A New Focus for American Students on the MLK Birthday Celebration

Over time, I've heard colleagues in the education profession, and students, including some college students who are old enough and educated enough to know better, refer to the MLK birthday as a "holiday for black people."  That displays a kind of ignorance that I have trouble tolerating.  And it tells me that the educational objectives in history courses for students at all levels, regarding Dr. King and the far-reaching effects of his leadership in civil rights, need some adjustment, new emphasis and attention.  

The changes that came about in civil rights legislation resulting from the leadership of Dr. King in the movement among African Americans benefitted all Americans.  Of course, the emphasis of his movement and the direction of his efforts were focused on the bigotry that produced unconscionable segregation aimed at African Americans, and it pointed out the stark contrast between the reality of his time with the idealism reflected in this country's founding documents.  But we need to get deeper into exactly how bad conditions were for African Americans, and how much of a price was paid by those who followed Dr. King's lead down the pathway of non-violent resistance, a means to an end that was unprecedented in both the impact it had on the culture of the time and its success in achieving its ends.  

We are now a couple of generations out and away from the worst of the extremism and rabid, violent racism that segregated American society and culture.  Memories are fading.  There are places in the country where the full impact of racist segregationist practices has never been included in the objectives of public school education.  My high school history teacher, one of the best I ever had through my entire education from elementary school through graduate school, made the comprehension and magnitude of the whole post-Civil war racism and segregation in this country a required unit objective.  He got a lot of flak from parents for doing so, but he refused to back down, inviting parents to come to his classes, sit through the lessons and point out anything they felt inaccurate or untrue.  

Those class sessions included inviting victims of discrimination and segregation, and the violence that was perpetrated against them when they participated in the non-violent protesting of it, to come to class and relate their experiences.  What amazed me about those who came was their calm demeanor, and the fact that they never exhibited the slightest degree of resentment or animosity.  They were proud of their success in achieving their goal of equal rights under the law, and elimination of segregation laws.  They relayed experiences, especially in school settings, that were horrifying to me.  But they made an impression on me as well, one I have never forgotten.  I think we've lost that kind of impression somewhere.  

Observing a group of middle school students watching a fifteen-minute tribute video to Dr. King, I noticed they had no concept of what it was like for African Americans prior to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  Seeing images of separate drinking fountains, park benches, gathering places, having to ride in the back of the bus and give up seats for white people, and beyond that, the lynching, attacks and torment that went without consequences in many parts of the country was difficult for them to imagine.  The fact that there are still people in this country who want to bring that back, and that those people have political power, is unfathomable to this generation of young people.  Their awareness of it, and the fear of its recurrence, is a motivation necessary to prevent it from happening again.  

Schools in many places are turning away from teaching this in their history or English curriculum, and are censoring aspects of it from textbooks and instructional curriculum.  The war on free speech and academic freedom of teachers in the classroom is aimed specifically at racial equality and civil rights of minority groups.  Conspiracy theories, misrepresentations of history, including attacks against Critical Race Theory, which is a ridiculous position to take from an educational perspective that advocates critical thinking skills, and the emergence of aberrant theology among conservative Christians pushing the ideology of white, Christian nationalism makes this an essential element in education, necessary to equip students with the knowledge and reasoning power they need to counter the lies coming from the extremists and preserve the freedom that comes with equality.  

Only inferior ideas and philosophies fear the marketplace of ideas.  

Joe Biden is the President for our Time

My interest in politics flourished while I was a student in high school, specifically during the last two years when I had one of the most engaging, effective American History teachers possible, a similar experience with a teacher in civics and economics, combined with all of the political news surrounding the Watergate scandal and the resignation of both Spiro T. Agnew as Vice-President and Richard Nixon from the Presidency.  It was a superb combination, exactly the kind of thing educators dream about.  

Since then, Presidential politics was not just a hobby.  I majored in history, to teach it, minoring in English and took a core of concentrated courses in political science.  Friends and family members warned me that the combination of those majors would lead to becoming a flaming liberal.  They were right about that. It sure did. Do I sound unhappy about it?  Not now, and not at any time during the 43 years since I got my B.A.  

From the time I've been watching, we've had some great Presidents, we've had mediocre Presidents, and we've had one horrible President.  Being a Democrat, I tend to evaluate the Democrats from my perspective, which means that I think the Democrats who have been in office that I can remember were pretty successful.  I don't remember Lyndon Johnson much, except from media clips and history studies, but I do remember Jimmy Carter, a great man and in the hindsight of history, a good President.  He was personable, and made me feel like he knew who I was and cared.  

In terms of real accomplishment, President Clinton and President Obama were achievers.  They were also examples of strength in the face of adversity, defending their convictions in spite of opposition that was most often disrespectful and didn't deserve their respect.  Their presidencies can be evaluated as competent successes in contrast to both of their predecessors.  I admired them both and I count them among the greatest ever to have served in office.  

President Biden fits well with the success of his most recent Democratic predecessors, but there's something about him that sets him apart.  President Biden somehow manages, in spite of all of the stress he experiences, the critics, the issues and the way politics has become, to make me feel that he thinks of me, as a fellow American, as a member of his family.  I've never met him personally, but there's just something about him, his speech, mannerisms, and the way he thinks and acts, that reminds me a lot of my own father.  He makes me feel like we could sit down for lunch and carry on a conversation like I've known him forever.  And in some ways, I guess I have.  

Our country is going through a dark time.  The ghosts of ideologies and political movements we thought were long dead, that dragged us into Civil War, and caused the world to be dragged into the flames of two world wars, have resurrected themselves and are appearing everywhere.  We saw the beginnings of turmoil in the Middle East, in two wars in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.  It has now flared up again, bigger, and far more serious, in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where the same old ideologies are simply wearing new labels.  

This darkness has also infiltrated our Congress, the governing body of the United States, with the same kind of bigotry that we saw prior to and after the Civil War, and which is rooted in problems that we don't seem capable of resolving.  It has already tried to start a second Civil War, and is still an active presence and a danger.  It gained a foothold in the previous Presidency and made a move to grab the power out of the people's hands on January 6, 2020, but fortunately, failed.  However, it is still very much there and it has friends around the world who would like nothing more than to see a neutralized United States of America, or an America taken over by darkness and helping spread it to the rest of the world. 

We needed someone as President who had experience, knew the depth of what is being dealt with and willing to put himself on the line, regardless of the political cost, to stop it.  When President Biden was inaugurated, the kind of unity we needed seemed impossible to achieve, and in many ways, it still does.  But there is no doubt in my mind, two years into this term, that he was the man for the hour, and I pray for his continued good health and clarity of mind because his expertise, knowledge of how this all works, commitment to public service and his empathy and compassion for people, and his devotion to American democracy and the Constitution are the strongest combination of strengths and skills that this country needs right now, especially with the House under the control of the other party, influenced by unhinged extremists.  

Because of who he is, and how he operates, and what he brings to the table, he is under attack.  That's been going on since before he was elected.  They've attacked everything from his age and mental health to his family members.  It's been relentless.  What he needs now is our encouragement, support, and confidence.  There's a lot that can be done locally to demonstrate support, from letters to the editor of local newspapers and online media to the social media outlets, even the ones owned by his detractors.  They've got nothing on him because there's nothing to get on him.  They've been trying, including the use of bribes with foreign government leaders and now, making a huge deal out of nothing.  And they'll keep trying.  The media can do all of the speculation and projection it wants, Joe Biden is an honest man, an American patriot with character.  That's what I know.

The political turmoil must be discouraging.  But he's shown, time and time again, that he's not easily discouraged.  So we're at one of those points when we can get behind him and do everything within our power to help him do the job we elected him to do.  

 

Evangelicals Supporting Asylum in the US Thank Biden, Ask for Further Reforms

Baptist News Global: Thanks for Visiting the Border, But We've Got Some Concerns 

Here's a phrase with some words that may be somewhat surprising, considering the current stereotypes in American Politics.  A group of Evangelical Christian immigration advocates, yes, advocates, had some very positive praise for the Biden Administration's immigration policies.  

Positive praise for President Biden's immigration policies from Evangelicals?  

That makes sense to anyone who understands the actual perspective on immigration that is clearly defined and explained in the Bible.  Leaders of the group Evangelical Immigration Roundtable, representing several denominations and groups of Evangelical Christians, including, amazingly, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, pointed out their beliefs, based on the biblical text, that all persons, regardless of their nationality or ethnicity, are created by God and made in his image with inherent dignity.  They expressed the desire for the United States to "respect its legal obligations to ensure that those who face a credible threat of persecution not be returned to their countries of origin without due process.  

That stems from core Christian principles, along with the belief that God created government for clear purposes which include maintaining order, ensuring security and protecting the vulnerable.  

So this particular group had words of praise for the President regarding his recent visit to the border and the emphasis he has placed and is placing on immigration policy.  As might be expected with a group of Evangelicals, among whom praise for this President is either rare, or virtually non-existent, there were a few complaints.  However, with this group, the complaints were that the interference and the attitude of congressional Republicans prevents the country from developing comprehensive immigration reform, not to restrict the vast majority of those heading here to seek asylum, but to help them.  

What they want sounds to me like a laundry list of leftist, "woke" reforms that are the proverbial camel's nose under the tent that the extremist right wing media keeps harping about.  

• They want the current parole status for immigrants who have come from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and Nicaragua to allow for permanent legal status after further vetting.  Currently, they must remain under temporary status, even though they would likely be in grave danger if they had to return.
• They want the rules for blocking those seeking asylum because they came through another country relaxed or removed.
• They wanted proposed increases of border security, a hard-liner position of Republicans, paired with a solution for resolving the status of Dreamers in a manner that is favorable to them.  Yikes!  Negotiation and compromise on border security and the status of a group of people who have not ever known life outside the United States is an Evangelical position?  

According to this group, it is.  It sounds "woke" to me.   

A Far Cry From Accusations that the Biden Administration Advocates for Open Borders

Lying is not a Christian virtue, at least, not in real Christianity.  Starting off a debate on immigration by claiming that the other side has a policy that they clearly do not have is not negotiating in good faith, it is a means of preventing it to push an agenda.  The Evangelical Immigration Roundtable is dealing with reality, not propaganda, because they are genuinely interested in improving the status of refugees who are literally running to the United States for their lives.  They're not objects for political debate, they are people who need help.  

Nor is the Roundtable advocating for open borders.  They recognize the political situations in those countries in particular, and their compassion, something that comes from genuine Christian faith, is prompting them to do whatever they can, including making an approach to the President of the United States.  

Evangelicals who have become caught up in extremist right wing politics have had to abandon almost all of the values and convictions that originate from their faith, and from the guidance of the Bible in order to support the secular politics of their preferred candidates.  They have betrayed their faith by their actions which undermine the principles that are its very essence.  They have elevated the importance of a single issue, abortion, over all of the values and principles that define the Christian faith, most notably their integrity, and abandoned belief in the sanctity of all human life with political defense of a small percentage of life at the expense of all other human life.  

This is Real Christianity at Work

Jesus never intended for the Christian church to take a political side or to be used as a political influence.  What Evangelical leaders like Jerry Falwell initiated in the United States, and what others like Franklin Graham, Robert Jeffress, Greg Locke and others have promoted, is contrary to the Christian gospel, an aberration and deviation from what they themselves call the written "word of God," interfering with the mission and purpose of churches and leading to historic declines in conversions and church involvement and membership.  If these self-labelled leaders really believe in the sanctity of human life, they'd be right there with the EIR, advocating for immigration asylum, against racism and bigotry and discrimination that also leads to poverty and deprivation, fair housing, the right to universal medical care and a hundred other things that relieve suffering and give glory to God.  

"Who is there to harm you, if you are eagar to do good?" said the Apostle Peter.  

Who, indeed?   

Stepping Out on a Limb to Predict a "Blue Tsunami" in 2024 Gets Less Risky Every Day

When the speculation of the media becomes reality, that's something worth noting.  

Kevin McCarthy's problems in getting elected Speaker of the House have been talked about even before it became known for sure that the GOP would get control of the house back.  Satisfying reports in the media, saying that "Republicans are in disarray," have been unusually blunt, with an edge of criticism of their handling of a process that hasn't caused so much confusion and controversy for a hundred years.  Republicans truly are in "disarray," winning control of the house on the strength of their ability to gerrymander congressional districts more than on their ability to convince voters they've got the answers to America's problems.  Oh, yeah, they did win a majority of the votes in the House elections, but that's mainly due to the pile-up of voters in heavily Republican states in districts drawn to favor Republicans.  

In the statewide races for Senate and in gubernatorial races, they took a beating, especially in the "battleground" states. 

I had to take a look this week and see how Fox News was handling this Republican debacle in the House.  Predictably, they were also in disarray, if I may overuse that term.  There's a painful awareness on the propaganda side of extremist conservatism of the fact that the support of the electorate, in those places where they need to win to claim federal elected office, is waning.  They can downplay it all they want, and "take comfort" in the fact that they "took back the House," what they got fell far, far short of what they anticipated.  The fight in the house, like a brawl on the football field where a heavily favored team can't quite put their opponents away, raised significant alarm among the pundits on the extreme right.  

I'm a Believer in Accountability

Government change takes time.  I'm frustrated by the fact that even though it is clear Donald Trump committed multiple crimes against the people of the United States, through his seditious behavior in inciting a riot aimed at overturning the constitution's provision for a peaceful transfer of power and then all through his presidency, up to and including his theft of classified documents from the White House which I personally believe he did at the request of a foreign power that is our enemy, in order to benefit himself, not caring about the political or international consequences of that.  I'm frustrated because I think he should have been indicted long before now, and he should be held over for his multiple trials.  

I'm frustrated because the 14th Amendment to the Constitution seems impossible to enforce.  It's there, because of the abandonment of American values by Confederate sympathizers in Congress who supported those who took up arms against the United States to defend the inhumane practice of slavery.  Any member of Congress, from fist-pumping Josh Hawley, to those in the House like Lauren Boebert, who helped insurrectionists by giving them tours of the building so they could find their way to the offices and safe rooms of their political opponents, should, at the very least, be expelled from their seats and never allowed to return, because their support for insurrection, and potential participation in it, was obvious. If that amendment had been enforced, there would now not be a GOP majority in the House of Representatives.  But its weakness is enforcement.  So right now, it's nothing more than words.  

But, in this constitutional democracy, where the power of government is derived from the will of the people, there is ultimate accountability in the ballot box.  And it worked, on election day in 2020, when voters went to the polls and issued their indictment, conducted a trial and passed sentence on Donald Trump by voting against him in numbers greater than those who still supported him.  That movement actually started in 2018, when the term "blue wave" came into common use to describe the sweep of seats in a house election that Republican gerrymandering had made far more difficult than it would have been otherwise.  

Why There's a "Blue Tsunami" on the Way

A lot of pundits, prior to and after the midterm election, have tried to focus attention on issues that motivate votes.  Crime and inflation, which Republicans made the centerpiece of their campaign, were definitely on people's minds, but a lot of voters weren't sure they could trust Republicans to resolve them, since almost as many voters who thought these were important issues supported Democratic candidates.  Democrats did control the narratives when it came to saving American democracy, and the Supreme Court Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade was a huge motivator for Democrats.  

But issues don't always drive the electorate and there were voters who went to the polls motivated by other factors, including candidate quality, which was high on the list.  Other than in some heavily gerrymandered districts, the Trump endorsed extremist candidates, running mainly on election denial going back to the 2020 election, lost across the board, specifically in statewide elections in battleground states.  If the midterms were, as the media labelled them, a "referendum on the Biden administration," then he won the referendum.  If it was also a referendum on Trumpism, election denying and approval of the insurrection as a legitimate protest, then all of that was defeated.   

The Republicans lost control of several state legislatures and governorships, and squeaked out a narrow majority in Congress, where, on their first day of control, actually lost control of the process of electing a speaker for the entire week and created an embarrassing spectacle that has helped boost Democrats' chances at regaining the majority in 2024 in a way that millions of campaign dollars couldn't provide.  And with the rules changes and committee assignments that were traded off for McCarthy to pick up the speaker's chair, we can look forward to two years of chaos under Republican leadership.  

The chaos also thrust some of the GOP's most annoying, despicable, inept, incapable extremists to the front of the line, where the rest of the country can get a good perspective of their unpatriotic anti-American extremism.  Matt Gaetz' despicable attitude and behavior last week prompted one of the members of his own party to physical violence against him.  This small group of white supremacist bigots, fascist political hacks and violent thugs, are responsible for the complete disarray in which the Republican party now finds itself.  The others are no less responsible for it, by not standing up for what they say they believe in, and silencing their ignorance, but these extremists, who have successfully "controlled the narrative" this past week, with complete chaos being the result, will be the wedge that drives independents and even moderate Republicans to the Biden Administration's re-election bid and will help Democrats lock down control of Congress in 2024.  

Is that going out on a limb?  Not any more than Michael Moore did when he confidently stated, during the week prior to the midterms, that the Democrats would keep the Senate and there would not be even so much as a red trickle.  And I say that with the same evidence in hand.  The extremist narrative built by Trumpism has, like the Tea Party movement before it, run its course, because conspiracy theories don't generate credibility and their politicians don't have solutions to solve their perceived problems.  And they are outnumbered by those who have the education, common sense and awareness of what's going on, some of who may be attracted to populist themes for a while, but who eventually see the lack of character and values that zap the credibility of that approach.  

Even among the core of white Evangelicals, where aberrant theology and doctrine, like white Christian nationalism, pulls many of them in to vote for the extremists, there are those who have become turned off by the gross immoral excesses and the obvious dishonesty and lack of integrity of Trump and his minions.  They flaunt it, and while many Evangelicals find ways to excuse it because they like the politics, there are others who see that if they continue to support it, it destroys the credibility of the Christian gospel they claim is their priority, mission and purpose.  

The Pendulum has Already Swung Back to the Left

I was one of those who thought, prior to Trump's election, that he would never be able to achieve enough support, even in the kooky GOP, to get elected President.  His previous attempts to do so were jokes, really, I don't believe very many people took them seriously.  I was genuinely surprised when he secure the nomination, as much by the fact that he actually got that kind of voter support from within the GOP, as by the passive cringing of Republican leaders like Jeb Bush, who slipped into humiliated silence after losing so badly, and Ted Cruz, who wouldn't lift a finger to defend himself against horrid, childish insults and lies directed at his family, including his own father and his wife.  So much for the party of "family values."  

But even though our flawed system of electing a President let him get through the door, once he did, his true self came forward, he proved incapable of handling the office, the work, the pressures, the criticism and lacked the intelligence, discernment, wisdom and knowledge to carry out the responsibilities and duties of the presidency.  He failed, and the peak of his support was not enough to overcome that of his opponent, who was elected because he had everything Trump didn't have, when it came to public service.  

But it was his response to the loss, the corrupt manipulation of the power of the Presidency to set himself up as dictator, thwart the will of the people, subvert the constitution, declare war against the people of the United States and their elected government, that has been the end of his era.  That's where he lost any hope of ever being trusted with public office again, and any chance of gaining enough support from voters to even get close enough to think there might be a chance at re-election.  His political career is over and he will end either in prison, or, like Nixon, a disgraced and isolated paranoiac.  

Those who continue to grab on to Trumpism, and who push themselves to be the face of the GOP will bring the whole party down with them.  There will always be the pockets of disgruntled, unhappy, uneducated ignorance where Republicans have few challengers, but I believe we are on the verge of seeing Democrats gain and hold Congressional power for at least a decade.  The pendulum always swings, but perception and discernment, along with understanding that this is a democracy where the will of the people is sovereign, is the trademark of leadership.  As long as Democrats realize that, like Joe Biden has done, they will have the mantle of leadership.  

From Pelosi's Effective Leadership to Chaos: What the Extremists in the GOP Want to Make Out of the House Won't Work

One of the most shrill, chattering voices in the House of Representatives belongs to Lauren Boebert, who represents Colorado's sprawling 3rd district, a gerrymandered mish-mash of mostly rural counties in the western part of the state, swinging around to the central and southern parts of the state to avoid larger population centers where the population is heavily Democratic.  She originally won election to Congress by a six percentage point margin, gathering just over 51% of the vote in the Presidential election year 2020.  But re-election turned out to be a much tougher proposition for Boebert, in spite of the fact that her Democratic opponent, Adam Frisch, a former Aspen city council member, was underfunded, winning by just over 500 votes.  

Boebert, more than any other Republican member of the house, characterizes her party's ineffectiveness and failure to govern, leading to the erosion of voter support among independents and centrist, moderate Republicans.  Polling data, which turned out to be inaccurate and skewed, prevented Democrats from investing the kind of money into the campaign Frisch needed to win and they likely regret not doing so now, since it looks like the cost to win would not have been much more than what he already spent.  The count was so close, depending on virtually every vote, that the race was one of the last to be called.  

What Boebert does to characterize the current GOP is demonstrate an almost total and complete ignorance of American history, civics and leadership ability.  Her public statements have been so poorly constructed, and represent such an incredible level of her complete lack of understanding of how a democratically-elected government is supposed to operate that her communications director resigned in the wake of the mess made by her public comments following the January 6th Trump Insurrection.  Boebert's shrill insistence in equating the insurrection with "people petitioning their government" drew a barrage of criticism, forcing her to backtrack on the remarks, something she finds herself doing frequently.  

When she told those gathered at a campaign event that, "The church is supposed to direct the government.  The government is not supposed to direct the church.  That is not how our Founding Fathers intended it.  And I am tired of this separation of church and state junk.  It's not in the Constitution," she characterized her ignorance of American history as well as the position of the far right branch of the Republican party's position on the pseudo-Christian perspective of Christian Nationalism.  There, in a nutshell, is exactly the kind of attitude which prevents the Republicans from succeeding when they are in charge of governing.  

There is a lot to be said for having an education, something that Boebert never got. 

Instant Chaos, and Instant Contrast to one of the Most Effective Speakers in History

I had the privilege of meeting Nancy Pelosi several years ago while attending a legislative advocacy meeting in Washington.  We had just gotten our lunch in the cafeteria in the Rayburn building when one of the colleagues I was with said, "Don't look now, but if you want to see Nancy Pelosi, she just sat down at the table right behind you."  I resisted the temptation to stand up, go over and shake hands, interrupting her lunch, which looked more casual than business.  However, as we were getting up to leave, so was the party at her table, so I walked over, not thinking that she might have a security detail who did take notice, put out my hand, introduced myself and asked her if I could take care of her tray, saying that it was my privilege to serve someone who had served me, as a citizen of the United States, so well.  

Speaker Pelosi made government work.  She brought together quarreling branches of the party, resolved difficulties, was sensitive to perceptions and feelings, understood the constitution, respected her colleagues and her political opposition and she knew when she didn't have the votes to sustain passage of a bill.  She rarely had to walk-back things she said, because she knew when to speak and when to maintain silence.  She knew how to govern, because she respected the institutions of government and understood that compromise was not a dirty word, and that taking a hard line and insisting that her way was the only way prevented government from serving the people who empower it.  

You'd never catch her standing up in the chamber, disrespectfully shrieking like a magpie, jabbing her finger in the air and behaving like a spoiled child, a common observation of Boebert's behavior, like an uneducated rube.  She had ways of passive resistance, and of making her point, like being captured on camera ripping up her copy of Trump's State of the Union speech.  But she recognized that the government was everyone's government and that the best way for it to succeed, and serve the needs of its people, is for everyone to have a voice.  Joe Biden will go down in history as one of the most accomplished Presidents in modern history because he and his party's Speaker of the House both had the kind of experience learned through years of experience of how to make government work, coupled with a desire to serve the people.  

Lauren Boebert, and Kevin McCarthy, are both more interested in their agenda than in serving the people and McCarthy is caught up in personal ambition.  Follow the money trail there.  It would be difficult for Boebert, a high school dropout who has lost the ability to provide any reasonable level of leadership, especially in Congress, because of her outlandish rhetoric in a place where fellow Republicans are far more educated.  But she's helping hold the GOP's first business item hostage.  McCarthy has been such a self-promoter that he's only the front runner for the speaker's job because of party loyalty.  Few are supporting him because they actually like him.

This isn't How Democracy Works, But it is How Republicans Govern

The first Republican majority in the House in four years, in its opening exercises conducting what has been a routine and relatively peaceful transfer of power for most of the nation's history, is showing us that it is no longer capable of governing.  Extremists, while not making up nearly as large a majority as their leader wants us to think, have still paralyzed the party, mainly because the rest of it has still decided it is too weak and conciliatory to stand up to the orange menace and take it back.  So, while the extremists aren't participating in the negotiating and deal-making that is an essential part of a representative democracy, they are also helping to make their party's chances of holding this majority and winning the White House in 2024 slimmer every day.  

This is a prelude to the next two years of Republican house leadership.  Even with the gerrymandering that is essentially the only reason they actually got their thinnest of majorities this mid-term, this is going to turn into an electoral disaster.  And in all honesty, I don't think the party can survive this in one piece.  It is in "disarray" (I love to use that term!) and the tendency of Republican extremists to avoid any kind of deal making or compromise and stick to their "my way or the highway" way of doing things is causing a fracture in the GOP that can't be repaired.  

This is how the Republicans govern! A small oligarchy of individuals get themselves into a position of power, and then they use it to bring everyone else into submission.  Because there is really no one among the Republican members of the house who has an ounce of integrity, who is willing to stand up to the bullies, and who wants to work within the parameters of a democratic structure where old fashioned give-and-take compromise gets things done and everyone is an American on the same side working for the good of the same people, they become an oligarchy of a single issue, single minded special interest.  The small minority is infected by extremism, characterized by the influence of fascist media bigots who are Rush Limbaugh wannabees, outside money from the corporate elite and Vladimir Putin's government.  

They are working to defeat true democracy, while trying to make it look like they are loyal to the constitution.  Most of those who are playing the game with the vote on the Speaker participated or supported the January 6th Trump Insurrection.  Their ideological group failed to get anywhere close to the number of members of the house that was their goal, but the narrow Republican majority has opened up an opportunity for them to manipulate the majority of their own party, mostly spineless cowards who care little about the country but a lot about their own power and wallet.  They're going to make a mess of things in the house for as long as they can.  But in political terms, this will be very short lived.  

I believe the damage they are doing to their party is irreparable.  The extremist faction of the GOP is mired in lies and conspiracy theories and they've lost enough credibility to be at the point where they are no longer trusted by the majority of voters.  This confusion around electing a speaker, which involves deliberate humiliation of one of their own party leaders, only confirms the party's slide into fascism and sets up the Biden administration and the Democrats for victory in 2024.  We aren't likely to see the kind of landslides that characterized past partisan shifts, but this will be a sizeable win.  

The house Democrats have demonstrated a spirit of unity and solidarity that developed under Nancy Pelosi's leadership.  I have to smile every time I see Hakeem Jeffries come out on top of vote after vote after vote.  That's a reminder to every Republican that the power they hold is limited, that their opponents are united and they're not going to be able to achieve much, if any, of their extremist agenda.  

I doubt there are any Republicans in the house willing to step up on their own, show some integrity and help make the house more effective than it's going to be these next two years.  So what that does is make the contrast between the unity of the Democrats and their commitment to the American people and the disarray (I love to use that word) of Republicans and their commitment to the destruction of the republic.  I hope they enjoy it while it lasts, because it's not going to last for long.  

Shocking Things Liberals Believe: Good Enough for a Post!

CEO's should not receive 3,000 times the pay of their workers. 

Wall Street gangsters should go to prison when they steal. 

Kids should not worry about being shot at school. 

The US should stop behaving like a third world nation.

Health care should not be a luxury just for rich people. 

Profitable corporations don't need subsidies.

Education is good and everyone should have access to it. 

Companies should not trash the earth for profit. 

CEO's who offshore jobs and lay people off should not get huge bonuses.

Working people shouldn't live in poverty.

Kids and veterans should not be homeless.

People should matter more than cell clusters. 

Which Party's "Worldview" is Incompatible with Christianity?

For we are not peddlers of God's word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence.  Paul, the Apostle in 2 Corinthians 2:17  NRSV

Many of the Christians I know who have embraced the Republican party, and in so doing have accepted all of its political positions without any real vetting of them when it comes to their consistency with Christian doctrine, theology or practice.  This is primarily based on their belief that all politicians associated with the party must adhere to its "platform" which includes opposition to abortion rights.  So, because of that single plank, a large number of white, Evangelical Christians have joined the GOP and become all-out supporters of everything it supports, and committed their loyalty to all candidates whose name is followed by an "R" for party affiliation.  

It's a Game of "Follow the Leader"

From my own experience of being raised in an Evangelical church and having attended one for the better part of thirty-five years, I'd say that there's probably not one church member in ten that can actually compare church doctrine and theology with Republican party positions and make a determination about their consistency or compatibility.  It may be anecdotal evidence from my perspective, but I haven't had very many conversations with someone along these lines who was able to reach into their own experience and knowledge of the Bible and come up with such a determination.  I've had a lot of these kinds of discussions, going back to my college days, and inevitably, the citations of support for their views came from some well-known Evangelical media personality, not from the Bible.  

The "National Affairs Briefing," a gathering in Dallas in August, 1980, gathered Evangelical pastors for the purpose of pulling them into a conservative, Republican-supporting political movement and a fellow by the name of Ed McAteer, of "Religious Roundtable" along with prominent Evangelical evangelist James Robison, organized the gathering.  They invited Reagan to address the gathering, which he gladly did, and where he said "I know that this is non-partisan and you can't endorse me, but I endorse you," a scripted remark which Robison suggested he make on the ride from the airport to Reunion Arena.  

Reagan's speech to the briefing endeared him to Evangelicals.  It was an intentional, and very well briefed, revivalist sermon and political campaign speech rolled into one, the irony being that his opponent, then-President Jimmy Carter, was a bona-fide, genuine, down-to-earth, theologically astute, articulate Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher. Reagan used the opportunity to ingratiate himself with several of the well known "televangelist" group in order to drive a wedge between them and Carter. Jerry Falwell's comments after Reagan's speech, that his Moral Majority would work to get conservative Christian voters to support Reagan's election "even if he has the devil running with him," has proven to be prophetic, literal and very accurate when it comes to their support for Republican candidates.  In this more recent time, they've voted for the devil when he was the one running for office. 

Politics has Changed Christian Doctrine and Theology

It's inconsistent for conservative Evangelical voters to let their politics bend their doctrinal position, which they insist is based on their belief in the "inerrant, infallible" Bible. But one of the things that I learned, subtly taught but openly practiced, is how to justify any personal belief, prejudice or bias with scripture.  No modern President of the United States was as thoroughly Evangelical Christian in his beliefs, which matched his behavior, as President Carter.  The media reporting during his candidacy, made that very clear.  But he was a Democrat, and Democrats supported abortion rights.  The diversity of opinion, which was and still is widely respected among Democrats, wasn't enough for this particular group of Evangelicals who already had one foot in the GOP anyway.  

Up to that particular time, no Republican President of the United States in the 20th century came close to Carter's Evangelical credentials.  Reagan was arguably one of the most "secular" individuals to run for President.  Any biographical information about him prior to his 1980 candidacy never mentions membership or association with any church, and what little is there now appears to have been inserted following his response to being questioned about whether or not he was "born again" in the same way Carter described.  He played the game that he needed to play, entertained those he perceived as influential in their ability to gather votes for him from among Evangelicals.  

Some of the core cultural perspectives practiced by Evangelicals had to be adjusted to make Reagan's lack of church involvement, or should I say complete absence of any evidence of church involvement, palatable to white, Evangelical voters.  Divorce is a big sticking point, but Reagan's highly publicized divorce from first wife, actress Jane Wyman, was never really addressed by the religious right, even though it was major news and involved accusations of "mental cruelty" on his part.  Nor did they ever comment much on his show business career, which included early work in nightclubs.   

It's only gone downhill for the relationship between the GOP and white Evangelicals since then.  Like every other historical relationship between the Christian church and the civil government, the church winds up compromising its faith and principles and corruptly curries the favor of the civil government which, in turn, abandons its democratic principles and the rule of law to make churches a privileged class exempt from the rules everyone else has to follow.  

Compatibility With the GOP Requires Compromise of Convictions

Turning their backs on the most credible Evangelical Christian to serve in the Presidency in the modern era is a clear demonstration of the GOP's incompatibility with Christianity, or even Evangelical Christianity, in its true form.  Jesus never intended for the church to be used as a political instrument or function as a government institution, which is exactly why that arrangement was doomed from the start.  Carter was the single most solid example we have of a person who was a true believer in the Christian gospel, and who was able to openly practice and express his faith while not imposing his convictions on anyone else, while serving as President.  

After Reagan, the GOP nominated George H. W. Bush who wasn't really happy about having to court the Evangelical vote.  As a practicing Episcopalian, which is the mainline church Evangelicals consider the "most liberal" and despise the most, he was right to be wary of them, and to hesitate to trust their support.  For the Evangelical part, it never really worked out for them to try and make both he and his son, George W., into Bible thumping fundamentalists from a religious perspective, but they were after political power, so religion got sidetracked and derailed.  That romance ended when George and Laura, both members of a liberal Methodist church in Dallas and regular attendees at St. John's Episcopal while in the White House, made friends with the first gay Episcopalian bishop, Rev. Gene Robinson.

With Mitt Romney, the reliance of the religious right solely on political power, and abandonment of what little bit of the Christian gospel was still intact for them up to that point was complete.  Romney  is not only a Mormon, a faith group that Evangelicals have branded as a cult so far away from the truth that there's actually a group of ex-Mormons and anti-Mormon propagandists who make a nice living off the sale of their books and media productions.  For the first time in support of a GOP candidate, Evangelical numbers levelled off.  But some of the big-name televangelists and mega-church pastors who had risen to the top of the leadership pile, among them Franklin Graham, dove right ahead with their support for Romney.  Jerry Falwell Jr. broke that religious barrier by inviting Glenn Beck, also a Mormon, to address Liberty University students in their chapel service, so that was a defacto endorsement of Mormon theology for political purposes.

The Sale of the Evangelical Soul with Trump 

Any pretense that the Evangelical involvement in politics still holds any Christian values or dependence on a higher power has evaporated with the sell-out support for Trump, whose character and person is the exact opposite of the ideal that Evangelicals hold as standard doctrine.  They're still hanging their hat on the abortion issue, which did pay off for them, but they had to abandon everything else, including their integrity, and pick up all of the baggage that came with the orange menace, including his pathological lying, and selfish ambition leading to his organizing and carrying out an insurrection against the government, and by extension, the American people.  

The Trump Organization has gone so far as to attempt to change the Christian gospel, being critical of core teachings of Jesus himself, because exhibiting those values and characteristics "don't get you anywhere in this world."  How much farther from the Christian gospel and teachings of Christ and the apostles do extremist right wing politics have to go before some of the mindless, power hungry, self-proclaimed "leaders" of evangelical Christianity realize how deep into apostasy they are, and the image they are now projecting, with extremist movements like Christian Nationalism gaining support and making a place for themselves at the ideological table.  

Christianity Isn't Intended to Advance a Political Agenda

Most criticism and rejection of Christianity is a rejection of the political movement.  In most cases, what gets rejected isn't even genuine Christian faith, at least, not the kind of faith that comes out of a contextual, historical interpretation of the Bible.  Evangelicals have a tendency to ignore history and context in favor of a fundamentalist brand of literalism, which distorts the message of the original authors of the Bible and which injects modern cultural bias into the practice of the faith.  There's also an arrogance that has developed among conservative Christians, based on their belief that they've got it all right, and that those who don't see it their way are hell-bound liberals who have it wrong.  They are blind to their presuppositions and incorrect assumptions. 

Two of the church's early apostles, recognized leaders in the founding years of Christian faith, both write about the relationship between the church and the civil government.  Recognizing that God is sovereign, they concluded that Christians are to recognize that all governments derive their power from God and obedience to the civil government, even if those involved did not share Christian beliefs, was an act of obedience to God.  What is also clear is that the Christian church was given a mission and purpose based on the Christian gospel, and while it acknowledged the authority of the civil government, it was not instructed to use that power to advance its own mission and purpose, but was to see God's sense of direction.  

Jefferson and Madison, noting that religion had been the cause behind centuries of European bloodshed and desiring that the kind of fighting Europe had endured would never find its way to American soil, took what I see as a Biblical model of the separation of church and state, and created a free church in a free state, so that both could thrive.  For Christians, from my perspective, that makes the preservation of democracy and the freedoms guaranteed by it the highest priority for the church.  Whether the church is empowered by the favor of the state, or persecuted by it, in neither situation is it free to be the church.