We are now learning more about the deep thought and sobriety with which our new president approaches decision-making. Apparently, Trump grew weary of the task of reviewing the J6 rioters on a case-by-case basis and just said: “‘Fuck it: Release ’em all.”
The Leopards Eating People’s Party1 was, once again, shocked.
“This includes those convicted of bludgeoning, chemical spraying, and electroshocking police to try to keep Mr. Trump in power,” gasped The Wall Street Journal editorial board — appalled that the convicted felon they had shilled for would do such a thing. “Now he’s springing them from prison.”
The police unions also seemed astounded that the rapey seditionist guy they had endorsed really didn’t give a rat’s ass about backing the blue. The Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police complained:
"Allowing those convicted of these crimes to be released early diminishes accountability and devalues the sacrifices made by courageous law enforcement officers and their families.”
There was also the usual squirming, ducking, and toe-sucking among Republicans. A handful of the usual suspects opined that pardoning cop-beating insurrectionists was a “bad idea.” But, for the most part, the GOP fell back on its unasinous embrace of whatever-Trump-wants-is-alright-by-me.2
If only they had been warned.
Happy Thursday.
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Looking for a hero
This seems a good time to remind ourselves that America was not intended to have a King. What we do have, however, is a presidency that has grown into a stunning leviathan of unchecked power. As Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen wrote earlier this week, in just eight hours on Monday, “the immense public and private power of the presidency” expanded to “once-unimaginable dimensions.”
Presidents can preemptively pardon family and friends in case of any accusation of grift or crimes.
Presidents can pardon violent criminals convicted of sedition and violence in defense of their politics.
Presidents and their families can start businesses — or even currencies — and profit without restriction or outcry.
Oh, and they can do this with the presumption of presidential immunity.
America doesn't have a king. But we're dancing close to king-like power.
Since then, Trump has moved to ramming speed: shutting down civil rights cases; gagging the nation’s health agencies, accelerating his campaign of retribution, and demanding the shutdown of critical media outlets.
The response to all of this? Largely tepid handwaving, navel-lint picking, and performative whingeing disguised as outrage.
If you haven’t read it yet, I advise you read Jon Ganz’s essay on our low-energy defeatist response to all of this. Despite the warnings about fascism, he writes that what we are now living in is more like a “Vichy regime” — “a regime born of capitulation and of defeat: of the slow and then sudden collapse of the longstanding institutions of a great democracy whose defenders turned out to be senile and unable to cope with or understand modern politics.”
Writes Ganz:
It’s a regime of born exhaustion, nihilism, and cynicism: the loss of faith in the old verities of the republic. A regime of national humiliation pretending to be a regime of restoration of national honor. … It’s a regime of collaboration and sympathy: the #resistance may have dominated the political style of the first Trump administration, but now, as Trump says, everyone wants to be his friend.3
**
This brings us back to the question asked so eloquently by Bonnie Tyler:
Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where's the streetwise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed
Late at night, I toss and I turn
And I dream of what I needI need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
The picture above — of the man standing in front of the tank — reminds us that even one hero can speak truth to arrogant power. And perhaps inspire the world.4
**
Bishop Marianne Budde may not have been the hero we were waiting for, but she reminded us what one might look like — and the effect she might have.
As a clearly annoyed Trump sat in the pews of the National Cathedral, the Episcopal bishop issued her plea for mercy.
In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.
There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families, some who fear for their lives.
I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.
Budde has been a critic of Trump in the past, but on Tuesday, she was soft-spoken and her message was actually quite gentle.
But, as Steve Schmidt observed, Trump and his minions “recoiled from it as if they had been scalded. It is as if the bishop threw out some holy water and it boiled when it touched them. What is the offense? The plea for mercy?”
Another president would have let the matter slide or responded with humility and grace. But Trump is incapable of that, so instead he lashed out at Bishop Budde, calling her “a Radical Left hard line Trump hater”, complained that she had been “ungracious”, and demanded an apology… for asking him to show mercy.
The rest of the MAGA claque picked up the call.
Sean Hannity dutifully accused the bishop of going on a “far left woke tirade in front of Donald Trump and JD Vance, their families, their young children. “She made the service about her very own deranged political beliefs with a disgraceful prayer full of fear mongering and division.”
On CNN, MAGA barker Scott Jennings called Budde’s plea “frankly a disgrace,” and suggested that this business of citing Jesus might mean the end of events of this sort. “This particular bishop took it upon herself to turn this into a complete and total circus and spectacle.”
“Rather than a Christian service about God and country,” Laura Ingraham complained, “they were forced to listen to the rantings of a lunatic.”
And then there was Congressman Mike Collins, who suggested that the Episcopal bishop be “added to the deportation list” for daring to speak truth to the orange power. (Budde was born in New Jersey in 1959 and is a U.S. citizen.)
Because Christian values….
**
BONUS: Curious and contrarian minds want to know how Trump (and MAGA) would have reacted if the bishop had simply read from the Sermon on the Mount? What would Christian MAGA say about this?
“[Mr. President, please remember that] Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“[Mr. President I hope you keep this in mind:] Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
Deranged? Disgraceful? The ravings of a lunatic?
But nota bene: This is what Jesus was trying to tell the man in the pew; the man who invokes His name so easily for his political advantage, but who recoils from His actual message.
**
EXIT TAKE: The reaction to the bishop’s plea should also remind us of something else: For all his bravado, and testosterone-themed bluster, Donald Trump remains, at his core, a thin-skinned man-child unable to handle even the mildest of criticisms.
Take note.
Happy Birthday, Eli
Puppy turned five yesterday.
Finally
You know you wanted this today. Sound up.
Your word of the day: Unasinous: Sharing the same amount of stupidity; displaying ignorance or foolishness by all.
Ganz quotes Irène Némirovsky, “The French grew tired of the Republic as if she were an old wife. For them, the dictatorship was a brief affair, adultery. But they intended to cheat on their wife, not to kill her. Now they realize that she is dead, their Republic, their freedom. They are mourning her.” Writes Ganz: “People will come to regret their dalliance with Trump, who is not a lover, but something else altogether.”
Donald Trump had a very different reaction to the Tiananmen Square massacre than most Americans. Via Business Insider:
“Back in March 1990 — many years before he became president — Donald Trump expressed admiration for the Chinese government's "vicious" crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square the year prior….
"When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength," Trump replied. "That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak...as being spit on by the rest of the world."
Trump has frequently expressed admiration for authoritarian, strongmen leaders — including Xi Jinping, China's current president. His approval of China showing the "power of strength" in Tiananmen three decades ago is consistent with much of his behavior as president.
Bishop Budde, Liz Cheney, Cassidy Hutchison, Nancy Pelosi, Marie Yavonivich, Fiona Hill, Sarah Mathews…….anybody detect a pattern?
I think Rev Budde is a hero. We women should not be discounted or made to wait for a male hero. I am a clergy woman who will preach Jesus Christ this Sunday. It could be my last in the pulpit because I serve a church of people who were split in their voting. Every preacher who gets up to preach truth to power this Sunday is heroic.