It’s that silly season of the presidential primary beauty
pageant and with Donald Trump in the Republican fray, there is no shortage of
material for late night comedy hosts.
But where are Jon Stewart and the “old” Stephen Colbert when you need
them? Their cable comedy shows became
the real news while the national newscasts seemed more like the comedy shows.
I’ve purposely avoided writing about politics for some
time, mostly because it’s just too disheartening and I write merely one person’s
opinion, not with the clout of, say, a Cal Thomas who clutches his bible when
expressing his political views. I have
no such source of “truth” to cite.
But speaking of the Good Book, there is the recent amusing
exchange between Ben Carson and The Donald, a school-yard square-off to demonstrate
who might be more Christian. Poor Mike
Huckabee; he’s been going down yellow brick Evangelical road for so long and no
presidential nomination, boo-hoo. I’m
more Christian than you are na-na na-na boo-boo. Apparently, Carson casteth the first stone,
citing Proverb 22:4: “By humility and the fear of the Lord, are riches and
honor and life.” He continued to say, referring
to The Donald as “him,” –“And that's a very big part of who I am. Humility, and
fear of the Lord. I don't get that impression with him. Maybe I'm wrong."
It must be tough to have lots of humility as a billionaire,
particularly one who has monetized his name, not to mention being born to
money, and bullied his way to billionaire status with financial tactics that
would be the envy of Vito Corleone. See Andy Kessler’s article in the Sept. 10 Wall Street Journal for the detail: “The Art of The Donald in 10 Easy Steps -- First,
be born rich. Then acquire political influence. After that, pile up debt, write
books and…. run for office.”
But Trump showed his other cheek to Carson in a relatively
benign Christian Tweet: "Wow, I am ahead of the field with Evangelicals
(am so proud of this) and virtually every other group, and Ben Carson just took
a swipe at me." According to Politico: “Weeks earlier, he told a crowd of religious
conservatives in Iowa that he couldn't recall ever asking God for forgiveness,
though he said he has taken Communion. ‘When I drink my little wine — which is
about the only wine I drink — and have my little cracker, I guess that is a
form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I
feel cleansed,’ Trump said.”
Now he might have criticized Carson on something more substantive
such as Dr. Carson’s belief in creationism and his denial of climate change,
but, instead, I suppose he had a little wine and a little cracker to cleanse
the matter.
This is what the candidates talk about when running for The
Presidency? “God” forbid the pious rhetoric if an atheist ever runs.
And let’s not forget the Democrats in the two ring
circus, and the plight of poor Hillary who was considered a shoo-in for the
Democratic nomination not long ago. The
Clintons always get in trouble with denials rather than stepping up to the
plate and admitting to a mistake. I did
not have sex with that email server!
Let the games begin!
