lift toward greatness
the visionary, without
narrow jealousy

He had in him all the lift toward greatness of the visionary, without any of the visionary’s fanaticism or egotism, without any of the visionary’s narrow jealousy of the practical man and inability to strive in practical fashion for the realization of an ideal.

No more practical man ever lived than this homely backwoods idealist

but he had nothing in common with those practical men

whose consciences are warped until they fail to distinguish between good and evil,

fail to understand that strength, ability, shrewdness,

whether in the world of business or of politics,

only serve to make their possessor a more noxious, a more evil member of the community,

if they are not guided and controlled by a fine and high moral sense.

President Theodore Roosevelt on President Abraham Lincoln from remarks made at the cornerstone laying of the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Memorial, February 12, 1909.

deracinated
version of old lie, which she
carefully crafted

Starting off with a story I have already commented on but Sidney Blumenthal’s article, Nikki Haley’s comment on the US civil war was no gaffe, used the word ‘deracinated’ and I couldn’t let that go by.

Mr. Blumenthal writes: Though it was a stumble, it was not a mistake, but a message she has delivered for years and that has served her well until now. Her carefully crafted and closely memorized garble was a deracinated version of an old lie, which she had used before to attempt to mollify hostile camps in order to skid by.

Deracinated, by the way, is defined, “uprooted from one’s natural geographical, social, or cultural environment.”

When I read, “Her carefully crafted and closely memorized garble was a deracinated version of an old lie” I immediately called to mind Mr. Twain and his short story, The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg.

Mr. Twain writes, “There is nothing in the world like a persuasive speech to fuddle the mental apparatus and upset the convictions and debauch the emotions of an audience not practised in the tricks and delusions of oratory.”

Ms. Haley isn’t in South Carolina any more.

Reading Mr. Blumenthal’s article helped me understand, all over again, what politics is all about in the south.

In a goofy way, I appreciate Mr. Trump because I had bought into the notion of a New South but what I took for new growth was really just band-aids and scabs.

It took Mr. Trump, for different reasons, to tear off the band-aid and rip away the scabs and so the old ways are still there.

lovers of money,
boastful, proud, have nothing to
do with such people

In my Bible today I read this admonition in 2 Timothy, Chapter 3 1-5.

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.

People will be lovers of themselves,

lovers of money,

boastful,

proud,

abusive,

disobedient to their parents,

ungrateful,

unholy,

without love,

unforgiving,

slanderous,

without self-control,

brutal,

not lovers of the good,

treacherous,

rash,

conceited,

lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God — having a form of godliness but denying its power.

Have nothing to do with such people.

That pretty much seems to take care of Congress.

Our elected officials.

Most anyone in the current news cycle, for that matter.

Puts me in mind of the type of people, and there didn’t seem to be any in the recorded history, who would have tried to steal the 1st Class dining room silver … on the Titanic.

As for those elected folks, we voted them in there.

How did Obi Wan put it?

“Who is more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?”

Come on everybody, time to grasp at straws and go attack the Death Star.

are inflexible
on policy, flexible
on morality

Three days after the House elected Johnson speaker, Mike Pence dropped out of the Republican presidential primary. The most recent Republican vice president had become a polling afterthought, and the reason isn’t hard to discern. He’s every bit as faith-forward as Johnson, he was every bit as loyal to the Trump policy agenda as Johnson, and yet — when push came to shove — he could not participate in the Big Lie. He paid an immediate and permanent price for his honesty, with his approval among G.O.P. voters plunging after the attack on the Capitol.

This is precisely indicative of the political ruthlessness that’s overtaken evangelical Republicans. They are inflexible about policy positions even when the Bible is silent or vague. They are flexible about morality even when the Bible is clear. One Christian man tells the truth, and it kills his career. Another Christian man helps lead one of the most comprehensively dishonest and dangerous political and legal efforts in American history, and he gets the speaker’s gavel.

From the NYT opinion piece, ‘MAGA Mike Johnson’ and Our Broken Christian Politics by David French.

According to the NYT, David French is an Opinion columnist. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and a former constitutional litigator.

This is precisely indicative of the political ruthlessness that’s overtaken evangelical Republicans.

They are inflexible about policy positions even when the Bible is silent or vague.

They are flexible about morality even when the Bible is clear.

I don’t understand this one bit.

I reminded of the passage, Matthew 7:15-20.

Watch out for false prophets.

They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

By their fruit you will recognize them.

Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?

Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.