Wayne Besen

• December 20, 2019 • The Wayne Besen Show • 213

  Evangelical Magazine Slams Trump and It Could Spell Doom

   

  By Wayne Besen

  Hallelujah and praise the Lord. An evangelical publication finally found its moral compass and stopped bowing down to the golden calf with the golden toilet seat. Christianity Today, the magazine founded by the late Billy Graham, wrote a scathing editorial titled “Trump should be removed from office.”

  The editorial was devastating. It said that Trump’s actions in Ukraine were “profoundly immoral” and that he is “a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.”

  It deftly brushed off evangelical Trump supporters by saying, “none of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character.”

  The magazine’s editorial staff wrote, “to use an old cliché, it’s time to call a spade a spade, to say that no matter how many hands we win in this political poker game, we are playing with a stacked deck of gross immorality and ethical incompetence.”

  I’m just scratching the surface. You’ll have to read the entire editorial for yourself to capture how unforgiving and brutal it was. It’s clear that this moment represents the opening of a potential seismic fault in the Cult of Trump. Christianity Today was the first to put down the Kool Aid to tell the truth. Will others follow?

  This does not bode well for Trump. Fifty-one years ago, Lyndon Johnson knew his position on the Vietnam War was toast after CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite delivered a scathing on-air editorial. When the broadcast ended, LBJ famously said, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.” A few weeks after Cronkite’s remarks, Johnson announced that he would not seek re-election.

  We might one day look back and say, when Trump lost Christianity Today, he lost middle-of-the-road evangelicals, his Teflon wore off and the dude he shot at on Fifth Avenue, pulled out a gun and shot back.

  I can understand your skepticism. More than eighty-percent of white evangelical Christians voted for Donald Trump and remain his fervent base. And, it’s true that most people in this demographic are so in the tank that they would vote for Trump over Jesus Christ. This was evident during the impeachment hearings when Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) actually compared Trump’s alleged persecution and fate to that of Jesus Christ.

  But you have to remember how vulnerable Trump actually is. He overwhelmingly lost the popular vote by three million. Of the more than 120 million votes cast in the 2016 election, 107,000 votes in three states decided the outcome. Even if a mere five or ten percent of evangelicals find the strength to choose their morality over this monster, it could be enough to destroy Trump’s chances at reelection.

  You have to assume that many evangelicals quietly share the concerns so eloquently expressed by Christianity Today. They were too scared, however, to voice their opinions. It’s difficult to oppose this vicious and vindictive president who attacks his foes. It’s not easy to disagree with the tribe and face losing friends or even banishment from your social circle. But, the courage displayed by this magazine offers fresh cover and may embolden others to speak out and vote against the moral heathen and ethical harlot that stains the Oval Office.

  Most importantly, Christianity today makes a compelling case. The magazine powerfully and persuasively writes, “to the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior.” The editors go onto write, “Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come?”

  This is true. I’m an LGBT activist. My response to evangelicals when they condemn gay marriage is, “ha, ha ha.” You pathetic phonies and hypocrites support a president who is on his third wife, pays off porn stars, has lied more than 15,000 times, brags about sexually assaulting women and tried to strip millions of Americans of their healthcare. Even worse, you got behind Judge Roy Moore for U.S. Senate in Alabama, who allegedly cruised a local mall looking for teenage girls to date. Yet, you frauds have the nerve to comment on our marriages? I would say, “go to Hell,” but it looks like you won’t need my help to get there.

  Consider this: Trump has the most right wing religious administration in history. Trump has elevated Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, Rick Perry, Ben Carson, Betsy DeVos and many others, to what ends? The great paradox is that these religious zealots have produced the most dishonest, craven, mean-spirited, corrupt and least respected administration in our nation’s history. They are a joke and an affront to real Christians like Jimmy Carter, Bishop Gene Robinson or Rev. William Barber. They think they won, but ironically they’ve lost, because they have become the epitome of the world they supposedly disdain.

  Donald Trump responded to the editorial with a tantrum and Tweeted, “I won’t be reading ET again!” Dude, it’s, CT, not ET, that’s the Stephen Spielberg alien. And I guess that gives the President more time to read Two Corinthians.

  Don’t dismiss the importance of this editorial by Christianity Today. If even a few white evangelicals start remembering that they are actually Christians, Trump will get crucified in the 2020 election.

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• December 19, 2019 • The Wayne Besen Show • 214

  Impeachment: The Modern GOP And Democracy Likely Can’t Coexist

   

  America will not be great as long as Donald Trump is President. The country is certainly greater, however, now that Donald Trump has been impeached. The Democrats upheld the dignity of the House of Representatives and protected the United States by stamping the “Scarlet I” on a profoundly corrupt and corrosive president. By extension, it soiled his party of lemmings and quislings that have brought American democracy to the brink of collapse.

  This was the third impeachment of a president in 231 years and a win for the rule of law. But the victory came at a steep, depressing price. We had to witness the lawlessness and lunacy of the modern Republican Party on full display. The GOP poses an existential threat to our nation and promises to destabilize the entire world if it continues on its current trajectory.

  It didn’t have to be this way.

  After Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s crushing defeat to Barak Obama in 2012, the GOP performed an exhaustive “autopsy” to figure out the next steps for the party. The recommendations included passing immigration reform, making the GOP more inclusive for minorities, become LGBT friendly, no longer pandering to billionaires and a plea to leave the stifling conservative media echo chamber.

  Instead of heeding this call, before changing demographics made the Republican Party obsolete, the GOP instead opted to declare war on democracy. In lieu of updating their retrograde platform, they decided to destabilize America and delegitimize institutions. They would act belligerent and in bad faith, while abandoning the bedrock idea of free and fair elections.

  The GOP represents a shrinking slice of America and can only win by scaring their base into maximum turnout and illegitimately suppressing the votes of minorities. This began with extreme gerrymandering and outright voter suppression, including the purging of voter rolls and closing election sites in minority neighborhoods. It escalated into GOP legislatures in North Carolina and Wisconsin stripping newly elected Democratic governors of some of their power. And now, the mask is off, with the party not even pretending to care about democracy and bowing down at the altar of King Donald I. A deranged and damaged authoritarian they have deemed above the law.

  Having thrown the 2012 autopsy in the trash, the GOP doubled down on angry evangelical voters from rural America and turned one of our two parties into a pathological white identity movement, fueled by grievances and conspiracy theories. These voters are kept in a constant state of fear and agitation through party media, such as FOX News, Rush Limbaugh and Breitbart. Sadly, the effect of this unAmerican strategy on America’s future was never considered.

  The Republican Party’s toxic impact on American politics was evident in yesterday’s hearings. Trump was impeached because he demanded that Ukraine publicly announce an investigation of his political rival Joe Biden, to taint him prior to the upcoming presidential election. No normal political party would accept this attack on our country’s democracy.

  Yet, the Republican Party not only tolerated it, they defended Trump’s behavior with glee, while bashing those who tried to hold him accountable. They cynically portrayed the Democrats attempt at checks and balances as a “coup” by those who hate Trump and the 63 million Americans that he represents. The use of dangerous and demagogic rhetoric was disgraceful and all but inviting a deranged gunman or militia to commit future acts of terrorism. But at least we will get their thoughts and prayers if such a nightmare scenario occurs.

  The facts in the impeachment case were clear and unforgiving. So, GOP fabulists created an illogical fictional narrative to forgive the president’s unethical and illegal behavior. In doing so, they aided and abetted Russia, a geopolitical foe, undermined the fledgling democracy of Ukraine, sabotaged fair and free elections and disgraced the reputation of the U.S. in the eyes of the world. It was a shameless display of partisanship above patriotism in the service of power over principle.

  We need two functioning political parties in this country. Historically, dangerous behavior isn’t limited to the right or left. So, you need the competing parties to serve as checks and balances. Unfortunately, the Republicans have checked out of the democratic experiment and often seem mentally unbalanced. If you disagree, please read Trump’s bizarre six-page screed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the eve of impeachment.

  Modern Republicans peddle wacky conspiracy theories, parrot Russian propaganda and have replaced serious arguments with sarcasm and screaming. They have devolved into delusional and demagogic tribalism, where the team trumps the truth. Speaking of Trump and truth, as of Dec. 10, Trump had made 15,413 false or misleading claims, according to the Fact Checker’s database.

  Ironically, the GOP is branded as the party of “family values” and the guardian of religion. Yet, they have thrown our nation into a dystopian partisan meat grinder in the service of defending the biggest liar in the history of the presidency. For a party that pretends to defend the family, what message does supporting Trump teach their children?

  The disgraceful dishonesty during last night’s impeachment hearing hit a new low when Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) claimed that the Democrats were playing the race card by “screaming ‘kids in cages.’” In fact, kids were separated from their parents at the border and put in cages like wild animals. But, once again, Republicans expect their obsequious Ditto Heads to not trust their own eyes and ears, and instead take the fake words of false prophets like Rep. Chip Roy as the gospel.

  For all their machismo, screaming and swagger, Republicans cower like sheep when Dear Leader Donald threatens them with a nasty Tweet. They act more like submissive members of the Politburo, than people of conscience who are members of a free Congress.

  History will show that the Democrats upheld the rule of law, while the Republicans were lawless and don’t play by the rules. The current situation where one party has abandoned democracy is unsustainable. Republicans must be thoroughly defeated or the America that we know and love will cease to exist. Donald Trump is simply the tip of this ugly iceberg.

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• December 17, 2019 • The Wayne Besen Show • 194

  U.S. Military Must Root Out Nazis to Protect America

   

   

  There is no such thing as a white nationalist. The media should stop repeating this fiction. There are only white supremacists. The term white nationalist is a slick public relations ploy invented to soften the image of Klansmen and neo-Nazis. The strategy is to grow their base of support by appealing to disaffected and angry white Americans, while disguising their true, nefarious intent by posing as patriots.

  Many of the folks are scared and alienated and susceptible to seditious serpents that offer convenient scapegoats to explain away their personal failings. Why would any Democrat, liberal or member of the media aid and abet this effort by calling these fascists by their cynically crafted PR label? It’s utter madness to do their bidding in the false name of fairness.

  Furthermore, the term white nationalist is inaccurate. It falsely asserts that this nation belongs exclusively to white people and everyone else is just visiting. The label also implies that this group loves this country and operates in the national interest. Nothing could be further from the truth.

  Their behavior is not patriotic, it’s parasitic. They falsely wave our flag, while standing against everything it stands for. Real patriots believe in freedom, while this crowd supports fascism. We revere liberty, while they revel in lies. America is clearly a nation of diversity, while they peddle division. And America is about hope, while these subversive elements traffic in hate.

  People of this ilk are always a threat. But they are especially dangerous and toxic when they infiltrate the Armed Services and don a military uniform. In a profoundly disturbing event, an Army unit, the 13th Airborne Corps glorified the Nazi commander and war criminal Joachim Peiper, on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.

  According to The Washington Post, the Army unit posted a glamorous, colorized photo of Peiper alongside an intimate narrative depicting the Nazi writing in his diary. The image was allegedly created by an artist who celebrates Nazi propaganda online. The photo was also shared on the Facebook pages for the Defense Department and the Army’s 10th Mountain Division.

  This was one of the biggest battles of World War II. It was Hitler’s last desperate attempt to stave off imminent defeat, brought on by D-Day. Had America lost the Battle of the Bulge, it could have turned the tide of the war. And if that occurred, those of us not slaughtered in a global holocaust would be speaking German today. But, maybe that’s the outcome these particular service members preferred.

  Perhaps, most disturbing, Peiper ordered the massacre of 84 U.S. prisoners of war during the Battle of the Bulge. Think about that for a moment: We have people wearing the United States uniform, being trained to kill with the lethal weapons of war, who are celebrating the Nazi slaughter of American service members.

  So, mainstream media, stop selling me the fiction that these creeps are white nationalists. People who care about the nation don’t rejoice about American POWs being gunned down in cold blood by a Nazi war criminal. The proper and accurate name is white supremacists.

  To exacerbate matters, according to The Washington Post, during Saturday’s Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia, two U.S. Military Academy cadets and a Naval Academy midshipman allegedly flashed the “okay” hand signal that has been co-opted as an identification sign by Nazis.

  We should stop playing footsie with extremism. There is absolutely no place in the military for these traitors. Their very existence in a diverse military is bad for unit cohesion and destructive for morale. And we should never have to question which side an American soldier is on. If they stand for evil, they cannot be trusted, nor counted upon to fight for the common good and uphold the Constitution.

  When a recruit signs up for the Armed Services, the Pentagon should conduct thorough background checks, including on social media. White supremacists and Nazi traitors are a unique threat to national security because they infiltrate and try to destroy us from within. They are also potential future domestic terrorists. Why would we spend taxpayer dollars to train them how to kill?

  White supremacists must be rooted out of the military now, before they can create havoc, undermine the rule of law and inflict violence on the very countrymen they have disingenuously vowed to protect. If the Pentagon spent as much time hunting down Nazis as they used to spend hunting down innocent LGBT people, our nation would be safer and stronger.

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  December 12, 2019 • The Wayne Besen Show • 214

  The Republicans Disfigure Democracy on Live National Television

   

  Tonight, we witnessed the Republican Party gaslight America on national television. The modern GOP has degenerated into a dangerous and depraved entity, which habitually elevates power above principle and Party above patriotism.

  In this evening’s impeachment hearing, the Republicans created a bizarre fantasy world constructed of sophistry and lies. It’s a dystopian planet where Donald Trump is Dear Leader, the GOP channels Orwell and FOX News is Pravda. It’s distinctly unAmerican and fundamentally disorienting to anyone who grew up in the free country known as The United States.

  We watched the Republicans play the role of Deep Stupid peddling Deep State conspiracies that were concocted by Russian intelligence officers. These are the same lies and conspiracies that were disgracefully trafficked yesterday by Attorney General William Barr.

  During the hearing we observed mendacious misdirection and a litany of lies by Republicans. It was designed to protect a president run amok, while Republicans run away from their oath to defend the constitution. It was a Republican parade of pretense and charade.

  Once again, the Republicans defended a man over the Constitution. They played the most cynical brand of divisive politics. At every turn, they feigned victimhood, even as they vandalized our institutions and disfigured our democracy. What we all witnessed was depressing, disturbing, dispiriting and destructive. We saw a GOP without a shred of decency or a shard of dignity. Instead they disgraced their office and dishonored their nation.

  It is fair to say that the Republican Party is not a normal political Party anymore. It’s accurate to say that The United States is arguably no longer a two-party system. We appear to be a system with one party that believes in justice, democracy and the rule of law. And another tragically defined as disloyal obstructionists, posing as legitimate opposition, but with no genuine interest in actually governing or protecting our nation from enemies both foreign and domestic.

  The Republican Party of 2019 has become a post-Constitutional cult-like invasive species that seeks to destabilize our nation, degrade our democracy, dismantle institutions, pervert our norms, disgrace us on the international stage and corrupt everything it touches.

  Though I am focusing on revulsion toward Republicans, what I write is strangely not partisan. That would imply two parties authentically engaging in debate on issues with the goal of winning the hearts and minds of the American people.

  There is no point, however, in furthering this farce simply for the sake of comfort rooted in denial. We mustn’t avoid unpleasant truths because it’s scary and rightfully makes good Americans anxious and insecure. What is actually occurring is the Republicans are acting in bad faith and giving lip service to democracy and the United States Constitution. They are placing our nation in grave danger and uncharted territory.

  Exhibit A is the House Republicans voting against restoring the Voting Rights Act. For more than 50 years it received strong bipartisan support. But last Friday, the bill passed 228 to 187, with Republicans voting 186-1 against it, while Democrats voted unanimously in favor 227-0. To put this in perspective, the last time the House voted on reauthorization, in 2006, the vote was 390-33.

  The Republican Party under Donald Trump has gone all-in with voter suppression. They flat out don’t care about free and fair elections. Whether this takes the form of denying minorities the right to vote, Trump soliciting help from Russia in 2016 or the President cooking up a “drug deal” in Ukraine to attack Joe Biden with a bogus investigation. It all amounts to the same thing. Republicans no longer believe they can remain in power by the popular will of the people, so they cheat.

  Donald Trump got caught cheating, but the Republicans won’t hold him accountable. And therefore, they must claw onto power by subverting the truth, personal integrity, free elections and the rule of law.

  What Republicans are doing is enabling the establishment of a royal sovereign who rules by whimsy and whim, rather than a democratically elected head of state. Either the modern GOP survives or the nation survives. But there is increasingly no place for both in a free country with a functioning democracy.

  America may yet survive this dire threat to our liberty. However, make no mistake: We are on the precipice of ruin or renewal. Which route we ultimately take depends on our political engagement and steadfast refusal to bow to a wannabe dictator and the quislings who enable his lawlessness and illegality.

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• December 10, 2019 • The Wayne Besen Show • 206

  Will we die in a democracy? The Republican threat is real

  I’m scared for my country. I’m alarmed for our future. I say this without hype or hyperbole.

  This is a week of political tragedy. It calls into serious question if we are still the United States of America.

  This week reveals that we are living in country so fundamentally divided that we are no longer one people. The Republicans have joined a cult and left America.

  I watched the impeachment hearing yesterday. Why are Republicans defending the president rather than the Constitution? Where do they pledge allegiance? Why are they choosing party over patriotism?

  It’s beyond frightening that roughly half this country thinks the role of Republicans in the impeachment hearing is to blindly defend King Donald rather than the nation.

  I was born in a democracy. I assumed I would die in a democracy. I’m not so sure anymore. Are you?

  What does the future hold when one of our two political parties no longer believes in the rule of law? When half of Americans appear to support autocracy bordering on fascism?

  Daniel Goldman, the chief investigator for the House Intelligence Committee, put it succinctly: “President Trump’s persistent and continuing effort to coerce a foreign country to help him cheat to win an election is a clear and present danger to our free and fair elections and to our national security.”

  That’s what happened. Those are the facts. The evidence is overwhelming and incontrovertible. And yet, Republicans think shredding the United States Constitution, using foreign help to cheat in elections and then covering it up through obstruction of justice, is okay. Roughly half the population agrees. Let that sink in.

  Instead of facing reality, Republicans created an alternate reality. They invented a phony narrative designed to muddy the waters and manipulate America’s most gullible people. The game plan is to sucker the sheep. And once this bogus narrative is invented out of whole cloth, it’s broadcast on FOX News and disseminated on countless right wing websites. The Republicans also have the Russian propaganda machine repeating their lies to an international audience. In turn, the Republicans repeat the Russian government’s lies. They have become Putin’s parrots. Again, let that sink in.

  The Republicans on the Judiciary Committee were shameful and unAmerican. They screamed, they interrupted, they bullied and they stonewalled. They perverted their oath of office to defend a man instead of the Constitution. A man, instead of the Constitution they swore to uphold. Their arguments were ludicrous:

  1) They said the president did nothing wrong because he got caught while the crime was in progress and was forced to release the hijacked aid to Ukraine.

  2) They claimed Trump was exonerated by the Ukraine’s president Zelensky. It’s laughable to expect Zelensy, who’s Trump’s hostage, to betray a petty and vindictive president who still has a loaded gun to his country’s head. How stupid do the Republicans think the American people are? They seem to be right about half of the population.

  3) The Republicans argued that Donald Trump was only concerned about corruption. As if his former campaign chairman, national security advisor and personal lawyer weren’t in prison. Or, as if his family and cabinet weren’t the most corrupt in history. Trump being concerned about Ukraine’s corruption is a knee-slapper. A sick joke.

  Later, on the same day, the Justice Department’s Inspector General released a report that concluded the FBI did nothing wrong in opening up investigations into Trump’s campaign. You know, the one teeming with shady Russians connected to Putin?

  Instead of accepting the IG’s conclusion, the compromised Attorney General William Barr assailed the results to help his political master, Donald Trump. We have to come to grips with the very dangerous fact we don’t have a real Department of Justice. We have a quisling shill that works for Donald Trump, not the America people. Excluding Trump, Barr may be the most dangerous man in America. He’s also a culture warrior and religious extremist with deep animus towards liberals.

  There can be no doubt, Donald Trump is trying to destroy the FBI. During his first two years in office, he attacked the F.B.I., Justice Department and intelligence agencies 277 times. Because he didn’t like that the IG report decimated his absurd conspiracy theories regarding the FBI, he is now targeting its director, Christopher Wray, who may soon be fired. Trump tweeted today:

  “I don’t know what report current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but it sure wasn’t the one given to me. With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!”

  Trump, Barr and much of the GOP are essentially foreign threats who habitually lie and put our national security in imminent danger. It’s difficult to accept, for those who still love America, but we can no longer afford denial.

  We were born in a democracy. Will we die in one? That is the question. I don’t know the answer any more. This is the time to wake up and fight like hell to save our nation. Time is of the essence. The future is now, don’t let it slip away.

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