Branch Trumpvidians 2: The Basket of Deplorables

[Howl]

Damn, that's painful. 

[GreyhoundFan]

Good grief: "Jerry Falwell Jr. can’t imagine Trump ‘doing anything that’s not good for the country’"

Spoiler

Jerry Falwell Jr., 56, took over as president of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., in 2007, following the death of his father, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who founded the school. He lives with his wife, Becki, in Bedford County, Va.

You said recently that conservatives and Christians should stop electing nice guys. Aren’t Christians supposed to be nice guys?

Of course, of course. But that’s where people get confused. I almost laugh out loud when I hear Democrats saying things like, “Jesus said suffer the little children to come unto me” and try to use that as the reason we should open up our borders.

It’s such a distortion of the teachings of Jesus to say that what he taught us to do personally — to love our neighbors as ourselves, help the poor — can somehow be imputed on a nation. Jesus never told Caesar how to run Rome. He went out of his way to say that’s the earthly kingdom, I’m about the heavenly kingdom and I’m here to teach you how to treat others, how to help others, but when it comes to serving your country, you render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s. It’s a distortion of the teaching of Christ to say Jesus taught love and forgiveness and therefore the United States as a nation should be loving and forgiving, and just hand over everything we have to every other part of the world. That’s not what Jesus taught. You almost have to believe that this is a theocracy to think that way, to think that public policy should be dictated by the teachings of Jesus.

So, the government you want is one free of religious association?

Yes. The government should be led by somebody who is going to do what’s in the best interest of the government and its people. And I believe that’s what Jesus thought, too.

In 2016 you wrote in a Washington Post editorial that voters in the 2010 and 2014 midterms sent a message they were “tired of the leftist agenda.” What message did voters in the 2018 midterms send?

This midterm, the president did better than the average president does in his first midterms. So I think the message is that the American people are happy with the direction the country is headed and happy with the economy, happy with our newfound respect in the world. It’s a better result than you normally see in the first midterms.

You pushed for national leaders to use the term “radical Islamic terrorism” when describing Muslims who are terrorists. Should leaders call it “white supremacist terrorism” when we have violent acts by white supremacists in this country?

Sure, if a terrorist is someone who is trying to overthrow a political regime. I guess it depends on what your definition of terrorism is. Anybody who kills anybody else or commits violence against anybody else because of their race is horrible. It’s just as bad as the 9/11 attack.

You and other white evangelical leaders have strongly supported President Trump. What about him exemplifies Christianity and earns him your support?

What earns him my support is his business acumen. Our country was so deep in debt and so mismanaged by career politicians that we needed someone who was not a career politician, but someone who’d been successful in business to run the country like a business. That’s the reason I supported him.

The deficit and debt have increased during his first two years.

Yeah, Congress, the spending bill that they forced on him in order to get the military spending up to where it needed to be — he said that would be the last time he signed one of those. But he had no choice because Obama had decimated the military, and it had to be rebuilt.

Is there anything President Trump could do that would endanger that support from you or other evangelical leaders?

No.

That’s the shortest answer we’ve had so far.

Only because I know that he only wants what’s best for this country, and I know anything he does, it may not be ideologically “conservative,” but it’s going to be what’s best for this country, and I can’t imagine him doing anything that’s not good for the country.

Is it hypocritical for evangelical leaders to support a leader who has advocated violence and who has committed adultery and lies often? I understand that a person can be forgiven their sins, but should that person be leading the country?

When Jesus said we’re all sinners, he really meant all of us, everybody. I don’t think you can choose a president based on their personal behavior because even if you choose the one that you think is the most decent — let’s say you decide Mitt Romney. Nobody could be a more decent human being, better family man. But there might be things that he’s done that we just don’t know about. So you don’t choose a president based on how good they are; you choose a president based on what their policies are. That’s why I don’t think it’s hypocritical.

There’s two kingdoms. There’s the earthly kingdom and the heavenly kingdom. In the heavenly kingdom the responsibility is to treat others as you’d like to be treated. In the earthly kingdom, the responsibility is to choose leaders who will do what’s best for your country. Think about it. Why have Americans been able to do more to help people in need around the world than any other country in history? It’s because of free enterprise, freedom, ingenuity, entrepreneurism and wealth. A poor person never gave anyone a job. A poor person never gave anybody charity, not of any real volume. It’s just common sense to me.

You’ve been criticized by some other evangelical leaders about your support for the president. They say you need to demand higher moral and ethical standards. You disagree with them on that?

It may be immoral for them not to support him, because he’s got African American employment to record highs, Hispanic employment to record highs. They need to look at what the president did for the poor. A lot of the people who criticized me, because they had a hard time stomaching supporting someone who owned casinos and strip clubs or whatever, a lot them have come around and said, “Yeah, you were right.” Some of the most prominent evangelicals in the country have said, “Jerry, we thought you were crazy, but now we understand.”

This interview has been edited and condensed. 

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Cartmann99]

The folks at Salem thought Gorka should have a bigger platform:

http://www.srnonline.com/show/america-first-with-dr-sebastian-gorka

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Howl]

But if you give a poor pool boy a loan....

7 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

[Cartmann99]

3 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

If Mitt Romney gets fully assimilated by the Trumpers, does his niece go back to being Ronna Romney McDaniel, or does everyone in the Romney family change their name to Trump? 

[Audrey2]

I didn't vote for Romney in 2012. I will respect him if he stands up to Trump. We need more Republicans and fewer Trumpublucans. I can understand that others don't politically agree with me and respect but disagree with the old Republican party, but have no respect for the party of Trump and FOX news.

[formergothardite]

I hope Mitt announces he is running. It will put the GOP in a tight spot because they don't want Trump to have to start campaigning against another Republican. South Carolina has already canceled their primaries to try and keep Trump from having to do so. 

[Cartmann99]

3 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

I didn't vote for Romney in 2012. I will respect him if he stands up to Trump. We need more Republicans and fewer Trumpublucans. I can understand that others don't politically agree with me and respect but disagree with the old Republican party, but have no respect for the party of Trump and FOX news.

I would enjoy seeing Romney stand up to Trump. That said, after Romney is sworn in, I expect him to be "concerned" or "troubled" at Trump's shenanigans, and then vote for whatever Trump wants. 

I want to be completely wrong about Romney and the other Republicans standing up to Trump, but I just heard on the radio that McConnell has said he won't bring anything to the Senate floor about reopening the government unless Trump is willing to sign it. 

For the non-Americans watching our little shitshow, since a new Congress gets sworn in tomorrow, all the bills that didn't make it through both houses of Congress before the last session ended are now dead. I expect the House to pass a new bill about reopening the government, but if McConnell refuses to let the Senate vote on it, then the shutdown continues.

[Dandruff]

1 hour ago, Cartmann99 said:

I would enjoy seeing Romney stand up to Trump. That said, after Romney is sworn in, I expect him to be "concerned" or "troubled" at Trump's shenanigans, and then vote for whatever Trump wants. 

I hope this isn't the case, but if he isn't willing to stand up I'm wondering what the point of the Washington Post op ed was.

[fraurosena]

Regarding Romney: could he win over the evangelicals, who are now diehard trumpians? A more palatable alternative for them perhaps? 

16 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

For the non-Americans watching our little shitshow, since a new Congress gets sworn in tomorrow, all the bills that didn't make it through both houses of Congress before the last session ended are now dead.

Does this mean that the USMCA (aka not-nafta) is also dead now, as Congress hasn't ratified it yet?

[Cartmann99]

1 hour ago, fraurosena said:

Regarding Romney: could he win over the evangelicals, who are now diehard trumpians? A more palatable alternative for them perhaps? 

I know it's crazy that a group of people who are supposed to be such devout Christians fell in love with Trump in the first place, but now that they've got their legends about Trump being a modern-day King Cyrus and such,  I think most of them are gonna go down with the ship.

More info about Mark Taylor the 'firefighter prophet':

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/mark-taylor/

 

1 hour ago, fraurosena said:

Does this mean that the USMCA (aka not-nafta) is also dead now, as Congress hasn't ratified it yet?

Trade deals operate under different rules than bills, so Congress can still ratify it.

[fraurosena]

5 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

 I think most of them are gonna go down with the ship.

I'd say that was a good thing, don't you? 

6 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

Trade deals operate under different rules than bills, so Congress can still ratify it.

Pity. What are the chances the House will ratify it, now the Dems are in charge?

[Howl]

2 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Regarding Romney: could he win over the evangelicals, who are now diehard trumpians? A more palatable alternative for them perhaps? 

Hard to say, because Romney is MORMON, which is anathema to some more fundamentalist Evangelicals.  Apparently Mormon politicians tend to me somewhat more anti Trump than the average Congressman. 

Not a politician, but If any of y'all follow what happened with Mr Anti-Government Ammon Bundy -- he came out strongly against Trump's anti-immigrant stance and border policies and ended up having to leave social media because of it. 

Also, the appeal of Trump isn't Trump, but that he moves the Evangelical agenda forward without impediment.   When Trump is gone, their SC judges, other judges, anti abortion policies,  and whatever else is on the Conservative Teavangelical right's wish list (reverse gay marriage!) will remain. 

Also, if Trump is impeached, ya get.....Pence, Mr. Evangelical. 

[Cartmann99]

3 hours ago, fraurosena said:

3 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

 

Pity. What are the chances the House will ratify it, now the Dems are in charge?

Honestly, I have no idea. I'm kinda overwhelmed with the continual deluge of bullshit from the Trump administration right now, so for the sake of my own mental health, I'm not following as many things as closely as I was in the recent past. 

Hopefully someone who is following the news about the USMCA* deal more closely than I am will see this and chime in.

*My autocorrect wants the YMCA instead of USMCA, so here goes:

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Cartmann99]

6 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

Are Arizona Republicans still allowed to be "concerned" or " troubled " if Trump murders someone on live television, or are they just supposed to smile and make sure the grill is good and hot for the party afterwards?

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

This is perfectly on brand 

 

[Howl]

On 1/2/2019 at 8:16 PM, Dandruff said:

I hope this isn't the case, but if he isn't willing to stand up I'm wondering what the point of the Washington Post op ed was.

Yes, this is a head scratcher.  Mitt's already caved, and I'm unsure how they got to him, but then it's hard for ordinary people like me to understand how much quid pro quo-ing goes on in an ordinary day on Capitol Hill. 

Might be that Mitt got taken aside and told in no uncertain terms that there will never be any action ever on any bill that he sponsors ever and his effectiveness in the Senate will be nil forever unless he caves.  And for extra encouragement, that they'll shit all over anything related to Utah and then blame it on him. 

[Dandruff]

1 hour ago, Howl said:

Yes, this is a head scratcher.

Perhaps this was a message from Mitt to the Mormon community, letting them know that he thinks Trump is unfit and someone else should get their vote in 2020.  IIRC, Mitt's comments were more focused on Trump's character than his actions, and character doesn't tend to change.  Still doesn't explain why he presented his message through the Washington Post vs. other means...unless there was a deal in the works and this was used for leverage.  It certainly got some attention.

[AmazonGrace]

Shafi stays, causing this adult male a tantrum

 

Looks like it was a fabulous party 

 

[AmazonGrace]

The Wall Gofundme donors are getting refunded

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/gofundme-border-wall-refund-brian-kolfage