Donald Trump operates at such a rapid-fire pace that it's almost impossible for anyone, including me, to keep track of all of his misdeeds. That's actually a cardinal operating rule not only of the hard right in this country, but around the world: do so many bad things that people can't keep up with them, and you'll at the very least get away with a large number of them. How many of you, for example have heard about this? Sounds like the sort of United States that you were taught to believe in during civics or social studies classes? Sounds like the sort of thing a Democratic president would try, or get away with if he/she did? But, for Trump, it's just another day in what is paradise for him, and Hell for the rest of us.
And, speaking of paradise ...
Trump's decision to formally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, ostensibly, is about pleasing the corrupt government of Benjamin Netanyahu as well as neoconservatives in this country, who believe every penny of your tax dollars, including the ones that go for Social Security, should go for the defense of Israel, a country that possesses over 100 nuclear weapons and is in no danger from anyone except the Palestinians, whom they have basically imprisoned behind a wall that simply adds fuel to the emotional fire of suicide bombers. Trying to build two nations on land to which both Jews and Palestinians have legitimate claims is, apparently, no longer an option, so long as oppressing the Palestinians works. Thousands of years of history forbids me from saying good luck to that.
But, as I said, it's only ostensibly about all of that.
It's really about pleasing the true core of Trump's domestic base: evangelical Christians. Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, from their perspective, is just one more sign, according to a very cramped and not entirely honest reading of the book of Revelation in the New Testament, that the end times and Jesus are all coming, and they won't have to lift a finger to make their lives or anyone else's better, because G-d's going to take care of all of that. So much for believing that G-d helps those who help themselves. That's hard work. Easier to believe that G-d's going to do it all, and all you have to do is trust and believe.
It's why I'm grateful not to be a part of that world anymore. But it's why I worry about the world you and I wake up in. Trump and his evangelical friends may yet succeed in blowing it up. And they don't care. Which is why you should care--and organize, donate, and vote in the new year.
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