THE LEGACY OF TRUMP

As bizarre as this sounds, there is a sizable number of Christians who regard Donald Trump as a messiah. They believe that he has been sent by God to protect a Christian nation, and that he is a savior, of sorts. Despite the fact that Trump's behaviors and policies are less Christian than any other politician on either side of the aisle at any time in history, his evangelical supporters are willing to excuse all of it. I don't think it would ever occur to me to write about politics were it not for this weird and astonishing circumstance.

I myself was planning on voting for Trump, until the Access Hollywood tapes came out and I heard him say those horrible things and how he grabs women "by the p---y" and that was IT for me. The more I learned about him, the more I could not imagine him as president, so, despite my antipathy toward Hillary Clinton, I voted for her.

It was blatantly obvious to me that Trump was creepy and dangerous, and I was just stunned when he was elected. Granted, he LOST the popular vote by several million people and was put in office by the auspices of the Electoral College (a mystifying and nonsensical peculiarity of American democracy) but it frightens me that so many Americans, after hearing his disgusting comments and watching his outlandish antics, would not only vote for him, but hotly defend every crackpot thing he has done and said since - against all rational sense.

Speaking as a woman who has a wicked case of PTSD , thanks to rapes and assaults, the idea that this guy is president makes me really uneasy. He promotes grabbing women by their genitals without so much as a 'by your leave"; there are more than a dozen women suing him for that very thing (he claims they are lying); the hearing for his appointment of would-be rapist Kavanaugh to the bench was a nightmare (complete with yet another assault on the impeccable character of his ersatz victim); and, with the name-calling and generally vulgar attitude he broadly and publicly displays toward women, in general, if it weren't for my meditation practice, I would be a certifiable basket case.

I have had many days, when Trump's misogyny and explicit prejudice against disabled people have flowed into my life from random strangers, like that grocery store employee who claimed he believed in "Trump's law" and that I was not disabled enough to suit him so, in his eyes, I did not deserve to use my handicap parking placard. On days like that, when the PTSD has been activated by Trump lovers, it has been impossible to maintain my typically cheerful self.

Trump has cost me friends and the support of some of my Catholic community where I live. A few have dropped me from Facebook and shunned me at church because of him. Pointing out the lies and misbehaviors of Trump is "hateful," according to them. In order to keep their friendship, I would have been required to stick to the fantasy script that he is the messiah come to save us from the gays, the immigrants, the blacks, the browns, and the poor . I do not respond well to emotional blackmail, and I will be damned if I will pretend that wrong is right and bad is good in order to stay in the good graces of people who ought to know better.

A small number of relatives, with whom I was not emotionally close, did likewise. None of them speak to me now because I have had the temerity to point out that which is readily apparent to the rest of us. I am not a perfect person, but at least I aspire to the core values of Christ. Trump doesn't.

The idea that these Trump supporters cannot see what is right in front of their eyes gives me chills up my spine - because he is such an extreme case of explicit corruption. This psychological drama is like the worst horror movie I've ever seen. I used to wonder how these people would cope when they finally realized the amount of danger to which we have been subjected because of their slavish devotion to Trump, but it is slowly sinking in that they never will. I have to accept that this is the way things will be for probably the rest of my life. They'll never be able to admit what they have done, especially to themselves.

Thankfully, most Americans (and most people all over the world) see him for what he is: a craven, mentally unbalanced, morally and ethically bankrupt con artist - a wastrel who, after being given millions of dollars by Daddy, spent his life taking advantage wherever he could, at the expense of innocent people, a man whose level of narcissism is malignant. I also suspect, and I have read the opinion of a host of psychiatrists and doctors who agree, that he may be entering into a phase of some sort of dementia, probably having to do with the progression of disease and/or old age. Some days, his language is such a hash of words that he appears to be barely lucid. Who knows if all the cheeseburgers have clogged his arteries and rotted his brain, or whether he just has some as-yet diagnosed illness? In any case, not only is he temperamentally 'unsuited' for the job of president (that word doesn't do it justice), he is positively dangerous. Saying this makes me "hateful" in the eyes of the Trump lovers.

Once someone decides to shield their eyes and ears from the blatant, obvious, in-your-face reality of Trump, that decision imprisons them.  In order to maintain the fairy tale of Messiah Trump, they can't watch any news program except Fox, or they will hear a truthful narrative from all the professional journalists.  They choose to believe Trump's preposterous claim that CNN and other traditional news outlets are in some kind of conspiracy against him and that publications with strict journalistic standards have all thrown away decades of integrity in order to conspire to spread the exact same lies about him. (I wonder where they MEET? Is there a giant video chat, or what? Do they vote on the lie of the week?)

True believers can't read any news except extremist right wing rags. They will listen to what Trump says about the Mueller Report before they will believe anything Mueller himself says about it, and they will not read the report which IS available. These people won't even take the direction of the POPE, calling instead for the Pope's expulsion from the church on the basis of heresy because his guidance disagrees with Trump's view of the world. The Pope as much as blatantly stated that Trump is not Christian, criticizing his stupid sea-to-sea wall. All of this sounds like a science fiction movie - but it's real.

Walter Cronkite is rolling in his grave.

As I have mentioned before, I know a few people who voted for Trump because he promised to nominate right wing judges - and he has done that. Trump doesn't appear to really care about the Supreme Court. I doubt he understands its role, given how little he appears to know or care about any of the functions of government or basic principles of jurisprudence. His handlers have given him the list from The Federalist Society (another nightmare topic) and he dutifully proposes only the people on that approved list. People in the pro-life community whose focus is making abortion a criminal act are willing to let the rest of government fall down around our ears in service to this one goal. They see some of the craziness of Trump but they don't care because they are getting the judges they want. I am pro-life, but I don't agree with this tragic compromise because it is endangering our democratic process and putting America in real peril from foreign enemies to whom Trump has cozied up and/or aggravated.

I feel, and I have been saying from the beginning, that Trump will do his best to get us embroiled in a war in order to both distract us from his crimes and to lengthen his time in office. As I also predicted, he is making a tremendous amount of money from foreign governments, pouring money into his businesses, as well as the American taxpayer who have been hosting his adult children and in-laws at Trump's luxury resorts for golf trips and "meetings" held at Trump's luxury properties. The partisan Attorney General that he placed at the head of the Department of Justice has engineered a change to the interpretation of the laws around the emoluments clause of the constitution, to the effect that the president should be allowed to receive unlimited amounts of money from foreign governments, as long as those payments are washed through businesses owned by the president. This is very convenient to Trump, whose fortunes were flagging before becoming president. The longer he can extend his presidency, the more money he can pull into his businesses, and the more regulations he can remove for businessmen like himself, ensuring his future further enrichment. Money is usually at the bottom of all corruption, and his administration is no different.

The MOST ironic thing about all this is that I originally became attracted to the Catholic faith, not only because of the mystics but because the values of Jesus Christ appealed to me. Now, I find myself part of a group of people, many of whom have abandoned these values for political expediency. It is heartbreaking for me, personally.

Between the huge sex abuse scandals and this wholehearted embrace of a toxic political administration that promotes unChristian values, the Catholic Church is getting a real hit, as far as reputation is concerned.

I realize that this post is somewhat rambling. This IS a diary, after all, but I should sum up my thoughts, and here it is:

I believe in the values of Jesus Christ and I won't abandon them, even if a large group of my fellow Catholics have traded them in for Republican talking points and have embraced the most unChristian of all politicians. I will not be dissuaded from trying, to the best of my ability, to follow the precepts of the church, and I will also throw myself into my meditation and prayer life with greater devotion. The only peace I get these days is from my meditation, formal and informal, where I tune in to the Divine and leave all the rest of this behind. I am sorry to be traveling this road alone, but I have been an accidental hermit for so long now that giving up the last shred of hope for community life or spiritual support is not such a stretch for me. The Lord does step in and assist me when necessary.

As I was writing this, two things happened. The first was a heated exchange between a reporter and one of Trump's people on the CBS Sunday Morning show in regard to Iran and its supposed attempt to blow up a ship in the Gulf of Hormuz. If he plays his cards right, Trump will get that war he has been wanting.

The other thing that happened as I was writing this: I was dropped by another ersatz "Catholic" who lives in my town. She defriended me on Facebook without a word, and when I questioned her about it, it was because of Donald Trump. This is how they keep the bubble small and the message consistent. God save them.



Silver Rose

GOD IS TRUTH

"The Devil was a murderer from the beginning,

not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in

him. When he lies, he speaks his native language,

for he is a liar and the father of lies."

~ John 8:44 ~

Christians with even the slightest Christian education know that lying is a terrible sin and that God is Truth in the ultimate sense. In the Ten Commandments, there is the admonishment not to give "false witness," there is the story of Annanias and Saphira, who were struck dead on the spot for lying to the Apostles, and most directly in the quote I have provided from John 8, we are told that Satan is the father of all lies. While the Lord is all truth, all goodness, all light, Satan is the opposite, and where you find a plethora of lies is exactly where you have found Satan, because Satan is the original author of every lie that is ever told.

The liar and those who repeat lies will have to answer for it on judgment day. Every lie that is told and willfully repeated without any effort to determine the authenticity of it is an occasion on which the "Christian" has said "yes" to Satan, the father of all lies, and "no" to God, thereby violating their baptismal covenant with Jesus, and establishing themselves as a servant of the dark one.

I realize the language sounds a bit archaic, but matters of heaven and hell often do.

Satan whispers into the ear of Jesus

We have a president who has told the American public more than 10,000 lies since coming into office. These lies are proven. These lies are not even hidden. There are copious videos that prove his lies.

There are also countless articles listing, demonstrating, and linking to proof that Trump is continually lying. His lying is EASILY proven. He constantly misrepresents himself and others, yet some self-described Christians repeat his lies. All they would have to do is watch the videos, read the articles and, most especially, read the Mueller Report if they want to learn about the most egregious lies and how they figure into his multiple crimes.

I am not telling you for whom you should vote. Voting is a political calculation. For instance, I have some friends for whom making abortion illegal is all they care about. They'd put their money on a barn-sour nag if they thought it would make abortion go away. Many of them will say, "all politicians lie," ignoring the fact that no one lies to the massive degree that Trump does. He is a world class, bald faced, unrepentant liar. In fact, he is the most prolific liar EVER.

You vote for who you vote for - but you don't have to repeat and perpetuate lies. That's what I'm talking about: THE LIES.

Instead of being a tool in the hand of Satan, check your statements with nonpartisan, reliable arbiters of fact. In the public sphere, that would be

FACT CHECK

SNOPES

POLITIFACT

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

There is no excuse to remain ignorant of the Truth, particularly if you are repeating the lies that are being employed to advance a political agenda.

I have a feeling that some Christians are repeating the lies and hatred of Trump and his cronies because they think that they have to do that in order to be considered a supporter of his and thereby a supporter of the hobby horse that made them vote for him to begin with.

Though the cognitive dissonance of supporting your hobby horse on the one hand and decrying the lies and dishonesty on the other may drive you mad, welcome to the club. I support the social justice platform of the democrats but I dislike the amoral engineering, such as when they talk about abortion being "health care" or act like it is some kind of positive good, which I find bizarre.

Neither party is suited to a Christian worldview, and that's just a fact. We are all trying to do the best we can to vote for what appears to be the least injurious platform, in a holistic sense, without losing our souls in the process.

Support what you find that is good but don't perpetuate the lies. Don't take on the sins of Trump and his minions or you will suffer for them personally.

Silver Rose

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT IMMIGRANTS?

Lady of Shalott

By Waterhouse

The Lady of Shalott is a ballad by Tennyson that tells the story of Elaine of Astolat, a young noble woman kept prisoner in a tower on an island near Camelot. She is the victim of some curse that forces her to watch life pass her by in the glass of a mirror because if she looks at it directly, she will die. At some point, she sees the exceedingly handsome Lancelot in that mirror, falls in love and decides to leave her prison tower. She finds a boat and commandeers it, but she is dead by the time she reaches shore.

This is how I feel about the admirers of the current administration. They cannot look at it directly, with the clarity of direct vision. Instead, they have to view it from a magically altered mirror. If they admitted how deadly was their Lancelot, they wouldn't get in the boat.

It takes a remarkable number of mental machinations to quell the obvious cognitive dissonance inherent in the problems of our current administration. What must it be like to hold diametrically opposed realities in one's consciousness at the same time! On the one hand, supporters claim he is "Christian" and that "it's nice to have a Christian in the White House, for a change" (Despite having MANY Christians in the White House over the years!)  On the other hand, Trump and his entourage are obviously and specifically behaving like people who are HOSTILE to Christian values. One only has to measure the various bills and campaigns against the expectations of Christ.

From the moment he started campaigning, Trump has demonstrated hostility toward minorities, immigrants, the disabled, the poor, the old, and basically anyone who is vulnerable and disadvantaged, by kicking them while they're down. From the Muslim ban of his first year in office, to the ancient-style great wall (for which he swore Mexico was paying!), to saying that the Nazis of Charlottesville were "fine people,"  he has been unrelentingly blatant and obvious in his hatred of "the stranger." While he is unapologetic about his cruelty, I actually consider him just a figurehead. He did not start this trend. He is only benefiting from it, financially and psychologically.

The name "Trump" has become synonymous with fascism, misogyny, xenophobia, prejudice, gay bashing, cruelty toward the poor, the aged and the infirm, but there is a foul wind blowing all over the world just now. Every country has its version of Trump and the Trump party. I can hardly be expected to really do it justice in my little blog, but I just want to encourage my Christian brothers and sisters to continue to choose Christ. If you stop choosing Christ and start choosing against him, you are choosing Satan. It is as simple as that, because you cannot be, at the same time, a Christian as well as an advocate for policies that contradict Christian values. You would need a magic mirror to keep from keeling over in a dead faint from the hypocrisy.

Take one topic at a time and compare it to our faith.  Decide your opinion based on your faith, and not on what some political party tells you.

On the topic of the treatment of immigrants, all I am going to do is to offer you a few quotes from the Bible. Let them sit with you for a while, and then decide how you feel about DACA or Trump's wall or the Muslim ban. Meditate on it for a while. Seek God's guidance.

"You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and

for the sojourners who reside among you and have had

children among you. They shall be to you as native-born

children of Israel. In whatever tribe the sojourner resides,

there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord

God."

~ Ezekiel 47:22-23 ~

Now, think for a moment about the DACA program for the children who were brought here by their parents.

"Show hospitality to one another without grumbling."

~ 1 Peter 4:9 ~

Here's another, along those lines:

"Let strangers feast on your wealth and your toil

enrich the house of another."

~Proverbs 5:10~

Still thinking about immigrants, what's your take on this quote:

"But no stranger had to spend the night in the

street, for my door was always open to the 

traveler."

~ Job 31:32

How about that pesky Leviticus that so many "Christians" are keen to use against the gays?

"You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for

the native, for I am the Lord your God."

` Leviticus 24:22 ~

I hasten to point out, especially with this next quote, that the Biblical writers are encouraging us to be as kind to the sojourner as we are to ourselves. The purpose is egalitarianism - not an admonishment to make sure that strangers obey earthly laws. God doesn't care if the immigrant's papers are in order. He cares that we treat them equally among us, as evidenced by the other quotes.

"There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger

who sojourns among you."

~ Exodus 12:49 ~

Notice in the next quote that God expects us to welcome the stranger:

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty

and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed

me."

~ Matthew 25:35 ~

I could provide many more quotes in support of what I have provided here. From the Old Testament to the New, it has been made clear to us that the Lord expects us to be kind to the strangers among us. We are to help them and welcome them.

Does this comport with ripping children out of the arms of their mothers and storing them in cages, where they sleep on the floor and may never see their parents again? Does this match the vision of a wall from one end of our country to the other? Does it anticipate anti-immigrant activists dumping out the containers of water left in the desert for the thirsty stranger?

The Trump campaign mechanism continues to make claims that he is Christian and that his policies are Christian, and there are plenty of Christian radio show hosts, pastors, priests and the like singing his praises, though God alone knows why.

I hope YOU are clear on why.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose

(Sannyasini Kaliprana)

Silver Cottage Ashram Hermitage

Albuquerque, New Mexico

PLEASE DON'T JUDGE JESUS BY THE "CHRISTIANS" WHO SUPPORT TRUMP

Even though Donald Trump's outrageous lies are easily unmasked by watching a video of him speaking his own contradictions or of eye witnesses, experts and professional testimony and photographs, some people choose to believe Trump and his lies.

They believe the lies of his lackeys and sycophants, such as Jeff Sessions, when he claims that jailing children at our borders is Biblical because God has installed our leaders, relying upon a text-twisted Biblical reference divorced from its moorings and rendered opposite in its meaning by removing the surrounding text that directs and defines it.

The idea that all the policies of all heads of government are holy because God installs all the leaders is another version of Nixon's comment that "if the president does it, it isn't illegal." This idea, if followed to its logical conclusion, would mean that all actions of every dictator and despot in the world are a positive good from God. This is patently ridiculous. It is neither legal nor Biblical.

Unfortunately, when Trump apologists cite the Bible and Christianity as authorities for their actions, they make claims about Christianity that are completely false. For instance it is the antithesis of the Christian message to behave in a cruel way toward immigrants. The Old and New Testaments are very clear on this. Jews and Christians alike are told to be kind to strangers, for once we were also strangers. Dire warnings are given for those who fail to do this.

Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you

accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his

angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was

thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me

no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in 

prison, and you did not care for me.

~ Matthew 25 ~

The Bible consistently affirms that Satan is "the father of all lies." Many Christians are saying that it doesn't matter that Trump lies continually because "all politicians lie." Excusing Trump's lies because someone else has lied would excuse Hitler from murdering millions of Jews because some other leader killed someone at some time. "They all do it."

Shall we excuse all the murderers from prison because someone else, somewhere, in some way, killed someone?

If we justify Trump's continual lies because, supposedly, "Hillary did it," should we then adopt all of Hillary Clinton's actions as our model to follow? Should we follow the worst behavior of other people, or should we uphold Biblical values?

If so-called "family values" Christians think it is fine that Trump has brought with him a legion of women who are suing him for various assaults because he is, supposedly, a "baby Christian," then how much more forgiving would they be of Clinton and the two women who sued him? Right? No?

Sometimes I worry that the "Christian" support of Donald Trump has obliterated the possibility of bringing the Gospel message to non-Christians. Today, we do not have a prayer of gaining converts, unless they are people who are devoted to principles that are the OPPOSITE of Biblical principles. Neo Nazis, white supremacists, sociopaths who blackmail voters by tormenting children, and pathological liars would feel at home in the "Christianity" that is being advertised by the Trump administration. Jesus weeps!

Having studied and been a part of many different religions in my lifetime, I can tell you that people come to religion for a variety of reasons, not all of them honorable. Every religion has its hypocrites who neither follow the religious precepts nor advocate for them. Each of them has a certain number of people who use the religion to get things they want on earth, or simply to make themselves feel good.

Religious institutions are full of people - and people are very flawed. A good portion are sincere and make a good faith effort to live their faith. The rest are either coasting or perverting the message to their own ends.

Jesus knew this would happen. He said that, in the end, people would cry to Him, "Lord! Lord" and He would reject some of them, saying, "I do not know you."

This is why I do not judge a faith by any of the people that fail to live up to it. I would not want the Christianity that approves of the sins of Donald Trump and his people. THAT "Christianity" is abhorrent to me and to every Christian who knows the message of Christ. Thanks be to God, I do not belong to that Christianity.

I can only pray that people inclined toward true Christian values do not turn their backs on Christianity because of this vile circus that is being played out in our halls of so-called "justice."

Silver Rose

DONALD TRUMP AND SATAN

"You shall worship the Lord your God

and only Him shall you serve."

As a religious woman, truth is naturally important to me, but truth is in short supply these days when considering the state of our government. I feel compelled to speak out, because it appears that some of my fellow Christians have abandoned devotion to truth, giving a pass to a corrupt businessman who was made president through the machinations of enemy foreign powers and who lies continually, unreservedly, shamelessly and unrepentantly.

Apparently, they expect a completely amoral, dishonest and corrupt businessman to act in the best interests of Christians. Why?

Every day, some fresh horror is revealed, and Trump blithely lies his way out of it, destroying the reputations of good people and institutions as he smashes his way through the halls of government, firing anyone who disagrees with him or does not accede to his every demand.

Given his craven dishonesty, complete lack of ethics, barely disguised corruption and personal financial gains, why do my Christian brothers and sisters defend him?

According to modern psychology, their brains have no chance against the constant, daily onslaught of bologne. All presidents lie. But "Donald Trump is in a different category. The sheer frequency, spontaneity and seeming irrelevance of his lies have no precedent." [See Politico Magazine link, below.] "A whopping 70 percent of Trump's statements that PolitiFact checked during the campaign were false, while only 4 percent were completely true."

Links to articles about Trump's lies:

Politico Magazine - Trump’s Lies vs. Your Brain - Here’s what psychology tells us about life under a leader totally indifferent to the truth.

Washington Post - In 466 days, President Trump has made 3,001 false or misleading claims

Metro - The number of Trump lies just hit 3,000

CNN Politics - President Trump lied more than 3,000 times in 466 days

CNN - Toobin: Rudy's interview and Trump's lies create a crisis

Fact Check: Trump Blames His Own Border Policy on the Democrats

Politifact - False Statements Involving Trump

Factcheck.org - Trump's Phony "Fake News" Claims

2016: Politico Magazine - Trump’s Week of Errors, Exaggerations and Flat-out Falsehoods

Despite his authoritarian methods and constant falsehoods and misleading comments, Trump's supporters continue to cheer him on. I used to think that they were just lacking information or that they were shielded from the truth by outfits like Fox News and EWTN Nightly News that deliberately omit information that does not flatter Trump. That isn't it. Americans are not stupid. I believe that most of them can easily see just what kind of man he is. They just don't care. They dismiss it as irrelevant, or not as important as something they feel they are gaining by having this barbarian in charge of our country. They do not mind risking the stability of our government. They do not care if other countries hate us.

By supporting the man of lies, Christians become the people of the lie. Satan is "the father of lies" and anyone who supports the lies are supporters of Satan. Non-Christians are watching this and their opinion of Christianity has plummeted. Who knows how long it will be before the reputation of Christ and his people recovers? I am having to defend the Christian faith against the hypocritical acts of Christians on a daily basis these days, and this is a very odd position to occupy, considering the fact that I am a relatively new convert to the faith.

"When we are overwhelmed with false, or potentially false,

statements, our brains pretty quickly become so overworked

that we stop trying to sift through everything."

Maria Konnikova
Politico Magazine

Trump supporters have said that all politicians act this way - they all lie. That excuse, itself, is a lie. First of all, I've never seen anyone lie this much. The sheer volume of lies is almost overwhelming. It is a daily scandal. Even if another politician HAD lied so much, so often about so many, the fact that they had done so is certainly not an excuse for the present case.

Others are quick to chastise us to "forgive" the President - a supposedly "baby Christian" - but they seem to forget that forgiveness is not given to the unrepentant. Someone who deliberately lies to get ahead in life, knows that he is lying and knows that it is wrong is not getting forgiveness from the Lord who is all truth and goodness. "Baby Christians" are forgiven for their former evil lives, but are expected to make an effort to improve. Instead, Trump doubles down and increases the number and extremity of the lies. It is a sin to presume upon the future forgiveness of the Lord for sins engaged upon today.

"There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his

own capacities, (hoping to be able to save himself without help from

on high), or he presumes upon God's almighty power or his mercy

(hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory

without merit."

Catechism of the Catholic Church

2092

In addition to the lies, some of the behaviors would have caused enormous public outrage, were they done by any other politician. For example, can you imagine what would have happened if Barack Obama had filled key government positions with unqualified family members and had given them offices in the White House, despite their inability to pass a background check or get security clearance?  What if he had called White Supremacists "very fine people," and defended them against public outcry? What if Barack Obama had reached out to our national enemies to gain their help in winning the election?  What would have happened if Barack Obama had bragged about assaulting women and grabbing them "by the pussy" and then later denied having done that and called the 2 dozen women who came to complain about him liars who were just trying to make money off of him?

Barack Obama receiving Nobel Peace Prize

Can you imagine if Obama had multiple sexual liaisons with other women and had to pay off porn stars, embarrassing his wife and causing her untold grief? Republicans went nuts when Bill Clinton had an affair with a staffer and then lied about it. They impeached him for it - but not a word about this MOUNTAIN of corruption we have now. Barack Obama, whom Trump tried (and failed) to label as an immigrant, was certainly not a perfect man. There are many things he did while in office that I wish had been done differently - but at least the man had some integrity and dignity. HIS entourage didn't get indicted. The world gave him the Nobel Peace Prize! Trump will not be winning that, I can guarantee you.

In addition to the mountain of lies, we have incontrovertible evidence of massive corruption of the worst kind, which is, in itself, a lie in action. Trump is benefiting financially as a result of his governmentally bestowed power. Multiple governments were promised favors in exchange for money paid into Trump businesses. It isn't just Russia. Oligarchs from countries around Russia are involved. Within the last few days, we learned that Trump's people also met with officials from the Arab Emirates for assistance in gaining the election. Now that Trump is in power, governments that do not benefit Trump personally and financially are punished governmentally, such as in the case of Qatar.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani meets with President

Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia

Links to information about Qatar and Trump:

Slate - The Most Important Questions to Ask About the Kushner 666 Fifth Ave. Deal

TPM - Trump’s Lawyer’s Lawyer Is (Was) a Foreign Agent for Qatar

The Atlantic - What Trump's Qatar Tweets Revealed

In order to ensure that Trump's actions would not be reported upon, complained about, or worked against, he deliberately left hundreds of jobs unfilled when he came to office. He fired many people. Some resigned in anticipation of what was to come. The offices are mostly empty, except for the king's family and their servile lackeys. This type of organization is calculated to concentrate power with Trump, his family, and his sycophants. The fewer people that have access to him and his family, the safer he feels. He can conduct himself in secrecy.

What few positions he did fill were with people whose stated aim has been the destruction of the departments to which they were assigned. Betsy De Vos, for example, worked for years to eliminate the Department of Education, which she now heads. That is just one of many examples.

Over the last year, a long list of government officials have been fired by Trump. Anyone who doesn't treat him like the dictator he aspires to be, is fired. Few people left in power on The Hill have any spine and they will not stand up to him. Rod Rosenstein is about to be fired, apparently, because he will not kowtow to Trump's furious demands.

Rod Rosenstein

Read article and watch video here:

ARTICLE AND VIDEO

Background information about this matter:

Washington Examiner: Steve Bannon predicts Trump could fire Rod Rosenstein ‘very shortly’

Chicago Tribune - Rod Rosenstein's response to Trump's demand is a dangerous gamble

The New Yorker - How Much Longer Can Rod Rosenstein Protect Robert Mueller?

Now that multiple co-conspirators have been indicted by the Russia probe, and the investigation is creeping ever closer to Trump himself, Trump's hysteria has reached epic proportions, and he has invented a spy scandal and is calling it "spygate," claiming that Barack Obama had a spy embedded in Trump's campaign. His lies know no bounds. He gladly skewers the reputations of honest people in service to his massive ego and, lately, to hide his crimes. Does anyone remember, "THOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST THY NEIGHBOR?"

CLICK THIS LINK FOR BACKGROUND ON SPYGATE:

President Trump Desperately Wants You to Believe 'Spygate' Is Real

Leslie Stahl just revealed in an interview that when she asked Trump why he continually trashes the news media, he told her that he bashes the press to "demean and discredit" them so that, when they report on him, they will not be believed. This is the liar trying to ensure that the lies are swallowed whole, by giving false witness.

Leslie Stahl, discussing Trump's comments to her

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AND READ ARTICLE:

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Christians cannot allow themselves to be aligned with this man of lies whose behavior and speech is in complete opposition to the Christian faith. There is no excuse for it. Nothing is worth allying oneself with Satan, the father of all lies.

It is time for Christians to re-examine all their beliefs around this president. There is too much at stake to do otherwise. Fortunately for us, we have the internet, without which it would be ever so much more difficult to conduct the kind of research that one will need to do in order to de-program themselves. Politifact, factcheck.org and snopes are good resources to check the reliability of whatever one does find on the internet. Stay away from inflammatory sources that are paid for by partisan organizations. Stay away from publications that are not strictly news news outlets. I love EWTN News Nightly, as a Catholic television program, but I don't rely upon it for all my news. If you are Christian, and if truth means anything to you at all, you must do this. Do it now, before the mid-term elections.

Silver Rose Parnell

Did Putin Orchestrate the Trump Presidency?

In the Indictment of the 13 Russians and the 3 companies that conspired to put Donald Trump in the White House, it is charged that the Russians started their activities in 2014.  Donald Trump is crowing about it because he claims he had not decided to run yet - a point which isn't relevant, if Putin is the one who convinced Trump to run in the first place.

When Trump traveled to Russia for the Miss Universe Pageant in November of 2013, I think Putin and his operatives quickly saw Trump's desperate need for approval from a strong man figure (not a callow, privileged cadet with a curled lip who got 5 deferments from the Viet Nam war because he was in military school and lastly because of BONE SPURS.) A malignant narcissist is always at the mercy of his own need for approval.

Donald Trump in military school

holding bowling trophy

Trump was later to claim that he never met Putin, but since he lies continually, I can't believe him. He may have had a private meeting, but it was probably not even his first, since he has been getting millions of dollars of funding for his golf resorts from Russia for many years. These extensive financial ties to Russia go back to at least 2007 that we know of, and probably before that. Several of his top administration aides and department heads have multiple strong ties with oligarchs and their banking institutions, some even sitting on the board of the most infamous bank that launders money from these creatures.

[In 2008, Donald Trump, Jr. famously announced that "we see a lot of money pouring in from Russia." Trump's ties to Russia are longstanding, and, like everything else with Donald, it is all about the money.]

In June of 2013, Donald Trump appeared to be courting Vladimir Putin with a tweet that read:

"Do you think Putin will be going to the Miss Universe Pageant 

in November in Moscow - if so, will he become my new best friend?"

~ Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump ~

18 June 2013

A few months after the trip to Russia, Trump posted a glowing approval of Russian oligarch Vladimir Putin.

"Putin has shown the world what happens when America

has weak leaders. Peace Through Strength!"

~ Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

28 Apr 2014

You can see in this tweet an obvious bromance brewing between Trump and Putin, but I doubt it was mutual. Putin was grooming Trump, pumping his ego, encouraging the hero worship, and schooling Trump in a philosophy convenient to the Russian state.

Between Trump's late 2013 trip to Russia and his capture of the oval office, he frequently mentioned Putin and Russia in his tweets and his speeches, all of it glowing with approval for America's traditional enemy, which Reagan used to call "The Evil Empire." In one astonishing speech, Trump invited Russia to hack into Hillary Clinton's emails and release them. Putin obliged.

Comedians made hay with Trump's INVITATION TO RUSSIA.

You can see the video yourself, all over the internet, including the web page of the LOS ANGELES TIMES

While Obama was still in office, it became known that Russia had hacked the Democratic National Committee, had released Hillary Clinton's emails, had undergone an extensive social media campaign designed to foment discord in an already fractious electorate and had worked to ensure the election of Trump.  The Obama administration struggled with the question about what to do with this information received from U.S. intelligence agencies.

When the Obama administration was preparing to leave office, there was some concern on the part of that administration about how much Trump and his crew could be trusted with sensitive information about Russia, because Trump's love affair with Putin had made everyone wary, and they were not sure whether Trump was a cooperator or a stoodge.

Indeed, even though Obama issued sanctions against Russia just before he left office, and sent 35 Russian diplomats back to their country, Putin, apparently, had been told by the Trump administration that they could count on their reversal, once Trump came into office, so Putin did not retaliate against the U.S. for the sanctions. He thought they had no teeth. Lately, it appears that Trump has not followed through with his promises to Russia, and Putin has issued a warning that he may have to retaliate after all. Those of us familiar with Trump's poor character are not surprised that he would violate an agreement with an entity that helped him win an election. He has no loyalty to anyone but himself. With all the talk about Russia over the last year, and the release of the indictment, he can't afford to do anything that would actively help Russia.

My voting experience goes back to 1972 - the first year I was eligible - and there has been no scandal that comes anywhere near this magnitude of what we have experienced with the Russian attack against our democratic process. The danger to our national security that this presents is extreme.

I have been overwhelmed and shocked by the election of this morally bankrupt, incompetent liar. Learning that one of America's biggest enemies was instrumental in placing him in the White House makes the puzzle fall into place for me. I find it encouraging that, even though Russia launched a massive campaign against Hillary Clinton, in favor of Donald Trump, he still did not get the popular vote, which means that most people in America have some sense of decency, dignity and honor. The only reason he is president today is because of the stupid electoral college, which I pray is eliminated very soon.

Some disappointment remains that my fellow Christians have defended his hateful policies, refused to believe truth, refused to investigate him thoroughly, and resolutely supported him, even while he continues to fund Planned Parenthood. Their primary excuse for voting for this horrible little man was that he was "pro life" - which is a huge lie. The hypocrisy has made me cry every day.

"Not everyone who saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into 

the kingdom of Heaven;but he that doth the will of my Father 

who is in Heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven."

~Matthew 7:21 ~

It is my fervent prayer that my fellow believers adjust their values to Christian values, rather than what is currently being passed off by the Republican Party as "Christian." Modern Republican politicians advocate policies that are hateful, bigoted, misogynistic and hurtful to the poor and vulnerable - all of which are the opposite of what Jesus preached. This false association with Christianity is responsible for the election of Trump. Russia merely took advantage of our weakness in this regard. We are not helpless against them. We can repent of our mistake and do better next time.

God save us all.

(C) Copyright 2018, Silver S. Parnell
All rights reserved.

NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE POPE

"I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral 

people, not at all referring to the immoral of this world

or the greedy and robbers or idolaters, for you would then

have to leave the world.  But I now write to you not to

associate with anyone named a brother, if he is immoral, 

greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a robber,

not even to eat with such a person.  For why should I be

judging outsiders?  Is it not your business to judge those

within?  God will judge those outside.  'Purge the evil

person from your midst.'" 1 Corinthians 5:9-13

Once a person has been converted to the Catholic Christian religion, has accepted Jesus Christ and been admitted to his Church, it is assumed that such person believes in the tenets of the faith, believes that Jesus Himself created the church and made Peter, the first bishop of Rome, the rock upon which it is built.  Each Catholic person is charged to and promises to reject Satan and all his pomps and works.  At every mass, Catholics recite the Creed, which includes the statement that we believe in "the Holy Catholic Church."

Imagine my surprise when, upon becoming Catholic, I have witnessed a slew of individuals and "Catholic" blogs and newspaper articles in which people who claim to be Catholic openly defy the faith, dispute doctrine and malign the Pope, either this one or Benedict or John Paul II.  Imagine my horror when I found that a number of these detractors actually reside within the church as priests, deacons and bishops!  Some are secular bigwigs who make a living from writing about the Church.

Widespread criticism of the Pope would be understandable if he was obliterating doctrine or was living in unrepentant sin.  I would fully expect a massive uprising and quite a lot of "fraternal correction" coming from the college of cardinals and many others, but in the case of Pope Francis, for instance, I am dumbfounded by the arrogance of some who blatantly lead Catholics into the mistaken notion that public criticism of the pontiff's habit, style or manner of communication is something desirable, edifying or worthwhile in any way.

For example: recently, in THE CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT, Carl E. Olson's article appeared, the title of which is THE HYPERBOLIC AND EXHAUSTING PAPACY OF FRANCIS, which you can read HERE.  One immediately gets the thrust of the article from its title and the first sentence.

"My impression is that many Catholics are weary of the seemingly

constant addresses, homilies, interviews, texts - many of which

read like lectures - that come from the Holy Father."

Carl E. Olson

"The Hyperbolic and Exhausting Papacy of Francis"

Carl Olson sucks off the teat of Holy Mother Church while he criticizes its Holy Father.  He is editor of Ignatius Insight, and, most significantly, the editor of Catholic World Report in which the article in question appears.  He wrote a previous article in that online magazine entitled POPE FRANCIS: THE GOOD, THE BAFFLING AND THE UNCLEAR, which you may read HERE.  He is also the author of the book WILL CATHOLICS BE LEFT BEHIND? and another with Medievalist Sandra Miesel called THE DAVINCI HOAX.  He writes a weekly column for OUR SUNDAY VISITOR.  Clearly he has his fingers in a lot of Catholic media pies and is, without question, a talented person, which is the danger, of course.

I am not picking on Carl Olson in particular.  His other contributions have been helpful to the faith. Nor is he the only writer to critique the Pope in a disrespectful way, but he provides a perfect example of what ought not be done.  Whether or not his criticisms and complaints are objectively accurate is irrelevant.  We already have enough people in the secular media lambasting our church and its leaders without adding to the confusion and leading others down a twisted path away from the light of Christ.  We don't need to encourage a lack of willingness to be led by Holy Mother Church or to be taught by it and learn from it.

All of us need to model the correct attitude toward the pontiff which is indicative of our place in the scheme of things.  Cultivating a humble attitude can be challenging for Americans.  We have enough freedom to say whatever we want, and we rely so heavily on our opinions that our love for our own opinions, independent of any authority except ourselves, verges on idolatry.

Christ said that those who love Him follow his commandments. Then He set up our church, organized it on the apostle Peter, and transmitted to the apostles some of His power and authority. That power and authority has been, in turn, transmitted in an unbroken line until today.  Our Pope, a common sinner, is the recipient of that power and authority.  It is a remarkable dichotomy and one of the greater mysteries of our faith, especially when one considers that this power and authority are not simply organizational devices.  It is real power.  It is real authority.

My dearest wish is that these talented and intelligent writers would turn away from critiques of our Papa and, instead, fix their attention and their skill on helping everyone find the instructive value in each missive that the Pontiff sends our way.  Just as the power and authority of God reside within the common human who is Pope, remarkable jewels lay hidden in that artless, off-the-cuff comment, or that dull paragraph about which those writers complain.

If our Pope really is overwhelming some people with the volume of teachings, there is some good reason for it. Perhaps he is aware of a lack of time.  Maybe he senses an impending crisis, like the deceptive quiet before a tsunami hits land.  On the other hand, all of those things about which some of these writers complain could simply be the Pope's earthy, simple style.  All of God's laborers in the vineyard, including the Pope, are trying to accomplish God's work within the parameters of our abilities, hampered by the defects of our human failings and imperfections.

I pray that we all learn to shift our focus to the jewel that lays within that pile of dust, rather than the dust itself.

God bless us all.

Silver "Rose" Parnell
(c) 2015

BODY AND SOUL

It makes me sad that all one ever hears about in the media with regard to Catholicism is but a small portion of the social manifestations of an incredibly loving, deeply meaningful and positive model gifted to us by a loving Creator who, in love, has tied his own hands, so to speak, so that, with free will, we may choose to follow his prescription that purifies us, aligns us with His will, and allows us to return to him and dwell with Him forever in a beatific vision.

I have asked myself, if God made each one of us and knew our name before our birth, and if the whole of Christianity is purposed so we would return to Him at the end of our lives, why didn't he just create us and then keep us in heaven where we are intended to be for all eternity?  Why bother making this detour to earth?  Why?

Obviously, there is something valuable that happens here on earth, something that cannot be duplicated in heaven or in a strictly spiritual persona.  We need these bodies and these earthly experiences for some type of development and/or learning process.  On judgment day, He will resurrect us with our glorified bodies, and we will go to heaven, which is a place and not just some abstract 'spiritual' realm.  We will commune with Lord, as glorified body and soul, in the exquisitely beautiful realm of heaven.

We are body and soul.  We are not a soul trapped in a body.  (That was a very early heresy that is being repeated now by New Agey types of people whose views are similar to the gnostics that existed before Jesus was born and who tried to change His message to jive with their own.)

This is why it is tremendously important to harmonize our body's activities with the will of Our Father Who Art In Heaven.  We are called to "be perfect" as our "Father in Heaven is Perfect."  Many people do not understand that the sins that one does with one's body have a profound affect on one's entire being.  It is difficult for many people to understand how the sexual sins can be harmful, for instance, when it feels so great and there is no appearance of harm.  It is doubly difficult to comprehend the damage when other people join you in your assertions that "no harm is done."  When the government approves it, such as the legalization of abortion and the weddings of same-sex couples, it is harder still to see clearly, especially since the nature of what is being done is being hidden in deliberately obscuring language.

Abortion, which is murder of an unborn human being, is characterized as "pro-choice."  Same-sex marriage is enshrined in the Constitution, of all things, and is labeled as an issue of "human rights."

Because the general public is mostly ignorant of Christian faith, they are easily inculcated with the misleading language and phony labels generated by people who are committed to certain types of sins.  Without bothering to study the faith before making their decision, they opt for the thing that is easiest and feels the best.  Sex feels great.  Reading books and studying is too much trouble.  Let's just have the sexual sin and forget about studying both sides of an issue before we make a decision! Let's just discount the Christian faith by repeating the sound-bite cliches we have heard from other people.

I will sheepishly raise my hand at this point when the question is asked if I have ever behaved like that?  You betcha.  When I was young, I repeated what other people said about Jesus and His Church and kept sinning, secure in the knowledge that it was OK.  Everyone said so, after all.  I am grateful for the forgiveness of God.  He doesn't want to punish us.  He just wants us to get it right.  "Your sins are forgiven. Go and sin no more," Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery.

Sins accomplished with the body are important, not because I think so but because Jesus said so.  "Go and sin no more." In addition to sexual sins, gluttony is also a physical sin, as is alcoholism and abusing drugs.  We are told that the body is the temple of the spirit.  Something important is being accomplished there.  We do not need to know every reason why it is important.  God doesn't owe us that.  He is accomplishing His work in us as He sees fit.

If we didn't need our bodies for some special purpose, they would not have been created.  We wouldn't have them.  There is a divine purpose to humans possessing body and soul.  I don't pretend to know the whole story behind this, just that I need to be more cognizant of what I am doing with my body. I have my issue, which is food.  Other people will struggle with other crosses in regard to what they allow within the temple of their soul.  We must remember that it is important and not discount it, though.

What we should not do is pretend that bodily sins do not hurt us and others.  We should aim for the highest, instead of legislating the lowest.

Silver "Rose" Parnell
(c) 2015