Officially Confirmed: Epstein Did(n’t) Kill Himself

Roger Mitchell7 Comments

“Never believe anything (in politics) until it has been officially denied.”

By this time, you probably are aware that an “official” statement has been made concerning Jeffrey Epstein, the front-man of the criminal blackmailing scheme which (allegedly) video-taped numerous high and mighty men of “elite” status engaging in sex acts with (allegedly) under-age girls. According to this memo, Epstein did not traffic any under-age (or over-age, for that matter) girls or women. He did not blackmail anyone. There are no lists of clients who availed themselves of his “services”.

Officially, Epstein has been exonerated from all charges, rumors, insinuations, and any type of misinformation and disinformation which anyone might care to promote and expound on. Officially, he has been declared a saint and all efforts to sully his name will be squelched. Officially, that is. Actually, I’m quite surprised that they didn’t deny the existence of the “Lolita Express” which Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, and Prince Andrew, among others, including Trump, did not ride on.

Most importantly, according to this report, he really did kill himself, contrary to the headline of this article. Committed suicide. By himself. With assistance from no one. This, despite all the circumstantial evidence which shows that there is a three-day dead cat in the woodpile somewhere which stinks to high heaven. Video cameras which didn’t work in a high-security prison. Video which is clipped and cropped mysteriously at exactly the moment in question. Guards who fell asleep and did not check on him every 30 minutes in flagrant violation of the rules. Cellmates which were transferred to another location the day previous to the incident. Broken bones in his neck which are more representative of strangulation by force rather than voluntary suicide by hanging.

Nothing to see here, move on.

Donald Trump, AG Pam Bondi, FBI director Kash Patel and his right-hand man Dan Bongino have all come out and courageously verified what everyone knows deep down to be the truth, i.e., that THERE IS NOTHING TRUE AT ALL about the rumors and speculation surrounding Epstein and his girl Friday, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is actually serving a twenty year sentence for, get this, trafficking under-age girls for sex with powerful men who were on the list which doesn’t exist. No, there is nothing true about all this.

Now, that last sentence is absolutely true. The whole thing is a farce, a lie, a cover-up. It ranks at least as high as the JFK assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963, in which Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman and one of his bullets changed course abruptly in four different directions. The major difference between these two instances is that there are still many people who swear by the Warren Commission report about Kennedy, while today virtually no one believes the line about Epstein, even if they do parrot the “official” narrative and carry water for those who pull their strings.

There is one other similarity between JFK and Epstein. The case is closed. Closed. Officially closed. There will be no more investigation, no more fact-finding ventures, no more questioning, no more publicity, no more “conspiracy theorizing”. The administration of Donald Trump and Co. has issued its last report and there will be no release of any files pertaining to the matter. In due time, it will all be forgotten.

Except that it won’t be. There is simply too much about this that doesn’t pass the smell test. Anyone with a sense of reason, common sense, and a nose for the truth can discern that we have been lied to…again, this time with vehemence, bigly, as Trump would say. Just a few days ago, Trump aggressively reacted to a journalist who asked him a question about the sordid mess. Bondi testified to a “list of clients” which was on her desk in February waiting for her attention, but somehow it vanished within three months. Patel and Bongino went into office vowing to overhaul the FBI and cleanse it of corruption, but changed their tune as soon as they were installed.

And the beat goes on.

The one good thing to come out of this is that people who once would have believed whatever they were told by the authorities can now see the brazen lie for what it is. A brazen lie. We know that they are lying. They know that we know they are lying. We know that they know that we know they are lying. The beat goes on. However, with each passing day, as more and more people express their skepticism and disbelief, it becomes more difficult for those in power to maintain the farce. We have been lied to so much, so many times, about so many things that no one believes them anymore. My father had a story about a man he knew who had the reputation of a liar. If he came by and said, “Good morning”, you would go to bed, thinking it was night. This is where we are at today.

Remember Aesop’s Fable about the boy who cried, “Wolf!” and the beating he got when the townspeople finally got tired of his shenanigans? Why should we expect anything different to happen here?

Government and its attendant institutions have lost the trust of the American citizenry. Blind faith in the system has been shattered and will never be restored. Donald Trump has shot his bolt…and missed. From here on out, he will be increasingly irrelevant until he disappears like Pam Bondi’s “client list”.

“I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a native green tree. Yet he passed away, and behold he was no more; indeed, I sought him, but he could not be found.” — Psalm 37: 35-36

Try as much as I can, I am unable to call to mind anyone at present who does not spread himself more than Donald Trump. When it comes to calling attention to himself, he has no equal. In his world, there is only One and He knows it. Reminds me of Nebuchadnezzar, who was also compared to a tree and was cut down to size. See Daniel 4 for the story.

Iran: The Difficulty of the Battle

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This is a topographic map of Iran, the quintessential existential threat to America due to its placement next to numerous US military bases.

A little information is in order. Iran is 2.4 times the size of the state of Texas. It is almost the size of Alaska, the largest state in America, and has a terrain which matches. The greatest difference between Iran and Alaska is the climate, where Iran is generally warm while Alaska is cool/cold. Or maybe it is the population–Iran has about 92 million people, while Alaska can’t even break the 1 million mark.

Without ever getting into the geo-political ponderings about “regime change” in Iran, I simply cannot imagine the success of a ground-based assault on this country by anyone, including the world’s hegemon and its lapdog, Israel. Or is it the other way around? The logistics alone would (should) generate hysterical fits for generals and planning staffs. Let’s forget about budgets, air superiority, military size, economies, etc., for the moment and concentrate on what it would take to put boots on the ground here in a successful invasion and overthrow of the current government. Remember Iraq? Iraq, a much smaller country with a tabletop flat landscape, was a cakewalk compared to what Iran would be. Boots on the ground simply will not work and the DOD knows it. You might be able to completely control the airspace so your warplanes can fly with impunity, but if you do not have control of the local neighborhoods beneath the rooftops and awnings, you have nothing.

The West has nothing. And it will break its teeth if it decides to make this a matter of actual muscle.

No Going Back. The Rubicon is Behind Us

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

That didn’t take long.

On June 19, I posted an opinion that Donald Trump would not attack Iran and listed several reasons why I considered it possible, even likely. Less than three days later, my reputation as a geo-political forecaster lay in wreckage, much like the Fordow nuclear station in Iran after it was (allegedly) hit by numerous bunker-busters delivered by Trump’s B2 “stealth” bombers. My mistake, it seems, was supposing that Trump would act rationally and reasonably because America (meaning he) had too much to lose. Wishful thinking on my part. I threw the dice and wound up snake-eyes.

“In gambling, snake eyes is the outcome of rolling the dice in a game and getting only one pip on each die. The pair of pips resembles a pair of eyes, which is appended to the term ‘snake’ because of the long-standing association of this word with treachery and betrayal.” — https://gambiter.com/dice/Snake_eyes.html

Treachery and betrayal. After a few days of reading commentary from various sources, it appears to be quite certain that the DT1 has been quite adept at playing this kind of game over the last few weeks. First, after the Israeli attack on Iran which killed many top nuclear scientists and military leaders, came his admission that he knew about it beforehand, yet gave out that negotiations were still on track so as to deceive the Iranians into remaining complacent and letting their guard down. Second (this is where I made my bet), was when he proclaimed that he would make his decision known to the world within two weeks, giving the impression that he was allowing things to cool down, while all the time planning to send in the B-2 bombers and missiles.

Sucker punches! The whole thing reeks to high heaven of treachery and betrayal, and the one thing that Trump has just demonstrated to the entire world is that he is not capable of honest, above-board dealing. From now on, his word will be distrusted, as will that of those underlings who are close to him. With respect to this, America has lost its credibility and trust, even among its own “allies”, although without doubt, they (especially Great Britain) will follow his lead, doubling down on one disastrous move after another until the entire West is out of chips and retired from the game.

Constitutionally speaking2, Trump does not have the authority to declare war or to attack another country on his own initiative and say-so. Congress holds the constitutional responsibility to declare war, but has abdicated in every conflict since WW2 ended, beginning with the Korean War. There are noises, at least little grunts, being made about taking that back, including a war powers resolution introduced into the House by Thomas Massie, R-KY, and Ro Khanna, D-CA, but this is not likely to gain any traction and Trump will probably carry on virtually unimpeded. Impeachment for his “crimes” may occur if he loses and will not even be mentioned if he wins. However, the odds for impeachment rise dramatically if the Democrats retake control of the House in 2026.

The one sure and certain way that Congress could put a dent into the military ventures abroad would be to simply draw the purse strings tight, denying the administration (DOD, MIC, etc.) the necessary funds to support such endeavors. If representatives and senators exercised fiscal sanity and rectitude, they would just say “No”, and all this would come to an end.

Will this happen any time soon? Will pigs fly tomorrow? To ask these questions is to answer them as virtually every Congress critter is in the pay and thrall of the MIC or AIPAC, very likely both. Where is Jeanette Rankin when you need her? She was, after all, the only Congress(person) to vote against becoming involved in both WW1 and WW2, actually casting the only “No” vote in 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor, which ended her political career. Talk about sticking to principles regardless of cost!

BTW, Trump is far from the first president to “unofficially” sidestep the Constitutional restraints because they were too restrictive and confining. He certainly won’t be the last.

In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a participant in aptly named Operation Keelhaul, had this to say in his Chance for Peace speech.

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

Sometimes, at least twice a day, even a broken clock tells the right time and in this, Eisenhower spoke the unvarnished truth. Every dollar spent on war and war armaments is a dollar NOT spent on feeding and clothing those who are hungry and naked. Every dollar spent to visit destruction and death on others is not a dollar spent to alleviate the misery and heartache of the human condition. This is not to say that we should stop the funding the “Warfare State” in favor of the “Welfare State”, but simply a recognition that lavishly slathering the militaristic sections of society with obscene amounts of “grease” is not conducive to building up and maintaining the American Dream.

Unfortunately, there are too many people in these United States who profit mightily from the carnage. There are too many who may not profit financially but thrive in the smug belief that they, as part of the American Empire, are elevated above those who are debased. There are too many who simply believe that Donald (Cap’n Warp Speed)3 Trump is the new Messiah and can do no wrong.

America MUST be saved! MOVE OVER, JESUS, AND MAKE WAY FOR THE DONALD!!

In the end, though, Trump will only be with us a little while longer. When he is gone, who will take his place, or perhaps more importantly, what will be our condition when he vacates? Of one thing I am certain, it will not be pretty, gentle, nor compassionate. We should be prepared for THE REAL DEAL to be visited on us in all its brutal, tyrannical, vicious, and murderous ways because, as the Word tells us,

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” — Luke 6:38

Candidly speaking, America has “given” death and destruction to many, many others throughout its history and become, so to speak, drunk with its power to the point of reckless arrogance. Is there any reason to believe that our “generosity” will not be measured back to us in spades?

Jesus Christ does not share His throne or His Glory. With anyone. Donald Trump, kiss the Son while you still can. You might spare America an enormous amount of grief.

  1. DT is also an abbreviation of the term ‘delirium tremens‘, which refers to the symptoms suffered by an alcoholic subjected to abrupt withdrawal after a bout of heavy drinking. I tend to think that Donald Trump is only the first manifestation. ↩︎
  2. I am of the Lysander Spooner persuasion. I have never signed nor agreed to the stipulations of the Constitution, therefore, as a contractual obligation, I am not subject to it. Ted Weiland has a different take on it. You can read his viewpoint here. ↩︎
  3. I use this term because many people are aware of it and make the connection to Trump’s work to force the Covid-19 farce and fiasco on the world. Personally, I prefer to call him Colonel Bombast, which is a reference to the clownish power-mad character, Baron Bomburst, in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. If you can imagine Trump with a full moustache, the two would even resemble each other. ↩︎

Will He or Not? Trying to Outguess Trump!

Roger Mitchell5 Comments

OK, I’m going out on a limb here and might saw the doggone thing off standing on it. Or I might be right and seen as a prophet.

Donald (Cap’n Warp Speed) Trump is NOT going to join with Israel and attack Iran. My guess, for what it’s worth, is that he has looked at this situation logically and decided it’s not worth what it might cost. After all, he is an astute businessman who can read the signs as well as anyone. Better than me, I expect, at least he’s far richer and more powerful.

  1. Congress is moving rapidly (amazing, I know, but miracles do happen) to block Trump from unilaterally sending the troops (planes, bombs, missiles) in. After all, it is the constitutional responsibility of Congress to declare war, even though it has been woefully absent from the subject since the start of the Korean War. About time they put on their man pants and did what they are supposed to.
  2. Polls consistently show that an enormous amount of Americans, 75% or more, disapprove of getting involved in another “forever war”, which is what this one will become unless Iran is beaten thoroughly and quickly, which isn’t likely to happen. No, the tide of public opinion is against escalation.
  3. MAGA, Trump’s baby, will split and polarize if, IF, he jumps into the fray. Remember his promise when he was on the campaign trail? “I am the peace president.” “I will not start any new wars.” “I will end the war between Ukraine and Russia in one day.” Etc., etc., etc. Ad infinitum, ad nauseum, as Gary North would say. A very large percentage of those who supported him and voted for him took him at his word that America’s wars were going to end and that the country would benefit because of it. Yeah, right, that lasted just a few months until he started bombing Yemen and pushing the “Big, Beautiful Bill” which would give the Pentagon $1 trillion next year to spend on creating turmoil and mayhem. Er, I mean, defense of the American Dream.
  4. Trump is limited in his options:
    • Go for the gusto. Hit Iran hard with everything he has at his disposal. What happens if that doesn’t work?
    • Hit Iran with a limited strike, say, a “bunker buster” bomb or two dropped in the Fordo nuclear site. What happens if the plane, say a B-2, is somehow shot down and never reaches its target?
    • What happens if Iran unleashes a salvo of missiles against American military bases in Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Kuwait, among others? What happens if Iran simply closes down the Strait of Hormuz, which it can easily do, and causes the world price of oil to skyrocket to unprecedented, astronomical levels?
    • What happens if Iran sends a missile against any one of the American aircraft carriers now congregating in the region? If one of these goes to the bottom, it will mean at least 5, 000 servicemen (women) (persons) lost and will immediately create a call to “nuke” Teheran, a densely populated city with at least 20 million people at risk. What happens to the image of America in world opinion if something like that happens? Not good, I am sure.

There is more. I have barely scratched the surface of the possibilities. Nevertheless, as a rational person and somehow (against the odds) of believing that Trump can act rationally, I have to believe that he will pull in his reins and slow this “steed” to a trot. My guess is that he will allow Israel and Iran to trade blows with each other, then bring up the idea of “negotiations” again. Of course, I do not have a great deal of confidence in his negotiations, which are, as follow:

“Let’s negotiate. You cannot have a nuclear weapon. Period. Ever. End of negotiation. You have sixty days to agree with this and obey. Otherwise, all hell will break out against you.”

Maybe I should reconsider my position.

Victimization: Running Out of Steam

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

I like to think of myself as caring and compassionate, especially toward those who are beaten down and needy through no fault of their own. I have no problem with slipping a Benjamin into the hand of an elderly widow or young mother who I am certain is not able to pay her electric bill. Yet, there are some things which simply cause me to rebel, to resist. One of these is the claim by some that they are eternal victims and that everyone must excuse their behavior because…

Well, you know.

Blacks in America are pretty good at this. They (or their ancestors, or perhaps only some) were made slaves by white people centuries ago and, due to that unfortunate tidbit of history, ought to have everything handed to them on a silver or gold platter today. Never mind that the ones who enslaved them (or their ancestors, or perhaps only some of them) were probably also black. Never mind that the term, Slav, which classifies a middle-European race, likely sprang from the fact that white people from that region were probably also “slaves”. Never mind that the black ancestors who were enslaved have long been dead, as have been their “masters”, and that there is no connection between myself and a black man in San Francisco or Atlanta as a result of that specific situation. Everyone knows they are victims and must be compensated.

Enough of that! Let’s get to the real meat here.

Earlier today, I watched a short “news” brief by ABC on the retaliation by Iran because of the Israeli strikes on that country on June 13. Friday the 13th. Exactly sixty-one days after President Donald (Cap’n Warp Speed) Trump had told the Iranians they had sixty days to conform and comply with his nuclear “negotiations”. If they didn’t, well, at least he warned them of the terror and suffering that was to come.

Anyway, ABC had a reporter on the ground in Bet Yam, a community which had received numerous missile strikes from the Iranians. (Where the heck is Iron Dome when you need it?) One of the complaints was that children, at least two, had been killed. Let’s be real clear about this, at least two Israeli children had been killed from the missile strikes and, for that, we ought to be outraged. Yet, there was not a word about the thousands of Palestinian children who have been coldly slaughtered in the name of “security” and “Greater Israel”, even though it is (and can be) completely documented. Nothing said at all about the Iranian children who died as a result of Israel’s aggressive action.

No! NO, NO, NO! Our children are dying!! Ours, not theirs. We ought to be the ones who are sympathized with, pitied, and something must be done about it!!!

Pat Benatar had something to sing about this. “I’m going to harden my heart…”

Truth is, I have trouble with ginning up any sympathy for the Israeli claim, because I know that the Israeli State is killing, has killed, an untold number of Palestinian or Iranian children. I can have pity for them, but…that’s about as far as it goes. The problem is that they have been claiming to be “victims of circumstance” for as long as I can remember, at least since the “oppression” in Egypt during the time of Moses, some 3500 years ago. How long does one have to be a victim before it becomes embedded into the DNA and bloodline?

Remember Pinnochio? The fox and the cat?

Is this wrong? Do I have a bad attitude? Am I in need of a readjustment in some camp somewhere?

I can, and do, feel sadness at the violent deaths of two Israeli children, but I also recognize and understand that this is payment received for the evil, violent, murderous behavior exhibited, pursued, and acted upon, by decades of Israeli leadership and society, which knew (know) only one thing: violence for the sake of power is to be pursued to the ultimate end, which is death. All that matters is that we win, no matter how much it costs, nor how many others have to die so that we can achieve our goal, our end. If some of those who die are our own, well…collateral damage.

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” — Jesus Christ, as recorded in Luke 6:38.

Elon Musk: Honest Outrage or Play-acting?

Roger Mitchell3 Comments

Perhaps I was too hard on Elon Musk. Perhaps. Time will tell. But, he’s a big boy and can handle a little bit of honest opinion, truthful or not.

Nevertheless, I still think my criticism has validity and this article bears that out. Musk is a businessman who tried to operate in Washington under business-like protocols and was screwed as a result. It bears repeating–government is not a business nor can it be run like a business. I do give him credit for discovering that, however, and hope that he will continue to entertain the notion and allow it to guide his future. His outrage at the Republican version of out-of-control government spending appears to be, seems to be, heartfelt and sincere. Unlike his erstwhile boss, Donald Trump, who simply cannot resist owning it.

“Passing THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL is a Historic Opportunity to turn our Country around,” Trump posted on social media. He urged senators Monday “to work as fast as they can to get this Bill to MY DESK before the Fourth of JULY.”

There is nothing ambiguous about this bill. It will raise federal spending by a huge amount, increases the deficit, and raises the so-called “debt ceiling” (a misnomer which means nothing since it is ignored continually). Granted that there are some concessions (No Tax on Tips, for instance), but the fact remains that the entire spectacle is a smoke-and-mirrors show, orchestrated entirely by the Republican Party and Donald Trump, which will do absolutely nothing to slow down or stop America’s headlong plunge into the bottomless pit of bankruptcy and fiscal destruction.

Yeah, but…! Yeah, but…!

“And the beat goes on. The beat goes on.” — Sonny and Cher

In my opinion, Donald Trump is like the character, Baron Bomburst, in the movie “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, except that I think the moniker, Colonel Bombast, would be more appropriate. It will take an enormous amount of positive change on his part to persuade me otherwise. Elon Musk, though, may have made a breakthrough with me and should he run for President in 2028 (if there is an election), I might decide to get on board.

But, no, probably not. I’m in the process of cleaning myself up and, regardless how you might portray it, politics is dirty.

Here Doggy, Dogge, DOGE!

Roger Mitchell3 Comments

Aaaaaaand, he’s gone! Elon Musk has left the Trump Administration and is no longer heading up the DOGE (doggy) branch of government. Apparently, after identifying a few billion dollars of waste that could be cut from the federal budget, Musk decided it was easier to call it quits than to continue butting heads with The Beast which is Washington, D.C.

What a dog! Mangy, flea-bitten cur is more like it. [Editor’s note, just to clarify: This does not refer to Musk in person but to the program he headed, as if government efficiency could ever be achieved, even by the most ardent and capable practitioners. Efficient government ought to scare everyone. See the quote below by King George the First.]

Whatever happened to the $2 trillion goal in cuts which was bandied about? Gone, gone, gone. Ain’t gonna happen. Never had a chance. This lofty, unrealistic reach was in the same ballpark as Trump’s claim that he would end the Russia-Ukraine war in one day after he became President. How much do you hear about that now?

The problem, as I see it, is that Musk, Trump, and others of that ilk are businessmen. They make deals. They shake hands. They exchange money for services. All done in a, more or less, voluntary fashion by mutual agreement. More or less, with a good, healthy dollop of “help” from the taxpayer. But what they do not understand is that government does not operate according to business principles. Government is not a business and it cannot be run like a business. Or, as George Washington so aptly put it centuries ago,

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

Now, Musk might be reasonable but I don’t think he is eloquent. He is certainly sharp about the workings of money. Trump doesn’t even make any pretense about being reasonable but also understands money. And he talks a lot. Of course, verbosity of speech doesn’t necessarily equate to eloquence, but that’s a small thing. The point is that, in trying to impose their business tactics and ideals on the government, both have failed. Failed to the point that Congress just simply shrugs its collective shoulder and says, “So?”, then pushes through a “Big, Beautiful Bill” which hands over $1 trillion to an already obese Military-Industrial Complex (MIC). Thankfully, this still has to be passed by the Senate before Trump can sign off on it, so there is still a remote possibility that it might not be brought to life. Miracles do happen.

Government is force. There is no reforming it to make it more reasonable, palatable, nor consumer-friendly. Businesses and consumers buy and sell voluntarily, making transactions on a daily basis because they are willing to give up what they have in favor of what someone else offers. Government doesn’t care about any of this, rather, if it wants what someone else has, it simply takes it. Or tries to, and only grows larger and more aggressive with the passage of time. Over time, as more and more people buy into the concept of “organized theft and redistribution”, the system becomes corrupt from the top to the bottom and eventually collapses and disappears, making way for something different to build out of the rubble.

Musk is out, presumably hitching a ride to Mars on your tax dollars. Trump is a wrecking ball destroying what has been built up over the last hundred years or so. Neither of them give a damn about us. Which brings me to another point–where are Montana’s Congress critters on this matter, this question about spending the country into glorious, indisputable, beautiful bankruptcy and destruction? Daines? Sheehy? Zinke? Downing? Not a word. Not a peep. Nothing but silence, or have they too joined the chorus?

“So?”

It wouldn’t be surprising if they did. After all, who can think of a better way to personally benefit than to ride this broken-down bronc until it buries its nose into the arena floor?

Buying into the Lie. Eve did. And We Do.

Roger Mitchell1 Comment

“In the beginning was the Word…” — John 1:1

Or, maybe this.

“In the beginning were WORDS!”  People will “jump off bridges” on account of a few discouraging words. Doesn’t that disprove the old saying, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but WORDS will never hurt me?” Words are seeds; watch them grow into beautiful flowers,…or deadly poisons. The thing is; once these lies are disseminated, people cop a position and refuse to ever admit they were fooled.” — https://www.lewrockwell.com/2025/05/capt-randall/polls-haha/ [Edited slightly]

Holy cow! Isn’t that the truth? People will not, absolutely will not, admit that they were fooled. Fooled on everything. Fooled on everything they have ever believed to be true. Fooled because they bought into a lie. Fooled because they really thought they had all the answers and that their own “word”, independently arrived at, had more value than The Word.

Fooled like Eve, who took the first off ramp from the clear truth as soon as it was offered to her. “Has God said…?” “Yes, but…” So typical.

But. It is always that word. But. It asserts that there is a conflict between what has already been spoken and the subjectively recognized version of “reality”. We disparage Eve for what she did (and Adam for being a weak man who gave into his woman), yet we refuse to confess that we would have done the same if we had been there. We still do, although we try our best to forget (or conveniently do not remember) those instances when we gave into the same impulse.

But…

Why is it so hard for people to admit they have been wrong? To admit that they don’t know everything? To admit that they are complete fools for buying into The Lie? Is it not because we are like Eve, who only wanted to assert her own word over the Word which had been given to her? Eve’s decision, like that of all independently minded persons everywhere, had consequences which have reverberated down through the history of humanity, to the detriment of all humanity…forever.

Why is it so hard for me to admit that I have been wrong? Is it not because I want to decide for myself what is true? What is right? What is best? Why should I (and all those who follow me) be punished because I only wanted to improve my situation? Because I simply could not tolerate that there was a Chain of Command to which I was accountable?

Because I can not admit that I am nothing at all?

Fooled! Oh, yes, I have to admit that I have been fooled, that I have bought into the lie, that I “thought more highly of myself than I ought to.” (Romans 12:3) That I really believed I was something and that everyone and everything should pay attention to me. Me. Me. Me. Isn’t that what it’s all about anyway?

This has to change.

Finally, after nearly sixty-seven years of life, I am starting to realize that I have been fooling myself and I only have a few more years, perhaps less, to correct my course. There is no word except the Word, and this can be condensed and understood in just a few words: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

So simple. So freeing. So difficult. So difficult. So difficult, yet I am determined to walk that path.

Fear is a liar. Lose the fear.

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

Read this first.

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/its-always-about-fear/

Yes, it’s always about fear. I concur with that sentiment. People who are afraid do not make any attempt to be free or self-governing. Instead, they are constantly clamoring for someone, someone, anyone, to come and save them from themselves and their self-imposed misery.

Why? Is it not because they have too much to lose? Too much of what? Possessions, self-esteem, pride, inability to admit failure, etc.?

Funny, we think in terms of a lifetime which is entered into without our permission, consent, and initiative, and is ended (mostly) in the same manner, yet is over in (almost always) less than 100 years, a mere blink in the timeline of human history. In that 100 years (almost always less), we learn to think that all that matters is how much we can gain while here and never once consider how much we might lose in eternity, once we have departed this ‘mortal coil’. Which we are going to do, regardless of how much we believe Elon Musk.

Oh, yes! I don’t dare speak out against injustice because… I don’t dare resist oppression because… I don’t dare live a life of personal sovereignty because… And we give up what is rightfully ours, that is, the freedom to live our own lives according to our own personal beliefs and desires, because…

Because… because…because we are afraid. There is no other reason. We are afraid to lose what we think is ours, either by right or by acquisition. Yet, we fail to realize that nothing in this life is guaranteed to us, except for one thing: we are going to die. No exemptions. No “Get Out of Jail Free” cards. Instead, we buy into the idea that “He who dies with the most toys wins”, which is an an exquisitely fabricated slogan for selfishness, narcissism, and disregard for the future.

What else is there? Why do we hesitate to call out the lies in our own lives? Why do you resist the “temptation” to resist the tide of evil which is increasingly swelling upon our shores? Is this all there is and should I be concerned about what might happen to my grandchildren because I failed to stand up against the evil? Because I refused to stand up for what is right? After all, what does this cost me? Do you realize how much this cost me?

Well, do you???

Tell that to the One Who said this:

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” — Matthew 16:25

Let’s face it. Squarely. In your face. We are afraid. We want to save our own life. We do not have any other answer and that is all we know. We are victims and we live like it.

Or, as Linda Ronstadt so perfectly put it, “Poor, poor pitiful me.”

My advice: Get over it.

Freedom and fear have nothing in common. Where fear reigns, freedom does not exist. Fear is a liar. Live not by lies. Lose the fear.

Sin, Crime, and Complicity

Roger Mitchell2 Comments

This is nothing more than a flash of inspiration experienced just the other day. Take it for what it’s worth.

Jesus said that if a man looks at a woman lustfully, then it is the same as if he had engaged in adultery with her. Think about her in a sexual manner and it is equivalent to bedding her physically. In other words, your thoughts define you as much as your actions.

Pretty stark, and I am absolutely guilty of the commission of this particular sin.

Now, let’s expand that to the conflict in Gaza, in which the Israeli State is attempting to completely destroy the Palestinian people who lived there. No holds barred. Kill them all. Let God sort them out. There are only three choices here for those not caught up in the actual “blood and guts” scene:

  1. Recognize that the way Israel is acting is wrong and must be brought to an end.
  2. Recognize that the way Israel is acting is right and support policies that push the effort forward.
  3. Do nothing. Have no opinion. Don’t even think about it.

Many people world-wide, more and more every day, adhere to #1, as I do. Pressure is building which is going to force an end to the slaughter and mayhem. God speed the day! And, there are many who simply cannot be bothered to consider what is happening because they are too caught up in their own world to care about anyone else. And, there are those who cheer and applaud what is being done without any regard to the wanton loss of life and the destruction of the Gazan population.

Unfortunately, many of this last set are Americans who call themselves Christian, yet perceive the events as biblical prophesy unfolding in history. God said it. I believe it. That settles it. As if there was no room for contemplation and admission of error. I know what I think and nothing is going to change my mind. Don’t even bother to try.

Returning to my opening statement, let me paraphrase the admonition from Jesus in this way.

If, if, you have a desire and a passion to see the Palestinians killed, tortured, raped, maimed, crippled, starved, and displaced by the Israeli State, then, for you, it is the same as if you had personally pulled the trigger, dropped the bomb, activated the flame-thrower, stopped the food trucks, destroyed the water-purification facilities, wrecked the hospitals, and forced the inhabitants into the desert with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and what they could carry. If, if, you support the most current “genocide” out of a belief, then you have committed the crimes listed and probably more.

After all, thinking about the act is the same as doing it, in God’s eyes. At least that is how I read it.

Now, if I am right about this, then there are millions upon millions of American Christians, some of them close to me, who are absolutely guilty of the same things which Israel and its chief benefactor and enabler, the United States, are doing. Yes, if this is the way you think, then you are complicit in these horrors and will be convicted, sooner or later, in some way or other, of the charge laid against you.

“But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” — Matthew 5:28

Straight from the lips of the Master. Without ambiguity or equivocation. Take it for what it’s worth.

The Death of Due Process: Mahmoud Khalil

Roger Mitchell1 Comment

What in the world? This is America, after all, The Land of the Free and the Home of Constitutionally Protected Freedoms as delineated in the first ten amendments, commonly known as the Bill of Rights.

Chances are pretty good that if you were to ask any average American about Mahmoud Khalil, he or she would respond with one word. “Who?” If this person derived their politics from the right side of the ledger who vigorously supports Donald Trump, then the odds go up that, on learning about the status of Mahmoud Khalil, the answer would immediately come back with double the quantity of words and heightened intensity. “Good riddance!” In this, they will echo the words of Kristi Noem, who could not let a good opportunity go to waste.

A week ago, I posted an article in which I explored the issue of Tren de Aragua, a notorious, violent, criminal gang from Venezuela which operates internationally (including the United States), and was designated by Donald Trump as a Foreign Terrorist Organization via an Executive Order on his very first day in office, second term. Since then, the administration has been active in rounding up and deporting alleged gang members back to Venezuela or shipping them off to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, whichever is easier, more effective, and less costly.

Let’s get one thing perfectly clear right now. I do not support the importation and keeping of violent criminals into this country. Undoubtedly, there are people here who ought to be removed from American society–violently, if necessary. Nevertheless, there are rules to follow in the process, the foremost among them being the 5th Amendment to the Constitution:

“No person shall be…deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…” .

Now, of course, this brings up the question of whether or not the government is operating according to the 5th Amendment. I cannot say. I don’t know. If it is, well and good. If not, then we have a problem which will only get worse as social, economic, and political circumstances worsen and degrade. In order to maintain the trust of the American people, it is incumbent on the administration to make sure it works within the law whether it advances the political agenda or not.

Which brings us to Mahmoud Khalil. Born in Syria of Palestinian origin and a citizen of Algeria, legally admitted to the US with Green Card and permanent resident status, Columbia University student, married to an American woman, soon to be a father. He was arrested in the lobby of his apartment complex in New York City, on March 08, then shipped without notice to Jena, LA, where he was held incommunicado without notice to his attorney or pregnant wife. He was the first person arrested after Trump had promised to crack down on university student protests over the conflict in Gaza.

Obviously, Khalil had broken some law or committed a crime, right? After all, if you haven’t done anything wrong, you have nothing to be afraid of. Right? Why else would the government go after him if he was innocent? As it turns out, he had been involved in the protests at Columbia, acting as an intermediary between the university and the main body of participants. He had been open and cooperative with the university and the media and refused to mask his face, becoming widely known to the public and giving the administration a clear target to aim at in the battle against “anti-semitism”, a term no one can define well but which is politically useful. Sort of like “freedom-fighters” and “democracy”.

Marco Rubio, the current Secretary of State has alleged that Khalil engaged in “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States”, but he produced no evidence to this effect and did not accuse Khalil of committing any crime whatsoever. In a court case before Jamee Conans, an immigration judge in Louisiana, Rubio brought out an arcane law as precedent to prove that he could legally deport Khalil, whether he was guilty of any wrong-doing or not. CNN described it this way.

“The administration previously said it based its deportation order for Khalil on an obscure provision from the Immigration and Nationality Act – which provides broad authority to the Secretary of State to revoke a person’s immigration status if their “activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” to the country.”

““For cases in which the basis for this determination is the alien’s past, current, or expected beliefs, statements, or associations that are otherwise lawful, the Secretary of State must personally determine that the alien’s presence or activities would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest,” the memo from the secretary reads.”

OK, let’s get this straight. Marco Rubio has applied an obscure regulation from 1952 to justify his action against Khalil, who has not had any criminal charges filed against him. According to the memo seen above, Khalil’s “past, current, or expected beliefs, statements, or associations that are otherwise lawful” are sufficient to require his deportation. His beliefs? His words? The company he keeps? Not only in the past and currently, but also those to happen at some time in the future?

What is this if not a full-throated assault on free speech in America, a guaranteed right covered by the 1st Amendment to the Constitution? If any Secretary of State (there are many, they change all the time) can determine arbitrarily that a person is a “threat to national security” at any time and for any reason, and use the overwhelming power of the federal government against them, does this not rip the guts out of the 1st Amendment? Since the powers-that-be today will not be those in charge tomorrow, how can anyone be certain that what he says or believes today will not be held against him tomorrow when the politics have shifted? The fact is that he cannot and this type of action by Rubio and Trump will only have a chilling effect on what is said and done in this country.

The 5th Amendment is toast. The 1st Amendment is almost gone. With those out of the way, who can guarantee that the 2nd Amendment, the so-called Right to bear Arms, will not be targeted next? When the Goon Squad breaks down your front door to confiscate your guns, what authority can you appeal to for deliverance, especially if you have refused to stand up for those who were taken out and beaten in the War against Free Speech, Beliefs, and Friendships?

Where is Martin Niemoeller when you need him?

The Trump administration has been given the green light to deport Khalil by Jamee Comans, an immigration law judge in Louisiana, who justified her ruling based on Rubio’s statement. Khalil’s lawyers have until April 23 to appeal the decision and it is quite possible that this case will be heard all the way to the Supreme Court.

An ironic twist to this saga is that the Leftists who were so keen to cancel, censor, and silence their critics a few years ago are now howling loudly on behalf of Mahmoud Khalil, while the Rightists who complained loudly and bitterly about being told to sit down and shut up are now advocating that Khalil be treated in exactly the same way. Or worse.

Fairness, integrity, and consistency. I guess it all depends on which version of justice you subscribe to. Go figure.

Weep, Our Beloved Country

Roger Mitchell5 Comments

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2025/03/no_author/international-law-is-now-suspended-if-not-eliminated/

“A law cannot exist if there are individuals or organizations that fall within its scope but which stand “above the law” — can’t be prosecuted no matter how flagrantly they violate it. EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW IS THE FOUNDATION-STONE OF LAW, and if any exceptions can be allowed, those are ONLY the ones that are stated IN the law as being NOT within its scope — and, thus, the fundamental principle of law is that a law exists ONLY if all individuals or organizations that fall within its scope are subject to investigation and prosecution if they violate it. Otherwise, it’s NOT a “law.” To call it a law is false. The United States Government and its colonies such as Israel can’t be prosecuted for violating international law no matter how flagrantly they violate it. Consequently, international law no longer exists. What DOES exist, then? The traditional ethic does: Might makes right.”

Might makes right. More than anything else, this philosophy is the one which most people subscribe to and practice, regardless of what they privately espouse. It is the order of modern American politics which stands for holding to a particular model of government until power is seized, at which point all the “true” points are discarded in favor of raw power. Because we can, and the foot-soldiers in the trenches cheer and applaud everything which the top command is doing, whether it adheres to the principles espoused or not. Because the “war” must be won. By fair means or foul, and it doesn’t matter who gets hurt in the process. War is painful, after all, and the Dastardly Democrats or the Rascally Republicans must be beaten down, never to rise again, in order to usher in the Golden Age of Utopia for All Humanity. Er, I mean, all persons because it’s forbidden to create a label which includes the letters written as “…man…” Mankind, humanity, humankind, human beings, human rights, etc. All gone. All outlawed. All discarded. Because…discrimination, you know, which simply is nothing more than making a choice between different options and possibilities. There ought to be a law.

But seriously, folks.

I don’t follow Eric Zuesse. I do read his articles from time to time and I am never disappointed, even though I may disagree with him vehemently. In this case, I think he is spot on and his argument can be applied directly to what is happening today in American jurisprudence. Namely, the idea that the Executive Branch of federal government can do anything it wishes and no one will complain. Because…they can. Might makes right, indeed!

A law is not a law IF the people who administer the Law are above the Law and are not held accountable by the Law IF they transgress the Law. Can it be put more plainly than that? In other words, if Donald Trump, and Co., decide to move in a certain direction regardless of the Law, who is going to hold him (them) accountable? After all, they are the Power and, as everyone knows, Might makes Right.

Right? Of course, right.

OK, enough of beating around the bush. Let’s bring this in for a landing.

We hear all the time from “Conservatives” that we must “return” (as if we ever left it) to The Constitution (the highest law which cannot be transcended), yet the Constitution declares these rights (of the individual) to be inviolate. Meaning that they cannot be superseded by any law, whether Congressional, Judicial, or Executive, or regardless as to whether they are popular, conservatively speaking.

  1. The 5th Amendment to the Constitution. “No person shall be…deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…” .

Pretty plain, right? Cut and dried, right? No person, right? Unless, of course, this applies to an “illegal immigrant” who also happens to be a member of a “terrorist” gang (designated by the Executive Branch, i.e., the President) as a threat to the “national interest”. In that case, those who are guilty (whether they are charged or not is irrelevant) of this “crime” (violation of law) are subject to immediate deportation to their country of origin OR removal to a prison system run by the El Salvadoran government, which we pay buku bucks for, generously provided by the US taxpayer.

This does not appear to be any different than the “war” waged on La Cosa Nostra, i.e., Mafia, which has been ongoing for decades and does not appear to have an end point. Except that the action against Tren de Aragua has the support and vociferous backing of half the population of the US, which Donald Trump is counting on to allow him to completely circumvent the 5th Amendment to the Constitution, which all his supporters depend on to keep the country safe from the depredations of a tyrannical government. We MUST get back to the Constitution, right? Except when it is convenient to discard it, of course.

Whatever happened to “Innocent, until Proven Guilty”? Does this mean anything, anymore?

I admit that Tren de Aragua probably is criminal. It is probably based on force, violent in nature, to achieve its ends, i.e., the compliance of those it seeks to subjugate. That being said, is there any realistic, theoretical, philosophical, difference between this one specific gang and others which are larger and have much more power, e.g., the United States of America, which can be said to impose its power and influence around the world? As far as I can see, the only difference is one of size and scope.

I could applaud the current administration for its stance and actions, except for one niggling reminder. First, they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I wasn’t a socialist. Yes, I said nothing when those in power came for Tren de Aragua because I was not a member of the group and, besides, I liked what Trump & Co. was doing. Never mind that the end of this is that when they came for me, there was no one left to speak up for me.

Should we be concerned? Absolutely, yes, we should, but not necessarily in the manner so prevalent in conservative circles today. If the government can arrest and punish anyone at all based solely on an accusation, then who is safe? Am I safe? Are you? How do you know?

“By their works, you shall know them.”

What is most interesting about the article by Eric Zuesse is that he mentions the Peasant’s Revolt of 1525, which resulted in the deaths of perhaps as many as 100, 000 common, ordinary, everyday, persons who simply wanted an end to the abuses perpetrated on them by those more powerful, and which can be summarized as follows:

“Laws should be made more equitable so that all are equal before it and no one gets harsher or more lenient treatment for the same crime.” — https://www.worldhistory.org/Twelve_Articles/

Imagine that! The Law applied equally and without discrimination! No one, not even Donald Trump, Elon Musk, nor Chuck Schumer above it!

We have a long way to go.

COVID: A Modern-day Hydra

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

COVID is over. At least, I thought it was over. In fact, I wrote an article and posted it here on August 15, 2021, in which I said that the tide of the war had turned and, from that point on, the battle was going to become increasingly desperate for those who were determined to ram the fraud down our throats and inject all of us with their favorite deadly toxin, while trying to shut our mouths with their stupid, silly dust mask mandates. At that time, I called it a “gut feeling” and I still think I was right.

Well, yes, but Adolf Hitler didn’t blow his brains out until the Soviet Army was only five hundred yards away from his bunker and closing fast. And COVID is like that, refusing to die peacefully, still wreaking havoc wherever it can, hanging on until the bitter end, i.e. until there is no more money to be made from it and no more foolish idiots to gull. The fact is that a lot of people still wear their stupid, silly dust masks, believing beyond credulity in the efficacy of a piece of fabric to keep them safe. Chain stores like Walgreen’s and RiteAid are still pushing the Pfizer and Moderna shots, often coupling them with more traditional “flu” shots to draw in customers. Not quite like “Buy one, get one at half price!”, but close enough.

Speaking of the mRNA shots (I will not call them vaccines), I became aware the other day (hat tip, Mr. B) of a bill, H.B 371, introduced into the Montana State House which would ban, literally outlaw, the use of mRNA injections for human “consumption” within the state. You can read the text here. It was just shot down by a sizable majority, with all the Democrats and a large percentage of the Republicans voting to kill it.

https://projects.montanafreepress.org/capitol-tracker-2025/bills/hb-371/

https://bills.legmt.gov/#/laws/bill/2/LC1463?open_tab=status

If I was a swearing man, I’d ask “What the *&^%?” is the matter with these people? Are they not aware that the mRNA shots have probably killed more people than the virus itself, which was probably engineered in a Wuhan, China lab with the strong financial support of certain people in the US government? All paid for with your tax dollars and inflation, no less. Nice, neat, and tidy, wasn’t it? Well, maybe Elon Musk can sort it out. Maybe Anthony Fauci will go to jail, but I’m not holding my breath.

What is going on with the legislators in Helena, anyway? Why would they vote to turn down a ban on something which is strongly suspected (speaking graciously) of being a deliberate, orchestrated killing protocol unleashed on a trusting public? Why indeed, and I can only think of one answer: someone got to them and convinced them that it was in their best interest to bury this bill. Possibly, human nature being what it is, the convincing might have involved the transfer of a substantial number of Benjamins. Bribes, in other words, but then, I’m only speculating. Maybe promises were made to donate to the next campaign season, which every politician looks forward to. At any rate, looking out for the best interests of their constituents must have been the last thing on their minds.

Do you live in Montana? Do you want to see an end to this bullshit? Then I encourage you to find out which way your local representative voted and contact them with either a note of thanks for voting “Yes” or a fiery, blistering condemnation of their action if they voted “No”.

Click here, then scroll down to 2nd Reading, Show Full Vote Breakdown.

After all, this is your government, right? Didn’t you just participate in an election which sent these people to Helena as your “representatives”? If they are your representatives, then they are supposed to work for you, not an international corporation which enriches itself by keeping you sick. Or worse, making you dead.

Yes, yes, I know. Pure, blatant populist rabble-rousing, isn’t it? Well, maybe that’s what it takes to get you moving. If the shoe fits, wear it.

Orange-haired Wrecking Machine

Roger Mitchell5 Comments

It has been barely a month since Donald Trump took office as President and already monumental changes have occurred. As Vladimir Lenin famously said, “There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen.” Trump appears to have learned the lesson well from his first term during which he was drubbed from every direction and, with the assistance and support of his staff, is aggressively making his mark on America and the world. Whether it will be “great” or not remains to be seen. If Trump succeeds in dismantling and rearranging the federal government, a long overdue event, it will bode well for the future of this country—in the long run. The short run is a different story. Getting from our current situation to “Happy days are here again” is not going to be a pleasant journey, even if you are a starry-eyed supporter of everything which he is accomplishing.

America, the Hegemon, has run its course. After 1-1/4 centuries of empire-building (marking the Spanish-American war as the beginning), it is obvious to clear-minded thinkers that there is nothing left except to change course and operate in a different manner. We cannot bully our way anymore as in the past. Threats only have an effect on small insignificant countries like Colombia, which caved recently on the issue of repatriation of immigrants to the US. Large, near-peer nations (Russia, China, e.g.) are charting their own destiny and have the power to make it happen, with or without the “blessing” of Washington.

Closer to home, financial collapse and ruin are on the horizon. After decades of constant inflation from 1971 onward (Nixon’s decoupling from the gold standard) and unfathomably massive deficits (call them by their real name–unpayable debts), the economy is on extremely shaky ground and will probably experience a severe recession in the near future, almost certainly within the next four years. It is conceivable that this will be worse than the Great Depression of the 1930’s, and it is not necessary to resort to “conspiracy theories” to understand that. The dollar is strong vis-a-vis all other currencies only because they are even weaker, not through any real value of its own. The current run-up in the price of gold is a telling indicator. The day is long gone when all problems could be solved by throwing money at them.

What does this mean for us? Put as simply as I can, it’s going to hurt. Bigly. There are going to be serious consequences for America’s actions and many of them will be personally disruptive and destructive. Lifestyle changes are going to become the order of the day and many of these will come about because there is no other choice. Adapt or die. Simply expecting that the State or society will allow us to remain as we were is a foolish exercise in complacent irresponsibility. Those who cling to the past will almost certainly perish. At the very least, they will become irrelevant.

For too long, we have believed in the State to protect us from every conceivable danger and inconvenience. Today, that false god is bankrupt and toppling. The motto, “full faith and credit of the US government”, is no longer valid and does not apply. It is like a decrepit, derelict building which has long outlived its original purpose and must be destroyed to make way for the future.

Donald Trump, like any good wrecking ball, is loud, disruptive, and causing a lot of damage to the existing structure. However, wrecking balls are good for only one purpose–deconstruction. Trump is not going to “save” America, but he may clear the way for others to come behind him and start the rebuilding process all over again. Time will tell.

Leather gloves, hard hats, steel-toed boots, dust masks, and safety goggles are the order of the day.

Romans 13: The View from Here

Roger Mitchell5 Comments

In the Holy Bible, there are no scriptures which create more dissension, disagreement, and controversy than Revelation and Romans 13. These two stand head and shoulders over everything else in the ability to get believers, students, and pontificators riled up against those who read from a different viewpoint. It is debatable which of these two holds the top spot. We are not concerned with that here.

I have been engaged in a discussion with a friend of mine who does not see eye to eye with me on the function (or necessity) of government and when she challenged me about the meaning of Romans 13:4, I decided to reply by means of this article. This is not meant to be the last word on the subject, but is intended to spark conversation about it, including opposing perspectives, so that all of us can advance closer to the truth of the matter. At the top of this page is a Comment button, which you can click if you want to join the discussion and put in your own two cent’s worth. If you think your insight on this subject is worth promoting, now is your chance.

What is Romans 13, anyway? This is the question which must be answered before any significance can be attached to its message and meaning. “Context, context, context” is the continual refrain from those who attempt to understand this, yet so many forget all that in considering this passage by lifting it out from the rest of the book.

Written originally by the Apostle Paul, there were no chapters and no verses. It was simply one long letter from him to the Roman Christians and they were expected to consider the whole without trying to separate it into various parts. The chapter and verse organization was added centuries later to facilitate the finding of a specific section of Scripture and, unfortunately, has created chaos in many circles, this being one of them. Nothing in it can be distinctly separated from the whole to stand alone as its own separate doctrine. Unfortunately, many Christians tend to forget this and elevate certain sections, e.g., Chapter 13, above all else. This is a major error and ought to be repented of.

Enough of that. Let’s dig into it.

“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God, therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgement on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.” (Romans 13:1-4, NKJV)

What a mouthful!

“Let every soul be subject to the …” This is where the problems begin. If you go to your web browser and type in the search term “Romans 13:1”, it will return this link, https://biblehub.com/romans/13-1.htm, which will give an extensive list of translations, all of which name this as “governing authorities”, “higher powers”, “those above you”, those who have authority”, etc., except two, which read as follows:

GOD’S WORD® Translation
Every person should obey the government in power. No government would exist if it hadn’t been established by God. The governments which exist have been put in place by God.

Good News Translation
Everyone must obey state authorities, because no authority exists without God’s permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God…

Imagine that! Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin is the government in power. What are you going to do?

Out of the many translations I saw, only these two translate the “higher power who has authority over him” as “government”, and the Good News Translation goes so far as to name this “state authority”. The reality, however, is that there are multiple authorities over persons starting with parents and progressing from there. Many spring to mind: the husband/wife relationship, church authority, employer/employee, civil governments, creditor/debtor, coach/athlete, headmaster/student, etc., and some you can probably think of which are not listed here. There is absolutely no justification for twisting this particular passage to mean that the ONLY authority is that of the State, unless you are advocating for the supremacy of the State and its total authority over you and everyone else.

Disclaimer: I am not a scholar. Greek is Greek to me, as is Hebrew. I have never studied them and do not claim to speak as an expert nor even with some knowledge of the languages and words. That being said, I recommend you read this clear, well-written article in which the author DOES dig into the meanings of the Greek words used and explains how they relate to the topic in question.

We simply cannot assume that Romans 13:1 refers to state (civil) government exclusively. Like the so-called “balance of power” implied by the Constitution of the United States, authority must also be spread out among many competing “authorities”, and there is no one single man-centered authority which controls all others, no “One Ring to rule them all.” Instead, the “authorities”, each of which has their own place within society, is meant to enhance and advance the rights and well-being of their subordinates, not to rule over them. Good parents raise their children in order to turn them loose on the world in the hopes that they will be able to function as competent adults in their own right. ALL authorities should operate in the same manner.

Authority is meant to complement. It is designed to bring out the best in persons. It is not supposed to be a system of control, of rule. All the “governing authorities” mentioned in Romans 13:1 are meant to operate for the good of those who are in the subordinate role, to bring them to a higher position and perhaps even so they can act as authority figures themselves.

And all of that (barely scratching the surface) in v.1, but my sparring partner’s concern was with v. 4.

“For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.”

It seems evident that this verse is addressing civil government or at least a system of legal justice against criminal behavior and I do not have a problem with that. If you read RMB’s article linked to above, you would already have this understanding, as no other “authority” exercises the power of the sword legitimately in the way the civil authority does. Without a clear sense of justice, however, the sword can and does represent naked power and the ability to force others to conform to a “rule of law”, in which whatever the government decides and enacts becomes law, whether it is beneficial or harmful to the society under it. Simply passing a law does not create justice and expecting that everyone become obedient to the law passed BECAUSE it is the law is ludicrous on its face. Should Christians (or anyone else, for that matter) rat out their neighbors to the ruling “authorities” because the law proclaimed that all Jews must wear a yellow star sewed onto their clothing? To ask the question is to answer it. Obviously, there must be a way to allow for government and law, but also a means of resistance to it should it become demanding, overbearing, and evil.

The main problem I have is the tendency within Christian circles to simply submit, conform to, and obey the law as proclaimed by the modern State, as if it were God Himself. Remember COVID and the “suggestion” that churches cancel Easter service in 2020? After all, Romans 13 teaches us that we are to subject ourselves to it, doesn’t it? How did the world move forward without the application of the modern State to rule over us, dictating every little “jot and tittle” to us, and expecting that we would observe every facet of that?

In other words, without government, we are lost. In a society and culture where power over others has become the goal and government has become God, this is the logical end of such a belief.

What then are we to make of this? What is the relevance of Romans 13 to us today? How are we meant to respond to its message? What does it really mean? Perhaps this is a good time to bring in some other voices and opinions, not necessarily expert, but certainly authoritative in their own right.

As I see it, government authority is to be one authority among others. It is not meant to be The Authority over all other authorities. Certainly, government is not meant to be the State as we know it today. If there is a compelling political authority in the United States, it would have to be the Constitution, which all civil government, including the federal government as personified in the president, Donald J. Trump, is sworn to uphold and defend. Politicians raise their right hand, place their left hand on the Bible (except DJT), and swear to this, right? Yet, how much of what we see today is subject to the Constitution and how much would have to change to bring our situation back to alignment with it? This is not to say that the Constitution is The Authority, as it should be clear that even the Constitution is subordinate to a “higher power”, which is the Word of God. In other words, there are layers and layers of authority and none of them, except the Word of God, reigns supreme over all the others.

Authority is an inescapable concept. There is authority. It is not a question of authority vs. no authority, but rather a question of whose authority, which authority. I understand this and do not dispute it. Where I draw the line is that real authority cannot be gained by the use of force and power. It cannot be legislated. It cannot be imposed by an outside force, but must rather be recognized and accepted by all concerned. Real authority is based on a system of trust, with the subordinate party believing that the authority over him has his best interests at heart. Such is not the case in the State/citizen relationship today. We cannot trust that the State, which seeks to gain all power and control, will do right by us. In fact, we know this to be true because we go through the gyrations of “free and fair elections” every election cycle in order to correct our situation, believing that if only we can install the right man or woman into office, justice will have been achieved and we will be set free from all the fears that plague us. Nothing could be further from the truth. True authority does not appear by virtue of the ballot box.

Does any of this mean that Romans 13:4 is irrelevant to today’s society or that we can simply ignore it? Hardly, as there will always be a need for someone, some authority, to exercise judgment and justice on wrongdoing and criminal behavior. We may be individual persons living out our own lives as we see fit, but we are also part of the community surrounding us and it is within that community that we must live in cooperation with the other members. At some time or another, there will arise a situation where the community must come together to “execute wrath on him who practices evil”. How is this to be done? What defines evil? Who does the defining? There are only two answers: an organic approach fostered from within the community itself OR a “solution” imposed from above and outside the community. Either the answer comes from within us as we understand the truth or it will be forced on us by others who have the power to compel our obedience and subjection.

“He (the civil authority) is God’s minister to you for good.” Keep that in mind as you explore all the ways in which the modern State government does NOT minister to us for good. The dilemma here is that the modern way of thinking is to legislate, pass a law which will solve the problem, but which creates more problems, all of which need to be corrected by passing even more laws. In this, today’s government is similar to the pharmaceutical response to poor health and disease: pop a pill, and if that creates side effects, take another drug to counter that. There is never any effort made to find the root of the problem, only to address the symptoms, which is then pawned off as a cure, and which results in the patient (citizen, society) getting sicker and weaker all the time. There is no money to be made in keeping people healthy and there is no benefit, at least for the State, to making society responsible for itself.

Oppression Shall Cease: O Holy Night

Roger Mitchell4 Comments

December 25, 2024. Christmas Day.

“Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother and in His Name, all oppression shall cease…” — from the Christmas hymn, “O, Holy Night”

ALL oppression shall cease. It follows logically that, wherever oppression exists, His Name has not yet become the guide for life. Wherever people are oppressed, the Name of Christ has not become the Law which is followed and obeyed in everyday life. This applies to both the individual and the collective (corporate, according to Karl Ludwig von Haller), because it is certain that both the individual and the collective can be (and are) oppressive.

All OPPRESSION shall cease. Oppression implies control because it is impossible to oppress someone, anyone, unless control is established over them. It follows that the less control we have over others, the less possibility there is to oppress them. If the statement that all oppression shall cease is true, then it must mean that all control over others must also come to an end. Of course, there are qualifiers: parents exercise control over their children, but only to the point where their children are able to function as responsible individuals in their own right. Once that point is reached, control must be relinquished and the child must become liable for his own actions.

All oppression SHALL cease. This implies that the cessation of oppression in all aspects of life is future-oriented and will not occur completely nor immediately in the present. This should give us hope that the future will be better than the present or the past. There are issues we have to work through to gain the end of oppression–both individually and collectively. Christians, especially, ought to understand this since we are taught that holiness is gained progressively as we surrender and submit our lives to the Kingship and Authority of Jesus, the Christ. If the Law of Christ is not oppressive and brings peace, then, as His disciples, we gradually and progressively learn to become non-oppressive towards ourselves and others as well. We learn, over time and through experience, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, minimizing and eventually eliminating the effect of oppression on them and that expression is a personal choice made by us, as individuals, under and with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit working in and through us. We have no excuses for not going down down this road.

All oppression shall CEASE. Come to an end. Be eliminated. Can this really happen in time and on Earth? Do we, as sinful persons, need to have a Messiah descend from Heaven to impose this upon us OR do we have the capability to make this fulfilled now? Again, Christians ought to know the answer to this question. Yes, we do, and it is by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to achieve this goal. We can refuse to oppress others. We can love them as we love ourselves. We can serve them without expecting anything back from them. All cessation of oppression begins with the individual and expand outward into the collective (corporate), bringing to life the lesson taught by Jesus in the parable of the yeast mixed into the bread dough.

Ultimately, this is an expression of faith. The Kingdom of Jesus, the Christ, is triumphant over oppression now and will be triumphant over oppression in the future, up to the point where oppression is no longer existent. It is a long-term goal, something to be anticipated, something to work for. It is not to be given automatically. It is not a “participation trophy”. It will not be reached by imposition, only by surrender to the Word, which speaks the Gospel of Peace into our lives on a daily basis. It will not be attained by a submission to law or obedience to legislation, regardless of the source. It can only be gained by recognizing, in the present, that I am a sinner, prone to oppressing others for my own sake, and abandoning and overcoming that tendency within myself, so that all may benefit.

The obliteration of oppression does not begin with political action. It is not derived from the top down, rather, it begins at the very bottom of the pile–the soul of the individual, who recognizes that his life does not reconcile with the Law of Love and the Gospel of Peace, and begins to change his ways so as to become compliant with them. Society is a collection (collective, corporation) of individuals, and if the individual changes his ways, the society will change–for better or for worse.

Coming of the Light: The Next Four Years

Roger Mitchell3 Comments

Today, December 21, 2024, is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. In my latitude, that means daylight arrives only a few minutes before 8:00 a.m. and darkness falls shortly after 5:00 p.m., for a total of about nine hours of light sufficient that I don’t need to rely on artificial illumination. From here on out, for the next six months, the daylight spans will become increasingly longer, until June 21, 2025, when the cycle will reverse.

Also looking forward, not necessarily toward more light, on January 20, 2025, just 30 days from now, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the next President of the United States. This will make many people absolutely giddy with delight and euphoria as they expect that he (and his cohorts) will transform the current System of Governance into one in which justice is reached at last, (at least for those on our side), governments actually protect their citizens from harm of all kinds, money is once more made valuable, wars are fought and won decisively against “our” adversaries, and everyone’s life becomes more free and prosperous as long as they are not drug dealers, illegal immigrants, anti-Semites, Democrats, and progressive Utopian zealots who do not know the difference between a boy and a girl.

Ah, yes. Good times, good times!

I watch what is happening today and I don’t know if I should laugh or cry, because it is evident to me that the American Empire is thrashing about in its death throes and the next four years under Trump will not resurrect it to vigorous life again. It was bad under Biden, it will not improve under Trump. In all likelihood, more people will be worse off then than they are now and, what is just as likely is that most of them will remain clueless as to why this happened. For many of them, the ignorance will be deliberate. As Bionic Mosquito (see here or here), one of my correspondents, commented recently,

“People don’t want to open the door on one false belief because they are afraid (or maybe know) that once one false belief falls, their entire worldview will crumble. It scares most people to consider that their house is built on sand. So they defend, no matter the evidence.”

Yes, once the foundations of a system crumble, the entire worldview changes. Those who believe the notion that The State, The System, is the natural order of things and that everything will be lost without it will do anything and everything to avoid coming to the conclusion that they have believed in a veritable fountain of lies. Instead, they will cling desperately to the sinking ship, dancing upon its increasingly steep decks, refusing to jump into the icy cold water of political, social, and economic reality, or the lifeboat that is personally responsible life. True believers will go down with the ship and, in the US, there are millions of them. The nostrum that Trump will make the bad things go away is delusional, but it is one which will be held tightly and, when it fails, will be explained away in the manner of all excuses which are adamantly opposed to the truth–“If only we had tried harder…”

Be careful what you wish for. You might get it.

Politics, Contradiction, and Lies

Roger Mitchell6 Comments

“In every other science one saw at least a more or less adequate degree of congruence between theory and practice, reason and experience; only in politics was there an eternal contradiction between the dominant doctrines and the state of the world. It is this very contradiction that true science seeks to avoid, by adjusting the theory to the nature of things, while false science seeks to save itself by torturing facts in order to force-fit them into accredited systems.” —Karl Ludwig von Haller, Restoration of Political Science, Preliminary Discourse. (Emphasis mine)

Remember Covid? Writing in 1816, Haller presciently and accurately described the method by which false science was used to impose the narrative on an unsuspecting population. It cannot be emphasized enough that the lies, social manipulation, division, ostracization, and emotional distress caused by irrational fear were all driven by a false science designed for only one purpose: control over the many by a few for a pre-designed agenda. It cannot be denied that the perpetrators of the Covid scam tortured the facts so as to force-fit them into their desired system of total control over all–worldwide.

And money. Boatloads of money. More money than they could ever need or spend. All gained at the expense of the average, common, everyday Joe.

Four years on, there are still those who are clinging tightly to this “false science”, who will not relinquish their hold on it–either because they hope to gain from it by perpetuating it, or because they are afraid to admit they were gulled and bought into it. I see the latter occasionally, on sidewalks, in shops, at events, who have their face masks firmly in place, advertising to the world that they are still gripped by the notion, the false science, that a thin, porous piece of cloth will actually keep them from contracting a virus.

(I am tempted at times to walk up to them and ask them if they are trying to keep their chin warm, but I don’t. It might be like poking a stick into a hornet’s nest. Better left alone. Besides, I am aware of the sage advice in Proverbs 26:4 which tells me not to answer a fool according to his folly. Or as The Message puts it, “Don’t respond to the stupidity of a fool; you’ll only look foolish yourself.”)

Nevertheless, Haller’s point is that in every science based on observation and adjustment, facts count and when theory is not consistent with the facts, then the theory must be adjusted. It is only in the “science” of politics that this does not hold, instead the facts themselves are twisted to fit the theory. It does not matter what the theory is, who promotes it, nor its end purpose, the promoters and adherents of the theory are not at all reticent nor ashamed to push their own version of the “science” to achieve their goal, which is, of course, getting what they want at the expense of everyone else. Anthony Fauci even alluded to himself as “The Science” and baldly asserted that to disagree with him was an assault on science.

The unfortunate reality in all this is that the vast majority of people, across the full spectrum of society, believe that the only way to make things “work”, according to their own preferred belief system, is to engage in politics, twisting and distorting the facts to make themselves look better and their antagonists look worse. What is really sad is the fact, undistorted and wholly reliable, that people fail to learn from their past mistakes, especially in politics. They will swallow virtually any lie so long as it appears to come from an authority which proclaims to have the ability to “save” them from risk, catastrophe, and danger, and in their acceptance of the lie, they attempt to work the world over to bring it to life, to add it into the pantheon of truth.

People never learn, but then someone like von Haller pops up and sheds a little bit of light on the subject.

There is hope.

Life in the Good Old Days

Roger Mitchell13 Comments

Half of America is absolutely giddy with excitement due to Donald Trump’s earth-shaking, paradigm-shifting ascension to the White House, from which he will administer over the reincarnation, rebuilding, and remaking of the United States, bringing peace, justice, and truth to the world after a calamitous headlong plunge into the pit of Hell by the soon-to-be-deposed administration of Biden/Harris.

The other half is absolutely sick with grief, despair, and certain that Armageddon has finally been reached despite decades of trying to avoid it at all costs while ushering in Utopia. At least they gave it their best shot! It’s the end of the world as they knew it. OMG! We’re doomed!!

This is the result of Trump/Harris. Switch the descriptions if Harris/Trump.

OK, so now we get to spend the next four years watching and waiting while Trump and his A-Team try to usher in their own version of Utopia via government rule. This prospect fills me with a sense of unease about the future. Now, I will admit that throwing around ideas like slashing $2 trillion from the budget sounds appealing and, in reality would be a wise thing to do, but the only way to do this is to eliminate federal departments and bureaucracies wholesale. With a meat cleaver, not a surgical scalpel. Unfortunately, Trump has proposed to create a new department and bureaucracy to get rid of the old ones and charged Musk and Ramaswamy with the task of making recommendations without giving them authority to actually make the cuts.

DOGE. Dept. of Government Efficiency. An oxymoron. A contradiction of terms. A facetious tribute to an earlier DOGE which was created as a joke and a farce, yet reached an astounding market cap of $80 billion.

Much wow wow, indeed.

Will Trump “save” America? Was he shot in the ear, buried, and resurrected victorious over his enemies? The answer to both questions depends on your perspective.

I remain skeptical. In fact, I believe that we haven’t seen the bottom of the iceberg yet, but as the ship of State is visibly sinking into the depths of cold, hard reality, we almost certainly will. With Trump at the wheel and millions upon millions of his followers playing musical chairs on the tilting decks, unwilling to face the truth of the matter.

America is going down. Of that, I have no doubt. We ain’t seen nothing yet. Four years from now, we will call these the Good Old Days.

“Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatever a [nation] sows, it will also reap.” — Galatians 6:7

“And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.” — 1 Samuel 8:18

Thou Shalt Not Murder, except by Majority Vote

Roger Mitchell1 Comment

I’m looking at the early returns of the 2024 election. It appears that the state of Montana has gone decisively Republican and conservative, at least in the higher offices, most of which have been decided by wide margins. Some localized races have bucked the trend, ensuring that there will be plenty of contention in days to come. Donald Trump pulled out (estimated) an astounding victory of nearly 60%, with the Senate seat, both House seats, the Governor, and all state-wide offices running neck-and-neck with him.

What I find ironic is that CI-128, a ballot initiative which would enshrine the “right” to an abortion into the State Constitution, also passed by a wide margin, virtually identical with Trump’s drubbing of Kamala Harris in the state.

This tells me one of three things:

  1. There are a lot of hypocrites in the Republican/Conservative side of the Big Tent, which means the moral condition of the country will simply tend to worse and worse. But, then, this was already a given and has manifested itself in the past in myriad ways.
  2. This election was not about a “return to morality and Christian values”, but was probably more a judgment about the state of the economy, that is, money, and the voter’s own personal bankroll. If this is true, then America still has a long way to fall before it crashes hard.
  3. The voters of Montana have shifted from a position of welcoming and soliciting government intervention into their lives to one of telling the “rulers” to butt out. Not necessarily bad, in my opinion, but unfortunately, the weakest, most vulnerable persons among us will pay the price with their lives, all because we refuse to control ourselves.

“Thou shalt not murder, except by majority vote.” History will record the repercussions of this decision.

The Practice of Politics: Round Three

Roger Mitchell6 Comments

In just a few days, the citizens (citoyens, comrades) of the United States will decide (rubberstamp) a Dear Leader for the next four years, which selection will have enormous implications for, not only the country itself, but the world at large. Whoever is “elected” will shape American policy, both domestic and foreign, for years to come and will largely determine what happens within the next decade.

The choice is yours. Choose well. Or refuse to participate in the process at all.

Should Christians be involved in politics? This is the burning question which I have tried to answer recently in two blog posts, see here and here. Even though my answer has been a resounding “No!”, I think that I have explained my position badly and fallen short of the real reason why I believe as I do. This is an attempt to clear the air a little, although, it is certain that this will not be sufficient for the task. It is an ongoing “enlightenment” and it will continue until I pass through the gate to an eternal home where I can see clearly through the fog that I experience now.

I have described politics as far more than just government-oriented. Politics, the practice of manipulating and the use of others to benefit oneself at their expense, is widespread throughout society. Unfortunately, this description does not resonate with the general public at all and is completely ignored by virtually everyone. I am, indeed, a voice crying in the wilderness.

So, let’s abandon “politics” for a little while and contemplate what it means to be Christian. Of course, first and foremost, is the belief that Man (both male and female) is flawed and sinful, which renders us unable to meet, know, and understand God on our own. This defect was resolved forever by the appearance of Jesus the Christ into history, Who showed by His life, death, and resurrection from death into life, that it is entirely possible for flawed, sinful Man to become like God, under certain, clearly spelled-out rules:

  1. You shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, soul, and mind, AND,
  2. You shall love your neighbor in the same manner that you love yourself.

End of argument. Except that we are not willing to accept this as truth, preferring instead to substitute ritual, emotion, and irrationality as our own version of the truth, which we practice faithfully, certain that this will procure a ticket into the very presence of God Himself.

We are pretty good at “loving” the LORD, our God, with all our heart, soul, and mind, but what does it really mean to love our neighbor as we love ourselves? This is the existential question and it must be clearly understood if we are ever to understand what it means to love God. These two demands go hand in hand, they cannot be separated. It is impossible to love God fully and completely UNLESS we love our neighbor fully and completely.

“If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” –1 John 4:20, emphasis mine.

Well, all right, you might say, but WTF does this have to do with politics, government, and voting to influence the direction America (or any other nation) travels? After all, if Christians do not influence the government in a positive direction, the direction we deem to be true, right, and holy, then we are all “doomed” to live under a regime with which we do not agree, one in which we find ourselves in opposition against. Hell on earth, in other words, AND we MUST oppose that by voting for the “lesser of two evils”. Which, of course, does nothing to eliminate the evil, but actually exacerbates it since evil, to one extent of another, always wins.

The main problem with this is that it is easy to love government which solves all our problems with our neighbor by brute force and violence, but it is not so easy to love our neighbor through the application of self-sacrifice, good will, and service. Jesus did not say, “Love your neighbor by passing a law which he must obey, whether he wants to or not, and which you must pay for through taxation and regulation, even if you don’t like the extent to which you are taxed or regulated.” Instead, He said quite simply that we are to live with our neighbors, as if they (and their needs) were as important as our own, whether we like them or not.

Here is the dividing line, the distinction. Love for neighbors is voluntary. It comes out of the depths of our hearts. It does not care what it costs us personally. In our own personal relationship with our neighbors, we look out for their good. It does not matter what it costs, even if it costs everything we have, what we consider to be ours and which we are determined to hold onto at all costs, even if we have to pinch our noses as we enter the voting booth and pull the lever, signifying our belief in the “pot of message” which our favored candidate professes.

Love for neighbor cannot be achieved through a political process. It cannot be forced or violent. It must be voluntary. It is personally costly. It is self-sacrificial. We must die to ourselves so that our neighbor can live. This is the message of Christ and the Gospels and it is also that which we resist so strenuously that we have created a different, better way to “love” our neighbor: government, the application of law, and forceful action to back it up. As an example of this, it is quite easy to find a Christian church which steers a young, single mother to a government agency for “help” rather than taking her in and supporting her directly. After all, the government has plenty of money while we are struggling to pay the mortgage on our building, which is really owned by The Bank. Let’s be realistic about this.

Why? Is it not because we are afraid of our neighbor? Do we not fear what he might do to us? If this is the case, then it is better to do to him BEFORE he does to us, which principle is directly opposed to the teachings of Christ, Whom we profess to follow? Does this not create cognitive dissonance in our own minds, causing us to make excuses for all our behaviors, in spite of the irregularities and inconsistencies of our own philosophical and religious arguments? Do we create government, that is, legislation and the giving of “authority” to others, so that we can be secure and safe in our own environment? Do we accept government so that we do not have to be afraid? Yet, Jesus, in His capacity as God, asks us to completely trust Him and to accept no other as a safe haven in the storm. To be unafraid.

“And it makes me wonder.” — Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”

In eternity, which I live in presently and will enter permanently within the next twenty years or so, the only question I have to answer is this: How do I love my neighbor? Do I love him from the depths of my heart, wishing, hoping, and working for his best even if that means I have to suffer loss, or do I try to control him through the office known as government, so that I can feel safe, even if that means that both he and I will suffer loss? Is my love for him real and lasting or is it just a face put on so that I can remain secure in my own world? Should I love my neighbor for his benefit or should I seek to control him so that I can benefit?

Politics!

Voting, whether you want to admit it or not, is just a mechanism of control. Nothing more. It is something which we use to indirectly affect how our neighbor will live or die if they refuse to behave the way we want them to. (If you click the link, notice the reference to Matthew 19:19) We can say that we love our neighbor, but if we advocate for a policy which degrades him, hobbles his ability to prosper, or restricts his behavior so that we can feel good about ourselves, then where is the consistency?

Where is the love, indeed?

There is only one reason for resorting to government as opposed to trusting God: we are afraid. We are fearful. We think about what MIGHT happen in the future and we take steps to make sure that doesn’t occur, because it might cause us harm. The actions we take are defensive in nature, yet God calls us to trust Him completely, which compels us to abandon any defensive measures and tactics, even those political in nature. Voting is such a defensive measure and, while it may serve as a feel-good, self-congratulatory action at the moment, it does nothing at all to solve the problem, which is spiritual in nature and which cannot be solved or corrected by pulling a lever in a voting booth.

The Practice of Politics: Continued

Roger Mitchell3 Comments

This was first published as a reply to a comment seen on an article by Donald Jeffries at his Substack. I like Donald Jeffries. He has become, without his knowledge, one of my most-beloved mentors. I have a few others: John Waters, Elizabeth Nickson, Caitlin Johnstone, Edward Curtin, etc., from whom I am learning, not so much about facts and opinions, but how to write lucidly and comprehensively about things that matter. More than anything else, I am learning how to be unafraid in the telling of the truth. If this resonates with you, please leave a comment.

https://donaldjeffries.substack.com/p/the-orwellian-doctors-of-disinformation

I describe politics as the practice of getting what you want by manipulating other people and is always at their expense, to their detriment, which is an adaptation of this quote by Frederic Bastiat–“Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavours to live at the expense of everybody else.”

Most people consider “politics” as having to do with government, law, the State, but most never, ever think about the way that they practice it on a daily basis. For instance, Billy Joel’s waitress in his hit song, Piano Man, made a habit of and living from “…practicing politics as the businessmen (her customers) slowly get stoned.”

Government is only the official recognition that politics is practiced everywhere, at all levels of society, by an overwhelming majority of people, both large and small, who endeavor to get what they want at the expense of everyone else, using every possible means at their disposal. Sometimes they get busted and learn, correcting their ways but, more often than not, they protest that their actions are really only for the benefit of those around them and the good of society. Like supporting the Military-Industrial Complex because it has a factory in their home state or loudly backing the genocidal catastrophes which the “most-favored” nation in the history of the world, Israel, practices on its weaker neighbors.

How do you correct this problem. Quite simple. Vote. Vote harder. Vote more often. Vote until the right people are put into office and all the scheming, conniving, rascally scoundrels are turned out into the street or thrown into a maximum-security prison. Yes, that ought to do it and so many are faithful to the concept, never realizing that voting is an attempt to force others to behave the way that you want them to. Getting what you want at someone else’s expense, to their detriment. Politics.

For those who haven’t already caught on, the paragraph immediately above is sarcastic. The only way to correct the practice of politics is to address the sin within yourself AND to take action to eliminate it from your own life. All of us are guilty. All of us have to change our course. As a succinct example of what I am advocating, I offer another paraphrase from an even greater man than Frederic Bastiat.

“Love your neighbors, don’t kill them.”

Fear is a Liar! What are you afraid of?

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

“But I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto Him against that day.” — 2 Timothy 1:12

Life is a preparation for death.

In just a few days, I will experience my 66th birthday. It is a testament to the grace of God that I have lived this long. I have no idea how many more years I will see, but then, nobody does, which is just as well. “If I knew the place I was going to die, begorra, I’d never go near the place.” –Olde Irish saying.

I used to think I would live to see my 100th birthday. Today, I think that if I last another ten years, I will be doing pretty good. As a result of this, I realize that if I am going to accomplish anything of any lasting value in this life, I have got to get it done…and I cannot be afraid of consequences that might occur as a result of my “getting it done”. If I only have ten more years, then does it really make any difference whether I have ten years or only six? And, of course, the answer is “No!”, if what I am doing advances the cause of truth vs. lies. After all, if I am only a brick in the building which Jesus, the Christ, is erecting, then who am I to count myself so important that I avoid speaking the truth because it might carry some risk?

Are we to be so consumed with “surviving” what we all know is coming or should we be concerned with speaking the truth, regardless where that leads? This is a question which all of us must answer at sometime, even if we do not deliberately recognize it. Why am I here? What do I live for? To whom will I answer?

Unfortunately, many of us refuse to consider what this means. If it is true that I am not my own, then I must be answerable to someone else. Who am I answerable to? And, if I am answerable to someone else and I only have a few more years to live, then why should I be afraid of speaking what I believe to be the truth?

Freedom does not come from a condition of being answerable to no one. It comes from being aware that there is a higher calling, a higher authority, a higher understanding, and not being afraid to explore it or to extol it. I know, for instance, that God Himself, in whatever form He might show Himself to be, is the only reason I live and, if I am not afraid to speak out on His behalf, that He will take care of me–either in the present or after I have departed this world…physically speaking, that is.

What do I have to be afraid of? I, along with everyone else who has ever been born, am going to die. Someday I will face the reckoning. At my age, it cannot be pushed off into the distant future. It is going to happen and I must face it. Why should I be afraid? The only reason would be that I have lived my life for my own benefit and refused to “love my neighbor as I love myself”.

Come on now, really! Do we believe that we are representatives of the Truth or are we here for the gusto? What are we afraid of? That we will lose what we have gained and attained in just a few years? What is that worth in the light of eternity? Shall we live for ourselves only and what we can gain for ourselves or shall we live to make it a little less hard for others?

Why did it take so long for me to learn this? And what am I going to do with my newfound knowledge? That is the question.

Should Christians be Involved in Politics?

Roger Mitchell10 Comments

The question in the title arises from a meeting at a local church on the same subject. My wife asked me to go with her, so I did, and when the pastor asked for discussion on the topic, I gave them my opinion. After just a few minutes, I was told by some unknown person to, in essence, sit down and shut up. Which I did, then sat through an extended period in which the entire rest of the group explained all the reasons why Christians ought to be involved. None of them asked me for any further explanation. After an hour or so, I just got up and walked out. I will never go back.

Politics. Before answering the question, it should be important to understand what politics actually is. If you do not know what politics is, then you cannot answer the question. Most people associate politics with government, as in this definition, taken from Merriam-Webster:

a: the art or science of government

b: the art or science concerned with guiding or influencing governmental policy

c: the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government

Now, I do not dispute the description, but the word “politics” is multi-faceted (as admitted by Merriam-Webster) and can have many different meanings and connotations. During my comments at the session, I mentioned the saying that, “Politics is a dirty business”, and asked them if Christians should be involved in dirty business. To my surprise, a lot of people nodded their heads affirmatively, which only shows that they simply do not know what the “dirty business of politics” is all about. But then, American Christians, at least the modern kind, have never been known for their acumen and understanding of the way the real world works.

I also brought up a line from Billy Joel’s song, Piano Man, which should be familiar–“And the waitress is practicing politics as the businessmen slowly get stoned…”, and explained that politics, outside the government angle, is nothing more than the manipulation of people for personal gain, which, if true, ought to provoke outrage on the part of Christians toward the practice. It was at this point that I was quite unceremoniously booted from the floor and the rest is history.

“Politics is the practice of getting what you want by manipulating other people and is always at their expense, to their detriment.” (My own description of politics. Click the link, scroll down until you find it.)

Unfortunately, politics, even in government is manipulation of some people by other people, all with one purpose (usually unspoken) in mind: control and power. Control and power. Virtually everyone is consumed with gaining power over others so that their behavior and actions can be controlled. Christians usually bring up the subject of “morality” and the dire need to make people behave the way they ought to, that is, in the manner that Christians think they ought to, because, you know, the country is diving headlong into the sewer of “immorality” and needs to be rescued. Or else, there will be hell to pay. Of course! There always is. Whether anyone else wants their version of morality or not is irrelevant. It must be done! We must get involved! We must vote! Vote! Vote! Vote for the lesser of two evils, even if that means the System as a whole becomes more evil, which mechanism is really a rear-guard action that does nothing to stop the onslaught of evil, but only slows it down a little. In the end, evil wins.

“The urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the urge to rule it.” — H.L. Mencken

“Voting is nothing more than choosing whose hand holds the club with which you are beaten. It does nothing to stop the beatings.” — another of my own quotes. You can quote me on that.

Should Christians be involved in politics? If politics is a “dirty business” and the manipulation of people for personal benefit, then the answer is an unqualified “No, they should not.” This comports with the message of the Gospel of Jesus to keep oneself unspoiled from the world and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. However, as Christians, we are also enjoined to act as leavening agents to affect the world condition in which we find ourselves so that the entire structure is bettered by our actions. This seeming contradiction can be resolved in only one way–by determining where and in whom we place our trust and faith. As Christians, we are enjoined to have trust and faith in God alone, yet we continue to disregard this advice in preference to putting our trust and faith in man-made institutions, especially the modern form of government, that is, the totalitarian State, which encompasses and controls everything. As Christians, we have sold our souls for a pot of message, and it is coming back to bite us as a very bad case of acid reflux and dysentery. If we continue to gorge ourselves on this feast, it will kill us.

Belief and participation in the world system lead to death. This is a fact we must face and recognize as truth. Yet, knowing this, we still labor under the illusion that we can sway and impact “politics” in a positive way, for the better, if we join in, work with, and merge into the prevailing protocol. We think that we can “clean up” politics and The System if we just engage it and add our voice to the cacophony, yet we fail to understand that, in doing so, we soil ourselves and reinforce the message that men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.

At heart, we refuse to trust God. We would rather trust government. We would rather be practitioners of “the lesser of two evils” than turning away from evil entirely. We would rather beggar our neighbor through the application of law than to love our neighbor in service to him. We prefer to think we are holy because we go to church on Sunday morning and practice all the “accepted” perfunctory deeds that are expected, yet we do not know that our lives are as filthy rags in His sight. Yes, indeed, and I am the greatest of sinners, to paraphrase the apostle Paul.

What, then, shall be done? How, then, shall we live? Well, there is nothing to do except to change myself into and in conformance with His likeness, to become holy as He is holy, to accept that there is no other name except His by which I am saved. This alone brings freedom. It is the only path to life. Nothing else will work. Everything else will fail.

You can rationalize all you want. You can make all the excuses you want. You can delude yourselves until the chickens come home to roost. In the end, you are only deceiving yourself. There is only one way. Everything else will fail.

Everything else will fail.

A Potential Blessing from Hurricane Helene

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

Faith in government is a religion.

Since the birth of the nation-state, at the least, and the Enlightenment, many people have sought after and promoted the idea that government (State) is the highest form of authority and power. They have attempted to build systems to bring everyone into the system, which would become all-encompassing or to dispossess and destroy those who refused to bow before that authority. The Soviet Union (1917-1989) is the premier example of such a system.

Religion is inevitable. Everyone has a religion, even those deluded souls who claim that they don’t, because religion is nothing more than a belief system which informs and directs a lifestyle. Everyone believes in something and, at the very apex of that belief is something (someone) which is viewed as the most supreme. God, in other words. Those who believed (many still do) in the Soviet Union’s Marxist principles held it up as the highest pinnacle of achievement that man could reach. The total State was to become everything and everything was to become the State’s property.

In the United States, government has been constantly growing ever since the birth of the nation in 1787, when the Constitution was signed after a successful rebellion against the Crown of Britain. Americans, of all stripes, have continuously advocated for, worked for, voted for, and accepted a government which could become all things to all people. Today, of course, after nearly 250 years of incessant grasping for power, the US government has become a monstrosity which threatens to out-do the now-defunct Soviet Union. It has, for want of a better description, nearly achieved the status of God in the eyes of its followers, adherents, and groupies.

Circumstances, however, have a way of destroying people’s faith in government. For instance, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which devastated much of the southeast, especially in the rural areas of Appalachia, there have emerged reports that the federal government is actively blocking and prohibiting private endeavors from helping and assisting those hardest-hit. Many have lost everything they owned. Many more are literally without food or good water, yet FEMA, the federal agency tasked with working to restore society after a disaster occurs, has admitted that it is broke, out of money, and unable to perform its tasks and responsibilities.

Broke! With the modern ability to move a decimal point on a computer screen, push a button, and inject trillions of dollars into the economy on a whim, how can FEMA be broke? The obvious answer is that the money is available, but the powers-that-be have decided not to use it. In this situation, the real intent is not just to ignore the plight of those harmed, but to actively and deliberately destroy any and all opposing forces, however small, which would seek to take action on their own—WITHOUT the blessing of the State. This is a deliberate attempt to eliminate competition to the State and to force everyone to become totally dependent on the State.

The State gives and the State takes away. Blessed be the Name of the State!

The major problem with this is that the blatant contempt which is shown causes individual people to change the way they view government. People used to see government as “good” and necessary to the smooth functioning of society, but that attitude is rapidly changing and the response to Helene has probably given it a huge push forward. Those in Appalachia who clamored for decades for government “assistance” when they didn’t need it are now finding out that it is nowhere to be found when they are desperate.

Civil government is losing the trust of its citizens and with that loss, its authority to rule. Trust in anything must be built up over time and is based on the perception of reliability, but if it is once lost, it is almost never regained and the whole relationship changes. What was once given freely will now be withheld. Governments collapse and disappear because of the widespread loss of trust its citizens give it and it is quite possible that this one will not survive. Hurricane Helene may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. If so, it will be seen in history. If not, it has added measurably to the load.

Who do people turn to now? When it is evident that their god has failed them, they change their religion. Many people will transfer their trust and faith in government and the State to some other authority which will be someone they are at least somewhat familiar with—Jesus Christ. This is, after all, the Bible Belt. They will take this message to heart:

“IF My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, AND turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” — 2nd Chronicles 7:14, emphasis mine.

This is a conditional promise. If, then. Time will tell what happens in the hearts and minds of men and history will record the result.

The Carrot and the Stick: Local Flavor

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Oh, my! I found this flyer posted on a bulletin board recently. My response was inevitable. I just cannot be quiet. The compelling need to expound and elaborate on the public promotion of “compassionate government” displayed is too much for me to resist. After all, what you don’t know CAN hurt you. And your dog, especially if the mutt is NOT registered, recorded, chipped, jabbed, neutered, and protected.

The Carrot: “If your dog gets loose and has a Town of Stevensville tag, we can contact you and aid in reuniting you with your dog.”

Isn’t that nice! Government at its very best!! The Town of Stevensville has a vested interest in making sure that you and your beloved dog are not separated, but if you are, it will do whatever it can to bring you back together. What a beautiful idea! After all, love for its citizens and taxpayers is one of the hallmarks of government, especially at the local level, where names and faces are connected. Council forbid that anyone should run the risk of losing their dog!

The Stick: “If you live in town limits, it is a town ordinance, and you can be cited for having an unlicensed dog. Resolution No. 536.”

Ah, out comes the club. You will license your dog, dammit, or else! Unlicensed dogs will not be allowed or tolerated. Don’t even try. Don’t think you can get away with Breaking the Law! Conform. Comply. Obey. Or else!

The Conditions: Your dog’s vaccinations must be current and up to date. If they are not, the implied message is that you will be denied a license to “own” a dog, which means that you are in violation of Resolution No. 536. See the Town Clerk on your way out to pay the tax, er, I mean, fine. BTW, this requirement is for your own good, since everyone knows that “unvaxxed” dogs are a threat and a menace to other dogs which have already been “jabbed and boosted”. Y’know, kind of like the Covid thing. But, one can never be too safe and if it means that the “safe and effective” shots must be mandated, well, then, that is the price you pay for freedom and the “right” to have a dog.

The Cost: $10.00, due and payable every year from now until forever, unless the rate is increased, at which time you will be notified. Oh, one exception. If you are a “Senior Citizen” (meaning you have reached the hallowed status of Old Age by some quirk of nature), you are entitled to a 50% discount on the cost of your dog’s license, because the Town of Stevensville knows what a burden it is for its richest citizens to be told to cough up an extra five bucks a year. More probably, it knows that older people are politically active AND THEY VOTE, which explains everything.

But wait, as the TV ads shriek, there’s more.

Not only are you forbidden to keep a dog without paying the “toll”, but you must also reach deep into your wallet if you want to have a rabbit, a chicken, or a duck. However, because these are exotic species (more so than the plain, mundane dog), the fee demanded is increased to $25.00, also presumably due and payable annually. That’s right. If you want to keep a rabbit in your house as a pet, you must buy permission from the Town, which is always looking out for your welfare. Just think about it. Should the rabbit escape and go on the lam, at least the Town will know where it is supposed to be and will make every effort to get it home “safely”, that is, if it is also tagged properly. There is nothing listed here about price breaks for the “sainted gray hairs”, however. Maybe the Town is trying to discourage its oldsters from engaging in the practice of cuddling rabbits.

Chickens? Ducks? Pay up! Just do it. I am surprised, however, that there is no mention of vaccination records for these species. With all the hype and hoopla of “Avian Flu epidemics” and the controlled, government mandated killings of millions and millions of birds, a rational person would think that the Town of Stevensville would at least make noises about “safety” in this regard. But, nope. Crickets. Which only goes to show the extent of the compassion the Town has for its most vulnerable citizens. Better to simply price them out of the market.

(Disclaimer: In just a little over a month, I will experience my 66th birthday and I have had gray hair for years. I do not, however, have any sympathy for the “victim” mentality of the Boomer generation. I think that if a price break were to be given to anyone, it should be a young couple with kids who are just getting started in adult life. They need help.)

One question I have for the Town is why they did not include cats, horses, or cattle into this mix? What about guinea pigs which are almost as loud as rabbits, but stink more. What about canaries? Or because geese were excluded, does that mean that someone can put up a pair of honkers in their back yard? For that matter, an unrestrained boa constrictor is probably more of a threat than a dog (at least to those who keep pet mice), yet nothing is said about those. Why doesn’t the Town simply outlaw ALL animal husbandry (oops, bad word) unless express permission is granted, with the appropriate requisite fee being paid, of course.

Of course.

Oh, my! It’s a good thing I don’t live within the town limits or there would be trouble. More than likely, I would have to run for a seat on the Council simply to create opposition for this kind of shakedown. Because that is literally what it is. A shakedown. As it is, I’ll just raise a ruckus from the safety of my own space not far from the scene of the crime and maybe, just maybe, someone else may sit up and take notice.

Let’s get real, here. A license is nothing more than permission granted by a recognized authority to an individual with regard to conducting some manner of activity. Permission. Permission granted. Permission denied. Call it whatever you want, but boiled down to the bare essence, it means that someone, somewhere, decides what you can and cannot do. And then charges you for the purpose of officially stamping a document.

Your papers, please. As freedom-loving citizens of the United Socialist State of America, we love it and clamor for more.

God help us!

Reality Bites. But It’s All We Have

Roger Mitchell2 Comments

“The year 1587 may seem to be insignificant; nevertheless, it is evident by that time the limit for the Ming dynasty had already been reached. It no longer mattered whether the ruler was conscientious or irresponsible, whether his chief counselor was enterprising or conformist, whether the generals were resourceful or incompetent, whether the civil officials were honest or corrupt, or whether the leading thinkers were radicals or conservatives–in the end they all failed to reach fulfillment.”

The status quo has already reached its limits and reform on any scale beyond the usual incremental “policy tweaks” is impossible, and it no longer matters who’s nominally in charge, if rulers are competent, officials are honest or corrupt, or thinkers are radicals or conservatives–the system is beset by forces it fostered but no longer controls, and indeed is incapable of controlling due to the intrinsic limits of the system’s core structures, limits which were invisible during the Boost Phase of rapid expansion. — Charles Hugh Smith, https://www.oftwominds.com/blogjuly24/on-our-own7-24.html

It no longer matters who is nominally in charge. Compare this statement with the one I wrote in the article posted just prior to this one.

“Whether Joe Biden continues to the election or not is irrelevant. Whether another Democrat wins the election is irrelevant. Whether Donald Trump wins the election is irrelevant. Whether the American populace is content with their “options” or not is irrelevant. The velvet glove has come off and the iron fist has been exposed. It does not matter who becomes President, the puppet-masters behind the scenes are going to continue calling the shots until the entire theater burns to the ground, quite possibly to the fireworks of nuclear explosions popping off everywhere.”

It seems, if I am reading this correctly, that Charles Hugh Smith has expressed the same sentiment about the state of our political world today. America, as we knew it, like the Ming dynasty centuries ago, is done. It’s all over but the shouting and, I might add, quite probably the shooting, which could easily spiral out of the control of any government to contain it.

We are not going to restore the roots of this country. We are not going to return to the Constitution. We are not going to recover “…liberty and justice for all.” At the macro level, there is nothing we can do which will correct the situation we find ourselves in now. Tweaking the margins, voting for “leaders”, attempting to legislate solutions, will not change the status quo in any significant way. The sooner we realize this and self-correct, the better off we will be. At the very least, we will be able to find peace and contentment even as the world around us crashes and burns.

In 1 Corinthians 13:11, the Apostle Paul writes, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” In other words, when people grow up, they start thinking rationally and logically. Or they should.

As part of the collective entity known as America, we are stuck in the rapidly escalating destruction of our society. As individuals, we are free to overcome it. Each of us has the power and opportunity to change personally, in spite of what is happening around us, coming to the understanding that we can live with ourselves. And our neighbors.

I do not advocate escapism or withdrawal. Neither do I endorse politics as a means of effecting positive change. I try to live in a world of reality, knowing what I can accomplish and what is effectively beating my head against a brick wall. I work hard to change the way I think and the way I act, where I am right now, so that my world actually does become better. This has benefits, not only for myself, but for those around me. There are some things which are worth my time, effort, and expense. There are those which simply must be discarded and left behind without a backward glance.

Wisdom is understanding which is which. Reality is living that way.

The End of the Show (and the American Experiment)

Roger Mitchell2 Comments

In barely four months, American voters will “elect” a person who will serve as the President of the United States for the next four years. Currently, Donald Trump is running well ahead of anyone else and appears to be on his way to another term in the White House. Joe Biden, on the other hand, appears to be in a state of fog and is losing support rapidly in the wake of his recent disastrous “debate” performance with Trump. Yet, he remains in office and it is not certain that he can be dislodged from the ticket to allow for a more viable candidate.

Viable candidate, of course, means someone who can be sold to the voters as the least evil of all the evils available. “Vote for our most recent selection. At least (s)he is better than Joe Biden, who was our previous selection until he publicly demonstrated that he couldn’t even fall off a podium without help.”

What a joke! But this is the state of affairs in the American Empire and, sadly, we all have to live with it.

There are many various options ventured which the Democrat Party has at its discretion, but all of them seem to be nothing more than wildly thrashing about in an act of desperation. Sort of like drowning and grabbing at anything in the attempt to stay afloat. Gasping for breath while taking in water. Knowing that you are going down and doing everything possible to stave off the inevitable.

It is going to be difficult, probably impossible, for the Democrats to produce anyone who can go toe-to-toe with Donald Trump, especially considering the very short time between now and the election in November. Their options are quite limited:

  1. Keep Joe Biden and hope for the best. Manipulate the election as much as necessary to produce a “win” in November, even if it means that no one can deny the fraud and the theft with a straight face.
  2. Remove him from the ticket at the Party convention in late August, giving them even less time to convince voters that they can “win”.
  3. Invoke Section 4 of the 25th Amendment.
  4. Convince him (or his wife, Dr. Jill Biden) to resign to make room for a better candidate.
  5. Convince him to die peacefully in his sleep.

This really boils down to only two choices: either Joe Biden or anyone else. Anyone else, no matter how odious they are or how much the American public despises them. Really now, who do they have? Kamala “Cackling” Harris? Gavin “Gruesome” Newsom? Hillary “Deplorable” Clinton? Michelle “Big Mike” Obama? Barak “Hope and Change” Obama? Any of these would instantly turn half the country into a “two-minute hate” session which would extend through the election and continue on for years if, by some chance, (s)he managed to “beat” Trump.

In my opinion, if Donald Trump manages to avoid “dying peacefully in his sleep”, he will sweep to an electoral victory and gain the White House again. Regardless who the Democrats put up, Trump will wipe the floor with them. Therefore, I will stick my neck out, go out on a limb, and make a prediction: Joe Biden will stay on the ticket and will receive his “pink slip” in November, officially retiring on January 20, 2025. There is really no good reason to change him out now. It will not make a difference in the end. At least, he would be able to claim with some degree of honesty that he “lost, but did not quit”.

Trump is bought and paid for. He will do as he is told. So will any of the Democrats opposing him. So will you. It is no longer profitable to continue the illusion.

“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.” — Frank Zappa

We have reached the point where the stage has been cleared, the scenery has been removed, the curtains have been pulled back, and the brick wall is plainly evident for anyone who is aware. Those who direct the action and pull the strings have just exposed their intentions for the entire world to see. The farce of “constitutional representation”, “democracy”, and “We, the People”, has been played out to the last act which is now bringing the entire spectacle to an end.

Whether Joe Biden continues to the election or not is irrelevant. Whether another Democrat wins the election is irrelevant. Whether Donald Trump wins the election is irrelevant. Whether the American populace is content with their “options” or not is irrelevant. The velvet glove has come off and the iron fist has been exposed. It does not matter who becomes President, the puppet-masters behind the scenes are going to continue calling the shots until the entire theater burns to the ground, quite possibly to the fireworks of nuclear explosions popping off everywhere.

“We made the grade and still we wonder, who the hell we are.” Welcome to the Grand Illusion.

We’re All in this Together. Aren’t We?

Roger Mitchell3 Comments
Tyranny Is Upon us: Law and Juries Are Weaponized

Just to ensure that everyone understands and has no misconceptions about it, I DO NOT support or endorse Donald Trump in any way. I think he is a loud, obnoxious, lying, narcissistic blowhard who is only concerned about his own vanity and pride. Oh, and the size of his bank account which seems to grow larger no matter what happens.

That being said, what has just happened to him cannot, in any way, be seen as “justice” or adherence to “law”. The impartiality of justice and the court system has been (is being) shredded. The fact that Trump can be dragged through the muck publicly to the cheers of his enemies and detractors only makes that possibility more probable and likely for the rest of us. In fact, anyone who says or does anything which is in opposition to the contrived and dominant narrative of the moment is in danger of being forcefully (violently?) prosecuted, found guilty, and punished.

Trump’s case is an example of what all of us might face in the future…if we do not speak out about the injustice of it all. We understand this implicitly, yet there are millions who would make excuses for the prosecution and there are just as many, perhaps more, who will privately complain about it, but do nothing at all to stop it–especially if it means inconvenience and personal cost to them.

America has devolved into a society of quarreling factions squabbling over a carcass of something which was once alive and healthy, like a pack of jackals fighting over a scrap of dead meat and, as long as we get the scrap (getting OUR candidate elected in the next election), we exult that our bellies are full today. America is no longer beautiful but has become an ugly spectacle which is almost too obscene to look at, let alone participate in.

(This was first published at Western Montana News. Read it here.)

Power, the Abuse of Power, and Weakness

Roger Mitchell2 Comments

Consider the abortion issue.

For my entire life, I have been opposed to the idea that a woman can decide to “terminate her pregnancy” and end the life of the unborn child within her womb, simply because she wants to. I have always thought that unjust, murderous, selfish, callous, etc., and many other words which could be used to describe the attitude. However, I have just read something which resonates and throws a different light on the subject, something which has opened my understanding to a deeper level, not just on the abortion topic, but anything which is wrong and imposed by force on those weaker members of society.

In his introduction to Karl Ludwig von Haller’s book, Restoration of Political Science, Jack Vien makes an astounding argument, as seen here.

“One is ordinarily, even by nature, ruthless with a defeated rival or challenger, someone who is “weak” only in that he could conceivably have won the fight but wasn’t quite up to the challenge or shouldn’t have issued it in the first place. But it is an altogether different story where the disparity between weak and strong is great enough for the overwhelming superiority of the strong to be incontrovertibly evident to all, and uncontested, or incapable of being contested, by the weak. Here the natural human want is to abstain from harming the weak, and to help them if they need help, to the exact extent that they are weak, and acknowledge it.” — Introduction, page xxxiii.

When I first read this, my immediate thought was that the only problem here is that an unborn child cannot acknowledge that they are weak and need help. Being unable to speak for themselves, they literally have no one to speak for them and, as a consequence, are considered unworthy of attention, support, or protection. They are, therefore, prime targets of those who are more powerful and who do not hesitate to exercise that power, especially as it serves their needs. Who gives a damn about a four-month old child anyway? And, since we live in a world in which no one can say or do anything which someone else might find “offensive”, it is not possible to call things as they really are–a love fest with murderous depravity.

Vien isn’t done. Just a few paragraphs later, he has this to add.

“Conversely, cruelty towards the weak is personally disgraceful, not because of any slave morality that exalts weakness over strength, but precisely because it is a sign of weakness. Cruelty suggests that one has sunk beneath one’s own proper rank in a hierarchy of strength to that of one’s inferiors.” – ibid, xxxiii

Cruelty. Cruelty toward another human being. Cruelty toward other human beings who are less powerful than you are. Vien says that this is not a mark of power, but one of weakness. You are cruel because you are weak. You want to be seen as strong (even though you are weak) and so you lash out at those whom you have power over. Power to hurt, to harm, to destroy. This is as true in the abortion realm as it is anywhere else. Many women are persuaded to get abortions because they have been told (and believed) that it would validate their own personal power. In reality, though, the only power these women have is to kill their unborn child who is powerless to resist the cruel onslaught.

Contrast this with the message of the Gospels and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

“Those who would be greatest (have the most power) among you, must be the servant (most loving, most giving, most humble) of all.” — Matthew 23:11

It is easy to walk into a Planned Parenthood facility (I do not call it a clinic), get on a table, spread your legs, allow the “professional” to do his dirty work, and walk out two hours later thinking quite highly of yourself. Yet, all you have proven is that you are willing to take advantage of someone who is weaker than yourself and who had no chance of even putting up a miniscule argument in her own defense.

Yet, Christ commands us to be compassionate towards others, even those who practice evil. If we can understand that women choose to abort out of a misplaced desire for power, then we can recognize that they are weak, mistaken, deluded, and therefore, are worthy of our compassion. This does not mean that we approve or endorse their action, but that we realize they have been driven to it by a deep lack within their souls, something which compels them to perform an abhorrent act in order to make them feel good about themselves. This is the place where Christians who profess the love of Christ should reach out and say, “I understand, let me walk through this dark time with you.”

Cruelty happens because a person is weak, not because he is cruel. Cruelty is the symptom. The cause which creates the symptom is something entirely different. We need to understand that difference and figure out a way to expose it to the Light of Truth, which is love shown in the deepest pockets of darkness.