Life Matters - November 20, 2024
When wolves in sheep’s clothing try to bleat like sheep it works best if they at least know what a sheep sounds like. I’m still hoping and praying that the left-wing takeaway from Trump’s winning streak goes deeper than a tweaking of message to sound more like truth-tellers, but don’t hold your breath. I’m not. But we can pray. Perhaps an individual here and there, if not en masse, can still begin to understand the importance of being authentic truth-tellers whether we like the truth or not. To repent and find the ultimate Truth, Jesus the Christ, ‘’the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.’’ (John 1:29) The salvation all of us need. Jesus Lives! That message is driven by its Truth.
When wolves clothed in wool, bark ‘’wolf!’’ they eventually won’t be taken seriously by even the dumbest of sheep; except to shy away from the barking. That lesson has been underscored for us in the U.S. political arena, first in the race for the White House, then for the Senate majority, the Governor races, and now the House of Representatives majority, as well as many of the lower court positions, have been filled by those adhering to the policies of the felonious ‘’threat to democracy’’ guy wearing a red MAGA hat while serving at McDonalds and adding a high-visibility vest to ride in a garbage truck. Add charging into the culture war with ‘’Kamala is for they/them,” President Trump is for you while giving outspoken support for the way God made us, and the cries of ‘’an existential threat to democracy’’ by those disregarding the Constitution they profess adhering to, become essentially meaningless except as an effective voter repellent. Many still don’t get it—calling it a ‘’communications problem.” ‘’Condescension,’’ says Ritchie Torres (Dem.) ‘’is the most powerful repellent in politics.’’
Some may think the they/them slogan was too condescending. On the other hand, her hand needs to be shown, if she won’t. Kamala has never publicly repented of her LGBTQ+ agenda and if the wool ever comes off we cannot say we had no warning. DEI ‘’identity politics’’ is still a part of who she is.
President Trump, it turns out, adheres to his own brand of identity politics. It goes something like this; Fill cabinet positions by identifying the best person with the right skills for the job and say ‘’if you want the job—you’re hired!’’ Guess what? They accept the job and determine, with a vision, to do it right. (Barring acceptance by Congress being understood.)
Amidst all the post-election hand-wringing and finger-pointing at each other the Dem accusations of ‘’fascist! an existential threat to democracy, loves Hitler!’’ and ‘’admires Putin’’ is fading into the nothingness of Big Tech censorship, weaponization of government, and ‘’fake news’’ media trumpeting anti-Trump free advertising. (for the Trump campaign)
As well it should fade. The Harris campaign burned through 1.2 – 1.5 billion dollars (yes, that’s a b) in 3 months, hiring celebrities and expensive venues, but lacked a major ingredient necessary for success in a Constitutional election; a sense of authenticity.
Love him or hate him, Trump comes across as authentic. We saw the real Trump when he was helped from his knees with blood from a would-be assassin’s bullet streaking his face. As he spoke vehemently, a raised fist jerking with every fight! fight! fight! We saw a humility in him as he stood before the crowd at the RNC convention afterward and began with ‘’I stand here before you, in this arena, only by the grace of almighty God.’’ And now we get to see him again as President of the United States of America! Lord willing. Let us continue to pray for his safety. And continue to say, ‘’If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.’’ (James 4:15)
The promise of prosperity has its limitations…inflation has been an existential threat to democracy since FDR’s New Deal/Keynesian economics of the 1930s. Bidenomics only ‘’put the skids’’ under inflation. In our enthusiasm with the new Administration let’s not ‘’get over our skis’’ as we navigate the obstacle course ahead of us. President Ronald Reagan, who inherited hot inflation similar to the situation President Trump will inherit at his inauguration (Lord willing) on January 20, 2025 gave us this warning in February of 1981 after his own inauguration a month prior; ‘’millions of Americans today have had to tighten their belts because of the economic conditions, and its time to put Washington on a diet too.’’
I have much respect for Ronald Reagan’s attempt at government fiscal responsibility and I have the same respect for President Donald Trump’s desire and stated attempts for the same. Having said that, Keynesian economics continue to undermine the foundation of government financial stability through its borrowing from ‘’ourselves’’ to pay ourselves and our bloated government programs. The wild government spending of the past 3.5 years hasn’t helped the situation any, it made a bad situation worse, so before prosperity we may well need to tighten our collective belts. Cutting back on government programs puts the people of those programs in need of jobs at a time of mass immigration and the new threat of robots with artificial intelligence.
It seems the homesteaders of a bygone era would be better equipped to navigate this over-spending correction…perhaps we should be re-learning their ways as much as we can. It is sure we can pray. Real sheep are known by the Shepherd they follow.
Life Matters!