"Klonning" - The Hate Crime Of The Century

What is "klonning?"

To answer that, I must lament the state of our media, and our country, because the one follows the other.

There's no words I can write which can express the utter and complete despair I feel when looking at what's going on in current events right now. Sure, Biden won, and he's finally been safely sworn in, but only eight days later it is abundantly clear that the underlying sickness cannot not be cured simply by Trump no longer being president.

As I said on this blog, in no uncertain terms, the right-wing pundits, who are the root cause of the seditious attack we endured on January 6th, could simply not be allowed to go back to work. Well, they were allowed to go back to work. They got back on the air, found every stupid excuse they could find for themselves and for Trump, and now we're seeing the consequences.

Only ten Republicans voted to impeach Trump in the House. Ten! On a vote which should have been unanimous! And now they, not the Republicans who voted against impeachment, are facing a huge backlash! Their constituency is actually saying to them, "How dare you vote that sedition and fascism are unacceptable!"

In the Senate, 45 Republicans sided with Rand Paul's silly claim that impeaching a president after his term of office ends is unconstitutional. Only five Republicans voted yes. Five! Out of a vote which should also have been unanimous! And they, too, are facing a backlash.

What's a little blatant treason among friends?

Nikki Haley, the sometimes oh-so-rational Nikki Haley, actually said on the Laura Ingram show Monday, "I don't even think there's a basis for impeachment."

Fucking what?!

Yeah, who cares about sedition anyway? The truth is dying. And nobody gives a fuck.

People make a serious mistake if they assume that a Biden presidency will fix it all. The underlying riptides of lying are there. Some serious urgency is needed to fix this situation right now, and all I see are people breathing sighs of relief.

As if this weren't the beginning of the battle, rather than the denouement.

What right-wing media is doing is so heinous, so criminal, that our language needs a new word for the crime. Merely saying "lying" doesn't cut it. People are too inured to the word "lying." And "treason" does not work, either. People dismiss "treason" as mere hyperbole, even when it is accurate.

What new word could possibly express how truly unacceptable their behavior is?

Here's my answer: KLON (pronounced like TRON).

It stands for Knowingly Lying On the News. K.L.O.N. Or "KLON." A person who knowingly lies on the news is a klon. What he's doing is called "klonning."

Example: If someone on the news says that Joe Biden stole the election, we know empirically that this is false. That person, assuming he or she isn't a mere guest on the show, is a "klon."

One is a klon if one knowingly disseminates false information on any form of news outlet, whether it be a news program, a news station, a news channel, or a newspaper. If it bills itself as "news," it must meet a  certain standard under the law.

The word fits. It sounds a little bit like "clown," which is both fitting and accurate. It also sounds a bit like "Klan," and for the same reason. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are proud members of the Ku Klux KLON.

QAnon commits KLON. It even rhymes.

Klonning is not freedom of speech! It is a betrayal of the public trust! It is deliberately misleading people in a way which produces real, physical, tangible harm, both mentally and sometimes physically.

Klonning is a hate crime.

There is a loophole. Klonning might be done legally, provided the media outlet is rendered as tabloid, rather than "news." "Tabloid news" is an oxymoron.

Klonning is acceptable in the National Enquirer.

There are liars, cheats, scoundrels, and klons, in descending order.

About two years ago, I invented another word that didn't really catch on, although I see it pop up every once in a long while. That word was "YARP." It's the word "pray" spelled backwards, and I invented it so that non-believers would have something to say to someone in distress besides, "I'll pray for you." Instead, one could say, "I'll yarp for you," meaning that I'm sending well wishes and good vibrations your way.

Well, I can only yarp that klon will catch on.

Eric

*

The Limits Of Free Speech

 

Well, we survived.

After a rough and tumble four years, in which everything went wrong except the economy for the first three, and then even the economy tanked in year number four, we have finally emerged on the other side. The would-be dictator is gone; his insurrection, quelled. Joe Biden has been safely sworn in as our 46th president.

Now what?

Now, the ire of the righteous must turn towards tearing down the apparatus that built Trump in the first place. If we kill the Frankenstein monster, yet leave Victor Frankenstein un-lynched, the mad scientist will undoubtedly try again.

That means the high priests of right-wing misinformation in the cult, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingram, Mark Levin, Lou Dobbs, and Maria Bartiromo, must be held accountable for their lies.

But how? Isn't freedom of speech a divine right?

Yes! But not without limits. Let's explore what those limits are, and what they should be under the law.

We all know the analogy about shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater. A person who does that can ignite a panic which leads to many innocent people getting trampled. Surely, such a lie is prosecutable, and the person who shouted should be held accountable for the injuries or deaths that were caused.

In the same manner, the Hannity/Limbaugh caucus shouted "fire." More precisely, they shouted, "Fraud!" when there was none. Or, to be absolutely precise, there were irregularities, just as there are irregularities in every election, but the irregularities in this election seemed much larger and more ominous because it was more scrutinized than any election before.

If you look at something really close, it seems bigger, even when it isn't.

For four years, these Chicken Littles have been shouting, "The democracy is falling! The democracy is falling!" When it clearly hasn't been. You might think, just like in the children's tale, that at some point people would just stop paying attention to Chicken Little. And there has been a drop in Fox News ratings, that much is true. But that drop has not gone sufficiently below the kind of threshold needed to induce firings.

In fact, after a brief period of reality on January 7th, Fox News seems to be doubling down on the bullshit.

Does freedom of speech give one the right to say something which is untrue? In fact, it usually does. People may be genuinely mistaken and so pass along incorrect information with an honest heart. But it also protects citizens' right to outright lie. People may spread rumor, or even bluntly lie about any number of things, without fear of legal consequence in most circumstances. Comedians are free to do parody. Authors are free to do satire. Religions are free to preach faith-based falsehoods. So long as there is no discernible physical harm in these actions, such fictions are our right.

And yet, the right to fiction is not an absolute! For example, one could be sued for libel, if the lie resulted in tangible, physical harm, or measurable financial loss. A CEO who gets fired over a false rumor that he was sleeping with his secretary, might be able to sue the originator of the rumor for losses, and win in court.

There was real, physical harm, and measurable financial loss, arising from the lie that Joe Biden somehow didn't win the 2020 election. The phrase "Stop the steal!" has literally cost lives, and damaged property.

Which means that Trump, and the Hannity/Limbaugh caucus are in an actionable position under the law for those damages! Is there a lawsuit pending? There should be.

The right to fiction is also not applicable when it comes to selling products. If one sells a can of soup, one is legally required to list the ingredients on that can, and the contents of the can must not deviate from that list. If the list itself contains something harmful (monosodium glutimate, for instance), and the consumer buys it anyway, that's on the consumer. But if the product label says one thing, and the product contains another, that's on the manufacturer! For example, if the label says "gluten free," but the product actually contains glutin-based flour, the manufacturer can be sued! If a product is sold as a cure for various diseases, such as "magnet therapy" or "pyramid power," such product is also liable for a lawsuit.

In like manner, Hannity, Limbaugh and their copycats have been selling false product. They have been claiming themselves as truthful opinion-pundits, when in reality they have been spewing known falsehoods.

It is the equivalent of selling a bottle of bleach which is labeled "milk."

Of course, as we all know, it can be devilishly tricky to take certain fraudsters to court. If the peddler of some penis-enlargement pill (for example) is sued for fraud, the defense attorney will usually cite some shoddily done university study and get off the hook. Whether that university study is reliable or not isn't the point. All that is required is enough plausibility to make the vendor non-culpable.

Limbaugh, Hannity, and their ilk try a similar tactic. They label themselves "infotainment," branding themselves as entertainers rather than actual news broadcasters. Fine, except they are typically broadcast on actual news networks, and not on E!, or Lifetime, or USA.

I like to call it, "misinfotainment," because that's closer to the truth.

That covers the legal limits of freedom of speech which are already on the books. The Limbaugh/Hannity collective should already be facing lawsuits for the violation of those existing laws. But is there any way the preservation of truth in our information can be strengthened without violating our freedom of speech and expression?

I argue there is! Let's call it "the Integrity in News Bill."

I doubt this will ever be brought up for an actual vote. If it is, Fox News will hire ever lobbyist they can get their hands on to stop it. But it is a GREAT idea. Here it is:

If the media outlet labels itself "news," it is legally bound to adhere to a set standard of truth. Opinion shows must be balanced to show both sides of any political debate, somewhat like what CNN's "Crossfire" show used to be. No one on a media outlet branded as "news" is allowed to knowingly make a false statement, like the one Maria Bartiromo made a few days ago when she said that Antifa people were instigating the January 6th riot on the Capitol. Such a breech of public trust would result in a hefty fine, and/or the offending pundit being fired. If one's network is meant to inform the public, then it should be legally bound to inform the public! Not misinform the public! "Infotainment" shows get exiled to some other channel. Perhaps Hannity could land a job on TBN. Rush Limbaugh could go to the Playboy channel.

Maybe Rachel Maddow will end up on MTV. 

This fix needs to happen, and FAST! Because it is so easy to artificially beef up ratings with bullshit and anger-porn, that it's spread just about everywhere. Every major metropolitan area has at least one A.M. radio station devoted exclusively to right-wing bullshit. Most local television stations are owned by one or two companies, all of whom want their own right-wing propaganda given time on your local "News at Nine" broadcast.

70% of Republicans don't believe that Biden stole the election because one or two pundits say so. They believe Biden stole the election because ALL the right-wing pundits, AND Fox News, AND OANN, AND Newsmax, AND all their Facebook friends, AND their local pastor say so!

It's gotten WAY out of hand! The lies have NEVER been so institutionalized!

But it ALL begins with the right-wing bullshit masters, Hannity and Limbaugh. And they get it from right-wing spin-doctoring institutions like the CATO Institute.

Will any of this be stopped? Can it be fixed? I don't know. I hope it will. But one thing's for certain:

These right-wing pundits, after nearly burning down our ENTIRE nation, must NOT be allowed to simply go back to work as though nothing happened!

The piper must be paid!

Eric

*

Justifying The Unjustifiable

Folks, it's as simple as this: If Trump is guilty of inciting a riot upon the U.S. Capitol (and he is), then those who incited Donald Trump are equally guilty. More so, in fact, because they are the root cause.

That means Limbaugh, Hannity, Dobbs, Ingram and Levin, among others, should be fired for cause, brought up on charges, and prosecuted for peddling a false product, and perpetrating a fraud upon the general public - both of which are federal crimes.

It also goes without saying that, after five years of shilling for Trump, the right-wing pundits have been proven dead wrong. The only rational conclusion people can make is that the Hannity/Limbaugh caucus simply cannot be trusted anymore.

Of course, they don't want that. So they're trying to find any excuse for Trump, and by extension themselves, that they can find.

Rush Limbaugh was quick to attempt to blame Left-wingers. On his January 7th show, he said that the crowd "undoubtedly" included some Antifa, pro-Democrat instigators. Social media quickly joined in spread rumors that Antifa members infiltrated the crowd and caused the attack. However, many arrests have been made since, and they're pretty much all right-wingers.

When that explanation failed, they quickly pivoted, trying to say that the attack was only "a few bad apples," and that the vast majority were kind and respectful. To that, all I can say is, 'roll the footage!' Do a head-count on everyone being unruly, violent, or disrespectful, and you'll see perfectly well that it was way more than "a few."

In fact, the right-wing origin of this riot was put well beyond shadow of doubt when footage circulated of Alex Jones participating in the crowd itself, after spending much of his own fortune promoting the event. Naturally, he sneaked off before the Capitol was breached. He is currently being questioned by the FBI.

On January 11ths edition of 'Fox & Friends,' Judge Jeanine Pirro equated the ban against Parler to Kristallnacht. No, really, she did!

On January 7th, Lou Dobbs claimed the Democrats were trying to "overthrow" Trump. No joke!

Even after Cumulus Media ordered its talk show hosts, like Mark Levin, to knock off the "stolen election" rhetoric, they went right on ahead anyway, most of them claiming to have not received the memo.

Mark Belling contributed to the madness the Monday after. You might think that after a weekend to reflect, Mark would see that his fiery rhetoric contributed to the boiling over of Trumpist extremism. But no. Instead, fearing to lose the job he doesn't need (because he's wealthy and of retirement age anyway) he calls the responsible crackdown on those who continually shout "fire" in a crowded theater, like himself, a form of oppression.

"Just checking over here, I want to make sure I haven't been canceled yet. Am I still on the air? Am I allowed to broadcast? I think it's beginning to dawn on people exactly what's going on. We are in the early stages in this country of total totalitarianism. And I'm not going to sugarcoat this because it's going to continue until it's stopped."

When you perpetrate a public fraud, there are laws which prosecute you. One cannot sell a fraudulent product in a grocery store, or a department store, because that will get you sued and your business shut down!

How much more important is our news media!

Now, I believe in freedom of speech. Belling should be able to go on spewing whatever bullshit he wants. BUT NOT ON A NEWS NETWORK!

The word "NEWS" is sacred! You tell the truth in that territory, or you get the fuck out!

And yes, there is room for editorializing. The Op-Ed page is as old as newspapers themselves. But not only should op-ed be clearly delineated, but those who do op-ed SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED SAY PROVEN FALSEHOODS! Because that crosses the line between opinion and fraud! If your opinion is based on the notion that (for example) gremlins are in control of the Pentagon, you should probably be held accountable if you decide to print or air that statement.

In the news, one can have an alternate opinion. One cannot have alternate facts!

"It is breathtaking that Twitter kicked Donald Trump off," Belling said on Monday. "Because if they can kick off the President of the United States, that means they can kick off anyone. What chance has Joe Blow in Joplin, Missouri have if Donald Trump can't survive on Twitter?"

Except that Joe Blow in Joplin doesn't have 80-odd million followers, 90% of whom will believe any bullshit he makes up.

This is a question which should have been brought up back when Twitter should have kicked Trump off four years ago! A better question is, why the hell did Twitter allow this to go on for so long? Why did it allow Donald Trump to spew anger, hatred, racism, bigotry and even sedition for four solid years with zero consequences? Isn't it fair to say that Twitter gave Trump way too much leeway just for being the president?

Trump is guilty. The right-wing media cult leaders who made Trump in the first place are even more guilty still. If Trump is to be made a pariah, if his impeachment is to be successful to bar him from participating in the 2024 elections, then so too much Hannity, Limbaugh, Levin, OANN and Newsmax.

They are snake oil peddlers, who should be treated every bit as harshly as Kevin Trudeau, James Van Praagh, John Edward.

Let them give their bullshit opinions. That's free speech. But if such opinions depend on dissemination of outright bullshit, they've started to sell fake product, and have thus crossed the line.

Our laws, or at least FCC policy, should reflect that.

 

Eric

*

An Alternate 2020

 

Everyone is recovering from the events at the Capital on Wednesday; from what was essentially an armed insurrection against our own government by Trumpers. On the political Left, this is yet another bridge too far - as if somehow Trumpism hasn't been passing bridges that were too far over the past five years. On the political Right, Trumpers seem to justify this by pointing to the George Floyd protests and the rallies held by BLM, as if any rioting and looting for any other reason could have somehow given their rioting and looting a - free pass? To commit an outright coup? Yeah, that's apparently their actual argument.

Remember when right-wingers were demanding ten-year sentences for anyone who assaulted a Federal building in Portland?

Now, any blunt assault I make on this blog against the utter depravity of this will bounce right off of Trumpers. I know that from experience. So instead I will use my favorite genre to make my case. I will use the art of science fiction to show Trumpers what they could have had - if only they had let go of Trump.

Alternate history is a fun genre within sci-fi and fantasy (and I will debate whether it is sci-fi or fantasy some other day). It shows effectively what could have been - and by extension, what still might be. So let's find a time machine. And it needn't be anything so snazzy as a Tardis or a shiny DeLorian. After all, we're only going back one year. maybe a simple device - like Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine.

Let's jump in our Wayback Machine to January of 2020. 

Trump has just been impeached by the House and is about to face Impeachment by the Senate. Remember that one? Oh, it seems so much longer ago than only one year, doesn't it? But this time, let's tweak the timeline a little bit. This time, let's say that only a few more Senators who recognized that this was the off-ramp for the insanity of Trumpism. Mitt Romney is joined by Lisa Murkowsky of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and Corey Gardner of Colorado to break with Mitch McConnell, and vote Trump out of office with a 51 to 49 Senatorial vote. History is made.

**Note: I screwed this up in my initial posting. The senate must pass an impeachment vote with a 2/3rds majority. In my imaginary scenario, Romney and the others must persuade 16 other Republicans to vote for impeachment. Unlikely at the time, not so much in retrospect.

As Mike Pence is sworn in as president, Trump goes off on a characteristic tirade. He begins to hold rallies all over America claiming that the presidency was stolen from him, and that it was a conspiracy by the Deep State to remove him from office. Fans rally to his cause. Pence selects Congressman Burgess Owens, a black Republican from Utah, and the brightest rising star in the GOP, to be his new VP.

An immediate effect is felt on the Democratic side. The imperative of removing Trump no longer plays a major role in the primary race. Most of the minor candidates drop out, or don't bother launching a campaign in the first place. Attempts are made to stain Pence as Trump's enabler, but they largely fail. Perhaps Joe Biden drops out before the North Carolina primary, perhaps not. Good campaigns are waged by Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Beto O'Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, and Corey Booker, but no one can beat the huge fan base of Bernie Sanders, or the North Carolina firewall of Joe Biden. One of them likely goes on to become the 2020 candidate. Probably Sanders.

Meanwhile, the Coronavirus hits. Unlike Trump, Mike Pence takes the virus threat more seriously. He neither denies the virus nor calls it a hoax. He implements travel restrictions on China, then extends them to all other countries - particularly Europe. He begs churches to voluntarily restrict assembly, reminding them that "God knows your hearts." As an Evangelical leader, the churches agree. Anthony Fauci is named the head of the Coronavirus Task Force. The virus takes its toll, but nowhere near the level it had done under Trump.

But Trump eventually has to figure out what he's going to do for a living outside of being president. Lawsuits brought against him by New York State are threatening him, and he needs to do something for money besides holding rallies. By May, Trump launches TNN - the Trump News Network. The upstart conservative networks, OANN and Newsmax, are immediately crushed out of existence. Even Fox News suffers a ratings loss. Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Franklin Graham are frequent guests.

May 25th, 2020: George Floyd is murdered in the street by Officer Derek Chauvin. Protests ensue. But this time, something is missing. Trump supporters are not hidden within the ranks of the protesters to goad the rioters. Mike Pence is able to urge all Americans towards Peace and Unity - something Trump could not bring himself to do. Protests occur nationwide - but without as much rioting or looting. The temperature is much lower this time. Portland does not become the hotbed we saw it become in our own timeline. Nevertheless, the Bernie Sanders campaign is moved to adopt a more "law and order" approach to his campaign. Just like Biden, he is forced to select Kamala Harris as his running mate.

Trump, now armed with a network platform, begins to campaign strongly AGAINST the Coronavirus. People forget this about Trump, but he was once a CLASSIC germophobe! He washed his hands constantly, he would use a handkerchief to press the bottom button on elevators, and if someone was coughing in the same room as him he would order that person out! Freed of the burdens of the Oval Office, he does not feel that he MUST dismiss the virus in order to save the economy! He now sees the virus as a Chinese invader! He urges people to wear masks! He networks to aid financing for companies developing the vaccine! He actually FIGHTS Covid!

The economy still tanks, though not as badly. People suffer, though not as much. Pence works WITH Democrats to provide aid to people swiftly. No gamesmanship is involved with stimulus checks, or at least, there is much less of it. Pence takes a hit politically, but most people generally think that he's doing the best with an impossible situation.

The election of November 2020 arrives, and it is close. However, Sanders has lost the moderate center. Thanks in large part to Fox News and the Trump Network, Bernie is cast as a radical extremist. The black vote is not mobilized against Pence the way it was against Trump. Turnout is juuuust a bit lower for Democrats. The end results look very similar to those of 2016. Pence takes Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia, giving the GOP another 4 years, possibly 8.

Dear Trumpers: That's the outcome you could have had! Doesn't it sound better than what you have now? With the Capital literally sacked and vandalized? With Trump facing yet another impeachment only 13 days out from Biden being sworn in? Oh, to be sure, this is all speculative, but even Democrats acknowledge that a Pence vs. Biden election, or even a Pence vs. Sanders election, would likely have resulted in a Mike Pence victory! Instead, you stubbornly insisted on Trump. Ignored his obstruction. Ignored his un-presidential conduct. The result? Trump LOST!

Don't you really, REALLY, wish it had been the other way?

A monkey can be easily captured by placing something inside a hole in the monkey's presence. The curious monkey will then approach the  hole and reach into it to grab the item and find out what it is. But then, the monkey can't escape because his clenched hand is now too big to pull out of the hole! The trapper can then easily approach and grab the monkey! If the monkey were smart, he would simply let go of the item and escape! But the monkey is so determined not to let go that he gets caught!

Trumpers simply refuse to let go of Trump in exactly the same way! Like the poor monkey, they are too stupid to let go, and escape to a better outcome!

Trumpers, it's finally time to let go.

Eric

*

The Buffet Problem

 

One of the things we miss most in this age of Covid-19 restaurant closures is the all-you-can-eat buffet. Back when you could do that sort of thing, you could grab a plate, go up to any of the counters, and grab whatever you wanted.

Of course, the bad thing about a buffet is also the best thing about a buffet - you can have whatever you want. So, if it suits your fancy to fill your plate with desserts instead of having a salad, nobody can stop you, except possibly yourself.

Facebook works like that, but with a twist.

Imagine this: instead of a buffet counter you walked up to, you were seated at a buffet where the food comes to you on a conveyor belt. As the food items go by, you can help yourself to whatever items suit you. Then sit back and wait for the next thing you like.

Except, this buffet table is watching you, and responds to the items you take.

If it sees you help yourself to a piece of pie, suddenly the conveyor starts bringing you all kinds of other pies. If you then choose a chocolate pie, suddenly the non-stop desserts heavily favor chocolate treats. And while this might strike some people (including me) as being in heaven, if you spend too much time at this particular buffet table, you will be too heavy to ever leave!

This is precisely what Facebook does.

If it sees you like right-wing news, it starts bringing you lots of other right-wing news items. If it sees that you hate Joe Biden, it starts feeding you all sorts of negative news items, true or otherwise, regarding Uncle Joe. And if it sees that right-wing conspiracy theories undermining Biden suit your fancy, well, then you get lots of those items, too.

Pretty soon, you are utterly convinced that Joe Biden is a Venezuelan Communist, in the pay of China, who didn't win the election. And you KNOW this, because you've seen an "overwhelming preponderance of evidence" regarding this.

No. What you've seen is the teeniest, tiniest supply, the one-tenth of one-tenth of one percent, of information out there. Likely, it is easily debunked, or would be, if you were ever allowed a balanced perspective.

But Facebook does not currently care much about a balanced perspective. Just as the buffet table doesn't particularly care if you eat healthy. All it cares about is serving you what you want. As does Facebook. It wants you to keep looking, to keep clicking, because that's what keeps your eyeballs glued to the Facebook scroll, where the advertisers are. And its those advertisers that transform Mr. Zuckerberg's platform into money.

The fact that it has made you into a flat-earther who questions the moon landing in the process is nothing more than an externality.

The human brain is easily hacked! We've known this ever since we mass-produced refined sugar and saturated trans-fatty acids, and seen corporations use them to boost food sales. We've known it ever since sex and violence have been used to boost the sales of movies and video games. We've known it ever since heroin and cocaine took over our cities' streets. And just like heroin and cocaine were supplanted by more virulent drugs like crack and crystal meth, the news has been supplanted by the truth-optional news; news which gives you your desired truth rather than the actual truth; truth that gives you a non-stop parade of desserts down the conveyor belt.

Yes, I just equated Facebook with crack cocaine.

We need everyone in the news industry to take an oath to disseminate only truth, just as physicians take the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm. We need the FCC to punish untrue news stories with substantial fines. We need a solid North Star to navigate by!

We need the conveyor belt to make us eat a salad now and then.

And the free market isn't going to do this by itself. Because, if left to its own devices, it will keep sending us nothing but chocolate and bacon down the conveyor until we all die too young.

Eric

*

O, Ye Christians Gone Astray!

I'm surprised I don't blog about theology more, because I was once a part of the Evangelical Christian world for much of my young life.

In middle school and high school, I was known as the "Jesus freak" kid, with a small, Gideon New Testament Bible in my back pocket and wearing Stryper t-shirts.

My first stint in college was at North Central Bible College (now called North Central University) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school year I spent there, from the fall of 1990 to the spring of 1991, was one of the busiest and happiest of my life.

When I left the faith, I found myself dragged to the truth, kicking and screaming. Prying myself loose from the Christian community which was my second home, and in many ways my first home, for the sake of Truth, was like tearing off my own skin.

So I know a thing or two about religion.

Which is why I'm not so amazed at the denialism which is rampant within the Evangelical community. And by "Evangelical," I mean the Pentecostal, Charismatic, Prosperity Gospel, Fundamentalist variety which crosses, and sometimes erases, the borders between denominations.

It all goes back to abortion and the culture war. Trump is seen, not as a holy warrior, but as God's tool. He is like King Cyrus of Persia in the Old Testament, sent by God to crush the Babylonian Empire and thus allow the Jews to return home to the Promised Land. Cyrus was no holy man, but he did serve God's purpose, according to scripture. And that's how the Evangelical Christian Church sees Trump. He is God's useful strong-man, a bludgeon with which to beat back the hordes of liberals who threaten Jesus' elite.

This is why they pray for, and sometimes over, Donald Trump. Even as they lay hands on him, they ignore that they lay hands on one who has actually starred in pornographic films. Because that doesn't matter. What matters is God's victory, not Trump's character.

The denials of Biden's victory often come directly from the "power of faith doctrine" which is so rampant within the Evangelical community. It stems from Mark 11:23, which says, "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith."

In other words, "claim" it by faith, "believe" that you have it already, and you'll then get it!

It's a central dogma of the "prosperity gospel." Those who tithe faithfully can "claim" financial prosperity by faith, too!

Now, anyone can empirically test this. If I tell Mount Shasta to get lost, it won't go anywhere. It will still be there, no matter how much I believe otherwise. And while it's true that time and erosion will eventually make it disappear, I'll be long gone by then, too!

Still, there's something to be said for the hubris and self-confidence that this philosophy engenders. People who believe that a certain success level is their destiny or birthright tend to achieve that success level, whether they deserve it or not. This idea has appeared and reappeared in popular culture, and not just within Christianity, with everything from Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power of Positive Thinking," to "What the [Bleep] Do We Know?" to Rhonda Byrne's "The Secret." People tend to achieve what they fervently believe they will achieve.

But there's a dark side to this philosophy, too.

Back when I was a Christian, I observed the sad situation of a woman I'll re-name Gina. Gina had multiple sclerosis, and was slowly dying. Her husband had to carry her into and out of church on many occasions. She claimed her healing by faith, and for years I heard her thanking God that her body was healed. But she never received healing. The miracle she professed never happened. I heard she passed away not too long ago.

In fact, I observed many fake "healings" during my time at Bible College. People see the "healings" which are broadcast on TBN or CBN, because that's what they see in a one-hour program. They don't see the following day, when the person "healed" returns to their walker, or wheelchair. But in Bible College, the few students who had medical need of crutches or wheelchairs, walked awkwardly around campus without them for about a day or two, and then went right back to their crutches and wheelchairs afterward.

Now, the typical response received when this sort of thing is pointed out to a Christian is that the person wavered in his or her faith. But that's a cop-out, and deep inside, they know it. Still, they reference the story of Peter in Matthew 14:22-23. When he saw Jesus walking on the water, he asked to go to Jesus, and Jesus said "come," and Peter began walking on the water too! But then Peter saw the wind and the waves, doubted in his heart, and began to sink. "Lord, save me!" he cried out. Jesus did save him, and then Jesus said, "Oh, ye of little faith. Wherefore didst thou doubt?"

We're seeing that same sort of doctrine play out in regards to Donald Trump. Many people "claimed by faith" that Trump would win the 2020 election! Having claimed it, their faith doctrine dictates that they must profess that they've received it! And so they repeatedly say, over and over, that Trump actually won!

This is why Kenneth Copeland issued his deranged, maniacal laugh at the reality of Joe Biden's win. You can watch that video here. (I highly recommend it, it's fucked up!) 

This is why Johnny Inlow said recently that God himself Told him that Trump won. Watch that video, here. "I don’t know why the Lord gave me two sets of numbers, but he just says, 'You're not even seeing close to the truth unless you see at least 88 million.' He told me in a weird way: 'If you don’t see at least as many votes as he has followers on Twitter’ — 88.6 million followers on Twitter, and that has been squelched as well. And then the states, he went through just one by one with me and was telling me who was where. And so here’s the big news: California and New York both went red."

It never occurs to Inlow that many of Trump's followers on Twitter are members of the media who want to keep tabs on him, political opponents who want to use his Tweets against him, and comedians who wish to make fun of him. Hell, I'M a follower of Trump on Twitter! That doesn't mean I follow him in real life!

This doctrine is also why members of the clergy held a rally in the National Mall in Washington, D.C., called alternately, "Let the Church ROAR!" or, the "Jericho March."

They won't realize that their faith claim failed until after Biden is sworn in. And a few of them won't accept it even then.

Of course, they will then claim that the faith of the entire Christian Church was insufficient! Because surely, if the faith of only one Christian would be enough (and it would be), then the only solution to the equation is that, like Sodom and Gomorrah, there were none who were truly righteous! No, not one!

They will declare America as lost. Some will even say Biden is the Antichrist.

Some might be shaken loose out of the flock as a result of all this, but I know from experience how difficult that road is. Most will find some new rationale to stay within the faith.

Craziness is not so unusual in Christian circles. I remember many an apocalyptic sermon, preached at West Layton Assembly of God in Greenfield, WI back in the '80's, telling me that we knew the Antichrist was preparing his propaganda network because the cable company ran two cables into everyone's home, but only actually attached one. This, of course, prompted me to check the back of our cable box when I got back home, and I saw, clearly, that both cables, for both the "A" channels and the "B" channels which Viacom offered at the time, were attached.

So much for that one.

I'm reminded of the lesson found in Deuteronomy 13:1-3, which provides a clear guideline for Christians regarding false prophets. "If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, 'Let us follow other gods' (gods you have not known) 'and let us worship them,' you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul."

In other words, if people say "Follow Trump!" instead of "Follow Jesus!" don't do it!

I'm also reminded of the lesson in Matthew 7:21-23. "Not every one that saith unto me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?' And then will I profess unto them, 'I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'"

According to the Bible, a majority of Israelites once thought it was a splendid idea to make a golden calf and worship it.

Never was there a golden calf quite so obvious as Donald Trump.

Eric

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Does Hunter Matter?

 

One thing that comes up over and over again is Hunter Biden, who was hired by the Ukranian oil and gas company, Burisma, to sit on their board of directors, even though he didn't even speak Ukranian. He was paid a $600,000 per year salary to do this, or about 80% above and beyond what a normal executive salary typically is. So he was over-compensated, but not ridiculously so, or at least, not for an oil and gas company.

Would Hunter have been hired had he not been the son of then Vice President Joe Biden? Probably not. But this form of graft has very little influence over lawmakers, even though it's done all the time. I thought I'd share some of my research on other examples where politicians' relatives got a job they probably wouldn't have gotten were it not for their political connections. (You might find this interesting.)

There are lots of high-profile examples. George W. Bush was made an oil executive through this father's connections, and was remarkably bad at it. His brother, Neil Bush, probably wouldn't have been on the board of Silverado Savings and Loan in the 1980's were it not for the fact that George H.W. Bush was Vice President at the time, and that came back to bite him in 1988 when the Savings & Loan scandal exploded. George W. Bush's daughter, Barbara Bush, was given a job at Cooper Hewitt, the Smithsonian Design Museum, possibly due to her high connections (although having a degree from Yale didn't hurt). And, of course, Chelsea Clinton was handed any number of jobs thanks to her status as the Fist Daughter, including a largely symbolic role as a "special correspondent" for NBC News. She took on her current role as board member of the Clinton Foundation when all those jobs washed out for her. And let's not forget that her mother, Hillary Clinton, made history by becoming one of the first ever female corporate executives by getting named to the board of Walmart - but, of course, that only happened because her husband, Bill, was the governor of Arkansas at the time. (Walmart is headquartered in Arkansas.)

There's little doubt that the only reason Megan McCain got on "The View" was because she's John McCain's daughter. There's also little doubt that the status of New York Mayor, Andrew Cuomo, has helped to bolster the career of his younger brother, Chris Cuomo, on CNN, and that both their careers were assisted by their father, Mario Cuomo. Just about every job Rand Paul ever had before running for office himself came through his father, Ron Paul. Mike Reagan, the adopted son of former president Ronald Reagan, was made a talk radio show host due largely to his family connections.

It was once falsely reported that Nancy Pelosi's son, Paul Pelosi, Jr., was on the board of a Ukranian-influenced energy company, similar to Hunter Biden. That story turned out to be false. But he was appointed to the board of an energy company in America called Viscoil. Paul left the board in 2010. But it's a good bet that he got on the board in the first place, in part, because his mother was Speaker of the House. (It was long afterward that Viscoil dissolved, re-formed itself in Singapore, and only then did some limited lab-based business with Ukranian interests.)

Everyone remembers JFK. Few people remember that when he named his brother, Bobby Kennedy, Attorney General, people shouted, "Nepotism!" They claimed that RFK was too young, and too inexperienced. Of course, they made the same argument about JFK, too.

Sometimes the assist goes the other way, with a career boost coming by outright opposition to a political relative. For example, Caroline Rose Giuliani received a huge career boost by standing opposed to her father, Rudy Giuliani, and endorsing the Biden/Harris ticket. Caroline is a filmmaker. Mitch McConnell's daughter, Porter McConnell, has built her career on liberal activism in opposition to her Senate-Majority-Leading father. Or George Conway, the husband of Trump staffer Kellyanne Conway, receiving a huge career assist in founding The Lincoln Project thanks to his notorious marital connection, and his outspoken opposition to Trump in spite of it.

Here in Wisconsin, former governor Scott Walker's son, Alexander Walker, was handed a job as an account representative at Uline while he was in between his roles as a campaign director and later at Turning Point USA in 2019. His role at Uline only lasted 3 months, February through April, according to his LinkedIn page, and Dick and Liz Uihlein, the owners of Uline, are notoriously outspoken Republicans who loudly supported Scott Walker, and later Donald Trump.

Senator Ron Johnson's children were bailed out of investment difficulty when they invested in a historic building in Oshkosh, yet filed the paperwork incorrectly when seeking a tax break to offset their renovation costs. Anybody else probably would have been told, 'Tough luck!' Or, at least, tough luck for this fiscal year. But Johnson's children got the tax break anyway after a series of emails told Wisconsin officials whose kids they were dealing with. (Okay, that's a small item, but it counts.)

And let's not forget how Governor Tommy Thompson's brother, Ed Thompson, got in trouble with the law regarding marijuana possession. His big brother got him out of that jam. And later, Ed Thompson ran for governor himself on the Libertarian ticket. His platform? Legalize marijuana!

Full disclosure: I have to include my own family in this one. My wife landed an internship with the Senatorial campaign of Russ Feingold when she dropped the name of her grandfather - State Senator Joseph Andrea of Kenosha. She was hired without an interview.

Look, it's not wrong to have connections. It's not wrong to exploit them. Often times, it's who you know, not how good you are. But let's not pretend that those connections necessarily mean that those you are connected to are corrupt.

Yes, Hunter got paid $600,000 per year. Yes, that's sketchy as shit. But unless someone can show evidence that one single penny of it went to his father, Joe, it doesn't mean jack.

Especially when Hunter's biggest critics are Eric Trump, Don Jr., and Ivanka - and one doesn't need to look far to see how they have financially benefited through their political connections!

Eric

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