This should give us pause at Easter

Christian ebullience re. Trump (NPR image)

Are Christians supposed to be happy at around Easter? No clear-cut answer to this question. First off, it is the nation's Christians who have to answer for Donald Trump having his quite elevated position in our consciousness, day after day. He would not have been elected president had the USA "evangelicals" not become so committed on his behalf. 

Once in power, Trump has stayed fixed in our thoughts whether we like it or not. You might surmise that I do not like it. It's probably essential to say that "for the record." 

Why is this even debatable? It is indeed bandied about.

 

Another thing I do not like at Easter: all the attention on the torture of Jesus Christ leading up to this dude being nailed to the cross. Egad. Stay home Easter Sunday morning. Celebrate Easter with a chocolate bunny from Willie's instead! Oh but I can't, as I am diabetic. I can close my eyes and remember!

 

When it rains it pours

News articles tell us constantly that Trump is a shoe-in for the nomination from this party called the Republican Party. So the Republican Party forces us to deal with this reality: a man in a tremendous legal hole on several fronts. One of these fronts involves a porn star in a major way. And Trump's supporters just tend to smile if you bring this up. They will dismiss you, not address the matter seriously at all. 

But there is a longstanding pattern of this attitude. It goes back to "Access Hollywood." How much persuading do y'all need? Persuading on the conclusion that Trump has issues of character that should keep him out of our daily consciousness. How much damage is being done to our nation's image and mood literally daily? Every morning there's Trump's face in a photo at or near the top of Yahoo! News. 

Why this deluge of embarrassing attention for our country? 

If you all want a "conservative" leader, that's well and good. We can talk political philosophy and principle - an extended conversation to be sure, endless. But do we want a national political leader who has the absolute ton of baggage that Trump carries? Daily? Evidently many of you are quite happy to live with it still, to continue to advocate for him no matter what comes out. 

We in the 7th District elected a congressperson who voted against certifying the 2020 election results, an extreme position that even Tom Emmer did not take. These are our stripes now. And our congressperson has made the possible "impeachment" of Joe Biden a personal priority. I know because I'm on her email list. It is sad she has drunk the Fox News Kool-Aid. Actually it is "Newsmax" that has taken over for that crowd now. 

Fox these days actually offers real-time corrections of what Trump says. Fox probably has to, because they have already been successfully sued on these matters. So now we have Newsmax. Trump charges forward with his reckless statements and lies. Yes I realize "lie" is a word that gets over-used in politics. I really don't like it. But look where we are at in this country. 

 

We had the choice

Alternate history

Where would we be at, if the Democratic nominee for president in 2016 had won? 

The Democratic nominee actually got three million more votes than Trump. She had to accept defeat. We have this thing called the electoral college. 

The "what ifs" involving Clinton winning could certainly inspire books. 

I placed a comment with a Yahoo! News article the other day. I wondered what a Trump loss in 2016 would actually have meant for Trump himself and his family/associates. My comment drew quite a bit of response. I share all of that here. 

First, my comment:

 

Just think if Trump had lost in 2016 and stayed on the sidelines, how the lives of his associates and family members would today be so much more contented and peaceful. They must think about that. Is Trump himself happy, with happiness only to be gleaned from being some sort of martyr? Even if he's elected again - I had a hard time typing that - prosecutors will be on his tail, lawyers his constant companions for the rest of his life.

 

"Dark" responded:

No, narcissists don't think about that. They never consider how it may affect them, they just blame you for trying to make them responsible for their own actions.

"Zeph" responded:

He wasn't expecting to win. The Benghazi-Smear on Hillary worked too well.

 

"Just-A-Sec" responded:

Think how better America would be.

 

"Jeff" responded:

I think any psychologist would say that Trump is far too mentally frail to be genuinely happy. They would probably say he is perpetually miserable because his narcissism is at an incredibly extreme level making him exceptionally ego-driven and mentally off-balance. The guy is up half the night slamming out ALL-CAPS tweets, like an addict that can never get enough. He says it himself - all that matters is WINNING. Thus no matter what happens, he's compelled to proclaim to the world that he won. We've all seen it for years - the unbelievable volume of provable lies he's been spouting for years. The unfortunate thing across the board is that he has so many supporters with extreme daddy-issues that feed his ego that he continues to believe he's incapable of losing or being wrong. For me, it's exhausting constantly seeing his rapid-stream of nonsense in the headlines. So it's hard to imagine the vast turmoil that's always present in his feeble mind.

 

"Rick" responded:

Just think if Trump could keep his pie hole closed for even a brief moment, he would be so much more wealthy. His lack of wisdom knows no bounds!

 

"Deg" responded:

Well. . .to be fair. . .I'd guess Jared and Ivanka are enjoying their ill-gotten gains.

"JA" responded:

Bro, well said. Simple as that.

 

"Muddy" responded:

As horrible a person as Malaria [Melania] Trump is, she is reported to have cried the night Trump won election because she knew what would happen to ego-man and his house of cards. Malaria is still a woman, she had the instinct for when her man was finished.

 

"MoscowAgainGoesAwry" responded:

Hey Brian, the thing is, he did lose in 2016. He only won by the EC. And he could've just left it there, but no, he had to challenge the reporting that correctly found that he had lost the 2016 election by nearly 3 million votes to HRC. He even appointed a "committee" to investigate that, remember? When it all at once dawned upon his demented criminal mind in November, 2016, following the vote, that he was sitting on the biggest payday he had ever seen, it was too much for him, so, as surprised as his campaign was that the EC elected him, they began the GOP (Grifting Operation Professionals) anew. Money changes everything. He isn't a "sideline" kind of guy. TRE45ON? No problem, he's good with TRE45ON for a nickname. You have to understand, he knows all the angles, any publicity, good or bad, means someone will send him their money, if he whines at the right volume and intensity. A guy with a multi-billionaire son-in-law needs your money. Think of it.

 

"Notme" responded:

I'm pretty sure that this judgment and others put him in default of covenants on the loans he has on the property he owns. Not that the banks would call the loan, but they would very likely start to require that the income from the properties be deposited into accounts they control so they get paid first. It's also almost certain that he's over-leveraged on the whole works. So rather than being the billionaire he says he is, he's got a negative net worth.

 

"07" responded:

Trump is happy if he gets all the attention. Good or bad, so I bet he loves it. The only thing he loves more is money, and lately on this front he gets destroyed. That must drive him nuts :) 

"Den" responded:

Well, Trump reportedly said that he was not only a genius, but a billionaire, and an astute businessman. Perhaps another bankruptcy, the 7th, should lessen the pressure, thus relieving the RNC from having to pay all his legal pending, and future fees!

 

"Corax" responded:

I just think of the lack of action after the 1st impeachment. The same could be said.

 

"DJT" responded:

But then Jared wouldn't $3+ billion dollars.

"Brian" responded:

If Trump had lost in 2016, he would not have been able to refinance his ponzi scheme of bank loans.

 

"Scott" responded:

Trump would still be in legal jeopardy whether or not he was ever president. The difference would be if not president, we would not have to listen to the MAGA.

 

"Ken" responded:

That's nothing new though. Going in as president he had over 3500 lawsuits. Most of which he defrauded people or he just outright kept them in court 'til the money ran out. It's been his M.O. for all his life.

(wlox image)

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com