This came across my iPhone’s newsfeed this morning:
Bear in mind that I’m an atheist, but when I saw this headline, all I could think of was, “God help us.”
Ivanka Trump
Making Room for a Dynasty
Yesterday, Donald Trump inexplicably appointed Vice President Mike Pence to lead a task force to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Many observers were puzzled that Trump didn’t appoint an outside expert to coordinate the response to this potential pandemic.
Why Mike Pence? After all, when he was the governor of Indiana, the state’s Scott County experienced the largest HIV outbreak that Indiana had seen in decades — an outbreak public health experts said was preventable. Nearly 200 people using opioids got sick after people contracted the virus by sharing dirty needles because, under Pence, Indiana law made it illegal to possess a syringe without a prescription.
A steadfast conservative, Pence was morally opposed to needle exchanges on the grounds that they supported drug abuse. And since Pence considers homosexuality to be an abomination that violates God’s laws. And since those affected by the spread of AIDS were mostly homosexuals, no harm-no foul to straight, white, Christian citizens, right?
Under pressure from public health officials, Pence eventually lifted a ban on sterile needle exchange programs in the state. And now Trump has put him in charge of managing the outbreak of the coronavirus. He seems, at first glance, to be an odd choice for this role.
Anyway, despite predictions by health and disease experts in his own administration that the coronavirus is going to spread and turn into a serious health issue in the United States, Trump is claiming that it’s under control and we, the U.S. should be at zero cases within a few weeks and the threat of a pandemic will be over.
I don’t believe for a minute that Trump really believes that. I think he knows that the coronavirus is a real threat and it could take months or years to combat it. By appointing Pence to lead the charge against the coronavirus, Pence will have to focus all of his energies on combating the pandemic.
Hence, Trump is essentially sidelining Pence and will have an excuse to pull him from the ticket in 2020, leaving an opening for a new running mate for Vice President.
I predict that his new running mate will be none other than his daughter, Ivanka Trump. The Donald has made no secret of his desire to create a Trump dynasty with his offspring. Who better than his daughter to be his running mate this fall? It would help him with white female voter and with the superficial white male Trump supporters who have fantasies about screwing Ivanka.
If the Trump/Trump tickets wins in November, Ivanka will be the nation’s first female Vice President and could, in 2024, become the first female POTUS.
Let that sink in for a few minutes. And remember, you heard it here first!
God Help America!
“So have you decided who you’re going to vote for in the 2020 election next year?” Dave asked his coworker.
“Yeah, I’m going to vote for Trump,” Steve said. “The value of my 401(k) has jumped by almost half a million since the 2016 election. How could I not vote for him? What about you?”
“First of all, that’s a very self-serving reason to vote for Trump. Second of all, let me assure you that wild horses couldn’t make me vote for that moron,” Dave said. “There are some good candidates on the Democratic side who would be so much better than he is.”
Steve let out a robust laugh. “That’s wishful thinking, bud,” he said. “The Dems can’t get out of their own way. They’re coming across as weak, disorganized, and divided. You’d think with all the shit Trump has pulled, impeachment would be a no-brainer, but they can’t even agree to do that.”
“Okay, I have to concur with you on that,” Dave admitted. “But Trump is destroying our environment, spending billions on the stupid vanity wall of his, treating people inhumanely at the southern border, is in bed with foreign autocrats, and is breaking all kinds of laws. Even the worst Democrat would be better than he is.”
“But the stock market is going gangbusters,” Steve said. “Listen, you might as well bite the bullet, pal, and get used to the Trump name. He’s going to win in 2020 and he’s got a nest full of kids to keep the dynasty going, starting with Ivanka, who is being groomed to be America’s first female president.”
Dave shook his head. “God help the United States of America,” he sighed.
Written for these daily prompts: The Daily Spur (election), Ragtag Daily Prompt (horses), Your Daily Word Prompt (laugh), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (wishful), Word of the Day Challenge (concur), and Daily Addictions (nest).
Doomed!
When I was drinking coffee this morning while reading the newspaper, my wife commented that nothing has been done since the 2016 election to fix the issues with voting machines being hacked, to combat Russian interference, to address voter suppression, or to fix state gerrymandering where Democrats receive more votes but Republicans win more seats.
“I have no doubt that, given all this, Trump will be re-elected in 2020,” she said. And then she suggested that Trump is positioning his daughter, Ivanka, to run in 2024, hoping to keep the Trump dynasty going. “That would also make Ivanka Trump the first woman president,” she added.
Ugh. Talk about a worst-case scenario!
We’re doomed!
And then, on a totally unrelated topic, I read an article on a site called Daily Writing Tips that “Google likes 1,500-word posts now, and dislikes 500-word ones.” 1,500 words? Seriously? Dislikes 500 word posts? Oh crap. My average post length so far this year is only 227 words! So much for having any of my posts show up highly ranked in Google searches.
I’m doomed!
DWC — Christian Nation
“So what do you wish to declare as your religion?” the customs officer said.” Here in this country, as you know, we offer freedom of religion to all citizens.”
“And what about freedom from religion?” I asked.
“What do you mean by freedom from religion?” he asked.
“I mean that I have no religion to declare,” I responded.
“Are you saying that you have no faith?” he asked, giving me a bewildered look.
“Oh no, that’s not at all what I’m saying,” I said. “I have faith, but not in religion and not in God.”
“So who do you pray to, then?”
“I don’t pray.”
“That’s blasphemous, sir,” the visibly angry officer said.
“Listen, I know I’ve been out of the country for more than a decade and that a lot has changed since then, but our forefathers fought and died so that we could exercise our right to freedom of religion, including the right not to practice any religion at all, without interference from the government,” I said. “Are you telling me that their fight for that freedom was in vain, that it means nothing anymore?”
“I’m telling you,” he said, “that after the revolution of 2023, when the Constitution II was ratified two years later, our country was declared to be a Christian Nation, and while some minor non-Christian religions are still tolerated, agnosticism and atheism are against the law and against the natural order.
I looked at him and said, “So I cannot return to my country unless I declare my religion to be Christian?”
“Yes,” he said. “The official state religion is Christianity and you are free to declare yourself to be a member any of the approved Christian sects. That is the blessing bestowed upon us by the Supreme Leader of Trumplandia, Queen Ivanka.”
Written for yesterday’s Daily Writing Challenge from Teresa, The Haunted Wordsmith. The three words to use are faith, fight, and freedom. And yes, I know I’m a day late, but I had things to do, places to go, and people to see yesterday.
This, That, and the Other 