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A Dark and Disturbing Time for America

A Dark and Disturbing Time for America

Last updated on: October 26, 2023 at 7:43 am by Roger E. Olson

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A Dark and Disturbing Time for America 2023-10-26T07:43:58-05:00 Roger E. Olson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

After many days of confusion and turmoil, the United States House of Representatives has finally chosen its Speaker, the person second in line to the presidency (after the vice president). The Speaker has tremendous power over law-making in America.

The Republican majority voted in Mike Johnson, Republican congressman from Louisiana. I do not know anything about him except what I have seen on the news. He has stated before his almost unconditional support of Donald Trump and that he believes the 2020 election was actually won by him. Twice yesterday, reporters asked him if he still believes that and they he did not answer and one reporter who asked was booed by a group of Republican supporters of Johnson and of Trump.

Trump took credit for engineering Johnson’s success in becoming Speaker of the House. This indicates to me that he personally called other Republican representatives to pressure them into electing Johnson.

What I believe we are witnessing in America is a slow or not-so-slow slide into fascism of a kind. I won’t go over all the evidence for that but just point doubters to the numerous scholars speaking on Youtube and writing in major American newspapers and magazines and online. Scholars of fascism. The fascism they and I are talking about is broad, not narrow. Some scholars of fascism want to limit the term to Italy’s Benito Mussolini and his party that ruled Italy during the 1920s and 1930s. Others will include under the umbrella term “fascism” (of course) Adolf Hitler, Francisco Franco (Spain), and Juan Peron (Argentina) and a few others. Many, however, define fascism broadly and see it as any extreme form of populism that aims at non-communist authoritarian rule.

According to news reports, Johnson not only believes Trump really won the 2020 presidential election (a belief without any evidence), wants a national law banning all abortions, and wants to nullify gay marriages and ban all but heterosexual marriages. Even those of us who agree with some of Johnson’s beliefs see him as scary.

That Donald Trump is a dangerous demagogue and malicious narcissist is obvious to me and many other educated, thoughtful, people (and many who are not educated but nevertheless thoughtful and reflective). That is, of course, my opinion. But Trump keeps on giving me reasons to think it of him. Yesterday he was fined ten thousand dollars by a highly respected judge for disobeying his order not to comment in any way on his (the judge’s) colleagues after which Trump stalked without warning or good reason out of the courtroom.

In spite of all the mounting evidence that Trump is what I called him above (my opinion), millions of Americans still support his candidacy to become President of the United States again. This is, in my considered opinion, a “great deception.” I can only imagine its source.

I had hoped and prayed that Republicans in congress and elsewhere would finally come to their senses and admit that Trump did not win the 2020 election and that he is a person with very serious personal issues who is not worthy of being elected or appointed to any high office in the land.

Know that I am not a Democrat and will probably not vote for the Democratic nominee in the next presidential election. As goofy as he seems at times, I may vote for Robert Kennedy, Jr. I just watched a “talk” (really a personal testimony) by him on his Youtube channel. It was inspiring, about his personal transformation and about his relationship with God and how it steers him to think about his enemies and people he doesn’t like. It’s a truly Christian testimony. And, in spite of some of his quirky political beliefs and views, I think he is a viable independent candidate. Viable for my vote, if I vote at all.

Everything I say here about politics I say, speaking only for myself as a private person, not as representing any organization with which I have had or do have affiliation.

*Note: If you choose to comment, keep it relatively brief (no more than 100 words), on topic, addressed to me, civil and respectful (not hostile or argumentative), and devoid of pictures or links.*

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