in #YouCan'tMakeThisStuffUp, Politics 882 Words

How can I keep silent?

I have not blogged this week. I had planned to post on Monday and again on Tuesday, but the topics I had planned seemed frivolous in light of world events.

Photo by Rostislav Uzunov on Unsplash

Here in the United States, we find ourselves in a war no one wanted. We find ourselves with a President and Vice President who have no internal restraint when it comes to saying stupid things.

My last blog post (When the U.S. President has no moral compass on April 8) was written several days before Donald Trump decided to publish an AI-generated image of himself pretending to be Jesus Christ. That was a few days before he criticized Pope Leo for being “weak crime.”

If one needed proof that the totality of what Trump knows about Christianity would fit on the head of a pin with enough room left over for his 90,000-square-foot ballroom, that image should suffice.

That was a few days before he criticized Pope Leo for being “weak crime.”

He is attacks Pope Leo as if the Pope is running for political office against him. He insults Pope Leo as if the Pope is the President, Prime Minister, or Dictator of a country he wants to take over. (Trump, please don’t start calling The Vatican the 51st state! You already have too many countries on that list. You don’t need to start going after city-states.)

That wasn’t enough, though. Vice President J.D. Vance said that Pope Leo needed to be careful what he says about theology and should try to speak the truth… like he (J.D. Vance) does. As if J.D. Vance is a theological authority!

Vance works for a man who sells Bibles that include the U.S. Declaration of Independence, who autographs copies of that Bible, who holds the Bible upside down for photo ops in front of churches he knows nothing about, who tried to quote Second Corinthians but called it “Two Corinthians” and then said lots of people call it that.

In less than a week, the U.S. President and U.S. Vice President have scolded Pope Leo for during exactly what he is called on to do in his role as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

Trump is not a member of any denomination and Vance claims to have converted to Roman Catholicism five years ago.

Trump eventually took down his image pretending to be Jesus. He explained it away with a lie. He claimed he wasn’t portraying Jesus, he was portraying a doctor. If his doctor dresses like that, I think we now have a good idea of why Trump keeps “acing” cognitive tests.

If I opened my eyes and my doctor was dressed like that, I would think I had died and gone to heaven. If he had Trump’s face, I would know I was not in heaven.

Yesterday, Trump poured salt in the wound his Jesus image had among caused among real Christians (and some atheists!) last week by posting a new AI-generated image of Jesus embracing Trump around the shoulders. Trump doesn’t know when or how to stop. His advisors are just as misguided as he is.

That’s all just in less than a week. If you go back eleven days, you have Trump posting “Praise be to Allah” on social media on Easter Sunday. Can you imagine if President Obama had ever done that?

The White House Press Secretary told us yesterday that Trump’s sense of humor is the most underreported thing about him. He thought it was funny to mock a disabled journalist. He thinks it is funny to call people names and mispronounce people’s names. You know… the types of things that are funny to 12-year-old boys. It’s not a sense of humor I want to see in a U.S. President or any 79-year-old man.

Trump told a reporter yesterday, “I hate to be controversial.”

My question: “Since when?”

I wish I could visit the future for just one day so I could read what historians will write about “the golden age of Trump.” No doubt, it will be looked back on as one of the lowest points in the history of the United States. Right down there with the American Civil War, slavery, and the almost 100 years of Jim Crow laws.

Of course, my train of thought is in direct opposition to the Republican who represents me in the U.S. House of Representatives. His newsletter on Saturday stated, “There is no better time to be an American.” I’m not feeling it.

No doubt, future human beings will puzzle over how the American people elected such an incompetent narcissist not once, but twice. They will, no doubt, be baffled that such an incompetent little man could hoodwink half the voters into thinking he was a better candidate than either of the two highly-qualified women he defeated.

I am sure future human beings will wonder how this could have happened, because for the first 65+ years of my life I wondered how Hitler tricked the Germans.

I no longer wonder. I have now witnessed such a massive brainwashing in real time.

Janet

The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.

18 thoughts on “How can I keep silent?”

  1. I can only agree. It’s hard to comprehend that this is our reality today. What strikes me most is how quickly this kind of behavior becomes normalized. Mocking faith in this way shows a complete lack of moral compass. This feels like a true low point on every level.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. It has only gotten worse since I wrote this morning’s post last night. It has come to light today that Hegseth, in a prayer yesterday at The Pentagon, quoted Samuel L. Jackson from a movie under the guise of quoting the Bible. He also compared today’s journalists to the Pharisees in the New Testament. This afternoon, Trump said, “I’m all about the Gospel. I’m more about the Gospel than anyone.” He said this to reporters as he doubled down in this wrong-headed battle with the Pope. I’m not Roman Catholic, but I’ll side with Pope Leo in this fight Trump has chosen to pick with him. Trump’s supporters are as ignorant as he is as they focus on criticizing the Pope for speaking out for peace. What they are missing is that the rest of us are appalled that we have a U.S. President who is so critical of all people of faith — any faith — any religion — because he is devoid of faith. He is incapable of understanding a person who believes in God. Truly incapable, and that’s what makes it so easy for him to portray himself as Jesus. His upbringing and his current mental state make it impossible for him to fathom the concept of religion. His faith is in himself and the almighty U.S. dollar and GOLD. Anyone with a brain cell knows this will not end well. I feel as though I’m on a sinking ship with a madman at the helm whose entire crew are sociopathic religious fanatics who are blissfully unaware of world history and ignorant of the teachings of Jesus Christ while claiming to be His followers.

    We have a saying here: “Liar, liar, pants on fire.” While Trump answered reporters’ questions on the White House lawn this afternoon, I notice a fire truck in the background. I told my sister it must be on stand-by for when Trump’s pants go up in flames.

    As we watch Hungarians celebrating in the streets, we dream that one day Americans will also get to celebrate the end of our national nightmare.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. That is the most difficult part of all this to accept. It is the most tragic part. The most blessed and spoiled people in the world have in arrogance thrown their blessings away.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. That is true, Beverley. I read a few days ago that people easily believe a lie heard just once, but they need to hear the truth about it ten times before they will stop believing the lie. Sadly, too many Americans still believe Donald Trump. It baffles me.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Well, as you know, real historians will record what truly happened during this terrible time, while pseudohistorians will write about how wonderful it was. We know there are people who have written favorable things about Hitler, so I don’t think this will be any different.

    I’m not paying too much attention to the controversy between the Pope and the leaders of this country. The Pope, as a scholar of the Catholic faith, is right, and the others are not. I’ve always said we can’t fix stupid, and it definitely applies in this case.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Edward, if I have failed to thank you for the wonderful review you wrote for Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories on Amazon, I thank you now. In re-reading your review this afternoon, it touched me deeply — especially that you were moved by “Letter from Sharpsburg.” It was completely an act of imagination for me to try to get into the head of a combat soldier, so your words as a veterans mean more to me that you know. Many, many thanks for purchasing my book and for taking the time to write a review online!

    Liked by 1 person

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