Even the Pope is being spun in circles. Someone described the wall of Mecixo as if it would be the Berlin wall, rather than the Vatican wall or Nehemiah’s wall. The Pope gave Trump the benefit of the doubt and commented about not knowing the full context, but this rarely gets reported.
The FBI wants to solve a permanent problem with a must-be permanent solution misbranded as a “temporary” solution. If the FBI doesn’t want this to let the genie out of the bottle, at least Jeb does, ergo the recent debates. The FBI changed a password that might have allowed retrieving information via iCloud. Oops. The FBI could send the phone to Apple to retrieve the data, but won’t. They want something that the next Snowden could share with the world. In a word: competent.
Many in America ask, “Why can people be so brainwashed to support Trump?” Many of these are Cruz supporters. The brainwashed population is not the Trump base; it is the Cruz base. Brainwashing keeps people blind to their own reality. Cruz is an alleged “Christian” who lies and gets away with it, like a typical Sunday morning pastor horror story. He mails false “violation” warning scare tactics (also typical of Sunday morning Churchianity). He made an apology without making restitution—also typical of scandalous pastors. And, like the Sunday morning minions, his base thinks he’s just the most wonderful thing by Biblical standards. Cruz’s base exhibits brainwash symptoms every bit as much as Christians who think the only way to know Jesus is on Sunday morning with a hypocritical pastor because that pastor is paid.
The sad part is, Bush and Rove used the same manipulative tactics to get the religious right vote sixteen years ago. It’s quite easy. Use evangelical lingo. Pretend to be in the bubble of asocial Churchianity that doesn’t know how to interact with non-Christians. Play on the fears of the “us v them” fear of people. Cruz supporters don’t see the problem with his dishonest tactics because brainwashed people don’t see.
And, brainwashed people always think non-brainwashed people are the ones brainwashed. That’s why Cruz supporters think Trump supporters need to “wake up” and “see what is happening”.
Let’s review the political scene…
Trump does have Conservative values—patriotism, love of country, low taxes, power to States, obey Constitution. He got rich through real business, not ENRON-style scandals. His smaller, held companies filed bankruptcy much less frequently than Wall St. high rollers do every day. Trump has been honest in his business dealings, though powerful. He knows how to say, “No,” to elitists, donors, and the media. He knows how to hire, fire, mentor, and build buildings. And, he knows how to control the Chinese rather than letting the Chinese control him. Most of this is foreign to the Sunday morning minion crowd.
Rubio changed colors in the Gang of Eight. Though he seems to regret it, he still has to pay; losing this election should be enough. Rubio supporters aren’t brainwashed, they are just rich and comfy and fond of nice clothes, combed hair, and employees who make candidly polite appeals to the boss. But bubbled Bible thumpers (as opposed to bold Bible readers)—Bush-Cruz supporters—don’t see how Christian hypocrisy left the country susceptible to many things. Hillary and Bernie supporters aren’t brainwashed by individuals, though Democrat voters clearly don’t see how Democratic policies caused their own employment problems. Donkeys differ from Republican voters, who gave us terms like RINO. Though Democratic politicians break promises as much as Republican politicians, Democrat voters never thought to use the term DINO. Democrat loyalists have their own brainwashing issues.
People fear Trump because he’s different. They fear that he will get into office and turn on them like a snake in the grass—because that’s what all the other politicians have done, including Rubio and Cruz. But, that actually makes him less likely to change colors. Trump is not a professional politician. He wouldn’t know how to abuse political power because he would be new to it. He would only know how to do what he has always done: succeed by firing idiots and making bank. At least, that’s most likely.
Cruz followers are the biggest brainwashed segment still in America. They believe anything and everything that walks and talks like Sunday morning. They tell stories about David and Goliath, yet don’t like it when Trump talks big. They preach on Jesus’s parables about profitability, yet they don’t have money themselves. They pray to the God who made the universe and sits on its throne, yet they don’t have power within their own society. Somewhere there is a disconnect.
Trump is drawing people because of the power and “violence” Jesus talked about. The drowsy are awaking. The slow ones are still with Cruz. Many believe God told them Cruz will win the nomination, because that’s how Sunday morning culture works. When Cruz doesn’t get the nomination, they will wake up also. And, when they do, revival will return.
Is Trump trustworthy? None of us are. Never trust a person. Only expect history to repeat and trust people’s interest rather than their promises. Cruz and Rubio will be useful in the Senate, voting to pass the legislation introduced by the Republican who got more votes than they did. Trump will make America greater than before, but the police state will grow under him. Will it be best with Trump? A book that can tell the future would be worth a lot of money.
Trump, good or bad, is pulling people out their caves. Trump would not have power if people were neither brainwashed by Sunday morning hypocrisy nor Democratic “trying while failing”. For better or worse, what we are seeing, now, is the un-brainwashing of America. The question is not about what Trump will do, but what America will do when the giant wakes up.
Apple’s Tim Cook vs. the FBI, round two: “This case is about much more than a single phone” | Quartz
We Could Not Look the Survivors in the Eye if We Did Not Follow this Lead | Lawfare
…FBI’s blog post
U.S. High Court Rejects Republicans on North Carolina Voting Map | Bloomberg
The Character of Modern Liberalism in One Paragraph | Power Line