Screwtape went down to Georgia

[DrLove]

For context (I was Screwtape ignorant so used Mr Googley ;-)

Screwtape appears as a fictional demon in the book The Screwtape Letters (1942) and in its sequel short story Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1959), both written by the Christian author C. S. Lewis. Screwtape is also the title of the stage adaptation of the Letters by James Forsyth (originally Dear Wormwood, 1961).

Screwtape holds the rank of Senior Tempter and serves as the Undersecretary of his department in what Lewis envisages as a sort of infernal Civil Service. The Screwtape Letters represent his side of the correspondence with his nephew Wormwood, as mentor to the young demon who is charged with the guidance of one man. The Toast is Screwtape's after-dinner speech at the Tempters' Training College and satirises American and British or English public education. Screwtape has a secretary called Toadpipe.

Screwtape appears to understand very well the nature of human minds and human weaknesses, although nothing about human love. He also has a way with words and a fondness for sarcasm.

Here's the pithiest snip:

For nearly five years now, it has been obvious that Trump was unfit for the job and the arguments marshaled in his defense were cynical rationalizations that, for some, eventually mutated into sincerely held delusions. Sure, some deluded themselves from the beginning, but I’ve talked to too many Republican politicians and conservative media darlings who admitted it in private. And even the griftier gibbons going full Gorka as they fling their own feces for fun and profit in Trump’s defense knew it. At least Steve Bannon, whose greatest contribution to political discourse has been to introduce the concept of “flooding the zone with shit,” is fairly straightforward about seeing Trump as a tool—in every sense. He’s leaked more anti-Trump tales to more anti-Trump journalists than anyone.​

​

For the Bannonistas, following the wrong path wasn’t a hard choice, but an easy one. You think Jenna Ellis, who rates as a Z-team legal talent only because our alphabet is limited to 26 characters, would become a legal adviser to a president under normal circumstances?​

​

But for a lot of otherwise decent politicians and commentators, doing the right thing was just too damn hard. At every stage, they fed the Trumpian alligator another piece of themselves and said “This much, but no more.” But now all that is left are stumps, and it’s hard to walk in the right direction on stumps or hold your hands up to shout, “Stop!” when you have no hands.​

​

Again, I think most of these people are good people, but good people can be wrong. And if there’s any lesson to be gleaned from 2,000 years of Judeo-Christian influenced literature, it’s that good people can simultaneously be seduced and blind to their seduction and the compromises that come with it. See Graham, Lindsey.​

​

If, six months ago, I were to describe the last month to the politicians still rewarding and encouraging Trump’s behavior, most would say I was succumbing to Trump Derangement Syndrome. “Oh, come on, he wouldn’t do that!” they’d say. And even for those who thought this outrageous affront to the civic order might be possible, they’d certainly take great offense if I followed up with, “Not only will he try to steal the election with deranged conspiracy theories, not only will his champions call for martial law to erase the loss, but you won’t say ‘boo’ about it. In fact, you’ll even say he should run again.”​

​

Well, that’s happened. They created this self-destructive mess. They created it by refusing to take the right path not just because the right path was hard, but because the wrong path was so easy. As Screwtape explains, “the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”​

​

Now, America isn’t in Hell, but the people who did nothing, or far too little, are daily beset by lesser, fresher, hells of their own making—and I’m making popcorn. The gloriously entertaining spectacle of Trump and his ambitious progeny suddenly having to deal with their own mini-Trumps in the form of Wood, Powell, and their minions is enough to turn their home-brewed dumpster juice into a delicious elixir sweeter even than liberal tears.​

​

Mike Pence fading into the shrubbery like Homer Simpson is a profile in strategic cowardice of schadenfreudtastic proportions. The exquisite agony of Republicans righteously insisting that their own election was devoid of fraud while mumbling that there are “legitimate questions” about the candidate at the top of their own ticket makes the fremdschämen humor of The Office seem like a particularly uplifting episode of Little House on the Prairie by comparison. The Fox pundits who spent years monetizing Trump sycophancy suddenly having to grapple with the object of their toadying turning on their prized soapbox is splendiferously karmic.​

​

I understand that this all sounds awfully self-righteous. But I’ll tell you, I feel like I deserve my gloating. I’m not alone in my right to it, but I deserve my share. I’ve been saying “don’t do this” for five years and I’ve been mocked and shunned for it. So forgive me if I enjoy my I-told-you-so moment. Or don’t forgive me. I’m used to it.​

Screwtape Went Down to Georgia

'The safest road to Hell is the gradual one.'

gfile.thedispatch.com

 

[White 6]

For context (I was Screwtape ignorant so used Mr Googley ;-)

Screwtape appears as a fictional demon in the book The Screwtape Letters (1942) and in its sequel short story Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1959), both written by the Christian author C. S. Lewis. Screwtape is also the title of the stage adaptation of the Letters by James Forsyth (originally Dear Wormwood, 1961).

Screwtape holds the rank of Senior Tempter and serves as the Undersecretary of his department in what Lewis envisages as a sort of infernal Civil Service. The Screwtape Letters represent his side of the correspondence with his nephew Wormwood, as mentor to the young demon who is charged with the guidance of one man. The Toast is Screwtape's after-dinner speech at the Tempters' Training College and satirises American and British or English public education. Screwtape has a secretary called Toadpipe.

Screwtape appears to understand very well the nature of human minds and human weaknesses, although nothing about human love. He also has a way with words and a fondness for sarcasm.

Here's the pithiest snip:

For nearly five years now, it has been obvious that Trump was unfit for the job and the arguments marshaled in his defense were cynical rationalizations that, for some, eventually mutated into sincerely held delusions. Sure, some deluded themselves from the beginning, but I’ve talked to too many Republican politicians and conservative media darlings who admitted it in private. And even the griftier gibbons going full Gorka as they fling their own feces for fun and profit in Trump’s defense knew it. At least Steve Bannon, whose greatest contribution to political discourse has been to introduce the concept of “flooding the zone with shit,” is fairly straightforward about seeing Trump as a tool—in every sense. He’s leaked more anti-Trump tales to more anti-Trump journalists than anyone.​

​

For the Bannonistas, following the wrong path wasn’t a hard choice, but an easy one. You think Jenna Ellis, who rates as a Z-team legal talent only because our alphabet is limited to 26 characters, would become a legal adviser to a president under normal circumstances?​

​

But for a lot of otherwise decent politicians and commentators, doing the right thing was just too damn hard. At every stage, they fed the Trumpian alligator another piece of themselves and said “This much, but no more.” But now all that is left are stumps, and it’s hard to walk in the right direction on stumps or hold your hands up to shout, “Stop!” when you have no hands.​

​

Again, I think most of these people are good people, but good people can be wrong. And if there’s any lesson to be gleaned from 2,000 years of Judeo-Christian influenced literature, it’s that good people can simultaneously be seduced and blind to their seduction and the compromises that come with it. See Graham, Lindsey.​

​

If, six months ago, I were to describe the last month to the politicians still rewarding and encouraging Trump’s behavior, most would say I was succumbing to Trump Derangement Syndrome. “Oh, come on, he wouldn’t do that!” they’d say. And even for those who thought this outrageous affront to the civic order might be possible, they’d certainly take great offense if I followed up with, “Not only will he try to steal the election with deranged conspiracy theories, not only will his champions call for martial law to erase the loss, but you won’t say ‘boo’ about it. In fact, you’ll even say he should run again.”​

​

Well, that’s happened. They created this self-destructive mess. They created it by refusing to take the right path not just because the right path was hard, but because the wrong path was so easy. As Screwtape explains, “the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”​

​

Now, America isn’t in Hell, but the people who did nothing, or far too little, are daily beset by lesser, fresher, hells of their own making—and I’m making popcorn. The gloriously entertaining spectacle of Trump and his ambitious progeny suddenly having to deal with their own mini-Trumps in the form of Wood, Powell, and their minions is enough to turn their home-brewed dumpster juice into a delicious elixir sweeter even than liberal tears.​

​

Mike Pence fading into the shrubbery like Homer Simpson is a profile in strategic cowardice of schadenfreudtastic proportions. The exquisite agony of Republicans righteously insisting that their own election was devoid of fraud while mumbling that there are “legitimate questions” about the candidate at the top of their own ticket makes the fremdschämen humor of The Office seem like a particularly uplifting episode of Little House on the Prairie by comparison. The Fox pundits who spent years monetizing Trump sycophancy suddenly having to grapple with the object of their toadying turning on their prized soapbox is splendiferously karmic.​

​

I understand that this all sounds awfully self-righteous. But I’ll tell you, I feel like I deserve my gloating. I’m not alone in my right to it, but I deserve my share. I’ve been saying “don’t do this” for five years and I’ve been mocked and shunned for it. So forgive me if I enjoy my I-told-you-so moment. Or don’t forgive me. I’m used to it.​

Screwtape Went Down to Georgia

'The safest road to Hell is the gradual one.'

gfile.thedispatch.com

Really good article. I am reading more Jonah Goldberg at The Dispatch, as well as Jonathan V. Last at the Bullwork these days and enjoying it immensely. Thanks for linking this article at The Dispatch.

 

[Toro]

For context (I was Screwtape ignorant so used Mr Googley ;-)

Screwtape appears as a fictional demon in the book The Screwtape Letters (1942) and in its sequel short story Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1959), both written by the Christian author C. S. Lewis. Screwtape is also the title of the stage adaptation of the Letters by James Forsyth (originally Dear Wormwood, 1961).

Screwtape holds the rank of Senior Tempter and serves as the Undersecretary of his department in what Lewis envisages as a sort of infernal Civil Service. The Screwtape Letters represent his side of the correspondence with his nephew Wormwood, as mentor to the young demon who is charged with the guidance of one man. The Toast is Screwtape's after-dinner speech at the Tempters' Training College and satirises American and British or English public education. Screwtape has a secretary called Toadpipe.

Screwtape appears to understand very well the nature of human minds and human weaknesses, although nothing about human love. He also has a way with words and a fondness for sarcasm.

Here's the pithiest snip:

For nearly five years now, it has been obvious that Trump was unfit for the job and the arguments marshaled in his defense were cynical rationalizations that, for some, eventually mutated into sincerely held delusions. Sure, some deluded themselves from the beginning, but I’ve talked to too many Republican politicians and conservative media darlings who admitted it in private. And even the griftier gibbons going full Gorka as they fling their own feces for fun and profit in Trump’s defense knew it. At least Steve Bannon, whose greatest contribution to political discourse has been to introduce the concept of “flooding the zone with shit,” is fairly straightforward about seeing Trump as a tool—in every sense. He’s leaked more anti-Trump tales to more anti-Trump journalists than anyone.​

​

For the Bannonistas, following the wrong path wasn’t a hard choice, but an easy one. You think Jenna Ellis, who rates as a Z-team legal talent only because our alphabet is limited to 26 characters, would become a legal adviser to a president under normal circumstances?​

​

But for a lot of otherwise decent politicians and commentators, doing the right thing was just too damn hard. At every stage, they fed the Trumpian alligator another piece of themselves and said “This much, but no more.” But now all that is left are stumps, and it’s hard to walk in the right direction on stumps or hold your hands up to shout, “Stop!” when you have no hands.​

​

Again, I think most of these people are good people, but good people can be wrong. And if there’s any lesson to be gleaned from 2,000 years of Judeo-Christian influenced literature, it’s that good people can simultaneously be seduced and blind to their seduction and the compromises that come with it. See Graham, Lindsey.​

​

If, six months ago, I were to describe the last month to the politicians still rewarding and encouraging Trump’s behavior, most would say I was succumbing to Trump Derangement Syndrome. “Oh, come on, he wouldn’t do that!” they’d say. And even for those who thought this outrageous affront to the civic order might be possible, they’d certainly take great offense if I followed up with, “Not only will he try to steal the election with deranged conspiracy theories, not only will his champions call for martial law to erase the loss, but you won’t say ‘boo’ about it. In fact, you’ll even say he should run again.”​

​

Well, that’s happened. They created this self-destructive mess. They created it by refusing to take the right path not just because the right path was hard, but because the wrong path was so easy. As Screwtape explains, “the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”​

​

Now, America isn’t in Hell, but the people who did nothing, or far too little, are daily beset by lesser, fresher, hells of their own making—and I’m making popcorn. The gloriously entertaining spectacle of Trump and his ambitious progeny suddenly having to deal with their own mini-Trumps in the form of Wood, Powell, and their minions is enough to turn their home-brewed dumpster juice into a delicious elixir sweeter even than liberal tears.​

​

Mike Pence fading into the shrubbery like Homer Simpson is a profile in strategic cowardice of schadenfreudtastic proportions. The exquisite agony of Republicans righteously insisting that their own election was devoid of fraud while mumbling that there are “legitimate questions” about the candidate at the top of their own ticket makes the fremdschämen humor of The Office seem like a particularly uplifting episode of Little House on the Prairie by comparison. The Fox pundits who spent years monetizing Trump sycophancy suddenly having to grapple with the object of their toadying turning on their prized soapbox is splendiferously karmic.​

​

I understand that this all sounds awfully self-righteous. But I’ll tell you, I feel like I deserve my gloating. I’m not alone in my right to it, but I deserve my share. I’ve been saying “don’t do this” for five years and I’ve been mocked and shunned for it. So forgive me if I enjoy my I-told-you-so moment. Or don’t forgive me. I’m used to it.​

Screwtape Went Down to Georgia

'The safest road to Hell is the gradual one.'

gfile.thedispatch.com

Word

What an absolute disgrace the GOP has become.

I'm de-regestering as a Republican as soon as I can. I can't be a part of this clown car shitshow any more.

 

[DrLove]

Really good article. I am reading more Jonah Goldberg at The Dispatch, as well as Jonathan V. Last at the Bullwork these days and enjoying it immensely. Thanks for linking this article at The Dispatch.

Wasn't Jonah on the Trump Train for a little while at least? What I think I enjoyed the most about this piece was the humor. He used it to make incredibly salient points.

 

[Moonglow]

Trump was just an excuse to finally get rid of Hillary.....She was the buzzkiller..

 

[Moonglow]

The Bible uses the object of wormwood with the implication of bitterness. I never read much of Lewis's work I preferred Oscar Wilde...

 

[DrLove]

The Bible uses the object of wormwood with the implication of bitterness. I never read much of Lewis's work I preferred Oscar Wilde...

I must catch up on this Screwtape deal. Love that he has a secretary named "Toadpipe"

 

[Votto]

Oh look, the Left are C. S. Lewis fans now?

This is my favorite quote

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.”

Describes Progressives far more accurately than I could ever do.

But once again, when delving into the Christian faith the Left are way out of their league, which contradicts the Alynski principle of only commenting on something you have expertise in. Otherwise, just slander them and call them names.

Please stop violating the rules to your Leftists manuel.

 

[DrLove]

Oh look, the Left are C. S. Lewis fans now?

This is my favorite quote

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.”

Describes Progressives far more accurately than I could ever do.

But once again, when delving into the Christian faith the Left are way out of their league, which contradicts the Alynski principle of only commenting on something you have expertise in. Otherwise, just slander them and call them names.

Please stop violating the rules to your Leftists manuel.

Sure - I'm a fan

“OUR CAUSE IS NEVER MORE IN DANGER THAN WHEN A HUMAN, NO LONGER DESIRING, BUT STILL INTENDING, TO DO OUR ENEMY’S WILL, LOOKS ROUND UPON A UNIVERSE FROM WHICH EVERY TRACE OF HIM SEEMS TO HAVE VANISHED, AND ASKS WHY HE HAS BEEN FORSAKEN, AND STILL OBEYS.”

“HATRED IS BEST COMBINED WITH FEAR. COWARDICE, ALONE OF ALL THE VICES, IS PURELY PAINFUL–HORRIBLE TO ANTICIPATE, HORRIBLE TO FEEL, HORRIBLE TO REMEMBER; HATRED HAS ITS PLEASURES. IT IS THEREFORE OFTEN THE COMPENSATION BY WHICH A FRIGHTENED MAN REIMBURSES HIMSELF FOR THE MISERIES OF FEAR. THE MORE HE FEARS, THE MORE HE WILL HATE.”

"INDEED THE SAFEST ROAD TO HELL IS THE GRADUAL ONE—THE GENTLE SLOPE, SOFT UNDERFOOT, WITHOUT SUDDEN TURNINGS, WITHOUT MILESTONES, WITHOUT SIGNPOSTS."

 

[White 6]

For context (I was Screwtape ignorant so used Mr Googley ;-)

Screwtape appears as a fictional demon in the book The Screwtape Letters (1942) and in its sequel short story Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1959), both written by the Christian author C. S. Lewis. Screwtape is also the title of the stage adaptation of the Letters by James Forsyth (originally Dear Wormwood, 1961).

Screwtape holds the rank of Senior Tempter and serves as the Undersecretary of his department in what Lewis envisages as a sort of infernal Civil Service. The Screwtape Letters represent his side of the correspondence with his nephew Wormwood, as mentor to the young demon who is charged with the guidance of one man. The Toast is Screwtape's after-dinner speech at the Tempters' Training College and satirises American and British or English public education. Screwtape has a secretary called Toadpipe.

Screwtape appears to understand very well the nature of human minds and human weaknesses, although nothing about human love. He also has a way with words and a fondness for sarcasm.

Here's the pithiest snip:

For nearly five years now, it has been obvious that Trump was unfit for the job and the arguments marshaled in his defense were cynical rationalizations that, for some, eventually mutated into sincerely held delusions. Sure, some deluded themselves from the beginning, but I’ve talked to too many Republican politicians and conservative media darlings who admitted it in private. And even the griftier gibbons going full Gorka as they fling their own feces for fun and profit in Trump’s defense knew it. At least Steve Bannon, whose greatest contribution to political discourse has been to introduce the concept of “flooding the zone with shit,” is fairly straightforward about seeing Trump as a tool—in every sense. He’s leaked more anti-Trump tales to more anti-Trump journalists than anyone.​

​

For the Bannonistas, following the wrong path wasn’t a hard choice, but an easy one. You think Jenna Ellis, who rates as a Z-team legal talent only because our alphabet is limited to 26 characters, would become a legal adviser to a president under normal circumstances?​

​

But for a lot of otherwise decent politicians and commentators, doing the right thing was just too damn hard. At every stage, they fed the Trumpian alligator another piece of themselves and said “This much, but no more.” But now all that is left are stumps, and it’s hard to walk in the right direction on stumps or hold your hands up to shout, “Stop!” when you have no hands.​

​

Again, I think most of these people are good people, but good people can be wrong. And if there’s any lesson to be gleaned from 2,000 years of Judeo-Christian influenced literature, it’s that good people can simultaneously be seduced and blind to their seduction and the compromises that come with it. See Graham, Lindsey.​

​

If, six months ago, I were to describe the last month to the politicians still rewarding and encouraging Trump’s behavior, most would say I was succumbing to Trump Derangement Syndrome. “Oh, come on, he wouldn’t do that!” they’d say. And even for those who thought this outrageous affront to the civic order might be possible, they’d certainly take great offense if I followed up with, “Not only will he try to steal the election with deranged conspiracy theories, not only will his champions call for martial law to erase the loss, but you won’t say ‘boo’ about it. In fact, you’ll even say he should run again.”​

​

Well, that’s happened. They created this self-destructive mess. They created it by refusing to take the right path not just because the right path was hard, but because the wrong path was so easy. As Screwtape explains, “the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”​

​

Now, America isn’t in Hell, but the people who did nothing, or far too little, are daily beset by lesser, fresher, hells of their own making—and I’m making popcorn. The gloriously entertaining spectacle of Trump and his ambitious progeny suddenly having to deal with their own mini-Trumps in the form of Wood, Powell, and their minions is enough to turn their home-brewed dumpster juice into a delicious elixir sweeter even than liberal tears.​

​

Mike Pence fading into the shrubbery like Homer Simpson is a profile in strategic cowardice of schadenfreudtastic proportions. The exquisite agony of Republicans righteously insisting that their own election was devoid of fraud while mumbling that there are “legitimate questions” about the candidate at the top of their own ticket makes the fremdschämen humor of The Office seem like a particularly uplifting episode of Little House on the Prairie by comparison. The Fox pundits who spent years monetizing Trump sycophancy suddenly having to grapple with the object of their toadying turning on their prized soapbox is splendiferously karmic.​

​

I understand that this all sounds awfully self-righteous. But I’ll tell you, I feel like I deserve my gloating. I’m not alone in my right to it, but I deserve my share. I’ve been saying “don’t do this” for five years and I’ve been mocked and shunned for it. So forgive me if I enjoy my I-told-you-so moment. Or don’t forgive me. I’m used to it.​

Screwtape Went Down to Georgia

'The safest road to Hell is the gradual one.'

gfile.thedispatch.com

Word

What an absolute disgrace the GOP has become.

I'm de-regestering as a Republican as soon as I can. I can't be a part of this clown car shitshow any more.

Are you required to register a party or independent where you live. If so, does it effect what primary you can vote it?

 

[Tom Paine 1949]

Oh look, the Left are C. S. Lewis fans now?

This is my favorite quote

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.”

Describes Progressives far more accurately than I could ever do.

But once again, when delving into the Christian faith the Left are way out of their league, which contradicts the Alynski principle of only commenting on something you have expertise in. Otherwise, just slander them and call them names.

Please stop violating the rules to your Leftists manuel.

Nice quote. It makes me laugh and certainly rings true of many Liberals. But I still hope you have given up smoking cigarettes and drinking hard liquor by the bottle! DrLove‘s C.S.Lewis quote is also perfect, and perfectly makes Jonah Goldberg’s point about Trump grifters and Republican politicians who abandoned their judgement and righteousness to get on the Trump train. Funny how both can be so accurate, isn’t it?

 

[LordBrownTrout]

For context (I was Screwtape ignorant so used Mr Googley ;-)

Screwtape appears as a fictional demon in the book The Screwtape Letters (1942) and in its sequel short story Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1959), both written by the Christian author C. S. Lewis. Screwtape is also the title of the stage adaptation of the Letters by James Forsyth (originally Dear Wormwood, 1961).

Screwtape holds the rank of Senior Tempter and serves as the Undersecretary of his department in what Lewis envisages as a sort of infernal Civil Service. The Screwtape Letters represent his side of the correspondence with his nephew Wormwood, as mentor to the young demon who is charged with the guidance of one man. The Toast is Screwtape's after-dinner speech at the Tempters' Training College and satirises American and British or English public education. Screwtape has a secretary called Toadpipe.

Screwtape appears to understand very well the nature of human minds and human weaknesses, although nothing about human love. He also has a way with words and a fondness for sarcasm.

Here's the pithiest snip:

For nearly five years now, it has been obvious that Trump was unfit for the job and the arguments marshaled in his defense were cynical rationalizations that, for some, eventually mutated into sincerely held delusions. Sure, some deluded themselves from the beginning, but I’ve talked to too many Republican politicians and conservative media darlings who admitted it in private. And even the griftier gibbons going full Gorka as they fling their own feces for fun and profit in Trump’s defense knew it. At least Steve Bannon, whose greatest contribution to political discourse has been to introduce the concept of “flooding the zone with shit,” is fairly straightforward about seeing Trump as a tool—in every sense. He’s leaked more anti-Trump tales to more anti-Trump journalists than anyone.​

​

For the Bannonistas, following the wrong path wasn’t a hard choice, but an easy one. You think Jenna Ellis, who rates as a Z-team legal talent only because our alphabet is limited to 26 characters, would become a legal adviser to a president under normal circumstances?​

​

But for a lot of otherwise decent politicians and commentators, doing the right thing was just too damn hard. At every stage, they fed the Trumpian alligator another piece of themselves and said “This much, but no more.” But now all that is left are stumps, and it’s hard to walk in the right direction on stumps or hold your hands up to shout, “Stop!” when you have no hands.​

​

Again, I think most of these people are good people, but good people can be wrong. And if there’s any lesson to be gleaned from 2,000 years of Judeo-Christian influenced literature, it’s that good people can simultaneously be seduced and blind to their seduction and the compromises that come with it. See Graham, Lindsey.​

​

If, six months ago, I were to describe the last month to the politicians still rewarding and encouraging Trump’s behavior, most would say I was succumbing to Trump Derangement Syndrome. “Oh, come on, he wouldn’t do that!” they’d say. And even for those who thought this outrageous affront to the civic order might be possible, they’d certainly take great offense if I followed up with, “Not only will he try to steal the election with deranged conspiracy theories, not only will his champions call for martial law to erase the loss, but you won’t say ‘boo’ about it. In fact, you’ll even say he should run again.”​

​

Well, that’s happened. They created this self-destructive mess. They created it by refusing to take the right path not just because the right path was hard, but because the wrong path was so easy. As Screwtape explains, “the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”​

​

Now, America isn’t in Hell, but the people who did nothing, or far too little, are daily beset by lesser, fresher, hells of their own making—and I’m making popcorn. The gloriously entertaining spectacle of Trump and his ambitious progeny suddenly having to deal with their own mini-Trumps in the form of Wood, Powell, and their minions is enough to turn their home-brewed dumpster juice into a delicious elixir sweeter even than liberal tears.​

​

Mike Pence fading into the shrubbery like Homer Simpson is a profile in strategic cowardice of schadenfreudtastic proportions. The exquisite agony of Republicans righteously insisting that their own election was devoid of fraud while mumbling that there are “legitimate questions” about the candidate at the top of their own ticket makes the fremdschämen humor of The Office seem like a particularly uplifting episode of Little House on the Prairie by comparison. The Fox pundits who spent years monetizing Trump sycophancy suddenly having to grapple with the object of their toadying turning on their prized soapbox is splendiferously karmic.​

​

I understand that this all sounds awfully self-righteous. But I’ll tell you, I feel like I deserve my gloating. I’m not alone in my right to it, but I deserve my share. I’ve been saying “don’t do this” for five years and I’ve been mocked and shunned for it. So forgive me if I enjoy my I-told-you-so moment. Or don’t forgive me. I’m used to it.​

Screwtape Went Down to Georgia

'The safest road to Hell is the gradual one.'

gfile.thedispatch.com

Word

What an absolute disgrace the GOP has become.

I'm de-regestering as a Republican as soon as I can. I can't be a part of this clown car shitshow any more.

Lol, enjoy the lib carnival. The entire show is a freak show.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

For context (I was Screwtape ignorant so used Mr Googley ;-)

Screwtape appears as a fictional demon in the book The Screwtape Letters (1942) and in its sequel short story Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1959), both written by the Christian author C. S. Lewis. Screwtape is also the title of the stage adaptation of the Letters by James Forsyth (originally Dear Wormwood, 1961).

Screwtape holds the rank of Senior Tempter and serves as the Undersecretary of his department in what Lewis envisages as a sort of infernal Civil Service. The Screwtape Letters represent his side of the correspondence with his nephew Wormwood, as mentor to the young demon who is charged with the guidance of one man. The Toast is Screwtape's after-dinner speech at the Tempters' Training College and satirises American and British or English public education. Screwtape has a secretary called Toadpipe.

Screwtape appears to understand very well the nature of human minds and human weaknesses, although nothing about human love. He also has a way with words and a fondness for sarcasm.

Here's the pithiest snip:

For nearly five years now, it has been obvious that Trump was unfit for the job and the arguments marshaled in his defense were cynical rationalizations that, for some, eventually mutated into sincerely held delusions. Sure, some deluded themselves from the beginning, but I’ve talked to too many Republican politicians and conservative media darlings who admitted it in private. And even the griftier gibbons going full Gorka as they fling their own feces for fun and profit in Trump’s defense knew it. At least Steve Bannon, whose greatest contribution to political discourse has been to introduce the concept of “flooding the zone with shit,” is fairly straightforward about seeing Trump as a tool—in every sense. He’s leaked more anti-Trump tales to more anti-Trump journalists than anyone.​

​

For the Bannonistas, following the wrong path wasn’t a hard choice, but an easy one. You think Jenna Ellis, who rates as a Z-team legal talent only because our alphabet is limited to 26 characters, would become a legal adviser to a president under normal circumstances?​

​

But for a lot of otherwise decent politicians and commentators, doing the right thing was just too damn hard. At every stage, they fed the Trumpian alligator another piece of themselves and said “This much, but no more.” But now all that is left are stumps, and it’s hard to walk in the right direction on stumps or hold your hands up to shout, “Stop!” when you have no hands.​

​

Again, I think most of these people are good people, but good people can be wrong. And if there’s any lesson to be gleaned from 2,000 years of Judeo-Christian influenced literature, it’s that good people can simultaneously be seduced and blind to their seduction and the compromises that come with it. See Graham, Lindsey.​

​

If, six months ago, I were to describe the last month to the politicians still rewarding and encouraging Trump’s behavior, most would say I was succumbing to Trump Derangement Syndrome. “Oh, come on, he wouldn’t do that!” they’d say. And even for those who thought this outrageous affront to the civic order might be possible, they’d certainly take great offense if I followed up with, “Not only will he try to steal the election with deranged conspiracy theories, not only will his champions call for martial law to erase the loss, but you won’t say ‘boo’ about it. In fact, you’ll even say he should run again.”​

​

Well, that’s happened. They created this self-destructive mess. They created it by refusing to take the right path not just because the right path was hard, but because the wrong path was so easy. As Screwtape explains, “the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”​

​

Now, America isn’t in Hell, but the people who did nothing, or far too little, are daily beset by lesser, fresher, hells of their own making—and I’m making popcorn. The gloriously entertaining spectacle of Trump and his ambitious progeny suddenly having to deal with their own mini-Trumps in the form of Wood, Powell, and their minions is enough to turn their home-brewed dumpster juice into a delicious elixir sweeter even than liberal tears.​

​

Mike Pence fading into the shrubbery like Homer Simpson is a profile in strategic cowardice of schadenfreudtastic proportions. The exquisite agony of Republicans righteously insisting that their own election was devoid of fraud while mumbling that there are “legitimate questions” about the candidate at the top of their own ticket makes the fremdschämen humor of The Office seem like a particularly uplifting episode of Little House on the Prairie by comparison. The Fox pundits who spent years monetizing Trump sycophancy suddenly having to grapple with the object of their toadying turning on their prized soapbox is splendiferously karmic.​

​

I understand that this all sounds awfully self-righteous. But I’ll tell you, I feel like I deserve my gloating. I’m not alone in my right to it, but I deserve my share. I’ve been saying “don’t do this” for five years and I’ve been mocked and shunned for it. So forgive me if I enjoy my I-told-you-so moment. Or don’t forgive me. I’m used to it.​

Screwtape Went Down to Georgia

'The safest road to Hell is the gradual one.'

gfile.thedispatch.com

Good is a relative term based in the temporal emotional feelings junk. We're all wretched.

 

[MaryAnne11]

For context (I was Screwtape ignorant so used Mr Googley ;-)

Screwtape appears as a fictional demon in the book The Screwtape Letters (1942) and in its sequel short story Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1959), both written by the Christian author C. S. Lewis. Screwtape is also the title of the stage adaptation of the Letters by James Forsyth (originally Dear Wormwood, 1961).

Screwtape holds the rank of Senior Tempter and serves as the Undersecretary of his department in what Lewis envisages as a sort of infernal Civil Service. The Screwtape Letters represent his side of the correspondence with his nephew Wormwood, as mentor to the young demon who is charged with the guidance of one man. The Toast is Screwtape's after-dinner speech at the Tempters' Training College and satirises American and British or English public education. Screwtape has a secretary called Toadpipe.

Screwtape appears to understand very well the nature of human minds and human weaknesses, although nothing about human love. He also has a way with words and a fondness for sarcasm.

Here's the pithiest snip:

For nearly five years now, it has been obvious that Trump was unfit for the job and the arguments marshaled in his defense were cynical rationalizations that, for some, eventually mutated into sincerely held delusions. Sure, some deluded themselves from the beginning, but I’ve talked to too many Republican politicians and conservative media darlings who admitted it in private. And even the griftier gibbons going full Gorka as they fling their own feces for fun and profit in Trump’s defense knew it. At least Steve Bannon, whose greatest contribution to political discourse has been to introduce the concept of “flooding the zone with shit,” is fairly straightforward about seeing Trump as a tool—in every sense. He’s leaked more anti-Trump tales to more anti-Trump journalists than anyone.​

​

For the Bannonistas, following the wrong path wasn’t a hard choice, but an easy one. You think Jenna Ellis, who rates as a Z-team legal talent only because our alphabet is limited to 26 characters, would become a legal adviser to a president under normal circumstances?​

​

But for a lot of otherwise decent politicians and commentators, doing the right thing was just too damn hard. At every stage, they fed the Trumpian alligator another piece of themselves and said “This much, but no more.” But now all that is left are stumps, and it’s hard to walk in the right direction on stumps or hold your hands up to shout, “Stop!” when you have no hands.​

​

Again, I think most of these people are good people, but good people can be wrong. And if there’s any lesson to be gleaned from 2,000 years of Judeo-Christian influenced literature, it’s that good people can simultaneously be seduced and blind to their seduction and the compromises that come with it. See Graham, Lindsey.​

​

If, six months ago, I were to describe the last month to the politicians still rewarding and encouraging Trump’s behavior, most would say I was succumbing to Trump Derangement Syndrome. “Oh, come on, he wouldn’t do that!” they’d say. And even for those who thought this outrageous affront to the civic order might be possible, they’d certainly take great offense if I followed up with, “Not only will he try to steal the election with deranged conspiracy theories, not only will his champions call for martial law to erase the loss, but you won’t say ‘boo’ about it. In fact, you’ll even say he should run again.”​

​

Well, that’s happened. They created this self-destructive mess. They created it by refusing to take the right path not just because the right path was hard, but because the wrong path was so easy. As Screwtape explains, “the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”​

​

Now, America isn’t in Hell, but the people who did nothing, or far too little, are daily beset by lesser, fresher, hells of their own making—and I’m making popcorn. The gloriously entertaining spectacle of Trump and his ambitious progeny suddenly having to deal with their own mini-Trumps in the form of Wood, Powell, and their minions is enough to turn their home-brewed dumpster juice into a delicious elixir sweeter even than liberal tears.​

​

Mike Pence fading into the shrubbery like Homer Simpson is a profile in strategic cowardice of schadenfreudtastic proportions. The exquisite agony of Republicans righteously insisting that their own election was devoid of fraud while mumbling that there are “legitimate questions” about the candidate at the top of their own ticket makes the fremdschämen humor of The Office seem like a particularly uplifting episode of Little House on the Prairie by comparison. The Fox pundits who spent years monetizing Trump sycophancy suddenly having to grapple with the object of their toadying turning on their prized soapbox is splendiferously karmic.​

​

I understand that this all sounds awfully self-righteous. But I’ll tell you, I feel like I deserve my gloating. I’m not alone in my right to it, but I deserve my share. I’ve been saying “don’t do this” for five years and I’ve been mocked and shunned for it. So forgive me if I enjoy my I-told-you-so moment. Or don’t forgive me. I’m used to it.​

Screwtape Went Down to Georgia

'The safest road to Hell is the gradual one.'

gfile.thedispatch.com

Really good article. I am reading more Jonah Goldberg at The Dispatch, as well as Jonathan V. Last at the Bullwork these days and enjoying it immensely. Thanks for linking this article at The Dispatch.

Not only Jonah Goldberg, Lucianne’s son, but Peggy Noonan is joining Jonah..

Now we find this! We had a vaccine all along.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/moderna-covid-19-vaccine-design.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=news_tab&utm_content=algorithm

 

[White 6]

Really good article. I am reading more Jonah Goldberg at The Dispatch, as well as Jonathan V. Last at the Bullwork these days and enjoying it immensely. Thanks for linking this article at The Dispatch.

Wasn't Jonah on the Trump Train for a little while at least? What I think I enjoyed the most about this piece was the humor. He used it to make incredibly salient points.

Most likely. Probably many republican were and apparently many still are. He strikes me as a center right conservative, not presently in the tank for either party and definitely not on the trump train. I do not hold people's past momentary preferences against them, unless it is the communist party or the Nazi party, etc. Some choices, do in fact show a level of lack of judgement and common sense, that I do write them off forever.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

For context (I was Screwtape ignorant so used Mr Googley ;-)

Screwtape appears as a fictional demon in the book The Screwtape Letters (1942) and in its sequel short story Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1959), both written by the Christian author C. S. Lewis. Screwtape is also the title of the stage adaptation of the Letters by James Forsyth (originally Dear Wormwood, 1961).

Screwtape holds the rank of Senior Tempter and serves as the Undersecretary of his department in what Lewis envisages as a sort of infernal Civil Service. The Screwtape Letters represent his side of the correspondence with his nephew Wormwood, as mentor to the young demon who is charged with the guidance of one man. The Toast is Screwtape's after-dinner speech at the Tempters' Training College and satirises American and British or English public education. Screwtape has a secretary called Toadpipe.

Screwtape appears to understand very well the nature of human minds and human weaknesses, although nothing about human love. He also has a way with words and a fondness for sarcasm.

Here's the pithiest snip:

For nearly five years now, it has been obvious that Trump was unfit for the job and the arguments marshaled in his defense were cynical rationalizations that, for some, eventually mutated into sincerely held delusions. Sure, some deluded themselves from the beginning, but I’ve talked to too many Republican politicians and conservative media darlings who admitted it in private. And even the griftier gibbons going full Gorka as they fling their own feces for fun and profit in Trump’s defense knew it. At least Steve Bannon, whose greatest contribution to political discourse has been to introduce the concept of “flooding the zone with shit,” is fairly straightforward about seeing Trump as a tool—in every sense. He’s leaked more anti-Trump tales to more anti-Trump journalists than anyone.​

​

For the Bannonistas, following the wrong path wasn’t a hard choice, but an easy one. You think Jenna Ellis, who rates as a Z-team legal talent only because our alphabet is limited to 26 characters, would become a legal adviser to a president under normal circumstances?​

​

But for a lot of otherwise decent politicians and commentators, doing the right thing was just too damn hard. At every stage, they fed the Trumpian alligator another piece of themselves and said “This much, but no more.” But now all that is left are stumps, and it’s hard to walk in the right direction on stumps or hold your hands up to shout, “Stop!” when you have no hands.​

​

Again, I think most of these people are good people, but good people can be wrong. And if there’s any lesson to be gleaned from 2,000 years of Judeo-Christian influenced literature, it’s that good people can simultaneously be seduced and blind to their seduction and the compromises that come with it. See Graham, Lindsey.​

​

If, six months ago, I were to describe the last month to the politicians still rewarding and encouraging Trump’s behavior, most would say I was succumbing to Trump Derangement Syndrome. “Oh, come on, he wouldn’t do that!” they’d say. And even for those who thought this outrageous affront to the civic order might be possible, they’d certainly take great offense if I followed up with, “Not only will he try to steal the election with deranged conspiracy theories, not only will his champions call for martial law to erase the loss, but you won’t say ‘boo’ about it. In fact, you’ll even say he should run again.”​

​

Well, that’s happened. They created this self-destructive mess. They created it by refusing to take the right path not just because the right path was hard, but because the wrong path was so easy. As Screwtape explains, “the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”​

​

Now, America isn’t in Hell, but the people who did nothing, or far too little, are daily beset by lesser, fresher, hells of their own making—and I’m making popcorn. The gloriously entertaining spectacle of Trump and his ambitious progeny suddenly having to deal with their own mini-Trumps in the form of Wood, Powell, and their minions is enough to turn their home-brewed dumpster juice into a delicious elixir sweeter even than liberal tears.​

​

Mike Pence fading into the shrubbery like Homer Simpson is a profile in strategic cowardice of schadenfreudtastic proportions. The exquisite agony of Republicans righteously insisting that their own election was devoid of fraud while mumbling that there are “legitimate questions” about the candidate at the top of their own ticket makes the fremdschämen humor of The Office seem like a particularly uplifting episode of Little House on the Prairie by comparison. The Fox pundits who spent years monetizing Trump sycophancy suddenly having to grapple with the object of their toadying turning on their prized soapbox is splendiferously karmic.​

​

I understand that this all sounds awfully self-righteous. But I’ll tell you, I feel like I deserve my gloating. I’m not alone in my right to it, but I deserve my share. I’ve been saying “don’t do this” for five years and I’ve been mocked and shunned for it. So forgive me if I enjoy my I-told-you-so moment. Or don’t forgive me. I’m used to it.​

Screwtape Went Down to Georgia

'The safest road to Hell is the gradual one.'

gfile.thedispatch.com

Really good article. I am reading more Jonah Goldberg at The Dispatch, as well as Jonathan V. Last at the Bullwork these days and enjoying it immensely. Thanks for linking this article at The Dispatch.

Not only Jonah Goldberg, Lucianne’s son, but Peggy Noonan is joining Jonah..

Now we find this! We had a vaccine all along.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/moderna-covid-19-vaccine-design.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=news_tab&utm_content=algorithm

This entire scam was planned. Fauci was pushing millions to China for access to their data on this bioweapon. They had event 201 in October last year which simulated a coronavirus outbreak.....and then magically a couple of months later the virus was accidentally released. Lol. Never fear though. Watch the preview to Songbird movie for some more upcoming previews of what's in store. Better yet, go peruse the CDC website and look at their plans in shielding approaches.

 

[Eric Arthur Blair]

Oh look, the Left are C. S. Lewis fans now?

This is my favorite quote

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.”

Describes Progressives far more accurately than I could ever do.

But once again, when delving into the Christian faith the Left are way out of their league, which contradicts the Alynski principle of only commenting on something you have expertise in. Otherwise, just slander them and call them names.

Please stop violating the rules to your Leftists manuel.

Nice quote. It makes me laugh and certainly rings true of many Liberals. But I still hope you have given up smoking cigarettes and drinking hard liquor by the bottle! DrLove ‘s C.S.Lewis quote is also perfect, and perfectly makes Jonah Goldberg’s point about Trump grifters and Republican politicians who abandoned their judgement and righteousness to get on the Trump train. Funny how both can be so accurate, isn’t it?

Funny how you can cherry pick literary quotes to fit your purpose.
Goldberg is just a somewhat gifted writer who fell down the rabid anti Trump rabbit hole and has decided
it is wise to side with the Devil (leftist sociopaths and their socialist nirvana) then restrain himself from
attacking a president who has undoubtedly and demonstrably been good for America.

That's the part I can't understand. If Trump had us involved in conflicts all over the world while our country
suffered economically I could at least see the intractable opposition to his presidency.
But that's not the case. He has done the opposite. He's been a peacemaker in the Middle East and our economy (covid notwithstanding) has seldom done so well.

Trump opposes globalists and the Chinese global vampires so maybe that explains a lot of the
Trump hate.

Hate is one thing. Stupid self hate that cuts one's own throat is another.

 

[Billiejeens]

Using sequestered Dominion Equipment, Ware County ran a equal number of Trump votes and Biden votes through the Tabulator and the Tabulator reported a 26% lead for Biden.

37 Trump votes used in the equal sample run had been “Switched” from Trump to Biden. In actual algorithmic terms this means that a vote for Trump was counted as 87% of a vote and a vote for Biden was counted as 113% of a vote.

Those conducting the test were so shocked that they ran the same ballots again. The same results appeared.

 

[g5000]

For context (I was Screwtape ignorant so used Mr Googley ;-)

Screwtape appears as a fictional demon in the book The Screwtape Letters (1942) and in its sequel short story Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1959), both written by the Christian author C. S. Lewis. Screwtape is also the title of the stage adaptation of the Letters by James Forsyth (originally Dear Wormwood, 1961).

Screwtape holds the rank of Senior Tempter and serves as the Undersecretary of his department in what Lewis envisages as a sort of infernal Civil Service. The Screwtape Letters represent his side of the correspondence with his nephew Wormwood, as mentor to the young demon who is charged with the guidance of one man. The Toast is Screwtape's after-dinner speech at the Tempters' Training College and satirises American and British or English public education. Screwtape has a secretary called Toadpipe.

Screwtape appears to understand very well the nature of human minds and human weaknesses, although nothing about human love. He also has a way with words and a fondness for sarcasm.

Here's the pithiest snip:

For nearly five years now, it has been obvious that Trump was unfit for the job and the arguments marshaled in his defense were cynical rationalizations that, for some, eventually mutated into sincerely held delusions. Sure, some deluded themselves from the beginning, but I’ve talked to too many Republican politicians and conservative media darlings who admitted it in private. And even the griftier gibbons going full Gorka as they fling their own feces for fun and profit in Trump’s defense knew it. At least Steve Bannon, whose greatest contribution to political discourse has been to introduce the concept of “flooding the zone with shit,” is fairly straightforward about seeing Trump as a tool—in every sense. He’s leaked more anti-Trump tales to more anti-Trump journalists than anyone.​

​

For the Bannonistas, following the wrong path wasn’t a hard choice, but an easy one. You think Jenna Ellis, who rates as a Z-team legal talent only because our alphabet is limited to 26 characters, would become a legal adviser to a president under normal circumstances?​

​

But for a lot of otherwise decent politicians and commentators, doing the right thing was just too damn hard. At every stage, they fed the Trumpian alligator another piece of themselves and said “This much, but no more.” But now all that is left are stumps, and it’s hard to walk in the right direction on stumps or hold your hands up to shout, “Stop!” when you have no hands.​

​

Again, I think most of these people are good people, but good people can be wrong. And if there’s any lesson to be gleaned from 2,000 years of Judeo-Christian influenced literature, it’s that good people can simultaneously be seduced and blind to their seduction and the compromises that come with it. See Graham, Lindsey.​

​

If, six months ago, I were to describe the last month to the politicians still rewarding and encouraging Trump’s behavior, most would say I was succumbing to Trump Derangement Syndrome. “Oh, come on, he wouldn’t do that!” they’d say. And even for those who thought this outrageous affront to the civic order might be possible, they’d certainly take great offense if I followed up with, “Not only will he try to steal the election with deranged conspiracy theories, not only will his champions call for martial law to erase the loss, but you won’t say ‘boo’ about it. In fact, you’ll even say he should run again.”​

​

Well, that’s happened. They created this self-destructive mess. They created it by refusing to take the right path not just because the right path was hard, but because the wrong path was so easy. As Screwtape explains, “the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”​

​

Now, America isn’t in Hell, but the people who did nothing, or far too little, are daily beset by lesser, fresher, hells of their own making—and I’m making popcorn. The gloriously entertaining spectacle of Trump and his ambitious progeny suddenly having to deal with their own mini-Trumps in the form of Wood, Powell, and their minions is enough to turn their home-brewed dumpster juice into a delicious elixir sweeter even than liberal tears.​

​

Mike Pence fading into the shrubbery like Homer Simpson is a profile in strategic cowardice of schadenfreudtastic proportions. The exquisite agony of Republicans righteously insisting that their own election was devoid of fraud while mumbling that there are “legitimate questions” about the candidate at the top of their own ticket makes the fremdschämen humor of The Office seem like a particularly uplifting episode of Little House on the Prairie by comparison. The Fox pundits who spent years monetizing Trump sycophancy suddenly having to grapple with the object of their toadying turning on their prized soapbox is splendiferously karmic.​

​

I understand that this all sounds awfully self-righteous. But I’ll tell you, I feel like I deserve my gloating. I’m not alone in my right to it, but I deserve my share. I’ve been saying “don’t do this” for five years and I’ve been mocked and shunned for it. So forgive me if I enjoy my I-told-you-so moment. Or don’t forgive me. I’m used to it.​

Screwtape Went Down to Georgia

'The safest road to Hell is the gradual one.'

gfile.thedispatch.com

Word

What an absolute disgrace the GOP has become.

I'm de-regestering as a Republican as soon as I can. I can't be a part of this clown car shitshow any more.

Are you required to register a party or independent where you live. If so, does it effect what primary you can vote it?

I de-registered as a Republican and registered as an Independent about halfway through Trump's presidency.

Where I live, the state leaves it up to the parties whether or not their primaries are open or closed. For 2020, both parties decided to have closed primaries. As a registered independent, I therefore did not get a primary ballot.

 

[Tom Paine 1949]

... to side with the Devil ...

There are many “devilishly” complex problems our country and the world faces. Covid is small potatoes comparitively. What are these bigger even more complex problems? First is that our Wall Street financial empire, backed by our “globalist” network of military bases, is in chaotic and inevitable decline.

The dilemma is that we have built and prospered in the past from the very systems that control us and the world, and yet nobody can bring back that past.

We can no longer dramatically outproduce our many competitors in real economic terms. Our leaders in both parties either can’t or don’t want to heal our social divisions. Resolving all these problems requires leaders who recognize above all that there is no path backwards to U.S. unilateral dominance of the world, and detente is necessary in a multipolar world.

What is required is honestly and objectively defining our problems, and honesty & competence in dealing with them. Honesty and competence are both characteristics completely lacking in Trump. Our country in 2016 democratically elected a narcissistic demagogue who had spent most of his life as a wannabe power broker, hustler and popular entertainer, and was famous in the business community for being a rich conman grifter. He hasn’t a clue about what really must be done, but he is willing to see the country torn apart to satisfy his egomania. You have bought his patent medicine of “MAGA,” so of course you don’t agree.

The candidate who you believe was “fighting the devil” more than half the country believed was an unstable and dangerous demagogue who was actually tearing our country apart. Even though I agree with some of his supposed “positions,” I am convinced he would have ended up insane in the White House, leading our country to disaster.