Praise be

Watching a woman stand up and ask Donald Trump how his religious faith has deepened since 2015 has settled the debate around whether there are in fact stupid questions. There are.

Here was Donald Trump’s answer to the following question: “How has your faith grown since you decided in 2015 to run for president, and who has mentored you in your faith journey? Remember before watching that he has been credibly accused of sexually assaulting 26 women, and was found liable of sexual abusing E. Jean Carrol and disparaging her.

There are a few things that stand out from Donald’s deluded answer, which are the following:

1. He made America great. This is the precise quote:

I’ve made America great. We can do it again. Right now, we are not a great country.

2. The FBI is attacking Catholics. This is the precise quote:

They made them like the enemy. It’s horrible. How could a Catholic ever vote for a Democrat or a guy like Biden again after the experience they’re going through?

3.  His spiritual advisors are super grifters Pastor Paula White and Franklin Graham. This is the precise quote:

We are not a great country because of this…I‘ve gotten to know…evangelicals. I know so many people, and they feel so good about themselves and their families. They base it on religion, and they have never had that kind of an experience where I got to know so many…and Franklin Graham and Paula White, they are such incredible people.

No Virgin Mary, the thrice-married Paula White is a religious hustler without shame, reserve or boundaries. She speaks in tongues, and makes millions tax-free while doing it. Her schtick is amazing and insane:

Mesmerizing, isn’t she? So far as wack jobs go, Pastor Paula resides in the thin air where lunacy, cynicism, and hucksterism combine to assault the weak-minded, lost and vulnerable with an open air con that declares itself the word of God.

Some years ago, Paula was spotted leaving a Rome hotel with tele-fraud and faith healer Benny Hinn. They denied a romantic relationship and their parishioners were assured that any time their shepherds spent on their knees was devotional. Here is Hinn’s schtick. Personally, I’ve always thought Ted Cruz or Trump should try the white suit. It would fit perfectly:

Franklin Graham dishonors his father’s legacy and memory with each faithless hour of his corrupted life and witness. He is a man who loves political power above all things, and has been a useful tool for the extremist political movement led by Trump.

Graham is a divider whose rants are pure bigotry, dressed up as the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let’s compare the two:

Here is Jesus and “The Sermon on the Mount:”

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

² And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons^[a] of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Here is Franklin Graham:

Every Muslim that comes into this country has the potential to be radicalized — and they do their killing to honor their religion and Muhammad. During World War 2, we didn’t allow Japanese to immigrate to America, nor did we allow Germans. Why are we allowing Muslims now?

Here is a great summation from GLAAD about his anti gay bigotry.

Graham loves Donald Trump. In fact, he has repeatedly compared Christ to Trump, and blasted all criticism of Trump as demonic. Author Eric Metaxas, who “lamented those who question the idea that Trump was ordained for the presidency of God,” said the following in a Washington Post article from 2019:

The idea that Trump was heaven-sent has come with harsh criticism of those who do not support his leadership. In a conversation Thursday in which evangelist Franklin Graham suggested that criticism of Trump was coming from “a demonic power.”

These people are nuts and frauds, and they have well-earned the contempt of millions of Americans who see them as such. They are appalling people. It is no surprise that Donald Trump loves them back. They are each others’ golden calf.

Lastly, the idea that America was “made great” by Donald Trump is a narcissistic fantasy from Donald’s small and wretched imagination. It is the dogma of a disorderd mind made more needy by the endless sycophancy and corruption that feeds his brittle ego. He may believe it, but the truth is that the belief is a bad joke. He was the worst president in American history, and stands as a singular marker of national decay and rot.

Donald Trump is the greatest con man in American history. His answer showed you why. There is a name for the people who don’t understand what I’m talking about. They are called “marks.”

Don’t be a mark for hustlers like these.

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On the podcast this week, I sat down with Fred Guttenberg, who lost his daughter Jaime in the Parkland shooting, to share his disappointing interactions with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Senator Marco Rubio. Here is a brief clip from that conversation, where he speaks about his experience with them as people, lessons he learned from his first foray into politics with DeSantis and Rubio, and what he would have done differently:

If you’d like to listen to the full conversation, please consider becoming a premium podcast subscriber, which you can do here.