Okay, sorry about yesterday. On the one hand, I think I wrote a solid assessment. I think it’s solid enough that, obviously, I fear it. On the other hand, it was pretty depressing. Well, unless you’re MAGA. If you’re MAGA, the looming specter of the fall is your goal, so the transition to dictatorship is good news to you. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, right?

But then I got a ray of hope. Did you see what happened to Trump at the Libertarian convention? Oh, MAN, did he get booed. By conservatives! And the energy wasn’t tepid, either. The crowd shouted him down – and he had a microphone (and, likely, a teleprompter)! He didn’t expect it. MAGA had tried to pack the audience so the Libertarians couldn’t get to their own seats in the convention hall. The idea was, MAGA would cheer everything Donny says, like they do, and leave the impression that Libertarians love trump, too.

But they don’t seem to. MAGA moved in early, to steal the seats (because MAGA will steal anything) but it was a bit TOO early. The Libertarians caught on to what was happening and came in and a confrontation began. The Libertarians wanted their seats. MAGA wasn’t moving. The Libertarians finally just created a human wall in front of MAGA and blocked their view – and shouted as loudly and long as they could.

I’ve seen video of the event. When the booing started, Donny looked shocked. He tried to talk to the crowd but they weren’t interested in any of his lies and just kept shouting and heckling. So, Donny did what Donny does. He got aggressive. He tried to shame them into compliance, like he does with so many Roepublicons. He tried quoting an article that suggested that Libertarians should vote for Trump and the house erupted again in jeers and boos.

So, he went to his stand-by; ridicule, “Only if you want to win. Only if you want to win. Maybe you don’t want to win. Maybe you don’t want to win. Only do that if you want to win. If you want to lose, don’t do that. Keep getting your 3% every four years.” His face got redder and redder. He smiled, but his tone was clearly not happy and his face was deep red. His anger was clear.

In fairness, the crowd quieted a bit after Donny promised to commute the sentence of Lance Ulbricht, an on-line drug dealer who created a web presence called the ‘Silk Road’ and was sentenced to life in prison. (Besides, all that shouting is tiring.) He lied to the crowd about things he would do for them. He said he would put Libertarians in his Cabinet. He pandered to them about a couple of their other pet priorities and they listened. But then he asked again for their support and the chorus of boos came flying back in his face.

After the speech, people in the crowd indicated they knew he was lying. One guy was quoted as saying, “He’s full of shit.” Nobody in the crowd bought his bunk and they know the list of his failures as well as anyone. In fact, the thing that seemed to distinguish MAGA from Libertarian is that the Libertarians seem to be better informed conservatives. Corporate media focuses so heavily on MAGA, I didn’t even know there were informed conservatives…

I found it… heartening. Many in the crowd who define themselves as MAGA, today, once defined themselves as Libertarian. Now there’s a clear schism and the Libertarians seem to have caught on to Donny’s game. I’ll tell you this: As I indicated yesterday, odds seem long but, hey, maybe MAGA can learn, too. Hope springs eternal, I guess…

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Have you heard that in Louisiana, MAGA has passed a law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every classroom? Sure, it’s a violation of the Constitution’s separation of church and state but they don’t care and if it gets to THIS SKCOTUS (Supremely Kangaroo Court of the United States), anything might happen. Those clowns don’t give two figs about what the Constitution says. They rule on their “feels” – and payments received, of course.

So? The Ten Commandments in every classroom. For the LIFE of me, I can never understand why so many American pseudo-Christians put their faith in Jewish law over Christian teachings but, by now “Christian hypocrisy” seems like a redundancy. (I mean, you DO know the Ten Commandments come from the Jewish Torah, right?)

In my experience, most of the people in “love” with the Ten Commandments don’t know the Ten Commandments and I’ve realized – even if they haven’t – they’re in trouble with the very first one. The first commandment isn’t “Thou shalt not kill.” That’s the sixth. Seems like it should have a top priority, to me, but to God, it comes in sixth.

Number One? “You shall have no other gods before me.” Uh-oh. What about Donny? He makes the very same commandment to his acolytes – and they comply. EVERY time. (Have you heard Nikki Haley has caved also?) So, how do they reconcile that? TWO deeply insecure, emotionally messed up entities vying for the loving eyes of their devotees could create confusion.

I suspect the pseudo-Christian MAGA would push back, “We don’t think Trump is God.”
“Really? Wow, you sure act as though you think he’s God. You treat him as infallible. You treat him as all-powerful and all-knowing. Isn’t that Yahweh’s shtick?” I guess they’ll have to put God and Donny in a cage and let them fight it out. (You’d think whichever one actually IS “all-powerful” would have something of an advantage…)

If I was a teacher in Louisiana, I would, of course, comply with the unconstitutional law. (Hey, lighten up. I’m a school teacher in Louisiana. I’m likely struggling financially and can’t afford to lose my job on principle.) But in MY classroom, right next to the Jewish Ten Commandments, I’d put an equally prominent display of the Christian Beatitudes.
“The what?” The pseudo-Christians ask.
“The Beatitudes. Um, the teachings of Jesus? Blessed are the poor? Blessed are the meek? Blessed are the pure in heart? Does any of that sound familiar?”
“What are you, a commie?”

The Bahá’í have a similar list of beliefs. I’d post THAT, too. I’d put ’em ALL up. Those kinds of collections of ideas, regardless of the source, tend to have positive messages so I know my students would be okay. My problem would be the parents, of course, but I’m not sure how they would criticize the display. The Ten Commandments are there. That’s what the law said I have to do, that’s what I did. (Hmm, maybe I would lose my job on principle…)

I guess I’ll just have to hang on to, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5: 1-12, NKJV)