Remember how, not too long ago, I was telling you to keep an eye on Donald Trump’s religiosity? My thinking at the time was that the more ‘in peril’ our President believes himself to be, the more he’ll feign an interest in all things Christian. Well, judging by what we’re seeing in the press today, I’d say he thinks impeachment is imminent.
The following photo, taken last night, shows evangelical leaders laying their hands on Donald Trump inside the White House as he bows solemnly in prayer.
And that wasn’t all. Trump also met with Pat Robertson earlier today to discuss what he’s doing to protect the religious freedom of Christians in the United States, among other things. Of course, he also made sure to mention that, in his opinion, Vladimir Putin would have rather had Hillary Clinton be elected President of the United States, as she’s considerably weaker and commanding of respect than he is. Here’s a clip from the Christian Broadcasting Network release.
…In an effort to debunk claims that Russia wanted to help him win the election, the president argued that’s an illogical conclusion.
He thinks Putin would actually have been happier with Hillary Clinton in the White House because he’s building the U.S. military and working to export U.S. energy, which Russia opposes.
“We are the most powerful country in the world and we are getting more and more powerful because I’m a big military person. As an example, if Hillary had won, our military would be decimated. Our energy would be much more expensive. That’s what Putin doesn’t like about me. And that’s why I say, why would he want me? Because from day one I wanted a strong military, he doesn’t want to see that,” Trump told Robertson.
“And from day one I want fracking and everything else to get energy prices low and to create tremendous energy. We’re going to be self-supporting, we just about are now. We’re going to be exporting energy – he doesn’t want that. He would like Hillary where she wants to have windmills. He would much rather have that because energy prices would go up and Russia as you know relies very much on energy,” he continued.
“So there are many things that I do that are the exact opposite of what he would want. So what I keep hearing about that he would have rather had Trump, I think ‘probably not,’ because when I want a strong military, you know she wouldn’t have spent the money on military,” he said. “When I want tremendous energy, we’re opening up coal, we’re opening up natural gas, we’re opening up fracking, all the things that he would hate, but nobody ever mentions that”…
As much as I’d like to go off on a tangent about how fucking stupid it is to suggest that the price one can charge for oil goes up with increased energy production from renewables, I’m going to try to stay focused here… and just say that I really do believe the more Trump talks of God, in hopes of rallying what’s left of his far-right, evangelical base, the more vulnerable he thinks that he is. I suspect there are other barometers out there that one might use to predict the proximity of impeachment, but this is the one I’ve chosen to put my faith in… And, on a day like to today, it’s given me comfort. When I see things, like Trump posting about how “The W.H. is functioning perfectly,” as he did earlier today, I just look at this photo of him, surrounded by evangelicals, all touching him as he pretends to pray, and it reminds me that the only reason he’s doing any of this is because he knows the axe is about to fall, and that these are the only people who will be with him at the end… not his golfing buddies, but these poor, deluded culture warriors who really believe that he’s setting the nation back on a righteous path, in spite of all the pussy grabbing, cutting of aid for the poor, etc. “Those morons out there,” as Lonesome Rhodes would call them, are all that he has left. But he can’t fool them forever with his hollow rhetoric about how he’s going to make it safe for people to say “Merry Christmas” again, and the like. At some point, they’ll figure it out. It’s inevitable. But, until then, he’ll try to hold them as tight as he can, wrapped up in the American flag with him, in hopes that they’ll throw themselves between him and Mueller when the time comes.
34 Comments
Maybe what we’re seeing in the photo is an exorcism.
Sure – impeachment is imminent. Soon as you convince 60% of Congress that allowing his son to meet with a Russian lawyer for twenty minutes is a High Crime and Misdemeanor. Good luck with that.
I don’t think Trump will leave office before he appoints three more Supreme Court Justices.
http://www1.cbn.com/beltwaybuzz/archive/2017/04/24/trump-cabinet-members-praying-studying-the-bible-together
Allow me to translate EOS for those of you who don’t speak Hypocritical Evangelical: “We don’t give a shit shit what he does as long as he keeps giving us Supreme Court Justices. He can grab pussy all day long, for all we care.”
It is all about abortion and LGBT rights. As long as Trump says he is against those things and appoints Supreme Court justices that will overturn Roe vs Wade and gay marriage, they will tolerate anything. And I agree with Eel, it is an exorcism.
There’s not a chance in hell that impeachment will happen (ie pass the house) until at least 2018, and then only if the house turns.
It upsets me when people on the left believe they are winning ahead of time. This is evidence of the bubble we occupy. Our constant state of shock and awe that others don’t see things as we see them is a fatal flaw strategically. It also makes us subject to manipulation.
I don’t think Trump will last (I think he’ll quit before impeached). but it does not serve us AT ALL to declare victory prematurely. This is the Hamilton Electors all over again. We have at least 2 more years of this guy unless something arises that allows he himself to be arrested.
All you have to do is look at the impeachment process to know it’s not going to happen without a lot of long term thinking and work.
If we really want to prevent more Trumps (or obstructionist Congresses) we need to work on redistricting reform– which won’t even take effect until after the 2020 presidential election. The GOP slipped gerrymandering by us over a the last 20 years and now have dominated down ticket elections for a decade– whether or not they had a platform that appeals to the majority.
The Dems have no long game. I believe it’s our righteousness that prevents us from thinking strategically. Moral victories are all you get when the game is rigged against you. Do not declare victory too early. (and don’t trust polls that don’t reflect how the system is structured) Haven’t we all learned that by now?
EOS– the idea that Trump gives a shit about the Right to Life is comical. The guy has probably paid for a hundred abortions in his lifetime. He is in office only to serve his business interests. It may be that your group of cynical (and delusional) evangelist right to lifers will attach themselves to the devil just to get those three judges, but he’s still the devil. And the attachment of the Christian Right just shows how cynical they are.
Given a choice between the side that shows an intellectual moral and ethical conceit, but thinks through it’s positions (to the point of in-fighting) and feels for the plight of others and the side that shows religious moral and ethical conceit, following moral and ethical doctrine blindly and willing to do ANYTHING to impose their will on others, not even trying to reconcile their beliefs to their actions, I’ll take the thinking and feeling and less certain fools any day.
And Trump says it to their faces. Who can forget his “I love the poorly educated” quote?
I think I just replied to two MM posts conflated. Apologies. I should probably get back to work…
And the idea that Putin would have preferred Clinton is absolutely laughable, as she would clearly have upheld the Russia sanctions and kept pushing us toward renewables. With Trump, Putin got everything he could have ever dreamed for.
The left needs to figure out the importance of voting.
Voting in 2018 won’t help. In order to get a 60% majority in the house, the Democrats have to keep every single seat they hold and then pick up an additional 67 seats.
The Senate looks even more bleak. There are 33 races in the Senate in 2018. Of those 23 are currently held by Democrats, 2 independent, and 8 Republican. Chances are likely that Democrats will lose some seats in the Senate in 2018.
For the Republicans – the odds are ever in their favor.
I take some comfort in the fact that EOS has never been right about anything.
The moral bankruptcy of Christian conservatives, their willingness to lose a country in order to win at politics, distilled in a photograph.
Can you imagine what Trump much think about this people touching him, and what he must say about them when they leave the room?
Yeah that is right, EOS. Voting wont help *rolls eyes*
Hey, I know it is unlikely but guess what, voting can help. If the left ever figures it out, we will see big changes. Is it unlikely that the house will change in 2018? Yes. But not impossible. I would even point out that the fact that you are discouraging voting by claiming that it is futile is a sign that it really is the best and most effective way to change things. It isn’t an accident that the GOP works so hard to suppress voting. They*understand how important it is and generally fear a situation where the left figures out the same thing.
EOS, Oh ok, then I guess I won’t vote since it won’t help. We should all just give up.
I knew you were stupid, but never thought you were that stupid.
It won’t help get Trump impeached.
Try to keep up.
Yeah, it is possible the price of oil goes up if less is available on the market..it is called the law of supply and demand.
In fact, it would be probable.
Maria Huffman
Why anyone still thinks of the Democratic Party as a leftist party is beyond me. What “leftist” positions do they hold? Single payer–nope. Anti-war, nope. Pro-labor, no.
But the Democrats are pro-enviromental. Pro minority rights. Hardly. If it was not for courageous individuals defending their rights through the courts and in the streets minority rights would be restricted to those who have some connection to the Federal Government ( ie. those rights protected by Presidential Executive action–actions that can and are being reversed by Trump. )
Pro-environmental– barely, as we face the greatest challenge our species has ever faced the Democrats give us a pro-fracking, pro-pipe line energy policy.
The Democrats controlled the Federal Government the first two years of the Obama administration as completely as the Republicans control it now. We got a week ineffective stimulus package, while they fell all over themselves giving money to the banks. We got a mandate forcing folks to purchase insurance from private companies while throwing single payer out the window.
This photo reminds me of the one from a few weeks ago but instead of Trump and the Saudi Princes laying hands on a glowing orb, these evangelicals are laying their hands on Trump for some of that mystical power – the two photos together kind of sum up how sick American evangelicals have become since jumping in bed with Republicans. Their main concern is money, pulling it from the pockets of their congregations like Saudi princes pumping it out of the desert and the frackers blowing up mountaintops to extract it. Their second priority is maintaining the power to punish anyone who doesn’t agree with them or doesn’t help them make more money. They see their role as an ordained in group that can condemn out groups on their own terms regardless of what the out groups are trying to do actually help people and save the planet. Simply disagreeing with evangelical republicans or refusing to capitulate to their terms is an “attack” in their minds but their “religion” is just a show that they’re promoting to bring themselves more money and power. Prosperity gospel is just psychological capitalism. If the God that they purport to worship actually existed, he would be punishing the shit out of them right now.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-07-14/the-four-truths-of-impeachment
A wish is not a plan.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-07-14/the-four-truths-of-impeachment
Why non Trumpites hold their nose and support Trump.
http://fortune.com/2017/07/14/donald-trump-supreme-court-conservatives/?xid=gn_editorspicks&google_editors_picks=true
Those ideologically pure, Christian Right judges are just about as qualified as Trump and as pure of heart and generous of spirit as EOS.
http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/senate_republicans_push_through_federal_judge_nomination_of_right_wing_blogger_who_joked_about_faggots
The Democrats once again standing up for working folks (not),
http://paydayreport.com/1780-2/
@Jean,
You do well when you when you articulate your beliefs on the issues. Why do you always revert to personal attacks?
Everybody is a hypocrite, EOS but your level of hypocrisy rises well above the norm. I am not a fan of ad hominem attacks, but the inherent cruelty of your positions, EOS, makes them appropriate. While I never hesitate to point up, as they arise, inconsistencies in other commenters perspectives here , and while I try to acknowledge my own where I can see them, the scale, volume and consistency of your misinformation requires me to look at your rhetoric as a relentless pattern of self-delusion. IF you take that as personal, it must have some truth in it, eh?
Why President Trump puts his faith in evangelicals http://cnn.it/2uvMA6z
Dems have their flaws to be sure but it is a big party with a pretty wide spectrum of ideology. This is where third parties serve a valuable function. The Green Party siphons off most of the crazies with no chance of any meaningful electoral wins. I have to keep reminding myself of this when they occasionally spoil an election and when wobblie spouts off their nonsense.
Yes, it sucks that Gov Cooper did not veto that bill but apparently the veto was going to be overridden anyways and there are often politically valid reasons to be seen as cooperative with those on the other side. It is important to look at a politicians whole record and I suspect that his positions on things actually are to the left of Republicans in his state.
I just wrote that I don’t think Trump is likely to get impeached. Backed it up with facts about the composition of current Congress and the upcoming election. Didn’t take the bait of Mark’s anti-religion rant. No misinformation, no delusion, no cruelty. And now you think your ad hominem attack is justified? You called me out by name and made an unfounded accusation. Yes, I took it personal. But the bigger picture is that you frequently resort to personal attacks when you have no rational response to the argument. It doesn’t reflect well for you.
Tell me again why I should support the Democrats as they climb in bed with the Neocons
https://theintercept.com/2017/07/17/with-new-d-c-policy-group-dems-continue-to-rehabilitate-and-unify-with-bush-era-neocons/
Trump today: “In America, we don’t worship government. We worship God.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXBIR0pg0JX/
Top Trump Cabinet officials take part in weekly Bible study class
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/08/01/top-trump-cabinet-officials-take-part-in-weekly-bible-study-class.html
Did you see his Tribute to America yesterday where he tried to sing God Bless America? What a fucking joke.
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[…] through with this newly announced policy of his. In fact, as I think it likely polls well with the evangelical set that he’s been trying to cozy up to since news broke about the secret June 9, 2016 meeting between senior members of his campaign staff […]
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