FBI executed search warrant at Mar-a-Lago

[lizkat]

It's clear that for some people there is nothing Trump can do, no level below which he can sink, that would change their minds about him.

Well that's because he's only a very tiny little bit guilty, eh?

​

I'm sick of the whole saga too. Amused though to watch Murdoch trying to put daylight between his media outlets and Trump now, but without losing viewers and readers.

Murdoch's been running a few editorials in the NY Post that diss Trump while still trying to validate "the good" the guy has done. Guess Murdoch doesn't realize that to get the base to let go and move on to some other yet to be designated conservative favorite, his editorials have to spell out in all caps many more times over THE BAD PERSON THAT TRUMP IS.

The walls are starting to crumble, though. Evangelical denominations are experiencing difficulty keeping their congregations on the Trump page... more pushback about how Trump's not exemplar of Christianity and "maybe" neither are some of the candidates he has endorsed.

And now we have Michael Gerson, an evangelical Christian himself, with a long long piece in the Washington Post (pay wall removed) complete with historical background and careful references to scripture, asking why Trump doesn't fill Christians with rage.

Oh, shit. The quiet part out loud, finally. Not from the pulpit but from a column in a secular paper.

Gerson reminds readers that some of the current high profile evangelical leadership seems to have strongly turned away from the actual messages of Christ. He calls out as not-Christian their hypocritical, exclusionary and nationalistic behavior. It's worth a read for anyone, but for those purporting to be evangelical Christians it's also a stunning confrontation of coreligionists, an inquiry as to whether hooking up with Donald Trump for assorted "conservative" political goals can possibly have been worth the cost to morality and Christian practice

In short Gerson is asking out loud the parts a lot of other evangelical Christians have gone to some lengths for years now to avoid considering. You don't have to be a Christian to work for adequate recognition of the rights of the poor, people of color, LGBTQ+, women, children, the elderly, refugees... but can you viciously stereotype or attack them physically or online, can you strive to find ways legally to exclude their "equality under rule of law" and still call yourself Christian? Can you really be a white supremacist and be a practicing Christian?

In what should at least be a shamed silence for an evangelical Christian who has lost memory of the gospels in scripture, Gerson's long piece asks those questions and more, and also essentially says no f'g way.

He reminds evangelicals who may have fallen into the comfort of feeling like they belong, when they get with a Trump rally, that it's very hard to follow not merely the figure of Christ but the way of life he had advocated and that he strove to live as documented in the gospels. But long before Gerson, even before Christ, the ancient poet Virgil had figured that out the difficulties of living a moral life, having penned "The gates of hell are open night and day; smooth the descent and easy is the way."

Tick tock... Gerson's piece is impressive but it's so far just another drip of the tap that hasn't quite opened to flood out the bulk of evangelicals still convinced that to vote for Trump (before, and last time and maybe another time) is what God wants for America. Too many now may still figure God wanted low taxes for the rich and no abortions for any woman --and so it came to pass-- and so there must be something else yet that Trump can bring them. However, Gerson's suggesting that the cost to the soul has already been way too high.

No idea if that piece will swing any votes to the blue side in November, but it might empty out a few pews on the hard right side of evangelical churches, wherever parishioners' political disagreements have been getting harder to paper over in the name of Christ. And it's not likely to help Donald Trump in his hour of need for more donations, to make up for the fact that the RNC doesn't feel like springing to defend him from any charges that may result from DoJ's investigation, or the one in the state of Georgia.

 

[Eric]

Wow

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1565420731843969025/

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Well that's because he's only a very tiny little bit guilty, eh?

View attachment 17251​

I'm sick of the whole saga too. Amused though to watch Murdoch trying to put daylight between his media outlets and Trump now, but without losing viewers and readers.

Murdoch's been running a few editorials in the NY Post that diss Trump while still trying to validate "the good" the guy has done. Guess Murdoch doesn't realize that to get the base to let go and move on to some other yet to be designated conservative favorite, his editorials have to spell out in all caps many more times over THE BAD PERSON THAT TRUMP IS.

The walls are starting to crumble, though. Evangelical denominations are experiencing difficulty keeping their congregations on the Trump page... more pushback about how Trump's not exemplar of Christianity and "maybe" neither are some of the candidates he has endorsed.

And now we have Michael Gerson, an evangelical Christian himself, with a long long piece in the Washington Post (pay wall removed) complete with historical background and careful references to scripture, asking why Trump doesn't fill Christians with rage.

Oh, shit. The quiet part out loud, finally. Not from the pulpit but from a column in a secular paper.

Gerson reminds readers that some of the current high profile evangelical leadership seems to have strongly turned away from the actual messages of Christ. He calls out as not-Christian their hypocritical, exclusionary and nationalistic behavior. It's worth a read for anyone, but for those purporting to be evangelical Christians it's also a stunning confrontation of coreligionists, an inquiry as to whether hooking up with Donald Trump for assorted "conservative" political goals can possibly have been worth the cost to morality and Christian practice

In short Gerson is asking out loud the parts a lot of other evangelical Christians have gone to some lengths for years now to avoid considering. You don't have to be a Christian to work for adequate recognition of the rights of the poor, people of color, LGBTQ+, women, children, the elderly, refugees... but can you viciously stereotype or attack them physically or online, can you strive to find ways legally to exclude their "equality under rule of law" and still call yourself Christian? Can you really be a white supremacist and be a practicing Christian?

In what should at least be a shamed silence for an evangelical Christian who has lost memory of the gospels in scripture, Gerson's long piece asks those questions and more, and also essentially says no f'g way.

He reminds evangelicals who may have fallen into the comfort of feeling like they belong, when they get with a Trump rally, that it's very hard to follow not merely the figure of Christ but the way of life he had advocated and that he strove to live as documented in the gospels. But long before Gerson, even before Christ, the ancient poet Virgil had figured that out the difficulties of living a moral life, having penned "The gates of hell are open night and day; smooth the descent and easy is the way."

Tick tock... Gerson's piece is impressive but it's so far just another drip of the tap that hasn't quite opened to flood out the bulk of evangelicals still convinced that to vote for Trump (before, and last time and maybe another time) is what God wants for America. Too many now may still figure God wanted low taxes for the rich and no abortions for any woman --and so it came to pass-- and so there must be something else yet that Trump can bring them. However, Gerson's suggesting that the cost to the soul has already been way too high.

No idea if that piece will swing any votes to the blue side in November, but it might empty out a few pews on the hard right side of evangelical churches, wherever parishioners' political disagreements have been getting harder to paper over in the name of Christ. And it's not likely to help Donald Trump in his hour of need for more donations, to make up for the fact that the RNC doesn't feel like springing to defend him from any charges that may result from DoJ's investigation, or the one in the state of Georgia.

Often times people get involved with churches so they have a sense of community. If that is their main motivation then I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of them abandon the church to put all their attention on the Trump community. As has been mentioned, a lot of them have already morally done that. They should probably be excommunicated but that will never happen because a lot of these evangelical preachers are Trump level grifters themselves and they've been at it long before Trump went into office.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

The walls are starting to crumble, though. Evangelical denominations are experiencing difficulty keeping their congregations on the Trump page... more pushback about how Trump's not exemplar of Christianity and "maybe" neither are some of the candidates he has endorsed.

What's taken them so long? Trump's personal life is the antithesis of what evangelicals purport to represent. A philanderer who cheated on all of his wives and paid off a porn star. Someone who never attends church. In one interview he couldn't name his favorite chapter in the bible, you know, that thing he held upside down for a photo op. His whole business history is one of cheating and not paying people who work for him and he was fined for misusing funds from his "charity." And just for fun I'll include Melania saying that she doesn't give a f* about the White House Christmas decorations. This is someone evangelicals rallied behind? Why?

 

[fooferdoggie]

What's taken them so long? Trump's personal life is the antithesis of what evangelicals purport to represent. A philanderer who cheated on all of his wives and paid off a porn star. Someone who never attends church. In one interview he couldn't name his favorite chapter in the bible, you know, that thing he held upside down for a photo op. His whole business history is one of cheating and not paying people who work for him and he was fined for misusing funds from his "charity." And just for fun I'll include Melania saying that she doesn't give a f* about the White House Christmas decorations. This is someone evangelicals rallied behind? Why?

it is a strange marrage. but I guess you only need to speak the right words and the gullible will follow you like a dog after a bone.

 

[Eric]

Often times people get involved with churches so they have a sense of community. If that is their main motivation then I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of them abandon the church to put all their attention on the Trump community. As has been mentioned, a lot of them have already morally done that. They should probably be excommunicated but that will never happen because a lot of these evangelical preachers are Trump level grifters themselves and they've been at it long before Trump went into office.

I've attended church off and on over the years, a lot as a musician who played during services and as long as they weren't over the top right-wing nutjobs I have no problem with it. In fact, the last church I attended had a pretty open minded pastor. To me it's more about spirituality and community (as you say) and though I'm not really a believer I have no problem with those who are and support them, we should all let people be who they want to be.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Comedy writers couldn’t make this shit up

Trump Claims FBI Raided Mar-a-Lago Looking for Clinton Emails

During an interview with the Wendy Bell radio show, the former president also said government officials "were afraid that things were in there."

www.newsweek.com

 

[GermanSuplex]

Trump vs. the DoJ is kind of like a WWE Main Event. Trump has been lucky this far, but his own incompetency and ego with a gaggle of amateur lawyers willing to take risks for the fame of being around TFG is starting to become a liability. But it’s also their only tactic.

It also reminds me of the end of a mob movie, but instead of mobsters wrapping up business or self-destructing, it’s the FBI coming for the lawyers, the henchmen and indicting them.

 

[lizkat]

Trump vs. the DoJ is kind of like a WWE Main Event.

Not quite how DoJ sees it, probably. More like a board game.

​

 

[fooferdoggie]

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I've attended church off and on over the years, a lot as a musician who played during services and as long as they weren't over the top right-wing nutjobs I have no problem with it. In fact, the last church I attended had a pretty open minded pastor. To me it's more about spirituality and community (as you say) and though I'm not really a believer I have no problem with those who are and support them, we should all let people be who they want to be.

I wasn’t attacking all churches or religious people. But I’ll pretty much blanket condemn any where Trumpism gets a heavy emphasis. Atheists are probably closer to Christians than those people.

 

[Pumbaa]

Comedy writers couldn’t make this shit up

Trump Claims FBI Raided Mar-a-Lago Looking for Clinton Emails

During an interview with the Wendy Bell radio show, the former president also said government officials "were afraid that things were in there."

www.newsweek.com

Maybe it sounds funny to reasonably sane people, but I fear his base will get the real message. He implies that FBI thought the boxes contained damning evidence on Clinton’s e-mails and the “Russia hoax”, and raided his home to keep covering everything up, protecting Clinton, FBI, the Deep State, you name it. More violence coming right up.

I think they thought, and who knows, boxes full of stuff...I think they thought...there was something to do with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax. They were afraid that things were in there, part of their scam material because that's what they are, they're scammers.

 

[Eric]

I wasn’t attacking all churches or religious people. But I’ll pretty much blanket condemn any where Trumpism gets a heavy emphasis. Atheists are probably closer to Christians than those people.

Oh I didn't think you were, I was just chiming in and agreeing on the community aspect of what you were saying.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Maybe it sounds funny to reasonably sane people, but I fear his base will get the real message. He implies that FBI thought the boxes contained damning evidence on Clinton’s e-mails and the “Russia hoax”, and raided his home to keep covering everything up, protecting Clinton, FBI, the Deep State, you name it. More violence coming right up.

As if his diarrhea mouth and power to declassify things with his mind wouldn’t have announced it to the world if he actually found anything. But since his base is playing 1D Chutes and Ladders I wouldn’t expect them to come to that same realization.

 

[GermanSuplex]

Maybe it sounds funny to reasonably sane people, but I fear his base will get the real message. He implies that FBI thought the boxes contained damning evidence on Clinton’s e-mails and the “Russia hoax”, and raided his home to keep covering everything up, protecting Clinton, FBI, the Deep State, you name it. More violence coming right up.

Yeah, he had the power as president to declassify things which would have proved him correct and shown Hillary should have been indicted- but instead of doing that, he had a "standing order" to declassify, which meant that if he took it home without telling anyone, it was declassified. And he held onto this in secret instead of releasing it because he was probably scared of the "deep state". So instead of releasing information to help him while he was allowed to do it, he waited until he wasn't allowed, stole the documents and hid them.

Makes perfect sense.

That's why we call it a cult - at some point, the beliefs aren't rooted in ANY semblance of reality, but blind loyalty.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Oh I didn't think you were, I was just chiming in and agreeing on the community aspect of what you were saying.

I understand the desire to belong to a community, but if your community just makes you angry and feel like it's literally the end of the world perhaps consider joining a different community. Maybe this is the way some people deal with being top of the food chain, in lieu of any actual imminent danger just conjure it in your head. Speaking of food chain, how about taking that same anger and harnessing it against the industry that gave you diabetes instead of pointing guns at liberals.

 

[Huntn]

Maybe it sounds funny to reasonably sane people, but I fear his base will get the real message. He implies that FBI thought the boxes contained damning evidence on Clinton’s e-mails and the “Russia hoax”, and raided his home to keep covering everything up, protecting Clinton, FBI, the Deep State, you name it. More violence coming right up.

This is all about trying to fool the Dummies/Koolaid drinkers. The question becomes just how dumb or conspiratorial are the base of Republicans?

Trump is the leader of a hopefully shrinking movement of corrupt anarchists, facists, anti-Democracy, anti-Constitutional forces, who use speaking in terms of opposites and projection to fool… the DUMMIES, aided by conspirators and schemers. We’re Patriots in the process of steeling your Rights. Wrap your head around: When fair elections mean we lose, that is anti-democratic, and they must be stopped at all costs so Patriots like us, not like them can rule over you.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

This is all about trying to fool the Dummies/Koolaid drinkers. The question becomes just how dumb or conspiratorial are the base of Republicans?

Trump is the leader of a hopefully shrinking movement of corrupt anarchists, facists, anti-Democracy, anti-Constitutional forces, who use speaking in terms of opposites and projection to fool… the DUMMIES, aided by conspirators and schemers. We’re Patriots in the process of steeling your Rights. Wrap your head around: When fair elections mean we lose, that is anti-democratic, and they must be stopped at all costs so Patriots like us, not like them can rule over you.

I also think there’s a lot of this going on…

Trump: [insert outlandish statement here]
Right-wing voter: “That doesn’t really make a lot of sense.”
Left-wing voter: “Did you hear what Trump just said? What an idiot!”
Right-wing voter “Trump makes a lot of sense” (Now that left-wing voter called him an idiot)

 

[Huntn]

Well that's because he's only a very tiny little bit guilty, eh?

View attachment 17251​

I'm sick of the whole saga too. Amused though to watch Murdoch trying to put daylight between his media outlets and Trump now, but without losing viewers and readers.

Murdoch's been running a few editorials in the NY Post that diss Trump while still trying to validate "the good" the guy has done. Guess Murdoch doesn't realize that to get the base to let go and move on to some other yet to be designated conservative favorite, his editorials have to spell out in all caps many more times over THE BAD PERSON THAT TRUMP IS.

The walls are starting to crumble, though. Evangelical denominations are experiencing difficulty keeping their congregations on the Trump page... more pushback about how Trump's not exemplar of Christianity and "maybe" neither are some of the candidates he has endorsed.

And now we have Michael Gerson, an evangelical Christian himself, with a long long piece in the Washington Post (pay wall removed) complete with historical background and careful references to scripture, asking why Trump doesn't fill Christians with rage.

Oh, shit. The quiet part out loud, finally. Not from the pulpit but from a column in a secular paper.

Gerson reminds readers that some of the current high profile evangelical leadership seems to have strongly turned away from the actual messages of Christ. He calls out as not-Christian their hypocritical, exclusionary and nationalistic behavior. It's worth a read for anyone, but for those purporting to be evangelical Christians it's also a stunning confrontation of coreligionists, an inquiry as to whether hooking up with Donald Trump for assorted "conservative" political goals can possibly have been worth the cost to morality and Christian practice

In short Gerson is asking out loud the parts a lot of other evangelical Christians have gone to some lengths for years now to avoid considering. You don't have to be a Christian to work for adequate recognition of the rights of the poor, people of color, LGBTQ+, women, children, the elderly, refugees... but can you viciously stereotype or attack them physically or online, can you strive to find ways legally to exclude their "equality under rule of law" and still call yourself Christian? Can you really be a white supremacist and be a practicing Christian?

In what should at least be a shamed silence for an evangelical Christian who has lost memory of the gospels in scripture, Gerson's long piece asks those questions and more, and also essentially says no f'g way.

He reminds evangelicals who may have fallen into the comfort of feeling like they belong, when they get with a Trump rally, that it's very hard to follow not merely the figure of Christ but the way of life he had advocated and that he strove to live as documented in the gospels. But long before Gerson, even before Christ, the ancient poet Virgil had figured that out the difficulties of living a moral life, having penned "The gates of hell are open night and day; smooth the descent and easy is the way."

Tick tock... Gerson's piece is impressive but it's so far just another drip of the tap that hasn't quite opened to flood out the bulk of evangelicals still convinced that to vote for Trump (before, and last time and maybe another time) is what God wants for America. Too many now may still figure God wanted low taxes for the rich and no abortions for any woman --and so it came to pass-- and so there must be something else yet that Trump can bring them. However, Gerson's suggesting that the cost to the soul has already been way too high.

No idea if that piece will swing any votes to the blue side in November, but it might empty out a few pews on the hard right side of evangelical churches, wherever parishioners' political disagreements have been getting harder to paper over in the name of Christ. And it's not likely to help Donald Trump in his hour of need for more donations, to make up for the fact that the RNC doesn't feel like springing to defend him from any charges that may result from DoJ's investigation, or the one in the state of Georgia.

This has been a case of some large number (millions*) of human beings abandoning their moral standards for perceived self benefit, not just Christians but more so, people who would swear they are American Patriots, supportive of our System of Democracy and Justice, our profession in belief of human rights, equal rights, equal opportunity, while not really insisting, turning a blind eye to all manner of corruption and racially based injustice, when: it benefits me. This is a common theme in my posts a common characteristic in many/most humans, to much ME not enough WE.

*It took millions of citizens with the direct help of the GOP to elect the biggest corrupting POS, threat to the integrity of our Federal Govt in our lifetime, arguably in the entire history of this country. Why? Your choice: Dummies or Schemers intent on destroying American Democracy for self benefit.

 

[GermanSuplex]

Trump is up to his usual projection after Biden's speech - somehow accusing him of wanting to weaponize the military. Which is exactly what he wanted to do to protestors and to seize voting machines.

Meanwhile, it continues to look bad for him.

Four dozen empty folders marked 'CLASSIFIED' found in Trump Mar-a-Lago raid, DOJ reveals

The Department of Justice is investigating possible crimes related to the removal of government documents from the White House when Trump left office.

www.cnbc.com