January 11, 2025

It’s been quite the week. Horrific wildfires in California. Jimmy Carter’s funeral. “Weak Weasel” Mark Zuckerberg turns MAGA and scraps fact-checking on Meta and Instagram. The Trail Blazers lose two games they should have won. And then we come to Friday, the sentencing hearing of Donald J. Trump for his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide hush money he paid to a porn star during his first campaign.

Although he tried to have his sentencing hearing blocked, taking it all the way to the Supreme Court, he lost that appeal and had to sit through about 10 minutes of a nothing burger. His sentence of unconditional discharge, which was less than a slap on the wrist, didn’t please his supporters and it didn’t please his critics. What it did show is that we don’t have a system of equal justice in this country. If you or I had been convicted of 34 felonies there sure as s**t would have been some sort of punishment meted out. Instead, Trump won the trifecta. No jail time. No fine. No probation. On this same day, Jack Smith, the Special Counsel who I was hoping would have been able to put the screws to Trump for federal election subversion and the mishandling of classified documents, resigned from the Department of Justice after having our next Supreme Court Justice, Aileen Cannon, dismiss his cases against Trump. I have a sense we will be hearing from Jack again as Trump’s “Retribution Squad” goes into action after January 20th. He’s on the “hit list.”

I’ve rambled in the past about the reason Trump won. Terrible campaign by the Dem’s, some smart tactics by Trump, “President Musk” stepping in, the perceived terrible economy. What I’m really irked about today is the fact that the majority of voting Americans decided on November 5th to put a convicted felon into the highest office in this country. In an earlier period of this country, this person who is now the CEO of the USA, would never have been elected with the baggage he brings to the post. He would have been turned away like stink on s**t. These are certainly different times and probably an entrance into a way of national governance that some will cheer and others of us will abhor. But hey, the people spoke and having a felon as your leader ain’t no big deal anymore. I will say that the hypocrisy of some of his supporters just blows me away. So, The Word of the Day is “hypocrisy” – the pretending  to having virtues, principles, or beliefs that one in fact does not have (Merriam-Webster).

An example of this hypocrisy is the vast support Trump has received from the religious community. On one hand they quote the Bible, recite the Ten Commandments (which they would like posted on classroom walls), sermonize about the evils of adultery, and then turn around and vote him into office. We’re talking about a person who has never shown any interest in faith, but has exhibited many actions contrary to religious beliefs and morals. I respect the message that Reverend Monte Norwood of Bible Ways Ministries in Atlantic, Georgia has sent from the pulpit. “Trump has demeaned and debased just about anybody he could, from immigrants to minorities to women to those who are disabled.” “White conservative Republican Christianity that ignores character is just hypocritical.” Exit polls showed Trump beat Harris in just about every category of self-identified Christians (Protestant, Catholic, Evangelical, Baptist, etc.). But, then again, when Trump says that “God spared my life for a reason” after his assassination attempt, you have to think these guys really do believe that God sent him here as our Savior.

Another example of hypocrisy closer to home. I have been following the situation in the Saint Helens School District where ten staff members have been put on leave, some of whom have been indicted for sex abuse, failure to report abuse, and child endangerment. The community has been in an uproar over these events for the past several months, swarming school board meetings, protesting, and supporting student walkouts. One parent in the district wants every teacher in the district investigated for sex abuse. I am not condoning student sex abuse and not trying to defend the staff members if they are convicted of these crimes. I do, however, find it interesting that in the November election the results for Columbia County where St. Helens is located, show Trump getting 17,227 votes (55%) and Harris getting 12,895 votes (41%). I’m not saying every parent in the district voted for Trump, but based on the margin of votes I think you can assume that many did. So, where am I going with this? Trump became a felon on May 30th, five months before the election. A year prior, he was found liable for sexually abusing a woman in 1996 awarding her a $5 million judgement. Parents who wouldn’t think of having their child taught by a convicted sex abuser don’t seem to have a problem voting for a felon and sex abuser to be President of the United States. They knew before the election what he had done, but ignored that or didn’t see it as a problem. I call that hypocrisy.

As time goes on over the next four years I’m sure we will see many more events and actions that will demonstrate the hypocrisy of selecting this man to be our president, king, master, Elon sub, or whatever. Have a great weekend! Ziggyman