoax, he is ignoring all of the early warning signs that point to man-caused climate change. And he does that, and he is not alone, for one reason: he cannot accept the changes that recognizing the reality of man-caused climate change requires. And it is not that the denial of climate change started with Trump, it didn't. But that denial became government policy with Trump as appointee after appointee to government scientific positions consisted of  lobbyists or high ranking corporate executives for energy companies. 

So despite how the number of category 5 hurricanes since the year 2000 compare to previous 20-year periods,  the rate at which the sea level is rising, the accumulation of CO2 in the oceans, the vanishing of the polar ice caps, the thawing of the permafrost and the rising atmospheric temperatures with increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere, Trump calls man-made climate change a 'hoax.'

There is also Trump's dangerous denial of the seriousness of the Covid-19 virus. Trump deserved mixed grades during his administration's first few months of dealing with the virus. Could he have acted more quickly? Yes. But so could some other politicians and even Dr. Fauci was late in recognizing the seriousness of the pandemic.

But when the end of April rolled around and we knew how deadly the virus could be, in order to help his image by trying to restart the economy, Trump modeled behavior, recommended personal behaviors that caused people to doubt the seriousness of the Covid-19 virus. He told people that they did not have to wear masks or socially distance themselves from others. He publicly supported the restart of college football and some of the stadiums have had quite a few people in the stands. Then there were his campaign stops where he and his audience went without masks and they ignored all social distancing rules. And this kept occurring even after he had to be hospitalized with the virus. Besides the number of White House staff and Secret Service agents who contracted the virus, many states that saw his campaign stops experienced spikes in the number of confirmed cases. And with those spikes have come an almost overwhelming of medical facilities by those infected with the Covid-19 virus. Also, despite the tremendous surge of over 100k confirmed cases on a daily basis in the nation along with 700+ deaths, Trump has greatly minimized the threat of the virus with his words. He has even complained that the public is tired of hearing about Covid-19.

The effect that Trump's assessment on the virus and the behaviors he has modeled have produced a significant number of people who refuse to follow the basic rules of wearing maks and practice social distancing. And they refuse to follow those rule because they don't take the virus seriously. However,, a South Dakota nurse reported that some of the people she and her colleagues have seen at work are in denial that they have the virus even to the point of death.

One only needs to consider Trump's words and actions during the Presidential campaign to understand that he has destroyed reality. Both during the 2016 and 2020 elections, Trump claimed, without providing any evidence, that him losing the election meant that the election was rigged. And despite the fact that neither the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, nor the Judicial system as it hears a plethora of complaints filed by the Trump campaign have evidence of any widespread fraud, Trump and his cult followers insist otherwise simply because of what Trump said.

Trump has accomplished this coup over reality by isolating his followers from outside influences. His authoritarian personality has compelled him to be aggressive against any complaint or criticism. And while his cult followers regard his hostility to criticisms and dissent to be a show of strength, nothing could be further from the truth. He has called the Mainstream Media the enemy of the people and he uses imprecise working definitions of terms and even slander to induce fear in his followers of the Democrats. Thus, his cult members are stuck in an echo chamber because, according to Trump, they cannot trust anyone else by him and themselves.

Trump's post-election behavior has not only been an attack on reality, it has been an attack on democracy. By pursuing groundless litigation against the elections in the battleground states where he lost in conjunction with his pre-election accusations, he has led an attack on the faith that people had in our elections. In addition, he is trying to be reelected despite the election results. Again, neither the Justice Department nor Homeland Security nor the many court cases that have been filed have provided evidence supporting Trump's challenges to the election results. And yet, he sticks by his claims and refuses to concede the election. 

 But not only that, his running mate and Secretary of State speak confidently of a 2nd Trump term despite the election results. He has protesters in the streets who are convinced that the election was stolen. And what is the reason for that belief? It is because Trump claimed before the election took place that the only way he could lose was if the election was rigged. Again, we have the basic tenet of his cult followers: 'Trump said it. I believe it. That settles it.' 

So where do his adamant claims about rigged elections leave us? If the election stands with the Electoral College votes reflecting the election, Biden will be the next President with many of Trump's 70+ million voters believing that the election was rigged in Biden's favor. However, if there is a delay in the certification of election results so that the Electoral College does not reflection the popular election, then Trump could win a 2nd term and those supporting Biden will understandably, and correctly, believe that the election was stolen from them. Ironically, before the election, Trump accused the Democrats of trying to steal the election.

Finally, Trump has led an attack on The Constitution. Not only has he publicly stated, before the election, that he might run again in 2024, some of his support groups are going against The Constitution. In a recent announcements, some militia groups stated that they would not recognize a Biden Presidency. There is no doubt that that is partially due to  Trump's insistence that voter fraud took place. And it is partially due to his campaign smears of Biden as being a Socialist. But here is the kicker. Initially, The Constitution stipulated that our nation was to be defended from foreign invasions and domestic insurrections by the nation's militias. The reliance on these militias, not the 2nd Amendment, was a check against government tyranny according to the Federalist Papers.

However, The Constitution is clear in stating that the militias are to be under the command of the President of the United States. Thus for a militia to reject the presidency of a man selected by the election, means that that militia has transformed itself from a militia to a politically armed gang. And oddly enough, that is what Hitler relied on when he was rising to power.

The above is just a partial picture of what Trump's Presidency has wrought in this nation. It would be wise for us to try to undo the damage as much as possible and to start undoing that damage even before Biden's Presidency starts, that is if it is given a chance.

Has Character Ever Really Counted?

 The importance of a candidates candidate's character to a Presidential election can be similar to the practice of not nominating a Supreme Court Justice during an election year. In both cases, Republicans have shown themselves to be opportunistic rather than principled. When Obama tried to nominate a justice to the Supreme Court, the Republicans said that it was not right to do so during an election year. However, when Trump did the same thing as Obama, all of the sudden, the Republicans pulled a 180.

Something similar happened when it came to determining whether character counted in voting for a Presidential candidate. When the bad parts of then President Clinton's character became evident via his sexual scandals, Republicans wanted him out on the street because, they claimed, 'character counts.' But when we saw the ugliness of Trump's character for similar offenses, the Republican tune changed to singing 'nice guys finish last.'

How sad it is for Christians and the reputation of the Gospel that the vast majority of religiously conservative Christians have bound themselves to the current Republican Party under Trump. For the Gospel, because of the support of given by conservative Evangelicals to the Republican Party, has been implicated in that Party's hypocrisy and current attempts to grab more and more power.

At least more conservative Christian leaders are speaking out against electing Trump than in 2016. And an example of such a leader is John Piper (click here for a brief bio and description of his website). Piper  recently wrote an article for his blog that questioned Christians on voting for Trump. He didn't say whom we should vote for, but he spoke strongly on why Trump doesn't deserve to be President. And one of the why he believes Trump should not be President is because of Trump's character (click here for the article).

According to Piper, and many others, Trump's character is sorely lacking in virtue. That was clear during the 2016 campaign when certain details of his sex life and views of women were revealed. But now, we have even more revelations of Trump's character through his speeches and tweets. And one trait strongly comes across when Trump speaks publicly: arrogance. Note the following from Piper's article:

When a leader models self-absorbed, self-exalting boastfulness, he models the most deadly behavior in the world. He points his nation to destruction. Destruction of more kinds than we can imagine.

 

 It isn't that Piper didn't list some of Trump's other faults. It is that of all of the faults, Piper mentions this one as a fatal flaw. And it isn't just a fatal flaw for Trump alone; it is fatal to his followers who imitate him out of hero worship. Thus, and Piper says this in other places to, because of Trump's position, many of his flaws become the flaws of those who support or follow him. And that has been made all too obvious by the deepest political divide America has for as long as I have been alive. For arrogance makes us deaf to others. And that deafness is a driving force behind America's political divide.

Trump's arrogance has even inspired racist groups to speak out. And some are going to be self-designated poll watchers and thus possibly, however inadvertently, engage in voter suppression.

Trump's arrogance extends to official documents. Please note the White House Briefing, linked to below, claimed about the accomplishments of Trump'a Presidency as it pertains to the pandemic (click here for the source):

The United States has among the lowest case fatality rates of any major country

According to the best estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 99.997 percent of individuals aged 19 and younger who contract coronavirus make a full recovery, 99.98 percent of those aged 20 to 49 make a full recovery, and 99.5 percent aged 50 to 69 fully recover.

Of those under the age of 70 who become infected, over 99 percent recover from the disease.

The problem with the first claim is that it is false. Using the ncov2019.live/data website statistics on October 29, 2020, which, for as long as I have checked, is a little over 3% within the Johns Hopkins statistics, America's case fatality rate is 2.55%. But the case fatality rate of Germany and Poland were lower than that at 2.11% and 1.61% respectively speaking. The case fatality rate for Japan was 1.75% and for South Korea it was 1.76%. So it is clear that the US does not have the lowest fatality rates among major nations. We could add to that that the US death rate per 1,000,000 people is the 8th highest in the world. 

As for fatality rates by age, if the above stats are true, then America's case fatality rate should be 1% or less. But if that is true and roughly 234,000 Americans have died because of Covid-19, then America should have roughly 23,400,000 cases of Covid-19. But it doesn't. as stated before.

Trump's arrogance and boisterous claims are injecting his followers with similar traits while making similar claims. And they are not only making voting decisions based on faulty statistics, they are using that fake data to try to convince others of Trump's accomplishments that never took place.

We should only note that Trump's unofficial army of militias are now beginning to boldly make their presence known. Add to that that they are often armed when appearing in public with some looking for confrontations. Such practices provides ominous historical reminders of pre-Nazi Germany  in the late 1920s and early 1930s especially since Trump has described his political opponents as "socialists."

Piper's article is well worth reading. And though we only took a couple of points from it here, evidence for his claims about what Trump's arrogance and other traits are doing to the nation can be seen almost daily in the news.

Piper makes an excellent point about the poison that a candidate's character can infect the nation. Hopefully, both Trump and our nation will change before it becomes too late.

Why Do Christians Support Trump?

For many, the biggest mystery of the 21st century thus far is why do so many evangelical Christians support Trump for President. It's a mystery because there are too many, all too obvious contradictions between the Christian life and Trump's life and the policies he supports.

On the other hand, some want to use that alliance to see what it says about evangelical Christians and thus understand why they support Trump so. One of those who use that alliance to examine evangelical Christians is a liberal Christian commentator John Pavlovitz. Many of Pavlovitz's works come from his blog called Suff That Needs To Be Said. And much of his writings there fit the title of the blog..

This time, however, his comments are on his YouTube channel as he discusses 5 reasons why evangelical Christians support Trump's Presidency (click here for the podcast). His reasons come from the perspective of one who sees  blatant contradictions between Trump policies and person with the Christian faith.

The 5 reasons listed and described by Pavlovitz are as follows:  A Bad God Story, Daddy Issues, Pro-life lie, White Supremacy, and Capitalism.

By a bad God Story, Pavlovitz, though he doesn't say it in the best way, say that the God of evangelical Christians is made in their own image. Such a god is a white, cisgendered, heterosexual, Republican male. And it isn't that my fellow evangelicals believe that about God, but they certain believe that their way of life and politics comes from God. And in the end, their politics show preference to white, politically conservative, heterosexual males while opposing nonwhites, those from the LGBT community, and liberals.

By Daddy Issues, Pavlovitz is describing how evangelical Trump supporters have passionately embraced authoritarianism. And since authoritarians love heroes, and Trump has paid lip service to many of political positions with which Trump's evangelical base supports, they not only support Trump's Presidency, they become obedient believers in Trump himself while viewing all opposition to Trump as evil.

By the Pro-life lie, Pavlovitz refers to the many pro life positions Trump fails to embrace. That is tricky to say because what is defined as pro life depends on whether one has reduced pro life to the abortion issue. Pavlovitz is specific here in stating that Trump is not pro life toward migrant workers, those who are sick, those who are elderly, the poor, LGBT couples, and so forth. And here, Pavlovitz is more than correct.

However, Trump is seen by evangelical Christians as a pro life champion because he is doing the necessary work to make abortions illegal. That necessary work is that of appoint pro life judges.  But calling Trump pro life because of that  shows how evangelicals have reduced what it means to be pro life to the abortion issue.

By White Supremacy, Pavlovitz views evangelical Christians as promoting white supremacy. But I don't think that is true to the degree that Pavlovitz says it is today. That will be discussed later.

By Capitalism, Pavlovitz is saying that the predominant economic ideology of evangelical Christians is Capitalism, something to which Trump promotes.

One of the overall criticisms that Pavlovitz rightly lays at the feet of evangelical Christians is their black-white binary view of the world.  That is where, in the wods of Anakin Skywalker from episode 3 apply today: 'you are either with me or against me.' That many of my fellow evangelical Christians see the world in black-white terms of themselves as being good and their critics and opponents as being evil. And Pavlovitz rightly complains about that. At the same time, Pavlovitz portrays evangelical supporters of Trump in the same way. For Pavlovitz seems to be saying that these supporters of Trump are as evil as how his supporters see their own opponents as well as opponents of Trump. And though Pavlovitz has some good insights into the evangelical supporters of Trump, his double standard here is his down fall.

Evangelical Christianity suffers from two main flaws: misplaced loyalties and authoritarianism. Those misplaced loyalties are not necessarily misplaced because they are always the wrong things to be loyal to, but because of the degree of loyalty that is being placed with those things. Of course loyalty to race is wrong but that doesn't call for disloyalty. But loyalty to one's nation, capitalism and their romantic view of the past all show a loyalty that causes many evangelical Christians to compromise Biblical standards by demonstrating too much loyalty to either nation, economic ideology, and a delusion about the past.

Unfortunately, the conservative Christian's penchant for authoritarianism is strongly demonstrated by more than just their support for Trump.  That embracing of authoritarianism  results inthe constant pursuit of hierarchical relationships between groups of people. In other words, we evangelical Christians often don't know when to turn off the authoritarian switch  and simply live with others as equals. We all too often are looking to gain the upper hand over others in society. And Trump supports that notion.

But for all of our faults, even evangelical Christians who support Trump have much to offer society. But the world will never see that when it sees these Christians as evil just as these Christians see those outside of their circle as having nothing to offer. Thus, we see that evangelical Christians have no monopoly on having a black-white, binary view of the world.



 

Week #6 Of The New Life

Two things must be mentioned here. Much of the public criticism of President Trump has been opportunistic criticism. That is that the criticism is not as much about raising awareness and trying to be objective, it has been about criticizing apparent flaw. This is especially true regarding the President's response to Covid-19. And I am speaking as one who sees Trump as the worst, and most dangerous, President I've seen in my lifetime.

So far, Trump's record on Covid-19 is mixed. Trump began with a slow response after having ignored intelligence briefings as well as an alert from the World Health Organization. And currently, Trump is in too much of a hurry to reboot America. The decisions on how to reboot must be made at the state or even county level lest we try a one size fits all recovery. The stats clearly show that the states with the largest number of infections  are those that have major cities that serve as transportation gateway hubs to the rest of the world. And this has been shown in all areas of the nation. In fact, New York City has distorted some of America Covid-19 statistics.

However, in between his poor start and his hasty remedy, Trump showed that he could listen to and take the advice of scientists--medical experts to be precise. And he made some good policy decisions when he allowed himself to be guided by expert advice.

The statistics also show that the US is in the middle of the pack in terms of Covid-19 results. This is especially true when one considers the percentage of the population that has been infected, the death rates, and the number of dead per 100k people. America is neither the worst nor the best statistically speaking. 

We should note that how the virus impacts a nation depends on multiple factors, many of which we cannot identify today. And though the US has the largest number of infections and deaths from Covid-19, we should note that the results from some of the nations are suspect because of the authoritarianism of those nations' regimes. The Covid-19 results for Russia, North Korea, China, India, and Cuba should be 'under the suspicions' as Detective Clouseau would say. That would leave the US with one of the largest populations where the Covid-19 results could be considered to be reliable.

However, one would be remissed if one criticized Cuba's honesty without mentioning how Cuba has often taken a significant role in battling past international health crises.

However, both at the national and state level, we are beginning to see a blinking light at the end of the tunnel. And we should hope that our response to that blinking light does not make that light into a oncoming train. We are now not just talking about reopening, we have plans and we are seeing a downward trend in infections in some areas. Of course that reopening will not see an immediate resurrection of life as we knew it. After all, none of us want to return to this life after things begin to reopen. Thus reopening must be done very carefully. But it is better than nothing.

We should note the subgroups of some conservatives who want to deny the dangers that exist and the suffering that has been experienced. But we should note that we all have moments of denying reality especially when we have too much skin in the game. We should seek to understand them first before trying to correct them. The whole situations has caused too much cognitive dissonance for them to  not want to accept a dream world rather than the real one. One of the biggest sources of dissonance for some of these people is that their President has been listening to scientists more often than usual.



 

Comments Which Conservatives Block From Their Blogs For January 8, 2020

Dec 23

To R Scott Clark and his blogpost that criticizes the CT editorial that asserts that Trump must be removed from office. This appeared in the Heidelblog.

The CT editorial spoke for many religiously conservative Christians. And it did so not because the writer believed that America is the Kingdom of God or that the President is our national pastor. And it did so not because the writer denied that we have a 2-fold citizenship or denied that we should have different expectations of members of the Church from members of society.

It was done because both there is still a role of demanding justice from our government and because the reputation of the Gospel is a stake here.

Just because there are two different standards for members of the Church and members of society, doesn't mean that there are no standards of justice for society and the state. That was an important point made by Martin Luther King Jr. when he referred to Augustine when he said that unjust law is not a law. We should note that our nation was founded on white supremacy among other things. White supremacy order our society, determined land acquisition through ethnic cleansing, enabled the race-based enslavement of people, enabled Jim Crow, was part of The Constitution, and still exists in the growing wealth disparity between the races. Christians who supported white supremacy hurt the reputation of the Gospel. Why? That is because when we call ourselves Christians, everything we do or refrain from doing, say or refrain from saying is associated with the Gospel. That is just as true for when we act and speak as individuals as when we witness society and the state acting and speaking for us. The various levels of guilt of so many Germany citizens during the Nazi regime bears witness to that. And since we so often fail to adequately represent Christ in all areas of life without living in a dictatorship, the knowledge that everything we do and say as well as what we refrain from doing and saying is associated with the Gospel should strike fear in every Christian's heart. It does in mine.

We should also note some Church history here. For preceding the French, Russian, and Spanish Revolutions, the respective predominant branch of the Church in those 3 cases supported those with wealth and power prior to those revolutions. Lenin spoke observationally when he repeated Marx's claim that religion 'is opium for the people.' As a result, when those revolutions took place, the Church was credibly portrayed as the enemies of the people. Here we should note that Post Modernism is an expanded macrocosm of those events--Post Modernism also rejects the metanarrative of Modernism, not just Pre Modernism.

We should note that though both of our major political parties are bought and paid for by financial elites and corporations. And the Republican Party, more than the Democratic Party, caters to the interests and even cravings of those elites and corporations and do so to great harm to our nation and, thus, eventually to the reputation of the Gospel. So when the vast majority religiously conservative Christians back Trump and the Republican party, we are merely witnessing Church history tragically repeating itself.

Clark's ironic weakness here is the pedestal on which he places our nation and is founders. Ironic because he writes from a 2KT viewpoint regarding the different levels of righteousness that exists in society and the Church. That pedestal, however, has a caveat. That condition is that one sees the nation as political conservatives, some of whom have refused to apologize for America's actions, see it. And it is that wedding of political and religious conservatism that, again ironically, allows Clark contribute to tragic repeating of Church history.

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Dec 31

To R. Scott Clark and his blogpost quoting of Nick Batex who questions whether the new concerns for the marginalized as expressed in social justice, intersectionality, and human flourishing are distractions to the Gospel in the Church. This appeared in Heidelblog.

Quote comes from
    https://www.beautifulchristianlife.com/blog/are-you-bored-with-the-gospel

I am surprised that time is allowed to judge whether the new concerns of social justice, intersectionality, and human flourishing are legitimate. I thought that the Scriptures were suppose to do that.

In addition, allowing time to judge doesn't seem to allow for the distinction between a biblical concern for and approaches to social justice, intersectionality, and human flourishing from unbiblical concerns or unbiblical approach to those subjects.

Finally, the concern for social justice and intersectionality exist in part because those who were reputed representatives of the Gospel had, and some still do, participate in the marginalization of others. We should also note that the concern for human flourishing is sometimes a gateway drug to opportunistic vanguardism, as in Lenin's case, or paternalistic autocracy, as with what some religiously conservative Christians want employed by their  favorite leaders.
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Jan 1

To R. Scott Clark and his blogpost that shows the video of a Praeger-U video that claims that the Enlightenment did not give us the contributions like democracy or interest in medical science that it is credited with. This appeared in Heidelblog.

The claim that all good things came from The Englightment is certainly false. But to say that implies that all good things came from good religious and political conservatives who preceeded The Enlightenment is also false. The fault with both ideas is the all-or-nothing thinking that dominates in the word 'all.' That type of thinking is a foundational part of authoritarianism. In this case, it is conservative authoritarianism that seeks the sole credit for all the good things we enjoy today. And proving that contention can't be done in a short video.

Conservative authoritarianism seeks such credit to establish its credentials for dominating society and culture rather than collaborating with non-conservatives.

Sorry, but the very idea of the government by consent flies in the face of the traditional-based conservatism even if some conservatives had previously thought of it. That some conservatives had previously thought of it doesn't imply that enlightenment thinkers did not come to that viewpoint independently or that they did not contribute to promoting that concept.
History tells us what religious and political conservatives did during centuries before The Enlightenment. The religious wars, imperial wars, colonialism, the marginalization of groups of people, the bigotry, and the belief in racial supremacy are part of the heritage of the religious and political conservatives. So too is their biblically-based rejection of scientific findings like the shape of the Earth and its place in the solar system and universe. Even the best of Christian leaders failed miserably in leading society fairly. Then again, Enlightenment leaders have failed too because they too contributed to some of the same things conservatives contributed to. And that is why we don't employ the word and concept of all when referring to the contributions of political and religious conservatives or those of the followers of The Enlightenment to today's life. And that finding was provided by Post Modernism, which itself has also produced its own problems.

Trump Is Just An Extreme Example Of

American arrogance. That arrogance is fed by military power. And the difference between Trump and past Presidents is that our previous Presidents were clever enough and cared about being more subtle. Trump is rather subtlety-impaired.

Trump's base doesn't care about subtlety either. They love his tough guy image. They love the wielding of power. That is because when America's power is used by a tough guy like Trump, not only do they feel protected, they feel proud. They feel like their country can do anything it wants and the rest of the world is helpless. Nobody can mess with us now. And that is where many of us find significance.

Trump is not the first President to use American military power arrogantly. He is not the first president to act in ways that ignore what other nations, and international law, say. Obama extended Bush's use of drone warfare. Bush invaded two nations one of which had nothing to do with 9/11 despite his claims otherwise. That Bush said to the world that you are either with us or with the terrorists. Clinton carried out the sanctions that followed the war led by the first Bush. The result of the actions of Presidents George H. W. Bush and Clinton were the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children. Those actions consisted of the combination of the first Persian Gulf War and the subsequent sanctions. That result was buried so that we Americans would not have to feel bad about our nation. George H. W. Bush also attacked Panama. And then there was Reagan.

The latest example of arrogant American exceptionalism was the drone assassination of Iran's General Soleimani. That was followed by Trump's threat that he had put potential targets on 52 Iranian sites including cultural sites. Attacking those sites would be a war crime. But Trump and his base  say 'who cares.' Why? Because we are militarily powerful enough to make the rules but are too weak in character to follow international laws.

So what happens when Trump's assassination of a foreign government's official starts to serve as a precedent? What happens when other nations use drones to attack leaders from other nations? Will other such assassinations be acceptable to the US? That depends on who is assassinating whom. And that is the definition of moral relativity.  

And the conservative Christian part of Trump's base should alarmed at their acceptance of moral relativity, but it is not. Trump's conservative Christian followers should be alarmed at becoming more and more like the world because they preach so strongly against such conformity. But they are not. They should be afraid because such an acceptance of moral relativity shows that they have traded at least a part of their faith for things of the world which Trump has offered. But they have no such fear.

That selective acceptance of moral relativity by the Christian part of Trump's base only shows that those Christians have joined the same world they preach against. They are like Old Testament Israel that began to worship the idols of their neighbors and allies. These Christians have traded in part of their faith for worldly advantages. And lest those of us religiously conservative Never-Trump Christians opportunistically pounce on their Trump supporting brothers and sisters, we should recognize that we have all, at times, traded part of our faith in for worldly gain. And that fact should temper how we sound the alarm for our fellow religiously conservative Christians who have been deceived by what Trump appears to be offering.





 

An Ever Growing Authoritarianism

Ironic as it sounds, America, the land of the free and home of the brave, has always had a problem with authoritarianism. The roots of that problem came from religiously conservative Christianity's influence on our nation. For when our land was first being settled by the British, most of Christianity was conservative.  And that religiously conservative Christianity demanded obedience to many authority figures provided that the right people were in authority.

Wives were to submit to husbands, children were to submit to parents, slaves and employees were to submit to owners, everyone was to submit to the government until the government demanded too much in the eyes of enough of the right people, and everyone was to submit to their respective churches even though there were battles between churches.

Because of Christianity's influence, there were many religiously based laws especially regarding sexual practices as well as what was allowed to be done on Sundays.

Because of our authoritarianism, our nation adopted a very punitive approach on those who didn't comply. The approach taken appeared to have regarded punishment as the only cure for crime.

Despite all of that there were many mini rebellions as well as a Civil War. But still authoritarianism reigned, and it does even more so today. We can see its control over us in our nation's inability or unwillingness to change certain traditions. Loyalty to our two-party system where the parties has come to dominate democracy rather than facilitate it. And the two-party system is accepted despite its continual failure to produce candidates that people want to vote for rather than vote against is inexplicable otherwise.

Starting with George H. Bush's Patriot Act, authoritarianism in our nation began to grow. More and more power was being surrendered to our government especially to the executive branch. It was all done in the name of security but it was done. And one dared not speak out against the wars during Bush's first term lest one be publicly labeled a traitor or a terrorist sympathizer. The same treatment was given to Vietnam War protesters during the earlier parts of the war.

Though in a more sophisticated manner, President Obama upped the authoritarian anti with his expansion of the use of drones to assassinate people, his administration's prosecution of whistle blowers, and his attempt to fast-track the TPP.

And now with President Trump, we're beginning to see authoritarianism on steroids. His belittling of critics and political opponents and accusations that they are enemies of the state because they oppose him is foreboding. And his requests for foreign governments to investigate and prosecute domestic political rivals is an ominous sign of the future, perhaps the near future. Then when you add his explicit admiration and sometimes even envy of brutal dictators and his followers justifying everything he does out of tribal loyalty (a.k.a., gang mentality), suspicion becomes certainty that Trump is trying to take more control over our government than any other President in our nation's history.

And what is ironic here is that the self-proclaimed vanguards for small government seem to promote the idea of an all powerful presidency for their man of the hour.

It seems that we are at the very beginning of what could be a very dark time in American history. And it isn't that the Democrats are offering to take us in a different direction. We need to slam on the brakes to slow down our descent into the abyss of authoritarianism before its too late.



 

Not Anti-Semitic, But Still Despicable

Trump caused yet another stir last week when he claimed that Jews who support Democrats are either ignorant or disloyal.

Initially, Trump's comments were interpreted as being anti-Semitic. Why? Because a common claim by anti-Semites is that Jewish people cannot be loyal to the nations in which they were born or were citizens. And that was considered anti-Semitic because it served as a reason for marginalizing them.

But it was obvious that that was not what Trump intended. What he meant was that because his administration has been so accommodating to the nation of Israel, to vote for the opposing party would be a vote against Trump's favoritism toward Israel. Thus, it would be a sign of either disloyalty to the Jewish nation or a lack of knowledge of how Trump's administration has treated Israel.

Therefore, there was no anti-Semitism in Trump's statement about Jews supporting Democrats. However, his claim was just as despicable as saying something that was anti-Semitic. Why?

First, in claiming that Jews should vote for him and his fellow Republicans instead of for anyone else, Trump is promoting a gang morality. He is basically saying because he has treated the Jewish nation well, Jews should support him in order to support Israel. He is basically saying to American Jews that because he took care of their gang, Israel, they should support his gang, the Republicans.

But many American Jews don't equate Trump's favoritism toward Israel, which better enables Israel with supporting Israel. For Trump's approach toward Israel has enabled it steal even more land from the Palestinians. And moving the American embassy to Jerusalem which has, for a long time, been a divided city is seen as adding to unnecessary conflict with the Palestinians as well as a sign of disrespect. Why? It is because those Jews want Israel to treat the Palestinians as equals and thus with justice. And supporting the brutal Occupation and enabling Israel to steal more land from the Palestinians to the extent of possibly annexing the West Bank is promoting oppression and grave injustices. Those Jews who oppose Trump's policies toward Israel want Israel to be a just nation.

And what we should note about justice and equality is that it stands far above the tribalism that is inherent in nationalism, whether that nationalism is American patriotism or Jewish Zionism. While promoting justice and equality promote universal morals by which all nations and people are judged by the same standard, nationalism supports a nation or people in doing whatever they can to enrich themselves. In the end, nationalism succeeds in getting what it wants by relying on the rule of force, not the rule of law. While promoting justice and equality promote universal standards, nationalism promotes favoritism and moral relativity. For with nationalism comes the basic tenet of tribalism that says that what is right and wrong depends on who does what to whom.

But supporting the moral relativity and the reliance on the rule of force that comes with nationalism is a despicable part of Trump's claim about disloyalty and ignorance. Another despicable part is the common practice of character assassination of all who disagree. Those who disagree are seen as being morally inferior and thus must be marginalized in society.

Trump has used his Twitter account to constantly belittle or demonize most if not all who are different or who disagree with him. He has done that to journalists whom he called 'the enemy of the people,' to John McCain who voted against the Trump's healthcare project, to Meryl Streep who criticized Trump for mocking a disabled reporter, to Mexican immigrants who were only seeking a better life for their families, to various Democratic candidates, to Jews who support Democrats, and too others. And not only that, he encouraged violence against those who protested him at his campaign stops.

Here we should note how the person with the most prestigious position in the world reacts to differences, dissent, and disagreement. And thus we have a President who encourages a precedent set a while back that says we must assassinate the character of those not in our group.

Trump was not the first person or even Republican to so treat opponents. That trend really started with pop conservative media stars like Rush Limbaugh. But now Limbaugh's disease has spread to almost all ideologies so that Libertarians, Conservatives, Liberals, and Leftists demonize each other while exalting themselves. And in continuing that precedent, Trump, not Obama, is the President who divides our nation. For when we demonize others and canonize ourselves, what we are saying to the all others is that we alone have what is worthwhile to say while others have nothing to contribute.

So hopefully we can see how what Trump said is horrible without having to call it anti-Semitic. To throw around the term 'anti-Semitic' carelessly is to make the term meaningless, which is something we cannot afford to do. At the same time, we need to see that other kinds of attacks on people can be just as bad especially when we look at how such attacks, when become widespread, eventually destroy society by cutting off our communication with each other.






 

Some Wedge Issues Have Become Shield Issues That Yield Hall Passes

If you watch the Netflix documentary on The Family about how some religiously conservative Christians have organized in order to participate in politics, eventually you will hear about 'wedge issues.' A Wedge issue is a controversial and divisive political issue that separates people. A wedge issue acts as a line in the sand that neither side dares steps across. And thus people on each side look at those on the other side as enemies.

In that documentary, an associate of The Family talked about how his group brought up wedge issues in order to unite conservatives, especially religiously conservative Christians. Those wedge issues include abortion, gun rights, and immigration. Of course those candidates who were on the conservative side of those wedge issues received a great deal of support from conservatives.

It is the amount of support that conservative voters have given conservative politicians who stand on the conservative side of those issues that should be noted. Those wedges issues have now become a political shields so that where a conservative politicians stands on non-wedge issues, regardless of how important those issues are, is of little to no consequence. It is as if standing on the right side of conservative wedge issues provides a shield that protects those conservative politicians from losing support regardless of where they stand on other issues. Thus, many a conservative politician has a few hall passes when it comes to where they stand on other issues.

An example will make things more clear. Because Trump has been on the conservative of wedge issues like abortion, immigration, gun rights, and immigration, he has received little to no criticism from his religious and non-religious conservative base for his cutting of environmental regulations and his breaking of a nuclear arms treaty. Note that Trump's approach to those two issues puts the whole world at risk for extinction. For what is happening to the environment involves more than just climate change. It involves allowing higher levels of toxic chemicals in the environment and few if any conservatives act as if they even noticed. And leaving the Nuclear Weapons treaty with Russia could put the whole world on the chopping block since with the emergence of new nuclear weapons comes a increased possibility of their use.

Of course, one can point out that neither environmental  or defense spending issues are not concerns to many conservatives. However, the deficit is and it has spiked sharply under Trump's policies and yet, Trump receives no criticisms. Instead, a significant number of Christian Trump supporters regard Trump as God's man for this hour. And that is all because of where Trump has been standing on the all important wedge issues.

Thus, those conservative wedge issues have protected Trump from criticism elsewhere, even regarding a traditional conservative concern. This gives Trump a great deal of freedom to do what he wants to elsewhere without having to worry about losing support from his base.

And for some Christian supporters, it isn't just wedge issues that grants Trump more hall passes, it is saying anything that sounds Christian. None of his other actions matter to many a religiously conservative Christians when he talks as if he is a Christian.

One might be tempted to think that granting leaders hall passes because they have scratched the conservative Church's back is an American thing, but it isn't. The Churches in Syria and Egypt have, for the most part, supported their own state dictators because those dictators have protected the respective Churches from extremist enemies. Thus, many in those churches ignore how those leaders brutally oppress others and shut down dissent because they are being taken care of.

It would seem that the worst President a group of supporters could give hall passes to than Trump. Trump is not just heavily narcissistic and authoritarian, he lacks the common level of self-control. Because of that last trait, the more freedom his base gives to Trump, the more dangerous he becomes. 


 

ONIM For March 11, 2019

10 Best Fact Checking Sites Found Here.

If you are not sure about the validity of a news story linked to below, you can use  mediabiasfactcheck.com to check out the credibility of the source of most of the stories linked to here.

Christian News

• Humpty Dumpty Revisited -- Mortification of Spin
• Biblically-Legimized Imperialism -- Counterpunch
• Why Evangelical Christians Are Obsessed With Israel -- Medium
• How Shame Can Prevent People From Repenting -- Jackson Wu
• Is It God's Will To Heal Everyone? -- Chorus In The Chaos
• Atheism Is An Age Old Problem -- Jesus Creed
• The Medieval Sin Of "Scandal" -- Cranach
• Why Evangelicals Need To Stop Saying 'It's A Relationship, Not A Religion -- Chorus In The Chaos
• Did Trump And Kim's Summit Help North Korean Christians? -- Christianity Today
• Southern Baptists Torn Between Bold Abuse Reforms And Caution -- Christianity Today

World News

• Publisher Embroiled In Legal Battle With Arkansas Over Law Banning Israel Boycotts -- NBC News
• Exposing The True Costs Of War And Militarism Since 1985 -- Veterans For Peace
• The Evolving Role Of The Public Library -- ICMA
• Military Spending: 20 Companies Profiting The Most From War -- USA Today
• Dollars On The Margins -- New York Times
• Germany To Close All 84 Of Its Coal-Fired Plants, Will Rely Primarily On Renewable Energy -- Los Angeles Times
• Julian Assange: ISIS And Clinton Foundation Are Both Funded By Saudi Arabia And Qatar -- Independent
• A Clinton-Era Centrist Democrat Explains Why It's Time To Give Democratic Socialists A Chance -- Vox
• Judges Plead Guilty In Scheme To Jail Youths For Profit -- New York Times
• Disputed N.S.A. Phone Program Is Shut Down, Aide Says -- New York Times
• Detroit Man Sues Three White Women Who Called Police On Him For 'Gardening While Black' -- Detroit Metro Times
• What Charlottesville Change -- Politico
• 11 Million Taxpayers Losing $323 Billion In Deductions In Trump Tax Hit -- Huffington Post
• Pentagon Awards Lockheed Martin Nearly $1 Billion For Saudi Missile Defense Deal -- CNBC
• The Case Against Bernie Sanders -- Chicago Tribune
• The Neo-Nazi Plot Against America Is Much Bigger Than We Realize -- Guardian
• After Winning A $15 Minimum Wage, Fast Food Workers Now Battle Unfair Firings -- New York Times
• Islamophobia Is On The Rise. This Is How We Can Tackle It -- World Economic Forum
• U.S. Senators Say Saudi Crown Prince Has Gone 'Full Gangster' -- Reuters
• House Democrats Take A Big Step Toward Passing $15 Per Hour US Minimum Wage -- CNBC News
• Post-Hurricane Harvey, NASA Tried To Fly A Pollution-Spotting Plane Over Houston. The EPA Said No -- Los Angeles Times
• McConnell Won't Allow Vote On Election Reform Bill -- Politico
• State By State, More Gun Ownership Equals More Mass Shootings, Study Shows -- Yahoo News
• Capitalism And The Reactionary Power Of White Identity Politics -- Counterpunch

Israel-Palestine News

• UN Council: Israel Intentionally Shot Children And Journalists In Gaza -- Haaretz
• Israeli Extremists Are Making A Comeback--With The Help Of US Tax Dollars -- Nation
• U.S. Conculate In Jerusalem Merges With Embassy -- Haaretz
• Kushner's New Ideas For Palestine Are Israeli PM Netanyahu's Old Ones -- Informed Comment
• Palestinian Peace Activists Denied Entry To U.S. For Speaking Tour -- 972 Magazine
• Canary Mission Blacklists Students, Faculty For Pro-Palestinian Views -- ZNet
• Israel Is Playing A Big Role In India's Escalating Conflict With Pakistan -- ZNet
• Kahne In, Arabs Out: Israeli Election Panel Disqualifies Palestinian Party Calling For Equality, Approves Racist Jewish Power Leader -- Mondoweiss
• Gideon Levy // Without Saying A Word, Israeli Troops Beat Up A Blind Man In His Bed -- Haaretz
• U.N. Rights Boss Regrets Israel Dismissal Of Gaza Killings Report -- Reuters
• First Ever: 40+ Jewish Groups Worldwide Oppose Equating Anti-Semitism With Criticism Of Israel -- Jewish Voice For Peace
• American Support For Israel In Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Falls To 10-Year Low, Gallup Finds -- Haaretz

Ilhan Omar News

• House Dems Will Take Floor Action To Confront Omar's Latest Israel Comments -- Politico
• Omar The Flashpoint As Democrats Confront Divide Over Israel -- AP News
• Rep. Ilhan Omar Responds To House Committee Chair's Charge Of 'Vile, Anti-Semitic Slur' -- USA Today
• Ilhan Omar's Criticism Raises The Question: Is AIPAC Too Powerful? -- New York Times
• Ilhan Omar Says Her Refusal To 'Pledge Allegiance' To Israel Does Not Make Her Anti-Semitic -- Independent
• Republicans And Democrats Say Their Criticism Of Ilhan Omar Is About Anti-Semitism. They're Gaslighting You -- Intercept
• Jews Stand With Ilhan: There's Nothing Anti-Semitic About Calling Out AIPAC's Noxious Role -- Mondoweiss
• Democrats Put Off Anti-Semitism Resolution After Fierce Backlash -- New York Times
• The House Democrats' "Rebuke" Of Rep. Ilhan Omar Is A Fraud For Many Reasons, Including Its Wild Distortion Of Her Comments -- Intercept
• The Ilhan Omar Controversy Shows How Little We Care About Palestinian Lives -- Vox

Donald Trump News

• Trump's Nomination For The Nobel Peace Prize Was Apparently Forged. Twice -- New York Times
• Trump Is Now Averaging Nearly 22 False Or Misleading Claims A Day: Report -- Huffington Post
• Trump Revokes Obama Order On Reporting Civilian Deaths In Drone Strikes -- Yahoo News
• North Korea Rebuilds Missile Launch Site Within 48 Hours Of Trump Broken Promise -- CCN News
• Ex-Trump Attorney Cohen Hands Over New Documents To Congress -- Reuters
• Donald Trump Nominates Man Whose Firm Tripled Price Of Insulin To Regulate Drug Companies -- Independent

Pick(s) Of The Litter

• The Climate Change Lawsuit That Could Stop The U.S. Government From Supporting Fossil Fuels -- CBS News
• Iranians Are Paying For US Sanctions With Their Health -- CNN
• Coal Ash Contaminates Ground Water At 91% Of U.S. Coal Plants, Tests Show -- Inside Climate News
• HIV Reported Cure In A Second Patient, A Milestone In The Global AIDS Epidemic -- Seattle Times
• Stephon Clark: Pastors, Bee Reporter Among Those Arrested In East Sacromento Protest -- Sacromento Bee
• To Reduce Inequality, Let's Downsize The Financial Sector -- ZNet
• Stephon Clark Case Ends With No Charges And A Disgraceful Lack Of Justice--Yet Again -- USA Today
• Cops Fatally Shoot Pregnant Native American Woman During 'Wellness Check' -- Huffington Post
• Being Excluded Can Be Just As Painful In Adulthood -- Huffington Post
• FPL Wins Battle To Store Radioactive Waste Under Miami's Drinking Water -- Miami New Times
• Torturing Kids To Confess: Daily Brief -- Human Rights Watch
• Whole Foods Cuts Workers Hours After Amazon Introduce Minimum Wage -- Guardian
• White People Assume Niceness Is The Answer To Racial Inequality. It's Not -- Guardian
• Source: Leaked Documents Show The U.S. Government Tracking Journalists And Immigration Advocates Through A Secret Database -- NBC News
• UK And US Bombs Caused Nearly 1,000 Civilian Casualties In Yemen, Damning Report Finds -- Independent
• Last Year Was The Fourth Hotest On Record, According To The UN -- World Economic Forum
• A Sociologist Examines The "White Fragility" That Prevents White Americans From Confronting Racism -- New Yorker Magazine

Just For Fun

• Obama Demands To See Trump's Elementary-School Diploma -- Borowitz Report
• Trump Storms Out Of McDonald's After Failing To Close Six-Dollar Meal Deal -- Borowitz Report
• Limited Edition Russet Potato Comes With Certificate Of Authenticity -- Onion
• Libertarian Worried That Newly Proposed Gun Laws Would Infringe Upon His Constitutional Right To Fly Around In An A-10 Warthog -- Babylon Bee
• NASA Scientists Patiently Explain To Trump That The World Does Not Revolve Around Him -- Babylon Bee

American Foreign Policy Karma Is Coming Around

It is becoming more and more difficult to ignore a particular observation made about Donald Trump. That observation, if memory serves, came from James Comey. Comey described Trump as having no external points of reference. And Trump seems all to eager to prove Comey right.

What proof is Trump providing? He ignores what scientists say about both pollution and climate change. For not only has he pulled out of the Paris Accord,  he has appointed industry-friendly people for positions once held by scientists, he has revoked federal clean air and water standards put into place by the Obama Administration, and he has eliminated regulations that protect the environment.

Trump is declaring a National Emergency so he can build his wall despite the fact that funding for his wall was severely limited by Congress. Trump's declaration is despite the fact that the number of illegal crossings are down and that drug smuggling occurs through legal points of entry. At least, that is what experts have been saying. But Trump rejects that input. Here, Trump is setting a dangerous precedent for how future Presidents might react when their proposals are rejected by Congress.

Trump gave a inconsistent description of his intelligence advisors when he disagreed with them about threats in the world. Trump called them passive and naive despite the fact that it is Trump who minimizes the threat North Korea poses, not his advisors.

Finally, Trump is pulling America out of the INF treating by citing violations of the treaty by Russia. Russia countered by saying that because of the range of the new missiles in question, they have not violated the treaty. Trump is ignoring warnings that a new buildup of Intermediate Range Missiles increases the risk of a nuclear exchange.

When Trump consistently ignores the input of others so he can do what he wants, it is a sign that Trump is becoming more and more insular. We should note, however, that Trump does not have a monopoly on insularity. The Democratic Party leadership is rejecting popularly supported parts of the Green New Deal as well as medicare for all. And we should never forget that it was the Party's leaders who picked, through the use of superdelegates,  Hillary Clinton as their nominee well before the popular choice could be made.

Truth be told that all of the above has been preceded by decades of American foreign policy where America's leaders, both Republicans and Democrats, did what they wanted in many countries regardless of the input they got from the world. In most cases, what has triggered American interventions is earning the disapproval of key American businesses or threatening strategic interests. For example, Iran was in the process of nationalizing their oil reserves. Britain asked the US for help in overthrowing the democratically elected leader there and in exchange, America's oil companies were able to profit off of Iranian oil. In addition, America sold the new Iranian government weapons such as our F-14 Tomcat jet fighters. All of that came in 1953 with the cost of installing a secular dictator in a strongly conservative religious nation.

A similar story but with a different cast of parties of interest occurred in Guatemala in 1954. The American sponsored coup there was because the newly elected President had promised agrarian reform which upset the American owned United Fruit Company.

Another similar story emerged in Chilé in 1972. There, the first 9-11 occurred when on that date, a military coup took place which preceded Chilé's embracing of Neoliberal Capitalism. Just prior to the coup, Chilé's democratically elected leader was planning to nationalize some industries at the dismay of some American companies. Chilé's new military dictator strongly suppressed dissent and was later indicted for committing crimes against humanity.


Then there is the Vietnam War where going against the advice of close allies and an internationally established, democratic protocol that was to determine South Vietnam's fate. America eventually invaded Vietnam and propped up a number of dictatorships all in the name of anti-communism. But while American Presidents justified the war by claiming that the war was essential to stop the march of communism in the region, they never had to be accountable and prove their case before the world. They just went ahead and invaded. And some millions of dead later, after having lost the war, we found out what others knew for decades, that the Vietnam War was all about reunification, not the spread of Communism. 
 
There are many other examples to use, but the most relevant one here is Bush 43's invasion of Iraq. After claiming that Iraq had violated past UN resolutions regarding the development of banned weapons, Bush's Administration started planning for an invasion. Before the invasion, Bush's Administration agreed to let weapons inspectors determine the truth of the charge made against Iraq. But before the inspectors could finish their work, having found no significant violations, the Bush Administration ordered the invasion of Iraq over massive worldwide protests, against the wishes and recommendations of Iraq's neighbors, and without any proof provided by the weapons inspectors.




When America capriciously intervenes militarily in other nations without accountability to others, it is called the rule of force. Here, without using any external points of reference, American Presidents have been deciding the fate of many nations with an uncomfortably growing ease. And now something similar is happening within our borders by our latest Presidents. Note the plural, Trump is not the only President who has ignored outside sources of information to show boundary issues that violate the rights of people. Obama increased secret surveillance of the American people and Bush 43 started it all of with his Patriot Act.

Overreach without accountability has been coming home to roost. And it seems to have reached its most comfortable state under Trump.