I don’t know what to make of the article, “American political consultant admits foreign money was funneled to Trump inaugural.” It sounds bad, but I have no idea how much is true or what it means generally or for Trump. I don’t think that anyone can become a billionaire without some financial shenanigans (involvement in corruption). And I’m sure that politics is seriously corrupt, and that such corruption is not new with Trump. From the beginning it has been clear to me that Trump has never been part of the ruling elite, that they (the American upper crust and the media who work for them) have despised Trump for a long time. They very much did not want him to be President. Why not? Likely because they knew that they could not control him, as they have controlled that past several Presidents.
I voted for Trump because he would be a disrupter, and because Hilary was much more dangerous. She would have continued the American Liberal political trajectory that had been in play for 40 years and was greatly accelerated by Obama. I have stood against that trajectory almost all of my adult life. History will show that Trump is God’s man, but don’t confuse “God’s man” with a “godly man.” He’s not a godly man. He’s a man who is being used by God. (I’d say a “flawed man,” but who isn’t?) Nonetheless, God has put Trump in office for His (God’s) own reasons. God always uses flawed people; He has no other choice.
Trump is an instrument of God’s judgment. How so? God is exposing our hypocrisy through Trump. Yes, I mean Trump’s hypocrisy, of course, but also that of those who oppose him, the American upper crust—Liberal and Conservative, Democrat, Republican, and Libertarian. Lord, have mercy! Had Hillary won, the exposure of corruption in American politics would have been much less. Trump has ripped off the cover and we are in free fall (to mix metaphors). I’m not saying that there would be less corruption had Hillary won, but that the existing corruption would have gotten less public exposure. If Hillary had won, what would we have made of Russian collusion? Not much!
It seems to me that the Democrats are much more likely to have colluded with the Russians. The Dems have been flirting with socialism for many decades. And if the Russian objective is to sow doubt and confusion into the American system, I’d say that they have succeeded grandly, and that all parties are playing right into their hands, but that the Left is driving the doubt and confusion. The Left wants to blame Trump for the confusion, and he has his share of the blame. But most of the serious doubt about America has come from the Left over the past 40 years. Mostly through colleges and universities, which have been hotbeds of Marxism and Socialism for decades.
The media is a department of the entertainment industry, not the truth industry. The media is not about truth, never has been. It’s about entertainment, and that’s why it can play so loose and fast with truth, and why politicians have no fear of lying to the media. Essentially, the media is a means of promoting gossip. Their business is two-fold: to sell stories that people want to buy, and advertising (to sell stuff). With regard to advertising, the media avoids liability through “puffery.” From Wikipedia:
“Puffery: In everyday language, puffery refers to exaggerated or false praise. In law, puffery is a promotional statement or claim that expresses subjective rather than objective views, which no ‘reasonable person’ would take literally. Puffery serves to ‘puff up’ an exaggerated image of what is being described and is especially featured in testimonials.”
“Puff piece is an idiom for a journalistic form of puffery: an article or story of exaggerating praise that often ignores or downplays opposing viewpoints or evidence to the contrary.”
Indeed, puffery is standard operating procedure for the media. Trump uses puffery all the time, but the Left-leaning media ignore this and try to take him literally, proving that they fail to register as reasonable people.
“The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) defined puffery as a ‘term frequently used to denote the exaggerations reasonably to be expected of a seller as to the degree of quality of his product, the truth or falsity of which cannot be precisely determined.’”
“The FTC stated in 1984 that puffery does not warrant enforcement action by the Commission. In its FTC Policy Statement on Deception, the Commission stated: ‘The Commission generally will not pursue cases involving obviously exaggerated or puffing representations, i.e., those that the ordinary consumers do not take seriously.’ e.g., ‘The Finest Fried Chicken in the World.’”
The media are presenting us with two rival puff pieces of political corruption: 1) Trump and Russian collusion (the narrative of CNN, MSNBC, WAPO, etc.), and 2) the corruption of the FBI, DOJ, the Media, and Deep State (career politicians and government workers, represented by Mueller; the narrative of Fox, Hannity, Linbaugh, etc.). Both of these stories (narratives) make sense, and both are media puff pieces. Political reporting falls under the puffery category. To make things worse, it seems like the Media are asking us to choose one or the other. The dueling narratives divide us.
But because the Media are a major part of the corruption, doing what the Media wants us to do plays into their hands. How so? If we choose to believe the Trump narrative, then Mueller’s Deep State becomes the fall guy and Trump ends up colluding with the American upper crust because he remains in office without official opposition. And if we choose the Mueller narrative, then Trump is the fall guy, and Mueller ends up colluding with the American upper crust, again because official opposition would be defeated with Trump’s downfall. Having a “fall guy” is a handy way to adjudicate the case because we can blame the fall guy, and life goes on without really dealing with the underlying issues—our own corruption as a nation, a people, and individually. So I reject the option of believing one or the other of the competing narratives.
The other choices are: both stories (narratives) are true, or both are false. The problem with discounting the second alternative is that both narrataives supply fairly compelling evidence of the guilt of the opposing party, so it is difficult simply discount them.
Both narratives could also be true, which means that there is horrendous corruption throughout the American (world’s) political system(s), top to bottom, stem to stern. And the primary mode of that corruption is hypocrisy, “the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform; pretense.”
And that brings us to Jesus Christ, who provides a cure for hypocrisy—faith in the God of the Bible. But lest our faith also be hypocritical, it must be real, genuinely integrated into our own lives.
The transition from political corruption to Jesus hinges on hypocrisy, the underlying mode of the corruption. Jesus demands real honesty, and real honesty is the only cure that will reduce puffery and clarify the facts. Some people argue that people can be honest without Jesus, but the only way to avoid the claims of Jesus is to deny them, but that denial undermines the history of Western civilization.
The Liberal American upper crust has demonstrated its disgust with Christ’s cure over the last 40+ years. Obama was a member of the United Church of Christ (my former denomination) when he entered office. That denomination is thoroughly apostate (corrupt in both theology and practice—full of hypocrisy), but is a favorite among the upper crust.
Trump, who is theologically ignorant, and barely Christian (if at all) has sided with and is supportive of Evangelicals, many of whom are a bit wild and crazy. Nonetheless, like the last national election, we must choose between bad options. Consequently, I throw my lot in with the Evangelicals, in spite of their faults—of which they have many—because they generally believe the God of the Bible more (or better) than the Liberals do.
It all really comes down to a matter of faith, not in Trump, but in Jesus. Trump is systematically undoing the Liberal state, which represents the fulfillment of the Godless, secular, corrupt American system that the Left has been building for 40+ years. This is why I support Trump. What is at play are two vying historic visions of America, Christian vs. secular.
You cannot be “barely” Christian. You either are born again or you are not. “Barely” suggests that you your works gradually make you acceptable when, in truth, Jesus’ blood and His righteousness is the only thing that makes us Christian. Trump may be a baby Christian or merely a person who is favorable to Christians, but not “barely.” We will be known by our fruits and if that is the case (which it is because it is Scripture), and we can judge the fruits of a Christian, but not his past. We must also forgive his failings, as we have been forgiven. I do not know the hearts of men, but I serve a mighty God who is just as well as merciful. It was Paul who said he did things he did not want to do, etc. I do things that I wish I had not, but in those moments, I still am not a “barely” Christian. I agreed with most of your piece, but I disagree with your statement, which was not only false, but misleading. Give our President the same grace.