Red Team Storms LIV

It should not be a surprise that cruel people came out of the political woodwork for the LIV Golf event at Trump Bedminster.  Tickets went for as low as $1 to entice people to attend as 9-11 families protested nearby..  

I imagine Tucker Carlson is laughing at the symbolic bag of cash Trump received from the murderous Crown Prince.  The Red Team sold their soul to the devil in Donald Trump.  He too will meet his maker and atone for his earthly sins.  Tucker and Marjorie will not be there to bolster his lies or fluff up Trump's insatiable ego.

Update 8-3-22:  One story got the mean greed vibe but did not explore the possible role of Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners in LIV Golf.  Is Jared coaching Affinity Partners' affiliate LIV Golf alongside former Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer? The Trump team's disregard for the law can be seen in its Mafia-like behavior according to a former FBI official.

Update 8-16-22:  A Saudi woman studying at Leeds University was sentenced to 34 years in prison for using Twitter to follow and retweet activists and dissidents.  The World Economic Forum ran a piece on using AI to reign in abuse on the internet:

By bringing human-curated, multi-language, off-platform intelligence into learning sets, AI will then be able to detect nuanced, novel online abuses at scale, before they reach mainstream platforms.

I imagine the Crown Prince would be most interested in such technology. 

Update 8-17-22:  The Saudi Crown Prince already has such an app.  Someone "reported her on the Saudi app, which is called Kollona Amn, or We Are All Security."

Her alleged crimes including using a website to “cause public unrest” and “assisting those who seek to cause public unrest and destabilise civil and national security by following their Twitter accounts” and by retweeting their tweets.

The World Economic Forum welcomed the Saudi Crown Prince in 2018 and now appears to endorse something similar to his security app.  

Update 9-27-22:   Tucker Carlson cheered the election of a neo-fascist Italian Prime Minister, an admirer of Mussolini.  

Update 11-18-22:  The Blue Lucys plan to shield the Saudi Crown Prince from a U.S. civil suit filed by the widow of WaPo journalist Jamaal Khashoggi. 

Update 11-19-22:  A former top State Department advisor called the move to protect the Saudi Crown Prince a bad strategy and is "carrying MBS's water."

Update 12-6-22:   The U.S. court case against the Crown Prince was dismissed under the guise of sovereign immunity, something the Prince did not have at the time of the execution.  The judge said his hands were tied by the Biden administration's recommendation to the court.  Thugs win.

Update 1-15-23:  The LIV hoard stalled as the tour nears its second year.  Meanwhile, the Saudi Crown Prince continues optimizing his image over the freedom and lives of Saudi citizens.

Human rights advocates and Saudi dissidents living in exile have warned that authorities in the kingdom are engaged in a new and severe crackdown on individuals who are perceived to be critics of the Saudi government.

Update 3-8-23:  The Hill reported:

“We are very very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait,” Tucker Carlson wrote in one text to an unidentified Fox employee on Jan. 4, 2021.  “I hate him passionately, I blew up at Peter Navarro today in frustration. I actually like Peter. But I can’t handle much more of this.”

Blue Team Caters to Rich and Violent

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman smirked when asked if he would apologize to Khashoggi's family, according to multiple reports.  

Senator Joe Manchin has the billionaires' back.

Update 7-17-22:  Smirking MBS got what he wanted out of the meeting.  Murderers also lie.

Update 7-18-22:  Manchin canoodles with billionaires to raise $1 million.  Serving the people who live outside West Virginia as Manchin's state has no billionaires.

Update 11-18-22:  The Blue Lucys plan to shield the Saudi Crown Prince from a U.S. civil suit filed by the widow of WaPo journalist Jamaal Khashoggi. 

Update 11-19-22:  A former top State Department advisor called the move to protect the Saudi Crown Prince a bad strategy and is "carrying MBS's water."

Trump Wanted to Lead His Followers at Capital

President Donald Trump was aware his followers were armed and intent on violence before he gave his January 6th speech.  That was the testimony from a White House aide with close access.

There were but a few ethical adults in the White House that day.  Most had sold their soul to the petulant child in the Oval Office. 

Trump is not done with his revolution against democracy. 

Update 1-6-25:  It's the five year anniversary of Jan. 6th and the images of that day are still etched into my mind.  They do not fit with Trump II's irreality.

Trump's thugs remain standing back and standing by.  

How Far Back will Supremes Turn Back Time?

On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court issued its Loving v. Virginia decision, which struck down laws that banned marriages between people of different races as unconstitutional.  Will Justice Thomas make it all the way back to 1965?  If so, what happens to Ginni?

Update 6-30-22:  Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado wants to roll the clock back to before the U.S. Constitution so "the church can direct the state."  I take it she wants her church to direct the state as there are thousands of Christian denominations.  Many of our Founding Fathers were deists.  Would Boebert recognize a deist is she met one?   

Update 7-17-22:  Texas Senator Ted Cruz wants to roll back time regarding marriage.  All white, all male legislators have done some evil things over the years.  Cruz is fully capable of challenging this ignorance and hate.

Update 7-2-23:  In striking down affirmative action in college admissions Judge Thomas expressed his vision for a "colorblind Constitution."  Our founding document counted slaves as three-fifths of a person.  Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, used his slaves a collateral for a loan.  He was the first to do so.  That is our history.

Medical Care Thrown Into Chaos by Underpants Monitors

 The U.S. Supreme Court threw out the Constitutional supported right to terminate a pregnancy via a surgical procedure or prescribed medication.  This issue now falls to states and localities with few physicians as elected officials. 

Women in some states will have to travel more than 500 miles to the nearest abortion clinic

Freedom of religion as actualized by a Red Team dominated Supreme Court feels like enforced mores of conservative Christianity.  The Texas Red Team put bounties on people assisting someone get an abortion before putting same sex relationships into the abnormal category.  The Supreme Court indicated it may go after other privacy rights currently enjoyed by Americans.

Crackers shouting freedom in the U.S. Capital after hurling a fire extinguisher at a policeman's head are likely celebrating the taking away of rights from millions of citizens.

When the U.S. exports democracy to religious based foreign governments the worry is how long it might last.  Our democracy is at risk from religious extremists not content with the freedom to practice their beliefs.  They have to impose their faith on the rest of us.  

Medical care chaos is here and being foisted on our country by a religious minority.  What's next?

Update 6-27-22:  "It's a victory for white life" said one Congresswoman.  State sanctioned forced birth is here and now in many U. S. states.

Update 7-7-22:  This religious minority makes up a majority of the Supremes, many who pray with those bringing cases to the court to impose their religious will on all Americans.  Their will be done.

Update 7-10-22:  Texas Reds show their freedom restricting mettle as Underpants Monitors.  They can not only interfere with healthcare they can restrict interstate commerce.  Commence the underpants posse!

Update 7-11-22:  Several justices wrote a dissenting opinion for the underpants monitoring ruling.

“Today, the court leads us to a place where separation of church and state becomes a constitutional violation.."

Update 7-13-22:   What happens when your widely practiced religion requires abortion to save the life of the mother?  

Update 7-17-22:  Medical harm is well underway thanks to the Supremes.

...a woman bled for more than 10 days from an incomplete miscarriage after emergency room staff would not remove the fetal tissue amid a confusing legal landscape that has roiled obstetric care.  

As many as 30% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, the spontaneous demise of a fetus, commonly because of chromosomal abnormalities.

Update 7-18-22:   One physician challenged the underpants monitors saying sometimes abortion is medically necessary.

Update 8-1-22:  Underpants monitors are happy to force young girls to give birth when their body is not ready and at great risk for lifelong harm.

Update 8-21-22:  At least one mother is carrying an nonviable baby just to bury it, courtesy of the underpants monitors.

Update 9-4-22:  Red Team Texas Governor Greg Abbott initially said his administration would catch and jail rapists to keep women from having an unwanted babies. There were 13,327 reported rapes in Texas in 2020, but only 1,828 arrests for rape.  His plan B is Plan B.

Update 9-13-22:  Underpants monitor Lindsey Graham (Red Team- South Carolina) introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate to interfere with difficult medical decisions some women have to make in conjunction with their loved ones and doctors.

Faithful Politics is "a Market"

Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition said this recently:

“We’ve never really tried to be the churchgoing version of the party bosses in a smoke-filled room trying to figure out who the nominee ought to be,” Reed said. “We figure the best thing to do is to provide a platform for those candidates and assist them, informally, by letting them know the best way they can connect with and make their case to those voters and pastors.

“After that, we let the market decide.”

Give the people what they want even if its obviously unChrist-like.  

Reed said that he was on the phone with Trump’s speech writers “for some time” yesterday, but would not elaborate on the feedback he provided about how Trump should discuss Pence at the conference.

The lived gospel is absent to the point Reed referred to the faithful as "a market."  One to be manipulated.

Update 8-14-22:  Christian Nationalism is not what our Founding Fathers wanted when they established our country.

Update 9-10-22:  A week before the Capitol attack, on a video call organized by a member of a Christian nationalist group, a Pennsylvania state senator who is the Republican candidate for governor in the battleground state prayed that supporters of Donald Trump would “seize the power” on 6 January 2021.  

Nine people died that day or as a result of Trump's insurrection.  I imagine a number of them were Christians.  I can't imagine feeding Trump's insatiable ego is God's Will.  

Update 9-17-22:  The Red Team updated Jesus' message.

Update 9-24-22:  Trump shared a Truth Social post showing him second only to Jesus.  Investors backed out of the SPAC acquiring Trump's media enterprise to the tune of $139 million.

Update 9-28-22:  Even evangelical theologians call Christian Nationalism a distortion of the faith.

Update 11-6-22:  The Amoral Trump "chosen one" market is touring the U.S.

Update 11-8-22:  A God commercial is promoting Red Team Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.  Blue Team Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama are fellow Christians, yet some would say God did not choose them for the job.  

Update 11-19-22:  Some evangelical leaders found their discernment skills regarding former President Donald Trump, often the least observable Christian in any room.

Update 12-4-22:  A Christian Nationalist leader had a Twitter account full of racist rants.  Somehow he forgot about what he'd written under a pen name.  

Update 12-9-22:  A Christian minister said his efforts to influence the Supreme Court "pushed the boundaries of Christian ethics."

Update 12-30-22:  Christian Nationalism does not come close to representing the wide swath of Christian belief.  It is a distortion of Christian faith.

Update 1-17-23:  Trump threw a retaliatory impulse punch at evangelical leaders.  That's their price for dancing with the devil of an unhinged President.

Update 2-9-23:  The Red Team and Christian Nationalism are deeply intertwined.

Update 2-17-23:  Fox News Tucker Carlson called Trump a "demonic force."

Update 5-10-23:  Morning Joe noted the deal evangelicals made with Donald Trump and predicted this would come back to bite the faithful.  

“This foray into politics has been devastating for evangelicals,” as, he said, more and more young people avoid many churches’ increasingly conservative stance.

Late in his life Rev. Billy Graham came to rue his foray into politics.  He warned the “hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it.”  That fits Donald Trump to a T.  It's hard to discern Jesus teachings from observing Trump's life. 

Update 5-15-23:   One Christian used Jesus' teachings to decide not to vote for another Trump presidency.

Update 5-19-23:  Trump's henchmen are using "end times" rhetoric to whip up supporters.   A revenge obsessed Trump wants retribution.  He bears little resemblance to Jesus and his behavior is the opposite of Christ's teachings.  

Update 6-21-23:  A conservative Christian said:

“You have in Donald Trump the person who probably most embodies the antithesis of the Sermon on the Mount, the person of Jesus, and the teachings of Jesus." 

Donald Trump Calls Himself a Fool

Flip-flopper Trump is now for something he was against.  Insider reported:

Former President Donald Trump said last week it was a mistake for Republicans to not be more involved in the committee investigating January 6.

"Unfortunately, a bad decision was made," Trump said in an interview with conservative radio host Wayne Allyn Root, adding it "was a bad decision not to have representation on that committee. That was a very, very foolish decision."

Trump rejected the idea of the bipartisan commission at the time, calling it a "Democrat trap."

Democrats agreed to nearly all of the Republicans' requests, including that the panel members be divided evenly between both parties and that decisions on who to subpoena would be unanimous.

Trump. as leader of the Red Team, effectively made that bad decision for his party.  I don't pity the fool.

Update 6-29-22:  The public learned why Trump needs defending from members of his team telling the truth under oath.  Trump knew his followers had weapons before his incendiary speech.  He effectively led the Capital insurrection and a fraudulent effort to replace state electors.  Under Trump the Red Team became a criminal enterprise.

Update 8-24-22:  Trump stubbed his ethical toe yet again regarding the hundreds of confidential and top secret documents he spirited away to Mara Lago.  

"... the argument from Trump that the documents are subject to executive privilege protections suggests those documents are official records – which he is not authorized to keep and should have turned over to the National Archives at the end of the administration."

Doh!  Trump's inner circle knew their boss was skating on thin ice.

Update 8-27-22:   Former Attorney General Bill Barr said Trump is a bad boss.

"The president was bellowing at a number of his Cabinet secretaries and especially the military guys, the DoD secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and calling all of us f-cking losers at the top of his lungs," Barr said.

"One would think that an executive would have a better idea how to operate with people and manage people, and he's a poor manager of people."