Trump’s Troops Capture Venezuelan President Maduro. Does Might Make Right?

Overnight, U.S. troops entered Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and flew them out of the country under U.S. custody. They are to stand trial in the United States. This military maneuver came as a surprise to many, both inside and outside of Venezuela. Civilians died, but the number of deaths is still unknown. There is no doubt that this attack reveals U.S. military supremacy, but that is not the major issue. The main question that must be answered is the following: “Does might make right?”. All major ethical systems would answer with a clear “No!”

Let’s be clear. Maduro was a thug. Although he had previously been elected President of his country, it also seems quite evident that he stole the most recent election. His Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez has claimed that she is running the country according to the Venezuelan Constitution. Some of the opposition affirm that it should be Edmundo Gonzalez who really won the election. Others suggest it should be Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado. It remains to be seen who the Venezuelan generals will support. It is likely there will be fighting in the streets with many deaths. My hope and prayer are that the Venezuelan people will determine their own national destiny.

Nevertheless, I raise serious questions for the Trump administration.

According to the U.S. Constitution, Congress must authorize acts of warfare. Trump did not seek nor obtain this authorization. Neither did he even inform the bipartisan “Gang of 8” before the attack. Article 2 of the Constitution is an exception which grants limited war power to the President but only if U.S. personnel are under “actual or imminent” attack. Under no stretch of the imagination was this condition met.
Trump did not appeal to the United Nations for authorization. In fact, the President of Colombia has already asked the UN Security Council to intervene. Will the U.S. (a founding member of the UN) even acknowledge that it violated the UN charter?
Trump gave a campaign promise that he would not take our country into war, especially to bring about “regime change”. Hegseth and Rubio made the same promise to our Congress last month. Trump does not seem to understand the complexities of Venezuela’s internal polarization. Does he have any clue about the “day after”. Did candidate Trump lie to his MAGA base?
Just War Theory affirms that wars should never be waged in order to obtain the natural resources of another country. Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves. To what extent has this oil motivated Trump’s military attack?
According to the polls, Trump is the most unpopular president of the last hundred years. Over 60% of Americans disagree with his policies on the economy, health care, ICE detentions, and tariffs. Does he hope our people will rally around a president at war with a “cheap patriotism? A genuine love for one’s country seeks truth, justice, the rule of law and peace that comes from national righteousness.

I ask all people of good will to ask and answer these tough, but necessary questions. “Might makes right” is an immoral heresy that should be rejected.

Ukraine Again: An Evil Dictator (Putin), a Weak President (Trump) and No End to the War

On Sunday Ukrainian President Zelensky met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago to discuss steps to end the four year old war by Putin’s Russia on its weaker neighbor. Both Trump and Zelensky claimed that “progress” had been made. Even while negotiations were going on, Putin was continuing the bombing of civilian areas in Ukraine. Trump then talked to Putin by phone and affirmed the strange claim that Putin wanted Ukraine to “succeed”. Later, Putin alleged that Ukraine sent drone strikes at one of his personal residences in Russia. Trump became very angry when he heard about these strikes, although he did admit that these strikes could be fictitious.

You probably see many holes in this narrative…and rightly you should. We have seen this script acted out (with a few variations) for four long years. We have been on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs where hopes of a peace are raised and then dashed to pieces…again and again. I am tired of hearing the same lies over and over. Let’s shine the light of truth on two specific individuals.

Putin is an evil aggressor who invaded Ukraine. He is guilty of war crimes. He is not a man of peace. And in no way does he want Ukraine to succeed. He claims he wants peace but he does not sit down with Zelensky to have genuine negotiations. His demands for concessions (land, no NATO membership or protection for Ukraine) are ridiculous that none of us would accept. An honest appraisal of Putin would conclude that he has “played” the White House and continues to do so.
Although Trump likes to bully his rivals and subordinates, in fact, he is a weak president. He has never stood up to Putin (nor to any other authoritarian leader like China’s Xi). He praises Putin at every turn. “Putin did not start this war,” “Putin wants to end this war,” and “Putin is a man of peace.” Nevertheless, we have seen the evidence. Putin will never end this war because of any supposed “goodness” in his heart. He will only agree to a peace deal when war becomes too costly. Economic sanctions need to be levied against Putin until he is forced to negotiate. Mr. Trump, don’t blame our European allies. Work with them to apply economic pressure upon Putin. Do not enable him any longer. In short, become a true leader.

President Trump Continues to Break Many Laws and to Violate the Constitution. Woe to Those Who Enable Him

The Epstein Files – A month ago, both chambers of Congress passed a bill (the Epstein Files Transparency Act) that required the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all of the Epstein files regarding sex trafficking by December 19, 2025 (with a limited amount of material to be redacted in order to protect the identity of the victims). On Friday some 13,000 files had been released but Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche admitted that not all of the files would be released by Friday.

Republican Congressman Thomas Massie from Kentucky who co-sponsored the bill is not convinced that the DOJ is acting in good faith.. Prior to the release of this first trove of files, in a post to X, Massie described the information he was expecting. “The victims’ lawyers have been in contact with me. And collectively, they know there are at least 20 names of men who are accused of sex crimes in the possession of the FBI. So, if we get a large production on December 19th, and it does not contain a single name of any male who’s accused of a sex crime or sex trafficking or rape or any of these things, then we know they haven’t produced all the documents”. In addition, sixteen files with pictures that were inadvertently released on Friday had already been taken down from the website by Saturday because they contained a photograph of Trump. After reviewing the material, Massie accused the DOJ of “flouting the spirit and the letter of the law.”

If President Trump is truly innocent of any criminality, he should order the DOJ to release all the files immediately. To not release them means allowing guilty pedophiles and sex traffickers to continue to freely roam our streets. (Breaking news: a second trove of documents has just been released. This is due to the outcry raised by citizens of both parties.)

War with Venezuela? – In early September, Secretary of Defense Hegseth began to order military strikes against small boats off the coast of Venezuela and also in the eastern Pacific. As of today, more than 29 boats have been destroyed and over 100 people have been killed. Hegseth has alleged that Venezuela was smuggling drugs Into the United States but the evidence makes the allegation quite unconvincing for the following reasons:

Athough Venezuela is far from perfect, it does not have a history of shipping drugs to the United States. Fentanyl comes through Mexico and Cocaine through Colombia or Central America.
Drug smugglers would not use precious cargo space for people; they would fill up the holds with drugs.
Although several boats were destroyed in the Pacific, these could not have been Venezuelan, because Venezuela does not even have a coastline on the Pacific! These boats would have had to come through the Panama Canal. Ridiculous!

More recently, three Venezuelan oil tankers have been stopped and/or seized by the U.S. military, Republican Senator Rand Paul claims that Trump is trying to provoke a war, so that the U.S. can take control over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

Trump’s attacks on boats and detention of oil tankers are acts of warfare. According to our Constitution, it is Congress that should declare war. If the president has a legitimate case for war, let him present it to Congress where both the House of Representatives and the Senate are controlled by Republicans.

Trump’s Name on Government Buildings – During his second term in the White House, Donald Trump (and his acolytes) have tried to place his name or face all over the place (on a new one dollar coin, on Mount Rushmore, on the Institute of Peace, and most recently, on the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. This last attempt is a most obscene demonstration of his narcissistic megalomania. First, he fired members of the Board and replaced them with his cronies. He also named himself Chair of the Board. He then feigned modesty and unawareness when the Board voted to add his name (and in front of JFK’s!) to the Kennedy Memorial Center.

He and his Board also showed a complete lack of knowledge of the meaning of the word “memorial”. “Memorial” is used to honor people who have already died, not those who are still alive. Perhaps the White House knows something about the state of the president’s health that we don’t know. In any case, it was Congress that originally named the Kennedy Center and only Congress can rename it.

Enablers – Enablers are people who through their silence allow their leaders, family members, or others to continue practicing bad or criminal behavior. This silence is quite damaging. Although every administration has had its share of enablers, the current one seems to be permeated by “Yes men and women”. People of integrity praise what is good and denounce that which is immoral. I invite supporters of Trump to find their moral backbone and to reject his most unjust and illegal actions.

If I Were Trump’s Pastor, This Is What I Would Encourage Him To Do

President Donald Trump is going through a very difficult time right now. His poll numbers are underwater on the economy, on health care, on tariffs, on the Epstein files, on immigration, on the war in Ukraine, on strikes on Venezuelan boats, etc. The Susie Wiles interviews with Vanity Fair reveal a Cabinet in chaos. Although I vigorously disagree with many of his policies, I must remember that Trump is a human being made in God’s image. He needs help because his mental and emotional state show wear and tear. President Trump went on a tirade in his tweet regarding Rob and Michele Reiner’s murder. Here it is for you to evaluate for yourself.

“A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before.” His post concluded, “May Rob and Michele rest in peace!“

Each president, in turn, needs to be the “Consoler-in-Chief” to bring the nation together after a tragedy. His tweet did not succeed. Instead of leading us into a national lament, Trump’s tirade became self-aggrandizing and praising of himself with phrases like “the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness.”

Almost universally, U.S. politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, appropriately criticized the president for his lack of normal human empathy. Trump claims to be a Christian, but he doesn’t seem to know much about Jesus nor his basic message of forgiveness. Trump has repeatedly claimed he has never confessed his sins to God nor asked for forgiveness from God. Trump is a deeply flawed person. So am I. Trump needs healing of his soul…and his entire being. We all do.

The president has a White House Faith Office led by Rev. Paula White. The staff in that office, in addition to their public duties, should provide the president with the best pastoral recommendations for his personal life. If I were pastor to the president, I would urge the following:

Mr. President, you need a deep, genuine conversion. The good news message is the same for all. Repent of your evil ways and believe in the Lord for the forgiveness of your sins. Be as honest as you can with God. Although you can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, you can fool the Lord none of the time. The Good Book says, “if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Become truthful. Make a list of your biggest mistakes, acknowledge them and turn away from them. Become reconciled with God.
Mr. President, my second exhortation is based on the first. “If you are presenting an offering to the Lord and you remember that someone has something against you, go and become reconciled with that person.” To the degree that it depends on you, reconcile yourself with the people in your life. Confess your sins to those you have offended. This includes your family and friends, but also your rivals and opponents.
Mr. President, ask key people to speak truth into your heart. We all have blind spots. I do…you do. We don’t see our flaws as others see them. You are surrounded by “yes” men and women who tell you what you want to hear but not what you need to hear. Therefore, ask key people to tell you the truth. I think Melania might be a good person to start with. Perhaps Ivanka. It would take great maturity on your part but invite Marjorie Taylor Greene or Mike Pence to point out your flaws to your face.

P.S. Mr. President, I listened to your speech to the nation last night. We all know your motivation was to shore up your sinking presidency. Like most politicians, you cherry pick the data. You highlight data that is favorable (ex. gasoline prices), but you ignore (ex. health care premium increases) or outright lie about the negative facts (ex. grocery price increases or that tariffs are taxes).

I hope and pray that you humbly learn to walk in the truth and experience substantial healing.

Trump, Venezuela and the “War on Drugs”

Let’s speak clearly. The United States does have a drug problem! Provisional data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate there were an estimated 80,391 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 2024. By far, the deadliest drug is fentanyl, which annually causes over 70,000 overdose deaths. Nevertheless, it is not Venezuela that moves fentanyl into the U.S. It is China via drug cartels located in Mexico.

The deadliest drug that comes into the United States from South America is not fentanyl. It is cocaine, made from the coca plant. Venezuela does not grow much coca. The biggest growers of coca and the countries that export the most cocaine to the U.S. are Colombia, Peru and Bolivia.

From September until the present, the Trump administration, via the Secretary of Defense Hegseth, has struck more than twenty small boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing over 80 civilians. The government has alleged that these boats were smuggling drugs into the United States, but have not provided an ounce of proof. It is highly unlikely these boats were smuggling drugs into the U.S. for a variety of reasons: Venezuela exports oil, not drugs; a drug smuggler would fill up the limited space in his small boat with drugs, not passengers; no drugs have been retrieved from the crippled boats; and the survivors from the September 2 strike were struck and killed in a second strike, rather than provide eyewitness account of the purpose of their boat’s cargo.

Just yesterday, the U.S. military seized a large Venezuelan oil tanker and has maintained possession of it. When asked by reporters what would happen to the oil, President Trump said, “We would keep it.” These actions ordered by the Pentagon are clearly military actions of warfare. According to the U.S. Constitution, unless there is an actual attack on the United States, only Congress can declare war. We are not at war with Venezuela. Therefore, the strikes against these small boats, including the death of more than 80 civilians, and the seizure of the tanker, were definitely illegal and probably acts of murder. If the Pentagon has valid evidence, it should make its case to Congress…immediately. In addition, the U.S. should take its case to the United Nations Security Council because these military actions have taken place in international waters.

So why are Trump and Hegseth making up bogus claims of alleged drug shipments from Venezuela? Probably to distract us from real issues like inflation and health insurance prices.

This is an ethical and legal test for our current administration and our Secretary of Defense. Will they pass the test? I doubt it.

Is “Christian Nationalism” a Dangerous Heresy? Is It Faithful to Jesus?

“Christian Nationalism” is like the air we breathe. It is all around us, but we usually don’t see it. We can measure it in a variety of ways. We can even determine when it degenerates into smog that can be dangerous for our health. But, what is Christian Nationalism and is it a heresy? A working definition usually includes something like “a significant commitment by Christians (especially Christian leaders) to a national government or major political party. This formal or informal relationship frequently results in an alliance or “marriage” in which the religious believers receive some benefits, but the government/political party is the senior partner that receives the greatest benefits (votes, moral respectability, public stature of being above the law, internal cohesion, etc.) This alliance becomes heretical when it pushes believers to violate some of their most basic religious/ethical values.” Let’s look at two classical examples of Christian Nationalism before we turn to a more contemporary illustrstion.

Constantine reigned as Roman Emperor from 306 – 337 AD (at times shared, in other periods by himself). He was the first Emperor to convert to Christianity, although his knowledge of the faith seems to have been fairly limited. According to some traditions, he had a vision in 312 in which he saw a cross in the night sky and the words “with this cross you will conquer”. He then won the decisive battle of Milvian Bridge and converted to the faith shortly thereafter. In 313 the Edict of Milan de-criminalized Christianity throughout the empire and essentially ended the persecution against the faith (I approve of this edict because it promoted freedom of religion). Christianity continued to grow numerically. Decades later, in 380 AD, the Edict of Thessalonica promoted Christianity to become the official state religion of the Roman Empire. Although some Christians celebrated this act, I believe it was generally disastrous for the true faith. Freedom of religion disappeared as people in the Empire were forced to adopt Christianity. In addition, they violated an essential belief. The early church during the first three centuries had been almost universally pacifistic. Although they would die by the sword as martyrs, in faithful obedience to the teaching of Jesus, they would not kill with the sword. This all changed with the emergence of this “Christian Nationalism” in which their so-called “Christian” emperors commanded them to kill enemies of the empire. Tragically, many followers of Christ did not love those enemies, they killed them. Just War Theory began to develop to evaluate whether these killings were “justified” or not. In addition, the simple faith of humble disciples became transformed into ostentatious cathedrals, power broker bishops, and increasing neglect of widows, orphans, foreigners and the poor in general. Later atrocious examples of Christian Nationalism, such as the Spanish Inquisition, trace their roots to this Constantinian version of the faith.

Through various divisions in the church (including the Catholic/Orthodox schism and the Protestant Reformation), most Christians became aligned with national boundaries (for example, the Anglican Church in England). In the 1930s with Hitler’s rise to power, there was a Nazification of the Deutsche Cristen (German Christian) movement. This was a clear example of “Christian Nationalism” that approved of heretical practices antithetical to the teachings of Jesus (the persecution and slaughter of Jews, gypsies, and others, the idolatrous cult to Hitler, the “euthanasia” of handicapped people, etc.) Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer (one of my heroes of the faith) emerged to challenge these heresies. As an alternative of resistance, he helped form the “Confessing Church” based on the Bible and teachings of Jesus. He was accused of participating in a plot to assassinate Hitler and therefore imprisoned. He was hanged on April 9, 1945.

Now let’s turn to the United States. It is sometimes affirmed that our country was founded as a “Christian Nation”. The historical evidence does not support that claim. It is true that many of our ancestors were genuine followers of Jesus and many found religious freedom here that was denied to them in Europe, but our founding documents were written by those who were more “deist” (the belief in a watchmaker divinity who starts the clock, then walks away) than by theistic Christians. Thomas Jefferson was, by far, the most influential writer of these documents. In his “Jefferson Bible” he eliminated all references to the supernatural elements of the Bible….hardly orthodox Christianity. It might be worse if we had been a Christian nation, because our multiple sins against indigenous Americans and enslaved Africans should have caused us deep shame instead of our trying to justify them.

In contrast with Europe, the United States never had a national “State Church” although there were a variety of churches that flourished in the thirteen colonies. Some scholars call this phenomenon “civil religion”. Our money and songs have religiosity sprinkled all around with phrases such as “in God we trust”, “God bless America”, and “one nation under God”. These point to a benevolent deity who blesses our actions but rarely calls us to repentance or to a change in our national behavior.

The contemporary “Christian Nationalism” movement goes much further. About fifty years ago, changes started to take place in the Bible Belt. Most white evangelicals in the South had been Democrats (Including Billy Graham), but key people in the Reagan circles began to call these evangelicals to the Republican ranks based on the issue of abortion. If abortion was tantamount to murder, what was needed was the election of a Republican president who would appoint conservatives to the Supreme Court, who would overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion. As a consequence, for the last four decades, roughly 80% of white evangelical Christians have voted for the Republican presidential candidate in turn. Although they were essentially one issue voters (overturning abortion), they tended to adopt Republican perspectives on other issues (strong military, anti-immigrant, anti-environment, etc.). In my not-so-humble opinion, these perspectives do not always line up with the ethical teaching of Jesus. These negative tendencies of “Christian Nationalism” have reached a crescendo with the presidency of Trump. I believe much of this is due to a failure of evangelical leaders, like Franklin Graham. When confronted with Trump’s most obvious womanizing and racist actions, these leaders replied “Just hold your nose, and vote for him anyway, because you are really voting for conservative justices in the Supreme Court who will overturn Roe”. They were applying the sub-Christian maxim of “the end justifies the means” (the good end of overturning Roe justifies the election of a deeply flawed president). These leaders failed the church because they should have taught the full teaching and example of Jesus.

One of the most tragic aspects of Christian nationalism is that Christians tend to passionately defend governmental decisions and actions as if they had been ordered by God even when they are false and sinful.

Some of the most recent are the following:

House Speaker Johnson’s alibis why he didn’t swear in Representative Adelita Grijalva for over a month.
The stalling and coverup of the Epstein files. If Trump has nothing to hide, why do evangelicals appear to be protecting pedophiles?
Secretary Hegseth’s order to strike boats in the Caribbean and Pacific without the White House obtaining authorization from Congress. Merely saying we are in a war against drugs does not mean authorization to kill over 80 people in boats.
Back on April 16, 2016 Hegseth said, “I do think there have to be consequences for abject war crimes. If you’re doing something that is just completely unlawful and ruthless, then there is a consequence for that. That’s why the military said it won’t follow unlawful orders from their commander in chief. There’s a standard, there’s an ethos, there’s a belief that we are above what so many things that our enemies or others would do.” This is the exact same policy that a group of six Democratic members of Congress cited in a video that they aired two weeks ago which enraged Hegseth and Trump who labeled their video as seditious and called for their deaths. Why can’t evangelicals acknowledge that this is hypocrisy?

We are in perilous times when “Christian Nationalism” poses a real threat to the Christian faith and to our country. It is so pervasive that it is frequently not even recognized. Let me end this post with a Sacred Cow, the Pledge of Allegiance. This is so commonplace that most people recite it without examining it. It’s a “no-brainer”. I suggest we do use our brains to ask tough questions. Why would followers of Jesus pledge allegiance to a country (led by flawed human authorities)? The early Christians declared Jesus was the Lord, the emperor was not. Faithful Christians in Germany did not pledge allegiance to Hitler’s Nazi agenda. Should Christians in Russia pledge allegiance to Putin’s authoritarian regime? Let’s respond with courage, clarity, truth and respect.

In the Midst of Our Deep Polarization, We Desperately Need to Develop our Spiritual/Political Discernment Skills

Almost everyone agrees that we are living in the most profound polarization in the United States since the Civil War. New issues emerge every day that divide us. Here is just a sample of the most recent topics:

U.S. Air strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela: legitimate defense against drug trafficking or war crimes ordered by Secretary of Defense Hegseth?
A video in which six Democrat elected officials urge soldiers to not obey illegal orders: a helpful restatement of the military code or an act of sedition that merits death?
Common vaccines administered to children cause autism and other severe problems: dangerous non/scientific myths pushed by RFK and others or gospel truth?
Opening protected land to new oil drilling: A boost to the economy or a rapid, dangerous increase in global warming?
Massive tariffs leveled against most of our trading partners: a necessary leveling of the playing field or a factor contributing to an increase in inflation?
The legal case against James Comey: a necessary action to pursue justice or a personal vendetta of a childish president?
The best college football team in the country: Ohio State or Indiana?

In the midst of competing claims, how can we discern what is true from what is the noise of propaganda? Although it is hard work, there are steps we can take to cultivate our moral/political discernment skills.

Most of us like to think that we are “open-minded”, at least I am open to the truth. There is an academic exercise that helps us test our openness. Every semester at the last institution where I taught (Whitworth University) we would team-teach a course on “Worldviews and Public Policies”. We would ask the students to choose a policy and analyze it, by completing the following steps.

Articulate a public policy (example-the morality and legality of the war in Iraq according to Just War Theory), your position on the policy and how your own worldview (ethics, ideology, etc) applies to the policy. Describe the strengths and weaknesses of your position. What major sources do you use to justify you position? How do you know they are reliable?
Articulate a rival position regarding the same policy and defend that position and why some people are attracted to that position. What main sources are generally utilized to defend the rival position? Are they reliable? Why or why not?
Very important – What evidence would you be willing to accept as sufficiently strong to get you to change your position? (If students did not answer this question, it suggests they were not as open-minded as they thought.)
If you would change your position, would that require other changes in your life (example -reconsidering what “patriotism” means)?

There are additional “common-sense” suggestions for healing our national divide:

Be humble. Your rivals might be right and you might (occasionally) be wrong.
Double check your facts.
Don’t exaggerate the truth (even use hyperbole and sarcasm sparingly).
Think outside the box.
Find common ground.
Acknowledge bits of truth wherever they are found.
For those in the U.S., the Constitution is the rule book.
The courts are the referees. If you think they are wrong, appeal to a higher court, but don’t ignore them.

May we bring a small bit of healing to our country!

In the Epstein Case, the Most Damaging Evidence was Volunteered by Trump Himself

The last two weeks have not been kind to President Trump regarding the Epstein case, but the most damning testimony was caused by Trump himself. Let’s see why.

Fifty days after her special election victory, Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva was sworn into office. Her first political action was to sign the Massie-Khanna resolution that triggered a vote to release the Epstein files.
President Trump aggressively pressured Republicans to vote not to release the files. The pressure was so intense that it raised suspicions that Trump was trying to hide evidence that would be embarrassing, at least, or even worse, incriminating. It soon became evident, that dozens of Republicans were going to vote for the release of the files. Seeing the writing on the wall, Trump flip flopped and changed his position. He then urged Republicans to vote in favor of the release of the files. The vote then passed almost unanimously in the House (with only one negative vote).
In the Senate, the same bill was approved by unanimous consent. There were no changes made to the bill, even though House Speaker had hoped the Senate would change the bill to make it “better”.
According to information released by the White House, Trump signed the bill into law (although the customary pictures of the presidential signing did not occur).
And now the damaging evidence volunteered by Trump himself. On Monday he gave a press conference in which he was asked about the Epstein case. He responded, “As far as the Epstein files, I have nothing to do with Jeffray Epstein. I threw him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert.” Let’s hone in on this last sentence.
According to various emails, Epstein and Trump were “best friends” for ten years. Trump has tried to distance himself from Epstein, saying he barely knew him. Trump previously affirmed that he had barred Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club over a business practice. Allegedly, Epstein had persuaded pretty female employees from Mar-a-Lago to leave Trump’s club and to come work for him. That was Trump’s official explanation. The recent press conference goes much further. He identifies Epstein as a “sick pervert”. Trump thought he was improving his own image by distancing himself even more from the evil Epstein. Quite the contrary. If I know that my best friend, or even an acquaintance, is a sick pervert, of course I should not become complicit in his sexual crimes. But, if I have any moral compass, I should do much more. Perverts, like Epstein, do horrific damage to their victims. To protect young women and innocent girls from sex trafficking, a truly ethical person would report the pervert to the police. Trump did not do so. When did Trump become aware of Epstein’s pedophilia and human trafficking? According to the President, “many years ago”. Trump thought he was improving his standing among the American people. Not true. It turns out he is his own worst witness.

The Beginning of the End: How a “Chicken” Became a “Lame Duck”

Many Americans woke up this morning to some strange news: Late last night President Trump published on social media that he was urging House Republicans to vote in FAVOR of releasing the Epstein files in a vote scheduled for this Tuesday. This is a complete reversal of Trump’s position for the last few months in which he fought tooth and nail against releasing the files. So, what happened?

During the lead up to last year’s presidential election, Candidate Trump promised that, if elected, he would release the Epstein files. He had alleged that the Biden “good ole boys’ club” was corruptly blocking release of the files to protect rich, influential Democratic leaders and donors from prosecution in this infamous sex trafficking case. His MAGA base enthusiastically supported Trump in this quest to drain the swamp.

Once he occupied the White House, Trump changed his tune. There was nothing more to see here. His Attorney General, “Puppet” Pam Bondi, claimed the Epstein case was closed. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The MAGA folk rose up and demanded the files be released. Four brave GOP congressional representatives (Kentuckian Thomas Massie, former ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, and two others) signed on to a discharge resolution that required the House to vote on a bill releasing the files. Trump called it a “Democratic hoax” and branded Marjorie Taylor Greene a traitor. He tried to bully her by mockingly changed her name “Greene” to “Brown” which is the color green plants become when they “rot”. She stood her ground and appeared yesterday on many Sunday morning talk shows (like CNN) to defend her case. Many GOP Representatives grew a backbone. Massie estimated that over a hundred Republicans would defy Trump and vote for the resolution. Trump ordered his Attorney General to re-open the investigation, targeting Bill Clinton and other famous Democrats. Bondi obediently did so, although this contradicted her previous claim that the case was closed and there was no client list of pedophiles. Faced with a rebellion from his MAGA base, last night Trump did the unthinkable. He backed down and published on social media that he now wanted the GOP to vote in FAVOR of the bill on Tuesday! A complete reversal! Why did he back down?

On other issues (like tariffs on China and standing up to Putin), Trump has backed down so often that he has earned the nickname “Taco” (Trump Always Chickens Out). These are usually international issues, and up until now, Trump has deflected criticism by asking more time for his tariffs or diplomacy to take effect. But, releasing the Epstein files is different. The MAGA base is Trump’s heart and soul. To be defied by this base is a fate worse than death. To be defied by a previous ally like Ms. Greene means she must be banished as a traitor (in this sense, Trump shows tendencies of a religious cult leader). Trump could not permit his MAGA Representatives vote against him in a House vote. By his shocking announcement last night, MAGA will vote WITH Trump because the President has changed his position. This does not mean he wants the files to be released. He still has three ways to keep the Epstein files locked up: (1) Senator Thune does not have to bring the resolution to the Senate floor even it passes in the House; (2) Given that the Epstein case is open again, legally the files cannot be made public, at least temporarily; (3) Trump could veto the bill. In these three instances, a sizable majority of MAGA will realize that Trump is now a lame duck. His power to use the “bully pulpit” will largely have evaporated. Ms. Greene and Mr. Massie have become more powerful brokers than Trump. So, Representatives in the House, vote your conscience and get the pedophiles and sex traffickers off our streets.

Some Democrats Caved…, I Didn’t Like It, But There Are Some Positive Results

As readers know, seven Democrat senators (plus Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats) voted on Monday together with 52 Republican senators to end the six-week long federal shutdown. This Continuing Resolution will now go to the House of Representatives and will be voted on (possibly Wednesday).

I did not like it that these eight senators gave in to the compromise (=caved). They broke their word. Six weeks ago, Democrats had voted against the Republican Continuing Resolution funding bill. This led to the federal government’s shutdown. Given that Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress, the Democrat vote on funding was the only leverage available to the Democrats in their struggle towards getting an extension for healthcare insurance subsidies (The Affordable Care Act, ACA known more widely as Obamacare). I understand why these 8 senators caved. The shutdown was inconvenient for many people and extremely painful for others (ex. those who depended on SNAP for food and those federal workers who were fired). Nevertheless, the election last Tuesday and recent polls all indicate that a strong majority of Americans were willing to endure this temporary pain in order to keep their vital health care. (“No pain, no gain.”) The eight senators received promises from Republican Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, promises that might not be fulfilled (see below). Nonetheless, there are some positive results. Republicans, perhaps unknowingly, also made concessions (=caved).

Fired Federal Workers – During the shutdown, thousands of federal employees were fired (not merely temporarily furloughed). President Trump bragged about these firings, falsely claiming that the shutdown gave him the legal authority to implement the firings. The new resolution requires that these fired federal employees get their jobs back, including full back pay.
Obamacare Subsidy Extensions – Senator Majority Leader Thune promised the Democrats that there would be a vote in Congress regarding an ACA subsidy extension bill to be written by Democrats. This is good and appropriate. Thune can guarantee that a vote will be taken in the Senate, but not in the House of Representatives. Supposedly, Thune had conferred with the Speaker of the House, Mike Brown, to ensure a vote would be taken in the House. Brown has since walked back that promise. Time will tell if Thune or Brown is lying.
Rep. Adelita Grijalva – Ms. Grijalva was elected to the House of Representatives in a special election back in September. Speaker Brown refused to seat her, falsely claiming that he could not do so while the House was “in recess”. This claim was a lie because Brown did seat two Republicans who won special elections in Florida while the House was “in recess”. To lift the shutdown, the House must now go back in session and approve this amended Continuing Resolution. (Brown had previously refused to do this. He caved, too.) One of the first actions in the order of business MUST be to seat the lawfully elected Adelita Grijalva.
The Epstein Files – As a corollary, Grijalva’s vote will force the government to release the Epstein files. Although President Trump campaigned on releasing the files, he has fought tooth and now against them becoming public. Even many in the MAGA base are demanding that they become public. This sure gives the impression that the president is hiding some very bad information. At the very least, some of his friends, who are pedophiles, are walking freely on our streets.
Trump’s Lies – Many of his lies are quite obviousto most of us. Nevertheless, some of his supporters don’t like to acknowledge his lies. For example, during the shutdown, Trump affirmed he could not legally pay out full SNAP benefits for November. That lie will be made obvious by the end of the shutdown.
Schumer Might Be Out – Senator Schumer has not been as effective as Democrats has hoped. It is a tough job, but they wanted to see a stronger fight against Trump’s policies, especially the cruelest ones. Mr. Schumer, thank you for your service, but it is time to go.