While caustically critical of ecclesiastical connections and doctrine determined by church clergy councils, claiming to offer their members the abilty to interpret and apply the principles of the Bible according to their own spiritual discernment, there is a hard line of established dogma, based on a singular, literalist interpretation of the Bible that leaves zero room for dissent or personal application. Much of it is contradictory to any reasonable, historical and contextual interpretation of the Bible, especially the revelation of the gospel directly given by Jesus, whom they claim was the Son of God.

If that's the case, then wouldn't the revelation he preached be exactly the words that God initiated, and therefore the interpretive filter for everything everyone else ever wrote that made it into the canon? And yet, the gospel is not considered in most Evangelical doctrine or practice. They define "gospel" as any single verse picked out of a verse by verse rendering of the text, and what it says when it stands alone. So they wind up denying the core principles that are essential to Christian faith and practice.

So even when a celebrity who has become an idol among the faithful deviates from the accepted dogma, they become the enemy, the apostate, the fallen. And so, in the flash of an eye, another celebrity idolized by the conservative Evangelical community because of his fame and because he was one of them is no longer one of them. He dared to think for himself, stop parrotting the party line and draw his own conclusion about a Biblical interpretation. And those who have prided themselves on believing in the Bible's inerrancy, and in this principle of soul freedom, something they condemn mainline Protestants for not believing, have taken this privilege and freedom away from one of their own.

And they aren't able to see how that makes them hypocrites.

Trump's name calling episode involving Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, and the small community of Somali-Americans is, of course, a sign of his ignorance, and possibly his mental failure. His statements display total ignorance, about Representative Omar and about the community of Somali-Americans in Minnesote, and in the United States. Trump, of course, lies about everything and then asserts that his lies are true in order to justify his unjustifiable actions. He is a person who exemplifies nothing at all when it comes to personal character and morality, or any kind of values, especially American values.

Ilhan Omar has, on four occasions, won the trust of a significant majority of the voters in her Congressional district, and Trump's recent comments, labelling her, along with other Somali-Americans "garbage," in his inartucluate, stunted vocabulary of hate, are not anywhere close to an accurate representation of who she is. In Minnesota's fifth congressional district, she is twice as popular as Trump has been among voters.

And that's saying something.

The fifth congressional district is made up of almost all of the city of Minneapolis, one of the more progressive, educated and, I don't mind using this term, sophisticated cities in the country. It also includes large swaths of the suburbs to the west of the city, an area where the population is economically healthy for the most part, above average in educational level and quite diverse racially and ethnically. It actually has lower crime rates than comparable large cities and suburbs elsewhere, though it is not completely without its problems and issues. But then, neither is any other large city. Still, the community atmosphere there is a credit to the state's and city's political leadership, who happen to be majority Democrat

My heart goes out to Stephanie Miller this week. It's been a difficult time. First, she was hit with the news that a former associate and current friend, Jim Ward passed away. Yet, she came on the show that morning and managed to get through, giving him an on-air recognition of his life. It was obvious to hear her grief in her voice, and I think she deserves a lot of credit for going ahead with it, in spite of her grief, and what she was feeling. She shared that openly with her audience because, well, that's the kind of person she is, and it was the right thing to do. Then this morning, it sounded for a minute like we were right back in last week, as she mourned for friends Rob and Michelle Reiner, stabbed to death yesterday by their son.

But this is the kind of show that Stephanie Miller gives to us. She shares her feelings, her heart, and the facts, and makes it lighthearted and funny most of the time. It's the highlight of my commute to work every morning, partly because it is so entertaining, but mostly because she is one in a shrinking pool of political comedians who still tells the truth, insists on being factual, and who actually cares about her listening audience enough to make sure she is straightforward and reliable.

This kind of programming is important, because the current Presidential administration and the party in the majority in Congress are baldfaced liars. Yes, indeed, they certainly are. We need people in the media, like Stephanie Miller to chase them down, and call them out with factual information, pointing out their contradictions and lies, which has become a full time job.

Stephanie Miller is a class act. And she's an absolute cornerstone of American Free Press right now. I sure hope she, and her program staff, remain safe and secure and continue to do exactly what they now do every day, and call out the fascist evil that has taken root in the White House. We are going to save our democracy, so she says just about every day, and she will be one of the main reasons why we will be able to. And as much as they stay safe, I also hope that they prosper, growing their audience as they call out the single most incompetent anti-patriot we've ever had as President.

She is already one of the reasons so many Americans seem to be up to this task.

The sitting President of the United States just referred to an elected member of Congress from Minnesota as "garbage." By now, this, of course, is not news. By now, what this should have been is an outrage, an unacceptable, unAmerican, unpatriotic, anti-Christian statement that should have generated immediate and forceful censureship from the Republican Party, because he claims to be one of them. From them, silence, which is to be expected, given their moral bankruptcy and their lack of patriotic American values.

So, too, should there have been immediate condemnation and rebuke from the pulpits of mega church conservative Evangelicals who love the focus of cameras and publicity on them, because such a statement is a direct contradiction of the whole of the Christian gospel, an indictment that can draw support from every word of Christ's sermon on the mount, and every apostolic principle found in the New Testament. It's a statement, directed from one human being to another, that demonstrates the very principle of "anti-Christ [see I John 4:1-3]. From them, too, unfortunately, there is silence, also to be expected, given their apostasy from the Christian gospel and their unprincipled selfishness.

It's pretty obvious that Omar has gone well beyond expectations in contributing to the progress and good will of the United States. Her appreciation for what she has received from being a citizen of this country is recognized by her gratitude, shown by the sacrifices she makes and work she performs for its protection and its prosperity. Her work has been affirmed by her constituents,, who have elected and re-elected her to serve four times, each time by margins which go far beyond the capability of the numbers of the former Somalians who have earned American citizenship and live in her district to produce.

Name-calling is one of the most petty behaviors in which politicians indulge. It reveals their character, or lack of it, revealing frustration over the fact that the facts do not support their own contentions and they can't win the argument with their opponent. What makes this particular name-calling by Trump especially disgusting, petty, and also ads the elements of being anti-American and anti-Christian to the mix, is that his basis for using the term has to do with Omar's ethnicity and religion. In American idealism, true patriots who understand the reason for this country's existence, and its constitutional democracy and the freedom it protects, do not openly demonstrate such bigotry.

A sprawling collection of discovery material now made public has unearthed explosive new details and previously unknown facts regarding the Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and the sexual abuse allegations involving former professor David Sills and his former student, Jennifer Lyell.

The documents, stemming from Sills’ ongoing defamation lawsuit against the SBC and others, expose a staggering chasm between the supportive public statements made by key denominational leaders and the private doubts, skepticism and hostility expressed in internal communications regarding abuse allegations and the survivor community.

Among the thousands of pages of court documents, new details from the deposition of former Lifeway Senior Vice President Eric Geiger provide a harrowing glimpse into the specific nature of the abuse Lyell reported to SBC leadership in 2018 — details that paint a far darker picture than the “morally inappropriate relationship” initially reported to the public by Baptist Press.

According to discovery documents and deposition testimony from Geiger, Lyell allegedly described a theological trap in which she felt compelled to “please the patriarch,” a twisted spiritual justification that allegedly framed years of sexual violence.

Come Up With a Workable, Single-Payer, Government Operated Health Care System
Both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were Democrats who had some great ideans and plans when it came to putting together universal health care for the American people. Obama's plan even reduced the actual cost of providing services, and increased the number of Americans who had access to quality medical care by the millions. Republicans could improve their political standing tremendously by coming up with a workable plan to reduce health care costs without reducing the quality of service provided.

Give the Tax Breaks to the Working Class
Stop treating billionaires like they can buy the ability to run the country their way. Lowering and paying off the national debt will help the economy in ways we might not ever thing about. The only way to do this is to make the billionaire one percenter class of Americans pay their fair share in taxes. Fair share means the amount of money which covers the cost of all of the government services from which they benefit in order to make their money, that's what it means. And that's a reasonably higher percentage of their income than the middle class or working class pays.

Dump Trump
If Republicans want to have even the slightest chance of not drowing in the coming tsunami, they've got to impeach and convict this President. Understand that J. D. Vance is not, in any way, shape or form, qualified to be President of the United States, either, he doesn't have anywhere close to the influence, negative or positive, that Trump does. And right now, Trump is a drag on the GOP that, even with their attempts to steal the election by gerrymandering, will cost them 40 seats in the House. Mark my words, I said it here.

Oh, and I don't expect the Republicans to take my advice here. I'm so confident they will never do the right thing for the American people that I can put it out here as a suggestion, knowing it is against their nature to be in favor of the life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of the American people.

Anything less than securing the agreement of Russia to withdraw from all Ukrainian territory under the control of the Ukrainian government when the nation was recognized by the United Nations and the United States would be a betrayal of Ukraine, and of our own values and principles as Americans. Trump's peace proposal, which shows incredible ignorance of who we are as a nation, as well as of Ukraine's long history and struggle for independence, is an embarassment to the United States. What President of the United States has ever been as ignorant of our own history and our own values as this deadbeat has been?

Is history so difficult for some Americans that they can't remember what happened even from a few years ago? Trump counts on Americans being ignorant of history, and bored with the details, so he can say whatever he wants to say and be believed. I believe that it was Adolf Hitler, in Mein Kampf, who stated that the "masses" are ignorant and they have short memories. Do we need to be reminded that it was Russia that began this aggression against Ukraine, first by seizing the Kerch Peninsula and the Crimea, and then by invading, bombing, launching drones and then heading out to conquer and hold the Donbas, an area that has been part of Ukraine, even during its days as a province of the Soviet Union, and under the Czars.

What should be acceptable to the United States, as conditions of peace in Ukraine, is pretty simple. The nation's sovereignty should be respected, and its territory restored. The Donbas, the Crimea, and any other area occupied by Russia needs to go back to Ukrainian sovereignty. Russia owes Ukraine whatever amount of money is required to repair its infrastructure damage, and the damage to residences and businesses bombed by planes or drones, and a reasonable reparations for military losses.

We cannot betray the sovereignty and rights of the Ukrainian people. That includes allowing them to decide whether they want to join NATO and if they do, then the United States leads the way in welcoming them in. The Europeans are outraged, rightly so, over Trump's proposal, and they correctly see that as a betrayal of them as well as Ukraine. I doubt the Europeans ever thought that Americans would elect a President who is as blatantly and willfully ignorant of history and his own country's Constitution as this one is.