The chant of "let's go Brandon" has now resonated within church walls in the U.S. We could have seen this coming. Is the cult of Trump snowballing into an ever-bigger menace? The talk among such folks is ever more toxic. It's a race to the bottom where ignorance, paranoia and venomous hatred reign. This is MAGA of the year 2021.
A substantial amount of that sentiment would appear to exist in Stevens County. This I glean in a general way as I try to make normal rounds within our pandemic-limited world. Many of these people have been avoiding the vaccine at their peril. They of course don't want the government telling them what to do. They listened seriously as Donald Trump talked about injecting bleach or using UV light.
I wondered in an email to John Zeigler what would have happened, if Deborah Birx, she of the scarves, had risen to her feet and literally tried shoving Trump aside so she could speak. Our instinct is so strong to defer to the president. Years from now as we may be surveying the wreckage of what MAGA wrought, people like Dr. Birx will undoubtedly say they saw the nonsense all along. They'll just say they had to be careful and step lightly.
It's human nature: to protect your own interests in the present as best you can. And to protect your interests later with hindsight. Didn't Albert Speer become known, in a way, as "the good Nazi?" Well, he certainly could not show his Nazi stripes any more, not if he knew what was good for him. Does anyone say in the year 2021 that the Vietnam war was a good policy for the U.S.? I don't remember the precise year when the worm turned on that, but there was a period when you had to watch your back when you criticized the war.
More recently, Phil Donahue got kicked off the Bill O'Reilly show for not being jingoistic enough. This was during our incursions in the Middle East. Well, we had Operation Iraqi Freedom. How could anyone be against freedom? And then, because we "just had to do something" after 9/11, we launched a similar effort with Afghanistan. Never mind that Afghanistan had a sinkhole reputation for such things.
Again it was a case of "let Daddy do his work," the line from the "Austin Powers" movie, where Dr. Evil needs a retort for his son. Of course the son was the person who saw things clearly and logically, as a child might. The evil father allowed an "inept guard," to use son "Scott's" term, to escort prisoner Powers away. But sometimes certain things just have to be done like in a movie script.
So Republican president George W. Bush launched the Afghanistan venture. Which cost how much? And now Republicans are wringing hands over elements in the Democrats' (actually bipartisan) infrastructure package? When in fact, the package has direct benefits for all Americans, clear and unmistakable? But 20 years in the sinkhole of Afghanistan? As vengeance?
The 9/11 hijackers were killed on the day of the terrorist act.
So, neocons like Dick Cheney, father of current Republican pariah Liz - what an odd world - scratched their heads and decided we needed to roll into Iraq. Ah, "weapons of mass destruction" which were then found not to exist. The cost of all that? And Republicans won't make a major issue out of it? At the same time they nit-pick something like the infrastructure package?
"Let Daddy do his work." It's all in the name of partisan bravado.
So now we have the "let's go Brandon" phrase entering our churches. Shall we assume the Texas incident will lead to more of same? It was precipitated at the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio TX.
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| Fess Parker |
The main reason the Mexicans attacked was their opposition to slavery. Well, now, that clouds the question, doesn't it? Or maybe not, because the Walt Disney types who "hate communism" also hate "critical race theory." So let's not teach kids some of the ugly facts about U.S. and world history, the oppression based on race.
Crockett was actually executed.
We've seen similar Anglo myth-making about Custer and his "stand." Following a wildfire at the Little Bighorn in the early 1980s, ground was cleared that allowed research based on things like shell casings. And what was discovered was: It was really just chaos at the end. And wouldn't that make sense? Just like with the Alamo, when a group of people (OK, men) realize they are absolutely doomed, they aren't going to just sit there and keep shooting bullets at their attackers. That would just get the attackers more teed off, naturally.
An instinct takes over to flee, however futile, or surrender, also futile, but the odds are better than to just sit there trying to look "brave."
Political conservatives have so much bravado these days and would celebrate the Anglo heroic narrative of the Alamo and Custer's Last Stand. General Custer had been involved in the Washita massacre in which women and children were killed. I suppose the "CRT" opponents would not want that taught. Such messy little details, just like slavery.
So conservatives and Republicans today try to at least pretend to have bravado by gathering in our churches and chanting "let's go Brandon." Which means, and I sincerely apologize, "fuck Joe Biden." This is how Republicans talk these days. What about our local Apostolics in the Morris area? Are they talking that way? They most assuredly got on the Trump train, even displaying flags on the backs of pickups. One flag wasn't enough, so why not two "Keep America great" flags, eh?
Where can I find refuge now, if not within my mother's Christian faith? She wouldn't recognize the Christianity of today. Heaven help us all? We may be past that point.
Addendum: I'm listening to WDAY Radio, Fargo, this morning, and it is so outwardly pro-Trump. There's an on-air personality who has such a fake laugh, it grates on me and makes me want to switch stations. Sickening. So much of AM radio is not only pro-Trump, it mocks and pokes fun at Democratic office-holders. Is this what our Founding Fathers had in mind?
If T. Denny Sanford of South Dakota had a record of giving $ to Democrats, rather than to Trump, AM radio would explode with vitriol vs. Sanford around the clock, based on a messy bit of recent news you may have heard about. Sanford supports Trump and not the current office-holder. Therefore the talking heads of radio ignore the matter. And let's face it, the more educated listeners have moved on to satellite radio. (What if I wrote "nattering nabobs" instead of "talking heads?")
Addendum No. 2: Custer was found dead "with an arrow shoved up his manhood."
Addendum No. 3: A sign in front of Cornerstone Church, San Antonio, included the name of John Hagee. Can you place him? John McCain had to reject Hagee's endorsement for president in 2008. Ahem: McCain learned of Hagee's comment that Adolf Hitler had been fulfilling God's will by hastening the desire of Jews to return to Israel in accordance with Biblical prophecy. McCain is posthumously declared persona non grata by the GOP today. This is on direction from Trump.
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| Cornerstone Church, San Antonio TX, with Pastor John Hagee |
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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