Louisiana Voice

Well, it’s finally happened. It was inevitable, I suppose, so why would I be surprised that such mentality persists and prospers under the guise of Christianity?

There’s (sigh) another book about Donald Trump but I have to say this one’s different. It was first published two years ago but has managed, with good reason, to fly below the radar or literary excellence.

It’s called (watch for lightning strikes) a “Christian book” on the Amazon page offering the book for sale.

Okay, you want to know the title? Here it is: President Donald J. Trump, the Son of Man – the Christ. It’s written by some delusional person named Helgard Müller who found it necessary to tag along at Trump’s public appearances in an effort to hawk this piece of trash out of a trailer. I’m unsure of the results of those efforts but the concept of the book seems to stem from Trump’s own claim that he is the “chosen one.”

I admittedly call it garbage without having ever read it, so I’ll let you decide for yourself. Here’s the Amazon blurb on the book:

During the presidency of President Donald Trump, it became evident to me that the prophecies about the Son of Man, as predicted by Jesus in the Bible were, to a significant extent, fulfilled at the hands of Mr. Trump.

The Bible speaks about two different Christs—or Messiahs. Jesus, the Son of God is the one Christ, whereas the Son of Man is the other. Jesus always referred to the Son of Man in the third person. The greatest distinction or significance between the Son of Man and the Son of God (the Lamb) is their respective positions at the throne of God. There are numerous differences between the Son of God and the Son of Man, but overall, people read these scriptures and they do not realize that the Son of God (the Lamb) stands in front of the throne of God, whereas the Son of Man, is positioned on the right hand of God. Jesus spoke about two different killings in the four gospels of the New Testament. People read these scriptures and are unaware that Jesus (the Son of God) predicted his own killing in the first person, as opposed to the several prophecies that He made in respects to the Son of Man who will be crucified.

The New Testament speaks about “two Kings;” Jesus, the Son of God, is the “King of the Jews,” whereas the Son of Man is the “King of Kings” who will be a world-ruler, and He will rule all the nations (the tribes) of the earth with a rod of iron.

This book will explain in depth how “Donald John Trump’s” full name literally means: “The Ruler of the World, graced by Yahweh (the LORD) and a descendant of a Drummer.”

Upon reading this book, the reader will be captivated when they realize how President Donald John Trump fulfilled most of the prophecies as the Son of Man. It speaks about End Time Prophecies and Biblical revelations regarding “President Donald J. Trump, the Son of Man. The Christ.”

Yep, Müller actually would have us believe there were two Christs. He advances his theory that Jesus was the son of God who was betrayed by Judas and Trump is the son of man “who was betrayed by (former Vice President Mike) Pence.” You can check it out on Snopes by going HERE.

The reviews were all over the road:

• Beautifully written text with direct scriptures noted within the text itself (each paragraph). All the authors thoughts are backed up by scripture. The puzzle is finally coming together, and it’s nothing short of being biblical.
• Poorly written. Incoherent. Rambling. Extraordinary claims made without any evidence. Presupposes the author’s word to be authoritative and reliable while the content proves otherwise…Honestly, there are better ways to kill brain cells.
• The content is void of biblical scholarship, the author has no credentials as a theologian, and among other things the book glorifies the “good old days” of apartheid in South Africa. This is yet another propaganda tool in Trump’s arsenal of deception. I returned the book for a refund. Shame on Amazon for even selling it.
• This is simply an amazing book. I read it cover to cover in about 90 minutes. I simply could not put it down. The insights here will thrill you and encourage all of us to stand fast in the face of rampant paganism in our country.
• Information of the fact that his army exists. Millions of soldiers willing to fight and die under his orders.
• As my headline says, THIS BOOK IS EASILY THE WINNER OF MY ANNUAL “Worst Book of the Year” award! How low can any author go?!
• The author’s delusional ranting convinces me of nothing. If Donald J. Trump sits at the right side of god I pity god.
• This book is, and I cannot stress this enough, surprisingly easy to autoerotically climax to. Even the cover drips of unfettered animal instinct.
• The words themselves trigger my confused loins in a manner that hasn’t been done since Birth of a Nation.
• It’s time the Southern Baptists add Donald John Trump to that little creed they make us say right before they take our money.

The writing of Mr. Müller would make wonderful satire were it not for the disturbing fact that hordes of rabid Trump evangelicals will twist themselves into knots in an effort to validate the book’s premise. And therein lies the real tragedy: Americans of faith who are so willing, yea, eager – to ditch their core beliefs in order to embrace a man who cheats on his wives, pays off porn stars, cheats on his taxes, stiffs contractors, embraces the leaders of terrorist states, swindles attendees of Trump University, bankrupts every business venture he’s touched, boasts of grabbing women by the p*****s, walks uninvited into dressing rooms of Miss Teen American contestants, steals top secret government documents and refuses to return them, constantly whines about being a victim, sells autographed Bibles, tacky gold-colored tennis shoes and violates every single Commandment, and much more too numerous to itemize here.

Here is one more review that pretty much sums it up: “No real Christian believes a word of the author’s conclusions.”

Those who continue to insist that Donald Trump is the right person to lead this divided nation, is have only one question – have you ever heard of the anti-Christ? – and the words found in one of my favorite Internet memes:

“Wisdom has been chasing you, but you have always been faster.”

A bill by State Rep. Les Farnum (R-Sulphur) raises several questions:

• Does the good senator have something to hide that he is afraid might become public?
• Or does he just want to curry favor with Jeff Landry?
• Or is his head where only his proctologist can find it?

I don’t mean to go out of my way to insult Farnum; I’ve never met the man.

But to introduce a bill (HB768) that would remove all personal liability from a public records custodian for refusing to comply with a public records request is just plain…what’s the word I’m groping for? Oh, yeah…stupid.

Even more disappointing – and frustrating – is the overwhelming support this piece of garbage received, passing by a 35-0 vote in the SENATE (with four not voting) and a whopping 92-1 vote in the HOUSE. Rep. Michael Bayham (R-Chalmette) was the lone nay vote. Twelve others did not bother to vote

And of course, Jeff Landry just couldn’t wait to sign the bill into law.

So, what was so awful about the bill, you ask? Well, until Landry signed the bill, the law provided a penalty of $100 per day plus attorney fees for any custodian of the record who refused to comply with a public records request.

Landry’s signature, likely executed in a pool of drool from an elated governor, takes away that penalty.

That’s right: a law with no teeth whatsoever. Now any custodian can simply ignore a public records request with no fear of reprisals. No accountability. No consequences.

The U.S. Supreme Court has already done that. They enacted their own set of ethics but failed to provide for penalties for violations of those ethics. Nice. And these guys are supposed to be the final say for the entire country on all matters legal.

Do we see a patter emerging here?

A law with no teeth. Here’s an idea: let’s do the same with traffic violations. Speed, run red lights, drive impaired; it doesn’t matter. We’re gonna remove all the penalties for those offenses. But hey, let’s go a step further. Let’s abolish the penalties for burglary, assault, armed robbery and other felonies. They’ll still be against the law, but at least no one will be punished for violating them.

And the Repugnantcans want to blame Democrats for being soft on crime.

Landry wanted to scrub the public records law altogether. This is the next best thing. Now, good luck to anyone seeking records about possible underhanded dealings by a public official, body cam footage of state police beating a man to death and later saying he died from a car wreck, information about questionable expenditures of taxpayer dollars. Contracts that reveal back room deals? Fuhgeddaboudit.

I don’t want to go too far out on a limb, but it would not surprise me one iota if the next move would be to seal off access to campaign contributions that at least for now are public records. I mean, who’s business is it about who gives how much to which elected official?

Without access to stacks of public records from Louisiana State Police, Mike Edmonson might well still be LSP commander.

We’re already witnessing a blitzkrieg attack on public education, higher education, conviction appeals, unemployment benefits, civil service, ethics laws, local control over industrial tax exemptions and state boards’ governing structure. And he tried, though unsuccessfully, to re-write the state constitution over a period of a couple of weeks without allowing for public discourse. Yes, he failed, but don’t think for a nano-second he won’t be back next year – if not before.

Remember when Bobby Jindal gutted state ethics laws after the ethics board penalized him for an infraction? Well, looky here, Landry was also given a slap on the wrist for campaign violations by the ethics board and what was his response? Why, he went after the makeup of the ethics board.

Folks, this governor is not about transparency. He’s not about good government. He never has been.

He’s about advancing his own personal agenda.

I’ll say it again, unequivocally: We’re going to long for the days of Bobby Jindal before Landry is finished.

John Kennedy may not see the need for strengthening ethics for U.S. Supreme Court justices (see post immediately below this) but by God, the Dingler Wild Hog Roundup up in Bienville Parish or the Swamp Time Hog Hunt in Caldwell Parish have their standards and you better not be caught trying to short circuit their regulations lest you run the risk of a fine and jail time.

The folks in these two contests take a dim view of porcine poaching as six men have learned.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, insisting it isn’t just hamming it up, has arrested Hunter Webb, Davy Haymon and Don Pollard Jr., all of Pitkin, Colby Bushnell of Dry Creek, Trace Davis of Longville and Nathan Granger of Vinton.

The rules, which apparently are more strictly enforced by the swine society than any idea of some obscure ethics code for Supreme Court Justices, mandate that all bacon-on-the-hoof entered in the contests must be caught during the contest dates – and in Louisiana.

The six, who were declared winners of the two contests initially, are accused of catching wild hogs in Texas prior to the contests.

In a pig’s eye, contest officials are now grunting that the six hog hunters are perfidious peccary pilferers. Accused of hunting contest fraud and criminal conspiracy, Davis, Webb, Bushnell, Haymon and Pollard Jr. are also accused of violating interstate commerce and Davis is charged with obstruction of oinker justice and Webb of hunting under a suspended license.

The pig perpetrators are looking at fines of $3,000 each and up to a year in the porker, er, pokey.

So, why do we need to have some standard of ethics, a bar below which no justice should ever stoop (or slither)?

I mean, why would anyone ever question the ethics of Justices Clarence Thomas or Samuel Alito? Free trips to exotic vacation destinations and public displays of controversial political leanings shouldn’t call their impartiality, their fairness, their objectivity into question, right?

Well, at least Louisiana’s junior U.S. senator agrees.

Yep, Mr. Self-Righteous his own self, John Neely Kennedy, joined other Sens. Wishy-washy Lendsey Graham (R-S.C.). Mike Lee (R-Utah) and others of the family values and apple pie party to BLOCK such tomfoolery, calling it “unconstitutional overreach.”

Funny, but I was taught in high school civics class that the judiciary, legislative and executive branches of government were to serve as “checks and balances” on each other. Guess my teachers back then misunderstood what our government was all about. Geez, you’d think they’d know better.

Graham, ever the statesman and diplomat, said the proposal by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), said the bill would “undermine the court’s ability to operate effectively.”

I see. To require the justices to adhere to some standard of conduct that might place the highest court in the land above reproach, could conceivably hamstring the court in carrying out its duties of administering justice fairly and equitably for every single American – white, black, brown, red, yellow, gay, straight, male, female, rich or poor. Well, we just can’t have that now, can we?

Durbin was a tad more on the blunt side when he said, “The highest court in the land cannot and should not have the lowest ethical standards.”

The Dingler Wild Hog Roundup in Bienville Parish has higher ethical standards than the U.S. Supreme Court (that’s a story to be addressed in a later post).

But Kennedy had the most unique, most original (I suppose), most creative reasoning for objecting to Durbin’s proposal: “I do not think this bill is about ethics,” he sniffed. “This bill is about abortion.”

Huh? Double huh?

What in the name of green persimmons is Foghorn Leghorn talking about? (if you watch video of Leghorn pontificating, you’ll get the green persimmon reference; he looks as though he just ate one.).

Surely, Kennedy, Graham, et al, weren’t opposed to the implementation of ethics for the nine justices simply because the bill was proposed by a (gasp) Democrat! Surely not, for these honorable public servants would never place partisan politics above doing what’s best for the country.

Never mind that. Let’s take a look at a video from Wednesday’s subcommittee hearing on the freedom to travel for abortion care. Kennedy, who has a penchant for posing decidedly loaded questions, got his COME-UPPANCE from Jocelyn Frye of the National Partnership for Women and Families, who suggested that Mr. “I’d rather drink weed killer” made the critical mistake of asking a question without being fulling informed of the answer.

That collection of clowns that descends upon Baton Rouge each Spring, along with Jeff Landry, already have egg on their collective faces – or at least those responsible for the passage of Senate Bill 276 do.

Here’s why.

On May 21, the HOUSE, by a vote of 65-31 (with nine not voting), gave its final approval to the BILL which classified mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled dangerous substances over the objections of more than 200 doctors who signed a letter to legislators warning that the proposed law could pose as a “barrier” to treatment of patients. The SENATE voted two days later 29-7 in favor with two members not voting. Landry, in his haste make sure that Louisiana would be the first to enact such a statute, SIGNED it into law the very next day, on May 24.

The bill was the brainchild of State Sen. Thomas Pressly (R-Shreveport).

Perhaps it should have been aborted before its ignoble birth.

Because, on Thursday (June 13), exactly three short weeks after Senate passage, BAM! The U.S. Supreme Court, in a rare show of unanimity, RULED the opponents of abortion lacked the legal right to sue over the federal Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone.

Nothing like trying to jump out in front of the parade only to learn it took a left turn about three blocks back.

It’s just one more example of how the Louisiana Legislature – and Jeff Landry – are so hell-bent on appeasing the far-right evangelicals that they’ll approve any kneejerk legislation if they think it will garner them votes. Congress long sense abandoned any pretense at trying to decide what was best for the country in favor of what is best for the individual parties and for lawmakers’ reelection. When a member of Congress openly declares that it is the intent to do nothing that would aid a sitting President, it’s only too obvious that our elected officials in Washington have lost their moral compass – if, indeed, they ever possessed one.

Now, we know in all certainty that that mentality has worked its way down to Baton Rouge and other statehouses.

The legislature’s silly eagerness to pass SB 276 – and Landry’s equally silly eagerness to sign it into law – evokes memories of more than 60 years ago when Leander Perez insisted on resisting the implementation of civil rights in Louisiana. Gov. Earl Long, not long before his celebrated mental breakdown but still in full possession of his biting wit, shouted at Perez from the halls of the legislature, “Whatcha gonna do now, Leander? The feds have the A-bomb!”

Well, to the Louisiana Legislature and Landry, I would say, “Whatcha gonna do now? The most conservative Supreme Court in this country’s history has spoken!”

The answer, I suppose, should be fairly obvious. Landry will direct his sock puppet attorney general, Liz Murrill, to hire some white-shoe law firm at something between $500 and $1,000 an hour to file meaningless litigation to preserve the state’s sacred laws.