Campaigning with Barrabas.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you;

That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? ~Matthew 5:43-46

I saw this a couple days ago, one of a number of comments I've seen regarding the Trump 'campaign' rally last week in Grand Rapids.

And it bothers me, What do these people think is so great about being so hateful?

Not just regarding the abuse heaped on people of color, the undeserving, and the vulnerable. What do you think this implies for all of us, as a nation?

I'm a white dude, I'm a former Christian and conservative, I own guns, I do or I have fit into a number of categories that this ginned-up mob claims is desirable.

But of course, I don't qualify, despite being (more or less) an old white man. I'm a Democrat, and while I'm not 100% a 'liberal' by any means, I'm damned near a Socialist compared to these motherfuckers, simply because I believe people should take care of each other and their environment. (This belief stems from my own church background and conservative upbringing, and I've always felt that way.)  I'm a working person, who has no desire to be rich nor to exploit others. I need stuff, my health isn't great, and I don't care for seeing animals, people, or the Earth we all live on being abused. I'm not big on conflict or war, especially when such are promoted by people who will never fight in them for personal gain, power, or to cover up excessively fragile masculinity.

Not to mention, I hate their president "God." Again, I hated Trump when he was a Democrat and I was a Republican, too. I hated his bankruptcies and divorces (remember, I started out as a conservative Christian, here, back when that meant one was something other than a bigot) his gaudy buildings, his gimcrack public behavior, the "Popular Culture" he often represented (It's "Popular" because it's bullshit) his racism and his vapid stupidity.

In short, I'm kinda like, screw everybody else...I know these fucking people are quite likely to target me. Therefore, if I want to survive and do it on my own terms...not theirs...I have to make common cause with everybody else in these matters, just for my own safety.

How do I know this?

Well, here's a little evidence.

One of the people I follow on Twitter got death threats simply for pointing out that Ilhan Omar looked good in her Hijab. Now, so far as I know this lady (Ida) who commented on this and was then threatened, is gay and about as likely to support the Islamic religion as I am to become a Southern Baptist. She simply Made. A. Fashion. Comment. Not to sound all stereotypical here, but isn't that something gay folks are kinda known for? Seems to me a logical thing to comment on, and especially so for a gay woman regarding the appearance of another woman, just sayin.'

In short, left to my own devices I'd regard this as perfectly natural and move on, ya know, like a sane adult.

And here's the header for the article being commented on, you'll note it's in the Middle Eastern version of Vanity Fair...which, to be honest, I didn't know there was one. Again, seems like a perfectly natural thing for somebody like Ilhan Omar to be featured in, and it has about as much to do with Islam directly as Miley Cyrus rubbing her butt on some dude has to do with Christianity.

It's just a fucking magazine. Saying that somebody in it looks good in Hijab is "Promoting Sharia Law" to about the same degree as me thinking that one of my Christian female co-workers has a nice ass is promoting Christian Fundamentalism.

One of these things is not like the other. Not that such things matter to the perpetually aggrieved on the Trump-Right, who increasingly seem to be offended by the mere existence of other beliefs and opinions and even other people.

Listen, if these people aren't made to cut that shit out, and slapped down one way or another by the rest of us, none of this is going to end well.

At least some of these fucking people seem to want to live in a Christianized version of North Korea with Trump as their Eternal President  God King  Lord And Savior and I think the body of evidence that shows none of this will work out for the rest of us (and it won't be that great for the Trump Supporters either) is pretty damn persuasive.

I mean, seriously, what the fuck do you think all this Q-Anon shit really is?

It's nothing but a Juche Fan-fiction wank-fest because yes, on some level these fucking people know that their Dear Leader ain't all that. But they want to declare him a god and try and burn everything down anyway because "Fuck you, that's why." But, on the internet, they can still pretend. Let the weak say he is a mighty man, indeed.

They know...they know...it's not going to work out, but they increasingly seem to want to try it anyway. It's the world's biggest middle finger and they want to be seen giving it, like they think they're going to get some kind of a reward for it or something.

It's like how the people in one small Mississippi town decided to fill the town swimming pool with cement, because the court had ordered it be desegregated. These fucking people have found out that they're going to have to share America with the rest of us no matter who's in power. So, all the sudden, they don't want it anymore. It's almost like the only thing these motherfuckers really care about is their desire to be racists.

Well, not just racists, but you get the idea. A little Homophobia (and misogyny, etc.) fits nicely with their plans as well.

Although, to be fair, that didn't seem to work out very well for Denise McAllister's job at the Federalist...though the reason she got fired appears to have been public comments about the boss's wife.

Can't help it if this lady is crazy and stupid.

Read the comment, read how this bitch wants to tell another human being what his "purpose as an individual" is...and if that's how they're going to speak about somebody like Yashar...imagine how they're going to talk to or about you or me.

The rest of us can't afford to make the mistake that a lot of conservative poor white folks made, and agree with these motherfuckers that our lives aren't worth anything.

And if that's what they intend for him, imagine what they have in mind for the rest of us.

Telling these fucking people "Love thy neighbor" let alone "Love your enemies" registers about as much as simply shouting "I like big butts and I can not lie!"

Love ain't what any of this is about.

Unregenerate sinful Man simply won't hear the truth. It's not just that we're dealing with people who'd throw Jesus out if He actually did show up. (Or, for that matter, they'd march in the streets shouting "Crucify Him!!!" just as easily.) These people don't want the humble Savior, they want the murderer.

Same as it ever was, except these people think that Barrabas is Jesus.

No, These angry white Trump Supporters don't want to love their neighbors...they're the kind of people who increasingly whack off to fantasies of shooting down their fellow Americans, their own neighbors, because they see us as more "The Enemy" than Russians or Saudis or The People's Republic of China (a term that, back when I was growing up as a conservative, carried with it an implied and rather loud 'Ooga booga booga' as did any mention of the Soviet Union.)

Hell at this rate I would not be surprised if we don't make it to the next election without Americans shooting at each other, because apparently a lot of these people are starting to think even Trump can't or won't go far enough.

There's only one solution to this shit. Vote the bastards out, all of them. Then be prepared for what comes next, because whatever of these motherfuckers ain't died of old age by then, they aren't going to go quietly...and the entire objective of this whole mess is basically to crap all over everything so that future generations have to clean it up and it takes longer to address the needs of the present, much less the future.

Nobody's gonna "save" us from this mess, WE have to do the work, and end this crap, and fix it ourselves.

Just as we always have been before, We the People are the last line of defense. This time, we can't drop the ball. We can't afford to screw this up. Vote Trump out. Then we'll deal with what comes next.

Let's roll.