Democrats are the party of the killing of babies prior to their birth and now at birth. Their leaders enable this grotesque immorality/amorality. No matter what good a democrat leader does, they, like a priest who is excellent in all things (like McCarrick) negates that goodness by their abuse of children and their killing. There is no good that can overcome this grave evil.
For a Catholic to support a priest who has done so much good, except he abuses children, is an outrage just as it is an outrage for Catholics to support the good aspects of the Democrat party while they advocate for abortion all the way up to birth and even the killing of a child immediately after birth.
When Nancy Pelosi tore up President Trump’s speech, it wasn’t just the tearing up of what she did not like, she insulted the heroes in the gallery, including very, very young children, who were present at the invitation of the President and recognized by name in that speech. It was petty and insulting, not only to the office of the presidency, but to those wonderful people of different races and nationalities and ages and gender recognized and honored by the President and it is reprehensible and unconscionable!
Can religious leaders call such things at immoral when innocent Americans are insulted and denigrated in such a symbolic way by the Speaker of the House, who disgraces her office? At the State of the Union, she is the disgrace. She should resign or be removed from office.
What she did would be like her taking a hammer to the names of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC. Just think about that as a stunt to get back at the Presidents who involved us in that war.
55 comments:
Seems like Ms. Pelosi is trying to get an invite to the Vatican.
"She should resign or be removed from office."
Really? You think she is going to resign from representing an 80 percent+ Democratic district in Heathenville (oh, I mean San Francisco)? Be removed? By whom? Her caucus is so far to the left, and they think she is effective. They would no more remove her than you would vote Democratic in November!
These speeches have just become PR stunts with props, half the floor stands up and applauds, the other half sits with hands folded. And the longer they go on, the more money coming out of our pockets at a time when we are running trillion dollar deficits (hmmm...did not hear anything about that last night?!) And more often than not, presidents push stuff at these speeches just to rile up the base, even though they know there is zero chance of them getting enacted this current Congress (like a ban on late-term abortions or cracking down on sanctuary cities). Maybe it would be better to send written remarks to Congress and someone could read it--at 3 in the morning.
But I can agree she is nasty, boorish and just plain evil---which may actually help Trumnp and GOP chances this year.
Bee here:
I don't think it was as outlandish as all that. It was extremely unprofessional, and belies a what... not hatred, because when asked she denied she "hates" anyone, but at least a "grave dislike?" of the President. What bothers me about these last two Presidencies is the disrespect shown for the office by the opposing political parties.
I do not like Cardinal Cupich. I disagree with him on many things. I would not cross the street to hear him speak. However, if he came to my parish to confirm kids or ordain a man to the priesthood (which he did) I would give him the respect due his office and rank.
It seems common courtesy is lost in Washington between the political parties, and they are always playing to their base when on camera.
But I think the House or Congress should censure Speaker Pelosi for her actions. This kind of uncivil behavior needs to stop in Washington.
God bless.
Bee
Father, a few days ago you noted with some ire that Some people have to make everything political and I agree with you. However, I can see that dealing with the political realm is one of the unpleasant necessities of navigating our world as a Catholic, so I suspect that your two most recent posts are motivated by something close to that recognition.
Having been raised by Roosevelt Democrats, I held that party line until I was in my 30's and certain ugly realities began facing me and I could no longer ignore them. The biggest reality was that if I was to vote for politicians who supported abortion, then I shared some complicity in the sin of abortion. I registered Republican.
I will not deny that the Democratic Party has some admirable ideas, especially in the realm of compassion for the poor. However, I believe that many of these ideas have translated into misguided policies that really don't serve the poor or our nation very well. The Republican Party also has its faults, not the least of which is a tendency to attract some people with extreme views that tend to denigrate certain classes and even races of people. BOTH parties also share a fundamental character flaw: Their leaders smugly assume that they are right 100% of the time and that anyone who doesn't agree with them is a fool. This has translated into the most divided political atmosphere I can ever remember and it is shameful. I am frankly embarrassed by the grandstanding that I see both parties engaging in and long for the days when I could watch the evening news and see senators from both parties being courteous to each other as they discussed co-sponsored legislation or other issues. Today they all seem to act like children.
As far as Trump goes, sure he's arrogant at times and even crass, but I don't have a lot of problems with him. One of my children told me a month ago that he didn't understand how a Catholic could support someone like Trump. I asked him to give me an example of where Trump would be a problem for Catholics. He said, "Have you heard the way he talks about women?" And one cannot deny the tape of Trump's vulgar comment three years ago. But I replied that while I did not approve of such behavior, I was far more concerned about the millions of unborn children who get slaughtered every year. He then asks how I could vote for Trump knowing that he is so disrespectful of women. I told him that I am far more concerned with his policy than with a few unguarded remarks he might make. I also replied that Trump is not unique because presidents like Johnson, Kennedy, Clinton and others also were very disrespectful of women, except they kept a facade of being decent family men. Finally I said that, like most Americans I didn't exactly love EITHER candidate in the last election, so I voted for the lesser of the two evils. I can live with the fact that I helped keep someone much, much worse out of the White House.
Ripping up a speech is immoral??? Riiiiiight.
"The recording, obtained and published by the Washington Post, is from a day when Trump made an appearance on the soap opera Days of Our Lives. Trump is talking to Billy Bush of Access Hollywood, and the audio is caught on a hot mic.
“I did try and **** her,” Trump said. “She was married. I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. … I moved on her like a b***h, but I couldn’t get there and she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony t**s and everything. I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the *****. You can do anything.”
Crocodile tears for a speech, but the grotesque immorality - depravity actually - of the President gets no mention.
The biggest political trend that troubles me the most is what I would call the "politics of assuming". We now have a culture in which it is ASSUMED that if you are a Republican, you automatically are a racist and a "hater" and don't care about the environment. This assuming trend manifests itself with a new breed of young voters and activists who are so convinced of their infallible opinions on these issues that they call themselves "woke". They assume that Trump and Republicans are fascists, so they organize "antifa" activities, labeling their opponents with a moniker that makes rebuttal difficult (like "When did you stop beating your wife?") I am particularly peeved at this automatic assumption that Trump is a racist. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton both HONORED Trump a few years ago for his work with the black community in New York, but let him take on a Democrat and, BOOM! Instant racist. Yet I hear black people ALL OF THE TIME say, "I don't care what nobody say, Barack Obama still my president!" Yet if black unemployment rose under Obama and dropped under Trump, they don't want to hear it. It's all about skin color and TRUMP is a racist?
We are truly living in a time when good is called evil and evil is called good. Ultimately, we are headed in a bad direction and politics isn't going to save us.
In 1981, The Oakland Raiders beat the Philadelphia Eagles to win the Super Bowl. After the game, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle was on hand to present the Lombardi trophy to Al Davis, the Raiders' owner. However, BOTH men were involved in a VERY contentious lawsuit with each other and it was personal. They couldn't stand each other. However, Rozelle complimented Davis on his team's success and Davis graciously accepted the trophy. A news reporter tried to stir things up by asking each man if they felt uncomfortable presenting and accepting the trophy from each other. BOTH MEN ADROITLY AVOIDED FALLING FOR THE TRAP and continued to focus on the game and the award. That's class.
Trump refusing to shake Nancy Pelosi's hand is classless. Sitting and shaking one's head with a pouty look on one's face during the State of the Union Address is classless. Ripping up the president's speech is classless. And all of the invective being spewed by Democrats who are obsessed with "avenging" the 2016 election and all of the smug ball-spiking by Republicans who, appear to be fending off removal of the president are all CLASSLESS. Rejoicing that Rush Limbaugh has an apparently terminal illness is beyond reprehensible.
Both sides of the political spectrum are embarrassing our nation and themselves. It's time for us to grow up and it's high time for all of this venomous blind hatred to stop.
"Alert me when Speaker Pelosi sexually assaults someone, mocks the disabled, tears a child from their parents, pays off a porn star, insults a gold star family, calls Nazis fine people, denies science, steals from a charity, or starts a fake university. Until then, take a seat."
Good reasons for tearing p the text:
Seven Lies President Trump told in the State of the Union Address:
1. “We will always protect patients with pre-existing conditions.”
The Trump administration is backing a lawsuit that will dismantle those protections.
2. “Thanks to our bold regulatory reduction campaign, the United States has become the #1 producer of oil and natural gas in the world, by far.”
The US became #1 in 2012, under Obama, though its advantage has grown under Trump.
3. Trump claimed credit for the low unemployment rate and ending the “failed policies” of the Obama administration.
The trend in unemployment shows little sign of a sudden shift because of a change in presidents.
4. “We will always protect your Medicare, and we will always protect your Social Security.”
Trump recently suggested that cuts to entitlements will be on the table in his second term, though he tried to walk that back. And Trump’s previous budgets have already pushed for cuts to the programs.
5. “We will never let socialism destroy American health care.”
Right after promising to protect Medicare — which is a socialized health insurance system for the elderly — Trump had the audacity to suggest that socialism destroys health care.
6. Trump claimed he has confirmed a record number of judges to the federal bench.
Trump has not confirmed a record number of judges; 187 is not a record. Trump does have a record number of *appeals court* judges confirmed, but he prefers to use the inaccurate bigger claim.
7. “In America, we celebrate faith. We cherish religion. We lift our voices in prayer and we raise our sights to the Glory of God.”
Trump embraced the rhetoric of “religious freedom” that Republicans like to use to protect Christian dominance in American society. But the idea that the Trump administration cherishes religion and celebrates faith in the abstract — rather than just Christianity in particular — is clearly nonsense in the wake of the expansion of the Muslim ban.
Watching the video of the event, Mr Trump did not shake hands with Ms. Pelosi beforehand (pardon the pun). That must have infuriated her to the point that she was plotting during the whole speech to make a scene and decided to tear up the paper copy for the theatrics of retaliation. But here was Mr. Trump thanking God for the grace He has bestowed on the USA, and here was Ms Pelosi tearing up that speech in full prominent view.
Last month the approval rating for Mr Trump jumped to 49%. All these "has-been" elitist baby boomers are killing the Democratic party.
Anonymous at 10:19:
I would think that most people do stupid and sinful things in their lives, especially in their younger years. The point is to stop and repent. Mr Trump, unlike another president, has done none of those horrid things you mention while in office, or his wife, unlike some politically-opportunist wives, would surely have left him by now.
Frankly, Nancy Pelosi has done something just as disgusting as the laundry list of allegations our esteemed anonymous posted: She has publicly scandalized Catholics and herself by proclaiming to be an "ardent Catholic" while supporting unlimited abortion rights and by mis-characterizing the faith in various interviews.
Trump knows he has a past. What you see is what you get--a lot of bluster but also a guy with enough chutzpah not to care when petty people attack him. And he has done more to support the pro-life effort than any previous president, including the "Bahble-bee-leevin" George W. Bush. I have known a lot of people in my lifetime who led fairly immoral lives but at least SUPPORTED the rights of Christians and the innocent. The left can wave their moral indignation flags all they like, but nothing Trump does even approaches the gravity of 50 million innocent lives legally "choiced" out of existence since 1973. As long as Nancy Pelosi continues to support such policies, we can rate her hypocrisy at a "10" and give Trump a "5".
this
Finally, the attacks on this president haven't stopped since the moment he took the oath of office. Previous presidents have been stopped in their tracks by controversy. I have never seen anyone with the capacity to move forward undaunted with so many people attacking him as I have with Trump. Moral failings? No doubt. But this is also a man who knows who he is and moves forward and faces it all. I have to admire that.
"They assume that Trump and Republicans are fascists..."
Paxton, "Anatomy of Fascism," page 216: "Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion."
Trump, not all or even most Republicans, obsesses on community decline. "Sh*thole countries" Of Baltimore "Disgusting, rate and rodent infested mess".
Trump claims he is the ultimate "victim"... of the "phony emoluments clause" of a "coup" of a "lynching" of a "witch hunt" of "hatred" of "liberal judges" (despite the fact that 21 rulings against Trump were made by Republican appointed judges)
Nationalist militants - Charlottesville
Collaboration with traditional elites - These opposed Trump before he was elected: "George H. W. Bush, George Bush, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Mike Pence, Lindsay Graham, John Kasick, William Bennet, Colin Powell, etc. They have all capitulated and been forced to collaborate.
"...without ethical or legal restraints..." _ Republicans will not vote to remove him from office.
Fascism lurks too close to the surface.
Whatever one thinks of Pelosi or the Democrats, President Trump is not, and should not be, beyond criticism. Many of us who are Independents and indeed many Republicans also have a major problem with him.
Here, for example, is George Conway (husband of Kelly Anne) in today’s Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/05/george-conway-trump-i-believe/
And Senator Mitt Romney clearly has a problem with him. How refreshing to have just heard his speech explaining his vote to convict under one of the Articles of Impeachment. There is hope for decency, integrity, and honor after all (we do remember decency, integrity, and honor, don’t we?).
On the subject of impeachment, doesn’t the argument that Trump should not be impeached because we should “let the people decide” ring rather hollow given that FOX News completely censored the entire Senate trial during Prime Time (when most viewers were able to watch), instead unleashing Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham to harangue their viewers (including most of the Trump Base) and lambast the Democrats with the usual invective, propaganda, and disinformation. Apparently their viewers “can’t handle the truth” or, perhaps more accurately, shouldn’t be allowed to. Big Brother would be proud. I am sure Big Daddy was.
Ah, truth! Now there’s a quaint notion—and one that_should_matter to us as Catholics.
Bee suggests censoring Pelosi. That’s fine, go for it, but what about censuring Trump too?
P.S. Typo in last line – censuring, not censoring
PP.S Also, Kellyanne, not Kelly Anne. Sorry.
SPEAKING OF LIES...
President Trump never called Nazis "fine people". One would think that White Supremacist cults were regular guests at Trump Tower and Mar a Lago the way the left tries to paint this whopper.
When the protests clashed in Virginia over the civil war memorials, there were protesters for and against the removal of the confederate memorials. Obviously, the Nazis did not want them removed. HOWEVER, there were also many historically-minded citizens who, while hating slavery, saw the significance of preserving historically important memorials as opposed to the Soviet-style method of merely "erasing" the past and pretending that it never happened.
After the violence Trump said that there were good people on both sides of the debate. To equate that with praising Nazis is beyond low. Then again, quite typical of the scumbag approach to dividing the electorate that both sides have fallen into.
There is no basis for the impeachment of Trump. Nothing he has done rises to the level of impeachable offense. The Left wants to impeach him simply because they do not like him. All of this persecutory behavior towards Trump is only guaranteeing his re-election. It strengthens his base (63 million +/- people), and swings many moderates and fence-sitters into his camp because they get tired of listening to Democrats whine and pout and stomp their little feet.
"I would think that most people do stupid and sinful things in their lives, especially in their younger years. The point is to stop and repent. Mr Trump, unlike another president, has done none of those horrid things you mention while in office,..."
In their younger years. The quote is from 2005. Donald Trump was FIFTY-EIGHT that year. This was not a youthful indiscretion.
As for repenting, Donald Trump: "I am not sure I have," Trump said when asked if he'd ever asked God for forgiveness. "I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don't think so," he said. "I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture. I don't."
"...or his wife, unlike some politically-opportunist wives, would surely have left him by now."
Two of them have. TWO of them.
Very fine people. "Trump: "Excuse me, excuse me. They didn’t put themselves -- and you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides."
Which of those chanting, "Jews will not replace us" and "Blood and Soil" were the "fine people"?
Removing statues does not in any way "erase the past." Every statue of King George III in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, and probably anywhere else they existed, was torn down after we won the Revolutionary War. Has history been erased? Have we forgotten that George III was king of England when we won?
The great majority of the monuments to Confederate leaders were erected between 1877 and 1964. The peaks for their erection were between 1890 and 1920 when Jim Crow laws were being enforced with impunity, and again in the late 1950's and early 1960's when Civil Rights legislation was being debated and enacted.
Fine people do not defend monuments whose "significance" is Jim Crow and Segregation. They were erected to further the Lost Cause of white supremacy and should come down.
Well Anonymous, I have to admire Father for this post. Evidently, he was clever enough to realize that your political obsessions were distracting all of our other conversations, so he gave you a place to spew all of your expertise at the rest of us while not distracting us from the conversation.
And I have to say, you are SO much smarter and morally upright than the rest of us! I REALLY appreciate your superior opinions and you have certainly persuaded me that I should never tolerate even the MENTION of that horrible, horrible president by name!
I'm going to go read a book now about all the great things the left has done for America!
Thanks again Anonymous! You are truly a great American! (oops! I didn't mean to insult you--you know by calling you a great American)
Disingenuous poppycock. Many fine people believe that the confederate monuments are great teaching tools of our darker past and I tend to agree with them. Your flawed thinking is seeing only ONE possible way to interpret an issue and then making ridiculous accusations at those who dare to think differently than you and ascribing only the lowest possible motives to their position (13 year old teenagers are REALLY good at that).
And you know darned well that not everyone on the "keep them" side of the protest was shouting racist invectives, anymore than one professor's narrow view of fascism gives people the right to define those they disagree with by calling them names associated with war criminals like Mussolini.
What a pathetic, desperate unhappy person you must be to believe and propagate such dishonest fecal discharge.
Enlisting the assistance of a foreign government in a United States election is an impeachable offense. Trump did that.
Withholding necessary foreign military aid from a foreign government, the Ukraine, in order to force that government to provide the assistance you want is an impeachable offense. Trump did that.
Obstruction of Congress is a crime and an impeachable offense. Trump refuse to answer legal subpoenas from the House of Representatives.
In 1990 Senator Mitch McConnell said, and I quote, "I am completely and utterly perplexed By those who argue that perjury and obstruction of justice Are not high crimes and misdemeanors."
High crimes and misdemeanors are impeachable offenses.
Seems God does not pick perfect men for a job, a drunkard in the end, Noah. A doubter never got to enter the promised land, Moses. David a huge Philanderer. Peter, a denier. Thomas ,a doubter, Paul a horrendous persecuter, Augustine, "save me, just not yet" a real party animal in his day. If you demand perfect in this life you ain't going to get it, don't exist. The only difference between Trump and a lot of politicians, he doesn't try to hide it, everybody knows it, the opposition can't blackmail him with ti so they are powerless, He just keeps working. I respect a man that admits he isn't perfect as opposed to one who tries to act like he is.
Anonymous, has it ever crossed your mind that in general, people feel that POLITICIANS tend to be even MORE corrupt and immoral than the known entity of Donald Trump? And that is why he got elected?
Dear Dan & Egyptian<
Don't waste your breath. Our anonymous commentator is so vexed by his (or her?) hatred of Trump that nothing we say matters.
Ultimately, what perplexes most people about Trump is that he doesn't act like a politician. I doubt that our founders ever envisioned a professional political class (our true criminal class) that made lifetime careers in governing. Trump is an outsider. He is not a professional politician and he doesn't play by their rules and he doesn't care what they think.
Ultimately, while we should show some modicum of sensitivity to our neighbors, no one can survive in this brutal world until they have a healthy indifference to popular opinion. I don't especially like everything about Trump, but I cannot help but admire his indifference to popularity and the "norms" of American politics. Sure he crosses the line sometimes, but we are in such an extraordinary mess it takes someone like him to deal with it all. My biggest surprise is that the Democrats have not yet found their outsider candidate. In time, they will.
Sod, Bless your Heart.
YPLMS - The monuments were not erected to honor the leaders of the Lost Cause. They were erected to maintain white superiority and segregation. "Fine" people do not support those goals. The "historical importance" of these monuments is in their basis in segregation and subjugation, not in some high-minded States' Rights folly.
Tell me, what country do you know of that erects monuments to the leaders, both political and military, who tried to destroy that country? Does England have statues honoring Hitler and Goring? Of course not. Nor should our country memorialize and give honor in public places to the men who worked to destroy the Union.
Fine people understand this. Bubble-headed "Proud Boys" and those who agree with them do not.
"If you demand perfect in this life you ain't going to get it, don't exist."
I don't "demand perfect."
"The only difference between Trump and a lot of politicians, he doesn't try to hide it,..."
I disagree. Other politicians lie with a purpose. Trump lies for sport. The purpose he has for lying is - lying.
I think that what you like about Trump, and what draws you and many others to him, is that you want to be like him. He is vulgar, crass, abusive, an adulterer, misogynistic, nearly incapable of telling the truth for any reason whatsoever, utterly narcissistic, and vindictive.
There is a seductive power in the evil we encounter in the world, it draws us in with its empty promises. This is the essence of concupiscence - what is broken in us is drawn to what is broken in others. They get away with their evil and, in our frailty, we want to do the same.
It's a spiritual malady that has little or nothing to do with politics.
YPYLM - You fret about calling names, but in your 6:37 post you have hurled "disingenuous," "flawed," "ridiculous," "13 year old," "narrow," "pathetic," "desperate," "unhappy," and "dishonest."
Congratulations, you win the name-calling contest today.
"...I cannot help but admire his indifference to popularity..."
He is desperate for popularity.
We knew this all along, but the first Presidential expression was when he lied about how many people attended his inauguration. He claimed 1.5 million people were there. Speaking at the CIA - a common place for Presidents to brag about themselves - "I'm like, wait a minute. I made a speech. I looked out, the field was, it looked like a million, million and a half people.”
EVERY photograph of the event shows this is a false claim.
The list of his false claims - all intended to make it seem to himself that he is the most popular President, the most popular person for that matter - who ever existed is long. We know, because he has told us, that he is a very stable genius. We know, because he told us, that he is beloved of all Jews except American Jews, because he is like the Second Coming of God.
We know, because he told us, that nobody knows more about campaign finance, getting ratings, ISIS, Facebook, lawsuits, politicians, the visa system, debt, taxes, infrastructure, construction, the Federal Reserve, technology, and, of course, drones. (Quotes from Trump are all here: https://www.axios.com/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody-b278b592-cff0-47dc-a75f-5767f42bcf1e.html)
He is the most desperate for publicity President the world has ever seen.
So "Anonymous" would you give communion to someone who presents with an 'I voted Republican today' pin?
I doubt it. Being as enlightened as you are.
To compare civil war memorials with memorials to Hitler and other Nazis is misleading at best.
Of course Britain would have no monument to Hitler. However, there ARE monuments to Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell, the humorless Puritan that the nation despised after his death for his bleak totalitarian imposition of closing theaters and pubs. Cromwell, who led a civil war against Charles I.
Your interpretation of the intention of confederate memorials are just that: your intepretation. Nothing more.
Seriously, you should thank Donald Trump. Without him, who would you have to demonize? What would you have to complain about? He offers a tremendous service to you and others like you: A focal point for all of your self-righteous anger. Now go indulge and enjoy yourself! And don't forget to thank The Donald.
Some of us have experienced working for people like Trump. Bosses who are imprecise, vulgar, a bit narcissistic, impatient with bureaucracy and successful because of their stubbornness. I once worked for such a man. He operated out of his hip pocket mentally. He exaggerated, and spoke in hyperbole all the time. He cut corners. He was not a man you wanted to cross. And his employees loved him because he was fiercely loyal and kind to us in spite of his personal and moral failings. He didn't tell the exact truth all of the time, but we would never have called him a liar--not because we feared him but because the most honest thing about him was that he cared about his business and the people who worked for him. He had the mouth of a truck driver, the vanity of a movie star and heart too big to contain all of his contradictions. And I still miss him.
Trump certainly reminds me of him and maybe that's why I like him.
For all of the accusations of lies by Donald Trump, I think it's only fitting that we should also examine some of the truths of Donald Trump.
Trump is a capitalist and a very successful one. Part of America's greatness has been its history as the most powerful modern capitalist nation. Trump reflect that and part of his election reflects the American desire to be successful. In other countries, people are threatened by success (and also on college campuses where indoctrinated youth are told by their socialist professors that we should not celebrate financial success). In America, we celebrate such success as we hope that we too will be successful and those who are will help bring us along.
Trump is not a quitter. After two failed marriages, he refused to throw in the towel and found Melania, a woman with more class in her little finger than any of the trashy tarts in the entertainment business.
Trump is a family man. In spite of the divorces, he has taken good care of his ex wives and his children. All of his children appear to be good people as well.
Trump sees the value of the human person. While I would not be shocked to learn that he might have fathered children who were aborted, he has moved to a pro-life stance and he has stood behind it. And for all of his high-profile insults towards his "enemies" I imagine Trump would go out of his way to help any of them if bad fortune were to befall them. Trump wears his emotions on his shirtsleeve, but he is not a monster.
Trump refuses to be politically correct. In fact, no other person in the public eye has done as much to demolish the false god of political correctness as Trump. For that alone we should all be grateful. And for that alone, our most left-leaning citizens will never forgive Trump and will despise him as long as they can breathe.
Bee here:
Nancy Pelosi claims to be Catholic, but compare her behavior and political beliefs on abortion to just two fundamental pronouncements of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ:
On ripping up Trump's speech and on abortion:
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
"Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto Me."
Jesus takes these things personally.
Trump is no better with regards to how he speaks to and about his opponents, and he does claim to be Christian, so those fundamentals apply to him too.
But Ms. Pelosi wears her "Catholicism" on her sleeve, and her behavior belies a vile attitude toward those she dislikes. So I consider her, as a fellow Catholic, more culpable, since she says, "I see."
God bless.
Bee
Anonymous said..."The monuments were not erected to honor the leaders of the Lost Cause. They were erected to maintain white superiority and segregation. 'Fine' people do not support those goals. The 'historical importance' of these monuments is in their basis in segregation and subjugation, not in some high-minded States' Rights folly."
Is it safe to assume that you would be in favor of tearing down every single statue of the white Europeans who came to America and displaced and subjugated millions of native inhabitants, or don't the native Americans count?
If such statues aren't reminders of white superiority and subjugation, I don't know what would be.
Anon@8:13, The monuments were not erected to maintain white supremacy, etc. and the Confederacy was not trying to "destroy the country." The monuments honor great men of the Confederacy who took considerable risk in creating a separate state and defending it. Robert E. Lee was as fine a General as America ever produced, and the values for which the Confederacy stood are the values we should all seek to embody. Slavery was an unfortunate institution, that was a necessary evil in the agrarian society of the South and which would have disappeared on its own in a decade or less. Those who insist that the War Between the States was fought merely to defend slavery are incorrect. Slavery was certainly one issue, but the larger issue was State's Rights (still an issue) and the question whether any state or group of states is given the right to secede by our founding documents. These issues still gt argued among legal scholars. PS Very few of the soldiers who fought for the Confederacy were slave holders, and there were a number of Blacks who fought for the South. It was a complicated time. Lincoln, himself, said that he wanted to preserve the Union...with or without slavery. He also said that he did not believe that God intended Blacks and whites to live on the same continent. But, since we brought them here, we cannot have a society with a Constitution such as ours and countenance such an institution as slavery. BTW, Lee had freed his slaves early on.
We are talking about character and virtue here (or the lack thereof). Does it matter, or doesn’t it? Should it matter? If it does and should, and aside from policy differences between the Democrats and Republicans (including on abortion), imagine this was Obama not Trump. Would everyone (and I mean everyone) be saying the same as they are now saying here? Only this question will determine whether we are being truly apolitical and nonpartisan in our positions.
There is indeed a statue of Oliver Cromwell outside the Houses of Parliament. It was erected in 1899 and paid for by Lord Rosebery, who was briefly Prime Minister (1894-5). There is also an equestrian statue of Charles I in Whitehall, looking towards the Banqueting House outside which he was beheaded in January 1649.
In fact, it was Charles who began the Civil War when he raised his standard at Nottingham Castle in 1642.
I am a cavalier, not a roundhead. Yet Cromwell was a great Englishman. For obvious reasons I cannot condone his behaviour in Ireland (although the Irish exaggerate his atrocities) but he was the only English ruler to effectively subjugate the Scots after the Battle of Dunbar in 1650. Something that their chippy descendants choose to forget.
Regarding The Donald - one of the last things my Irish aunt (resident in Pennsylvania and a devout Catholic) did was to vote for Trump in 2016, the only one in her extended family to do so.
Regarding impeachment - it fell into disuse in England well over 200 years ago since it was a cumbersome and obviously partisan procedure which resulted in acquittal (Warren Hastings, Lord Melville). It's about time you gave it a decent burial.
"I think that what you like about Trump, and what draws you and many others to him, is that you want to be like him. He is vulgar, crass, abusive, an adulterer, misogynistic, nearly incapable of telling the truth for any reason whatsoever, utterly narcissistic, and vindictive.
There is a seductive power in the evil we encounter in the world, it draws us in with its empty promises. This is the essence of concupiscence - what is broken in us is drawn to what is broken in others. They get away with their evil and, in our frailty, we want to do the same."
No. What draws us to Trump is the possibility that people like him, like us (and you), can still be used by God for good. The state of the union address was nothing short of a validation of us: redeemed fathers, premature births, grieving brothers, struggling moms, heroes, students...America.
No, friend, we don't want to be like him. We already know we are.
"To compare civil war memorials with memorials to Hitler and other Nazis is misleading at best."
I didn't. What I compared were the decisions made by countries to erect statues to honor those who attempted to destroy those countries in which the statues were erected with those countries who do not. "Decisions" were what I compared.
"Your interpretation of the intention of confederate memorials are just that: your interpretation. Nothing more."
No, it is more, much more.
Unfortunately for those who wish to deny the segregationist and white supremacist purposes behind the erection of many memorials to Civil War generals, we have the speeches made at the time of the dedication of such memorials.
Among the most grotesque is that made by Julian Carr at the dedication of the Confederate Soldier memorial, known as Silent Sam, on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Carr was a UNC alumnus and trustee, industrialist, largest donor to the project, and former Confederate soldier.
Carr said, "...the present generation ... scarcely takes note of what the Confederate soldier meant to the welfare of the Anglo Saxon race during the four years immediately succeeding the war ... Their courage and steadfastness saved the very life of the Anglo Saxon race in the South."
"The four years immediately succeeding the war" refers to the beginning of the Reconstruction era when bands of white people terrorized blacks in an effort to maintain white dominance.
Carr went on to say, "I trust I may be pardoned for one allusion, howbeit it is rather personal. One hundred yards from where we stand, less than ninety days perhaps from my return from Appomattox, I horse whipped a negro wench until her skirts hung in shreds, because upon the streets of this quiet village she had publicly insulted and maligned a Southern lady, and then rushed for protection to these university buildings where was stationed a garrison of 100 Federal soldiers."
(You can read the entire text here: Julian S. Carr, “Unveiling of Confederate Monument at University. June 2, 1913” in the Julian Shakespeare Carr Papers #141, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
The United Daughters of the Confederacy who began the effort to "memorialize Civil War dead" were, at the same time, promoting a history of the Ku Klux Klan for use in North Carolina schools that praised the heroic work they did to preserve white supremacy
No, saying that the statues, most of them being erected during the height of Jim Crow and in the face of the Civil Rights movement in the 50's, were erected to maintain white supremacy and segregation is not my "interpretation."
"And his employees loved him because he was fiercely loyal and kind to us in spite of his personal and moral failings."
Ask former Attorney General Jeff Sessions how "fiercely loyal" Trump is to his employees.
Ask Michael Flynn, H. R. McMaster, Reince Priebus, Omarosa Manigault, Rex Tillerson, Jim Mattus, and John Kelly.
Anonymous,
No matter how hard you try, merely insisting your subjective views are objective do not make it so.
"What draws us to Trump is the possibility that people like him, like us (and you), can still be used by God for good."
Then, by all means, let's elect Harvey Weinstein to office. People like him can still be used by God for good.
Maybe Bernie Madoff or Dennis Kozlowski or Allen Stanford.
Regarding slavery as the cause for the Civil War, Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the CSA: "Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. This truth has been slow in the process of its development, like all other truths in the various departments of science."
"I think that what you like about Trump, and what draws you and many others to him, is that you want to be like him. He is vulgar, crass, abusive, an adulterer, misogynistic, nearly incapable of telling the truth for any reason whatsoever, utterly narcissistic, and vindictive.
That sounds like a description and portrayal which applies even more so to two of our recent presidents. LBJ and Bill Clinton anyone?
Alan Dershowitz, Harvard professor and Constitutional scholar, made the most convincing arguments at the Impeachment trial that Mr. Trump committed no crime for which he could be impeached. And by the way, when Ukraine was aked to investigate Mr Biden, he was not at the time a candidate for public office and was therefor not a political opponent of the Prsident.
First they come for our history then what is next, Jefferson, Washington, both slave owners, now students are being subjected to a stupid reading of history, the 1619 project, pure pucky. the idea is to denigrate the USA and make us ashamed, ain't workin so to speak. yes the war was a mess, tore us apart, but to wipe out history and denigrate leaders is just as bad, Lee led an honorable life after the war, now they even what his name deleted, I've been to Germany visiting family, they have memorials to the fallen in ALL wars, including WW2.
now to really blow your mind, The southern plantation owners had their net worth mostly in slaves, their debt was to northern banks, mostly, to just free the slaves would have bankrupted them and you know bankers. The "south" offered the government a deal, purchase the slaves and set them free, the total cost would have been much less than the cost of the war not to mention the bloodshed, and probably much less hatred afterward. The south really didn't have a lot of choice, they probably would have been broke one way or the other, just this way the bankers didn't get the farm. The fact is the north wanted the south broke,
Just like the modernist want the past of the "church" obliterated, we now see the result and many of us want our history back. If you don't know where you came from you don't know where you are going.
for you reading enjoyment, the first seperation movement in the USA
http://www.ditext.com/dilorenzo/yankee.html
"The Federalists also believed strongly that homogeneity of race, and "ethnic purity," were essential ingredients of a successful republic. These New Englanders thought of themselves as "choice offspring of the choicest people, unpolluted by foreign blood."9
damned uppity northerners
Ultimately, the rest of us are going to have to just agree to disagree with our Trump-hating Anonymous.
I supposed one could admire the fact that we have a political party that purports to opposing intolerance, racism, elitism, class "superiority" and other human failings. That said, it would serve its members well to remember this one caveat: You become what you hate.
They have.
Here's a sample of some liberal statements that demonstrate their naked elitism, class superiority and intolerance:
Hillary Clinton after losing the election: "So I won the places that are optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward."
Joe Biden after Trump's election: "This time, they--not you--have an ally in the White House. They're a small percentage of the American people--virulent people, some of them the dregs of society."
FBI agent Peter Strzok: "Just went to a Southern Virginia Walmart. I could SMELL the Trump support."
Politico reporter Marc Caputo on a crowd at a Trump rally tweeted: "If you put everyone's mouths together in this video, you'd get a full set of teeth." When confronted on Twitter about the remark, he replied, "Oh no! I made fun of garbage people jeering at another person as they falsely accused him of lying and flipped him off. Someone fetch a fainting couch!"
New York Times associate editor Sarah Jeong: "Are white people genetically predisposed to burn faster in the sun, thus logically being fit to live only underground like groveling goblins?"
Laura Moser (Bernie Sanders supporter and failed Congressional candidate): "On my pathetic writer's salary I could live large in Paris, Texas, where my grandparents' plantation-style home recently sold for $129,000. Oh, but wait--my income would be a fraction of what it is here (Washington, D.C. ) and I'd have very few opportunities to increase it. (Plus I'd sooner have my teeth pulled out without anesthesia, but that's a story for another day.)
Actor Jim Carrey, commenting on his hideous caricature/cartoon of former White House Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders: "This is a portrait of a so-called Christian whose only purpose in life is to lie for the wicked. Monstrous!"
Actor Peter Fonda on Sarah Huckabee Sanders: "S.S. is a lying g*sh too. And g*sh is much worse than c*nt. Maybe we should take her children away and deport her to Arkansas for give her children to Steven Goebbels Miller for safe keeping."
Liberal tolerance.
LIke I said, you become what you hate.
I am not from the north, but I am probably more despised in the south than most "uppity northerners" because I am from a more hated locale: California. But after reading this, I have to make a couple of observations:
The south is stereotyped as a racist enclave. That might have been true at one time, but I don't think it's fair to paint with such a broad brush today. When I first visited South Georgia around the year 2001, I was struck by how many interracial couples I saw and I felt far less racial hostility here than I felt in California.
That said, I think most Americans are embarrassed by the fact that slavery was once a big part of one of our regional economies and tolerated as an institution. While some can argue that the civil war was not fought over slavery, it was, at very least, one of the issues that led to the war. So, logically, we can say that a large number of white people shed their blood to end and injustice to black people. After living here in the south I can definitely say that the motivations for both sides were complex and it is unfair to demonize either the north or the south as the citizens of both regions did what they believed they were obligated to do.
It's really unfair and downright dishonest to attempt to define one region of our country or one kind of voter in simplistic terms. Stereotypes exist, admittedly, because there are instances of reality that they reflect, but the do not reflect the entire reality. In short, it's time to stop demonizing the south as racist.
Anonymous at 6:38 pm makes a good point. LBJ is probably responsible for passing more civil rights legislation (and I might add promoting generational illegitimacy and destroying the black family unit) than any president in history. He was also a disgusting man who made Donald Trump look like a choirboy. However, since he is also a darling of the liberal revisionista movement, he remains largely untouched.
This is a man who couldn't wait for Air Force One to take off so he could strip naked. He bedded women from coast to coast while running for VP. Unlike Kennedy, women were not attracted to his looks, but many could not resist his aura of power and "alpha masculinity". His uncensored quotes are among the most racist, misogynistic and crude of any statesman you can name. And there is a good case, albeit inconclusive, that he engineered the assassination of JFK.
But, like Carter, Clinton and Obama, whatever failings he had usually get a pass. About the only thing history condemns LBJ for is the Vietnam war.
I propose we erect a statue of Theophilus Eugene "Bull" Connor at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. The statue will have but one purpose, to honor the man.
Connor was a man of great dignity, much beloved by those who knew him, winning a landslide election in 1961 for his sixth term as Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham. He has been lauded by many in subsequent generations for his absolute adherence to his principles and his unwavering support of States' Rights. He was a true Son of Alabama, a fine example of Southern manliness, and a credit to his race.
He was outstanding in his job as many will attest. He was beloved by his family members and mourned by thousands at his passing. He is remembered even to this day and admired by many.
Now, why is it that I will not live to see the enshrinement of the likeness of Bull Connors in bronze at the foot of the Pettus Bridge at its crossing of the Alabama River? Because no matter what his virtues may have been, his actions against Civil Right, against Civil Rights marchers, against the good of our nation, and against the cause of righteousness are so evil, that to laud and honor him in some public setting is simply wrong.
Bull Connor will never be forgotten and his actions will never be “erased” from history simply because we have no statue of him in the public square. He should be remembered, what he did should be taught to children across our country. He should be remembered and the history taught so what children will learn that evil exists, that it must be resisted, and that it should never be lauded.
Dear Anonymous,
Please get over yourself.
Anonymous 10:46 - Bless your heart.
The Senate House actually displays the 'fasces' (carried by lictors in ancient Rome and used by Mussolini as the emblem for his fascist party). Does this mean that fascism lurks close to the surface of the US constitution? Of course it doesn't.
Calling Donald Trump a fascist is equally nonsensical. Does he believe in a one-party corporate state? Of course he doesn't.
For decades the Left has used the epithet 'fascist' to describe those who don't share its views. They conveniently overlook the fact that Mussolini modelled his system of government on Lenin's Soviet Union.
Some of the more partisan commentators on this blog need to grow up.
A number of Republican leaders - Greg Walden, Chair of the RNCC, Karl Rove, Republican strategist, and Tom Delay - have openly spoken about establishing what is essentially a one party system - a permanent Republican majority.
Trump clearly believes in this idea. Much to the dismay of the sane people in the room, Trump thinks HE is the party, and the heck with anyone and everyone else. That's what narcissists do.
Anonymous
Wanting your party to keep its majority is natural. What political party looks forward to losing elections?
Establishing a one-party state by making all other parties illegal (Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler, the present rulers of China) is not the same thing at all. Even you should be able to see that.
Trump may be narcissistic - it is a characteristic he shares with most politicians - but he can only hold office for eight years. After that he is succeeded either by another Republican, or by a Democrat.
In the Westminster system the leader of the second largest political party is the leader of 'Her Majety's Loyal Opposition' and is in effect a Prime Minister in waiting. He may well have moulded the party in his own image to the extent that he embodies its ideals. Tony Blair did this in the 1990s.
The US system does not allow for that. There is no official Leader of the Opposition, and no President in waiting. Party discipline such as prevails in (say) Canada does not really exist. Trump may believe that he embodies the ideals of the Republican Party, but this does not mean much in practice.
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