I worry all the time about the midterm elections. I hear, quite frequently, that Republicans will win the majority in either the House or Senate and they have made it quite clear that they will not use their power for good. They will use it to destroy the party that stood up to them — the Democrats and anyone else they perceive as :”not pure enough” on one hand or too truthful on the other. They want revenge for being treated as criminals or treating Donald Trump as a criminal. The problem with that logic is that they are criminals. If re-elected, they would be criminals and bullies. That’s not a way to run a country.
To assuage my fears, I will support every democrat I can in whatever ways I can. Give money? Yes. Make calls? Yes. Check on lies? Yes. Finally, vote? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. I only get one vote, but I’m going to do whatever I can to make that vote count.
But what if my fears are unrealistic? I will still support every democrat I can in whatever ways I can. Give money? Yes. Make calls? Yes. Check on lies? Yes. Finally, vote? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. I only get one vote, but I’m going to do whatever I can to make that vote count until democracy is won or saved. There are only two parties in America and one of them doesn’t believe in the Constitution. That leaves only one choice.
I continue to hear that Americans have a short memory. I continue to hear that Trump’s minions control; our destiny because everyone’s afraid of them. I keep hearing that Democrats aren’t stepping up to the plate and pushing hard enough for justice, that states are making rules against people’s right to vote. I hear about gerrymandering and all the power plays that Republicans are making. I keep hearing about the Supreme Court supporting the fascists, because the fascists claim Christianity. Jesus, however, doesn’t recognize fascist Christians as Christians at all.
That’s where this other thing kicks in. They are not Christians — Jesus never carried a gun or thought it was a right to carry a weapon. Jesus wasn’t a nationalist. Jesus wasn’t a liar or a bully. Anyone who is a nationalist! cannot be a Christian. If the ideal nation comes before Jesus, that’s idolatry and Jesus is not a big fan of idolatry at all. If gun rights come before Jesus, that also is idolatry. Jesus is still not fan. Jesus is against idolatry because it only yields half a life, while pretending to be the a whole one. Caring about others yields more of a life than any thing, idea, or belief could. Jesus’ way is better than that even.
Jesus – the Way and the True and the Light — is, almost by definition, not a liar.The Truth will win out, if Jesus/God/The Holy Spirit have their way. But here’s the rub. Jesus is not a bully either. Jesus told people the truth, but he did not force it on anyone. The Truth needs to speak for itself.
All of this leads me June of this year and the January 6th Committee. At that point, the January 6th Committee will reveal the truth that it has found. Everything I hear says it’s going to be an ugly truth about whole swaths of the Republican Party. It will be presented as The Actual Truth. Ted Cruz will not get to shout it down. Marjorie Taylor Green will not be able to interrupt it every other minute like she did Jim Acosta the other day. Bill Barr will not be able to step in front of it and lie about it. It will just be whatever it will be.
I don’t know what that is because there are apparently so many details and side-effects that the Committee already knows about — and I don’t. Besides that, there are places in the mind that criminals can imagine, but I can’t. I expect to be surprised by the report. Whatever it is, it will be the truth. Lots of people seem to be afraid of it, so I believe that they should be.
Now comes the real important point in time: between the Committee’s Report and the voting booth. There are presently 31 members in the House Freedom Caucus. Of them,
- Rep. Mo Brooks (R–Ala.)
- Rep. Matt Gaetz (R–Fla.)
- Rep. Louie Gohmert (R–Texas)
- Rep. Paul Gosar (R–Ariz.)
- Rep. Jim Jordan (R–Ohio
- Rep. Debbie Lesko (R–Ariz.) and
- Rep. Chip Roy (R–Texas) seem to be coming up a lot as involved in the scandal(s)
- Then there is Marjorie Taylor Green,
- Lauren Boebert and
- Madison Cawthorn, who are almost certainly involved in one way or another.
That means, if I’m right, there will be 10 members of the Republican House that will not want to show their face around Washington D.C.
In the Senate, at least Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley seem to be involved in real way. I’ll add in Tom Cotton, John Kennedy, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Rick Scott, and Tommy Tuberville to the list of possible suspects. This means that at least two Senators, and possibly eight Senators will be known to have tried to overthrow the government. They should be ashamed of themselves, but more to the point we will be ashamed of them. Some might resign. Some might go to jail, but their reputations will be destroyed, and their power with it. Hopefully, they will lose their seats as well.
Oh, and finally, there’s Donald Trump, whose actions are going to be all over this thing.
Whatever else you think about Americans, I’m pretty certain they don’t like being lied to, or robbed, or bombed, or other things that may come out in the presentation of the facts.
Whether or not the Department of Justice does anything about whatever happened, there will not be enough Republicans without correctly sullied names to take the majority. Whether or not the Supreme Court has anything to say about it, they won’t matter either.
This isn’t about lawyer-ese, this isn’t about spin. It’s about morals and bravery and patriotism. People without those things will be seen as the people they are. We will have lost confidence in them. We will not vote for them. They shouldn’t be able to comfortably pretend they are Senators. Support for them will dry up, including money for their campaigns and the Senators and Representatives who didn’t support the insurrection will glare at them until they leave. Knowing that the person you work with tried to kill you tends to do that to people.
We will know the truth and the truth shall set us free … or not. If whatever this Committee finds isn’t enough to keep people voting against them, or not enough to not change our view of them, and to be ashamed of who they are, then we will get what we deserve. We will have to be a country run by corrupt leaders who want to tear us apart. If we know the truth and choose to ignore it, we will be morons.
Human beings have free will, of course. In that free will, people can do the stupidest, most corrupt things, horrible things that others take years to recover from. It wouldn’t be the first time crowds of people turned against Jesus who, as I said, is not a bully. He won’t force us to accept the truth until the very final moment of history, according to our faith. At that point, the Supreme Court won’t matter, nor The Orange Man.
May we listen … and choose wisely.
Resisting with Peace,
John
Because It Matters 