Of God and guns and an assassin's bullet
"Be Not Afraid" is spread throughout the Good Book
DOES GOD PLAY FAVORITES? ... In interviews and speeches after surviving an assassination attempt, Donald Trump said he actually wasn't worried as he went to the ground with half a dozen Secret Service agents on top of him because "I knew that God was on my side."
Turns out, he's right.
As I learned in my Saturday morning Catechism class years ago, and now know in my heart through many experiences in life, God is on everyone's side.
All you have to do is ask.
Seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened.
DID HE REALLY JUST SAY THAT? ... It was a bit stunning, if not surprising, this week to hear Donald Trump loudly and proudly proclaim that "I took a bullet for democracy."
He took a bullet all right, and we're all relieved that it only grazed his ear, but he seems not to understand what the phrase "taking a bullet" actually means. The common definition of that expression, from multiple sources over decades of time, is "to purposefully receive a gunshot that was intended for another."
Donald Trump was standing at a podium giving a speech. He was not doing anything heroic or brave. Yes, he was hit by a bullet and is lucky to be alive, and his response immediately afterward was both admirable and remarkable, but it had nothing to do with saving democracy. Ask someone who fought in World War II what saving democracy is all about.
Firefighter Corey Comperatore, however, did indeed "take a bullet" to save his family and will always be remembered as brave and heroic.
IGNORING THE WILL OF THE VOTERS ... Grasping at straws and proving that hypocrisy knows no bounds. House Speaker Mike Johnson and many of his cohorts are now claiming that Democrats, in convincing Joe Biden to step aside, are ignoring the will of the 14 million folks who voted for Joe Biden in Democratic primaries across the country. Johnson even hinted at legal action to try to keep Kamala Harris or whomever the Democratic nominee is, off the ballot in certain states.
This would be the same Mike Johnson who ignored the will of the 81,283,098 Americans who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 by voting not to certify the election results on January 6, 2021. This, despite the fact that every court in the land at every level ruled there was no merit to the charges of election fraud. Even Trump's hand-picked Supreme Court was so disgusted by the frivolous fraud charges that it actually refused to hear any of those cases.
Pressured or not, Joe Biden had every right to withdraw from the race for any reason whatsoever. Just as Donald Trump after his near-miss with disaster could have said he was done with politics and wished to return to private life.
Republicans were the ones who pressured both Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew to resign, just as Democrats at this very moment are pressuring the just-convicted Bob "Gold Bar" Menendez to resign. Democrats, too, pressured Lyndon Johnson not to run for reelection, even after he won the 1968 New Hampshire primary In less than convincing fashion.
In every case, these folks were legally elected to office and yet members of their own party were pressuring them to leave, just like modern-day Democrats pressured Joe Biden to withdraw.
Not pretty, for sure, but perfectly legal.
D.E.I. UNDER ATTACK ... Every time a person of color or a woman of any color fails at a job, the racists and sexists come out of their dark closets to attack what they've labeled as a "D.E.I. hire."