Tag: David French

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Authoritarianism, Patriarchy, and Misogyny in the White Evangelical Church

Those who enjoy reveling in their own moral superiority and the intellectual inferiority of the yokels will find much to enjoy in these two videos. If you must, brew up a nice cup of hot chocolate, or grab a frosty beer, or, better yet, pour a big glass on Jack Daniels, settle in by the fireplace, and have a fine old wallow.

That, however, was not why I wrote this post. I wrote this post to advance our understanding of what’s going on in these people’s heads. That understanding is an essential foundation if we want talk with our evangelical brethren and sistern—and if we want, in general, to begin to address the current regrettable state of our nation. Because it’s really hard to fix something that you don’t understand. 

I will have some takes of my own on these matters. They will appear in a later post. 

Authoritarianism and the White Evangelical Church

Pat Kahnke—not previously within my radar screen—retired as pastor of an evangelical church in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2016. He has spent the remaining years explaining in books and podcases why people who love Jesus should not love Donald Trump.

Patriarchy, Misogyny, a Dab of Racism, and the White Evangelical Church

Russell Moore was the president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Concerned over his ethics and his support for religious liberty, Moore’s  compatriots in the SBC forced him to resign from the Commission and to exit the church in June, 2021. 

As you probably know, David French is a lawyer, a New York Times columnist, and an actual Christian. 

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Wobbling, On the Defensive, Losing their Will, Falling Apart

“Nationalizing Elections”

David French (N.Y. Times), This Is Not a Drill

NBC News, Senate GOP Leader John Thune says he disagrees with Trump that Congress should ‘nationalize’ elections

David French’s warning is timely and well taken. That said, I think we may all thank Orange Mussolini for sending a clear and timely signal about his intent with respect to the 2026 elections. We have a reasonable amount of time to litigate l’affaire Fulton County ballot seizure, establish beyond peradventure of doubt that Tulsi Gabbard is a blithering idiot—and that Trump’s delusions are in fact delusions, and take the preventative steps that David French encourages us to take. 

It’s a sign of the times that Senator Thune recognized that “nationalizing elections” is unconstitutional, and that he did not cotton to the idea.

First Bonus News Report: Panic in Georgia

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ‘Blood in the water.’ Why Republicans fear an upset in MTG’s backyard.

Georgia Republicans are shitting their pants about the special election in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s district. 

Second Bonus News Report: Legal Karma

While some law firms caved to Trump, renowned plaintiffs’ firm Susman Godfrey stood tall, and walloped the living daylights out of Team Trump. See here.

This week brings reports that top lawyers at the Susman firm are now charging $4,000 per hour. See here.

Point of personal privilege: I was one of the late Steve Susman’s ten thousand closest friends. I’m confident Steve is looking down from heaven or the bardo at recent developments, and I know he’s still wearing that shit-eating grin.

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What’s the Haps: Essential Insights About Today’s Politics for Analytical Thinkers

In my opinion, this video has more insightful observations than Carter has Little Liver Pills.

Watch it if you’re interested in understanding what is actually going on. 

David French Channels Dante

And another useful source: yesterday, David French gave us a highly informative tour of the hellscape that is the MAGA mind. Along with that, he also offered thought-provoking historical precedents for our current state of affairs. David French (N.Y. Times): What MAGA Sees in the Minnesota Mirror.

And now some thoughts from me, your humble ink-stained scrivener.

The Supreme Court’s Role in 2026 as the Joker in the Deck and Potential Savior of Donald Trump—from the Perils Posed by Donald Trump

In the video above, Rick Wilson expounds on the consequences of Trump’s erratic and disastrous action regarding his key political issues, immigration and tariffs. But he doesn’t address how the Supreme Court, if it so chooses, could intervene in ways that would help to save Trump’s bacon by helping to save him from himself.

Back on January 15 I wrote Waiting for the Supreme Court Decision on the Tariffs. We’re still waiting, and I stand by what I wrote in that post.

Likewise, the Court, if it so chooses, can rein in Trump’s due process violations in connection with its mass deportation project. 

Apart from the fact that requiring due process will help to save the constitutional republic, it would also, once again, help to save Trump politically from himself. Essentially, for the reasons that Rick Wilson laid out in the video.

And, on a related topic, this morning George Will gets an honorable mention for his WaPo op-ed, With this decision, the Supreme Court can and should rein Trump in: A pending landmark ruling will address the president’s power to fire within the executive branch. George has spoken with some constitutional law scholars, mulled over their views, and now, speaking with his accustomed magisterial tone of voice, pronounces ex cathedra that the Supreme Court ought to rein in Trump by rejecting the “unitary executive” theory of constitutional interpretation. 

Delusions—and Delusions About Delusions

Trump’s mental problems are myriad: sociopathy, constant lying coupled with a total inability to keep his lies straight, an inability to plan, and, among others, a grievously limited political skill set. 

In this witch’s brew of mental illnesses, we tend to discount the signal importance of delusional thinking. For example, Trump really thinks that he can bend the courts to his will in the same way that he has bent the Justice Department and the FBI to his will. 

He should have learned his lesson in 2020, when the courts universally rejected his stolen election delusion.

But he did not learn his less, because he is delusional.

Now, once again, he is ordering his prosecutors to comply with his delusions by initiating a slew of utterly bogus criminal cases. 

The consequences of the inevitable failure of that delusion will be yet another joker in the deck as we continue our hellish journey through 2026.