Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are transgender children in both Republican and Democrat families who fear for their lives.
And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in our poultry farms and meat-packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shift in hospitals—they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.
Have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.
May God grant us all the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth in love, and walk humbly with one another and our God, for the good of all the people of this nation and the world.
Curmie has three other essays partially written, and he
acknowledges both that he’s late to this particular party and that he could
never be as informed or articulate as Hayden Vaughn or Mark Sandlin or Tom Christofferson. Rex Huppke’s snark is pretty good, too. Seriously, please
read those posts. All that said, Curmie
wants to follow up on a couple of ideas.
First, obviously, is that Bishop Budde owes no one an
apology for suggesting that <checks notes> “Blessed are the merciful”
(that’s Matthew 5:7, for those of you keeping score at home). Nor does her Church. The closest her critics can come to a
rational argument is that she shouldn’t have addressed her closing remarks
directly to the newly-installed President Trump.
To this criticism, Curmie offers the following rebuttal: 1).
It is her right, indeed her responsibility, to inject an ethical perspective
into the proceedings. Representing the
teachings of the faith the new President purports to believe in doesn’t seem
out of line. 2). The ceremony was part of the inauguration festivities. We know that because Trump was in a
church. (Curmie hasn’t attended a
regular church service—as opposed to, say, a wedding—in years, either. But Curmie isn’t a hypocritical billionaire
hawking autographed Bibles, either.)
But let’s move on to the reactions of three people in
particular. The first, of course, is the
POTUS himself. (That’s an acronym for Petulant
Obnoxious Toddler of Unusual Size, right?)
You can read his screed in its entirety here,
if you must. By now, though, you
probably know the salient points: that she’s a “so-called bishop,” a “Radical
Left hard line Trump hater,” that she was “was nasty in tone, and not
compelling or smart,” and “the service was a very boring and uninspiring one.” Yadda yadda yadda.
Actually, of course, she was simply doing her job,
suggesting that the most powerful man in the world (but don’t tell Elon that)
might show some mercy. She didn’t say anything
political, strictly speaking, at all.
That Trump would take offense at an indirect suggestion that he might
pay at least a little attention to one of the central tenets of the religion of
which he purports to be a member tells us all we need to know.
But we expect such brattiness from Trump, so it practically
doesn’t register. And, by now, we
probably ought to expect even greater inanity from Representative Mike Collins
of Georgia, who is primed to give his fellow Georgia Congresscritter Marjorie
Taylor Greene a run for her money if she wants to retain her title of Biggest
Idiot in American Politics. This is the
same yahoo who claimed that Joe Biden was behind that “assassination attempt”
on Trump that Curmie still isn’t convinced was anything but a poorly directed community theatre production.
Now this blithering buffoon has posted that New Jersey-born Bishop Budde “should be added to the deportation list.” Collins is, of course, too stupid to realize that in his zeal to protect the Tangerine Tribblehead that he’s undercutting what few philosophical underpinnings there are to the ongoing mass deportations (but notably, not from blue states with the exception of notoriously liberal Austin, Texas).
If you want to claim that people are are “criminals” if they’re in the country illegally, even if they’ve been taxpayers and community leaders for decades or if they arrived as infants and never knew another country, there’s at least a legalistic argument there. But Collins has shown very clearly that the intent of the MAGA minions isn’t grounded in the law, but in the attempt to get rid of anyone who isn’t willing to say and do whatever the Fat Felon wants.
And finally we move on to Karoline Leavitt,
the new White House Designated Liar Press Secretary, who claimed that
Budde had “weaponized the pulpit” (unlike, say, Franklin Graham or Jerry Falwell,
apparently), that her comments were “egregious,” and that “she should apologize
to President Trump for the lies that she told.”
Look, we all understand that whoever is in that job is expected to shill
for the boss, and if it takes a little dishonesty to do that, none of us are
shocked that we’re fed a line of bull.
This is true of every administration Curmie can remember; Republicans
don’t have a monopoly.
We can also extend to Leavitt at least a modicum of respect
for clinging (retroactively) to the legalistic argument outlined above. Technically, anyone in the country without
either citizenship or appropriate other credentials is a “criminal.” This would include even Dreamer kids, who
have done literally nothing “wrong” other than not leaving the only home they
have ever known, still as children, and without their parents... or a passport, for that matter. (Curmie expresses precisely zero surprise
that the DACA policy introduced by the Obama administration has been ruled unlawful by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which often rules in ways no
rational and even marginally empathetic person would do.)
So we can blame a little of Leavitt’s accusation that Budde “lied”
on an inelegant phrasing by the latter, but notice that Leavitt objects to Budde’s
“lies.” That’s plural. Where are the rest? Are there people in this country right now
who are scared? Hell, yes. Curmie is a little trepidatious, himself, and
he’s a cishet white male American-born citizen.
He does have this awful habit of speaking his mind, however, and that
there’s even a remote possibility that he’ll end up in trouble for that is more
than a little ominous.
Are there trans kids in both Republican and Democratic
households? Yes; Curmie knows both,
personally. Do “the vast majority” of
immigrants, even those without documentation, pay taxes? Yes.
Are they good neighbors?
Yes. Do they attend religious
services? At least as much as citizens
do. Are some of them “fleeing war zones
and persecution in their own lands”?
Yes. Does the Christian God teach
that “that we are to be merciful to the stranger”? Undeniably.
So… about that plural, Ms. Leavitt…
It is indeed clear that Budde is no fan of Trump. She wrote in response to Trump’s media stunt standing holding a Bible in front of St.
John’s Church after having police and National Guard troops clear the area with
flash-bang and tear gas munitions, “Mr. Trump used sacred symbols to cloak
himself in the mantle of spiritual authority, while espousing positions
antithetical to the Bible that he held in his hands.” Tell us what you really
think, Bishop!
By contrast, Budde is pretty accurate when she says “It was a pretty mild sermon. It certainly wasn’t a fire and brimstone
sermon. It was as respectful and as universal as I could, with the exception of
making someone who has been entrusted with such enormous influence and power to
have mercy on those who are most vulnerable.”
That seems reasonable enough to Curmie. He’s now officially a fan.
