I haven’t written anything on this site for a long time, as there’s so much good stuff out there that’s much better than I can produce–plus, for the most part, those other writers are getting paid! But I wanted to do something brief today, sparked by my listening to two podcasts just in the last week or so. One was on the Matt K. Lewis podcast in an interview with Napp Nazworth, an editor at the Christian Post who put his money where his mouth is and resigned from said publication over the whole Christianity Today flap. If you’re not up on that issue, I’ll just say that CT published a solid editorial laying out why Donald Trump deserves to be removed from office. Nazworth explains why he resigned rather than be the editor in charge of publishing CP‘s rebuttal. But then he goes on to say some pretty scathing things (and deservedly so) about Wayne Grudem, whose flip-flops on Trump since 2016 have been legendary. Here’s the history of Dr. Grudem’s viewpoints:
debisimons
Where Do We Go From Here?
I have quoted from and posted any number of times an article by Ben Shapiro from before the 2016 election which compares uncritical Trump supporters to people in abusive relationships: “You Can’t Pretend Trump’s Flaws Away.” I have said, and still say, that it’s the best piece written at that time to explain the mindset that led normally sensible people to vote with enthusiasm for the man who now occupies the White House. Shapiro starts the article with a description of a friend who was dating a jerk. No one could convince her, however, that he was a jerk because she wasn’t in love with that real problematic person. She was in love with her fantasy version of him, and as long as that illusion persisted she simply could not be budged from her devotion. Then the great line:
It’s bizarre to realize that for large swaths of the Republican party, Donald Trump has become that abusive boyfriend.
The Trump Accomplishment Laundry List Is Now Pretty Much Irrelevant.
I had said that I’d write a brief post on each point of a generic list of Donald Trump’s accomplishments that I’d recently been sent, but I’ve decided that it’s kind of a waste of time. I’ve written or posted about a number of them already, and the whole idea of rebutting this “Hey, Donald Trump has done a lot of good stuff!” is pretty well moot by now anyway, as it’s becoming quite clear that It Can’t Last. Every single day that passes the Trump Presidency veers closer and closer to the brink, whether of a forced resignation, or the start of impeachment proceedings, and/or the MOAB (Mother of All Bombshells) coming from the Mueller investigation. I think the first is going to proceed from the last, but we’ll see what happens. (To quote someone famous.)
I think the story that broke last night in the (failing) New York Times is probably going to be the proverbial straw in this whole mess. So, if you haven’t read it yet, here’s a link:
“F.B.I. Opened Inquiry into Whether Trump Was Secretly Working on Behalf of Russia”
Granted, this is one of those anonymously sourced stories, but the Washington Post thought enough of it to run it today. I have to say that I’m rather surprised myself that the “Trump colluded with Russia” story seems to be gaining steam. My own opinion, stated on this blog a number of times, has been that I’ve never really thought that Donald Trump himself was ever actively conspiring with the Russian government in any way because a) he isn’t smart enough, and b) he isn’t discreet enough. He’d be blabbing about it all over the place, saying things such as “Vladimir Putin is a great leader” and “We need to have a great relationship with Russia” and so on. Oh, wait. He has been saying stuff like that. Hmmm.
Every week of the Trump Presidency seems like a month, and I think every weekend that surely the next few days will bring everything to a climax, and instead we keep just sputtering along. I was sure, sure, that this past week would see the end of the shutdown, and I was wrong. Everyone has boxed himself or herself into a corner. The whole thing is absolutely disgraceful.
I was telling my son last night that I’m so embarrassed at having this man as President that I’d like to see years 2016-2019 expunged from our collective memory, a la Men in Black. I hope I live long enough to see the 2016 election put into proper perspective, probably under ‘Greatest Gaffes in History.”
There it is, folks!
Donald Trump’s List of Accomplishments, No. 3–“Reformed Tax Law”
Hmmm. This is referring to the massive tax cut that, along with the massive budget, is going to add to our deficit–massively?
Need I say more?
Evaluating Donald Trump’s Accomplishments–Number Two on the List
Number Two on the Laundry List of Donald Trump’s Accomplishments
Here’s the next on the list I was sent:
2. Empowered military.
As I said yesterday, this is a very generalized, generic list, but since these ideas are used as talking points to support the President I’m addressing them as well as I can.
I think what this second point must be referring to is the idea that, as the Washington Examiner (a pro-Trump news outlet) says, “Empowered military leaders to ‘seize the initiative and win,’ reducing the need for a White House sign off on every mission.” That announcement has indeed been made by the White House. I’m not at all sure that the WH has ever had to “sign off on every mission,” but we’ll accept it as read.
Evaluating Donald Trump’s Accomplishments–Number One on the List
Way, way back in those halcyon days (cliché alert!) of 2016 before the election, when everyone (including Donald Trump himself) thought that he couldn’t possibly win, there was a list circulating of all the wonderful things he’d do if the impossible happened and he indeed managed to get elected. I’m not going to dive back into the past to get the entire list, but I do remember that one of them was “Donald Trump will appoint the best people to the thousands of positions he’ll need to fill.” Well, ha to that one. I don’t think I need to say any more.
Recently, though, I was sent another list, this one of what our current President has accomplished in his first less-than-two years in office, so I decided to write a series of short posts taking on each point. Here’s the list, first of all:
My Comments on the John MacArthur/Ben Shapiro Interview
I’ve had a couple of people mention this program on Dec. 2, 2018, in which conservative writer Ben Shapiro interviewed John MacArthur on his weekly “Sunday Special.” Shapiro has a wide range of guests on this show, and this one has gotten a lot of buzz in the Evangelical world. So I decided to watch it, as I’ve done with some of Shapiro’s other specials. His podcast, “The Ben Shapiro Show,” heard every weekday, goes in and out of my “favorites” podcast playlist, depending on how shrill and obnoxious he is at any given time. I do like a lot of what Shapiro says, and I think he wrote the most incisive article of the 2016 election season, “You Can’t Pretend Trump’s Flaws Away,” in which he compared those who idealized Trump to people in abusive relationships. Great, great piece.
What Does It Mean to be Pro Life?
Am I pro life? You bet. When I became pregnant at age 41 with my son, the obstetrician suggested on my first visit that I get amniocentesis to test for Down syndrome so that . . . I stopped her. “I’m not interested.” She looked a bit taken aback. “But even if you aren’t going to terminate the pregnancy, you could know ahead of time about the child and be prepared.” Of course I still refused. “It won’t make any difference. And there’s a risk of miscarriage with that test.” She allowed as how that was true, and we went on from there. The subject was never brought up again. (That son is now earning an MFA in creative writing, by the way.)
My Thoughts on the Kavanaugh Kerfuffle
How could all this have played out differently?
If people on both sides of the aisle had been willing to be even a little reasonable, we could have avoided this ugly, ugly fight.
1. The Democrats could have exercised a little caution and not filibustered Neil Gorsuch, who was and is a spotless, blameless nominee and was going to be confirmed one way or another. There was absolutely no reason for the Dems
My Take on the Kavanaugh Controversy
Not that anybody asked me. But here’s my take: I think it’s entirely possible that Christina Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh are both telling the truth as they remember it.
How well do you remember events that occurred when you were “stumbling drunk”? I’ve drunk some wine on a very, very few occasions and remember a slight buzz, I guess, but I don’t know what being drunk is like. I’ve done a little bit of Wikipedia diving and found that yes, you can indeed forget/not be able to remember something that happened when you were very drunk.