This?
This is the hill we die on?
This is the sword we fall on?
The grand old party – keeper of law and order, fiscal responsibility, moral majority, and (self-proclaimed) values has lost its collective minds over this one (of more to come) indictment against Trump.
The GOP has trashed everything conservative govt claims to stand for to defend Trump over this (initial) indictment.
All this grandstanding in the shadow of the many crooked roads that lead us to the hot mess we’re in today – the worst evidence against Trump, is Trump himself – disregard any other witness, evidence, or proof of probable cause, suspicion, or guilt – consider only Trump’s actions, associates, schemes, and endeavors.
Trump’s tens of thousands of (on the record) comments, social media posts, lies, flip flopping, and endless chest thumping documenting his own lifelong trail of corruption, hate, abuse, ineptness, narcissism, etc., etc…
Trump’s very public history of tax fraud and abuses – not allegations, his actual tax records.
Trump’s businesses hiding behind a shiny gold façade trying hard to hide layers of settled or lost lawsuits, failed startups, defaulted loans, cheated charities, criminalized education institutes, employee abuse, money laundering, international financial fraud, etc., etc…
Dozens of Trump’s lawyers, investors/bankers, and financial advisors indicted, plead or found guilty, convicted, disbarred, lost licenses, jailed, ruined, testified against Trump, wrote books against Trump, stand up against Trump even today.
More than fifty Trump govt/campaign appointments, cabinet positions, staffers, govt agency heads/members, and federal judge placements under investigation(s), indicted, plead or found guilty, convicted, jailed, ruined, testified against Trump, wrote books against Trump, stand up against Trump even today.
Leaders from many of our international allies have called out Trump for his false statements, compromised governance – and his disregard for the rule of law, welfare of nations and people groups, and failed international military actions.
Hundreds of churches and church leaders have compromised their own basic beliefs and theology for the sole purpose of bending the knee to Trump – so they can leverage some political or judicial gain at the cost of their own religious values – many of these Pharisees and Sadducees have already been called out and denounced by their followers.
Trump’s 18 month (and counting) ‘secret/top secret’ document debacle – layers of lies and false representation of the facts – total disregard for the importance, adherence, and application of the authority surrounding the processes these documents are subject to.
Trump’s grotesque disdain for our basic laws, legal and court systems (unless they rule on his behalf) reflects the ease which he moves into abuse, manipulation, or corruption of these systems regardless of the fallout – he does not care who (or what) gets hurt for his gain or protection.
We need look no further than Trump himself – he is the absolute poster child for ‘The Emperor Has No Clothes’ – the only fool greater than Trump, is anyone who still defends him – and political motives DO NOT justify the insanity of this behavior.
At the end of the day (this first indictment), Trump cheated on his wife many times (according to him) which included a porn star – this porn star blackmailed Trump (according to him) – Trump paid his lawyer to pay her off (according to him) and illegally documented the pay off as something other than a payoff (an error on his part, according to him) – all with the intent to hide his behavior for the sake of the 2016 presidential election – yep, that’s full blown criminal behavior – cut and dry – yet, this is the hill the GOP feels it needs to die on – of all the important national and international governance issues that beg for the attention of our govt, this is the sword we want to fall on.
Seriously?
And the GOP wonders why so many conservative voters are turning our backs on the circus they’ve become.
Unhitch yourselves from this Trump laced hypocrisy – stop standing up for impossible things that any 8-year-old can see is wrong – get back to real work!
Kevin's Thoughts 
I know your blog is called Kevin’s THOUGHTS, but I’m inclined to say, I feel your PAIN.
You rightly (in my view) call the bluff on the GOP regarding Trump a dozen ways in one post. There is so much wrong with this even as a secular American, a conservative, and so forth – all the more as a Christian.
If Trump is lord, Jesus is not. I am so clear on that.
But… BUT… but if it wasn’t Trump, it would have been Hillary.
I remember back in 2015 praying and wishing we could weed out these extremes: Hillary, Cruz, and Trump. But American went right there like it was aiming for the bull’s eye. Forget the electoral college or any of that technical stuff, we brushed of John Kasich like a foregone conclusion so we could duke it out and make half of America LOSERS one way OR the other.
I wish I could link you to Rev. Olsen’s post (gotta search it, and I don’t have time) where he demonstrates putting our hope in a vote is asking for trouble just as a category mistake. I think he is right. This civil war we are brewing is not the first in this country, and the VOTE cannot cope or stop it or save us.
If Trump is not a despot, it is only due to happenstance. But he has flirted with the Lord’s elect and we have gone a-whoring after him, and need to PULL OUT!
All the logic behind how he is a scoundrel won’t change us. Sorry. There is at least one very OBVIOUS answer to mass shootings too, but we can’t bring ourselves to implement it. There may be others less obvious too, and I am one who remembers as a kid when at least two or three kids came to school each day with rifles in the gun rack in the back window of their truck, truck on the school lot, doors unlocked, and NO ONE feared this in the slightest! (Wow! If ever there was an argument for how guns don’t kill people….) But we need something else, something less obvious, and just as costly as we are already paying anyway… LOVE.
If Jesus is lord, Trump is not, and if LOVE is THE WAY, logical arguments are not.
Nothing wrong with a dose of prophetic shaming, calling to account, or even protesting, but let the prophet speak for God the truth in love. Let us proclaim Jesus. If there is a real shame where Trump is concerned, it is that the church has gone a-whoring after him.
AS I see it, there are two categories of demons in Mark’s gospel. The THEM demon and the US demon. The THEM demon comes running to Jesus from the shore to the boat falling before him confessing, and begging mercy. The US demon confounds his disciples, and they cannot cast it out.
This kind only comes out with prayer.
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Thanks for the insight/thoughts – some points of clarity:
For me, the challenge was never Trump vs Hillary – BTW, I voted for Trump at that point – my problem is with the persons of influence in govt, church, and news media who got us into this Trump mess and continue to stoke the fires of the Trump foolishness – knowing all the while Trump was a very flawed candidate, they covered themselves in his fake façade and pitched his poison – voting for the lesser of two evils is not the same as perpetuating/fueling a false notion.
I’m ashamed the portions of the nation who went right for Trump (in 2015), and continue to strongly support him today – not the least of which are large portions of the evangelical and conservative voting communities – they’ve leveraged his unsophisticated house of cards built on flaws, lies, abuse, and inept slide of hand tricks – entire sectors of the nation’s churches compromised their beliefs, testimonies, and witness to a lost world for this circus act of a man (and his casts of charlatans) – the shame comes in the details of their self-proclaimed and acted on motives: hate, fear, self-serving, narrow mindedness, false gods, etc., etc…
I often clumsily distract readers from my greater points so let me be clear and concise… it’s not the voting or voting process that I’m appealed by – it’s the misrepresentation of Christ to the world which crushes me – yes, “the church as gone whoring after Trump” – and it breaks my heart.
Sidebar:
100% agree with your point on guns.
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