November 16, 2024
Two days ago, panicked about Trump's cabinet picks, I was anxious and terrified for this country. I reached out to someone I knew a long time ago who might provide some reassurance. I met Dale freshman year in college. At 19, I was an unserious young woman flitting about, free to try all of the things I’d been too afraid to try growing up. Dale was 21, an avid history buff, and one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. At that time, he was an atheist. I was an Evangelical Christian. We would have friendly conversations about God, both of us respectful of the other’s point of view. But he was solid in his arguments, and I assumed he’d hold that position for life. But mostly, we’d have conversation about history. He was particularly knowledgeable about WWII.
I lost touch with Dale until, through the Magic of Facebook, we reconnected in 2016. I was truly flabbergasted to learn he'd become a devout Catholic. "You were an ATHEIST!" I said. "A DEVOUT ATHEIST!" He gave me an LOL and told me he'd been inspired to believe watching his wife's faith. He's been married more than 30 years, now, and has two grown children. I shared with him the piece I’d written about him, my first love. He was flattered. Over the last eight years, we occasionally messaged briefly, but never of anything serious. We no longer have a close personal relationship, we are merely connected on Facebook.
He is retired from a top leadership position in a government organization that handles military supplies and munitions. Because I knew him as a serious and committed young man, and because he’d had a long career in a department of the federal government, I assumed he took his obligations to the country very seriously. I truly thought he'd be able to shed some light on current events. I thought he might say something that made me feel better.
Here are highlights of our Messenger exchange:
Me (11/14):
I'm sure you can guess I'm beyond appalled, but I have to ask, what do you think of Trump's picks so far? I know you likely support conservatives, but you must have some concerns. I mean no disrespect. I'm terrified and looking for reassurance, I guess.
Me (11/15):
I sent this link about Tulsi Gabbard with the comment: I feel like we are in very dire straits here. This isn’t about who should have won. This is about who should not have won.
Dale (Today):
He sent me a link of Glenn Greenwald refuting a guest’s statements about Gabbard on the Joe Rogan podcast.
Me:
Really? Joe Rogan? What about a Fox News host in charge of the military? These people are not qualified. They have no experience. I feel like he’s either testing the Republican Party to test their fealty, or he’s on purpose trying to blow things up. He does not have the best interest of the country at heart. These are reckless choices. Matt Gaetz has zero character. I guess I was hoping for something different. I do wish you all the best. I really do.
Dale:
Are you terrified that they may broker peace? I see you didn't watch that video. You replied too fast to have watched it. So if you don't want a counter point don't ask.
Me:
You know enough about world politics to know that America First, isolationism, won’t work, that’s not our role in the world. It’s dangerous. You know these things. You know history. It’s because of you that I even pay attention to some of these things. And no, I’m not terrified of peace. I’m terrified of an angry man of little character. Who’s making rash decisions.
Would you allow your daughter to be alone in a room with Trump? Would you allow your daughter to be alone in a room with any of his appointees?
Dale:
You didn't even watch the video. Just stop.
It's not even a Joe Rogan video. It's a Glen Greenwald video.
Just stop. Leave me alone.
Me:
OK.
Oddly, I’m not angry, and I have no desire to continue communication. I’m not interested in arguing with him. It would change nothing. Somehow, as smart as he is, as experienced in government as he is, he drank the Kool-Aid anyway. I never ever would have imagined he'd succumb to a cult of personality. Not Dale. I know it's pointless to argue with a Trumper. He’s likely blocked me anyhow.
I thought I’d draft up this fantasy reply. It was good for me to do the research, and although it will change no one’s opinion, still, this is a time for me to do things like this for me, for my peace of mind.
Dale,
I watched the video. It is an excellent refutation of a liberal who went on Joe Rogan’s podcast and shot off her mouth about Tulsi Gabbard without having the facts to back it up. The video is spot on from that perspective. However, Greenwald does not present a compelling case in support of Gabbard’s choice to meet with Assad. He lists several instances when presidents have met with leaders of hostile countries. That’s diplomacy. One important point, though: Gabbard is not the president, nor was she dispatched on a diplomatic mission as a representative of the United States government. The meeting was surreptitious, and as such, extremely suspect.
“Gabbard made a secret, four-day trip to Syria during which she met with President Assad. She justified the meeting by stating: ‘When the opportunity arose to meet with him, I did so because I felt that it's important that if we profess to truly care about the Syrian people, about their suffering, then we've got to be able to meet with anyone that we need to if there is a possibility that we can achieve peace.’”
It’s just as inappropriate and just as disgusting that Sean Penn met with Castro, Chavez, Duvalier, and El Chappo. It’s inappropriate for a United States citizen to meet with leaders in hostile countries, regardless of their intent. But if they are meeting dictators in order to advance relations with the US, that runs contrary to the spirit, if not the letter, of the Logan Act, which “criminalizes the negotiation of a dispute between the United States and a foreign government by an unauthorized American citizen,” it is WRONG.
Furthermore, Gabbard is a Russian apologist. She promoted a conspiracy theory that the US sponsors bio labs in Ukraine for nefarious purposes. Both the U.S. and Ukraine have signed a treaty, the Biological Weapons Convention, effectively banning biological and toxin weapons by prohibiting their development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use. She has also been criticized for her failure to condemn Russia’s war on Ukraine.
In addition, Gabbard has done a pretty complete turnaround politically just since 2020 when she endorsed Biden. There is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with changing your mind. However, it is difficult to look at some of the folks who believed Trump was unfit for office just a short time ago, when they made loud public denouncements of his behavior and his character, and how they speak of him and support him now. It’s incredibly unusual for someone to have that level of transformation in such a short period of time without there being some underlying motivating factor. I purport those factors include opportunism, money, power, and depravity. And in some instances, evil. Unfortunately for many, the motivation is fear of personal and political retaliation, including fear for the physical safety of themselves and their families. I don't think that is the prime motivator for any of Trump's picks.
With regards to character, we are not judged in comparison to other people, we are judged according to how closely we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. Please consider the effectiveness of an argument against someone based on how much worse someone else is. Trump is a criminal. Ya, but Hunter Biden is also a criminal. True. However, measuring someone’s character by comparing them to someone else’s character is not valid. It absolves that individual of their responsibility to maintain personal integrity. Character is a standalone attribute.
I hate to throw scripture at you because I’m sure you know it better than me at this point. But here are some verses that provide concrete evidence that Trump, and his followers, are acting contrary to God’s intentions. There are thousands of verses, these are only a smattering. And I have not even listed any of the verses about treating the marginalized, which includes immigrants, members of the LGBTQ community, and people of color, with dignity, respect, and graciousness.
2 Tim 4:3-4: For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
1 John 3:10: By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
2 Tim 3:4-5: Treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
Matt 12:33-35: Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
Luke 17:1: And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!”
Matt 6:24: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
I have sinned horribly in my life, I’ve done many dangerous, damaging, immoral, and hateful things to myself and to others. But I’m not doing those things right now. Making mistakes and having shortcomings and personality flaws is human. What is wrong is when we know better and we are unrepentant and refuse to change. That’s willful sin. James 4:17: So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
You were in service to this country; you took an oath to the Constitution of the United States. Trump repeatedly challenges the Constitution to further his personal agenda and as a means of self-protection. Just within the last week, he not only suggested he deserves a third term, he is demanding that the Republican Senate Majority Leader call for a recess so he can circumvent Senate confirmations for his cabinet appointees. It is true that a provision for recess appointments is in the Constitution, but that clause exists because in 1787, all travel was by horseback. It no longer pertains when one can fly coast to coast in a matter of hours. Trump demands this level of fealty from Congressional Republicans for the purpose of circumventing established time-honored protocols. He repeatedly attempts to get away with questionable, immoral, and flat out illegal acts – and with astounding success. These are acts unbecoming the Office of the President.
When I read your responses, all I could think, was “What would Jesus do?” I think you know the answer to that. I know you know the answer to that.
I wish you all the best, truly.
Coco