Leftover sends this, a thoughtful essay about Donald Trump’s pretending to know his Bible at a speech at Liberty University recently. (That’s Donald, seen with one of the Duck guys — Donald, who said this weekend he could shoot someone and still retain his backers. Liberty!) Written by Gary Leupp, a self-described non-believer, the (long-but-worth-it) essay includes:
The Donald preaches that the believer in him will make America great again through blind faith that he, the great Deal-Maker, will make it happen.
Isn’t that the whole ballgame? A billionaire narcissistic blowhard bully telling us (in the words of the Temptations’ immortal “Ball of Confusion”) “Vote for me, and I’ll set you free!” And indeed, he has his believers, especially among Christian Evangelical voters. These include Christians whose concept of liberty accepts mass deportations, a Great Wall between the U.S. and Mexico, the exclusion of all Muslims from the U.S. and the denial of abortion rights.
Some commentators seem puzzled that evangelicals are so little concerned with Trump’s many political flip-flops and lack of “real conservative” credentials. They perhaps do not understand the power of faith, and the liberty it confers to people who can’t (or prefer not to) think and to the people who’ve figured out how to exploit their stupidity.
Dating Jesus 
As I told Susan, I think Leupp, whose bonafides include a secondary appointment in the Department of Religion at Tufts University, has the context of 2nd Corinthians, and the history…and Trump’s antinomianism…exactly right.
Only tangentially relevant, I know — but how can a “candidate” get up and claim this and still be allowed to address audiences?
From Reuters: “He pointed his finger at the crowd like he was shooting a handgun and said: “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot people and I wouldn’t lose voters.””
If someone can answer that, you’ll make two Susans very happy. Thank you.
Because Trump is in complete control. He’s controlling the campaign dialogue. He’s bulletproof…so to speak…right now. Nobody can touch him. He’s got his opponents grasping at straws. Party vanguard is in complete disarray. Party leadership is in stunned silence. Not even FOXNews can dent Trumps armor. Latest poll numbers. The GOP, right now, is powerless against that kind of popularity. So…no matter how disgusting and insulting Trump may be…he’s right. And everybody knows it.
The only hope at this point is that Trump wins in Iowa because that usually is a death knell for Republican frontrunners, especially when there’s a large field of candidates. But Trump has beaten the odds before.
The Democratic Party better start asking themselves how they’re going to beat him. Counting on voters to somehow magically pull a WTF are we doing? epiphany out of their ass, like the DNC did with the Scott Brown campaign in 2010 Massachusetts, is just not going to cut it. The Clinton camp is desperate. And it shows. It’s attacks on Sanders have actually invigorated his campaign. If those two don’t make peace and form a united front by the time their convention is over? We better all get used to saying President Trump.
I’m hearing he has decided he will not show up for the next GOP debate because he has a problem with Megyn Kelly’s participation. Seriously? I figure he might find a way to broadcast a competing all Donald Trump event at the same time and then brag about how much more money his show made in comparison. (It doesn’t even need to be true, of course.)