Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
April 4, 2024
In a lawsuit filed on March 24 in Florida state court, Donald Trump is suing Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss — former contestants on Trump’s reality-TV show “The Apprentice,” and co-founders of Truth Social's newly public parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group — seeking forfeit of their shares.
In the filing, Trump alleges that Litinsky and Moss made "reckless and wasteful decisions," and caused "significant damage" to the company by getting in the way of an earlier attempt to take Trump Media public, causing a significant delay, and hits back at a complaint filed by the two of them in February in which they sought to block Trump from taking steps that they saw as potentially reducing their combined 8.6% stake.
"TMTG has been forced to file this action to remedy the harm inflicted upon it by two faithless fiduciaries and a company they own — Wesley Moss, Andrew Litinsky, and [United Atlantic Ventures] — and to halt their ongoing attempts to do even more damage," the filing said, per ABC News. Trump's stake in the company is currently worth more than $4 billion. ...................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/03/in-legal-battle-with-media-co-founders-over-back-and-forth-regarding-company-shares/?in_brief=true
There's no honor among assholes
Trump in legal battle with Trump Media co-founders over back-and-forth regarding company sharesIn a lawsuit filed on March 24 in Florida state court, Donald Trump is suing Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss — former contestants on Trump’s reality-TV show “The Apprentice,” and co-founders of Truth Social's newly public parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group — seeking forfeit of their shares.
In the filing, Trump alleges that Litinsky and Moss made "reckless and wasteful decisions," and caused "significant damage" to the company by getting in the way of an earlier attempt to take Trump Media public, causing a significant delay, and hits back at a complaint filed by the two of them in February in which they sought to block Trump from taking steps that they saw as potentially reducing their combined 8.6% stake.
"TMTG has been forced to file this action to remedy the harm inflicted upon it by two faithless fiduciaries and a company they own — Wesley Moss, Andrew Litinsky, and [United Atlantic Ventures] — and to halt their ongoing attempts to do even more damage," the filing said, per ABC News. Trump's stake in the company is currently worth more than $4 billion. ...................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/03/in-legal-battle-with-media-co-founders-over-back-and-forth-regarding-company-shares/?in_brief=true
April 3, 2024
Trump is running on a platform that says both he and law enforcement across the land should be immune from the law
By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
Columnist
PUBLISHED APRIL 3, 2024 9:00AM (EDT)
(Salon) Donald Trump, an alleged "master brander," has liberally stolen all of his most famous slogans from other politicians, starting with "Make America Great Again" which he took from Ronald Reagan. During the 2016 campaign, he made a big announcement that he was going to be the "Law and Order" candidate, which made many people chuckle since it evoked the famous TV show. But it was also one of Richard Nixon's winning slogans in 1968, used to appeal to the white conservatives who were freaking out over civil rights and anti-war protests.
....(snip)....
This standard piece of his stump speech thrills Trump's followers, of course, which is a big part of why he does it. Racism and xenophobia are the coins of the MAGA realm. The current Agenda 2025 plan to enlist the local police and deploy red state national guard troops to blue cities to round up migrants and send them to deportation camps is undoubtedly a huge hit with the faithful. And he made the promise explicitly in his Michigan speech, declaring that "we have to get law and order back" as he stood in front of a line of police officers who all applauded when he said it.
....(snip)....
He also promised to pass laws to give law enforcement immunity from prosecution which he usually discusses in the context of his whiny demand for presidential "total immunity" As he posted on Truth Social:
....(snip)....
And he's doing this at the same time that he's promising to pardon the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, specifically pledging to release the detainees being held in the Washington D.C. jail whom he has taken to calling "hostages" and with whom he collaborated on a recording of the national anthem. Just Security reports that the movement to free these prisoners has been organized by the mother of Ashli Babbit, the anointed MAGA martyr of Jan. 6. She told the Washington Post that Trump called her and told her “to pass that on to the guys inside that they’re on his mind, and when he gets in they’ll get out.” ...........(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/03/why-the-police-are-providing-cover-for-jan-6/
Why the police are providing Trump cover for Jan. 6
Why the police are providing Trump cover for Jan. 6Trump is running on a platform that says both he and law enforcement across the land should be immune from the law
By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
Columnist
PUBLISHED APRIL 3, 2024 9:00AM (EDT)
(Salon) Donald Trump, an alleged "master brander," has liberally stolen all of his most famous slogans from other politicians, starting with "Make America Great Again" which he took from Ronald Reagan. During the 2016 campaign, he made a big announcement that he was going to be the "Law and Order" candidate, which made many people chuckle since it evoked the famous TV show. But it was also one of Richard Nixon's winning slogans in 1968, used to appeal to the white conservatives who were freaking out over civil rights and anti-war protests.
....(snip)....
This standard piece of his stump speech thrills Trump's followers, of course, which is a big part of why he does it. Racism and xenophobia are the coins of the MAGA realm. The current Agenda 2025 plan to enlist the local police and deploy red state national guard troops to blue cities to round up migrants and send them to deportation camps is undoubtedly a huge hit with the faithful. And he made the promise explicitly in his Michigan speech, declaring that "we have to get law and order back" as he stood in front of a line of police officers who all applauded when he said it.
....(snip)....
He also promised to pass laws to give law enforcement immunity from prosecution which he usually discusses in the context of his whiny demand for presidential "total immunity" As he posted on Truth Social:
A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES MUST HAVE FULL IMMUNITY, WITHOUT WHICH IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM/HER TO PROPERLY FUNCTION. ANY MISTAKE, EVEN IF WELL INTENDED, WOULD BE MET WITH ALMOST CERTAIN INDICTMENT BY THE OPPOSING PARTY AT TERM END. EVEN EVENTS THAT “CROSS THE LINE” MUST FALL UNDER TOTAL IMMUNITY, OR IT WILL BE YEARS OF TRAUMA TRYING TO DETERMINE GOOD FROM BAD. THERE MUST BE CERTAINTY. EXAMPLE: YOU CAN’T STOP POLICE FROM DOING THE JOB OF STRONG & EFFECTIVE CRIME PREVENTION BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GUARD AGAINST THE OCCASIONAL “ROGUE COP” OR “BAD APPLE.” SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH “GREAT BUT SLIGHTLY IMPERFECT.” ALL PRESIDENTS MUST HAVE COMPLETE & TOTAL PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY, OR THE AUTHORITY & DECISIVENESS OF A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WILL BE STRIPPED & GONE FOREVER. HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE AN EASY DECISION. GOD BLESS THE SUPREME COURT!
....(snip)....
And he's doing this at the same time that he's promising to pardon the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, specifically pledging to release the detainees being held in the Washington D.C. jail whom he has taken to calling "hostages" and with whom he collaborated on a recording of the national anthem. Just Security reports that the movement to free these prisoners has been organized by the mother of Ashli Babbit, the anointed MAGA martyr of Jan. 6. She told the Washington Post that Trump called her and told her “to pass that on to the guys inside that they’re on his mind, and when he gets in they’ll get out.” ...........(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/03/why-the-police-are-providing-cover-for-jan-6/
April 3, 2024
Donald Trump acts terrified to face a jury. He should be scared
Trump's efforts to disrupt his own trials only make jurors hate him more
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 3, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)
(Salon) Donald Trump, as usual, is unhappy. Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over Trump's first criminal trial in Manhattan, just expanded an already existing gag order on the infamously whiny former president. The old one barred Trump from talking about jurors, witnesses, court staff, prosecutors, or family members of court staff, with the exception of the judge himself and lead prosecutor, District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Trump, like a 5-year-old looking for loopholes in the rules against cookie-stealing, immediately went after the judge's daughter instead, spreading lies about her that were clearly meant to make her worry for her safety. On Monday, at Bragg's request, Merchan amended the gag order to cover his own and Bragg's family members.
....(snip)....
This language about recusal suggests this tantrum is about more than Trump's usual emotional incontinence. For one thing, it's his usual efforts to throw as much sand in the gears as possible in hopes of delaying a trial scheduled to start April 15. It also suggests Trump is already looking past this trial to the appeals process, where all these accusations can be bundled into the argument that the judge was prejudicial and therefore the conviction should be thrown out.
....(snip)....
This case indeed gets downplayed in the media because it's viewed as not as serious as Trump's other criminal cases regarding his attempted coup or his theft of classified documents. But a jury is not asked to decide where they rank this case on the distorted scale of Trump's criminality. They're just going to be asked if Trump committed business fraud to hide a campaign finance violation. Trump knows better than anyone how guilty he is of that accusation. That he's sweating bullets suggests Trump thinks things won't go so well at trial.
....(snip)....
Not that he has the attention span, but Trump would be wise to watch the recent documentary "The Truth vs. Alex Jones," about the two successful defamation lawsuits filed against the Infowars host by the parents of Sandy Hook victims. In real time, I closely followed these cases addressing Jones' repeated defamtion of these parents by accusing them, falsely, of fabricating or lying about their children's murders. But even for me, the documentary was riveting — especially in the courtroom — for one big reason: You can see the jurors' faces when they are in the presence of Jones. It's quite the trip, watching these people grow increasingly disgusted with Jones, with his bombastic lying, to the point where some looked physically ill as he kept talking. ...............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/03/donald-acts-terrified-to-face-a-jury-he-should-be-scared/
Donald Trump acts terrified to face a jury. He should be scared
Donald Trump acts terrified to face a jury. He should be scared
Trump's efforts to disrupt his own trials only make jurors hate him more
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 3, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)
(Salon) Donald Trump, as usual, is unhappy. Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over Trump's first criminal trial in Manhattan, just expanded an already existing gag order on the infamously whiny former president. The old one barred Trump from talking about jurors, witnesses, court staff, prosecutors, or family members of court staff, with the exception of the judge himself and lead prosecutor, District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Trump, like a 5-year-old looking for loopholes in the rules against cookie-stealing, immediately went after the judge's daughter instead, spreading lies about her that were clearly meant to make her worry for her safety. On Monday, at Bragg's request, Merchan amended the gag order to cover his own and Bragg's family members.
....(snip)....
This language about recusal suggests this tantrum is about more than Trump's usual emotional incontinence. For one thing, it's his usual efforts to throw as much sand in the gears as possible in hopes of delaying a trial scheduled to start April 15. It also suggests Trump is already looking past this trial to the appeals process, where all these accusations can be bundled into the argument that the judge was prejudicial and therefore the conviction should be thrown out.
....(snip)....
This case indeed gets downplayed in the media because it's viewed as not as serious as Trump's other criminal cases regarding his attempted coup or his theft of classified documents. But a jury is not asked to decide where they rank this case on the distorted scale of Trump's criminality. They're just going to be asked if Trump committed business fraud to hide a campaign finance violation. Trump knows better than anyone how guilty he is of that accusation. That he's sweating bullets suggests Trump thinks things won't go so well at trial.
....(snip)....
Not that he has the attention span, but Trump would be wise to watch the recent documentary "The Truth vs. Alex Jones," about the two successful defamation lawsuits filed against the Infowars host by the parents of Sandy Hook victims. In real time, I closely followed these cases addressing Jones' repeated defamtion of these parents by accusing them, falsely, of fabricating or lying about their children's murders. But even for me, the documentary was riveting — especially in the courtroom — for one big reason: You can see the jurors' faces when they are in the presence of Jones. It's quite the trip, watching these people grow increasingly disgusted with Jones, with his bombastic lying, to the point where some looked physically ill as he kept talking. ...............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/03/donald-acts-terrified-to-face-a-jury-he-should-be-scared/
April 3, 2024
(Detroit Free Press) John Sinclair, the beatnik poet and Detroit counterculture icon, died Tuesday morning of heart failure at 82.
....(snip)....
Here are some selected excerpts from that conversation, including Sinclair's thoughts on Detroit's rock history and audiences, his work with the alternative newspaper Fifth Estate, the founding of the White Panther Party with the MC5 and more — with some barbed remarks about artists such as the Grateful Dead, Ted Nugent and Andy Warhol.
His early musical interests: I grew up in the ’50s, and I was a rhythm ‘n’ blues fanatic as a teenager, so I had the good fortune of being 13 years old when rock ‘n’ roll came in. My life coincides with the life of rock ‘n’ roll, time-wise. When I got out of high school, I went off to college and got into jazz and poetry, beatnik-ism. So I didn’t pay attention to popular music the first half of the ’60s — I was strictly into jazz of the avant-garde variety: John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman.
....(snip)....
Founding the White Panther Party: That was the fall of ’68, right when we were making our (debut) record for Elektra. And again, there was no svengali aspect to that. Honestly, the White Panther Party was the only political party in American history founded by a rock ‘n’ roll band. It was just all of us sitting around the table, getting high and laughing, and we decided that if we were gonna be a national entity … we wanted to have a way to express our outlet in more encapsulated form, to make it easy for people to understand where we were coming from. We were big followers and supporters of the Black Panther Party. ..............(more)
https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2024/04/02/john-sinclair-interview-mc5-detroit-rock-history/73180675007/
John Sinclair in his own words: Talking the MC5, Detroit rock scene, radical politics, more
(Detroit Free Press) John Sinclair, the beatnik poet and Detroit counterculture icon, died Tuesday morning of heart failure at 82.
....(snip)....
Here are some selected excerpts from that conversation, including Sinclair's thoughts on Detroit's rock history and audiences, his work with the alternative newspaper Fifth Estate, the founding of the White Panther Party with the MC5 and more — with some barbed remarks about artists such as the Grateful Dead, Ted Nugent and Andy Warhol.
His early musical interests: I grew up in the ’50s, and I was a rhythm ‘n’ blues fanatic as a teenager, so I had the good fortune of being 13 years old when rock ‘n’ roll came in. My life coincides with the life of rock ‘n’ roll, time-wise. When I got out of high school, I went off to college and got into jazz and poetry, beatnik-ism. So I didn’t pay attention to popular music the first half of the ’60s — I was strictly into jazz of the avant-garde variety: John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman.
....(snip)....
Founding the White Panther Party: That was the fall of ’68, right when we were making our (debut) record for Elektra. And again, there was no svengali aspect to that. Honestly, the White Panther Party was the only political party in American history founded by a rock ‘n’ roll band. It was just all of us sitting around the table, getting high and laughing, and we decided that if we were gonna be a national entity … we wanted to have a way to express our outlet in more encapsulated form, to make it easy for people to understand where we were coming from. We were big followers and supporters of the Black Panther Party. ..............(more)
https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2024/04/02/john-sinclair-interview-mc5-detroit-rock-history/73180675007/
April 3, 2024
(Salon) The New York judge overseeing Donald Trump's upcoming hush-money trial expanded the gag order on the former president on Monday to protect his and the Manhattan District attorney's family members, following Trump's week of attacks of the judge's daughter. Trump's team is now planning to use the judge's move as grounds to demand a recusal.
The latest order came almost a week after Judge Juan Merchan granted the district attorney's request for a gag order on the presumptive GOP nominee barring him from attacking witnesses, jurors, the prosecution and court staff as well as their families. The previous order did not cover Merchan or District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case related to a hush-money payment made to conceal a sex scandal ahead of the 2016 election.
....(snip)....
The judge's Monday ruling indicates that Trump had "finally" gone "too far" in his attacks, giving Judge Merchan "the record he needed" to expand the gag order, Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson told Salon.
....(snip)....
Gershman and Levenson also agreed that Trump's latest bid to recuse Judge Merchan lacks merit. The effort, Gershman explained, is "baseless" because it's "too broad" and "involves speculation and irresponsible insinuation" that the judge's relationship with his daughter would predispose him to rule based on that relationship. ................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/02/trump-is-running-scared-legal-experts-slam-hairbrained-scheme-to-get-ny-recused/
Trump's "harebrained" recusal scheme
(Salon) The New York judge overseeing Donald Trump's upcoming hush-money trial expanded the gag order on the former president on Monday to protect his and the Manhattan District attorney's family members, following Trump's week of attacks of the judge's daughter. Trump's team is now planning to use the judge's move as grounds to demand a recusal.
The latest order came almost a week after Judge Juan Merchan granted the district attorney's request for a gag order on the presumptive GOP nominee barring him from attacking witnesses, jurors, the prosecution and court staff as well as their families. The previous order did not cover Merchan or District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case related to a hush-money payment made to conceal a sex scandal ahead of the 2016 election.
....(snip)....
The judge's Monday ruling indicates that Trump had "finally" gone "too far" in his attacks, giving Judge Merchan "the record he needed" to expand the gag order, Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson told Salon.
....(snip)....
Gershman and Levenson also agreed that Trump's latest bid to recuse Judge Merchan lacks merit. The effort, Gershman explained, is "baseless" because it's "too broad" and "involves speculation and irresponsible insinuation" that the judge's relationship with his daughter would predispose him to rule based on that relationship. ................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/02/trump-is-running-scared-legal-experts-slam-hairbrained-scheme-to-get-ny-recused/
April 3, 2024
"It fits perfectly into both his personality disorder’s hypomanic grandiosity and its paranoid sense of grievance"
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 2, 2024 5:46AM (EDT)
(Salon) American fascism is a form of political religion. It is a social force based on faith and emotion and corrupt power more than a coherent ideology grounded in reason, facts and the truth. As such, fascism is antithetical to real democracy and normal politics.
....(snip)....
On Tuesday, Donald Trump continued to honor Holy Week by announcing that he is selling his own version of the Bible. Trump has publicly and repeatedly stated that he is a Christian. But by definition, his behavior is blasphemous and an example of idolatry. Of course, Trump does not worship God or Jesus Christ; he has shown himself to be a megalomaniac and malignant narcissist who only worships himself (and of course money and other forms of power). Trump basically views his MAGA followers and other “Christians” as useful idiots who are a source of narcissistic energy, money and other resources for him.
....(snip)....
In an attempt to better understand Trump’s Bibles and how they relate to the larger democracy crisis, I recently spoke to a range of experts.
Federico Finchelstein is a professor of history at the New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College in New York. His most recent book is "A Brief History of Fascist Lies."
The MAGA movement pushes its religiosity into the most bizarre form of greed. Trump's conflation of the Bible with doing business and his own comparisons with Jesus's suffering ideas are separate dimensions of the same phenomenon, namely the fascist tendency to make the leader a God-like figure who is not exempted from corrupted practices. In this case Trump desperately needs money. Hitler and Mussolini enriched themselves by writing and selling their writings but Trump's also wants to make money with sacred texts. .........................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/02/perfectly-predictable-dr-john-gartner-on-why-a-malignant-narcissist-like-trump-sells-bibles/
"Perfectly predictable": Dr. John Gartner on why "a malignant narcissist like Trump" sells Bibles
"Perfectly predictable": Dr. John Gartner on why "a malignant narcissist like Trump" sells Bibles"It fits perfectly into both his personality disorder’s hypomanic grandiosity and its paranoid sense of grievance"
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 2, 2024 5:46AM (EDT)
(Salon) American fascism is a form of political religion. It is a social force based on faith and emotion and corrupt power more than a coherent ideology grounded in reason, facts and the truth. As such, fascism is antithetical to real democracy and normal politics.
....(snip)....
On Tuesday, Donald Trump continued to honor Holy Week by announcing that he is selling his own version of the Bible. Trump has publicly and repeatedly stated that he is a Christian. But by definition, his behavior is blasphemous and an example of idolatry. Of course, Trump does not worship God or Jesus Christ; he has shown himself to be a megalomaniac and malignant narcissist who only worships himself (and of course money and other forms of power). Trump basically views his MAGA followers and other “Christians” as useful idiots who are a source of narcissistic energy, money and other resources for him.
....(snip)....
In an attempt to better understand Trump’s Bibles and how they relate to the larger democracy crisis, I recently spoke to a range of experts.
Federico Finchelstein is a professor of history at the New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College in New York. His most recent book is "A Brief History of Fascist Lies."
The MAGA movement pushes its religiosity into the most bizarre form of greed. Trump's conflation of the Bible with doing business and his own comparisons with Jesus's suffering ideas are separate dimensions of the same phenomenon, namely the fascist tendency to make the leader a God-like figure who is not exempted from corrupted practices. In this case Trump desperately needs money. Hitler and Mussolini enriched themselves by writing and selling their writings but Trump's also wants to make money with sacred texts. .........................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/02/perfectly-predictable-dr-john-gartner-on-why-a-malignant-narcissist-like-trump-sells-bibles/
April 2, 2024
"It fits perfectly into both his personality disorder’s hypomanic grandiosity and its paranoid sense of grievance"
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 2, 2024 5:46AM (EDT)
(Salon) American fascism is a form of political religion. It is a social force based on faith and emotion and corrupt power more than a coherent ideology grounded in reason, facts and the truth. As such, fascism is antithetical to real democracy and normal politics.
....(snip)....
On Tuesday, Donald Trump continued to honor Holy Week by announcing that he is selling his own version of the Bible. Trump has publicly and repeatedly stated that he is a Christian. But by definition, his behavior is blasphemous and an example of idolatry. Of course, Trump does not worship God or Jesus Christ; he has shown himself to be a megalomaniac and malignant narcissist who only worships himself (and of course money and other forms of power). Trump basically views his MAGA followers and other “Christians” as useful idiots who are a source of narcissistic energy, money and other resources for him.
....(snip)....
In an attempt to better understand Trump’s Bibles and how they relate to the larger democracy crisis, I recently spoke to a range of experts.
Federico Finchelstein is a professor of history at the New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College in New York. His most recent book is "A Brief History of Fascist Lies."
The MAGA movement pushes its religiosity into the most bizarre form of greed. Trump's conflation of the Bible with doing business and his own comparisons with Jesus's suffering ideas are separate dimensions of the same phenomenon, namely the fascist tendency to make the leader a God-like figure who is not exempted from corrupted practices. In this case Trump desperately needs money. Hitler and Mussolini enriched themselves by writing and selling their writings but Trump's also wants to make money with sacred texts. .........................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/02/perfectly-predictable-dr-john-gartner-on-why-a-malignant-narcissist-like-trump-sells-bibles/
"Perfectly predictable": Dr. John Gartner on why "a malignant narcissist like Trump" sells Bibles
"Perfectly predictable": Dr. John Gartner on why "a malignant narcissist like Trump" sells Bibles"It fits perfectly into both his personality disorder’s hypomanic grandiosity and its paranoid sense of grievance"
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 2, 2024 5:46AM (EDT)
(Salon) American fascism is a form of political religion. It is a social force based on faith and emotion and corrupt power more than a coherent ideology grounded in reason, facts and the truth. As such, fascism is antithetical to real democracy and normal politics.
....(snip)....
On Tuesday, Donald Trump continued to honor Holy Week by announcing that he is selling his own version of the Bible. Trump has publicly and repeatedly stated that he is a Christian. But by definition, his behavior is blasphemous and an example of idolatry. Of course, Trump does not worship God or Jesus Christ; he has shown himself to be a megalomaniac and malignant narcissist who only worships himself (and of course money and other forms of power). Trump basically views his MAGA followers and other “Christians” as useful idiots who are a source of narcissistic energy, money and other resources for him.
....(snip)....
In an attempt to better understand Trump’s Bibles and how they relate to the larger democracy crisis, I recently spoke to a range of experts.
Federico Finchelstein is a professor of history at the New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College in New York. His most recent book is "A Brief History of Fascist Lies."
The MAGA movement pushes its religiosity into the most bizarre form of greed. Trump's conflation of the Bible with doing business and his own comparisons with Jesus's suffering ideas are separate dimensions of the same phenomenon, namely the fascist tendency to make the leader a God-like figure who is not exempted from corrupted practices. In this case Trump desperately needs money. Hitler and Mussolini enriched themselves by writing and selling their writings but Trump's also wants to make money with sacred texts. .........................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/02/perfectly-predictable-dr-john-gartner-on-why-a-malignant-narcissist-like-trump-sells-bibles/
April 2, 2024
Phony claims that Democrats “mock your faith” are a cynical excuse to strip Americans of religious freedom
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 2, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)
(Salon) Most Americans spent Easter weekend with traditional activities like church or egg hunts, or, for non-Christians, just enjoying the lovely spring weather. Chronically dishonest MAGA Republicans, however, spent the holiest day of the Christian calendar violating the Ten Commandments. They specifically transgressed the one forbidding "false testimony," by lying their heads off about President Joe Biden. The lie? That Biden, a devout Catholic who spent Easter morning at mass, is mocking Christianity and oppressing its adherents.
....(snip)....
Trump's campaign called it "blasphemous" of Biden to speak out against discrimination and violence. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La. tweeted that Biden "betrayed the central tenet of Easter" and falsely accused Biden of "banning sacred truth and tradition." Lies all the way through, of course. Jesus never even mentioned trans people, and certainly didn't center hating them in his philosophy. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., falsely claimed, "There is no length Biden and the Democrats won’t go to to mock your faith." She then used a Bible verse to unsubtly threaten violence. "The Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming."
....(snip)....
Using unvarnished bigotry and outright lying to rube-run Fox News viewers is standard GOP stuff, not that its frequency makes it any less depraved. But this fraudulent moral panic is especially alarming because it's not just about getting MAGA granny to believe she can stop her grandkids from being queer with a Trump donation. Increasingly, these phony outrages are being used by Republicans to justify their party's rejection of religious liberty and embrace of Christian nationalism.
Embedded in all this performative outrage is an argument: It's justified for Republicans to adopt Christian nationalism, and even fascism, on the grounds of self-defense. The supposed threats to Christianity are so great, the thinking goes, that the only way to "protect" the faith is to end religious liberty and democracy. And, of course, their political opponents are "demonic" and subhuman, thereby violence against them is permissible, even desired. ................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/02/fake-right-wing-panic-about-trans-easter-is-part-of-push-for-christian-nationalism/
Fake right-wing panic about "trans" Easter is part of Trump's push for Christian nationalism
Fake right-wing panic about "trans" Easter is part of Trump's push for Christian nationalismPhony claims that Democrats “mock your faith” are a cynical excuse to strip Americans of religious freedom
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 2, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)
(Salon) Most Americans spent Easter weekend with traditional activities like church or egg hunts, or, for non-Christians, just enjoying the lovely spring weather. Chronically dishonest MAGA Republicans, however, spent the holiest day of the Christian calendar violating the Ten Commandments. They specifically transgressed the one forbidding "false testimony," by lying their heads off about President Joe Biden. The lie? That Biden, a devout Catholic who spent Easter morning at mass, is mocking Christianity and oppressing its adherents.
....(snip)....
Trump's campaign called it "blasphemous" of Biden to speak out against discrimination and violence. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La. tweeted that Biden "betrayed the central tenet of Easter" and falsely accused Biden of "banning sacred truth and tradition." Lies all the way through, of course. Jesus never even mentioned trans people, and certainly didn't center hating them in his philosophy. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., falsely claimed, "There is no length Biden and the Democrats won’t go to to mock your faith." She then used a Bible verse to unsubtly threaten violence. "The Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming."
....(snip)....
Using unvarnished bigotry and outright lying to rube-run Fox News viewers is standard GOP stuff, not that its frequency makes it any less depraved. But this fraudulent moral panic is especially alarming because it's not just about getting MAGA granny to believe she can stop her grandkids from being queer with a Trump donation. Increasingly, these phony outrages are being used by Republicans to justify their party's rejection of religious liberty and embrace of Christian nationalism.
Embedded in all this performative outrage is an argument: It's justified for Republicans to adopt Christian nationalism, and even fascism, on the grounds of self-defense. The supposed threats to Christianity are so great, the thinking goes, that the only way to "protect" the faith is to end religious liberty and democracy. And, of course, their political opponents are "demonic" and subhuman, thereby violence against them is permissible, even desired. ................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/02/fake-right-wing-panic-about-trans-easter-is-part-of-push-for-christian-nationalism/
April 1, 2024
(Detroit Free Press) We are exactly one week from the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse that'll cross a wide swath of the United States, with an expected 34 million Americans witnessing the celestial show.
....(snip)....
What time is the solar eclipse in Michigan?
Only one small sliver of Michigan is in the 2024 eclipse's path of totality, in southeastern Monroe County. That includes Luna Pier, which sits along Lake Erie, just north of Toledo. Its residents are getting excited, albeit a little concerned about potential traffic snarls.
Most of the rest of Michigan will see somewhere between 90-99% coverage of the sun, though it won't be visible to the naked eye; you'll need special glasses or a viewer (more on that later).
When is the solar eclipse in Detroit?
In Detroit, where there will be 99.4% coverage of the sun, the 2024 solar eclipse will begin at 1:58 p.m. and reach maximum totality, or coverage, around 3:14 p.m. It will conclude with a final partial eclipse at 4:27 p.m. ...................(more)
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2024/04/01/when-is-the-solar-eclipse-april-8-2024-time-path-glasses/73148523007/
The 2024 solar eclipse is next week! Here's everything you need to know.
(Detroit Free Press) We are exactly one week from the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse that'll cross a wide swath of the United States, with an expected 34 million Americans witnessing the celestial show.
....(snip)....
What time is the solar eclipse in Michigan?
Only one small sliver of Michigan is in the 2024 eclipse's path of totality, in southeastern Monroe County. That includes Luna Pier, which sits along Lake Erie, just north of Toledo. Its residents are getting excited, albeit a little concerned about potential traffic snarls.
Most of the rest of Michigan will see somewhere between 90-99% coverage of the sun, though it won't be visible to the naked eye; you'll need special glasses or a viewer (more on that later).
When is the solar eclipse in Detroit?
In Detroit, where there will be 99.4% coverage of the sun, the 2024 solar eclipse will begin at 1:58 p.m. and reach maximum totality, or coverage, around 3:14 p.m. It will conclude with a final partial eclipse at 4:27 p.m. ...................(more)
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2024/04/01/when-is-the-solar-eclipse-april-8-2024-time-path-glasses/73148523007/
April 1, 2024
(Guardian UK) Donald Trump’s decision to sell Bibles branded under his name is “risky business”, the Democratic US senator Raphael Warnock said on Sunday, as the former president stands accused of having few moral scruples in four separate criminal indictments pending against him.
“The Bible does not need Donald Trump’s endorsement,” Warnock, the pastor of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist church, said to CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. Speaking on Easter, one of Christianity’s holiest celebrations, Warnock added: “It’s a risky bet because the folks who buy those Bibles might actually open them up, where it says things like thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not bear false witness, where it warns about wolves dressed up in sheep’s clothing.
“I think you ought to be careful. This is risky business for somebody like Donald Trump.”
Warnock’s comments to CNN came days after the Republican who is running against Joe Biden for a second presidency in November presented an offer for the public to buy Trump-endorsed Bibles for $59.99. “Let’s Make America Pray Again”, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, a clear reference to the “Make America Great Again” slogan that he rode to the White House in 2016. ..............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/01/trump-selling-bibles-risky-business-senator-raphael-warnock
Senator Raphael Warnock: 'The Bible doesn't need Trump's endorsement'
(Guardian UK) Donald Trump’s decision to sell Bibles branded under his name is “risky business”, the Democratic US senator Raphael Warnock said on Sunday, as the former president stands accused of having few moral scruples in four separate criminal indictments pending against him.
“The Bible does not need Donald Trump’s endorsement,” Warnock, the pastor of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist church, said to CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. Speaking on Easter, one of Christianity’s holiest celebrations, Warnock added: “It’s a risky bet because the folks who buy those Bibles might actually open them up, where it says things like thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not bear false witness, where it warns about wolves dressed up in sheep’s clothing.
“I think you ought to be careful. This is risky business for somebody like Donald Trump.”
Warnock’s comments to CNN came days after the Republican who is running against Joe Biden for a second presidency in November presented an offer for the public to buy Trump-endorsed Bibles for $59.99. “Let’s Make America Pray Again”, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, a clear reference to the “Make America Great Again” slogan that he rode to the White House in 2016. ..............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/01/trump-selling-bibles-risky-business-senator-raphael-warnock
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
Number of posts: 77,073
