Editor’s note: Walt Amses is a writer and former educator who lives in Calais.
[A] southern fried dingbat preacher saying God “spoke to him” isn’t really big news anymore — pseudo-apostles are a dime a dozen in the weird subculture that monetizes the collective ignorance of the flock. What caught the media’s attention recently was one such Louisiana minister’s effort to acquire a private jet to spread “the word” while getting his congregation to foot the $54 million price tag. He said the almighty actually devised the plan, sharing it with him in a conversation.
Putting aside the burning question why God would waste time with a notorious grifter who already owns a couple of private airplanes, we’re left wondering why the pews are full; why the money keeps pouring in. Can people still be falling for such counterintuitive rubbish? Evidently, that’s affirmative. If the circumstances fit our preconceived notions of how things should be, we’ll believe almost anything. Which lands us firmly on the doorstep of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., where truth goes to die.
One of the latest brazen strangulations of honesty in Donald Trump’s 18-month presidency, is his recent assertion that his own cruel policy, separating migrant children from their parents, was actually the fault of Democrats — who had nothing to do with it. In one more head spinning tweet the increasingly untethered Trump urged Americans to “Put pressure on Democrats to end the horrible law.” Welcome to 1984.
One wonders how this bunk plays in Peoria. Is anyone listening? Is it better or worse if they’re not? And if they are, do they really believe the things he says? Do a percentage of Americans have their religious and political wires so irrevocably intertwined that it’s almost impossible for them to distinguish marigolds from manure?
Considering Vermonters rate at or near the bottom in both religious observance and Trump support, exploring the cognitive dissonance necessary to perpetuate the loyalty he requires might be enlightening. Evangelicals — theoretical true believers — continue to be smitten. How does that work exactly?
We know by now that religious fundamentalists compromised everything they supposedly stood for when they voted overwhelmingly to support a thrice divorced, admitted sexual predator, but how they rationalize this choice only makes some sense if you take into account what other deceptions they evidently think are true, many of which make presidential prevarications seem almost reasonable.
Sanctimonious preachers, unglued conspiracy theorists and a laundry list of far-right media outlets catering to every imaginable, unfounded fear, racial or ethnic prejudice, virulent homophobia or breathy anticipation of the antichrist (Obama) have been stalking the underbrush for years, spewing nonsense, shamelessly fleecing the vulnerable and profiting handsomely in the process.
What appears to be different is the sheer number of ringmasters out there and the countless available clowns at their mercy thanks to the long and sticky tentacles of social media, cable television and hundreds of radio shock jocks hoping to emerge from the long shadow of Rush Limbaugh; whose decades of hatred have earned him an estimated half a billion dollars. The sheer lunacy of what’s being peddled is not only a withering indictment of how far out the far right really is — but also of how many fellow travelers are along for the ride.
Liberty University is producing a movie about Mark Taylor, the “Firefighter Profit” who over last weekend said those who oppose Trump will use “secret technology to create hurricanes” just before the midterms to suppress turnout among Trump supporters. But don’t worry, Lance Wallnau, a preacher who has mobilized Christians to support the president, said that the “Same angel assigned to Ronald Reagan” is now in Trump’s corner and will be “involved in overseeing the upcoming meeting between POTUS and Kim Jong Un in Singapore.”
Wait, it gets better. Jesse Lee Peterson is an almost perfect white supremacist, believing that racism never existed and picking cotton “makes a man out of you,” advocating that young black men should pick cotton on plantations to “learn a proper work ethic.” The radio host has termed African-Americans stranded in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina “welfare pampered, lazy and immoral.” The difficulty believing someone can still think this way becomes insanity after learning Peterson is himself black.
Messianic crackpots proffering drivel are a dime a dozen; not really all that troubling until you realize the number of balmy GOP faithful is astounding. In a May Gallup Poll, 78 percent of Republicans thought Donald Trump provided the country somewhat strong or very strong moral leadership … however patently ridiculous this might seem, it isn’t much of a stretch considering what else they believe.
