Trump is now selling bibles and it is not quite April 1st yet …
There is also a weird plot twist here.
The bibles he sells have extra text added. I’m not kidding. Each copy also includes the text of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance, and more. It is those extra texts that gives it a Christian Nationalist twist and motivated a Christian Publisher to take a hard pass on publishing it a few years back.
In essence, he has grabbed a failed copyrighted Christian Nationalist Bible, replaced the copyrighted NIV portion with the public domain totally free KJV text, and is now selling it for $59.99.
You might indeed wonder if people are stupid enough to fall for it. What the past few years reveals is that yes, MAGA really are indeed stupid enough to be happily scammed again and again.
As for the actual MAGA response, MAGA pastor Jackson Lahmeyer is a prime example. He says that former President Donald Trump hawking Bibles is “one of the greatest spiritual moments in U.S. history,” adding that this Bible is particularly useful because “all of our founding documents are derived from Scripture.”
- You and I know that Lahmeyer is as usual lying to promote his political agenda because exactly zero of the founding documents were derived from scripture, but that’s a message for MAGA, not you and me.
You also can act now, and get two Corinthians for the price of one!
Oh the depths irony in play here, it burns. Literally anybody can read the entire thing in every version online for free, yet here he is selling it to people who don’t read. So what comes next, will be also try to brand bottled air as well: “Feel Gods breath on you when you unbottle “Trump, holy spirit wind” for the low price of $59.99, act now, supplies limited“
The income from selling bibles will now help this poor impoverished billionaire to pay his legal bills because he committed sexual assault, fraud, and insurrection.
“But it’s all for charity, he gets nothing from this, he just endorsed it“, some might quip after reading the FAQ on the website promoting it. While it is true that the website claims he gets nothing, that is not a factual claim. He does indeed get a cut of the proceeds. As explained by the Washington Post …
The current website for the book includes an FAQ that addresses the question of how the former president benefits from the partnership. It assures visitors that no money from the sale of the Bibles will go to Trump’s political campaign. Instead, “GodBlessTheUSABible.com uses Donald J. Trump’s name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC, which license may be terminated or revoked according to its terms.”
CIC Ventures, though, is a conduit to Trump — personally, if not politically. In his financial disclosure released last year, he’s identified as the company’s “manager, president, secretary and treasurer” and the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust is identified as a 100 percent owner of the business. The same entity also receives royalties from his book “A MAGA Journey” and speaking engagements. A person familiar with the agreement confirmed to the New York Times that Trump earns royalties from purchases.
CNN did a segment on how much income this might earn from this and contrasts it with Biden’s fundraising event …
So will people actually buy it?
Perhaps they will because getting a bible signed by the antichrist is a very collectable item.
Moving on, below you will once again find my usual selection of some of the other truly bizarre and extreme claims that have popped up during the last 7 days. Each is laced with my snarky commentary.
With my usual hat tip to my various sources, let’s once again dive into this very murky pool of absurdity and stupidity.
Christian Nationalism
Ben Zeisloft proclaims that “the Bible should heavily guide the laws we enact and enforce in the United States.”
- I’m really not sure he grasps how utterly weird that could be:… When Fighting Another Man, Chop Off His Wife’s Hand If She Grabs Your Genitals (Deuteronomy 25:11-12); If Your Slave Refuses Freedom, Pierce Their Ear (Exodus 21:5-6); Women Suspected of Adultery Have To Drink Dirty Water (Numbers 5:11-31); Don’t Sit Where A Menstruating Woman Has Sat (Leviticus 15:19-21); Don’t Wear Clothes Made of Both Linen And Wool (Leviticus 19:19); You Can’t Kill A Burglar During The Day only at night (Exodus 22:2-3); If a man cheats on his wife, or vise versa, both the man and the woman must die. (Leviticus 20:10); Kill anyone with a different religion. (Deuteronomy 17:2-7); etc… and there is plenty more of the same, so good luck trying to make sense of those laws.
- Another way to put this is … goodbye bacon, farewell shrimp and lobster, so long cheeseburgers.
- “heavily guide” of course simply means his cherrypicked bits that confirm his bigotry, but the bits that suggest helping the poor and the stranger can be ignored.
- Just to be wholly clear, Ben is in fact calling for the Constitution to be obliterated: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”
Lance Wallnau claims that “Christian nationalism” is a term invented by the left to slander conservative Christians.
- Well this is rather awkward given that Wallnau has openly declared that, “Yes, I am a Christian nationalist.”
The Big Lie
Judge Yvette Roland ruled Wednesday that former Trump attorney John Eastman be stripped of his law license, saying that he had “exhibited gross negligence by making false statements about the 2020 election” and breached “his ethical duty as an attorney to prioritize honesty and integrity.”
- You can find more on this here.
- Eastman told religious-right activists recently that he had used his California disbarment trial to make the case that his 2020 claims about election fraud and illegality were legitimate but were never given serious consideration by the courts. What we now see is that he apparently failed to convince Judge Roland.
- Eastman has also been hitting up anti-LGBTQ and other religious-right activists to raise more than $3 million to cover his legal costs.
Ronna McDaniel
The most important news personality on NBC rightly condemned the hiring of the worst one by laying out the precise reason why hiring her was deeply wrong …
She goes on to take a robust stand with all those that raised an objection …
- In other words, there really are some at NBC who do have integrity.
Thankfully NBC threw in the towel and dropped her because enough staff members clearly said “not on my watch”…
Christian “Love”
MAGA pastor Mark Burns tells Christians that they must give up their secular friends because “secular friends are Satan’s windows into your life.”
- MAGA Christians don’t actually need to “give up” secular friends because they don’t have any. They are MAGA Christians, all their secular friends quietly slipped away many years ago when they went off the deep end.
And as ususal Evangelicals are standing ready to be offended, not just at everthing and anything, but usually nothing at all, and then claim it is a conspiracy against them (The latest is that March 31, which is also Easter this year, is Transgender Visability day, and that it was picked to simply troll them)…
- Fact Check: Transgender Day of Visibility always falls on March 31. There’s no connection to Easter. It’s a coincidence and non-controversy. It’s really easy to fact check that. Easter is the date that changes every year and just happened to be Mar 31 this year.
- Biden did the exact same proclamation for Transgender Day of Visibility in 2021, 2022, and 2023. People just noticed this year because feigning persecution is good for Christian Nationalism as it rallies the base. As a Christian, Biden also celebrates Easter.
Pastor Greg Locke: I just returned from Israel. Let me be plain. I stand 100% for Israel and 100% against Gaza. There is NO compromise. IT ALL BELONGS TO ISRAEL. The UN and the Biden Administration need to stop the lies. In any case, GOD WILL ALWAYS PROTECT HIS PEOPLE.
- Locke is “pro-life” except for Palestinian kids. Within his quirky universe they deserve to die, apparently.
Lies, Damn Lies, and Tucker Carlson
Claim: Sentenced to Jail for “Praying” …
Fact Check: Paul Vaughn was NOT convicted for praying. This is an absolute lie. Vaughn was convicted for a blockade that occurred at the Carafem Health Center Abortion Clinic in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, in 2021. He was found to have violated the FACE Act which prohibits “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.”
Baltimore Bridge Weirdness
If only there had been a good guy with a freighter there to stop it …
And yes, all the usual suspects have chipped in with whacky conspiracy claims to ensure that they maintain their stupidity credentials …
- Josh Bernstein insists that there is “no way” that the collapse of the bridgein Baltimore was an accident: “This was an implosion of some kind.”
- Jim Garlow asserts that the collapse was either the result of “DEI incompetence” or terrorism.
- Dutch Sheets claims that he had a prophetic dream about the collapse a week before it happened. (I’ve popped a bit more on this into the “False Prophets section below)
- Lance Wallnau also believes there is “prophetic significance” to the bridge incident.
Homophobia on Steroids
Convention of States’ Mark Meckler says “there’s no such thing as trans people; they don’t exist” and that people who claim to be trans are really just “perverts.”
- “there’s no such thing as Mark Meckler; he does not exist” and that people who claim to be Mark Meckler are really just “perverts.”
Antisemitic
Given the ongoing horrendous genocidal actions by the extreme right-wing regime in Israel (and for the record, Hamas is no better), it is not a surprise to discover extremists attempting to tap into such feelings to recruit.
Andrew Torba declares that modern Jews are part of a “broader movement or attitude that opposes or seeks to replace Christ … thus making them antichrist”: “When they call you ‘antisemitic’ you need to be calling them antichrist, because they are. One of those words is in the Bible, the other is made up by antichrist Jews. If that offends you, take it up with God.”
- For context: Andrew Torba is the founder and COE of Gab, a social media platform that is in essence a safe haven for white nationalists and neo-Nazis. Spouting Antisemitic gibberish is part of his group identity.
Ryan Dawson proclaims that “the Israelites are not Satan’s chosen race. They are the race that chose Satan. They are a cancer upon the world. They lie, steal, blameshift, rape, torture, and desecrate, and murder.”
- Again for context, for the past several decades Dawson has been a Holocaust denier, a conspiracy theorist about Israel’s supposed role in 9/11, and a promoter of the idea that Judaism sanctions pedophilia and rape.
- Because of his stances Russia Today regularly uses Dawson as an “expert” on a whole plethora of subjects — the U.S. role in Yemen, Russia’s role in the Ukraine, disputes between China and Japan, and more. This is basically because he panders to their propaganda.
Weird
Todd Starnes does not seem to be a fan of a RRW post featuring a clip of him telling Jews and Christians that “the Democrats hate you” and “if you keep voting for Democrats knowing they hate you, you’re a moron”: “Catholics and Protestants who vote for Democrats also hate Jesus and they hate their religion.”
- Side Note: He got fired from Fox News Radio for saying stuff like this back in 2019
Rafael Cruz, father of Sen. Ted Cruz, says he became involved in right-wing politics after hearing Jimmy Carter speak in 1976: “The first time I heard Jimmy Carter campaign, I knew the man was a communist. He sounded just like Fidel Castro.”
- Yes indeed, the one thing that Jimmy Carter is famously known for is being … “a communist … just like Fidel Castro“
- Translation: Rich guy was deeply pissed about Carter’s efforts to raise taxes on wealthy guys like him in 1976
Elijah Schaffer defends his racism by arguing that Jesus is God and God punished kings for “refusing to wipe out entire nations” and therefore “we still have Arab issues” to this day: “God literally was trying to prevent future problems by bringing judgment that seemed cruel.”
- The people he’s saying should be totally eradicated and slaughtered also have religious texts saying that people like Elijah Schaffer should be eradicated and slaughtered. Religious fanaticism never ends well for all involved.
When someone confronted Matt Maddock with the truth and pointed out his claim was total BS, he responded by calling them a “kommie” …
The False Profit$
Self-proclaimed Christian “prophet” Dutch Sheets says God told him in a dream last week that the bridge in Baltimore would collapse
- Classic Prophecy Scam: Claim god told you about it after it happens, and not before.
- I had a dream last week where god told me Christian “prophet” Dutch Sheets was going to LIE about having a dream that the Baltimore bridge would collapse … if you don’t believe me, then why are you believing him?
- Meanwhile I am currently holding up a certain number of one or more fingers pointed in his direction, can god tell him exactly how many fingers that is? (No supernatural ability required to get this one exactly right)
MAGA “prophet” Julie Green apparently had the same dream and yet did not think to mention it until after it happened (strange that) …
Lance Wallnau claims that everyone knows that former President Barack Obama was “a closet Muslim.”
- Would you believe that it is now the twenty year anniversary for this whacky conspiracy theory.
- Finding multiple whacky conspiracy claims rattling around inside the heads of people who actually believe the orange turd is the chosen one of god is not really a shock. People who are psychologically prong to accepting one conspiracy tend to lean into many others as well. (QAnon, Stolen Election, Anti-Vax, etc…). In other words, when it comes to conspiracy claims, it’s buy 1, and get lots more for free.
Hank Kunneman asserts that Trump is like Samson and Christians who refuse to support him “have tied up a deliverer that God has appointed and anointed.” Kunneman also issued a warning to those who mock his prophecies: “You’re touching God. You’re touching what God has said.”
- Well hey what a coincidence, I have just received a word directly from god for you all. He told me it was just fine to mock fraudsters like Kunneman, and anybody who does not is going against what god has said.
- Trump vs Samson: One derived strength from long hair that was really his, and the other fakes having a full head of hair which is deeply symbolic, because everything else about him is also fake.
Nebraska Update
Beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing …
Exposure of Appraisal Bias results in a Win
The article explains how they demonstrated the Appraisal Bias …
…A year earlier, the couple had opened their home to Mr. Lanham, who is white, for an appraisal, and he put the value of their four-bedroom house in Baltimore’s Homeland neighborhood at $472,000. After the couple stripped their home of family photographs and had a white colleague pose as the homeowner, an action known as “whitewashing,” a second appraiser offered a value of $750,000…
Here is what this case is a landmark change …
It is not the first such lawsuit alleging a racially biased home appraisal to be resolved in a settlement. But unlike other settlements that have resulted in only monetary damages, this creates a companywide policy overhaul, paving the way for other homeowners to challenge valuations that they feel may be biased
The Rise of Christian Nationalism is having a real impact
Be Encouraged
There really are sensible voters out there even in the deepest of deep red states (it was a a 62-37 landslide)…
Finally…
Donald to bragged about getting an award he gave himself …
Immigrant has some insights …