Month: October 2018

Don Lemon Exposes the Republican’s “White Men are Victims” Strategy for What It Is, Evil

Several days ago Don Lemon, an anchor at CNN, shared a moving testimony about how he was victimized by a pedophile when he was a young  boy.

Men like Mr. Lemon, and there are many of them, can easily identify with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s account of sexual assault.  They can also relate to the shameful Republican tactics, seemingly successful tactics, to silence the victim.  More than that, Republicans, with Donald Trump leading the way, have not only managed to silence Dr. Ford, they have erased her from their story altogether.

Please take a few minutes to watch Mr. Lemon’s excellent unveiling of the current Republican strategy for normalizing their disregard of sexual assault and all its victims:

Victims of sexual violence are non-entities today, at least in the realm of Republicanism.  They have announced that these women’s (and men’s) stories are not worth hearing.

Women like Dr. Ford are now mere specters floating in a moral vacuum.

Rendered invisible, even as she stands before us.

Made mute by the black magic of partisan voodoo.  Oppressive incantations intoned from the Senate floor.

Yet, if old white men like Donald Trump, Lindsey Graham, Rush Limbaugh and many others are to be believed, this non-existent, mute, invisible, female  victim — who is really a non-victim in their eyes — poses a dire, existential threat to every man…every powerful man…every powerful white man in America today.

Of course, black men like Mr. Lemon don’t count.  And black women aren’t worth mentioning by the likes of these white, old Republicans who strut their stuff from the Capitol steps.

And all the while, white conservative America stands to cheer them on.

They laugh, smile, applaud and cheer as they stand with their young sons and daughters at campaign rallies, watching their Sexual Predator/Serial Adulterer/Misogynist/ Unapologetic Pussy Grabber-in-Chief mock this non-existent, invisible, mute, non-victim named Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.

It goes without saying that most of those white men and women from the  Mississippi heartland, who were applauding the president’s demeaning imitation of a victim’s heart-rendering testimony, would call themselves Christians.  They go to church.  They even read the Bible, sometimes.  They listen to sermons from pastors who gloat as they destroy their old Nike gear in the pulpit.

“Heck of a visual aid, pastor,” they say.

But they know nothing about the victimized, brutalized, beaten, scarred and crucified Jesus of Nazareth, the man who loved abused women (and children), held them in his arms, wept over them, healed their brokenness, and made them equals to the men who followed Him.

Their is no true Christianity without discipleship.  Their is no discipleship that does not share in the sufferings of our Lord Jesus.  No one who shares in the suffering of Christ would EVER laugh at, mock, ridicule or dismiss the sufferings of another human being, whatever the circumstances.

We are watching the putrefaction of America’s false religion, most fully displayed in patriotic “evangelicalism.”  Only from the dung heap of idolatry can such a stench arise.

I’ll give Donald Trump this:  he has torn away the mask of evangelical, America-First piety and revealed this Beast for what it truly is.

EVIL.

Pure, unadulterated evil.

John Bolton is a Sociopath.  He and Trump are Cut from the Same Cloth

John Bolton, the current White House National Security Adviser, is one of

John Bolton

several demons whispering war-mongering advice from the shoulder of our presidential Devil in Chief.

Bolton was a staunch advocate for the disastrous Iraq War, remaining unapologetic for the many lies he told at the time about Iraq’s nonexistent WMDs.  He continually urges military action against and regime change in Syria, North Korea, Libya, and Iran.  He has never met an American war he didn’t love, regardless of the innumerable innocent civilians slaughtered in the process.

In 2002, during the lead up to the US invasion of Iraq, the Brazilian diplomat José Bustani was head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.  Bustani was negotiating with Sadaam Hussein about

José Bustani

allowing weapons inspectors back into his country in order to make unannounced inspections of Iraq’s facilities.  According to Bustani, Bolton made a surprise visit to OPCW headquarters in the Hague, bringing a direct threat from Vice President Dick Cheney.

Numerous family members and coworkers have substantiated Bustani’s story.  As The Intercept reported on March 29, Bolton said:

“Cheney wants you out.  We can’t accept your management style.  We know where your kids live. You have two sons in New York.

 “You have 24 hours to leave the organization, and if you don’t comply with this decision by Washington, we have ways to retaliate against you.

 “We know where your kids live. You have two sons in New York.”

Death threats against a man’s children.

That’s everything we need to know about John Bolton in a nutshell.  He is a ruthless, bloody-minded enforcer with no conscience.  He is the type of hit-man always eager to make the Mob Boss proud.  Which is exactly why Donald Trump elevated him to his current position.

Bolton is the cold-hearted thug breaking kneecaps behind closed doors while Trump flashes his creepy, malicious grin to the world’s cameras.  The only thing more disgusting than these evil twins is the mindless support their brutal foreign policies receive from American conservatives.

Please take a few minutes to hear Lawrence Wilkerson’s appraisal of John Bolton as the executor of Trump’s policies towards Iran. (The discussion about Bolton begins at the 9:00 minute mark).

Lawrence Wilkerson

Wilkerson knows Bolton very well.  They have worked together closely in the Bush administration.  Towards the end of this interview, he calls Bolton (and by implication Nikki Haley, as well) an immoral man without a conscience.

Recall that Wilkerson was Colin Powell’s chief of staff during the George W. Bush administration.  To my knowledge, Wilkerson is the only official to

Nikki Haley, president Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations

publicly confess the lies and manipulation perpetrated by Bush officials in the march to war against Iraq.

Wilkerson is that rare man of conscience who has been to the devil’s banquet table of political power and wisely walked away to warn others of the dangers.  He is a rare specimen. (I believe he is also a devout Roman Catholic).  Sadly, for America and the rest of the world, there does not seem to be another like him in the Trump administration.

Tragically for American Christianity, there are precious few like Larry Wilkerson among this country’s evangelical leadership.

Addressing the Pro-Kavanaugh Confusion About “Innocent Until Proven Guilty”

I have engaged in several frustrating online conversations recently where conservatives have emphatically insisted that Brett Kavanaugh’s “right” to be judged innocent until proven guilty is being trampled on by recent events at the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Let’s think about this accusation slowly and logically for a moment, setting  the hyperventilating aside.  We will take one step at a time:

  1. Yes, people who are charged with a crime in this country have the right to be considered “innocent until proven guilty.” This is a fundamental principle
    Blind justice

    of American jurisprudence. And THAT is the realm of its proper application – at trial in the courtroom.  Consequently, the prosecution bears the burden of proof, not the defense.  The prosecutor must persuade a jury that the accused is “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

  2. The issue that conservatives and Republicans are now protesting is very different.  They are concerned with the habit of putting people accused of crimes on trial in the “court of public opinion.” That is a very long-standing problem in American public life with a history long ante-dating the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
    1. This unfortunate problem has intensified with the rise of mass media, particularly in early newspapers. By far, the leading contemporary culprit in this regard was Nancy Grace, host of a TV show by the same name on the HLN network.  Grace consistently insisted on the guilt of every person accused of a crime, long before any trial began.  Worse yet, she never apologized or admitted her errors when those falsely accused
      19 June 2006 – New York, New York – Nancy Grace. The 2006 American Women in Radio & Television’s Gracie Allen Awards Gala held at the Marriott Marquis. Photo Credit: Paul Hawthorne/AdMedia
      *** Local Caption ***
      (Newscom TagID: admphotos091437) [Photo via Newscom]admphotos091437_amp_GracieAllen06_037.JPG
      were finally proven innocent.  I suggest that any and all conservative fans of Nancy Grace now defending Brett Kavanaugh publicly denounce Nancy Grace and the HLN network with the same vigor they apply to lamenting the Judiciary Committee’s current “injustice.”
  3. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is not a court of law. What may be happening in public opinion and what is happening in those Senate hearings are two completely different things.  No one’s legal rights are being violated, one way or the other.  There certainly are important concerns about kindness, honesty, humanity, consideration, and prejudice.  But none of those issues touches on anyone’s legal standing or their status as innocent until proven guilty when testifying before the Senate Committee.
  4. Therefore, all those folks yelling and screaming about the violation of Kavanaugh’s “legal rights” are no different from the elderly card player who jumped up and yelled “gin rummy, gin rummy” in the middle of a poker game. It grabs attention, but it is not relevant.  It’s the wrong concern in the wrong setting.
  5. As a matter of fact, complaining about Kavanaugh’s rights is a wonderful (and sadly effective) distraction from the real matters at hand. Frankly, I suspect that the closeted authors of Republican talking-points – which we know are distributed immediately to Fox News anchors – landed on this particular protest strategy for this very reason.  It is a distraction that diverts public attention from the real issues.
  6. Not only is this misapplication of legal language a distraction, it also serves as a roundabout way of minimizing, to the point of eventually dismissing, Christine Ford’s story of sexual assault. It’s as if the Senate Committee were a court of law, and Kavanaugh’s lawyer (that is, all of his Republican advocates) were standing on their feet yelling, “I object! I object!” in the middle of Dr. Ford’s testimony.
  7. In this way, Dr. Ford’s words are drowned out by the cleverly manipulative tactics of an illegitimate “opposing counsel,” with the ridiculousness only appearing when sensible people recall that this is not a trial; we are not in court.  A huge, collective hand is being forced over Dr. Ford’s mouth, stifling her attempts to speak.  The alleged rape victim is being shouted down once again, this time with words that sound ever-so official, professional, informed, compelling, reasonable, irrefutable – but it is a sham.  It is ignorant.  It is manipulative.  It is nothing other than a strong-arm attempt (ever so sincerely) to tell another woman to sit down and shut up.  These people are the modern-day equivalents of snake oil salesmen, dressed up to look like doctors, spoutin’ highfalutin, medical jargon that adds up to the fatuous equivalent of chewing tobacco prescribed for brain cancer.
  8. Of course, none of these ill-legal analysts have an answer for what other options Christian Ford might have taken. She contacted her local congresswoman and conveyed her story long before Kavanaugh was even nominated, while he was still only a new name on the short-list, in fact.  Yes, she asked to remain anonymous, but what the congresswoman, or later, Senator Feinstein, did with her complaint was beyond her control.  So, now we should tell her that she has no business telling her story because the powers-that-be waited till they did to release her story to the press?
  9. Yes, it would have been better had the news of her story been circulated earlier than it was. Better yet, it would have been wonderful had the Senate Committee asked the FBI to investigate her charges immediately.  But, for whatever reasons, those things did not happen.  So, now she should not have the opportunity to speak out because the timing is inconvenient for the Republican, public relations machine?
  10. Both Republicans and Democrats must share the blame for the messiness surrounding these Committee hearings, but anyone who has followed the timeline carefully can only conclude that the lion’s share of the circus atmosphere is due to Republican power-mongering.
    1. The Republicans have done everything possible to conclude Kavanaugh’s appointment before the midterm elections. Mitch McConnell has stated openly that his proudest moment as Senate majority leader was the derailment of president Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland.  Now is his long-awaited opportunity to conclude that intensely partisan reappointment process with another conservative judge.
    2. This is why McConnell initially urged Trump NOT to nominate Kavanaugh in the first place.  McConnell complained to Trump that, with the Kavanaugh’s long history in Republican politics, his paper trail was so incredibly voluminous that the Committee would never be able to digest all the documentation and complete the confirmation process before the upcoming midterms.  But Trump nominated Kavanaugh anyway.
    3. Consequently, the Republicans have done everything possible to cram this nominee through to a final Senate vote as quickly as possible, regardless of the manipulation or dishonesty required to do it. These hearings have been sabotaged from the outset by an unreasonably short time-frame, controlled by Republicans who would not allow any new or unexpected information to be submitted, no matter how important it might be.
    4. Thus, if Kavanaugh and the Republicans look like petulant little kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar, they have no one to blame but themselves. The sole desire of Senators Grassley, Graham, Hatch, Cornyn and Cruz has been to get another conservative Republican on the Supreme Court bench by hook or by crook before they (conceivably) lose their Senate majority.  Damn the truth; damn fair-play; damn an honest hearing process; damn the torpedoes; full steam ahead!
  11. The result has been, damn Christine Blasey Ford; Kavanaugh is innocent until proven guilty!

Caitlin Johnstone Discusses the Attraction that Power Has on Manipulators

Caitlin Johnstone has a good discussion at her blog “Rogue Journalist” of why we rarely ever hear politicians apologize for anything, no matter how outlandish.  It is a timely piece, well worth considering at this moment.

I have copied an excerpt below.  You can read the entire piece here.

“…in the highest levels of the most powerful governments on earth, where thousands of human lives can be snuffed out by a single unwise decision and ecosystems and economies destroyed on a whim, apologies are almost unheard of. You only ever see them when a leader is cornered in a complete political checkmate with no other options available to them.

“This is because the highest levels of the most powerful governments in the world are dominated by highly manipulative people. If you serve truth, humanity and the world, you are almost certainly delightful to be around and you will almost certainly never have a career in federal politics. The system is set up to serve a ruling class of plutocrats and their lackeys, so the way to get to the top of the political ladder is in the exact opposite direction of serving the weak and defenseless and being truthful and compassionate. To win elections you first need to win the blessing of the ruling class, and the way to do that is by kissing the right asses while regurgitating the right sound bytes whenever the cameras are rolling.

“This is why all the top career politicians all seem so fake; the Hillary Clintons, Ted Cruzes and Nancy Pelosis didn’t get to where they’re at by serving truth and justice, they got there by manipulating and deceiving in the service of the powerful. They are not interested in honesty and sincerity, they are interested in getting up another rung on the ladder.

“Anyone who has ever had a close relationship with someone who is highly manipulative has probably noticed how they never apologize for anything if they can avoid it, but if you apologize to a manipulator for something they will never, ever let you forget it and will bring it up any time you step out of line…”

Sound familiar?

Notice that Donald Trump did not apologize to the ABC reporter he cruelly mocked yesterday at his press conference.

Do you think he has called Dr. Ford to apologize for the way he ridiculed her today at a campaign rally in Mississippi?

I am certain you can come up with numerous, relevant examples of your own…

Tintoretto’s portrayal of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet

For those who follow Jesus, the issue involves self-examination, confession and repentance.  Jesus tells us, not only that we are to confess our specific sins to the Father and ask for forgiveness daily, but that we should go to the one(s) we have sinned against, acknowledge what we have done, and ask for their forgiveness face-to-face.

Let’s not follow the model of those who seek power, but the example of our Lord and Savior who washed the disciples’ feet.

Sexual Assault is More Common than Most of Us Imagine. The Church is No Exception

Weekend sleepovers are good times for teenage girls to share their deepest, darkest secrets with friends.  Some years ago, one of my daughters told me about the secrets she heard late one Friday night as she and three friends lay together in sleeping bags in the basement of our house.

First one, then two, then all three of her closest friends told their stories about being raped by an older brother.

You could have knocked me over with a feather.  Not because I didn’t believe that such things happened, but I wondered, what were the chances that ALL of these girls had suffered the same perverse abuse?

All three girls were members of church-going families.  I knew a bit about the first young lady’s home-life, and I didn’t find it hard to believe she was telling the truth.  But all three?!  I wondered if the others might be encouraging their friend with some sort of teenage bonding experience where they all share the same hardships, even if it meant confessing things that were not true.

I know that my daughter has a huge, loving heart, and that she has always befriended broken people.  But was sexual assault by a brother really that common?

I don’t know.  But I do believe a few other things very firmly.

I definitely believe the first young lady was a victim of rape.  I wish I had known at the time, but I didn’t.  I wish I could have done something.

I definitely believe that the other two teenagers deserved to be heard, to be

WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 27: Christine Blasey Ford testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee, September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. A professor at Palo Alto University and a research psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Ford has accused Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her during a party in 1982 when they were high school students in suburban Maryland. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

encouraged to tell their stories to an adult who might help them in one way or another.

I definitely believe that they all had/have the right to speak out publicly, if they ever chose to do so.  They have the right to live in a society where they are not mocked or ridiculed; where they are not automatically disbelieved or disparaged because they had “waited too long to come forward,” or had not otherwise conducted themselves “properly” in front of others imposing their own, irrelevant, judgmental expectations about how “real” assault victims “ought” to behave.

I believe that they deserve to be given the benefit of the doubt.  I do not automatically assume that every brother is a rapist.  I say this despite the outlandish remark of one Republican woman who glibly noted, with a smirk on her face, about the charges against Judge Kavanaugh, “Tell me, what boy hasn’t done this in high school?”

Well lady, let me tell you.  Most teenage boys are not rapists.  Most brothers don’t assault their sisters.  Whenever such serious charges are made, honest investigations are required by honest, impartial investigators.

But, tragically, far too many teenage boys and adult men ARE guilty of sexual assault, and they need to be held accountable and punished.  Women need to be believed.  Precious few ever make such charges easily, much less falsely.

I know that according to a study published in the Journal of Forensic Psychology  “false and baseless allegations of rape constitute about 5% of all rape allegations.” (For a good investigation into “the threat” of false accusations against innocent men, read this article by Sandra Newman.)

President Trump’s glib warning that “these are scary times for young men” in America is another thoughtless projection by a sex-offender who is intimately familiar with attempted rape and sexual assault.  Stoking conservative paranoia about raging feminists rampantly lodging false accusations against every man they’ve ever disliked is reckless fear-mongering spread among the already fearful.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks as Christine Blasey Ford testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on September 27, 2018. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read ANDREW HARNIK/AFP/Getty Images)

I can’t help but wonder what some of these red-faced, finger-wagging, bloviating men (both in the Congress and on TV), who were so outraged by Dr. Ford’s testimony, have to hide about themselves and their own pasts.  Could it be a massive, public display of collective guilt trying desperately to disguise itself as righteous indignation?

I can’t help but suspect that there was a mile-wide current of projection and personal identification on display as we watched powerful men behave so defensively on behalf of Brett Kavanaugh and so disparagingly towards Christine Blasey Ford.

My daughters and their friends do not deserve to live in a society like this, led by these kinds of men.

Senator Lindsey Graham’s explosive speech defending Kavanaugh after Ford’s testimony.

They deserve to feel safe and to be protected.  They deserve to be heard, no matter how long it takes them to speak up.  They deserve to be taken seriously.  They deserve swift, impartial investigations, no matter how old the evidence may be.  They deserve elected officials who don’t hide their grotesque partisan brutalities behind false pledges about “innocent until proven guilty.”

“Innocent until proven guilty” is NOT the issue facing us today.

The issue is discovering the truth.

The issue is the persistent abuse of too many women by too many men.

The issue is why men can come unglued, behave petulantly, rudely, cry,

Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in before testifying the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building at the Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S., September 27, 2018. Win McNamee/Pool via REUTERS

pout, let the fur fly and still be taken seriously, whereas any woman who behaved similarly would be summarily dismissed as hysterical, out of control and unbelievable.

The issue is why so many who claim to be God’s people mindlessly repeat the partisan – and frequently hateful – Fox News talking points without an iota of mercy or grace.

The issue is that sexual abuse happens within the church as well as everywhere else, and far too many ignore it, warn the victims to be quiet, and then hide behind their religiosity.

 

Senator Amy Klobuchar Speaks Truth to the Judicial Committee

Please take 15 minutes to watch Senator Amy Klobuchar (Dem. MN) provide a clear, straightforward summary of the important issues at stake in the

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D. MN)

contested nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court (watch here).

Yes, the charges of sexual assault are vitally important (see my previous posts here and here), but the Senator also refers to the history of Kavanaugh’s disturbing judicial rulings which have not received anywhere near the attention they deserve.

This is a man who believes that presidents should be exempt from criminal investigation (is this why Trump nominated him despite Senator McConnell’s objections?); supported the use of torture when he was in the George W. Bush administration; endorsed the Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision (allowing unlimited, “dark money” political contributions from corporations); supports the Patriot Act (the single most unconstitutional legislation since the Alien & Sedition Act); the mass, warrantless surveillance of the American public; has been hostile to the enforcement of the Voting Rights Act and anti-discrimination laws; and has consistently sided with corporations and CEOs against workers and workers’ rights in labor disputes.