Don't fight with violence, but with love and humor

The nasty guy has said he needs to send National Guard troops into Portland because it is “war ravaged.” The local Immigration and Customs Enforcement office is under siege and needs protection from “coordinated assault by violent groups.” So a team from ProPublica reviewed the situation and wrote about what they found in an article posted on Daily Kos. They reviewed arrest records, reports by the Portland Police Bureau, sworn testimony from local and federal official, and 700 video clips posted by protesters and counter protesters. What they found: There was no coordinated assault. There were clashes between police and protesters. But after their peak in June they became more infrequent. Federal officers used force inappropriately, even aggressively, and were described as instigating chaos. They were sometimes violent without any violent provocations. Their conclusion comes down to this: If the nasty guy is using particular incidents to justify his invasion and claiming they are so violent he has to bring in the National Guard why were there so few arrests? The nasty guy’s order to send in the troops is tied up in court. Of course, the article has a lot more detail. Yeah, this is old news by now, so I’ll just briefly mention it. Former vice president Dick Cheney has died. He was 84. Oliver Willis of Kos gives some of the highlights, the big one was being the front man for pushing the weapons of mass destruction claim (ultimately shown false) that got America into the Iraq war.

The American invasion of Iraq in 2003 ultimately killed at least 200,000 Iraqi civilians and 4,492 American soldiers, with an additional 32,292 service members wounded. The war cost the American people at least $728 billion and further destabilized the Middle East in ways that still reverberate today.

Glad he’s gone. Seems appropriate to balance that with this: Alisa Chang of NPR spoke to Sean Ono Lennon about his documentary about his parents One to One: John and Yoko. I hope by now you’ve been able to thread all the names together, even though John was murdered 45 years ago. While the whole discussion is interesting there is one bit worth mentioning. A lot of what John and Yoko did was to promote peace. And one thing John said, his guiding principle, was that you can’t fight the man with violence because violence is his language, it’s what he understands. But what the man can’t deal with is love and humor. An Associated Press article on Kos reported the last penny has been struck at the US Mint in Philadelphia. They are still legal but no more will be made. The reason why no more will be made is that pennies cost nearly 4 cents to make. Besides, most of them are cast aside or collected. The nickel costs nearly 14 cents to make, so maybe it is next? The dime costs less than 6 cents to make and the quarter nearly 15 cents. The penny was first minted in 1793, when it could be used to buy a biscuit, a candle, or a piece of candy. It can’t do any of that now. In Thursday’s pundit roundup for Kos Chitown Kev quoted Paul Krugman discussing he nasty guy’s lies.

Voters do sometimes believe lies, but not the kind of lies Trump is telling. Voters can sometimes be convinced, falsely, that bad things are happening to other people, even when they themselves are doing OK. Many Americans who don’t live in Chicago probably believe administration claims that the city, which just had its safest summer since the 1960s, is a war zone. But telling people that things are great when their personal experience says otherwise is different. Are violent mobs overrunning Portland? If you watch Fox News, you might believe that. Are groceries “way down,” as Trump keeps insisting? Anyone who does their own food shopping — even Republicans — knows that this isn’t true.

Victor Mather of the New York Times wrote an ode to the penny.

The final pennies were minted on Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphia. Top Treasury officials were on hand for its final journey. No last words were recorded. In its heyday, the penny had immense cultural impact. It was the going rate for thoughts. It was a symbol of frugality, saved and/or earned. It could sometimes be pretty and other times arrive from heaven. And how many ideas would never have come to light without a penny dropping? [...] The American penny was born in 1793 in Philadelphia. Its parent was Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the Treasury, who was the chief author of the Coinage Act, which birthed the penny and its siblings. [...] As the penny entered its long decline, it more and more frequently found itself casually tossed into a jar in someone’s home or ignominiously dropped in a “Take a Penny” tray at retailers. Calls grew for it to be euthanized, citing its obsolescence. In the end, President Trump signed its death warrant in February.

Bill Berkowitz of the Kos community wrote about Reverend Dr. Caleb J. Lines, the pastor at University Christian Church in San Diego, California, who is creating a series of videos called “MAGA vs. Jesus” which use Bible verses to rebuke MAGA talking points. The most popular video has over 5.5 million views. It discusses abortion, cancel culture, the need for manly men, and “fake news.” Berkowitz wrote:

Over the years, conservative Christian preachers and political activists have weaponized The Bible to enrage their followers, engage them in political campaigns and supporting candidates, while at the same time, building personal financial empires. They frequently use the Bible as a political tool, selectively highlighting verses that reinforce their cultural grievances or policy goals while ignoring the broader context of scripture. Immigration, LGBTQ rights, racial justice, and public education are recast not as policy debates but as spiritual warfare, with dissenters portrayed as enemies of God. As The Daily Dot’s Rachel Kiley noted “The Bible contains so much, with various translations and interpretations, that cherry-picking verses can bring people to just about any conclusion.”

An example of Lines’ arguments:

In one video, refuting the notion that “real Christians support Trump,” Rev. Lines cites 1 John 4:20: “Those who say they love God but hate their neighbor are lying.” “You cannot follow Jesus Christ while actively supporting politicians or policies that hurt your neighbor. You know, like cutting their food aid or their healthcare,” he says.

I followed a link to look at a couple of those videos, including the one with 5.5 million views. On manly men Lines quotes the verse that says in Jesus there is neither male nor female. On the MAGA claim of protecting Christian power the Bible says God’s power is made perfect in weakness. Christianity isn’t about power. Besides these claims of protecting power are about protecting the power of those already powerful. The Bible isn’t about winning or losing, it is about standing with those society is taking advantage of.