Cicero’s warning.

Posted on August 27, 2017 by luckyotter

But we never listen until it’s too late.

cicero

Truth or Dare?

Posted on August 22, 2017 by luckyotter

Elizabeth Mika writes probing, fascinating, and, well, creepy posts about Trump’s malignant narcissism and the ways our narcissism as a nation inevitably led to an election of someone like him. She also writes about the psychology of his most ardent followers, who seem eerily reminiscent of cult members. This is a phenomenon she accurately dubs “Trumpism.” When under the thrall of a cult leader, many people seem to forget their own morals and not have minds of their own. They will continue to deny truth and support their leader even when there is irrefutable proof of the leader’s immorality and even criminality held up to their noses.

In fact, I believe Trumpism is a cult, and Trump qualifies as a cult leader.

cult_definition In Ms. Mika’s most recent post, she writes about this disturbing trend and the true intentions of the criminal mob who hijacked the White House in November.

Truth or Dare?

Would you want to know ahead of time if your future president suffered from a dangerous, incurable character defect — not mental illness — that was typical for all tyrants in the history of human race?

What if that defect, with its predictable manifestations and consequences, was described to you early on, so you could perhaps help prevent the tyrant’s rise to power? Or, if too late for that, at least understood what to expect and pursue appropriate action as his reign took hold?

Would you want to know?

This knowledge is easily available, though for some reason we prefer not to find it, and that’s as our government, country, and the entire world come under threat from just such a characterologically defective leader and his circle of similarly impaired enablers.

Yet we don’t want to see it, and we loathe talking about it, even though, as Lee Siegal reminds us, avoiding questions about Trump’s mental unhealth is “a betrayal of the public trust, a denial of human nature, and an insult to posterity.”*

In a September 2016 post, The Red Herring of the Candidates’ (Physical) Health, I wrote:

If / when Trump is elected and proceeds to dismantle our democracy (yes, we know this is a very real possibility, thanks to correct diagnosis, as chaos and destruction are assured by his character defect; but he also said so, should there be any doubts), will we perhaps revisit and rethink the Goldwater Rule? If we have that chance, of course, and courage and a desire to do so.

The dismantling of our democracy is in full swing now and proceeds according to schedule.

Make no mistake: What we are witnessing is not some incompetent bumbling of political novices, but purposeful and vengeful destruction of our government, country, and possibly — if the pathocratic Trump/Bannon cabal is allowed to remain in power unopposed— the world.

*****

Read the rest of this post here.

I highly recommend Ms. Mika’s blog on Medium. This is where hers and other’s articles on Trump, Trumpism, and the normalization of sociopathy/narcissism in general can be found.

Trump goes off the rails with hate that leaves us aghast

Posted on August 17, 2017 by luckyotter

I’d add my own rant, but these four rants pretty much say everything I feel. Donald Trump aids and abets domestic terrorists and supports Nazis. There’s no prettier way to say it and besides, we need to call this what it is. What he is doing is evil, un-American, and totally unacceptable. How is he still president?

THE SHINBONE STAR

Yes, this GIF has been used on this site before, but can’t have too much of a good thing.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The 45th president of the United States went off the rails today in a vintage Trump racist diatribe that shook America to its core. Shinbone Star staff members quickly reacted to the latest outrage from the 45th president.

The sound and the fury

By ANNE-MARIE

I have to admit, I’m shaken. I worked in journalism for 36 years, and never, ever have I seen a spectacle to equal 45’s behavior at his Trump Tower press conference today.

The contempt, the hatred in the man’s eyes and in his voice and demeanor. The pure fury when he realized that the press was not going to play his little game, not this time or ever again.

The avowed purpose of the press conference was to pat himself on the back for…

View original post 1,062 more words

Sean Spicer is suffering from PTSD and that’s why he resigned.

Posted on July 22, 2017 by luckyotter

spicerinthebushes

Sean Spicer has resigned as Press Secretary. The reason he gives is because his boss Trump hired Anthony Scaramucci as his new Communications Director.

This video explains Spicer’s decision. He feels that Scaramucci lacks experience (what else is new in this White House?) and Spicer would wind up doing two jobs for the price of one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMhrfOTCPIQ

I guess this was the last straw for Spicer, who was obviously crumbling in his thankless role of having to lie for his boss all the time. The job of Press Secretary is generally one of the easiest cabinet jobs, but in this White House, under this president, it’s probably one of the hardest.

Personally, I think Spicer was looking for a way out and this was the best opportunity for him to escape from his hellish role. I don’t despise Spicer the way I despise 99.9% of Trump’s staff. Sure, as a conservative, he accepted the position, but I don’t think he had any idea of what he was signing up for. Every time I saw Spicer speak to the press, he seemed more angry, more defensive, and more nervous, even to the point where I was sure he was going to run from the podium in sheer panic. He seemed to really hate his job, and I don’t think it’s because he hates the press.

But his boss does hate the press (most of them being the truth-tellers in this hot political mess), and undoubtedly instructed Spicer to lie to them about what his intentions were and the things he was doing (and I’ll even speculate he may have threatened him if he didn’t lie).

In spite of his combative manner, Spicer doesn’t strike me as a bad or immoral person. He strikes me as someone suffering from a bad case of PTSD. In other words, he’s a victim of narcissistic abuse under the most malignantly narcissistic, sociopathic president this country has ever seen. PTSD often manifests as anger and defensiveness. What gives him away is his jitteriness and what often appears to be terror in his eyes. He carries himself around like a whipped dog. We all remember when Spicer hid in the bushes to avoid having to speak to the press. It was farcical, but also a sad indication of a man completely unsuited to be doing this type of dirty work for a blackhearted boss.

There was also some evidence that the vulnerable Spicer was in a scapegoat role in Trump’s cabinet. White House Chief of Staff Steve Bannon said the reason Spicer was appearing less in public (replaced by the insufferable Sarah Huckabee Sanders) was because he was “getting too fat.” I think that was a lie and smear tactic. Bannon ought to look in the mirror at his own bloated, unhealthy-looking body before he fat-shames someone else.

I rather like Spicer. Or more accurately, I feel sorry for him. He seemed to crumble more by the day and lose his composure easily. Imagine standing in front of reporters from major newspapers, TV news stations, and other news outlets, most of them hostile to this president, having to field their pointed questions that flew at him like bullets. Imagine having to answer these questions with grace and intelligence, without losing your cool or sounding like you’re lying your face off.

Spicer tried, but he couldn’t do it. That’s because I don’t think he’s like the rest of them. I think he still has some semblance of a conscience and sense of right and wrong. I don’t have any proof of this, but I sense it from him. He knew he was lying for a boss who is trying his damndest to be dictator-in-chief and dismantle democracy, and he hated it. He couldn’t deal with it anymore; if he continued doing it, I think he knew he would be spiritually destroyed. That’s the danger in not breaking away from a malignant narcissist like Donald Trump and the cabal of flying monkeys and enablers he has surrounded himself with. Spicer had to go “no contact” with his boss before he lost his own soul.

I also think Spicer knows a lot he’s not saying — yet. But I think he will, when the dust settles. I’m waiting for his tell-all book.

I just saw a clip of him on the news leaving the White House, and he was smiling like a man who just won the lottery. It’s the first time I ever saw him look happy.

Why isn’t a mental health assessment required for a new president?

Posted on July 9, 2017 by luckyotter

danzcolorplus7013

Credit: Increasing Number of Psychiatrists Challenge The Goldwater Rule / FFRF Maine

My son is applying for a job as a police dispatcher. Like all government jobs, it’s a good paying job, with great benefits, including comprehensive health care, dental, and an actual pension. He’s already passed two of the tests and the pool of candidates is down to just a few. He thinks he has a good chance of snagging this job, but he still has to pass a mental health examination, since a dispatcher’s job can be incredibly stressful. You have to be able to act quickly and make life and death decisions. You can’t let your own emotions get in the way if you get a frantic call from someone threatening to kill themselves, or from a terrified woman whose ex-lover is holding a gun to her children’s heads. You can’t dissolve into a handwringing puddle of indecision when you get a call from someone saying their husband is having a heart attack. You must be able to act efficiently and quickly, and keep your wits about you at all times. The job, though it pays well and is stable compared to many other jobs, has a lot of turnover because many people find they can’t handle this type of life-and-death stress for very long. There is good reason then, to give a candidate like my son a mental health assessment, to make sure they are emotionally stable enough to be able to handle the type of situations that will come up without snapping, becoming depressed, or even blaming themselves if something goes wrong (because sooner or later, it will: some who threaten suicide will succeed; some who have a gun pointed at their head will actually be shot).

But the job of police dispatcher is far, far beneath that of President of the United States. Only one or two individuals will be affected at a time by the choices a dispatcher makes, while the President’s decisions have the potential to affect an entire country, or even the entire world.

We have a president who obviously has a severe mental illness. He appears to fit ALL of the 9 DSM-IV-TR criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder:

A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

(1) has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)

(2) is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love

(3) believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)

(4) requires excessive admiration

(5) has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations

(6) is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends

(7) lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others

(8) is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her

(9) shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

If that’s not bad enough, Trump shows signs of severe paranoia and even a possible degenerative illness like Alzheimer’s. It doesn’t take a trained psychologist to be able to see what is obvious: Donald Trump’s behavior is not normal. At best, he’s incompetent and unfit to lead a nation; at worst, he’s a clear and present danger to the planet.

Armchair psychiatrists’ speculations aside, no official diagnosis of NPD or anything else has been made for Donald Trump. That’s because of The Goldwater Rule, which was instituted by the American Psychiatric Association to address the idea that diagnosing a public figure (Barry Goldwater’s fitness to run for president in 1964 was in question) without an official psychiatric assessment was unethical.

It’s my opinion (and that of some mental health professionals) that an exception to the Goldwater Rule should be made for Donald Trump, who is visibly mentally ill enough to pose a real danger to America and to the world. But why wasn’t he given a psychiatric examination to determine his fitness to lead our country in the first place?

Personally, I don’t understand why a psychiatric assessment isn’t required for all incoming presidents, or even for anyone who makes the final two candidates in any election. If my son has to take one to qualify for a job as a police dispatcher, then I definitely think it should be a requirement for any incoming head of state.

10 reasons why the ‘war on Christmas’ is bogus.

Posted on July 4, 2017 by luckyotter

war-on-christmas-206x300

Why am I bringing this up in July?

Because HE did.

This infuriating article appeared in today’s Huffington Post:

Trump Launches the War on Christmas in July

Trump has railed on about the non-existent “war on Christmas” for the past several years, riling up his base of zealous far right religious supporters. You may remember the drama over the Starbucks coffee cups two years ago. Plastic throwaway takeout cups failing to have Christmas decorations printed on them (Heaven help us! They’re SOLID COLORED!) is apparently a more pressing issue than the Russia investigation, developing problems with North Korea, making sure every American has affordable healthcare, and keeping the planet from turning into Venus 2.0.

But Trump’s issue with people allegedly waging a war on Christmas is totally bogus and here are ten reasons why.

1. Trump is not a Christian, so a war on Christmas should be of no concern to him.

I’m not here to judge the state of another person’s soul, but it’s pretty clear to me and to many others that if Trump was truly a Christian, it would show in his actions and general behavior toward others. He is still a lying, gaslighting, cowardly, projecting, wrathful, spiteful, egotistic, name-calling, bullying, blame-shifting malignant narcissist who has surrounded himself with a cabinet of greedy sociopaths, and that’s about as far away from Jesus as you can get. He shows no empathy and seems to think he’s above the law. He denies reality. If Trump was really a Christian, he would be repenting over his past actions both in business and in his personal life. He has shown no remorse and in fact bragged that he doesn’t need God’s forgiveness. He doesn’t seem at all sorry about anything he’s ever done and I have never heard him take any responsibility for anything, ever. I have never heard him say he’s sorry or admit when he’s been wrong.

It makes no difference whether or not Trump attends church or SAYS he’s a Christian or allows a group of evangelicals to pray over him. Anyone could do those things; it’s all window dressing intended to impress his religious base and please his wealthy Christian financial backers. “By their fruits you shall know them,” said Jesus in Matthew 7: 15-20, and so far, Trump has produced nothing but bad fruit. A Christian doesn’t brag about grabbing women by the pussy or make sexual references about his own daughter, not to mention the many things he is doing to endanger people’s lives and happiness, and the health of the planet itself. So no, from everything I can tell, Trump is not a Christian and I feel perfectly justified in saying so. It doesn’t matter that I can’t see the state of his soul, but I can see and hear from his deeds and words that there is no Christ in his heart. So I don’t want to hear Trump whine about a fictional war on Christmas, since from everything I can see, he’s a Christian in name only, if even that.

2. Christmas is based on a pagan feast. Early Christians did not celebrate Christmas.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say we must celebrate Jesus’ birthday. According to Google.com,

The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on December 25th was in 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor). A few years later, Pope Julius I officially declared that the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on the 25th December.

History.com explains why December 25th was selected:

Was Jesus really born on December 25 in the first place? Probably not. The Bible doesn’t mention his exact birthday, and the Nativity story contains conflicting clues. For instance, the presence of shepherds and their sheep suggest a spring birth. When church officials settled on December 25 at the end of the third century, they likely wanted the date to coincide with existing pagan festivals honoring Saturn (the Roman god of agriculture) and Mithra (the Persian god of light). That way, it became easier to convince Rome’s pagan subjects to accept Christianity as the empire’s official religion

The celebration of Christmas spread throughout the Western world over the next several centuries, but many Christians continued to view Epiphany and Easter as more important. Some, including the Puritans of colonial New England, even banned its observance because they viewed its traditions—the offering of gifts and decorating trees, for example—as linked to paganism. In the early days of the United States, celebrating Christmas was considered a British custom and fell out of style following the American Revolution. It wasn’t until 1870 that Christmas became a federal holiday.

3. Trump isn’t whining about the secular commercialism of Christmas.

Christmas in America has become much more about gift giving (and big business raking in lots of money every year) than it is about the birth of Jesus. What do snowflakes on coffee cups, Christmas wreaths, coniferous trees, prettily wrapped gifts, Black Friday, and sparkly cards that say “Merry Christmas” have to do with actual Christianity? Nothing, that’s what. In fact, these traditions are engaged in by many Jews, atheists, and people of religions other than Christianity. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with these things and they can be a lot of fun, but let’s not pretend these things are remotely religious because they aren’t. Christmas, especially in America, is much more about celebrating capitalism (and the togetherness of family and friends) than it is to any Biblical event. And, while the gift giving, decorations, and activities can be a lot of fun, they can also cause a lot of stress, especially for people who lack the money to buy gifts or don’t have close relationships with family or friends. There’s a reason why so many people become so depressed during the holiday season. But I don’t see Trump complaining about how commercialized Christmas has become; I only see him whining about people and groups who refuse to embrace its commercialism.

4. People have been saying “Happy Holidays” for DECADES. Why is it suddenly an issue?

Trump acts like people saying “Happy Holidays” is a new development, but it’s actually very old. I remember during the 1960s and 70s, my parents always sent out cards that said “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings” because so many of the people they knew were Jewish. No one took offense. It wasn’t an issue for anyone, Christian or not. I even remember some of the old Christmas songs said “Happy Holidays.” Again, never an issue. I’m sure the trend is a lot older even than I am. Here’s a very old Christmas card, I’m not sure what year, but it looks to date from the early 20th century or even the late 19th:

Old-Christmas-Cards-christmas-119454_395_500

5. It’s even harder to enjoy Christmas now that it’s become political.

It’s bad enough that we have to deal with the financial and emotional stresses of the Christmas season, but now we have to worry that we might offend someone by using the wrong ~~holiday~~ ~~Christmas~~ seasonal? greeting. Maybe it’s just better to say nothing at all and not give out cards either because they also might offend somebody. It sucks we can’t even enjoy the holidays anymore without it being a potential politically divisive issue. Again, it was never like this before. It’s been MADE a political issue. #6 may be the reason why.

6. Trump is actually waging a war on non-Christians.

Okay, I can’t prove it, but it seems to me that Trump’s phony ‘war on Christmas’ is intended to anger his far right Christian base, who are not likely to think too critically and just take it on faith that whatever Trump says is the truth. So if he says there’s a war on Christmas, then by God, there’s a war on Christmas and on Christianity itself. This is intentional, as Trump and his fundamentalist/dominionist Christian backers and cabinet members have every intention of turning America into a theocracy, instead of a nation that has always prided itself on religious freedom and diversity. To some of these extreme right-wing Christians, “religious freedom” means the freedom to force their beliefs on others, not the freedom to worship (or not worship) the way you choose.

According to today’s HuffPo, at the “Celebrate Freedom” event at the Kennedy Center on Saturday night, Trump said,

“I remind you that we’re going to start staying ‘Merry Christmas’ again.”

Is he actually attempting to legislate the words we use? It sure seems like it from his choice of words. The intent here is to bring us farther away from democracy than we already are and closer to theocratic rule. A free country does not tell people what they can and cannot say, at Christmas or at any other time or for any other reason.

waronchristmas

7. Would Jesus actually care if people said “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”?

I highly doubt it. I doubt Jesus was narcissistic enough to insist we use his name when celebrating his non-birthday. As mentioned before, nowhere in the Bible are we told we must celebrate Christmas or use a particular greeting. In fact, I bet Jesus would be ashamed of us for attaching his name to a holiday that has become mostly secular and fun at best, and a crass celebration of greed and materialism at worst. Again, Christmas wasn’t celebrated by anyone until the 300’s when a Pope decided it was a holy day.

8. The “war on Christmas” is most likely a distraction from the real issues.

Trump seems to like to stir up drama whenever the heat is on and he’s being criticized for much more serious issues. This is classic Cluster B behavior and Trump displays it every. single. day. In deflecting attention from himself and pointing fingers at others (primarily the media, but individuals too), he is really trying to take the light of truth off his own shady, amoral, and possibly illegal activities.

9. It’s things like this that make people despise Christians.

When Christians (or any other group) whine incessantly about how persecuted they are (when they really aren’t) and fixate on minor issues (like the fictional war on Christmas) they believe prove they are being persecuted, it makes people hate them, and for good reason. As a Christian myself, I’m embarrassed to be associated with phony “Christians” like Trump who try to restrict our freedoms and obsess over trivia in their efforts to alienate people with different beliefs and divide a nation.

10. He’s yapping about this in JULY.

Yes, fellow Americans, Trump is whining about his bogus war on Christmas the day before we celebrate America’s independence. Does that historical event mean nothing to him? It’s an insult to all those who have fought and died for our country. But what else can we expect from a man who does nothing but insult others?

Rethinking political correctness.

Posted on July 2, 2017 by luckyotter

Political correctness can definitely be taken to ridiculous extremes, as these cartoons show.

In previous posts, I’ve sometimes criticized political correctness. It’s true that in recent years, political correctness (PC-ness) has gone too far, and people are afraid to say what they mean because it might offend someone. PC-ness can be taken to ridiculous extremes. For example, a child today can get in a world of trouble — up to and including arrest — for something as innocent as drawing a picture of a gun. Companies are afraid to hire a white person who may be a better fit for a job if a black candidate is also qualified. People are afraid to say “Merry Christmas” because it might offend non-Christians, but they’re also afraid to say “Happy Holidays” because it might offend Christians (so what are you supposed to say??) Parents are afraid to discipline their children because someone might call the authorities and their children could be taken away. Of course, there are limits to what constitutes proper discipline of a child. Obviously, if you see a parent beating their child or hurling insults at them, this is abuse, not just discipline, and there should be consequences. But is it proper to report a parent for lightly slapping a toddler’s hand because she’s reaching for something that could hurt her or break? Yet such actions are regularly reported as “abuse.” Parents are afraid to be parents. We can’t say what we mean because someone might be offended, even if no insult is intended. During the holiday season, it might be better to just say nothing at all.

In spite of the problem of political correctness being taken to extremes, there is a place for it. Political correctness is really nothing more sinister than showing respect for others. It means practicing the Golden Rule, which we all learned in kindergarten and would behoove us to keep practicing as adults because it makes everyone’s lives so much easier and more pleasant, including our own. Political correctness is about being a good neighbor and a good citizen. It’s caring about the way others feel. When it’s not taken to extremes, political correctness makes our relationships with others and within our communities a heck of a lot easier. But people get all up in arms over the term itself. Why is that? I think the term “political correctness” irritates people more than the actual practice of it, because of its its associations with the “liberal elite,” a group that many conservatives distrust, dislike, and simply cannot relate to. But showing respect and empathy for others, even if they’re different than we are, is not about partisan politics. The Golden Rule applies to everyone and benefits everyone, regardless of political party, economic status, race, religion, or creed.

We have a president who takes pride in his lack of political correctness. He insults people and calls them names and calls this behavior honesty. Many of his followers think of Trump’s antipathy toward PC-ness as one of his greatest strengths, but the truth is, Trump’s version of “honesty” (something he definitely is not) is nothing more than schoolyard bullying, and most of what he says is not true anyway. His language and bullying manner not only hurts people who have done nothing wrong (other than being critical of Trump or his policies), it also encourages hatred and intolerance among his followers. Since Trump’s election, suddenly it’s okay for people to bully others who are not like them, since Trump does the same thing. It’s okay to demean and insult Muslims, Mexicans, women, gays, Democrats, the liberal media, and other groups Trump looks down on because Trump does it and seems to think it’s okay. It’s become okay to dehumanize and target people who aren’t the same as we are or who don’t agree with us.

Recently, I read there’s even been an uptick in school bullying since Trump got elected. Bullies everywhere and of all ages feel empowered because the president does it and seems to think there’s nothing wrong with it. Some critics of political correctness think it means stuffing your feelings and wearing a fake smile all the time, but that is just not true. We don’t have to go around grinning like idiots (was it un-PC to use that term?) and pretending to like people we don’t or be happy with situations that make us miserable, but that doesn’t give us the right to go around insulting and demeaning others for no reason other than that we find their differences offensive.

Sadly, this attitude about political correctness is very widespread today.

Trump is giving the world the wrong idea of what strength is all about. In his strongman world, dictators and authoritarian leaders are admirable because they rule with an iron hand and victimize and punish those who oppose them. Civilized discourse, peaceful negotiation, and compromise is seen as weakness. This is why he’s the only president in living memory who has not included the opposing political party in his decision making. In fact, all he does is insult Democrats (even though he used to be one himself), sabotages their efforts (as he is by refusing the pay Obamacare subsidies), and then blame them when things inevitably go wrong (“Obamacare is DEAD!”). This is a divide-and-conquer strategy narcissists and sociopaths like Trump are infamous for.

Real strength means showing respect and compassion for others. It means refraining from calling people insulting names when someone says something critical of you (as long as the criticism isn’t abusive), and maybe even learning something from it. It means lifting others up instead of working to oppress them and keep them down. It means encouraging people instead of trying to sabotage or insult them. It means being inclusive instead of exclusive. It means working to find common ground instead of encouraging divisiveness. And it means being PC sometimes too, if by political correctness we mean showing respect for our fellow human beings, regardless of how different from us they might be. Granted, political correctness is sometimes taken too far, but Trump’s dangerous lack of it is off the rails, and is a threat to our democracy and to the world. Civility is in short supply these days. If we really want to “make America great again,” we need to return to a culture of civility, common courtesy, and neighborliness.

Christian Dominionism has taken over the GOP.

Posted on June 19, 2017 by luckyotter

fascism

Many Christians may wonder how the heartless, draconian, dangerous, and mean policies of the current GOP can be reconciled with anything Jesus Christ actually taught.

The truth is, they can’t. Although our current president (who by all indications is not a religious man, nor has he repented for his many indiscretions both before and after he was elected) panders to the Christian Right, has surrounded himself with “Christian” politicians (mostly fundamentalists and dominionists — more on dominionism in a minute), and has taken on their anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage rhetoric (to obtain support and votes, since these are the two issues that seem to concern these so-called Christians the most), Trump’s behavior (and those of the people he has appointed) is anything but Christ-like. Yes, it’s true the Bible tells us to “judge not, lest ye be judged,” but we are also told (by Jesus) that “by their fruits you shall know them [the evildoers],” and so far, this administration has borne nothing but bad fruit. So, going by that, I feel justified in judging the regime that has taken control of our country.

The ugly truth is that they have an agenda: turning our democracy into a religious theocracy — an Old Testament-based dictatorship that is to real Christianity what the Taliban/ISIS is to real Islam. They want a Christian version of Sharia Law in which women and minorities are silenced and repressed and “know their place,” in which political or religious dissent is made illegal, in which non-Christians can be treated as second class citizens with limited or no rights, in which the land, sea and sky is raped and pillaged for human purposes (because taking care of our planet means we “lack faith” in God’s ability to replenish the Earth), in which personal sin (abortion, homosexuality, adultery, etc.) is punished harshly and maybe even by death, and in which material wealth is regarded as proof of God’s approval/love and in which it’s justified to let the poor and sick perish and die because they are “moral failures”who have not been so blessed with good health or wealth because they are not among God’s elect (a Calvinistic doctrine that we are all predestined for heaven or hell before we are born, which of course begs the question as to how we can also have free will).

If you are thinking about how far this is from what Jesus preached in his most famous of all sermons, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), you are right. Jesus instructed us us to welcome immigrants (his own parents would have been banished from Bethlehem and Mary not allowed to give birth there because they were foreigners), take care of the poor and the sick (one of the most famous, but far from the only, verse in the Bible addressing this is the one about it being easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to get to heaven), and turn the other cheek (be humble.) He railed against pride, greed and legalism. He counted among his friends the beggars and the homeless. He valued women as much as he did men. He gave us the “new Covenant” which was to replace the old Biblical laws found in books such as Leviticus.

Now, the old Testament has much to recommend it, and of course the Ten Commandments are just plain old common sense. Personally, I have no objection to the Commandments being displayed in courthouses or “In God We Trust” being printed on the dollar bill, because these things don’t necessarily favor only Christians and they’re simply good advice for anyone. They don’t repress, oppress, or marginalize anyone. They don’t hurt people or the environment. They don’t undermine the Constitution or our freedoms. People who object to these things really ought to turn their minds to more important issues that actually affect their lives.

Yet we have a bunch of Christian heretics high up in government who actually want to set up a fascist regime based not on the Constitution drawn up by the Founding Fathers, but on Old Testament Biblical Law. This is the desire and goal of cultists (yes, to my mind they are a cult) who embrace an ugly and dangerous doctrine called Christian Dominionism, and Donald Trump, in spite of not himself being religious, is their cult leader.

Here is a comprehensive definition of what Christian dominionism is:

https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-dominionism.html

Christian dominionists may tell us they are saved and insist we need “more Jesus” but they practically ignore the Gospels. Instead, they cherry-pick passages in the Old Testament that they feel support their beliefs, usually the ones that show God at his most angry, intolerant, and punishing. There is no Jesus in what they preach and to my mind, they are Christian in name only. They also have somehow come up with the idea that America is God’s chosen nation (after Israel) and that Jesus will return here, which justifies everything they do that represses or punishes non-believers and the “non-elect.” But there is absolutely nothing in the Bible that supports the notion that America is somehow regarded as God’s chosen country.

They (as well as many fundamentalist Christians, whether they are dominionists or not) believe that Donald Trump, while not the second coming of Jesus himself, is nonetheless “preparing the way” for Jesus’ return. They may acknowledge that Trump is a sexually and personally amoral narcissist, but this is okay because in the Bible, God often used sinful people to fulfill his wishes. They compare Trump to King Cyrus of Persia, a deeply flawed and cruel man who nonetheless freed the Jews.

According to this website,

“He came in, this king, as a secular ruler and decreed for the building of the house of the Lord. He literally made it possible for the Jews to end the captivity,” Lance Wallnau, an evangelical leader and author, told the Christian Broadcasting Network. “Trump has the Cyrus anointing to navigate in chaos.”

Trump as “Cyrus,” President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as “Babylon,” the Jews as either modern-day Israelis or Americans? It’s not only evangelical Christians who buy it. Before the election, Rabbi Matityahu Glazeron predicted a Trump victory based on an analysis of Bible codes, which he said also pointed to the new president as a Cyrus-like figure.

In a pre-inauguration faith gathering, Likud Knesset member Yehuda Glick, in Washington, D.C. for the festivities, expressed a like sentiment. Calling the new president “the king of the United States of America,” Glick said that if Trump moved the United States embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, “He will be the latter-day Cyrus!”

Trump has also sometimes been compared to King David, a similarly flawed man of the Old Testament who was a hero to the Israelites and made Jerusalem its capital.

Here is a list of “Christian” justifications for the evil, un-American agenda the Trump regime and much of the GOP are trying to make reality. I am not making this up. I wish I were. The source I used for this list can be found here. There are many other sources, and a quick Google search should point you to them, but I found this source the most comprehensive and will serve for the purposes of this article. I will warn however, that this website makes for some disturbing reading. I don’t recommend reading it if you want to get any sleep. You can read about their plan for taking over the Republican Party (we are seeing many indicators of their agenda being fulfilled under the Trump administration) here.

Public education for all is to be abolished in favor of religious, private education. If you can’t afford a private, religious education, too bad, you must not be one of God’s elect. Ignorance is good, because it keeps the undesirables in line. Educated people ask too many questions. How long before our child labor laws (because that’s socialism) are repealed? Put those indigent kids to work!

Defunding protections for the environment. Apparently, for Christian dominionists, stewardship of the earth is irrelevant, in spite of numerous Bible passages that tell us that the Earth belongs to God, and we are only to use it sustainably. They believe that because in Genesis, Adam and Eve were told to “fill the earth and subdue it,” and “take dominion over it,” that means it’s okay for us to vandalize God’s creation and expect Him to clean up after us like parents coming home to find trash all over the house and graffiti drawn all over the walls after their unruly teenagers threw a drunken weekend party. They justify unsustainable environmental practices such as strip mining or fracking by saying that only a person of no faith in God’s restorative ability would want laws that protect earthly resources.

Why the mainstream media should be suppressed.

The GOP war against women. It ain’t just about abortion. They want a patriarchy where women are treated as second class citizens with fewer rights than men and where women’s health is legislated and controlled by high ranking men. If you want to get an idea of what life might be like for women if the current GOP gets their way, read Margaret Atwood’s eerily prophetic 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale.

Why it’s “Christian” to take “entitlements” away from the poor and middle class. According to Christian dominionists, God has selected certain individuals to take power over America (a Christian nation!) in preparation for Christ’s return. In order for them to have the power they need to do what God has ordained, He has blessed them with material wealth like some cosmic lottery machine. So if you aren’t rich, then God has not chosen you, and in fact you are probably predestined for hell anyway. This is a morally repugnant (and uniquely American) theology based on Calvinism and the Puritanism that grew from that. It explains how some far right Christians can reconcile their faith with Ayn Rand’s (herself an atheist) philosophy of selfishness, otherwise known as “objectivism.” Never mind all that socialist business about Jesus loving the poor and weak — he didn’t really mean it! Using dominionist logic, Saudi Arabian oil sheikhs must be even more favored by God, since they are richer than any American Christian.

While “the little people” need more rules and regulations (Jeff Sessions wants to bring back the War on Drugs — hey, gotta fill up all those for-profit prisons!), corporations shouldn’t have any regulations (laws that keep them from exploiting or abusing people, animals, and the environment) because regulation cuts into their profits, and we already know those profits are ordained by God and should not be interfered with.

There is much more, but I’ll leave it at that. These are the same people that condemn radical Islam for its treatment of women and their tyrannical governments that suppress religious liberty and terrorize those who don’t believe, but they want to do the very same thing here under the rubric of Christianity. They are hypocrites who twist real Christianity into something more closely resembling a fanatic religious cult in which “freedom of religion” means the freedom to force their religious beliefs on others by making them the law. They whine about Christians being persecuted because of creationism not being taught in public schools or because some people say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” (personally, I doubt Jesus cares whether we celebrate his birthday or not), but they feel perfectly free to persecute those who don’t believe exactly as they do and just want to live in a country where everyone is equal and treated fairly.

The president isn’t the problem — he’s the symptom.

Posted on May 26, 2017 by luckyotter

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Donald Trump is probably the most hated president in U.S. history. He may be the most hated public figure since Osama bin Ladin, Saddam Hussein, or even Adolf Hitler. In less than five months, he has transformed America — not into some “great” nation that never really existed, as his red ballcaps promise, but into an alien regime hovering just north of banana republic status.

I won’t list all the ways he and his administration are destroying America. Most likely, you already know, and if you don’t know, then you haven’t been paying attention and this blog isn’t intended to inform you what’s been going on. If you, like 35 – 40% of the people in this country, think he’s been doing a great job and is really making America great again, then you have no business reading this post anyway. It’s not my desire or my responsibility to change your mind.

Donald Trump isn’t the problem though. The problem has been with us since at least the early 1980s, with the beginnings of deregulation (rolling back the laws that prevented monopolies and exploitation of workers), the breakup of the unions, and the then-revolutionary idea of trickle down economics, whose original intention was to eventually lift up all boats. Perhaps Reagan actually thought his economic policies would work. I don’t think he ever intended for things to go this far. But they did, because limitless greed and predatory business practices became too addictive and no one wanted to put the brakes on. Those benefiting the most from Reagan’s tax breaks and corporate welfare became insatiable — and at some point they sold their souls because they liked the endless flow of goodies too much.

In a nation where being the best, and having the best and most of everything were becoming the only things that mattered, empathy and caring for others became like an emotional appendix — something that was a liability in the crass, bright new world of me-first and conspicuous consumption. So caring and civility were tossed aside in favor of selfishness and even sociopathy. It took almost four decades to reach the point where this state of affairs was no longer sustainable, and in 2008, with the housing crisis, the structure was revealing how broken and rot-infested it had become. For eight years, we had a no-drama, pragmatic leader who managed to keep things from getting too much worse. So it wasn’t until 2017 that the rotted structure actually started to collapse, with the election of a pathologically narcissistic, conscienceless, authoritarian would-be dictator who is attempting to destroy anything that’s left of the country that made him what he was.

Donald Trump isn’t the cancer. He’s just the pain we feel. If Hillary had been elected instead, the disease would have silently continued to grow worse without our realizing it, until nothing could be done. The far right would have nursed their simmering hatred for Hillary and demonized her even more than they demonized Obama. Congress, the senate, and the judiciary would have continued to turn even more seats over to far right Republicans dead set on removing our civil rights, dismantling our institutions, destroying the environment, and taking away our freedom. If you think things are bad now, they would have been much worse four years from now and someone like Trump or even worse (yes, it’s possible) would have come to power in the next presidential election. Progressives would have had even less power to change anything than they do now. I think had someone like Trump come to power after four years of Hillary (who would have been constantly obstructed and then blamed for not being able to do anything) , we would have quietly become a bona fide one-party country where any dissent would be silenced or even punished. We would be beyond hope.

I don’t think things are that dire yet. We are on orange, but not yet red. There are still a few checks and balances in place. Although a minority, there are still some Democrats in powerful government positions. The legitimate news media is under attack, but it’s still vibrant and thriving, in fact more so now than it ever was. The fake news media (Fox News) that has fed the disease is now facing a reckoning and may never recover. Republicans are slowly realizing the seriousness of our situation. Progressives have realized this all along — we told them so, but they didn’t listen. Now maybe a few finally are.

The rot runs deep in America and in 2017, it can no longer be hidden or ignored. The political situation right now is like stage 4 cancer that didn’t start to hurt until the end. Oh, maybe there was a sense that something was wrong but there was nothing obvious or painful enough to make us want to change our ways. Cancer can be carried for a long time before you realize there’s anything wrong. Once it starts to hurt, and you finally make that doctor’s appointment, it may be too late. But it also may not be too late, and the pain is an alarm telling us we must take action and we must reclaim those values we thought were hampering us.

We have officially entered the Twilight Zone.

Posted on May 20, 2017 by luckyotter

trump-arrive-saudi6-flowers-crowley-master768-v2

Credit: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Only four months into the Trump presidency, and America feels like an alien planet occupied by tentacled overlords who have taken we, the people, hostage. Yes, even Trump supporters, who seem to be suffering from a mass case of Stockholm Syndrome. The horror author Stephen King probably summed up the situation most chillingly when he tweeted that no horror novel he ever wrote matched the horror of what is unfolding before us ever since Trump became our president.

Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, he tried to impose a ban on Muslims entering the country, which, like everything else he has tried to implement, ended in failure and the ever-growing ire of people who champion human rights and sanctuary for refugees escaping authoritarian regimes. The crazy thing about the Muslim ban was that it did not ban any countries where Trump has business interests, and this includes Saudi Arabia, a country that Trump has himself criticized for its human rights abuses and the way they treat women, children, and gays. Let’s also not forget the fact that Saudi Arabia may also have been behind 9/11 — or at least Trump has said they were. Donald Trump has denigrated Islam and promised to protect us from the “Islam takeover” that exists only in his own mind, which was his purported reasoning for the infamous Muslim ban.

So, why is Trump in Saudi Arabia before he’s made any visits to American allies like Canada, Europe, or Mexico? Why is he kissing up to their high government officials and accepting medals, the royal treatment, and signing agreements? Most unfathomable of all, why do the Saudis seem to love Trump as much as he seems to love them now? Why does he treat them with more respect than he treats Germany’s Andrea Merkel or Australia’s Malcolm Turnbull or Canada’s Justin Trudeau?

The easy answer to Trump’s stunning hypocrisy (and the seemingly only way to resolve our collective cognitive dissonance) is the adage “follow the money,” and obviously money is a big part of it. Although Trump tweeted yesterday that his visit was to promote peace between the US and the Islamic world (yeah, right, I really believed that one), we now learn that he was really there to sell billions of dollars of weapons to Saudi Arabia. That’s right — he’s selling weapons to a country he has himself said was behind the 9/11 attacks. Whether they were or weren’t behind the attacks isn’t the point. Signing a weapons treaty with Saudi Arabia proves he doesn’t really care about the well-being of Americans. It’s always all about the money. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

And yet his supporters scream and rant about people who protested against the Muslim ban. They accuse us of helping give Islam a way to infiltrate our “Christian” and “democratic” way of life here. They can’t think critically enough to understand that granting Muslim refugees (mostly women and children) sanctuary here doesn’t mean we sympathize with the jihadists or approve of fundamentalist Islam — in fact, it means we have compassion for the victims of fundamentalist Islam’s human rights abuses and recognize that these vulnerable people are human beings who need our help. But they are perfectly okay with our Muslim-hating president who seems to be cozying up to the very people they fear the most.

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Credit: N/A

It’s no different than his attitude toward the Russians. While Russia is no longer a communist country and they haven’t been thought of as an enemy in many years, they aren’t exactly an ally either. Or they never have been until this presidency. Donald Trump seems to worship the Russians, even emulate them. Last week, he held a secret meeting in the Oval Office with Russian officials where no American press was invited but Russian photographers were. Trump supporters have resolved their cognitive dissonance over Trump’s inexplicable behavior by taking up his own attitudes — to the point of chanting “RUSSIA IS OUR FRIEND” at one of their protests. They can’t think critically enough to see their hypocrisy. No, to them, it’s the media that’s the enemy now — a beloved right protected under the 1st Amendment — because Trump has declared they are an enemy. Now those rights we take for granted are endangered.

Again, the easy explanation for the inexplicable is “follow the money.” Like Saudi Arabia, Russia is a country where Trump has business interests. If the investigation turns out to bear fruit (and I am certain it will if it isn’t stymied or somehow silenced), we will see that Russia at least partly financed his campaign, rigged the election, and has been funneling money to him and his far-right billionaire cronies all along. Of course, if the investigation finds collusion with Russia, his supporters will still find a way to defend him, or cry “FAKE NEWS!” They truly believe Trump is more trustworthy than the FBI. What kind of crazyworld are we in when we actually start to look at the FBI as the heroes — and even the victims? We have really fallen down the rabbit hole into an alternate universe with an alternate reality where we doubt our own perceptions and the truth is no longer required. It’s gaslighting writ large.

It’s much more than a money trail, though. In fact, money may not even be the primary reason behind Trump’s love for Saudi Arabia and Russia. Trump has shown an affinity for authoritarian leaders, regardless of their ideology or their religious beliefs. We all know about his massive mancrush on Vladimir Putin and his minions, but he’s also praised North Korean president Kim Jong Un, one of the most fearsome — if not THE most fearsome — dictators in the modern world. He seems to admire and emulate dictators, because he himself is an authoritarian personality who believes in a harsh, punishing, “strongman” approach to governing as opposed to the democratic, egalitarian one favored by the western world. He insults and denigrates leaders who espouse fairness, equality, and compassion — or at the very least he ignores them as if they don’t matter. His refusal to shake hands with Germany’s chancellor Andrea Merkel compared with the hearty slaps on the back and simpering secret-sharing with Putin is very telling.

I spent much of last night and this morning puzzling over why Saudi leaders seem to fawn all over Trump and have given him a red-carpet welcome to their country worthy of a king — in spite of the fact he has repeatedly insulted their religion and culture. Of course, we can follow the money; with Trump, that’s a given. But there’s another reason. They love Trump because he is so much like them. They can identify with a man who shares their own values of repression, sexism and authoritarianism. A dictatorial approach to governing, in their minds, trumps religion (no pun intended). And the same applies to Donald Trump. Unlike our past presidents (even the most conservative among them), Trump has far more in common with King Salman or Putin than he does with Andrea Merkel or Justin Trudeau — and that should be a grave concern to anyone who calls themselves an American or who cherishes freedom and democracy.

There’s one other reason why Trump loves the Saudis and the Russians, which is perhaps the most important one of all: they give him the narcissistic supply he so craves. They probably know how fragile his ego is — after all, they are not stupid. Trump, like many narcissists, is naive enough to think they love him, they really, really love him, when in fact they are most likely laughing at him whenever he leaves the room. The weird thing about narcissists like Trump is the paradox of power. Narcissists, although predatory and dangerous to most, are also very emotionally needy. That neediness makes them incredibly naive and therefore easily manipulated. Their unreasonable demands for adulation may cause most people (who they see as beneath them) to cringe in fear, but they will gladly grovel before most psychopaths. Thus they become putty in the hands of psychopathic or sociopathic leaders like Vladimir Putin, who appear far less insecure and requiring of worship than Trump does. They will do anything they are asked and jettison any values they insist they have (which they really don’t) when they see that the tradeoff is a healthy dose of narcissistic supply. They’re the ultimate sellouts. Trump pretends to have values but it’s all a sham. The only thing he values (besides money and power) is being worshipped and adored.

And so now we are witnessing the spectacle of our president — who promised protection from terrorism — fawning all over Islamic jihadists in Saudi Arabia. No, I realize most Muslims are not fundamentalist crazies or jihadists, but the sentiment on the far right is that all of them are (at least up until now). As for Trump, he doesn’t care whether they are or not, as long as they’re giving him the praise and adulation he so craves. In comparison, the freedoms we enjoy here in America are a threat to his ego and a painful reminder of the things he refuses to see in himself. Here in America, instead of the red carpet treatment, bouquets of flowers, and medals of honor, he must face critics on Twitter who make memes poking fun at his hypocrisy and lies, angry protesters who force him to look in the mirror, bloggers and pundits calling him out on his duplicity,and now a high profile investigation into possible treason. But the biggest insult of all to Trump’s fragile sense of self is the evil media and “fake news” that has the temerity to shine a beacon of harsh white light on the truth which he so hates — the media that, for all its faults, is keeping most of us from slipping into into an inescapable abyss of alternative facts, twisted values, and rewritten history that would drive even George Orwell insane.

ALERT: TODAY’S ARMS DEAL MAY BE ILLEGAL!