THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2025
In May, he said it again: Was Donald J. Trump, the American president, divinely appointed to his current post?
People have believed that their monarchs were divinely appointed all through the annals of time—but was our president divinely appointed? As Blue America averted its gaze, a Tennessee pastor seemed to say that on May 21 of this year.
As we noted yesterday, the New York Times reported the highly unusual event at which that statement was made. Headline included, the news report started like this:
Pete Hegseth Leads Christian Prayer Service in the Pentagon
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth led a Christian prayer service in the Pentagon’s auditorium on Wednesday morning, during working hours, in which President Trump was praised as a divinely appointed leader.
The event, billed as the “Secretary of Defense Christian Prayer & Worship Service,” was standing room only and ran for about 30 minutes, with Brooks Potteiger, the pastor of Mr. Hegseth’s church in Tennessee, as the main speaker.
[...]
In his sermon, the pastor said, “We pray for our leaders who you have sovereignly appointed—for President Trump, thank you for the way that you have used him to bring stability and moral clarity to our land. And we pray that you would continue to protect him, bless him, give him great wisdom.”
That's what the pastor said during his Pentagon sermon. Because this widely-ignored phenomenon seems so important, we'll post again what Secretary Hegseth also said:
“This is precisely where I need to be, and I think exactly where we need to be as a nation, at this moment,” Mr. Hegseth, standing at a lectern bearing the seal of the Defense Department, said in his opening remarks: “in prayer, on bended knee recognizing the providence of our lord and savior Jesus Christ.” He added, “Knowing that there’s an author in heaven overseeing all of this, who’s underwritten all of it, for us, on the cross, gives me the strength to proceed.”
The defense secretary said that attendance at the prayer service was voluntary, but encouraged the uniformed military personnel and civilian employees there to tell their co-workers about it.
“King Jesus, we come humbly before you, seeking your face, seeking your grace, in humble obedience to your law and to your word,” Mr. Hegseth prayed after asking attendees to bow their heads. “We come as sinners saved only by that grace, seeking your providence in our lives and in our nation. Lord God, we ask for the wisdom to see what is right and in each and every day, in each and every circumstance, the courage to do what is right in obedience to your will. It is in the name of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ, that we pray. And all God’s people say amen.”
Within prevailing norms of American governance, this was a very unusual moment. To its credit, the New York Times reported the event, but zero discussion followed as President Trump has extended his second-term dominion over the known American world.
Human sensibilities vastly differ, as do individuals' views of the cosmos and of the human world. In the end, there's no way to establish, with scientific certainty, how a human society can best be ordered.
That said, was President Trump really divinely appointed to his current post? On that basis, should we try to build our society around (what we perceive to be) the wishes of our lord and savior, King Jesus?
For better or worse, it was a very unusual moment when Secretary Hegseth offered his own sermon that day, right there in the Pentagon. We were surprised, but also not surprised, by what Hegseth said.
We were surprised because his sermon that day broke with such a long American tradition. We weren't surprised because we had seen, and we had then transcribed and reported, what Hegseth did last summer, when he was serving as co-host of the Fox News Channel "cable news" program, Fox & Friends Weekend.
We refer to what Hegseth did and said on Sunday morning, July 14, 2024. The day before, Candidate Trump had barely escaped an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The next morning, on a major "cable news" program, Hegseth joined two other hosts from the Fox & Friends empire in saying that it was their lord and master, Jesus Christ, who had saved Candidate Trump.
We transcribed and reported their statements in several reports that next week. As you can see by clicking here, we returned to the topic in March.
As you can see in that March report, Rachel Campos-Duffy and Lawrence Jones joined Hegseth in stating the view we've described. Jones launched the discussion that morning, saying this:
JONES (7/14/24): There is no Donald Trump today without Jesus Christ this morning. I mean, we could be having a very different conversation this morning—
CAMPOS-DUFFY: That's right.
JONES: —going over the obituary of the 45th president this morning. And if it wasn't for the grace of God, things could have been different. So I give honor and glory to our lord and savior, Jesus Christ, for protecting the former president.
That's where the discussion began. For his part, Hegseth said the failure of the attack had been "providential," and he also said this:
HEGSETH: We're right, first and foremost, to thank Jesus Christ, the lord almighty, that Donald Trump is safe—
CAMPOS-DUFFY: Yeah.
HEGSETH: —and those prayers went out, and to reflect on the historic nature of this.
As we've noted again and again, there's nothing "wrong" with holding some such view of the cosmos. That said, it was very unusual to see explicitly doctrinal views stated with such conviction as part of an American news broadcast.
Back in May, Hegseth and his Tennessee pastor brought the expression of such views right into the Pentagon. When the New York Times reported this unusual event, Blue America burbled and snored.
Did King Jesus save Candidate Trump that day? Was President Trump divinely appointed to his current post?
Everything is always possible, in this matter as with everything else. That said, and for better or worse, long-standing American norms were being cast aside as these doctrinal views were asserted on a major "cable news" broadcast, then in a Pentagon prayer session presided over hy the Secretary of Defense.
For better or worse, long-standing norms were cast aside as the Tennessee pastor spoke. And then, last Thursday, an interview with Hegseth's other pastor—the Idaho pastor—was broadcast by CNN.
The Idaho pastor is the more influential of the two. For better or worse, many of his basic views fly in the face of long-standing mainstream American norms. As we noted yesterday, when he stated those views to CNN, Hegseth posted a link to the full interview, and he appended this comment:
All of Christ for All of Life.
On its face, and to state the obvious, there's nothing "wrong" with some such religious view. Dr. King repeatedly stated his dedication to what he called "the love ethic of Jesus."
That said, it's much as Dylan said long ago—and he even had the color right! The song was "Tangled Up In Blue." The lyric in question was this:
Tangled Up In Blue
[...]
I lived with them on Montague Street
In a basement down the stairs
There was music in the cafés at night
And revolution in the air
In this, the president's second term, revolution is in the air.
Some of the revolutionary zeal—though clearly not all—is coming from fervent religious belief. The slackers who slumber and snore in Blue America have had little to say about this particular turn of the screw.
We Blues! We've long been convinced that we're the tribe which is super smart. Can anyone still hold that doctrinal belief at this point?
We Blues are in a world of hurt. As the revolution comes over the walls, we still seem to have little idea where the fervor came from.
Som of the fervor is tied to religious belief. Some of the fervor isn't.
Still coming: The Idaho pastor. Also, Vance converts
ReplyDelete"Was Donald J. Trump, the American president, divinely appointed to his current post? "
Yes!
And this has been another edition of short answers to stupid questions.
Fuck off.
DeleteTrump survived a shooting attempt from the one Republican voter aware of Trump's contempt for them.
DeleteSo you're saying Jesus interfered with our election on Trump's behalf?
DeleteWas Jesus gay or just trans?
DeleteGod is omnipotent, child. Everything that happens is God's will. Alhamdulillah.
DeleteTrust me, Soros-bot.
It figures, the self-proclaimed "Party of Personal Responsibility" is now saying God made them run a global pedophile ring.
Delete"Trust me, Soros-bot".
DeleteIs Scott Bessent commenting here now?
They say elections have consequences so now we have to deal with unhinged idiots, and all their retarded followers.
DeleteBack in the day Trump was a sexual predator.
DeleteNowadays Trump is out to lunch and gay as fuck.
womp womp
thank you for your attention on this matter
What does this sentence mean?
ReplyDelete"To its credit, the New York Times reported the event, but zero discussion followed as President Trump has extended his second-term dominion over the known American world."
Is there any part of the USA that is not "known"? If not, then why refer to the known part? Is Somerby using the word "American" to refer to North and South American continents, so is he perhaps referring to some part of the Amazon river or Northern Canada? That would make no sense because Trump has no dominion over such places. So what is the phrase "known American world" doing in that sentence? For that matter, why does Somerby refer to Trump's dominion anywhere, when Trump is not a God or a King and is just a criminal looting our nation under the guise of governing, which he doesn't do.
Perhaps Somerby is trying to evoke a time before settlers had explored the USA? But is that the period we are in with Trump? No. So I don't get why Somerby throws stuff like this into his essays. Words matter and this kind of affectation just obscures his meaning, such as it is. And it makes me wonder about his thinking, such as that is.
We'll know Somerby is too dementia-addled, when he starts ranting about post-birth abortions.
DeleteThat's when we'll also know Somerby isn't a Right-winger, if the NY Times tries to force him from his blog.
Somerby has been instructed by his minders to try to distract from the Trump/Epstein issue, and he is trying his best.
DeleteA religious person might feel that the religious is profaned when it comes from Trump and his henchmen.
DeleteDominion? None of us voted for Trump to have dominion. Those who did cast a vote for Trump expected him to be a public servant in the job of president, which means working not playing golf or being a spokesmodel at an awards ceremony.
ReplyDeleteTrump does not play golf. As he explained in 2016 he well be too busy creating an oligarchs paradise to be golfing. Also, someone has to oversee the state beatings of the brown peasants donchaknow.
DeleteIsn't it ironical that Dominion was awarded all that money for Trump and his Fox minions shitting all over the country like the hateful fucking assholes they be?
DeleteNot you, but some fucking idiots confuse multi or open religious services with a Christian Nationalist Fascist Fuckhead Service. Probably likely not you though.
DeleteKing Jesus saved Trump's life so he could cheat at golf.
Delete@11:56 is among the many Trump followers who never bother to read what Trump and his puppet-masters at Project 2025 are talking about.
Delete
ReplyDelete"Within prevailing norms of American governance, this was a very unusual moment."
What's so unusual, Bob? Quick internet search finds this, for example: "Rev. John Davis conducts a Catholic service at the Pentagon Chapel during the National Day of Prayer, May 5, 2016."
https://www.defense.gov/Multimedia/Photos/igphoto/2002117488/
And this: "The Pentagon Chaplain's Office schedules weekly religious services in the chapel for Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Protestants and Episcopalians, as well as a daily Catholic Mass. Muslim worshippers can gather daily to offer prayers and can attend a Friday Prayer Service led by an Imam."
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mosque-controversy-skips-pentagon-muslims-gather-911-crash/story?id=11417673
Both times the fella ashamed to be "born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii" was the President.
What's your point, Bob?
On the other hand, the more idiot-Democrat squealing the better. If this triggers you idiot-Democrats, great.
Delete"You're the puppet!"
DeleteIt's the difference between allowing religious services in military settings versus:
Deletea) having the Sec Def say the nation should be on its knees worshipping King Jesus and;
b) having the Sec Def say that said King is intervening in the nation's affairs by saving a lying douchebag's life (while at the same time allowing one of the lying douchebag's supporters to be shot dead).
Are you telling Mr. Hegseth how he should pray, Soros-bot? No, really, are you, punk?
DeleteOkay, sure, it's good to know.
Do you have any criticism of the way these clowns pray, publicly:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZgVBFYM2qk
Just curious.
12:48, no scumbag, I don't see anything wrong with that , you fucking evil shitstain.
DeleteTriggered, Hillary?
DeleteI would be proud to be Hillary. She was widely regarded as the most qualified presidential candidate ever to run, and she would have run if Trump hadn't had so much help from Russia and cheated in so many ways to win election. The actual Hillary tends to laugh this stuff off, not be triggered by it. She wasn't even triggered by Bill's infidelity, so trolling just makes her laugh. We should follow her example.
DeleteHegseth has raped a woman and has been known to shout "Kill all Muslims!".
DeleteGod does not like fake piety, Hegseth is destined for that lake of fire, same as Trump and all the other sexual predators and snake oil salesmen in the Republican party.
typo correction: she would have won (not run)
Delete"As we've noted again and again, there's nothing "wrong" with holding some such view of the cosmos. "
ReplyDeleteSomerby says this but not everyone agrees. There is a great deal wrong with superimposing bizarre religious views onto our non-sectarian government, beginning with the fact that separation of church and state is built into our Constitution.
There have also been quite a few books written about the harm that religion does in our society, especially in a time when religion seems to have placed itself in opposition to science and accumulated knowledge of the so-called "cosmos". Nor is Somerby the arbiter of such things. He is one guy with an opinion and a handful of fixed ideas that he feels compelled to announce every morning (except Sunday -- what's up with that? An idea-free day?).
Is Somerby aware that his favorite Greeks and Romans didn't worship God but a pantheon of human-like Gods and monsters under the belief that humans themselves could also become Gods? The Iliad is his own good book but the Gods of those times would be playing a dirty trick on Trump, not honoring him, given modern circumstances.
Whose chain is Somerby yanking today? Today Somerby says we blues don't understand religious fervor, but we of course do. We just don't believe it legitimizes corruption when Trump cloaks his con in religious language and mocks the faith of the faithful for money.
Somerby is a ridiculous, pathetic figure today. He has no idea what he is talking about, except that his purpose every day is to advance Trump's agenda and knock liberals, as he does again in his last few sentences, as always.
You say that Somerby knocks liberals in the last few sentences, but do you disagree with what he says here about liberals? To wit:
Delete1. Our pundits have not said much about the religious fervor which is a force powering the conservative revolution;
2. You believe liberals are smarter than conservatives;
3. You have little idea where the fervor powering the conservative revolution emanates from.
You agree, right? (That is, unless you’re one of the “It’s-all-racism!” crowd.)
DG, who do you think had more sincere and deep set religious convictions, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump?
DeleteHilary has nicer boobs. Don has big fat flabby manboobs.
DeleteSomerby's point is that any given individual is entitled to such views; but when they reach the highest echelons of the government, that becomes quite disconcerting.
DeleteHere is Somerby's parting shot at liberals today:
Delete"We Blues! We've long been convinced that we're the tribe which is super smart. Can anyone still hold that doctrinal belief at this point?"
The term "super smart" is sarcasm, but there are studies showing that Democrats tend to be better educated than Republicans and that there are worse social problems on the right than the left, including alcoholism and drug abuse, divorce, crime, unemployment, lower education levels, more voter fraud, more child sexual abuse, lower voting rates, more domestic violence, and so on. That suggests that perhaps the left isn't super smart but the right is super dumb. You would need some sort of baseline to know whether the left is better or the right is worse. We know that on the left because of our super smartness and training in scientific method. Somerby is still pushing the idea that the left has an inflated gradiose sense of superiority that it inflicts on the right (especially the South), but there is no evidence suggesting that the left's smartness arises from fantasy when actual measurements show an advantage on the left. The left's belief in its own smartness seems to be justified by reality based measurement.
That makes Somerby the goof. That is perhaps why others here have been saying Somerby is not really a lefty but is pushing a right wing agenda. Clearly the left doesn't think it is dumb, so whose idea is it that lefties are not smart? Somerby has gotten that from the right, and it is just one of his right-inspired pieces of red misinformation, hawked to those here who want to believe Blue America is dumb and Red America is clever.
And one final point. Being religious in the fake way that Trump affects is just another lie perpetrated by the right on its own supporters. Should religion be used for such purposes? Do you think God minds whether Trump grifts in His name using Lee Greenwood Bibles? Somerby conflates true believers with cynical frauds, lazily refusing to distinguish between the two. He doesn't seem to care as long as he gets to beat up on liberals for doing what? Hard to tell what Somerby's beef is with this. Perhaps he thinks we on the left should be attacking religious people to defend govt, which would upset the right and bring them back to Trump's fold. Right wingers, predictably, don't seem to be able to distinguish between an attack on religion itself and an attempt to keep govt secular so that people of all religions (and none) can feel their govt is unbiased and working on everyone's behalf, not just to put Trump on the throne.
Somerby's point is to blame the victims (the Blues) for many of the troubles in the world, while offering nothing of substance to back up his ridiculous claim.
DeleteDG:
1. Due to the democratization of media, there is an abundance of content addressing the issue of "religious fervor"
2. There is no credible evidence to support the notion that there is a hierarchy with respect to mental capabilities; most people, minus those suffering from mental impairments, have roughly equal mental capabilities. Having said that, it is reasonable to consider that right wingers are more clever in some ways due to the mental house of cards they have constructed and maintain - that takes a lot of brain power.
3. Ah yes, the "fervor" and its root causes: the "fervor" is an obsession with hierarchy and dominance and it is proximally borne from unresolved trauma (typically from childhood - often from religious indoctrination, a pernicious form of child abuse) and ultimately borne from when humans, about 10-12k years ago, transitioned away from immediate return societies to a society based on surplus/resource hoarding and commodification. Until that inflection point, for 95% of our existence, we humans have lived in egalitarian societies, which is our innate nature; being right wing is an emergent personality trait.
The right wing obsession with dominance typically manifests in three main ways: racism, sexism, and xenophobia.
We in Blue America tend to believe that people doing complex and important jobs should have qualifications, training and experience. We look for that in our candidates. Those in Red America seem to believe that such qualifications are unimportant, that what matters is loyalty and willingness to go along to get along. Those on the right measure competence by financial acquisition and hold no other values to be more important than money (and possessions). Trump is willing to steal someone else's trophy because having it is more important than the achievement it represents.
DeleteIn the face of these beliefs, religion is a farce. Trump no doubt considers those who devote their lives to God and helping others are suckers, just like those who sacrifice in other contexts (military, school teachers, doctors, artists, musicians and writers). You can tell what someone values by how they live their lives. Somerby's daily attacks on Blue America show us what he cares about.
I am grateful to God that Somerby stopped being a teacher when the Vietnam War ended. He didn't belong working with children with cynicism instead of the ability to model idealism and hope.
When Hegseth and other bigots display a religious fervor that is only for one segment of society and not accessible to all, they are as cynical as Somerby and there is no place for cynicism in religion when it exists to guide and succor people through the difficulties of their lives. Imagine a black person or a woman benefitting from Hegseth's religion and you may understand the problem.
@1:49, don't forget authoritarianism, dogmatism, religiosity, and demand for conformity, also found on the right more than the left.
DeleteThere is a wonderful anecdote in Robt Reich's new book (Coming Up Short) about an elementary school teacher who wrote "ambitious" on the chalk and asked the class to think about who that word best described among them. She said it was Robby Reich because he was always asking questions and working hard to learn and become his best. Reich says that encouraged him to believe that he could do things and become someone important in his life, because his teacher saw those qualities in him.
DeleteThat is what teachers are supposed to do, for each child not just one who has now become an important Blue Star and leader of our resistance. Noticing the good, encouraging it and building on it to create a society that benefits all, that is what we on the left want and what our leaders are about. Every time Somerby complains that Kamala smiled too much and talked about the border too little, he revealed the poverty of his soul, his lack of concern for those struggling in their lives. When such people start scolding others and talking about religion, they sound ridiculous, as Somerby does today.
chalk board (typo)
Delete"typo"
DeleteGod, another foreign troll. Foreign graphomaniac troll. Will Somerby ever clean it up? Will there be an end to it?
There are several of us here who object to Somerby's formulations. Here are my answers to DG:
Delete"1. Our pundits have not said much about the religious fervor which is a force powering the conservative revolution;
2. You believe liberals are smarter than conservatives;
3. You have little idea where the fervor powering the conservative revolution emanates from.
You agree, right? (That is, unless you’re one of the “It’s-all-racism!” crowd.)"
Our pundits have discussed the religious right repeatedly. It was a driving force behind overturning Roe v Wade which was enabled by the fiscal conservatives joining forces with evangelicals. The whole "culture war" is about the religious right and many pundits have discussed it over and over. To say we haven't is to have snored through all of the talk on the left, but I have several times pointed out that Somerby ignores the left except for a handful of cable news people who he dislikes and repeatedly targets (Maddow for example). Amanda Marcotte has written far more than Maddow on cultural issues, women's rights, attacks on gay and trans people and so on. Somerby unawareness is not our fault or our problem, but it makes his assertions wrong. Meanwhile, greed powers the financial and political right.
2. I agree that the notion of IQ is specious and agree that there are different kinds of intelligence, but in general, I believe Blue Voters are smarter because they behave in smarter ways. Many of us were able to see through Trump and not buy into his con job from the beginning. If you define that as smart, then we Blue voters are definitely smarter. More importantly, we on the left value knowledge, truth, science, and the arts. The right clearly does not. The current attack on collective smarts of humanity is very stupid, in my opinion and it comes largely from the right. Trump is an ignorant man because he never valued learning, just power. He reveals himself as a fool continuously.
3. This is a lie. The right may have different ideas about what motivates them than we do, but I think there is also a reality distinct from such views, and that the right's picture of itself is self-justifying and self-serving and not correct. Some of what motivates the right is fear elicited by manipulative leaders. Some is misinformation, often deliberately spread for ulterior motives, as when people refuse masks because they've done their research on red scare sites on the internet. Cecelia says she thinks children are being harmed by trans people. There is a way to test such beliefs and confirm or change them, but red voters don't do that. So, they are motivated by delusions. And there is greed as a motive. I know several red voting business people who believe Trump is helping them be wealthier. I have no illusions that many red voters are motivated by self-interest, which the right defines as good. The self-serving explanations by right wingers that the left is destroying our nation are wrong, whether they are strong motivators or not. That's why the high levels of misinformation propagated by the right on purpose to achieve their goals, need to be fought by the left.
DG, you claim to be a Democrat but I see no evidence of that in anything you do or write here.
Q-Anon conspiracies are religious in nature, believing that Trump will bring the apocalypse by smiting sinners, but they also believe there are alien lizard people presenting themselves as humans, in all walks of life. Trump is the messiah for these conspiracy theorists and his triumph is tied to Israel's survival in the Middle East and the second coming, when all righteous people will be lifted to heaven and reunited with loved ones. They see Trump as God's instrument, no matter how much of a buffoon. Q-Anon believers have tight-knit communities on the internet.
DeleteWhat happens to prophetic apocalyptic communities when deadline dates for the end of the world are given but nothing happens, over and over? True believers create explanations to justify the failures (bad math, misinterpretation of signs) and they keep on believing. Some whose faith is weaker drop away from the cult, with attrition after every failure of prophesy. At some point, there are too few to sustain the community any more. The leaders used to move away and start over again building a new group.
The religious fervor that seems to be important to Somerby is primarily a cohesive means of explaining and keeping their cult together. It is the manifesto equivalent if Trumpies were Marxists. But the reinforcement by fellow-believers, the material rewards, the status and power are what motivate those on the right. They feel righteous, purposeful, have an enemy that gives their lives importance beyond greed, and they are given a whole set of ideas/beliefs/words and writings to justify what they are doing, shared with others who lend credibility to each person in the cult. The religious fervor is what makes these right wingers cultists and not simply party members or supporters of Trump. Some of these people are themselves delusion or demented or mentally ill and they are being bilked.
What would cause a woman to wear an adult diaper with the words I support Trump on it, in public? Her friends admire it and it makes her feel included, part of something larger, and she gets to have something to do with her days besides watching TV or being her usual unimportant humdrum self. But that doesn't make it right.
This idea that if we just understood the right better, there would be less conflict is wrong. When we understand Trumpies better, we recognize there is little we can do about them and that helps nothing. Nor does it make any of us respect what is happening on the right. We have more reasons to feel sad and to turn away from such people, especially when they are hostile, violent, bullying and engaging in racist, sexist, and hurtful ways against other people, which right-wingers often do.
God is a figment of dim-witted imaginations.
ReplyDelete"... as part of an American news broadcast. "
ReplyDeleteThumb on the scale much?
i don't know.
ReplyDeleteSaying you beat the shit out of an ICE agent, because you thought they were Antifa, seems like pretty strong defense to me.
Whoa! Somerby with a scoop today: right wingers weaponize religion to gain power and wealth!
ReplyDeleteWho knew?
"WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—An unscrupulous Russian man has lured a confused septuagenarian to Alaska in an apparent elder scam, concerned associates of the old man reported on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteAccording to those associates, the Russian has posed as a friend of his geriatric mark in order to take advantage of him in the remote, icy setting.
“This poor, addled codger isn’t playing with a full deck and hasn’t for some time,” one associate said. “We’re afraid that the Russian will trick him into signing something away.”
The situation is particularly troubling, the associate said, because “he’s a feeble old man who likes to wander around on top of buildings, and the Russian likes pushing people off them.”
The Epstein issue is still going strong, same with Ukraine, inflation, unemployment, the genocide of Palestinians, Republicans cutting taxes for the rich, Republicans cutting services for everyone else such as Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security.
ReplyDeleteWho knew?
I think Somerby is trying to suggest that none of these issues matter to the most irrational voters on the right. Epstein does, because it is part of Q-Anon theology, but I doubt anyone will abandon Trump over inflation or unemployment, except any rational voters still on the right (less engaged, low information voters in the first place). The religious Trump supporters are tying Gaza to the second coming, so they will continue to support Trump no matter what happens there.
DeleteWe still don't know whether the shooting in Butler was arranged by the right to make Trump a martyr. We do know that Trump's ear was not seriously injured and he has been limping around like a dog seeking unearned sympathy for a non-existent wound.
ReplyDeleteRepublicans don't own religious fervor. For example, churches have been an important part of the sanctuary movement.
ReplyDeletePaul Krugman said: ""Let me call this Arendt’s Law: Totalitarian and wannabe totalitarian regimes only hire incompetent hacks."
ReplyDeleteThat approach to hiring is bound to make Republicans appear stupid.
Ah. This explains NYT hiring Krugman.
DeleteKrugman doesn't work for the NY Times any more. He has his own substack column.
DeleteWholesale prices rose far more than expected in July, providing a potential sign that inflation is still a threat to the U.S. economy, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Thursday showed.
ReplyDeleteThe producer price index, which measures final demand goods and services prices, jumped 0.9% on the month, compared with the Dow Jones estimate for a 0.2% gain. It was the biggest monthly increase since June 2022.
Where the fuck is Dickhead in Cal when you need him?
Yes, I am concerned by this figure. Also, the Producer Price Index is up 3.3% from a year ago.
DeleteGo fuck yourself David.
DeleteRemember that time David the idiot was defending Trump moronic unhinged tariffs? Fuck you David.
DeleteReligion has always been a convenient and effective tool for various stripes of degenerates, conmen, grifters, snake oil salesmen, and aspiring dictators. -- and that describes our current administration to a T.
ReplyDeleteThis is all part of a concerted effort to bring some form of autocracy to the US, sprinkled with a "healthy" dose of religion. The fact that it has made its way to the highest echelons of government indicates that the efforts are proceeding apace.