Making The Trump Concentration Camps... Better?

I saw an old friend the other day. She's for Biden; depressing for me. She bristled when I called the concentration camps concentration camps; depressing for her. Bummer all around.

Wednesday night, while my friend and I were bumming each other out, a bill (H.R. 3239-- Humanitarian Standards for Individuals in Customs and Border Protection Custody Act) by Raul Ruiz, a moderate California backbencher from Palm Springs, passed the House 233-195. Every Democrat voted for it and just one Republican, Don Young of Alaska, opposed it.

A few minutes before the vote though, the Republicans offered Adam Kinzinger's motion to recommit, scoring a rare victory over Pelosi's Democratic majority, as 41 conservative Democrats crossed the aisle and voted with the Republicans-- the Democrats' Pro-Concentration Camp Caucus. Bear with me a moment and I'll tell you who they are. The bill itself was described by Kaiser Health News as legislation setting health care, safety and hygiene standards for detained immigrants. "Along with the standards," Kaiser explained," the legislation bars Border Patrol from denying lawmakers access to the facilities and it directs the agency to provide adequate training for its officers to carry out the new requirements" If it passes the Senate and Trump signs it, the legislation will require the CBP "to conduct health screenings, provide emergency care and provide access to medication, translators and emergency transportation for undocumented immigrants."

The change the Republicans-- with the help of the 41 Dems from the Pro-Concentration Camp Caucus-- won added language commending the concentration camp guards for the "great" work they do. There was a hint of this a few days ago with far right-wing Blue Dog-- "ex"-Republican Tom O'Halleran (AZ)-- came back from visiting Trump's Yuma concentration camp and tweeted this:

O'Halleran appears to have gotten enough blowback from his constituents to have deleted the tweet and, unexpectedly, voted against Kinzinger's motion. "If this Congress cannot agree to provide these agents the resources they need, as this bill fails to do," railed Kinzinger, "the least we can do is affirm our appreciation for their work. Agreeing to this motion to recommit will not impact the passage of this bill. Voting in favor of this will not kill the bill that we're voting on here today. Today what we have is an opportunity and a moment in time to make a simple statement. This institution can leave politics aside and take this time to recognize the mothers and fathers, the brothers and sisters, the sons and daughters, the husbands and wives, our neighbors and the constituents we serve, the men and women of our U.S. Border patrol working in these facilities every day." After they got their bullshit added to the bill, neither Kinzinger, McCarthy nor any other Republican, except Young, voted for it.




Pelosi frothed at the mouth and threatened the defectors-- but to no avail... since they knew her threats to withhold DCCC funds were a joke that would never be followed through on-- although none of the conservatives in her leadership team-- like Cheri Bustos and Steny Hoyer-- broke ranks. Kevin McCarthy noticed Pelosi's anguish at not being able to control her own caucus and crowed: "Tonight, 41 House Democrats broke party lines to join Republicans in passing a momentous Republican Motion to Recommit. This MTR commended the selfless employees of the U.S. Border Patrol for steadfastly carrying out their duties and commitments to the American people during an unimaginable time of crisis. Despite the record number of immigrants flooding the border, paired with the devastating lack of resources, these men and women do their best every day to stick to the mission, even if it means long hours or paying out of their own pockets for basic items like toothpaste and toys. Congress should support and thank these officers, not demonize them."

It might be worth adding that yesterday, Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Jennifer Costello, Acting Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, requesting that the IG conduct an investigation into the use of solitary confinement and other punishments to coerce participation in "voluntary" work programs at federal and federally-contracted immigration detention facilities, and the role of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies, procedures, and guidance in such practices. GEO and CoreCivic, the two largest for-profit, federally-contracted private prison companies-- both of which contributed large sums to Trump's campaign (and to other conservatives) are over-paid by ICE to house immigrant detainees. They both face several lawsuits alleging the use of punishment as a tool to coerce detainees into voluntary work programs. A 2014 class action lawsuit filed in Colorado has accused GEO of forcing tens of thousands of detainees, specifically through the threat of solitary confinement, to work for $1 per day. A 2017 lawsuit in California alleges that GEO forced detainees into so-called voluntary labor programs by depriving them of basic necessities. And a 2018 lawsuit against CoreCivic in Georgia alleges a similar "deprivation scheme" as a means of forcing labor, including by withholding food, clothing, hygiene products, and phone calls to loved ones.

Moderate Long Island Congressman Tom Suozzi was one of the Democrats McCarthy and Kinzinger were hoping to get to vote for the motion. Having just come back from a visit to the camps himself, Suozzi didn't fall into their trap like so many of his colleagues did. "First," he told me yesterday, "Motions to Recommit are often used as a GOP trick to defeat Democratic legislation by amending it. More important, while I am sure most Customs and Border Patrol officers are compassionate and professional, it is not credible to offer a blanket tribute to all Customs and Border Patrol officers after the release of the Pro Publica report two weeks ago where multiple current and former officers posted disparaging, racist, misogynistic and disrespectful Facebook posts regarding immigrants, elected officials and others.Customs and Border Patrol is overwhelmed, in significant part, because of this administration’s poor policy decisions. It is not fair to give Customs and Border Patrol officers a blanket condemnation for working under trying circumstances, but it is also wholly inappropriate to give them blanket praise, especially in light of the Pro Publica report."

Before you read the list of the Democratic members of the of the Pro-Concentration Camp Caucus, I would recommend you read the guest post we ran earlier today-- about the crippling nature of garden variety Democratic Party political fear-- by Georgia Senate candidate Teresa Tomlinson. These are the Dems who betrayed the party Wednesday... and condemned their souls to hell's fire:

• Cindy Axne (New Dem-IA)
• Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)
• Ed Case (Blue Dog-HI)
• Gil Cisneros (New Dem-CA)
• Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)
• TJ Cox (CA)
• Angie Craig (New Dem-MN)
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
• Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)
• Antonio Delgado (NY)
• Jared Golden (ME)
• Vicente Gonzalez (Blue Dog-TX)
• Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)
• Josh Harder (New Dem-CA)
• Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)
• Stephen Horsford (New Dem-NV)
• Chrissy Houlahan (New Dem-PA)
• Ron Kind (New Dem-WI)
• Susie Lee (New Dem-NV)
• Mike Levin (CA)
• Dan Lipinski (Blue Dog-IL)
• Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA)
• Tom Malinowski (New Dem-NJ)
• Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)
• Lucy McBath (New Dem-GA)
• Seth Moulton (New Dem-MA)
• Stephanie Murphy (Blue Dog-FL)
• Scott Peters (New Dem-CA)
• Colin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
• Dean Phillips (New Dem-MN)
• Katie Porter (New Dem-CA)
• Max Rose (Blue Dog-NY)
• Tim Ryan (OH)
• Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR)
• Mikie Sherrill (Blue Dog-NJ)
• Elise Slotkin (New Dem-MI)
• Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dog-VA)
• Xochitl Torres Small (Blue Dog-NM)
• Lauren Underwood (New Dem-IL)
• Jefferson Van Drew (Blue Dog- NJ)
• Filemon Vela (Blue Dog-TX)

Mark Gamba, the progressive mayor of Milwaukie, Oregon contesting the congressional seat held by GOP pawn Kurt Schrader, seemed pissed off. "We have a humanitarian crisis at our southern boarder that our lack of serious action to stop climate change has caused. This has been further exacerbated by the horrific policies of the current administration. Daily stories about mis-treatment, children being torn from their parents arms, CHILDREN IN BLOODY CAGES FOR GOD'S SAKE! While I'm sure there are good people among the boarder patrol, the overall effect absolutely does not warrant their being praised for their work, quite the opposite. Congress is meant to not only represent, but to provide leadership. The true leaders in Congress are decrying the horrific treatment of our fellow human beings. It is unconscionable that people like Schrader condone, let alone praise what is happening down there. If I were in office I would be day-lighting the abuses at every opportunity and working create a humane system for refugees to access safety. I would also be working to stop climate change so that the whole of the tropics does not need to move north."

Kim Williams, the progressive taking on reactionary Blue Dog Jim Costa in California's Central Valley noticed that Costa was one of the conservatives who joined the Republicans to congratulation the border guards. "It is incredible to me," she said, "that a member of the Hispanic Caucus would join Republicans to recognize U.S. Border patrol agents the same month we learn that CBP agents joked about dead Hispanic babies and raping congresswomen to a 9,000-member Facebook group. At a time when we are in desperate need of a representative who will speak out against racism and abuse at the border, Costa offers praise. I would have stood with the 155 Democrats who rejected the motion to recommit."

Nero Lives by Nancy Ohanian

Midnight Meme Of The Day!

by Noah

The picture for tonight's meme was taken last week when VP Mike Pence led a delegation of Neo-Nazi $enators and sympathizers down to McAllen, TX to view some of the administration's handiwork at the camps. The picture begged for captions. In addition to the one in tonight's meme, here are some others that I have seen or thought of myself.

• Khakis Are The New Swastika.

• Did Pence Wet Himself In His Excitement?

• Good Thing Melania Hooked Onto Trump, Ha Ha.

• Now Would Be A Good Time For The Rapture.

• I Don't Get This Performance Art Stuff.

• How Many Can We Fit Into A Boxcar?

• Is This Slave Auction Gonna Start Soon Or What?

• My Jesus Loves Brown Guys In Cages!

• Lindsey, Don't You Just Love Men In Cages?

• I Feel A Heil Trump Comin' On! Can I Get A Heil Trump?

• These Human Suits Are Starting To Itch!

• We Are DEVO.

• So Glad The Party Had My Compassion Chip Removed.

• Invasion Of The Body Snatchers!

• Let's Try To Blend In So The Press Doesn't Notice Us.

• Marsha Blackburn! Did You Fart Again??!!?

• Damn, I Could Go With A Baloney & Processed American Cheese With Mayo Right Now!

• Eight To Beam Up To The Whites-Only Ship! Now Scotty! Now! Scotty?? Scotty?? Scotty!!!

Trump's Concentration Camps-- Funded By 176 Republicans And 129 Pelosi-Democrats

American Dream Revisted by Nancy Ohanian

The bad news: on June 27 129 Democrats joined with the GOP to vote to authorize funds for Trump's concentration camps. Briana Urbina is a top progressive candidate taking on Stony Hoyer this cycle. She told me she "cannot forgive my representative for voting in support of the cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants at the border. The practices of this administration cannot be divorced from the system that funds it. Steny should be using his power in leadership to dismantle this system not bolster it. Our district has a vibrant and beautiful immigrant community. I have been honored to serve immigrant families as a pro bono attorney. I will continue my service to all Marylanders, native and foreign born when I am sworn in as the first Latina elected to Congress from Maryland."

The good news: 95 Democrats voted against funding the concentration camps despite Pelosi and Hoyer having shit-fit. These are the 95 who are fit to call themselves Democrats:

• Alma Adams (D-NC)
• Pete Aguilar (New Dem-CA)
• Nanette Barragán (D-CA)
• Karen Bass (D-CA)
• Don Beyer (New Dem-VA)
• Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
• Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR)
• Brendan Boyle (New Dem-PA)
• Anthony Brown (New Dem-MD)
• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC)
• Tony Cárdenas (New Dem-CA)
• André Carson (New Dem-IN)
• Judy Chu (D-CA)
• David Cicilline (D-RI)
• Gil Cisneros (New Dem-CA)
• Katherine Clark (D-MA)
• Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
• Lacy Clay (D-MO)
• Gerry Connolly (New Dem-VA)
• Lou Correa (Blue Dog-CA)
• Danny Davis (D-IL)
• Pete DeFazio (D-OR)
• Diana DeGette (D-CO)
• Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
• Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA)
• Debbie Dingell (D-MI)
• Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)
• Eliot Engel (New Dem-NY)
• Veronica Escobar (New Dem-TX)
• Adriano Espaillat (D-NY)
• Dwight Evans (D-PA)
• Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)
• Chuy García (D-IL)
• Sylvia Garcia (D-TX)
• Jimmy Gomez (D-CA)
• Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
• Deb Haaland (D-NM)
• Brian Higgins (D-NY)
• Katie Hill (New Dem-CA)
• Steven Horsford (New Dem-NV)
• Jared Huffman (D-CA)
• Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
• Pramila Jayapal (D-WA)
• Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)
• Joe Kennedy (D-MA)
• Ro Khanna (D-CA)
• Brenda Lawrence (New Dem-MI)
• Barbara Lee (D-CA)
• Andy Levin (D-MI)
• John Lewis (D-GA)
• Ted Lieu (D-CA)
• Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
• Alan Lowenthal (D-CA)
• Nita Lowey (D-NY)
• Ben Ray Luján (D-NM)
• Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
• Betty McCollum (D-MN)
• Donald McEachin (New Dem-VA)
• James McGovern (D-MA)
• Gregory Meeks (New Dem-NY)
• Grace Meng (D-NY)
• Gwen Moore (D-WI)
• Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (New Dem-FL)
• Jerry Nadler (D-NY)
• Grace Napolitano (D-CA)
• Joe Neguse (D-CO)
• Donald Norcross (New Dem-NJ)
• AOC (D-NY)
• Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
• Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
• Bill Pascrell (D-NJ)
• Mark Pocan (D-WI)
• Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)
• David Price (D-NC)
• Mike Quigley (New Dem-IL)
• Jamie Raskin (D-MD)
• Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
• Linda Sánchez (D-CA)
• Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA)
• Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
• Brad Sherman (D-CA)
• Adam Smith (New Dem-WA)
• Darren Soto (New Dem-FL)
• Jackie Speier (D-CA)
• Mark Takano (D-CA)
• Dina Titus (D-NV)
• Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)
• Paul Tonko (D-NY)
• Norma Torres (New Dem-CA)
• Lori Trahan (New Dem-MA)
• Juan Vargas (New Dem-CA)
• Marc Veasey (New Dem-TX)
• Filemon Vela (Blue Dog-TX)
• Nydia Velázquez (D-NY)
• Peter Welch (D-VT)

It must have stung Pelosi especially hard when she wasn't even able to control members of her own leadership team and inner circle-- like Hakeem Jeffries and Ben Ray Luján, each fearful of primaries from the left. But these were Pelosi's "good soldiers" who told themselves a nice story that made it ok to vote funding for concentration camps. If any of them call you for a contribution to their reelection efforts, ask them why they decided our taxpayer money should go for locking children seeking asylum in cages inside concentration camps.

Babies in Cages by Nancy Ohanian

Colin Allred (New Dem-TX)
Cindy Axne (New Dem-IA)
Joyce Beatty (D-OH)
Ami Bera (New Dem-CA)
Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)
Lisa Blunt Rochester (New Dem-DE)
Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)
Julia Brownley (New Dem-CA)
Cheri Bustos (Blue Dog-IL)
Salud Carbajal (New Dem-CA)
Matt Cartwright (D-PA)
Ed Case (Blue Dog-HI)
Sean Casten (New Dem-IL)
Kathy Castor (D-FL)
Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
Jim Clyburn (D-SC)
Steve Cohen (D-TN)
Jim Cooper (Blue Dog-TN)
Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)
Joe Courtney (D-CT)
TJ Cox (D-CA)
Angie Craig (New Dem-MN)
Charlie Crist (Blue Dog-FL)
Jason Crow (New Dem-CO)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Elijah Cummings (D-MD)
Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)
Sharice Davids (New Dem-KS)
Susan Davis (New Dem-CA)
Madeleine Dean (New Dem-PA)
Suzan DelBene (New Dem-WA)
Antonio Delgado (D-NY)
Val Demings (New Dem-FL)
Ted Deutch (D-FL)
Michael Doyle (D-PA)
Anna Eshoo (D-CA)
Abby Finkenauer (D-IA)
Lizzie Fletcher (New Dem-TX)
Mike Foster (New Dem-IL)
Lois Frankel (D-FL)
Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
John Garamendi (D-CA)
Jared Golden (D-ME)
Vicente Gonzalez (Blue Dog-TX)
Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)
Al Green (D-TX)
Josh Harder (New Dem-FL)
Jahana Hayes (D-CT)
Denny Heck (New Dem-WA)
Jim Himes (New Dem-CT)
Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)
Chrissy Houlahan (New Dem-PA)
Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
Hank Johnson (D-GA)
Bill Keating (New Dem-MA)
Robin Kelly (D-IL)
Dan Kildee (D-MI)
Derek Kilmer (New Dem-WA)
Andy Kim (D-NJ)
Ron Kind (New Dem-WI)
Ann Kirkpatrick (New Dem-AZ)
Raja Krishnamoorthi (New Dem-IL)
Anne Kuster (New Dem-NH)
Conor Lamb (D-PA)
Jim Langevin (D-RI)
Rick Larsen (New Dem-WA)
John Larson (D-CT)
Al Lawson (New Dem-FL)
Susie Lee (New Dem-NV)
Mike Levin (D-CA)
Dan Lipinski (D-IL)
Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA)
Stephen Lynch (D-MA)
Tom Malinowski (New Dem-NJ)
Sean Patrick Maloney (New Dem-NY)
Doris Matsui (D-CA)
Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)
Lucy McBath (New Dem-GA)
Jerry McNerney (D-CA)
Joseph Morelle (D-NY)
Stephanie Murphy (Blue Dog-FL)
Richard Neal (D-MA)
Tom O'Halleran (Blue Dog-AZ)
Jimmy Panetta (New Dem-CA)
Chris Pappas (New Dem-NH)
Donald Payne (D-NJ)
Ed Perlmutter (New Dem-CO)
Scott Peters (New Dem-CA)
Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
Dean Phillips (New Dem-MN)
Chellie Pingree (D-ME)
Katie Porter (D-CA)
Kathleen Rice (New Dem-NY)
Max Rose (Blue Dog-NY)
Harley Rouda (New Dem-CA)
Raul Ruiz (New Dem-CA)
Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD)
Bobby Rush (D-IL)
John Sarbanes (D-MD)
Adam Schiff (New Dem-CA)
Brad Schneider (Blue Dog-IL)
Kim Schrier (New Dem-WA)
Bobby Scott (D-VA)
David Scott (Blue Dog-GA)
Jose Serrano (D-NY)
Terri Sewell (New Dem-AL)
Donna Shalala (New Dem-FL)
Mikie Sherrill (Blue Dog-NJ)
Albio Sires (D-NJ)
Elissa Slotkin (New Dem-MI)
Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dog-VA)
Greg Stanton (New Dem-AZ)
Haley Stevens (New Dem-MI)
Tom Suozzi (New Dem-NY)
Mike Thompson (Blue Dog-CA)
Bennie Thompson (D-MS)
Xochitl Torres Small (Blue Dog-NM)
David Trone (New Dem-MD)
Lauren Underwood (D-IL)
Jefferson Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ)
Pete Visclosky (D-IN)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (New Dem-FL)
Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ)
Jennifer Wexton (New Dem-VA)
Susan Wild (New Dem-PA)
John Yarmuth (D-KY)

"Denny Heck voted to give money to concentration camps," his progressive primary opponent, Joshua Collins told me. "And he did it with no expectations of improved oversight or improved conditions. We might as well be burning money because they're already getting over $700/day per detainee, and still won't even give them toothpaste and soap. That vote was despicable. And it signifies why we have to replace Representatives like Denny Heck. He's not just a lazy centrist who won't budge on important issues like Medicare for All and a Green New Deal. He's actively helping the Republicans. And when asked why he makes all these bad votes, and why he refuses to support impeachment, his office says it's because he takes his marching orders from Nancy Pelosi. If he is being funded by large corporations and controlled even more explicitly by Nancy Pelosi, why in the hell should he be representing Washington's 10th? He needs to retire already. He's gotta go. That's why I'm running against him."

23 hours to go on this poll, but the trend seems set

Progressive Democrat Matt Tirman is running for the House seat occupied by New Dem chief Derek Kilmer in the sprawling 6th district west of Seattle. "The vote to give $4.6 billion in funding to ICE was not one to help the children being kept in cages at the border," he told me this morning, "but one to assuage the enormity of guilt felt by those in Congress. This was not a way to help reunite families, or help provide the humanitarian aid so desperately needed. This was simply a way for congressional members, like Rep. Kilmer, to stick a band aid on the issue and hope the American people will be placated so they could go march in their hometown parades without having to worry about messy questions about kids in cages."

Dean Obeidallah penned an OpEd for CNN yesterday, Why is Nancy Pelosi slamming AOC and helping Trump?. He was as pissed off as every progressive I know about Pelosi's slide over to the Dark Side, in terms of Trump's concentration camps and in her vicious attacks against progressives who opposed her collaboration with America's #1 enemy. She has especially singled out freshmen women Ilhan Omar (MN), AOC (NY), Rashida Tlaib (MI) and Ayanna Pressley (MA) for the full scale viciousness many Democrats would rather see her aiming at McConnell and Trump. She's become a real detriment to the Democratic Party and with her legacy in shreds, should step down and disappear immediately.

"Whatever"

Pelosi's criticism came after a June 25 vote in which the four were the only Democrats to oppose a House bill to provide funding for the crisis at the southern border because as they put it in a statement, "in good conscience, we cannot support this supplemental funding bill, which gives even more money to ICE and CBP and continues to support a fundamentally cruel and broken immigration system."

In response to that vote, Pelosi told Dowd, "All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world," adding, "But they didn't have any following. They're four people and that's how many votes they got."

by Jack Spencer

In response, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter, focusing in on the dismissiveness of the speaker's "public whatever" remark. "That public 'whatever' is called public sentiment. And wielding the power to shift it is how we actually achieve meaningful change in this country," she tweeted.

What makes Pelosi's remark so stunning is that it flies in the face of her often-repeated philosophy that she has espoused to House Democrats since taking control of the chamber in the 2018 midterms. "Our diversity is our strength and our unity is our power," she wrote last November.

Pelosi is 100% correct with that approach. That means, though, that diversity of opinion needs to be respected-- not belittled. This unity is vitally needed in the time of Donald Trump, since the Democrat-controlled House is the only chamber that serves as a legitimate check on the President.

White Evangelicals Are Embracing Concentration Camps As Revenge For Their Petty Grievances And Resentments And Because They Feel Mocked And Scorned

Babies in Cages by Nancy Ohanian

Death camps are different from concentration camps; they're worse. But concentration camps are bad enough. If Trump was setting up concentration camps what would you do about it? What are you doing about the concentration camps? Silence, beloved brothers and sisters, is not golden... it's complicity. Our country is complicit in his crimes against humanity, his crimes against these women and children.

What about Trump's evangelical supporters? They may bear more responsibility than other Americans. Do the concentration camps make them uncomfortable? From what I'm reading... not at all, not at all. Yesterday The Atlantic published The Deepening Crisis in Evangelical Christianity-- Support for Trump comes at a high cost for Christian witness by Peter Wehner. Their leaders are reveling in Trumpism. Wehner began with a quote from noted evangelical huckster Ralph Reed: "There has never been anyone who has defended us and who has fought for us, who we have loved more than Donald J. Trump. No one!" And evangelicals are fighting for him too. They believe the concentration camp regime "is spiritually driven" and that "God’s hand is on Trump, this moment and at the election... Donald Trump is God’s man." He's kidnapping children and putting them up for adoption. "God has chosen him and is protecting him." These people want an authoritarian asshole. They welcome fascism and the end to democracy. "Jerry Falwell Jr.: "Conservatives & Christians need to stop electing ‘nice guys.’ They might make great Christian leaders but the United States needs street fighters like @realDonaldTrump at every level of government b/c the liberal fascists Dems are playing for keeps & many Repub leaders are a bunch of wimps!"


Late last night, writing for the NY Times, Thomas Edsall pointed out how the "give-us-our-orders" evangelicals fit into Trump's plans for reelection. "Alex Gage, head of TargetPoint Consulting, a Republican firm specializing in voter mobilization, found that 'anger is a much stronger motivation' than recounting the beneficial things a politician has done. Trump has aligned himself with two overlapping, declining constituencies that are clearly motivated by a combination of anger, resentment and anxiety-- white evangelical Christians and whites without college degrees. If Trump is to win re-election next year, he must raise the stakes for these two sets of voters so that they turn out in unprecedented numbers. Demonizing immigrants and other minorities is crucial to this strategy."

Between 65 and 70% of white evangelicals approve of him-- 25 points higher than the national average. "The enthusiastic, uncritical embrace of President Trump," wrote Wehner, "by white evangelicals is among the most mind-blowing developments of the Trump era. How can a group that for decades-- and especially during the Bill Clinton presidency-- insisted that character counts and that personal integrity is an essential component of presidential leadership not only turn a blind eye to the ethical and moral transgressions of Donald Trump, but also constantly defend him? Why are those who have been on the vanguard of “family values” so eager to give a man with a sordid personal and sexual history a mulligan?"

Part of the answer is their belief that they are engaged in an existential struggle against a wicked enemy-- not Russia, not North Korea, not Iran, but rather American liberals and the left. If you listen to Trump supporters who are evangelical (and non-evangelicals, like the radio talk-show host Mark Levin), you will hear adjectives applied to those on the left that could easily be used to describe a Stalinist regime. (Ask yourself how many evangelicals have publicly criticized Trump for his lavish praise of Kim Jong Un, the leader of perhaps the most savage regime in the world and the worst persecutor of Christians in the world.)

Many white evangelical Christians, then, are deeply fearful of what a Trump loss would mean for America, American culture, and American Christianity. If a Democrat is elected president, they believe, it might all come crashing down around us. During the 2016 election, for example, the influential evangelical author and radio talk-show host Eric Metaxas said, “In all of our years, we faced all kinds of struggles. The only time we faced an existential struggle like this was in the Civil War and in the Revolution when the nation began … We are on the verge of losing it as we could have lost it in the Civil War.” A friend of mine described that outlook to me this way: “It’s the Flight 93 election. FOREVER.”

Many evangelical Christians are also filled with grievances and resentments because they feel they have been mocked, scorned, and dishonored by the elite culture over the years. (Some of those feelings are understandable and warranted.) For them, Trump is a man who will not only push their agenda on issues such as the courts and abortion; he will be ruthless against those they view as threats to all they know and love. For a growing number of evangelicals, Trump’s dehumanizing tactics and cruelty aren’t a bug; they are a feature. Trump “owns the libs,” and they love it. He’ll bring a Glock to a cultural knife fight, and they relish that.

... There's a very high cost to our politics for celebrating the Trump style, but what is most personally painful to me as a person of the Christian faith is the cost to the Christian witness. Nonchalantly jettisoning the ethic of Jesus in favor of a political leader who embraces the ethic of Thrasymachus and Nietzsche-- might makes right, the strong should rule over the weak, justice has no intrinsic worth, moral values are socially constructed and subjective-- is troubling enough.

But there is also the undeniable hypocrisy of people who once made moral character, and especially sexual fidelity, central to their political calculus and who are now embracing a man of boundless corruptions. Don’t forget: Trump was essentially named an unindicted co-conspirator (“Individual 1”) in a scheme to make hush-money payments to a porn star who alleged she’d had an affair with him while he was married to his third wife, who had just given birth to their son.

While on the Pacific Coast last week, I had lunch with Karel Coppock, whom I have known for many years and who has played an important role in my Christian pilgrimage. In speaking about the widespread, reflexive evangelical support for the president, Coppock-- who is theologically orthodox and generally sympathetic to conservatism-- lamented the effect this moral freak show is having, especially on the younger generation. With unusual passion, he told me, “We’re losing an entire generation. They’re just gone. It’s one of the worst things to happen to the Church.”

Coppock mentioned to me the powerful example of St. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, who was willing to rebuke the Roman Emperor Theodosius for the latter’s role in massacring civilians as punishment for the murder of one of his generals. Ambrose refused to allow the Church to become a political prop, despite concerns that doing so might endanger him. Ambrose spoke truth to power. (Theodosius ended up seeking penance, and Ambrose went on to teach, convert, and baptize St. Augustine.) Proximity to power is fine for Christians, Coppock told me, but only so long as it does not corrupt their moral sense, only so long as they don’t allow their faith to become politically weaponized. Yet that is precisely what’s happening today.

Evangelical Christians need another model for cultural and political engagement, and one of the best I am aware of has been articulated by the artist Makoto Fujimura, who speaks about “culture care” instead of “culture war.

According to Fujimura, “Culture care is an act of generosity to our neighbors and culture. Culture care is to see our world not as a battle zone in which we’re all vying for limited resources, but to see the world of abundant possibilities and promise.” What Fujimura is talking about is a set of sensibilities and dispositions that are fundamentally different from what we see embodied in many white evangelical leaders who frequently speak out on culture and politics. The sensibilities and dispositions Fujimura is describing are characterized by a commitment to grace, beauty, and creativity, not antipathy, disdain, and pulsating anger. It’s the difference between an open hand and a mailed fist.

Building on this theme, Mark Labberton, a colleague of Fujimura’s and the president of Fuller Theological Seminary, the largest multidenominational seminary in the world, has spoken about a distinct way for Christians to conceive of their calling, from seeing themselves as living in a Promised Land and “demanding it back” to living a “faithful, exilic life.”

Right-wing former GOP congressman assesses Trump

Labberton speaks about what it means to live as people in exile, trying to find the capacity to love in unexpected ways; to see the enemy, the foreigner, the stranger, and the alien, and to go toward rather than away from them. He asks what a life of faithfulness looks like while one lives in a world of fear.

He adds, “The Church is in one of its deepest moments of crisis-- not because of some election result or not, but because of what has been exposed to be the poverty of the American Church in its capacity to be able to see and love and serve and engage in ways in which we simply fail to do. And that vocation is the vocation that must be recovered and must be made real in tangible action.”

There are countless examples of how such tangible action can be manifest. But as a starting point, evangelical Christians should acknowledge the profound damage that’s being done to their movement by its braided political relationship-- its love affair, to bring us back to the words of Ralph Reed-- with a president who is an ethical and moral wreck. Until that is undone-- until followers of Jesus are once again willing to speak truth to power rather than act like court pastors-- the crisis in American Christianity will only deepen, its public testimony only dim, its effort to be a healing agent in a broken world only weaken.

At this point, I can’t help but wonder whether that really matters to many of Donald Trump’s besotted evangelical supporters.

Ralph Reed, a follower of Jesus? Give me a break. Falwell, Jr.? You're joking right? What makes Wehner imply they are? Must be something I don't understand.





Also on Friday, writing for The Economist, Erasmus noted "the widening ideological and personal schism within the very group of citizens who should be a conservative president’s most natural supporters... white evangelical Christians, of whom 80% are thought to have voted for Mr Trump. Leading evangelicals are not just sparring over metaphysics, they are also trading insults. Think of the war of words that erupted after June 25th when Russell Moore, a distinguished theologian who heads the Ethics and Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, protested over the fate of migrant children on the Mexican border." Moore wrote that the plight of the kidnapped children at the southern border stuffed into Trump's concentration camps "should 'shock all our consciences' given that all 'those created in the image of God should be treated with dignity and compassion.'" Vicious Trumpist Falwell went on the attack against the man who runs the public-policy arm of America’s largest Protestant denomination immediately: "Who are you Dr Moore? Have you ever built an organisation of any sort from scratch? You’re nothing but an employee-- a bureaucrat." [An inheritor of great wealth, it is notable that Falwell never built anything except an alliance with Satan.] The neo-Nazi evangelicals on the far right fringe joined Falwell by claiming protesting the immigration crisis amounted to an unpatriotic slur on the U.S. Border Patrol.

Midnight Meme Of The Day!

by Noah

This is what FOX News, particularly Nazi Salute Gal, Laura "Ilsa" Ingraham, calls "summer camp." She actually said (Full quote below) that but what else would we expect from such a sick individual working for such a sick employer? I have to say that this does not look like any summer camp that I attended. You? I also have to say, that I find it disturbing that we don't see much, if anything, in the way of photos of the adolescent girls who have been kidnapped along with the photos of the kidnapped adolescent boys that we are shown when we are shown anything at all. So, inquiring minds naturally want to ask: Where are the adolescent girls? What has become of them? What is the administration of an admitted proud predator doing with them? As they always say about corporations, the CEO sets the tone. The Trump White House is no different.

As more illegal immigrants are rushing the border, more kids are being separated from their parents, and temporarily housed in what are essentially summer camps.

Of course the children aren't illegal. They were escaping certain rape and death and being presented for asylum under U.S. law. And they weren't separated from their parents, they were stolen from their parents, ripped, screaming, from their parents arms ie. kidnapped. Temporarily housed? The legal time limit is 72 hours not weeks. Their physical and mental health is deteriorating rapidly, very rapidly, while Ingraham and her white supremacist Neo-Nazi Republican Party that used to call itself the party of "Family Values" has proudly embraced being the party of permanent "Family Separations" laughs and gets off on the very idea.

Meanwhile, in the alternate universe of my most pleasant dreams, there is a cage waiting for Ilsa and those like her. It looks like the one below. She can share her cage with her friends Tucker, Sean, and Kellyanne, crammed into it along with the rest of the interchangeable White House and Fox staffs, all wrapped up in tin foil blankets like baked potatoes. I would enjoy telling them they could drink water from the toilet, just like those kids have been told. So here you are Laura. Sorry, no toothbrush for you!