Anti-vaxxers confuse their "rights" with their egos.

     Former Republican Senator and Presidential candidate Bob Dole died this morning at 98 years old, according to a statement released by his family. I worked for his campaign as a Republican for President in South Dakota in 1988. Interestingly, Pat Robertson won the South Dakota primary that year.

     Anti-vaxxers confuse their "rights" with their egos. The ironic thing is that most of these same folks embrace something they call "being a Christian," when clearly, they have no interest in anything but their rights and themselves.
     COVID has now killed more Americans than did the combat deaths in every single war America has ever fought COMBINED, from both World Wars to the Civil War to Vietnam and Korea right down to the invasion of Grenada (666,441 total combat deaths vs. 787,695 COVID deaths).

Romans 13:1-2 says: "Obey the government, for God is the One who has put it there. ... There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power. So those who refuse to obey the law of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow."
     Romans 13 has been a problematic chapter since when it was used to both defend and to not defend the Revolutionary War. Then there's: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29
"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's..." (Matthew 22) can be a basic statement that claims the things of Caesar and those of God are not the same thing. Then there's the historic problem that "Democracy" has always been an unstable form of government. Any kingdom in the Bible that God established was a Monarchy (with a king)..but allowed one with judges because the people wanted it and purposely rejected God ...and it ended badly. And man without God is not capable of ruling without corruption since man was created in Gods image and was not created to rule as individuals without Him.      Under Trump the rightwing embraced Romans 13....now under Biden they have reinterpreted it to allow disobedience to Biden. But it can't be both ways...at least not logically. I am in prayer about it for clarity at least for my purposes.

     II Corinthians 4:8-19: We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
CS Lewis had a response to being "hard pressed, persecuted, or perplexed" in his musings about facing destruction by an atom bomb.
"The first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds." (C S Lewis - “On Living in the Atomic Age.” Written in 1948.)

Cheap Seat Report: Dump Donald Trump Edition

At a church visit this weekend Donald Trump confused the communion plate with the offering plate. Apparently neither of the two Corinthians were there to help him out. During the sermon the pastor stated that he knew the presence of God was with them. Trump immediately stood up and waved to everyone.

 Trump Taj Mahal is going to have an Open Strip Club. Maybe Jerry Falwell Jr will run it

 "Unless I win, I would consider this a big, fat, beautiful—and, by the way, a very expensive—waste of time." -- Donald Trump about Iowa this weekend which if you are an Iowan isn't flattering. SO if he loses he will go on twitter and call Iowa all kinds of insults, tell his Trumpees to boycott the state, and then tell everybody that Iowa tried to borrow money from him once.

On Face The Nation today, Donald Trump said he agrees with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on trade. He just said the difference between him and Sanders is that he will make better deals.
And then added: "I will appeal to Bernie Sanders supporters." <<---Smart people already knew how appealing he would be to a Democrat.

 Do not take Bob Dole serious if you have a history of heart problems. If Bob Dole trends on social media for more than four hours consult your doctor

 Donald Trump is picking the Broncos to win over the Panthers in the Super Bowl. What this means is that if the Broncos lose he will call them losers and idiots, tell all his Trumpees to boycott them and claim they once came to him for a donation.

 There are many reasons for conservatives to reject Trump's candidacy. Chief among them is to affirm that the Constitution should never be seen as in impediment to effective democratic governance but rather as the source from which it flows. Trump condemned Pam Gellar's "Draw Mohammed" event in Texas saying it provoked the ISIS wannabe attackers, instead of standing on her freedom in the first amendment.  Trump has also stated that he could get a lot more  things done  if it weren't for the Constitution.

 Many Iowa papers are endorsing Hillary as the Democrat nominee but even though I'm not a Democrat I think they're overlooking the guy who has been a long proponent of liberal causes, who has helped fund Hillary's campaigns, and would likely do the best to further the DNC's agenda: Donald Trump.

 “A fool and his money are soon elected.” ― Will Rogers

 About that debate Ronald Reagan skipped: 

That debate was the first Republican primary debate since 1948. .It was sponsored by the Des Moines Register and was untelevised. Reagan was not in a petty feud with the Des Moines Register at the time. His campaign manager simply believed that as the front runner, Reagan was above the debate. Reagan didn't skip it because he thought someone was going to ask him a tough question. Reagan never ran away from a challenge.and certainly would not have been afraid of Megyn Kelly. We wont know for sure, but I suspect that if he was in a feud with the Des Moines Register,  it would have been all the more reason for him to go. Also...only 5 of the 9 Republicans in the primary showed up at that debate. Trump is no Reagan.

Trump wins the debate he didn't attend is a politically stupid statement. You don't win things you don't participate in. Any first grader will tell you that. 

Donations made to the vets at his rally in Iowa had to be given to the Trump Foundation. A possible reason that it is called the "Donald J Trump Foundation" and not the "Donald Trump for Vets Foundation," beyond the political expediency that the latter offers, is that the Donald J. Trump Foundation hasn't given a lot to veterans or veterans groups. The Trump Foundation has, however, donated lots of money to the Clinton Foundation, which is right now helping to fund Hillary's campaign. Nothing like funding your own campaign and your rivals at the same time. The Trump Foundation's $57,000 in donations to veterans groups from 2009 to 2013 amounted to far less than Trump's donations to the Clinton Foundation. "Trump is listed on the Clinton Foundation's donor page as having given somewhere between $100,001 and $250,000," the Daily Caller reported last year.

Anyone who thinks Trump is an outsider needs to check his long history of funding and supporting liberal causes...including the Clinton Foundation. But a vote for Trump is a vote for Hillary. I'm not a partisan. I'm not a member of any party. But I would be OK with several of the Republican candidates if it came down to it. Trump is not one of them.  Trump says one thing one day and then in his long rambling speeches about himself and his polls says something else. Hes a very angry people and attracts angry mobs. Low information mobs, but angry.  Trump lives in a perpetual state of "I said this" and "I deny this" depending on who he is talking to at the time

 CNN has a codependency problem. Trump beats them daily..but they still fawn all over him.

 A vote for Trump IS a vote for Hillary. They are just the same. Out of touch rich people trying to pretend they are "for the people" when bot of them are for themselves. The Trump Foundation which is taking the donations for the "vets" has donated a LOT of money to the Clinton Foundation which is helping to fund Hillary. If Trump would win the nomination. Not voting might give it to Hillary, but voting for Trump is giving it to Hillary light. Hopefully it won't come to that.

 Trumpees just want to "stick it to the establishment." If you criticize them then you become one of the "establishment" according to them. Facts are irrelevant at that point. Trump is their Messiah


 For the record, I sat on the fence about Trump for awhile now. But then a few issues (like eminent domain, Planned Parenthood, etc) made me look a little closer. When he started going after Ted Cruz he crossed the line. Even if I did not like Cruz, the fact that he would play nice with him for months and then stab him in the back was the tipping point. He used Cruz as leverage to gain conservative trust and interest and then knifed him when he became a liability. That is what I think is going to happen to the voters (or just fans--I can't tell what they are) who are pushing for Trump. If he gets elected Trump will knife them in the back. He has a long long history of doing that and he calls it just "doing business" at his rallies and the crowds applaud him. So, weighing all the candidates, Cruz became my choice. And if you're into birther nonsense I am not interested. The choice for who you vote for is yours. I have made mine and it will never be Trump.

Other Voices:


 Nearly 70 percent of Americans said a Trump presidency would make them "anxious." And 30 percent said a Trump presidency would make them "Canadian." -- Conan O'Brien

 Remember the kid whose parents said he floated away in a balloon as a hoax in 2009? Well, Balloon Boy has officially endorsed Donald Trump for president. He was like, "What can I say, I'm prone to getting carried away by hot air." --Jimmy Fallon

 Donald Trump admitted Friday he did not expect Sarah Palin to talk so long when he stood by her at a podium in Iowa Tuesday and received Sarah's endorsement for president. For fifteen minutes he had to stand onstage without talking. Trump calls it the most painful experience of his life. --Argus Hamilton

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MEME REPORT:
TRUMPEES

George Pataki Supporter, Earle I. Mack is Exactly what is wrong with the Republican Party

And probably why George Pataki didn't get any traction in his campaign bid. In short, his suggestion is that Republicans should run like they are Democrats.

The New York Times reported:

• Earle I. Mack, a prominent real estate developer and Republican donor who was supporting Mr. Pataki, said the former governor had faced a difficult national environment for his "middle of the road" brand of politics. Mr. Mack, who spoke with Mr. Pataki ahead of his announcement, said Republicans faced a dire future if they did not tack toward the center, as Mr. Pataki had urged.
  "It's time for a more moderate Republican," Mr. Mack said, adding: "If we don't have a candidate that understands the Supreme Court has ruled that gay marriage is legal and a woman's right to choose is legal, if they can't get that through their head, they're going to keep losing elections."

Bob Dole, Mitt Romney, John McCain are all a part of that kind of thinking. Why don't Republicans realize why it doesn''t work??

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MEME REPORT:
WHAT CAN BE SAID ABOUT HILLARY'S CAMPAIGN THAT HASN'T ALREADY BEEN SAID ABOUT A TRAIN WRECK?