'RESIST THE BEGINNINGS; CONSIDER THE END'

With each passing day, Donald Trump becomes more dangerous. Things have gotten so bad that people in the media, entertainment industry, politics, the clergy, and academia have begun to compare the rise of Donald Trump with the rise of Adolph Hitler or Benito Mussolini in the 1920’s and 30’s.

The comparisons are valid.

Some have to do with the physical characteristics of the three men. If you were to look at photos of the three men side by side you could see the eerie similarities – the tightly pursed lips, the jut-jaws, the squinting, anger-filled eyes, and the menacing scowls. There’s also the poisonous, hate-filled rhetoric we’ve become all too familiar with. Then, there are the outrageous ideas, the banning of all Muslims from entering the United States, the notion that Mexicans are rapists and criminals, the ten foot wall, etc.

  

How would he accomplish such outrageous things? Would he be like the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and just tell congress, the courts, and the nation, “I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone.”?

The notion seems insane, but if his most recent statements are any indicator, Mr. Trump is as close to being certifiable as any presidential candidate in our history. 

At the last Republican debate, he was asked if he stood by his statement, made early in the campaign, that he would order American soldiers to use “worse than torture” on America’s enemies or to kill the wives, mothers, fathers, and children of terrorists. When Moderator Bret Baier reminded him that the acts mentioned were illegal under U.S. military law and the Geneva Conventions, Trump blathered, “They won’t refuse. They’re not gonna’ refuse me. Believe me.” When Baier pressed him, he insisted, “I’m a leader, I’ve always been a leader. I’ve never had any problem leading people. If I say do it, they’re going to do it.”

There you have it – from Donald Trump’s lips to America’s, and God’s, ears. They’ll do it because he says they’ll do it.

A day or so after he made the statement, he modified it and said he wouldn’t ask America’s fighting men and women to do things that are illegal. But, Trump being Trump, a day or so after that he said he would just change the laws, including articles 93, 118, and 128 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which holds any military member, at any level of service or command, liable for their actions, including torture, murder, or assault.

Simple, isn’t it? It’s amazing what can happen if you give a lunatic a pen and a phone.

Could he actually get people to do these evil things? Most of us wouldn’t, even if ordered to do so, but even when there are laws in force to prevent such evil, men sometimes cross the line, at My Lai in 1968, for example.

Would Donald Trump’s supporters be willing to commit My Lai’s on an industrial scale? They seem to adore him and they seem to be willing to follow him wherever he leads.

Recently, Trump had his Florida faithful raise their right hands and take the following loyalty oath: “I do solemnly swear that I, no matter how I feel, no matter what the conditions, if there are hurricanes or whatever, will vote on or before the 12th for Donald J. Trump for President.”

Trump said his followers were just having fun. Does fun mean acting like Hitler’s Brownshirts or Mussolini’s Blackshirts?

Would they, if ordered by Donald Trump, kill the wives and children of terrorists? Would they do “more than torture?”  I fear they would, especially if their loyalty was to Donald Trump rather than the Constitution or sound morality.

It would all be bad enough Donald Trump’s “army” was small, but, as we have learned, he has millions of Americans willing to follow him wherever he goes.

In 1955, a German academic named Milton Mayer wrote in retrospect about the rise of Adolph Hitler and the failure of the German people and world leaders to stop him before it was too late.

His words, written in the aftermath of the Third Reich, serve as a warning to us of what could happen if we ignore the cancer of hate that’s growing in our midst today:

“I do not see, even now. Many, many times since it all happened I have pondered that pair of great maxims, Principiis obsta and Finem respice—‘Resist the beginnings’ and ‘Consider the end.’”

A frightening possibility looms on the horizon. In all likelihood, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for president. If that happens, we must find a way to stop him. As Mayer said, we must “Resist the beginnings” and “Consider the ends.”

I’m not sure how that would work its way out in practical terms. All I know is that we must try…all of us!

BEWITCHED

“You foolish evangelicals! Who has bewitched you?”

Galatians 3:1 (New International Version – 21^st century update)

If you happen to be an atheist, agnostic, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, Muslim, Druid, pantheist, or any other religious group I’ve failed to mention, please know that I have no bones to pick with you today.  I’m aiming my wrath at fellow evangelical and born-again Christians who’ve fallen under the spell of Donald Trump.

If the pundits and the polls are right, Mr. Trump appears to be well on his way to securing the Republican Party’s nomination for President. 

Far too many born-again Christians are flocking to this charlatan, like lambs to the slaughter. Even so-called Christian leaders are leading the parade. Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University is courting him. Pat Robertson recently told his flock that Donald Trump “inspires us all.” In a 2015 Charisma Magazine column, so-called “prophet” Jeremiah Johnson called Trump “the trumpet of God.”

How can this be? 

Do they love Donald Trump because of what columnist Cal Thomas called his “dark charms.” Well, fellow evangelical, how’s this, straight from the lips of the Donald himself, for charm? Back in the 90’s, he said this of a black accountant at Trump Plaza, one of his “great” business ventures - “laziness is a trait in blacks.” Then, in the next breath he went on to say “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.”

Racism and anti-Semitism in one breath. How’s that for Christian virtue? Read that, fellow evangelical, then read the Sermon on the Mount and try to convince me that Donald Trump is worthy of your adoration.

Do you really love his patriotism and sense of duty? How’s this? In a 1997 interview with Howard Stern he spoke of the days when many of his fellow countrymen were serving and dying in Vietnam. What was the Donald doing? He told Stern “the closest he ever came to combat was his sexual adventurism.” He called it his “personal Vietnam” and also said “I felt like a great and very brave solider.”

I could go on and on about the way he’s slandered a good man like John McCain. I could go on and on about the way he’s slandered General John J. Pershing and the fabricated story of how Pershing ordered his men execute 50 Muslim insurgents in the Philippines, using bullets dripped in pig’s blood. General Pershing, who led the American Expeditionary Force during World War I, served this country with honor and distinction. He isn’t able to defend himself from the scurrilous claim. He died in 1948. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, with full military honors. Mr. Trump apparently hasn’t learned that it’s not good to speak ill of the dead. How about you, fellow evangelical?

Do you love him because he’s a genius when it comes to business? Do you really believe that? Are you aware that he has a string of business failures that’s longer than your collective arms? There’s Trump Steaks, Trump Airlines, Trump Magazine, Trump Mortgage, Trump Entertainment Resorts, and Trump University, bankruptcies, with a long trail of stiffed investors left in their wake.

Do you believe that’s the American way to conduct business? If so, all I can say is “shame on you.”

Do you really believe that he’ll make America great again? Do you really believe he’ll restore you to your “rightful” place on the throne of politics? Do you really believe he’ll make you the moral majority you should be? Is your ego bruised because we Christians seem to have been knocked off of our exalted political perch? Is this all more about revenge than it is Christian principle?

Do you think Donald Trump really cares about what you believe? Let me disabuse you of the notion. Donald Trump thinks you’re a fool. If he were to see Jesus face to face, he’d probably call him a chump, with all his mindless talk of turning the other cheek, being servants, loving one’s neighbor, and even loving one’s enemies. 

A few days ago, the Daily Beast put it succinctly.  “Trump is not trying to make great America great. He’s trying to make us the worst we can be to satisfy his own vainglory.”

They get it, fellow evangelical. Why don’t you?

I find the prospect of a Trump presidency as mind-boggling as I find it offensive. It’s even more mind-boggling and offensive to think that, if this doomsday scenario comes to pass, far too many of my fellow Christians will have played a major role in taking him over the top.

Fellow evangelical, it’s time for you to come to your senses. As the angel of the Church of Sardis said (Revelation 3), “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die.”

A DONNYBROOK a' BREWING

Well, well, well. If the New Hampshire primary is any indication, presidential politics is going to be very interesting this year.

Donald Trump, basking in his “yuge” victory in New Hampshire, is now off to South Carolina. On the surface, it seems like the Palmetto state would be foreign turf for him, but the late January Real Clear Politics poll had him leading the Republican field with 36%. His closest rival, Ted Cruz, was polling 19.7%. 

The South Carolina primary is less than two weeks away, which doesn’t leave much time for Cruz and what’s left of the Republican slate of candidates to catch up. The prospects for Cruz are tough enough, but they’re even tougher for John Kasich, Jeb Bush, and Marco Rubio, and Ben Carson, the only Republicans still in the race. 

Kasich did finish a respectable second in New Hampshire, but he’s going to South Carolina almost broke. With money being the mother’s milk of politics, my guess is that he’s dead meat.

Jeb Bush, on the other hand, has lots of money, but it doesn’t appear to me that his heart is in this campaign. Nancy and I have watched him several times on C-Span. While he’s quite conversant when it comes to policy, he spends a lot of time letting people know he’d much rather be with his grand-children. I don’t think it helps to have his mother, Barbara, on the stump with him. She’s wonderful, but I know how I’d feel if my mother were by my side at every campaign stop telling people to “vote for my son.” If I were Jeb I’d be dying a thousand deaths. It’s painful to watch. 

Ben Carson hasn’t suspended his campaign yet. There must still be a few stubborn evangelicals out there willing to vote for him.

Then, there’s Marco Rubio. He came out of Iowa with a full head of steam. His prospects were sky high, but he was bloodied badly in the New Hampshire debate. Chris Christie appeared to be imitating Paulie Walnuts taking out Big Salvatore Bonpensiero on the Sopranos. He thought a Mafia style hit on the up and coming Rubio would make him the Republican’s “made man,” but he somehow managed to shoot himself in the process as well as the intended target. Rubio was wounded alright, but he survived and managed to stay in the hunt. Christie, on the other hand, didn’t. It was all very clumsy stuff.

Instead of going on to South Carolina after New Hampshire was decided, Christie high tailed it back to New Jersey, with his campaign in tatters and future political prospects all but dead. Who knows? Maybe we’ll find them next to Jimmy Hoffa’s bones someday at the Meadowlands.

Then, we have the Democrats. What a spectacle. I’ve never been an admirer of Hillary Clinton, so I have to admit I enjoyed watching Bernie Sanders give her a real thumping. Good for him!

The signs of the Clinton campaign’s desperation became more and more evident in the final days of the New Hampshire campaign. I knew it was going to be bad when she started dragging Bill from town hall to town hall. God, he looked awful, more like a dead man walking than the Bill of the nineties.

He accused Bernie of being sexist. Talk about chutzpah. This is the Bill Clinton who spent an inordinate amount of time having sex in the Oval Office with an intern while he was on the phone discussing legislation with congressmen. This is the Bill Clinton who had a nasty habit of groping White House volunteers like Kathleen Willey. It was multi-tasking run amok.

Hillary forgave him, I think for the sake of political expediency.

I wasn’t sure the Clinton campaign could get more desperate, but they managed to show me how wrong I was. Madeline Albright started showing up at campaign stops, badgering young millennial women with the now infamous words – “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”

It all backfired…badly. Bernie won the young, especially young millennial women. In fact, he won almost every demographic group, leaving Hillary with voters over 65 and people with incomes above $200,000 in her corner. That was bad enough, but the fact that Bernie won about 90% of the vote of people who were looking for an honest politician speaks volumes about what a lot of Americans think of her ethics and fund-raising strategies.

When this presidential season started, I thought it was going to be boring. My, how things have changed. I can hardly wait for the March caucuses. In just a few short weeks, we Kansans will be packing up our blunderbusses, rusty old swords, and pitchforks and heading to the fairgrounds. As we Irish are fond of saying, “It’s going to be one hell of a donnybrook!”   

RIPE FOR DESPOTISM

“An elective despotism was not the government we fought for; but one which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among the several bodies of magistracy as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being effectually checked and restrained by the others.”

-          James Madison – From “The Federalist Papers” (February 20, 1788)

I’ve been reading a lot about the widening gap between the world’s rich and poor. The data is startling. Oxfam, for example, recently published a series of reports on that growing gap. The overall conclusion of the reports – “the wealth of the richest one percent is equivalent to the rest of the world’s combined.”

I don’t know for sure how accurate Oxfam’s claim is, but I tend to believe that there’s at least some validity in what they’ve written. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. 

Not many people are willing to argue about the alarming data, but finding a solution, or solutions, to the problem is another matter. Once the discussion about fixing the problem begins, the fur begins to fly.

The 2016 election cycle is still young and the rhetoric about inequality is getting heated. By the time we get to the fall it’ll be white hot.

Will we elect someone who knows how to solve the problem? I don’t think so. In fact, if history is any indicator, the candidates who claim they can solve the problem will almost certainly make things far worse.

Why is that so?  After all, aren’t we electing our friends and neighbors? Don’t they care about our well-being? Haven’t they told us they want to represent us?

Yes, they are our friends and neighbors. They seem to care about our well-being and I think they’re even sincere when they tell us they want to represent us. But, we’ve been electing our friends and neighbors for a long, long time and none of them have ever solved the problem of wealth disparity. 

There are reasons for this. First, sincerity is a powerful campaign tool. It works. Once the election results are tabulated, however, things change. The candidate who oozed sincerity in September has now been elected. The outsider who was once looking in has now become in the insider looking out. The pre-election sincerity has been supplanted by power and privilege. In his 2010 book “The Ruling Class,” Boston University professor Angelo Codevilla described the dramatic shift this way – “Hence, our Ruling Class’ first priority in any and all matters, its solution to any and all problems, is to increase the power of government, meaning of those who run it, meaning themselves.”

Power and privilege seem to come with the office. It’s bestowed on city and county commissioners, state representatives and senators, then to representatives on the national stage. The higher one goes in politics, the more pronounced the sense of power and privilege becomes. By the time an American politician gets to Washington, D.C., that sense has become acute. It’s so overpowering that it clouds sound judgement.

To be fair, not every politician operates from a sense of power and privilege. But, the ones who really do try to serve their constituents are scarcer than hen’s teeth, as the old expression goes.

There’s something else that almost always seems to come with political power and privilege. It’s money!

How is it that so many politicians start out poor and retire filthy rich? Are they just luckier than the rest of us? I’ll leave the answer to that question with your imaginations, dear readers.

So, the question of who is going to fix the problem of wealth disparity is once again going to be put to the public in the current election cycle. Republicans and Democrats have already started pandering for all their worth.

The Republicans, for example, are pandering to the masses, with a lot of talk of taking Washington, D.C. back from the fat cats and Beltway insiders. The most acute manifestation of this phenomenon is Donald Trump. It’s hard to believe, but we’ve got a billionaire fat-cat masquerading as a populist, which makes him a living, breathing oxymoron.  He rambles incoherently about making America great again, insults anyone who disagrees with him, and threatens to bomb our enemies back into the Stone Age. The con seems to be working. He’s done it by what columnist Charles Cooke recently described as “stunning the audience into dumb submission.” It shouldn’t be working, but, the more he rambles and blusters, the more the ham and eggers love him.

The Republicans don’t seem to have an answer. How about the Democrats?

Not too long ago, multi-millionaire Hillary Clinton appeared to be the heir to the throne. But then, Bernie Sanders came out of left field, proclaiming himself to be the revolutionary who will set America straight. Who would have thought that a middle-aged rabble rouser who channels Huey Long and Vladimir Lenin simultaneously could force Hillary to keep steering further and further to the left? But, he has. Pretty soon now and she’ll be singing, “Every Man a King.”

So, there you have it. The Democrats’ cupboard is as bare as the Republicans.

God help us! America’s in trouble. The air is ripe for despotism and we may actually get it.