Flyin Lyin Grifting Ted Cruz

 

So Flyin Ted Cruz decided to leave Texas to get out of the cold and fly to Cancun with his family and had booked a return flight for Saturday morning. THEN he got caught and switched into Lyin Ted Cruz mode and started telling lies about how he was just going to take his daughters there and come back...but as the story began to fall apart and it was discovered his wife had texted friends to come down with them to Cancun to stay at the Ritz Carlton for $309 a night....it was revealed that Lyin Ted Cruz was living up to his nickname. The guy claims to be a Christian but really does do an awful lot of lying. I guess he went on Fox News and talked to Hannity. Hannity gave him affirmation, of course. Cruz is one of those Republicans who escapes accountability whenever he can by avoiding the media that will throw him hard questions and only go to the media that he knows will affirm his stupidity. Flyin Lyin Grifting Ted Cruz. GOP & Texas should be so proud of him.

Article: For most, though, especially Texans like me who have suffered through a week without

heat or water in freezing overnight weather, the notion of Cruz leaving his dog behind to hit the beach was all too much — especially the thought of the power being out when they left. (The New York Times reported that Cruz’s wife Heidi had complained that the house was “FREEZING” in a group chat to friends and neighbors that proposed leaving the blackout behind for the Ritz-Carlton in Cancún.)

New York Magazine: Ted Cruz Abandons Millions of Freezing Texans and His Poodle, Snowflake

Gutless Offensive Pathetic: The Republican Party

If Trump was not responsible for the attack on the Capitol then why did Graham, McCarthy & Rubio call Trump to call it off?

Ted Cruz, a juror in Trump's impeachment trial, said he advised Trump's lawyers and told them they'd 'already won' their case

 

McConnells excuse:.. Yeah, you're right that he's guilty of all these things, but because of the technicality that impeachment wasn't filed sooner (even tho I'm the one that delayed it until after the election), this impeachment isn't lawful

The Senate needed a majority vote to decide whether or not they could proceed Constitutionally with the impeachment since Trump was no longer President. A majority vote allowed it to go forward. THAT bound them....or should have to their vote. When the Senate votes on bills, if a person is in the minority of a vote...the bill still binds them. So the original vote took the Non-Constitutional issue out of play. SO, any Senator who claims they voted against the impeachment because of the Constitutional issue is a liar.....and abdicated themselves from Senate rules they were sworn in to abide by. I have ZERO respect for any GOP member who makes the "Constitution" the reason for their vote.😡😡😡 The House Democrats did a GREAT job on the case and it should have been a slam dunk. Trumps attorneys were horrible and as dishonorable as Rudy, Sidney and that other nutjob whose name escapes me right now. And Ted Cruz...dont get me started on him.....

EmpTy Greene: Poster Child for Christian Nationalism

 I saw most of Marjorie Taylor Greene's press conference. She could very well be the next Trump-swamp queen. Trump never knew much about Christianity so he didnt use the language. Greene appears to know something about it.

MTG spouted all kind of Christianese while at the same time demonizing everyone and everything that did not think like she does. 

The Book of Jeremiah came to mind after contemplation on her speech. 

“From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.” (Jer 8).

The tongue is a powerful force and when you break it down most of politics is about using and confronting that force. Today she claimed "peace" while, at the same time in the same press conference pushed back against Democrats & socialism and even the press because she didnt like being asked certain questions and pushing her red herring world views.

She is now playing the victim card after she was removed from committees and lashed out against all the Democrats and the 11 Republicans who voted to have her removed.

She may be the new Poster Child for Christian Nationalism

Goldwater: These Christians Believe They are Acting in the name of God....

 ​

This is an actual quote by Barry Goldwater. I understand the sentiment he is conveying but just want to separate Christianity from Christian Nationalism. It has likely been inevitable that the move of Christians into the Republican Party has been ongoing and growing stronger. It was that movement that brought us Ronald Reagan.

The problem is that it has been evolving away from true Christianity into what is now Christian Nationalism. The Christians replaced God as THE answer and mixed God and Republicanism as a duel force. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with Christians being involved in government and politics...it is the conflation of the two that is a problem. The mix is a really bad dogma that has and will have a bad end. While Christians have long suggested the anti-christ will come from some secular power or a fascist power...little did they notice that they themselves could be ushering an "antichrist" in. Optimistically I say "were" but a lot of them still are. Rather than keeping Christianity separate and holy it allowed politics to absorb it.

Goldwater, from an era when some intellectualism was still a part of "conservatism" saw that. We are seeing where it has come.

The First Amendment doesn’t protect all speech.

 

The First Amendment doesn’t protect statements that are meant to incite listeners to riot or commit other imminent illegal acts, as long as the statements are also likely to have that effect. As the Supreme Court has said, it's obvious that government has the power to prevent or punish speech that displays a clear and present danger of riot or another immediate threat to public safety, peace, or order (Cantwell v. State of Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940)).

At the same time, however, people have a constitutional right to advocate violence in general, even for abhorrent reasons—like when they allude to killing African Americans as a way to preserve white supremacy (Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969)). The same is true when protestors declare—after police have cleared a demonstration—that they’ll take the street back later (Hess v. Indiana, 414 U.S. 105 (1973)).

The First Amendment doesn’t give you the right to make a direct, “true threat” to kill your boss or shoot a judge. But what if you say to a large audience that someone should use their “Second Amendment rights” toward a political opponent? There isn’t a clear, consistent definition of a true threat, but it should be more than political hyperbole or metaphor (“we’re going to kill you at the polls”), a joke, or an impulsive angry comment (Watts v. United States, 394 U.S. 705 (1969)).

In contrast, a true threat is meant to communicate a serious intention to carry out imminent violence against someone. The Supreme Court has said it doesn’t matter if the people making the threat don’t actually plan to carry it out, because barring true threats protects the victims from the fear of violence as well as the actual violence. So intimidating actions like burning a cross can be true threats if they’re meant to make particular individuals or groups of people fear for their lives. (Virginia v. Black, 538 U.S. 343 (2003).)

Other types of speech that aren’t protected by the First Amendment include:

perjury (lying under oath)

plagiarism (copying other people’s writing, art, music, or choreography without their permission)

solicitation (convincing someone else to commit a crime), and

blackmail.

SOURCE:

https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/criminal/its-ok-to-speak-your-mind-but-dont-hurt-anyone.html

Constitution is becoming a just prop for most of the GOP

 

I think it's pretty clear now that the Constitution is becoming a prop for most of the GOP. Whenever they lay claim on it they use it in a way to defend their actions regardless of how ethical it is. The very bad thing about that is that they have no foundation for their actions. They become rudderless but with leadership authorities.

They did not get here overnight. It's been progressing over the years until now here we are. Trump exemplifies everything that is wrong with American politics.......and the really sad thing is that he may not be THE problem as much as he is just a symptom or a result of the problem.

Freedom of the Press is a foundation of freedom because it was established to keep Government honest. The GOP has avoided that check by only seeking out the press that shares their rudderless views. They seek only yes-men to affirm whatever whim the wind blew into their head on any given day. Turn on Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity and the best of the worst of the GOP will likely be there getting their egos stroked.

Ive thought many times over the last few months that things are so nutty that you just think some adult should step in and set them straight. BUT, they dont have one. The have no accountability. .....not even to their own constituents (unless they are also yes-men....but, of course, that is not accountability.. it's more like subordinate partners in crime).

Personally I cannot see this ending well short of divine intervention.

Maga, Trumpvangelicals and Conspiracy Theories

 👉For awhile now I have been looking at a never ending supply of conspiracy theories and trying to figure out how and why it seemed like almost every Maga was entrenched in them. For a longer time I pondered why Trump evangelicals even exist and support such a corrupt individual.

👉I read a recent article by Ben Sasse in The Atlantic and it started to click with me. ▶️Sasse wrote: "For generations, most Americans understood themselves as children of a loving God, and all had a role to play in loving their neighbors. But today, many Americans have no role in any common story. Conspiracy theories are a substitute. Support Donald Trump and you are not merely participating in a mundane political process—that’s boring. Rather, you are waging war on a global sex-trafficking conspiracy! No one should be surprised that QAnon has found a partner in the empty, hypocritical, made-for-TV deviant strain of evangelicalism that runs on dopey apocalypse-mongering."◀️ 👉I believe its a fruit of spiritual warfare....but not good fruit: People who claim Jesus is Lord while peddling conspiracies and winking at the morally bankrupt actions of a leader with no moral compass. Christians have a foundation that is found in two important pieces:

#️⃣1) To love the Lord they God with they heart, mind and soul and 2) to love your neighbor as your self. #️⃣

Step away from that foundation and, in essence, a vacuum is created in the heart and soul of a Christian which is allowed to be filled by lies, since God is truth (John 14:6) and also the way and the life. 👉Hence, TrumpVangelicals arent really searching for truth...but are searching for an answer. Searching for "an answer" is easy. "Answers" can be a dime a dozen. If you aim at nothing you will never miss. Searching for "the truth" requires knowledge of what truth is or wisdom. Proverbs 9:10 states ▶️"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."◀️ 👉They hang on to their "religious" trappings because they have believed they are important and use them to justify the lies they are accepting. They create a sense of security. 👉As Rev 23:11 declares as the world moves closer to the end of time ▶️"Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.” ◀️The bad thing about that is that if we are in this place in the worlds timeline that it will not get better but worse. So now is the time to seek Gods grace for ourselves and our nation. Granted it has always been that time to seek Gods grace for America..but it may be getting even more important than before.

Pro Trump Prophecies Were Wrong in 2016 Also.

 👉There are a LOT of "Christians" out there who have made prophecies they said were from God that Trump was going to win in 2020. They said God spoke to them or gave them a dream. They were wrong. I remember seeing those in 2016 and thinking that was just crazy.

👉But, they were WRONG in 2016 also. They had a 50/50 chance of getting it right and they got lucky. I have no reason to believe these self-proclaimed "prophets" were right in 2016 any more than they were right this year. The undiscerning Christian fell for them both times and not because they were true but because they wanted it to be true. There is no Biblical reason that God would have made such a prophesy then or now. There were more self proclaimed "prophets" this time around because many were emboldened by the first round. Social media enhanced that as many people put them out there for "likes" or "follows." The devotion to Trump by evangelicals who considered him a "Chosen" leader exposed their hearts.

👉The foundation for the Christian is to love the lord thy God will all thy heart and to love thy neighbor as yourself...and from that comes the fruit of our lives and the power that molds and keeps our souls from now and into eternity.

👉There are verses also that say if you continue to love a lie more than the truth..that God will release you to that lie and the end is not good.

"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.(II Thess 2:10-12).

👉 Very simply and boldly, if you are not seeking the truth...then you are following a lie.

👉There have been some of these prophets who have recognized their major error and offered public apologies. I just hope - for their souls - they offer repentance to God. False prophecy is not something God has ever winked at. (read the entire chapter 23 of Jeremiah some time. Its not pretty.)

👉Jeremiah 23: 25-26: I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;

Josh Hawley Thinks He is Doing Gods Work

 

“We are called to take that message into every sphere of life that we touch, including the political realm. That is our charge. To take the Lordship of Christ, that message, into the public realm, and to seek the obedience of the nations. Of our nation!” --Josh Hawley told the New York Times. Hawley is a Christian Nationalist. He believes its his duty subject "the nation" to "obedience" to Christ. Except that the only method he really has to fulfill such a task would be by force. The way I see it, he is inciting insurrection but throwing religious trappings around it, which the essence of Christian Nationalism.

"Christian nationalism. When you attach the cause of cause of Christ or Christ's name to a political party or to a particular president or when you see, on the Capitol steps, the flags that say 'Jesus 2020'....I thought [to myself] that's impossible. Breaking and entering into the Capitol building-- that's not Jesus. This has hurt the cause of Christ. This has set us back. Don't we care about offending the least of these," --Seacoast Vineyard Church Lead Pastor Tommy Moore

"Christian Nationalism" is not of God. Nor is it Real Christianity in Action.

 👉God has and is using Trump to expose the stupidity and evil hearts of those who call Him Lord. "Christian Nationalism" is not of God. God demands devotion to love Him with all your heart your mind and your soul. Then to love your neighbor as yourself (even if you disagree with your neighbor).

👉The kingdom of God focuses on the advancement of the gospel. Nationalism focuses on the advancement of the politics of the nation. Politics and economics are vital and, to an extent, can represent biblical ethics. But Jesus made it clear that being committed to making disciples and seeing humanity change was more important, and a change that would be real and lasting.

👉It is also possible for a committed Christian to be a faithful witness for Jesus while serving in public life as an elected official. But anything that potentially distracts my energy and focus away from advancing the Gospel should take a backseat in my personal life and ministry.

1️⃣The kingdom of God produces loyalty to Christ above all else. Nationalism produces loyalty to the nation above all else.

2️⃣The kingdom of God produces martyrs for the cause of Christ. Nationalism produces citizens who are willing to die for their nation based simply on a political ideology.

3️⃣The kingdom of God raises the banner of Jesus above all else. Nationalism raises the national flag above all else...or based on what we saw this week, the Trump flag and even, more sadly, the Confederate flag.

4️⃣The kingdom of God promotes the interests of God above the world. Nationalism promotes the interests of the nation above the kingdom.

👉Christian Nationalism is a very dangerous dogma. When you think God is on your side and your politics is from Him...you see yourself as the smartest and the strongest person in the room. It is a dangerous faux humility.

▶️“His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence” (Psalm 11:5). Solomon instructed us, “Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways” (Proverbs 3:31).◀️