Friday, October 25, 2024

Why Not?: Rules for Thee But Not for Me

This is the eighth in a series of posts on the reasons I will not be voting to return the former president to the White House. My focus here is not to support his opponent but instead to explain why I believe that Donald Trump is manifestly unqualified for the role.

My dad didn't read much growing up - at least not willingly. (I've come to believe he had undiagnosed dyslexia, which made reading a chore rather than a joy.) But there was one book he read in school that he mentioned enjoying - George Orwell's Animal Farm. I distinctly remember him quoting from it to justify his role as the key decision-maker in my life as a kid:
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
It was a good-natured joke in our family...

...but unfortunately it is the painful reality of the former president's view of crime, policing, and taking responsibility for his own actions.

Rules for Thee...
"When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just seen them thrown in, rough. I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice.’ When you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head you know, the way you put their hand over [their head]. Like, 'Don’t hit their head and they’ve just killed somebody, don’t hit their head.' I said, 'You can take the hand away, OK?'"
"If you had one day, like one real rough, nasty day... One rough hour and I mean real rough. The word will get out and it will end immediately. End immediately. It’ll end immediately."
In the decades since his newspaper ads calling for the death penalty for the Central Park Five, Trump has repeatedly endorsed harsher penalties for a wide range of crimes, including threatening 10-year prison terms for anyone vandalizing a statue or other federal monument, suggesting that people who sell illegal drugs should be executed, and praising the president of the Philippines for his approach to drugs, which included the extrajudicial killings of thousands of suspected drug dealers by both police and vigilantes. Trump publicly suggested that soldiers could shoot at people at US borders who throw rocks at them, reportedly suggested in private in 2019 that soldiers shoot migrants in the legs to slow them down, and reportedly made a similar comment about shooting protesters in the legs during the height of the social justice demonstrations prompted by a Minneapolis police officer’s murder of George Floyd in 2020.
For an overwhelming look at who the former president has threatened with prosecution, this NPR story includes an infographic that sorts out Mr. Trump's over 100 threats by the various categories of people that he has proclaimed should be arrested, jailed, punished, subjected to military tribunals, court-martialed, etc. .  
“I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”
“Well, revenge does take time. I will say that... And sometimes revenge can be justified, Phil, I have to be honest. You know, sometimes it can.”
"When this election is over, based on what they've done, I would have every right to go after them.”
...But Not For Me
"As we move forward in Uniting our Nation after the horrific events on Saturday, this dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts — The January 6th Hoax in Washington, D.C., the Manhattan D.A.’s Zombie Case, the New York A.G. Scam, Fake Claims about a woman I never met (a decades old photo in a line with her then husband does not count), and the Georgia “Perfect” Phone Call charges. The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME. Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!"
(Donald Trump on Truth Social, July 2024)
"The ridiculous and baseless indictment of me by the Biden administration weaponized department of injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country." 
The former president has every right to have his day in court - but the outright dismissal of charges because he screams "It's all political!" is not justice. 

And whining about abuses of power (his words) when you are obsessed about revenge and retribution (also his words) is really quite something. Especially when you managed to get through your trial in New York, violate the judge's gag order at least ten (10!) times, be found in contempt of court, and still not manage to end up spending a night in jail. 

I'm not expecting most of my readers to follow these links - but in case you want more detail about the actual charges that the former president so blithely dismisses, you can read the superseding indictments in the January 6 case and the classified documents case. You can also read the brief on immunity determination for the January 6 case.

Yes, I realize that Judge Cannon dismissed the documents case based on [checks notes] the special prosecutor being illegally appointed... but that decision is currently being appealed and is unlikely to withstand the scrutiny of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. I'm also aware that Judge Cannon has been listed by the Trump campaign as a possible candidate for attorney general [insert raised eyebrow here].

One final link: the Legal Eagle YouTube channel has posted a video that lays out many of my concerns about the former president from a legal perspective. You may well not agree with their choice to endorse the other candidate - but I appreciated the clear way they made the argument similar to the one I'm trying to make.

Real Justice
When a judge says to the guilty, “You are innocent,”
    he will be cursed by all people; he will be hated by nations.
But those who reprimand evildoers will be celebrated,
    and good fortune will come their way.
(Proverbs 24:24-25 VOICE)
Never take vengeance into your own hands, my dear friends: stand back and let God punish if he will. For it is written: ‘Vengeance is mine. I will repay’.
(Romans 12:19 PHILLIPS)

Eloquent words are not appropriate on a fool’s lips; how much worse are lies for a ruler. (Proverbs 17:7 HCSB)

Don’t pervert justice. Don’t show favoritism to either the poor or the great. Judge on the basis of what is right.
(Leviticus 19:15 MSG)
But let justice run down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream [flowing abundantly]. 
(Amos 5:24 AMP)

Important reminder: I am not attempting to defend the Biden administration or the Harris candidacy. I am simply pointing out that Donald Trump's view of "justice" is skewed by anger & a desire for vengeance and that behavior does not deserve and will not receive my support.

The first post in this series focuses on tariff policy - at this point, Mr. Trump's belief that tariffs are a "magic wand" that can cure all sorts of problems - child care, grocery prices, bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., etc. They're not.

The second post in this series focuses on immigration policy - the dehumanizing language, the abject lies, and the unbelievably foolish promises of mass deportation.

The third post in this series focuses on Mr. Trump's narcissism and potential cognitive decline.

The fourth post in this series focuses on the unbelievable record of lying by Mr. Trump.


The sixth post in this series focuses on the extraordinarily odd decisions on the part of so many voters to support Mr. Trump despite his obvious disdain for their opinions and needs.

The seventh post in this series focuses on the opposition of many of his former staff to his re-election as well as his possible choices for government positions of unqualified (at best) individuals. (This post was written prior to the release of more extensive reporting of John Kelly's rejection of Mr. Trump.)
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Thursday, October 24, 2024

Another Wave of Heroscape (And Questions!)


When Wave 1 of the new era of Heroscape released in August, my sons & I put out a rather long post to answer a plethora of questions about Heroscape: Age of Annihilation. I thought it fitting that we continue the format to preview/review the Wave 2 material that is being released this month.

Once again, let me note for those of you who’ve been living under a gaming rock for 20 years that Heroscape is a miniatures skirmish combat game played on a board constructed out of plastic terrain pieces. Since the theme is a battle for dominance in world where the Valkyrie Generals can recruit warriors from multiple times & dimensions, there is a wild mixture of heroes & squads – aliens & Matrix guys & Braveheart & dragons & robots & kung fu monks & gorillas with guns, to name a few. And it’s one of my favorite games…

What exactly did Renegade Game Studios release for Heroscape this fall?

There are five items in this wave:

I’m new to Heroscape. Are these Wave 2 boxes a good way to get started playing?

The Wave 2 army boxes are excellent additions to a Heroscape collection – but by themselves don’t contain enough figures to act as a starter set. The terrain boxes are a great way to expand your ability to build maps but don’t contain any figures. In addition, none of these releases come with order markers, battle dice, or rulebooks.

The Wave 1 releases (the Master Set & the Battle Box) are the place to start if you’re new to Heroscape. The Battle Box is an excellent “let’s see if I’ll like this” set with six unique characters and enough terrain (including Laur trees and wellspring water tiles) to give you the flavor of the bigger game system. The larger Master Set offers a great variety of figures (including the first squads of the new system) and possible scenarios.

An important note for both newbies and old skool Heroscape players: all of the heroes and squads in the Battle Box, Master Set, and Army Expansions (through Wave 2) are unique – meaning you cannot field more than one of them per army. 

Are these good purchases for those of us who’ve been collecting Heroscape for years?

This question is a little bit more up my alley. I own at least one (and often more than one) of everything from the original run of Heroscape (2004-2010) as well as Wave 1 of the new era of ‘Scape.

Giving Ullar two additional Kyries – particularly these two – strengthens a number of the older figures (Saylind, Atlaga, the Protectors of Ullar). The Revna Kyrie is a powerful tag-team partner with Misarex (released in Wave 1). Glinerva the Kyrie Warrior can not only protect her fellow Aquilla warriors but almost any who fight by her side. Finally, the Vydar Kryie (Queen Qhyrion) is a beast of a warrior in her own right – and a welcome addition to any army.

The Army box with Eisenek warriors is a powerful one-two punch. The speed of the Necrotech Wraithriders is supplemented by bonding with Iron Lich Vicerot and his ability to inject them with a vile substance that enhances their powers. It’s also important to mention that they look really cool on the battlefield as well. 


All of the figures in wave 2 are useful – both in armies created solely with “new era” characters and “all time” armies. Our games with them have shown some weaknesses (don’t let your Kyrie get trapped by a horde of smaller figures) and some amazing strengths (the aforementioned Vile Injection power). 
Collin: As someone who grew up with classic ‘scape and has a small collection of old figures, they’re definitely a LOT of fun to play mixed in with old sets. The Kyrie box especially has a lot of synergy with various figures throughout Heroscape’s history. Most notably, Mielki can provide defense for Ullar kyrie, of which only one exists in new scape figures.

As for the big metal crab and his roly-poly companions, they’re solid figures to add to your collection, but as of right now they primarily synergize with themselves.
Are the new terrain pieces worth it?

The addition of 3 hex water pieces allows for easier creation of very interesting boards – hopefully illustrated by the pictures added here of two boards I built using only the terrain pieces from Wave 1 and Wave 2. (The first of these boards is actually an older Heroscape map originally intended for two Rise of the Valkyrie master sets – the current available terrain is more than adequate to rebuild a close facsimile of the original design.)


It’s nice to have the 24 hex sand tiles as well… particularly when you’re looking to give a map design a particular feel. (This second board is one of my own creation – which actually worked pretty well.)


I did some quick figuring (spreadsheets are our friends) to compare the number and types of tiles in the “classic” sets vs. the “new era” sets… and while the original sets had a few more pieces:
  • Rise of the Valkyrie 85
  • Swarm of the Marro 75
  • Age of Annihilation 74
  • Battle for the Underdark 34
  • Battle for the Wellspring 31
  • Lands of Valhalla 63
…the new sets compare favorably when you count the actual number of hexes:
  • Rise of the Valkyrie 359
  • Age of Annihilation 330
  • Lands of Valhalla 300
  • Swarm of the Marro 232
  • Battle for the Underdark 145
  • Battle for the Wellspring 117
How are the scenarios in the various sets?

There are no new scenarios in the Wave 2 boxes. 

How does the future of Heroscape look to you?

The future looks really positive… for a variety of reasons.
  • The Wave 3 announcement last week had six army boxes (in two waves – February 2025 & April 2025) along with two more terrain boxes and an official paint set.
  • There were a number of very positive hints during the Game Designer Roundtable at RenegadeCon about future development.
  • Wave 1 sold out pre-orders for certain boxes direct from Renegade… taking them to a second printing.
  • The Sgt. Drake promo figure is now available through Renegade.
  • New players exposed to Heroscape in our orbit have quickly become fans… and began purchasing their own sets!
Collin: There’s a LOT of exciting things coming, give me more robots and polar bears!!!!
Let the battles continue! (Or, in our case, happen even more often!)

—–

Want to read more Heroscape coverage (written by me!) from the Opinionated Gamers site?
How about some stuff I wrote back in the day about Heroscape for this blog?
As noted above, I received review copies of the new Heroscape material – both Wave 1 and Wave 2. Back in the day, I did receive some promo figures, a couple of Volcarren Wasteland boxes, and a wave of figures as a “thank you” for my work as a playtester. (I also received a very cool Heroscape T-shirt which fit 42 year old Mark but isn’t as kind to 60 year old Mark. But I still have it hanging in my closet.)
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Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Why Not?: "The Best People"

This is the seventh in a series of posts on the reasons I will not be voting to return the former president to the White House. My focus here is not to support his opponent but instead to explain why I believe that Donald Trump is manifestly unqualified for the role.
"If you're dumb, surround yourself with smart people. And if you're smart, surround yourself with smart people who disagree with you."

This is not the first (or last) instinct in the world of Donald J. Trump.

John Dickerson wrote in his thoughtful book, The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency:

“Donald Trump repeatedly promised he would hire "the best people." He did not. That is not my opinion; it is President Trump's, which he expresses frequently. Trump has said that his first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, was "dumb as a rock" and "lazy as hell." His attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was "scared stiff and Missing in Action," "didn't have a clue," and "should be ashamed of himself." Trump described one of his assistants, Omarosa Manigault Newman, as "wacky," "deranged," "vicious, but not smart," a "crazed, crying lowlife," and finally a "dog." After lasting only eleven days as communications director, Anthony Scaramucci "was quickly terminated 'from' a position that he was totally incapable of handling" and was called "very much out of control." An anonymous adviser to the president was called "a drunk/drugged-up loser." Chief strategist Steve Bannon was "sloppy," a "leaker," and "dumped like a dog by almost everyone." His longtime lawyer Michael Cohen was "TERRIBLE," "hostile," "a convicted liar & fraudster," and a "failed lawyer." The president was "Never a big fan!" of his White House counsel Don McGahn and "not even a little bit happy" with Jerome Powell, his selection to head the Federal Reserve, whom he called an "enemy." His third national security advisor, John Bolton, was mocked as a "tough guy [who] got us into Iraq." When the president was irritated with his former chief of staff, John Kelly, the president's press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, declared that Kelly "was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our great president." 

First Time Around

A number of former staff members have clearly stated their opinion about the former president's return to the White House:

Mike Pence (former Vice President)

“I cannot endorse President Trump’s continuing assertion that I should have set aside my oath to support and defend the Constitution and acted in a way that would have overturned the election in January of 2021."

 John Kelly (retired Marine general, former White House chief of staff)

“What can I add that has not already been said?... A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.

“A person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women... A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person who cavalierly suggests that a selfless warrior who has served his country for 40 years in peacetime and war should lose his life for treason – in expectation that someone will take action. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.

“There is nothing more that can be said... God help us.”

Mark Esper (former Secretary of Defense)

"In my view, any elected leader needs to meet some basic criteria: they need to be able to put country over self, they need to have a certain amount of integrity and principle, they need to be able to reach across the aisle and bring people together and unite the country. Look, Donald Trump doesn’t meet those marks for me."

Mark Milley (former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)

“He is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country... A fascist to the core.”

John Bolton (former U.S. National Security Advisor)

"Trump is unfit to be president... If his first four years were bad, a second four will be worse... Trump really cares only about retribution for himself, and it will consume much of a second term."

In fact, the list of the Republicans who oppose Donald Trump is pretty extensive.

Second Time Around

I hesitate to speculate on who Mr. Trump will pick to be on his cabinet and in his administration - but I would not be surprised to see:

  • Jeffrey Clark -  who played a key role in Trump administration's attempts to use the Department of Justice to keep the former president in office
  • Stephen Miller - the chief architect of the Muslim travel ban and family separation policy during the former president's first administration... and was exposed to have white nationalist leanings
  • Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. - political candidate and environmental lawyer whose love for espousing conspiracy theories (vaccines cause autism, COVID targeting minorities, HIV not connected to AIDS, chemicals in the water causing transgenderism, etc.)
  • Ken Paxton - current Attorney General of Texas... who was impeached by the Texas state House of Representatives in 2023 for alleged inappropriate favors done for donors, interference in federal investigations and retaliation against whistleblowers. He is also awaiting a much delayed trial on state securities fraud.
  • Elon Musk - current owner of X/Twitter... and promoter of numerous conspiracy theories through his own X account, including some anti-Semitic posts. There are serious questions about his workplace ethics, particularly in the issues of sexual relationships with direct reports, drug use, and toxic work environments.
If you're interested in a deeper dive, Politico published a more extensive piece on this just a few days ago.

What's the Big Deal?

“Donald Trump believes he will be immune for anything he does once he’s in office. He will not respect the rulings of our courts, and people have to realize our courts can’t enforce their own rulings. So if a president refuses to carry out his obligation to do so, then we are no longer a nation of laws. The people that stopped him from his worst desires last time around won’t serve again."

Important reminder: I am not attempting to defend the Biden administration or the Harris candidacy. I am simply pointing out that Donald Trump quickly gets rid of people who tell him the truth and is drawn to those who simply do his bidding - and that behavior does not deserve and will not receive my support.

The first post in this series focuses on tariff policy - at this point, Mr. Trump's belief that tariffs are a "magic wand" that can cure all sorts of problems - child care, grocery prices, bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., etc. They're not.

The second post in this series focuses on immigration policy - the dehumanizing language, the abject lies, and the unbelievably foolish promises of mass deportation.

The third post in this series focuses on Mr. Trump's narcissism and potential cognitive decline.

The fourth post in this series focuses on the unbelievable record of lying by Mr. Trump.


The sixth post in this series focuses on the extraordinarily odd decisions on the part of so many voters to support Mr. Trump despite his obvious disdain for their opinions and needs.

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Monday, October 21, 2024

Why Not?: Things That Are Not Normal

This is the sixth in a series of posts on the reasons I will not be voting to return the former president to the White House. My focus here is not to support his opponent but instead to explain why I believe that Donald Trump is manifestly unqualified for the role.

Things that are not normal:

Evangelical Christians who rail against sexual promiscuity and the decline of marriage supporting a guy who said (on tape):

"I did try and f*** her. She was married. I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. … I moved on her like a b***, but I couldn’t get there and she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony t**s and everything... I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the p***y. You can do anything.” 

U.S. military veterans voting for a man who dodged military service with bone spurs and made unbelievably tone-deaf comments about honor & sacrifice:
Republican leaders who lived through the Cold War and the threat of the Soviet Union excusing the President of the United States when he stands next to the former KGB agent/leader of Russia and answers a question about Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election: 

"My people came to me. Dan Coats [Director of National Intelligence] came to me, and some others. They said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be." 

In other words, I am willing to believe the demagogic leader of a country over U.S. intelligence services.

And this admiration & excusing for Putin continues - on October 15th, the former president was asked about reporting by Bob Woodward that he had spoken with Putin multiple times since leaving office. His reply is... revealing.

"Well, I don't comment on that, but I will tell you that, if I did, it's a smart thing. If I'm friendly with people, if I have a relationship with people, that's a good thing, not a bad thing, in terms of a country. He's got 2,000 nuclear weapons, and so do we. China has a lot less, but they'll catch us within five years. If I have a relationship, I don't talk about... No, I don't talk about that. I don't ever say it, but I can tell you what, Russia has never had a president that they respect so much."

On October 17th, Mr. Trump opined that...

“That doesn’t mean I don’t want to help him [President Zelensky of Ukraine], because I feel very badly for those people, but he should never have let that war start."

Reminder: the war was started by a full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine (following the annexation of Crimea 8 years earlier.)

Union workers backing Mr. Trump despite his complete disdain for their work and/or their livelihood:

“They get away with murder because they say, ‘Oh yes, we’re building cars.’ They don’t build cars. They take ’em out of a box, and they assemble ’em. We could have our child do it." (interview - Oct. 15, 2024)

“I know a lot about overtime. I hated to give overtime, I hated it. I’d get other people—I shouldn’t say this, but I’d get other people in. I wouldn’t pay." (rally - Sept. 29, 2024)

-----

Here's the deal - there is no limit to the number of these kind of statements and behaviors by the former president that clearly indicate his lack of fitness to serve again. In just the last week, he's managed to:
  • talk about the size of a dead golf legend's genitalia during a rally
    • “When he took the showers with other pros, they came out of there. They said, ‘Oh my God. That’s unbelievable.’”
  • stop answering questions at a town hall and have his staff play songs off his Spotify playlist for over 35 minutes
    • "Let's not do any more questions. Let's just listen to music. Who the hell wants to hear questions, right?"
  • referred to his supporters as "fat pigs"
    • Tell them, ‘Jill, get your fat husband off the couch, get that fat pig off the couch. Tell him to go and vote for Trump, he’s going to save our country. Get him up, Jill, slap him around, get him up!'”
  • called himself "the father of IVF" in a Fox News town hall
    • "I'm the father of IVF. We really are the party for IVF. We want fertilization, and it's all the way and the Democrats tried to attack us on it, and were out there on IVF, even more than them. So, we're totally in favor."
  • suggested that Abraham Lincoln should have negotiated to keep the Civil War from happening
    • “Lincoln was probably a great president although I’ve always said, why wasn’t that settled?”
  • reframed the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol as a "day of love"... in addition to putting himself on the side of the rioters
    • "There were no guns down there. We didn’t have guns. The others had guns, but we didn’t have guns. And when I say “we” these are people that walk down, this was a tiny percentage of the overall, which nobody sees and nobody shows. But that was a day of love from the standpoint of the millions, it’s like hundreds of thousands."
This is not normal... and you don't have to normalize it by voting for the former president.

------

Important reminder: I am not attempting to defend the Biden administration or the Harris candidacy. I am simply pointing out that the obvious issues of cognitive decline and narcissism by Donald Trump do not deserve and will not receive my support.

The first post in this series focuses on tariff policy - at this point, Mr. Trump's belief that tariffs are a "magic wand" that can cure all sorts of problems - child care, grocery prices, bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., etc. They're not.

The second post in this series focuses on immigration policy - the dehumanizing language, the abject lies, and the unbelievably foolish promises of mass deportation.

The third post in this series focuses on Mr. Trump's narcissism and potential cognitive decline.

The fourth post in this series focuses on the unbelievable record of lying by Mr. Trump.


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Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Why Not?: "Hostages"

This is the fifth in a series of posts on the reasons I will not be voting to return the former president to the White House. My focus here is not to support his opponent but instead to explain why I believe that Donald Trump is manifestly unqualified for the role.

Just watch.

And the former president's response:
The moment we win, we will rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner unjustly victimized by the Harris regime. And I will sign their pardons on Day One.
A reminder from NBC News:
Jan. 6 defendants were caught on tape brandishing or using firearms, stun guns, flagpoles, fire extinguishers, bike racks, batons, a metal whip, office furniture, pepper spray, bear spray, a tomahawk ax, a hatchet, a hockey stick, knuckle gloves, a baseball bat, a massive “Trump” billboard, “Trump” flags, a pitchfork, pieces of lumber, crutches and even an explosive device during the brutal attack.

 And the pardon power the former president would yield is formidable (from NPR):

Trump would have wide latitude to issue pardons. Scholars have called that presidential power a "near-blank check," unrestrained by other branches of government.

"Legally, there's not much that Congress or the courts can do to stop the president from granting clemency," said Jeffrey Crouch, an assistant professor at American University and author of The Presidential Pardon Power.

Once again, the former president:
Yes, after playing a version of the national anthem sung by the J6 Prison Choir, Mr. Trump did use the words:
"You see the spirit from the hostages—and that’s what they are, is hostages... They’ve been treated terribly, and very unfairly... unbelievable patriots.” 
If you'd like to know more about those "heroes", The Bulwark published an excellent piece detailing some of their convictions entitled "Just Who Are Trump's January 6th Heroes?" And for a really deep dive, you can look at the searchable database of Capitol Breach Cases. (There are currently over 1,200 cases in the database.)

Returning the former president to the Oval Office invites a colossal injustice to the law enforcement officers involved (from CNN):
The Justice Department believes more police officers were injured in the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack than have been officially reported, a top prosecutor said Thursday.

In a news conference commemorating the third anniversary of the insurrection, Matthew Graves, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, said it was “likely the largest single-day, mass assault of law enforcement officers in our nation’s history.”

“One hundred and forty officers guarding the Capitol that day reported physical injury, but we know from talking to the hundreds of officers guarding the Capitol that day that this 140 number undercounts the number of officers who were physically injured, let alone those who have suffered trauma as a result of the day’s events,” Graves said.

It is not "law & order" to pardon those who violently breached the U.S. Capitol in service of a narcissistic man who couldn't publicly admit he lost an election.

You are doomed! You call evil good and call good evil. You turn darkness into light and light into darkness. You make what is bitter sweet, and what is sweet you make bitter. (Isaiah 5:20 GNT)

----

The first post in this series focuses on tariff policy - at this point, Mr. Trump's belief that tariffs are a "magic wand" that can cure all sorts of problems - child care, grocery prices, bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., etc. They're not.

The second post in this series focuses on immigration policy - the dehumanizing language, the abject lies, and the unbelievably foolish promises of mass deportation.

The third post in this series focuses on Mr. Trump's narcissism and potential cognitive decline.

The fourth post in this series focuses on the unbelievable record of lying by Mr. Trump.
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Monday, October 14, 2024

Classic: Card Games & Paint Splatters

By now, pretty much everyone who reads this blog is aware that I'm somewhat obsessed with my hobby, collecting & playing board games. (Those of you who've seen the game room are sniggering at my use of the word "somewhat" in the previous sentence - stop it.) One part of my enjoyment of the hobby is online conversations about board games with other folks who share my enthusiasm.

One of those conversations seventeen years ago took a very interesting turn. We had been talking about a new "take that" card game (one of the best known "take that" games is Mille Bornes) which has weak gameplay & even weaker card art. That got some folks wondering about the ugliest card art they'd ever seen... which then led someone to bring the cliché that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". And then I felt compelled to tell my story:
I'm reminded of our visit to the Art Institute in Chicago... after hours of perusing art by Seurat, Rembrandt, Cézanne, Van Gogh and others, we found ourselves in the lower reaches of the Institute, in the "Contemporary" section. 
After looking rather askew at a Jackson Pollock (I understand intellectually that I'm looking at something "fraught w/meaning", but it still looks like paint spatter to me), we turned to see a small African-American woman in a guard's uniform standing beside. 
"I painted that," she said... and smiled. 
My wife & I laughed and turned to look at an abstract nude of an obviously overweight woman to our left. 
"That's my mother-in-law," she said. 
I don't think I ever appreciated art quite as much as I did that afternoon.
Matthew Frederick responded:
One afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, after having spent a week straight touring the city with my daughter, I plopped down exhausted on a bench to wait for her to finish with something and come find me.
I'd felt exactly as you do about Pollock, that it was just paint splatters, and that though in theory I should see something or be moved, there just wasn't anything there for me. Turns out I was sitting across from a huge Pollock, but I pretty much ignored it. Suddenly, though, WHAM, I could see it. Motion, and flow, and depth. The painting was simply stunning. My brain had finally worked it out. 
To this day I can immediately find depth in Pollock paintings, but my brain's never quite worked out improvised jazz. Similar to the Pollock, I know it's a matter of my brain "getting it," and perhaps someday it will. I'll never forget my sudden awakening to the painting style, though, and the realization that there are some things that I just don't get yet, but that doesn't mean there's nothing there.
(Not saying that you're saying there's not... just a memory and an observation.)
To which I responded:
Actually, Matthew, you've just given me one of the best sermon/message illustrations ever. That's the way I feel when I try to explain the grace of Jesus Christ to someone - like I'm talking & talking and they're looking at me like I'm trying to describe a Jackson Pollock painting. 
And then there's that moment when they "get it"... sweet.
With some more time to think about it, I've come to a trio of interesting conclusions about art & faith:
  1. I think we feel like it's our "Christian duty" to be able to explain everything there is to know about an infinite God... it's this impulse that leads televangelists to claim to know why God allowed 9/11 or a Christian friend to jump quickly to "they're better off in heaven" to a grieving friend. Since we can see, as Matthew put it, the "motion & flow & depth" of a life that orbits around Jesus, we want desperately for other people to see it, too.
  2. According to the Bible, our primary obligation is to live a life of "motion, flow & depth" - to do what Jesus did. (Romans 8:29) We should be "prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15), but that verse doesn't imply that we should explain the ways of God. Our responsibility is to tell our own story... (BTW, explaining the ways of God is gonna be pretty darn difficult when the Bible claims that "his ways are higher than our ways" (Isaiah 55:9).)
  3. Finally, notice how Matthew ended up in front of the Jackson Pollock painting. He wasn't planning to be there - but someone (the curator) had placed a bench where he could take his time to soak it in. Another part of our job as followers of Christ is to metaphorically put up paintings & place benches so that people can have the opportunity to examine Jesus... the chance to have one of those moments where the "motion, flow & depth" becomes clear... a moment where they can clearly experience the grace of God. Our churches need to be that kind of place - where people weary from life can come in, sit down & see what it looks like when people in love with Jesus give themselves to Him 100%


This article was adapted from an article originally published in the 7/26/07 edition of the Grapevine, the newsletter of NewLife Community Church.
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Wednesday, October 09, 2024

Why Not?: Lies

This is the fourth in a series of posts on the reasons I will not be voting to return the former president to the White House. My focus here is not to support his opponent but instead to explain why I believe that Donald Trump is manifestly unqualified for the role.

The Wikipedia article entitled "False or misleading statements by Donald Trump" starts with this editing note:
This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. 
That is an understatement.

What follows is a series of scattered thoughts on truth, lies, and what that has to do with the Republican candidate for president.

Lies

Both my sons knew growing up that lying was an especially egregious misstep in our house. We emphasized over and over that doing something wrong but admitting it was vastly preferable to lying about it. Our discipline was different if you were caught in a lie.

When I was dealing with a senior pastor's affair (as a staff member), one of the most thoughtful pieces of advice came from another church staff member halfway across the country who'd dealt with a similar situation. He noted that while the adultery was obviously a sin and disqualifying, the process of hiding the affair from so many people had given the pastor a master class in learning how to lie.... and that level of comfort with falsehood called more than just his sexual fidelity to his marriage into question.

At this point, I'll note that Mr. Trump's well-publicized marriages, affairs, divorces, and accusations of sexual assault might be an initial indication of "a level of comfort with falsehood."

Politicians Lie

In anticipation of some folks instant response to broaching this subject, I'm happy to admit that politicians do lie. Sometimes it's intentional - a way to escape a difficult question and/or something stupid they said or did previously; other times, it's an accident born of exhaustion or mixing up two sets of information. But they do it.

That said, they don't do with the casual ease and/or prodigious volume of the former president. Who, it should be noted, returns to his previous lies as a dog returns to his own vomit. (Gross analogy, I know - but I borrowed straight from Scripture.)
As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.
Proverbs 26:11 NIV
Helene

In the last week or so, Mr. Trump has - along with many right-wing conspiracy-minded people - amplified blatantly false information about the rescue and recovery efforts taking place in the aftermath of the hurricane that decimated western North Carolina and portions of eastern Tennessee. The fetid stew of outright lies about government inaction, "the great replacement theory", voting by illegal immigrants, and accusations of denying assistance to Republican areas is not only politically unwise - it's a sin.

2020

Three things for you to consider amidst the relentless barrage of falsehoods:
Yes, I've read the final report and immunity determination motion in full. I'm not just pointing you there. When it comes to assessing the truth of documents like these, you need to consider a couple of ideas that I've written about before: Occam's Razor and the difficulty of actually stealing a national election.

Truth

You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.
Leviticus 19:11 NASB

God can’t stomach liars; he loves the company of those who keep their word.
Proverbs 12:22 MSG

For there is nothing hidden now which will not become perfectly plain and there are no secrets now which will not become as clear as daylight.
Luke 8:17 PHILLIPS

Therefore, rejecting all falsehood [whether lying, defrauding, telling half-truths, spreading rumors, any such as these], speak truth each one with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one another [and we are all parts of the body of Christ].
Ephesians 4:25 AMP

And, to close, an appropriate musical interlude...

The trouble with lies
When you tell them you still got to sell them
With the look in your eyes
Oh, that's the trouble with lies
As far as I'm concerned
With the lessons I've learned
I'm determined to try and survive
Without lies

The trouble with lies
Is that you start to forget where the real man hides
Adam Again ("Trouble With Lies" from their album Ten Songs)


Important reminder: I am not attempting to defend the Biden administration or the Harris candidacy. I am simply pointing out that the obvious issues of falsehood and deceit by Donald Trump do not deserve and will not receive my support.

The first post in this series focuses on tariff policy - at this point, Mr. Trump's belief that tariffs are a "magic wand" that can cure all sorts of problems - child care, grocery prices, bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., etc. They're not.

The second post in this series focuses on immigration policy - the dehumanizing language, the abject lies, and the unbelievably foolish promises of mass deportation.

The third post in this series focuses on Mr. Trump's narcissism and potential cognitive decline.

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