Peace on Earth? Good Will Towards Men? 2017 Was The Antithesis Of The Christmas Spirit. Thanks, Mr. President.

7 Days until Christmas. 8 Days until we're bombarded with reminders of what 2017 brought. Certainly no "Peace on earth nor "Good Will toward Men. "Retrospects" of the year’s events will abound, and for most Americans the pictures won’t be pretty. 

This week may be a time for people to slow down, look inward, meditate before the onslaught of memories of the year.  This is especially true for people in the LGBTQ, Muslim, immigrant, Hispanic and African American Communities. Actually for people in any vulnerable group. And the Year of Trump has created a lot of vulnerable communities.

“Peace on Earth”? "Good Will Towards Men”? These Americans have to make their own Christmas sentiments because they cannot in all conscience join Trump's America for Christmas. 

To be more direct: There is absolutely no way one could link those phrases to a Trump Christmas. From before last Christmas, when Trump almost single-handedly erased 50 years of U.S.- China relations with a diplomatic blunder worthy of Dan Quayle.  Peace on earth? ...

through internal bickering and firings. petty tweets, lies and deceit, to an air thick with treason and corruption polluting the Presidency- Good will towards men? 

This Presidency, this political aberration is a mockery to Christmas and the true Christmas spirit.( Link to old article)

Of course, Christmas is bright- for the gullible and believers in Trump’s fantasy. For the Alt Right and White supremicists who’ve never such a forceful “voice” befor. For the Christian Right who envision abortion and gay rights  fading from their  worldview/Christofascist    spectrum of self-righteousness. 

For all others, the brightness, the joy, the altruism of Christmas must be scaled back, must go inward, must be more quiet. Yes, it must recede into its own shell so that it can emerge clear and bright (and even a bit tacky/glittery) in the New Year. 

My husband stand and I believe in what you might call “snuggle therapy”: we hold our bodies close and together for a long time and sometimes we whisper “you and me against the world”. We wanted our Christmas angel-bear tree ornaments to reflect snuggling instead of kissing, but it would have been difficult to position them  on the tree without looking like they were doing something else. But notice that they are definitely focusing on each other while engulfed in the glitz of what could be a metaphor for a Trump Christmas.

Maybe American communities need a form of "snuggle therapy" this Christmas: holding themselves closer, quieter. Sheltering themselves. Observing (but not necessarily participating in) the raucous - and fake - Trump Christmas. Meditating upon the past year. 

Healing.

While meditating on 2017, HOPE should still be an element. Many of Trump's supporters are finally waking up to the fact that Trump and his administration are nothing like what they thought it would be. HOPE has always been a powerful coping mechanism. In my case, for example, it can divert the angst over the year with some humor, so here's my Christmas wish for 2018:

Since Trump has decreed that there will be more visits to the Moon - "What would we do without space?" - what better Christmas present for him next year than to make him the first person to colonize it? With an attractive plan to build a hotel/casino/golf course and, of course, a boutique for Ivanka, he would make a killing!

And the sweetest thing about this gift: we could send The Donald off with a blessing:

"May God bless and keep you, Mr. President -far away from us!*

7 DAYS

This week, individuals, families, whole communities should practice their forms of "snuggle therapy" by being as close to each other as possible. And safe, for the time being, from the onslaught of "retrospectives" and thoughts of more ugly scenes to come.

This following video Christmas card was produced primarily for the immediate neighborhood and friends, featuring a Garden everyone views as a community-builder. From the Meditation Station to the acrylic rock heart, it is looked upon as a sanctuary - a place of peace and reflection. It represents the Christmas spirit all year round. It is our building;s "snuggle therapy." Notice that the Christmas tree is lacking a star on top - that's because the true light of Christmas comes from within.

It serves as my Christmas card to everyone.





 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

* a line borrowed from Fiddler on the Roof the story of which has some odd parallels to our present situation.

Saturday: The Apocalypse. Sunday: Gays To Celebrate With A Street Fair And Beer Bust!

God's going gay for the Apocalypse
Taking a break from Trump Messiah sycophant-ism the "prophets" of the Christian Right are warning of Saturday's coming Apocalypse.

God's Ambulance Chasers are changing course
Far from following in the footsteps of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson* (the original Christofascist blame-the-gays theorists), today's Apocalyptic ministers have changed from merely raining bibles on disaster victims to connecting the Armageddon dots, forming a picture of a God totally pissed that anyone, any country would do something so abominable as accept gay marriage

And considering that disasters like hurricanes Katrina and Harvey have been blamed almost exclusively on the LGBT community, it's gonna be a very GAY Apocalypse.

There will be ...

Gay floods



Gay earthquakes




Gay tornadoes



And, of course, Gay volcanic eruptions!



The signs have already been in place:

- a rash of major hurricanes!

- Planet X/Nibiru has been seen hurtling toward us through space by millions thousands hundreds tens of people !

- San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair is the DAY AFTER!

- Fox News changes Sean Hannity's time slot to be opposite Rachel Maddow!

- Robert Mueller has Trump's tax returns!

It's Nibiru, stupid!
Theories abound in YouTube with dozens of "updates" (average number of views - an astounding 250) and signs ranging from homeless genocide to "sightings" are scattered like dandelion puffs across the internet.

The science behind Nibiru might seem a tad secular, but look deeper into the YouTube uploads and you'll see God lurking around. The comments are a testament to man's blessed skepticism:

- It's time for us to stop believing bullshit jus cos a mofucker tell u bullshit wiv a straight look on their face

- OLD SHIT FOR NEW MONEY

- i am glad to see that you dont have any subscribes... rlly. I am not negative perons who want worse for others, but this bullshit cant spread anymore

- For anyone who believes this stuff... WILL YOU PLEASE GIVE ME 1,000 dollars so I can go have fun with my wife for a few days before Nibiru gets here?

The date of September 23rd is also a magnate for armchair Armageddon freaks: the alignment of the moon, sun and planets have alarmed "rapture" believers and exorcists.

Of course,the Mexico City quake is fueling the bullshit fires. So far, God's ambulance chasers are ominously (but respectfully) silent. Just wait. 

Pope Francis, of course, is having none of it: several years ago, after a quake in Italy was attributed to civil unions by a local pastor on radio:

The radio station distanced itself from Cavalcoli’s views and the Vatican has issued a stinging rebuke, saying the idea of a vengeful God was “a pagan vision” dating from “the pre-Christian era”.
Archbishop Angelo Becciu, number two in the Vatican’s powerful secretariat of state, said Cavalcoli’s comments were “offensive to believers and disgraceful for non-believers”.

Alignment of the planets, Nibiru or an angry God, God's Ambulance Chasers have to blame someone, anyone else for the Apocalypse. Gays are the easy target.


Postcript:

Remember Harold Camping?

"God has given sooo much information in the Bible about this, and so many proofs, and so many signs, that we know it is absolutely going to happen without any question at all. - Harold Camping

It didn't.

See you at the Fair on the 24th.






*Robertson warned Orlando, FL of a meteor striking it in retribution for Disnesy World's Gay Day.

A Quest For Community - One Attempt To Create A Community In San Franci...

This is just a little effort compared to the greatness that is community-building, but it is nonetheless sincere. 



Using  a garden to form togetherness and alliances with neighbors is certainly nothing new, but if you live in a large urban area, you know the challenges something like this can come up against.



So far, this is still a secret among immediate locals. It is a sanctuary, a spot for meditation,  a welcome place for intimate get-togethers ... and for dreaming. It's slated for demolition in a year or so, and must be taken advantage of by people soon. 



I might include it in a longer post in my own blog.



Please enjoy it. Comments and suggestions (and yes, criticisms) are welcome.



Dan Vojir

Parkmerced resident

The Miseries of the M: Cursed, Incompetant, or just plain Sadistic?

The Miseries if the M

OR How I Experienced MUNI's Torquemada 

After I read the notice about MUNI's new metro trains the only thing that came to mind was that however bright and spiffy the cars would look, the M line would still be the M line.

The M, by the way, stands for MISERABLE.

Today (maybe the M line was celebrating 9/11?):

2:55PM: the M was running late as usual, but the crowd at the 19th and Holloway platform was enormous, indicating that it was VERY late. It took 20 minutes for it to arrive (after the digital display said 11 minutes). I would venture to guess that there were more than 120 people packed in the three car train. 

After arriving (slowly) at West Portal Ave., we were told that we were being dumped off (ahem, "transferred") at West Portal, then were told to get off half a block away from the station. It was obvious that the driver was told to turn back to "get back on his schedule" totally disregarding ours. Then we waited another 8 minutes for another train - which turned out to be an M.

Late trains filled with disgruntled riders seem to be the raison d'etre for the M line. So do dump-offs, M trains suddenly turned into shuttles - or Ls or Ks and the attitude that M riders are somewhat second class. These and other maladies of the M have made it the darling of ... Uber.

MUNI's excuses abound:

Traffic? Door malfunction? Body on the tracks leftover from previous train?

Who cares? We've heard them all - the countless excuses have numbed us: we can't believe anything remotely rational.

After experiencing years of this kind of frustration, after years of being dumped off at West Portal both inbound and outbound, hundreds of missed appointments, watching numbers on the GPS boards bounce around like lottery balls, scurrying to catch makeshift shuttles when the Line was shut down, and getting stuck in the tunnel, I was forced to come to this conclusion: the M line is maliciously making its riders miserable.

The M, in other words, runs on sadism.

I've compiled instances with photos giving evidence that M riders are definitely treated with disdain: the "miseries" show that times between M trains are greater than between Ks or Ls and in some instances unbelievable.

Once while waiting at the Castro St station for the M outbound, the board declared "32 minutes" , then, in the space of twenty minutes, THREE almost empty Ks and THREE almost empty Ls came by.

Insultingly sadistic.

Annotated photos of MUNI's gps displays tell the plight of M riders and their daily miseries.



A not uncommon sight: longer waits for outbound passengers. (And no, an M had not just left the station)

Another example: The K had just left, so this K was still arriving sooner than the M. At 11:00AM? Standing at the station for 27 minutes while Ks and Ls stop by is not a fun pastime.

Rush hour: knowing that this particular M is too be packed (because it's late), getting on an outgoing M may take another 30 minutes.



Outbound at the Powell station. In the span of those 7 minutes, 2 Ns 2Ks 3Js passed. Also: both the L and the K were changed from other trains and arrived at Powell within 2 minutes. 

Notice the ridiculous inbound number. Look at the blank K inbound and it's number outbound. Truly someone has it in for the K almost as much as the M.

This time.



10 minutes ago at Civic Center a station an M was scheduled to arrive in 2 minutes. Took the L to a west Portal where the M says 9 minutes.

M in 9 minutes, right? Except it's not an M, it's a shuttle. 

Translation: without riders given any lead time, that M was turned into I a "Castro Shuttle" (probably at Montgomery) people who board at Embarcadero or Montgomery may have no idea that they are only going to west portal, while the people at Civic center have no idea that the next M will be a shuttle. This happens frequently, frustrating M riders all the time - no apologies.

A word about "dump offs" (as I call them): it seems that the M experiences more of these "transfers" than the K or the L. Outbound ones always add minutes of travel due to the fact that the next actual M might not arrive at West Portal for a while. Once, when the M turned into an L at the last minute, riders complained loudly when they saw only three people remaining on the newly minted L train. After a few choice words to a MUNI crew member, an outgoing L was turned into an M. All the while the crew member was laughing.

During an inbound dump off at West Portal, I asked irately why? "They told me to turn around to get back on my schedule." Apparently M riders don't have any schedules of note. 

I almost got snarky when a driver shouted "You'll have to get off. I'm going to the Zoo!" One the tip of my tongue to shout back "Oh dear! I hope your mother's OK!"

May 27 3:45:

19th and Holloway: M inbound just passed. Sign above: "Downtown- 11min" "LRV not running- take M ocean view bus"!!! WTF? 3:56 - M arrives. Confusion reigns.

The gap says it all: note how far the M is FROM Castro station

June 5 2:52PM 19th and Holloway - 3 (yes, 3!!) Ms spaced 2 minutes apart (?!)



7:34pm - 19th Holloway station: "M Balboa Park 7min and 9 min. M Downtown 10min and 35 min. Talk about erratic!!


6/8- Train #120648. Dumped off at West Portal and took a K. Driver made some bizarre remarks about a horse then whinnied! He left us with "And remember folks, MUNI loves you!!" Groans were audible.

An incredibly weird pile up of Ms WTF is going on 1, 2,3 maybe, but FOUR? Maybe one real M and three shuttles?



10:51 - 7/18/17 just now got on the M - waited on the platform 22 minutes while numbers on the digital display bounced around like balls in a lotto machine.

Conclusion:

Well, I'd love to say, that's all, but it certainly isn't: These things happen to M riders on daily basis. Once, when MUNI got enough complaints, they posted rather flippant, unfunny notices for a meeting: "Is the crowded M crowding your style?" (showing a crowded car with one man obviously trying to cruise another man). The meeting consisted primarily of a "proposed" plan to make the entire M line underground.

But, knowing the rate at which MUNI works, not in our lifetimes.

We know that a slew of complaints will result in the usual sloughed off "sorry for the inconvenience" (I often think that's what they say to people they've just run over), and this rant is really no different, with the exception and it proves that M riders are definitely second class.

The Sadistic M and its Torquemada

As the saying goes "We might as well laugh at this or deserve it." My favorite pertinent quote is from Mark Twain: "Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand." So I've composed a little "Miseries of the M" video using Mel Brooks' "The Inquisition" song as a backdrop. I dubbed in Mel's voice with my own "It's the M Line" lyrics.

My Quest for Community

My quest for community.

using Faeries, a Buddha and an acrylic rock heart.

... for starters

It all started about 5 years ago after my partner died of liver cancer. I had been planting flowers in my little 4x4 plot in the community garden, but longed for a larger space, a more useful space. 

One day I looked out the living room window and saw an elderly lady carrying an enormous coil of hose towards bushes people in the building knew were hers for many years.

She wasn't supposed to have a garden or plant anything back there.  This was a planned residential community of over 3400 units and planting was limited to a small community garden. But everyone looked the other way.

"Ok. If she can do it, so can I".  I spied a barren patch and got to work. 

Like any unfettered project, the Garden began to grow exponentially: a large red acrylic rock heart surrounded by geraniums was followed by a "Faerie Portal", a " meditation station", a CD player and speakers placed behind a large trellis, and a birdhouse made almost entirely of branches from the echium bushes. 

 

Oh, and a "Secret Sanctuary". And an herb wheel. And Beatrice's Lovers Bench. And garden view seating. 

And lights. Lots of lights. 

Building residents asked if the Garden had any special significance. It didn't really, until I thought of a fulfilling purpose: I called it

The 50 Chumasero Memorial Garden - for everyone who has lived and loved at 50 Chumasero. 

I wanted the diverse residents to consider our building as a community. 

Diverse residential areas have come under siege: no matter what location, people of every race, nationality, creed, and sexual orientation need to protect each other from the vicissitudes of a country becoming rife with hatred and violence. 

The Garden has taken a good portion of six years to create and has hosted events like Valentine’ Day photo ops, Easter egg hunts, Earth Day and a children’s Great Butterfly Release. And of Holidays.

      

The Garden's Faeries have gotten into the spirit of community with their latest effort: special lighting and music for residents' birthdays. The results: 

Parkmerced Vision:  

“…a really thoughtful and creative way to approach building community. It’s very pleasing to know that we have residents like you making grass root efforts. We stress community both for the Vision and Parkmerced today and we can host as many events imaginable, but it really comes down to residents getting involved and talking with their neighbors.”

I am also using the Garden’s building (50 Chumasero Dr.) as a laboratory of sorts for ideas regarding a proposed ecology program for all of Parkmerced: last year’s Earth Day, residents were given a tour of Parkmerced’s new sustainable plants, culminating with activities for the kids (receiving the chrysalises to grow the butterflies for release). So far, this proposal has received attention in being nominated for the Golden Gate award from San Francisco Beautiful.

Profile:

From the video “Sustainable Magic of San Francisco”:

                                          

    

Gimme That Ole Time Corruption: Pat Robertson in the Schemes of Jay Sekulow and Donald Trump

Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power. - George Bernard Shaw

The Three Self-Dealers: Another Unholy Trinity Formed Around Trump?

President Trump solidified his ties to the Christian Right by appointing Jay Sekulow as his lawyer to handle the Trump-Russia-Collusion-Obstruction problem. Came highly recommended from the likes of Pat Robertson. And for several reasons:

1. Sekulow is chief attorney for the ACLJ - the Christian Right legal defense team founded by Pat Robertson

2. Sekulow's web of self-run non-profits funnel money to Pat Robertson's shadowy Advocacy Services

3. Sekulow is just as corrupt as both Robertson and Trump (primarily in his self-dealings and family-filled "non-profits") and and is just as much of a showman.

Washington Post

Since 2013, CASE [Sekulow's Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism] has forwarded $500,000 each year to a small charity called the Law and Justice Institute that has no employees and relies almost exclusively on CASE for its revenue,tax filings show. Sekulow is president of the Law and Justice Institute. The Law and Justice Institute, in turn, has paid $500,000 each year to Advocacy Services. Robertson is president of that firm, according to Virginia state records. Robertson’s spokesman did not address written questions about the payments from The Post. [emphasis mine]

And he's as bombastic and tenacious towards his enemies as Trump is:

First, Sekulow is at home in the spotlight. He hosts a daily radio show that airs nationally and online. He has been a regular contributor and on-air guest at Fox News. And his bombastic personality has stood out to several other attorneys in the Christian legal movement – asking to remain anonymous, one lawyer told me Sekulow “spends an inordinate amount of time tooting his own horn.” Judging by his past, appearing on various Sunday morning shows to defend Trump is a natural act for Sekulow.

What is Sekulow getting out of all of this? It's possible Trump may not pay Sekulow: he has a history of not paying legal fees (unless they're paid by the Trump Foundation). In fact, one of his former legal teams has liens against his properties.* It's possible that Sekulow - ever the media hound - has an agenda involving power over the media.

Trump is certainly no stranger to self-dealing and eager to appease the Christian Right via Pat Robertson, so again, Sekulow is a perfect match. Robertson has also defended Trump:

Lest there be any doubt that Christian televangelist Pat Robertson supports President Donald Trump, the longtime host of the 700 Club declared that God put Trump “in this office.”“He’s God’s man for the job,” Robertson said this week, as Right Wing Watch reported.

Pat Robertson was really angry with FBI Director James Comey, this morning: "Once again that clown that is in charge of whatever you call those people, FBI, is in charge of the headlines."

This last statement is ironic, since both Comey and Mueller came to the aid of Robertson's good friend and spiritual colleague John Ashcroft when he was in the hospital being besieged by Bush's White House staff.

About the only real difference Robertson has with Sekulow and Trump is that he really, really hates Russia.*

RECIPROCITY


Note: pictured above with Trump, Robertson and 

Sekulow is Gary Marx, leader of the Faith and

 Freedom Coalition - the entity involved in the 

Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Birds of a feather...

So dirty money and favors flow between these three seemingly opportunistic con men. In Pat Robertson's world, it's called "reciprocity," but without the God factor.

God has little to do with this trio of corruption.


Reciprocity. Corruption. Perhaps the best depiction of the two intertwined is in this scene from "Chicago."

*USA Today:

One law firm that fought contractors over payments and other issues for Trump — New York City’s Morrison Cohen LLP — ended up on the other side of a similar battle with the mogul in 2008. Trump didn’t like that its lawyers were using his name in press releases touting its representation of Trump in a lawsuit against a construction contractor that Trump claimed overcharged him for work on a luxury golf club.

As Trump now turned his ire on his former lawyers, however, Morrison Cohen counter-sued. In court records, the law firm alleged Trump didn’t pay nearly a half million dollars in legal fees. Trump and his ex-lawyers settled their disputes out of court, confidentially, in 2009.

In 2012, Virginia-based law firm Cook, Heyward, Lee, Hopper & Feehan filed a lawsuit against the Trump Organization for $94,511 for legal fees and costs. The case was eventually settled out of court. But as the case unfolded, court records detail how Trump's senior deputies attacked the attorneys' quality of work in the local and trade press, leading the firm to make claims of defamation that a judge ultimately rejected on free speech grounds.

*Again, Irony:
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I apparently agrees with U.S. preacher Pat Robertson that Haitians brought the earthquake on themselves:
Kirill, speaking during a weekend visit to Kazakhstan, said the Haitian people bore responsibility for the calamity because they had turned away from God.

Trump Killed America's Dignity and Integrity. Does The Christian Right Care?

Of course, it is all too obvious that President Donald Trump lacks dignity and integrity.

After all, he killed both.

Dignity in particular fought a brave battle it did, but it was no match for the sheer bombast and inconsiderate crudeness of a con man whose slogan - Make America Great Again - should have been Debase America Always.

Last Memorial Day, President Donald J. Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery for the President's obligatory Memorial Day tradition, laying a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He delivered a proper (for him) address: he extolled the bravery of our soldiers.

Then he forgot where he was and proceeded to perplex, shock and amuse everyone with a childlike rendition of dignity, half-mouthing, swaying and smiling to no one. It was a sight: the smugness and arrogance of five year-old.

Integrity, on the other hand, never even had a chance: Trump annihilated it well before the election:

- Thrice married: the second to a woman he with whom he was having an affair. He bragged about his infidelities and said that having a wife and a mistress at the same time was "beautiful."

- Had over 428 liens against his properties before becoming President (50 more to come with his newest venture of the (now) infamous hotel in D.C. He was long known as "the biggest deadbeat in real estate."

- His ties to organized crime go back over twenty years.

The list of undignified experiences and quotations as well as the list of no-integrity dealings have been put forth for years, but supporters managed to brush them all aside during the campaign.

Look for the narcissist. The most obvious target in today’s lineup is, of course, Donald Trump. When he looks at a glass, he is mesmerized by its reflection. If Donald Trump were shaped a little differently, he would compete for Miss America. But whatever the depths of self-enchantment, the demagogue has to say something. So what does Trump say? That he is a successful businessman and that that is what America needs in the Oval Office. There is some plausibility in this, though not much. The greatest deeds of American Presidents — midwifing the new republic; freeing the slaves; harnessing the energies and vision needed to win the Cold War — had little to do with a bottom line.-William F. Buckley

Whatever the attraction of Trump to voters, it did not seem to be based on reason:

After Trump's inauguration, some buyers' remorse had set in: blatant cronyism (look who he appointed today to head an agency she knows nothing about) nepotism, totally undiplomatic dealings with foreign countries, broken promises, self-dealing, all took their toll leading to one of the lowest job ratings in presidential history in a matter of months.

Even Ann Coulter denounced his actions as "living in Dr Strangelove".

Congressmen have been given to questioning Trump's mental health.

You would think that only the most unreasoning and addle-brained American would still support Trump. While not exactly true, the "35 percent" are a dangerous conglomerate of the uninformed, the misinformed, the disaffected and, of course, the Evangelical Christian Right. The main agendas for Trump's die hard supporters have encompassed xenophobia, eradication of governmental restrictions on most everything and discrimination against minorities with a nationalistic ideology that defines Trump's campaign opened doors for these mindsets - mindsets so important that anyone touting them would get their vote no how poor their morals and integrity seemed to be.

The Staunchest of the 35% - Meeting Reason With Violent Unreason ... and God

If good vetting of candidates is not a strong point of Republicans (think Sarah Palin), then any vetting is absolutely anathema to the Christian Right. After all, God vets, God chooses and that's that.

Check out the entire outlandish segment HERE on the David Pakman show.

Fringe craziness? The operative word here is "fringe", a part of the American political scene that is disproportionately influential - and dangerous, with people like Robert Jeffress, Jerry Falwell, Jr. and (prosperity preacher) Paula White bending the ear of the President:

Religious Right activist “Coach” Dave Daubenmire declared on his “Pass The Salt Live” webcast this morning that America needs “a more violent Christianity.” He cited President Trump and Greg Gianforte as examples of violent men who are properly “walking in authority.”

Daubenmire and radio show host Alex Jones like Trump's macho, good-ole-boy misogynistic style.

A "fringe" that supports climate change denial, a rollback of LGBTQ rights, and even a budget that makes the poor poorer and the rich richer is eager to take over:

Religion Dispatches

But the support for tax cuts, over assistance for those in need, is not just a gift from Trump to his rich friends, tolerated by evangelicals because they care more about other issues. These budget cuts are in keeping with the religious right’s understanding of a biblical worldview, and are at the very core of its agenda.

Of course, it is Pence who is the Christofascist's dream come true, but the Christian Right is still very satisfied with Trump, the "Chosen One."

The Chosen One

With all the twisting, spinning and denying that make up the Christian Right's support of Trump, it could lose what little respect it has from the outside world. But what care they when they have their Chosen One leading them to moral (and possibly Dominionist) victory?

A man with no veracity, no dignity, no integrity.

A Chosen One indeed.
Note: Comparisons of Trump to Hitler abound, so this piece from Judgement at Nuremberg might resonate. Pay particular attention to Marlene Dietrich's story (at the 1:30 mark) - it epitomizes in a sophisticated way what many of us would like to say to Trump.

Embracing Evil: Christofascism's Love For Trump, Putin and Prince Tips Its Hand In The Game Of Religion and Poltics

First, The Sanctimonious Hypocrisy

Yesterday, President Trump's attendance of Easter services at his local Episcopal Church in Palm Beach was hailed as the sign that Donald Trump was indeed the most religious President ever.

According to the Christian Right.

The fact that his attendance at church was the first since his inauguration matters not. Why? Because, according to self-prophet and Christian Leader, Mary Colbert, Donald Trump is "The Chosen One" and all of his opponents will be cursed (plus their children and their children's children).

Colbert's religious whitewash of Trump is not new - the extreme pretzel-twisting reasoning of the Christian Right `began well before Trump's campaign. It only got more ridiculous as Trump's lies, scandals and ineptitude became increasingly apparent.

Colbert called Trump "not perfect." Forget "pussygate" and Russian prostitutes peeing on each other, as a leader of the free world, he has exhibited many many vices (sins), so we know he's not perfect, but  here's what "not perfect" includes in Donald Trump:

The sin of Pride: BRITAIN: Trump Demands Royal Carriage Procession For October Visit Despite UK Security Concerns

Secrecy is not necessarily a virtue:
White House says it won't make visitor logs public

Donald Trump has a problem keeping promises:
Trump Flips On Four Campaign Positions In One Day: NATO, Janet Yellen, Chinese Currency, The EXIM Bank

The sin of Greed: Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold wins Pulitzer Prize for dogged reporting of Trump’s philanthropy

A Champion of conspiracy: Guardian Report Claims U.S. Has “Concrete Evidence” of Trump-Russia Collusion

Added to the above is the fact that Trump has continued to disappoint (sometimes enrage) his stalwart supporters:

Last night Ann Coulter appeared on the Fox News show of Trump sycophant Lou Dobbs, where she angrily denounced Trump’s strike on Syria, saying, “I feel like I’m watching Dr. Strangelove.” Dobbs then moved the conversation to Trump’s other failing campaign promises including the Mexican border wall, prompting Coulter to sneer, “I didn’t know we elected Jeb Bush.”

So why is Trump still "The Chosen One" among people like Colbert? 

Enter Putin and Prince

In some ways, Vladamir Putin is like Trump (with more intelligence): he is considered a con man who declares himself to be deeply religious and totally family-oriented. He is also secretive ... and greedy (no one knows his net worth)

Money:

Figuring out the Russian president’s net worth has long been the holy grail of spooks and hacks around the world. But the personal wealth of Putin—a former KGB agent—is nearly impossible to decipher, and is likely distributed across a secret web of company holdings, real estate, and other people’s accounts. In fact, at a time when his political motivations are under scrutiny across the world, the struggle to pin down Putin’s riches reveals something about the covert ways in which he wields his authority over Russia.

Putin, however, is perhaps THE most Christian of all world leaders because he openly hates gays - or so says Bryan Fischer:

Erik Prince

If Putin's friendship makes Trump look shady, the presence of Erik Prince makes the picture look positively sinister. 

Esquire:
On any list of loathsome Americans, Erik Prince has to be right at the top. He got rich behind Blackwater, the renegade mercenary army that is responsible for a great deal of the hatred directed toward this country in the Middle East. (Privatized hatred was Blackwater's primary gift to the world.) Since his brand cratered (Blackwater was renamed Xe, pronounced, I believe, "Kill." It is now known as Academi. Why? Who knows?), Prince has become an International Man of Sleaze, taking on clients from China to the UAE, which is probably how the meeting in the Seychelles came about, since it was brokered by the UAE government, and since prying Russia and Iran apart is something that the UAE would love to see happen. But what in the hell is Erik Prince doing negotiating on behalf of the United States government, even given the fact that administrations of both parties have done business with him overseas?

Erik Prince's exploits have been chronicled here and here at OpEdNews, and the articles make the point that Christfascism is ripe for conspiracy: Erik Prince is considered Islamophobic in the extreme, wishing to rid the world of Islam by brute force. His ties to both Trump and Putin are the stuff of spy novels. And let's not forget that he's Education Secretary Betsy DeVos's brother. 

An Unholy Trio

So in Putin and Prince, we have men who voice Christofascism's main concerns and the man who can implement their goals. It doesn't matter that the man is destroying American principles left and right. 

After all, he's The Chosen One.