We are drowning in cynicism. Cynicism is killing us! Cynicism is destroying our way of life! Honest! You’ve gotta believe me.
And the poster child for cynicism murdering American democracy is the whole Donna Brazile accusations of the Clinton campaign of kidnapping the DNC and hiding the nomination from Sanders just as he was scooping it up in his hot little hands.
A quick aside: This post is one of an interrelated series on (a) the corrosive toxic effect the Ol’ Pussy Grabber’s use of chaos and misinformation (Deflecting to Clinton), (b) the ways social media is changing our culture and interactions (Brain Hack: the Looming Disaster), and (c) how all this is likely to affect the future of our country. The series includes posts and memes. Unfortunately, it means that general information like the Illusion of Truthiness (with appologies to Stephen Colbert)is…
I expect this post will make some people angry, but I don’t care. I don’t care how much the modern GOP goes on about God and how America is a “Christian” nation. Trump and no one in his inner circle (or maybe his entire administration) are Christians. I don’t care how often they say they go to church or quote from the Bible. All that’s nothing but a sales pitch meant to deceive. If they actually believe they are Christians, then they are the ones who are deceived.
Piety does not equal godliness. As a friend of mine put it, if Satan were to start a religion, he wouldn’t use pentagrams and blood sacrifice. No, that would be too obvious. He would wrap his dark agenda that preaches the values of greed, narcissism, and selfishness in a shell of legalistic, punishing far-right “christianity.” He would use a few superficial selling points (like abortion, nationalism, and homosexuality) to lure the gullible masses (and hijack the churches, which has been going on for decades). He would twist around the language so that love means something closer to hate, justice means something closer to torture, and where all truths are fake news. Lies become alternative facts, rights become entitlements, and compassion becomes the “encouragement of dependency.” He would pretend to be saving your life while he’s really sinking a knife in your back. He would promise to uphold a nation’s constitution and “make it great again” while he’s actually trying to destroy its very fabric. He would wave a cross while angrily preaching a doctrine that promotes chaos, confusion, terror, despair, suffering, hatred, violence, marginalization, and exclusion — the opposite of anything Jesus taught. He would show no mercy or forgiveness should you falter or become weak under his regime. He would punish and marginalize the most vulnerable just for being vulnerable. He would disrespect the earth and have no compunctions about destroying it for his own immediate gratification. He would co-opt and transform the most popular religion in the land and turn it into a weapon intended to terrorize, marginalize, and destroy souls.
The modern GOP that has hijacked our country (and is almost certainly in collusion with Russia) are doing exactly all these things — while giving God lip service. They lie about everything, even when they don’t need to lie. Then they lie even more to cover up the lies. Who was the father of lies? You got it — that’s their real god. What we have now is not a proper government OR a religion — it’s a cult. Trump is the cult’s leader. His most ardent supporters — most who call themselves Christians — are practicing a form of idolatry. To them, Trump is as infallible as God. I remember when he said he could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot someone and they would still stand behind him. It was probably the only true thing he ever said.
“Thou shalt not bear false witness.” — Exodus 20:16
“By their fruits, ye shall know them.” – Matt. 7-16
“At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another, and many false prophets will arise and mislead many. Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.”–Matt. 24:10-12
I think Melania Trump is showing signs of PTSD. Watch the way she flinches and looks uncomfortable when her husband passes her and touches her arm, before she starts to recite the Lord’s Prayer at the Trump rally in Florida last week. Also watch the smug expression on her husband’s face after he passes her.
Melania has admitted she hates the position of being First Lady (because she is apparently an introverted, shy person — and English is not her first language), but I wonder if there is something more going on than just natural reticence and a dislike of being in the public eye. I find it strange that she has rarely been seen in public with Donald, and seems to prefer to remain in New York with Barron, meeting up with her husband only rarely. Whenever she is with him, she looks miserable and scared, and her smile is VERY fake. When he does touch her, she always seems to stiffen, if not outright flinch. She seems either disgusted by, or afraid of him, and possibly both.
There is also this video of Trump and Melania attending a worship service. Melania is either moved by the song (which is very spiritual) or is just feeling sad and miserable, and toward the end she is wiping away tears, but Donald just sits there, with his arms folded, not offering her a hand on the shoulder or a hug or even a word of comfort. He never shows any affection or love toward his wife, and appears to treat her like an object or a prop, just like the extreme narcissist he is.
Most of us also remember that viral video of Melania’s reaction to SOMETHING Trump apparently said to her during the inauguration proceedings (he smile disappears and face falls as if he just broke her soul). This video also shows other evidence of Trump’s and Melania’s body language, that seems to indicate to me she is being abused.
Donald seems to ignore her or walk in front of her whenever they are in public, as if he’s ashamed to be seen with her or just oblivious to her presence. During his inauguration, he just walked ahead of her, and Obama and Michelle had to lead Melania up the steps instead. In contrast, Obama always acknowledges his own wife’s presence and seems to treat her respectfully and affectionately when they are together in public.
Some cynics criticize her for being a gold digger and says she got what she deserved. Personally, I don’t care why she might have married him. Maybe it was for his money, or maybe she really did love him, or maybe she’s a codependent type of person who is attracted to narcissistic men. Donald probably lied to her and swept her off her feet, the same way he is lying to an entire nation and appears to have swept at least some of his supporters off their feet. I feel sorry for Melania. I think she is a quiet, sensitive person who is being slowly destroyed by this man. She’s smart to stay behind in New York with Barron. She needs to leave him. He may not be physically abusive of her (though the flinching makes me suspect he probably is) but he is clearly at least emotionally abusive and she seems miserable. Melania Trump is literally a prisoner in a gilded cage.
This post is just my opinion. I have no proof that he is abusing her, but I think there’s a good case to be made that he is.
Lucky Otters Haven 