Hellfire (Reading Amos In Satan's House II.)

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,

Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name: ~Amos 5:7-8

I just saw this not too long ago.

Initial reaction: "What the filth and foul and I'll filth and foul, filth and foul and, yeah, ya filth and foul face, and I'll filth and foul, foul, filth!"

I mean, goddamn motherfucking seriously? I know, I totally get that this whole Trump thing has been a cult since that motherfucker slimed his way down the goddamn golden escalator but...Jesus H. Christ, what's fucking wrong with these people?

When Susan Sarandon posted a picture of herself like that, people on her own side came out the woodwork (rightly) and said that shit was fucking creepy.

Some whack-a-nut Republican posts a picture of Trump as the Sun and...I don't see Republicans pointing out how nuts that is, not at all.

There is something, on a Biblical level, deeply fucking wrong with these people.

Unless, of course, all the Christian- and Conservative-talk for all this time was nothing but a lie to cover up a self-worshiping lust for authoritarian power and no goddamn beliefs or principles worth mentioning.

Then it makes perfect sense.

That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. ~Amos 5:9-10

And it's not just the outright worship of Trump. These people do a lot of fucked up shit, even to each other. Some of them seem to think it's cool to be a complete and total jackass, for absolutely no fucking reason whatever.

I mean, seriously, if I was Dan Crenshaw I'd be seriously thinking about switching parties just based on treatment by fellow Republicans. The Democrats might not be the greatest but at least he could count on them treating him like a human being. Or, if he really wanted to keep doing what he's doing...or do it more...he could switch to the Libertarians, change nothing, hell maybe even kick it up a notch...and hand their party a House Seat, becoming an instant fucking hero to that political faction and probably the subject of a shitload of memes and stuff, too.

And he wouldn't have to be on the same side as this little asshole.

Seriously if I acted the way Madison Cawthorn does, there's people I know who'd just walk up to me and punch me in the face, without excuse or preamble, just because I was being a fucking jerk. I mean, I get that's this little wheelie-ghoul's bit. Hell, I don't like Dan Crenshaw that much myself, but he's a combat-wounded veteran and to me mocking that is pretty low.

Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. Amos 5:11

I can't believe these bullshit ass motherfuckers forced me into defending Dan Fucking Crenshaw.

And again, I find it singularly unbelievable that one of the main truth-tellers in this whole damn mess has been Liz Goddamned Cheney. There's just...something about this whole situation, and about today's Republican Party, that just gets more upside down the longer this crap goes on.

For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. ~Amos 5:12

And this needs to be pointed out. In fact, it especially needs to be pointed out by former conservatives, although some help from some current ones would go a long ways, too.

But the truth is, somewhere or other on what's become that side of the fence, it was always this bad.

Thing is, a lot of these people didn't used to be Republicans. For a long time, Joe Rogan was notionally considered a liberal, hell, for a long time he endorsed Bernie Sanders. Think about that, for a second.

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. ~Amos 5:13-15

And note I say this as a former Republican who was, hell, still is probably more conservative in any traditional sense than most of these people would ever think of being...up to and including accepting a fair number of things conservative dogma disagrees with, because that's the way our ancestors decided to do things.

And conservatism is supposed to be based on revealed truth and the wisdom of our ancestors, on the principle of gradual change, and on established ways. These are things Donald Trump and those who support him...much less the fascists now swarming out of the woodwork who seek to replace and supplant even Trump and his supporters...all despise.

And let me tell you something else, as a longtime book-person who doesn't have to agree with or like something to familiarize myself with it...the vast majority of Twilight fans that I've ever known are conservative...and hell, the author of the series is herself a Mormon.

There is no way...literally no way...if these people ever get the power that they desire, that a person will be able to act, much less be "Conservative" enough to please these fools, to avoid or placate the many spies and the secret police they would install, or to be able to escape the secret laws and summary tribunals they would enact.

When I see stuff like this...people literally burning books right here in the United States...I see the worst parts of history. I see the horrors of hell. And I, because of my background, I will tell you that is what I see. 

These fucking people bitch about the very real possibility of a war in Eastern Europe, and that we may have to defend our allies...and I believe it will come to that, probably sooner rather than later.

But they do it, not because they believe in peace, but because they do not want to see Democracy defended.

And every last one of these sons of bitches would gladly visit hellfire and war on their neighbors, their own people, right here in the United States.

And the first people they will murder will be their own.

Don't take my word for it, listen to them.

We are either, as Reagan famously said "The last, best hope of freedom on this Earth" or we're not.

You pick. You choose by your actions or by your inaction. Not choosing is a choice. Remember that.

It's that simple.

And the choice is Freedom or the Hellfire.

Deal with it.

Part I

If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except to sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves. ~Ronald Reagan