If he selfishly blunders, Trump could lose backers as easily as he gained them
Meanwhile, blasphemous Biden uses the Sign of the Cross for promoting permissive abortion
Message from Dexter C. Duggan: To provide some other news and events, here are two articles I wrote that went to press on April 25 in the other publication I’m with, the national weekly Catholic paper The Wanderer (the issue dated for May 2). I’ll be posting my regular Substack.com article here this weekend.
One of these two articles notes that new conservative hero House Speaker Mike Johnson soon betrayed followers, but Trump seemed to think there was a benefit to endorsing turncoat behavior.
The other article reports that Joe Biden actually made the Sign of the Cross as he prepared to promote abortion in Florida. Did Biden think he could get away with this blasphemy? (Maybe somewhat, if dominant media tried to keep it quiet.) Or had he actually lost his mind and hoped that, by signing himself as another speaker denounced pro-life laws, Biden could drive away the so-called evil vampire of protecting preborn babies?
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Why folks like Trump got fans, and how fast fans could flee — Mike Johnson latest example of turncoat, but Orange Man defends him
By DEXTER C. DUGGAN
PHOENIX -- If Donald Trump and his strong supporter Kari Lake would like to disprove that their backing comes from just blind followers, all that Trump and Lake have to do is show disloyalty to the followers' ideals.
These politicians' fans weren't strongly attracted to them because of something like celebrity worship, but because the fans thought they saw rare strength and courage rising above a sea of mediocrity where cowardly politicians routinely betray voters while cutting backroom deals for themselves.
The routine politicians swear support for vital stands but quickly reverse themselves to serve their own interests while once again leaving Americans out in the cold.
It went on for so long, voters grew numb to politics -- until some person comes along who manages to give them hope in integrity and honor again.
We'll look a bit more at Trump and Lake, but first let's turn to subjects including the very disappointing U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.).
Little known to the general public, Johnson soared into the speaker's chair last year with support from his House colleagues as being, among various qualities, the conservative fulfillment of the long-deferred wish for actual U.S. border security, especially during the callous globalism of Democrat Joe Biden and unending millions of illegal immigrants Biden eagerly welcomed.
Johnson, accompanied by other GOP Congressmen, soon went right down to the Texas-Mexico border and trumpeted his toughness.
On January 3, 2024, The Texas Tribune posted that Johnson "said that if President Joe Biden wants Republican support for helping Ukraine and Israel in their wars, he needs to crack down on illegal immigration at the [U.S.] border.
"'If President Biden wants a supplemental spending bill focused on national security, it better begin by defending America's national security. It begins right here on our southern border,' Johnson said during a news conference at the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, where he was accompanied by 60 other House Republican lawmakers...
"Johnson made it clear ... that to get House Republicans’ support, he [Biden] would have to get behind a hardline immigration proposal that House Republicans approved last year -- without any Democratic votes -- to build more border walls and put restrictions on asylum claims by migrants.
"'We want to get the border closed and secured [here] first,' Johnson said," the Tribune said.
Of course, that's not how it worked out.
Speaker Johnson quickly abandons key stand
Impressive-sounding GOP hero Johnson soon abandoned his position on U.S. border security while helping Biden and the Democratic Party secure the tens of billions of tax dollars they wanted to fund Biden's manipulative overseas agenda -- even though badly impaired Biden kept the U.S. border ripped wide open.
And immediately after that, Johnson dashed off to New York City so he could sound tough against lawless demonstrators around Columbia University who favored the Palestinian cause.
Did Johnson figure that the U.S. voter has such a short attention span, he'd be awed at Johnson doing a different pantomime act this time -- even while the voter maybe forgot that foreign terrorists love to violate the U.S. border that Johnson so quickly had lost interest in?
On April 22 the RealClearPolitics website posted a story quoting Florida conservative Republican Cong. Byron Donalds that was headlined: "House Republican Leadership Lied When They Said No More Ukraine Aid Without Border Funding."
The story said Donalds told CNBC that "MAGA supporters who attempted to tie border security funding to military aid for Ukraine were lied to."
Donalds was quoted: "To ignore the reality of security for our nation while you're providing for security for other nations, as far as I'm concerned, does not make sense at all... That's why you had a majority of 112 Republicans vote against funding to Ukraine. Because we had been told by our leadership -- and frankly we had been telling the American people -- that there was not going to be more Ukraine aid unless our border was secured. That ended up not being the case."
Americans already had reasons to worry about how safe they would be from their own government when they saw U.S. border enforcers quickly obeying Biden's lawless, unconstitutional orders to be not border protecters but instead border processing agents to rush in as many unvetted violators as Biden desired.
What If Biden were to order that U.S. authorities attack Americans themselves? Oh, but they already were doing that at the Department of Justice and the FBI. Government investigators supposedly couldn't discover who vandalized pro-life pregnancy-help centers, but they spied on Catholics and actually sent peaceful pro-lifers to federal prison.
Not that dominant left-wing media cared to inform and warn their audiences of who was sneaking onto their doorsteps. Already literally, in the case of some victimized pro-life families.
How much longer before more establishment-GOP capitulation and fear further emboldened Biden's thugs to come after your very own families?
On April 24 Arizona conservative radio talk host James T. Harris noted that Trump was throwing his support to Mike Johnson -- despite Johnson's turncoat role.
They need each other
Harris said the Establishment needs Trump to calm down conservatives, while Trump needs the Establishment's presidential campaign contributions.
(After all, left-wing Democrat lawfare against Trump is burning up millions of his wealth.)
Harris simulcasts on KFYI (Phoenix, 550 AM) and KNST (Tucson, 790 AM).
The New York Post posted on April 23: "Former President Donald Trump has again backed House Speaker Mike Johnson following the weekend passage of $95 billion in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan...
"Johnson (R., La.) bucked the majority of his [GOP] conference ... and joined with 210 House Democrats to pass $60.8 billion that will assist Ukraine in its war against Russia," the Post added.
So this was yet another instance of the Democrat minority being able to impose its will over a conservative majority, thanks to GOP surrender.
If Trump starts making a habit of cozying with turncoats while dumping on his supporters, he'll find that his own actions will cost him backing that all the left-wing media propaganda never did.
Meanwhile, another KFYI-KNST Arizona radio simulcast host, Garret Lewis, said on April 23 that an insider told him a number of Democrats in the Arizona legislature are pro-life, but they don't dare defy their leadership or else their funding will dry up.
A sorry example of such "leadership" is a real pro-abortion radical, Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs, who acts and sounds as if she has yet to enter adolescence.
On April 18 Lewis played an audio of a reporter asking Hobbs about the conflict between her executive order last year attempting to shield abortionists from challenge and the fact the Arizona Supreme Court on April 9 said the state abortion law is enforceable.
Hobbs petulantly replied in her teen-sounding voice, "I say, bring it on!"
By the way, pro-abortionists will say "abortion" if it seems they have to, but prefer blinded euphemisms like "health care" and "reproductive freedom."
“Baby-safety” law against malicious death
Why don't pro-lifers, on the other hand, use a specific and accurate term like "baby-safety law" when that's exactly what's at issue, protecting a baby from malicious death.
On April 24 Lewis commended Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for voicing good, specific points against a referendum to put permissive abortion into the Florida Constitution. On the other hand, Lewis said, some Arizona GOP legislators used wordy, obtuse language against attempts to promote abortion.
Lewis praised a website explaining the dangers of a proposed Arizona pro-abortion constitutional amendment for this November. The website is www.itgoestoofar.com. Among the amendment's many negatives, Lewis said, abortions could be performed by people including podiatrists, audiologists and veterinarians.
As for proving the conservatism of Arizona U.S. Senate GOP candidate Kari Lake, let's ponder.
After Lake surprisingly quit a high-profile role in local-television news in 2021, she said she opposed its bias and was a strong fighter for conservative, pro-family ideals.
She didn't have a track record on these issues because, after all, her job had been to introduce news reports from the studio, not argue for policy positions. But, now that she'd freed herself from studio constraints, she seemed honest. Among Lake's beliefs, she proclaimed herself a follower of Jesus Christ and a firm foe of permissive abortion.
However, as soon as the Arizona Supreme Court said on April 9 that the state's traditional abortion law was "enforceable," Lake's U.S. Senate campaign, rather than expressing agreement, issued a news release distancing her from the pro-life law.
The April 9 news release said in part: "As your senator, I will OPPOSE: Federal funding of abortion. Federal ban(s) on abortion… I am not going to D.C. to legislate an issue that has been returned to the states. I am going to D.C. to secure our border, strengthen our families, and help President Trump Make America Great Again."
This didn't seem to show a strong pro-life commitment any longer. Lake's left-wing foes took care to note this to the public.
Two weeks later, however, NBC News posted on April 23: "Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake said in an interview with an Idaho media outlet that 'unfortunately,' her state's near-total abortion ban dating from 1864 is not being enforced, flipping back on comments she made against the law earlier this month, when she called state legislators asking them to repeal it...
"'We don’t have that law, as much as many of us wish we did,' Lake added," the NBC report said.
No consistent stand for even a few weeks
Once again Lake's foes in Arizona dominant media made sure to note that Lake didn't have a consistent stand even for just a few weeks.
The left-wing Democrat running for that Senate seat, pro-abortion extremist Cong. Ruben Gallego, pointed to Lake's quickly changing stand.
Weird days indeed are here when an abortion radical like Gallego proudly favors aborting countless defenseless infants for any reason at any time during pregnancy, while a proclaimed abortion foe like Lake doesn't seem to know exactly what she thinks.
If evil struts around screaming boldly while virtue falters and fumbles, which side seems to have the confidence to win?
A point to ponder when voters look for conservative strength and courage, but neither Democrat pols nor Republican hopefuls have them.
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Biden leaves astonished voters agape — So he can try to ram more abortion politics down their throats?
By DEXTER C. DUGGAN
The top Catholic prelate in Joe Biden's base of operations, Wilton Cardinal Gregory of the Archdiocese of Washington, was a bit too modest and mild when he described the White House resident as a "cafeteria Catholic" during an interview aired on CBS's Face the Nation on Easter, March 31.
"Cafeteria Catholic" means a disobedient Catholic who picks and chooses which Church requirements he'll observe. But what about a faithless Catholic whose very core is blasphemy?
When defiant Biden goes to his Catholic cafeteria, he makes sure to order salad with a sprinkling of abortion, biscuits buttered with abortion, spaghetti ladled with abortion, carrots steamed in abortion, beans boiled in abortion, cake cooked with abortion, and a cup of abortion coffee.
Then he sits down at a table made from an abortion clinic gurney.
As the official occupant of the White House, bad Catholic Biden repeatedly has promoted massive permissive abortion and denounced presumptive GOP presidential nominee and non-Catholic Donald Trump for opposing it.
There seems to be no end to the outrages Biden is capable of as an eager slave of the abortion agenda. He proudly proclaims his goal for pro-abortion Democrat politicians to defeat pro-life Republicans.
At an abortion rally in Tampa, Fla., on April 23, Biden openly, carefully made the Sign of the Cross as the Democrat Party official next to him denounced pro-life laws, just before Biden proceeded to promote permissive abortion to voters.
The Washington Examiner posted on April 23: "By honing in on abortion rights, Biden is hoping to turn out voters for the November election. The Democrats, who were showing weakness in Florida, recently announced that they see the state as 'winnable' because of this topic. Last election, Biden lost the state to former President Donald Trump by 3.3 percentage points."
Biden’s Sign of the Cross for abortion
Brian Burch, the president of Catholic Vote, posted at "X" on April 23: "Biden’s decision to make the Sign of the Cross in support of abortion extremism is a despicable charade that attempts to co-opt a sacred practice in support of his new abortion religion. His gesture openly mocks the Christian belief in the sanctity of life. There is no divine support for destroying the lives of innocent children, and he should know better.
"Biden’s gesture suggests he is either terribly naive, or senile, or callously indifferent to the foundational beliefs of millions of Christians in America," Burch said.
Catholic Vote titled its reaction to Biden: “This. Is. VILE!"
Biden stood next to Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried as she attacked pro-life laws. Behind them was a wall covered with Biden-Harris campaign posters. The Catholic Vote website said:
"Fried heavily emphasized her pro-abortion views during her failed bid for the Florida governorship two years ago. The lawyer and marijuana lobbyist lost the Democratic primary in a landslide to former Gov. Charlie Crist.
"Crist went on to lose the general election to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, also in a landslide," Catholic Vote said, adding that Biden proceeded to tell the Tampa audience that because of Trump, "millions of women in Florida now face … pain and cruelty.”
Biden was unable to tell the difference between a physician treating a patient and an abortionist killing a baby. Catholic Vote quoted the cognitively impaired Biden: “'This is bizarre,' the Democrat went on. 'You can put a doctor in prison if he takes care of a patient'."
Also, the mentally decaying, angry Biden typically got his tongue tied up as he shouted his opposition to Trump: "How many times does he [Trump] have to prove we can't be trusted?" Biden didn't say "he can't be trusted," but "we can't be trusted."
Biden's enthusiastic audience fell silent at this embarrassing display of Biden's own incompetence.
Fox News showed a video of the resentful-looking, abortion-loving Biden embarrassing himself as he promoted infant slaughter and wished evil on innocent babies that he'd never think of doing to his own vicious dogs that attack Secret Service agents.
Shortly before Biden's Tampa speech, the Catholic bishop of Saginaw, Mich., had apologized for calling Biden "stupid" in a talk the bishop gave on forgiveness.
The Diocese of Saginaw posted an apology on April 20 by Bishop Robert Gruss, saying in part:
"I used the word 'stupid' in reference to President Biden, recognizing that it was poor judgment in my choice of words. It was not meant to be disparaging, and I apologize.
"I will continue to pray for the president and all political leaders," the bishop said, "that they may seek and be guided by the Spirit of Truth. I encourage people of all faiths and goodwill to pray for our great nation."
Apologizing for telling truth
Gruss said that his comments about Biden "were taken out context. I was speaking in the context of forgiving the president and any people in government who offend us by their words and actions -- that we cannot harbor resentment toward them because in doing so, it would be sinful. We must forgive them if we are to be free."
Unfortunately, Gruss's apology may have contributed to the impression that a merciful Church must tiptoe around Biden and walk on eggshells, while Biden remains free to shout his angry defiance of fundamental Christian teaching as he promotes massive mortal sin. Bold sinners love to take advantage of moral authorities who let themselves be pushed around.
Jesus the Lord Himself was deeply merciful and forgiving -- but He also denounced the bold sinners of His time, He warned them of the terrible, lasting suffering ahead for them if they didn't repent, and He even took a lash to them in the Temple. He wasn't a milquetoast little pushover.
Before Biden had made his Tampa appearance, The Wanderer asked two sources for their reaction to the Saginaw bishop apologizing.
Mary Ann Kreitzer, who runs the Virginia-based Les Femmes -- The Truth Catholic blog, said:
"Sometimes you just have to shake your head and laugh. Stupid doesn’t begin to describe Biden. The man has immersed himself in evil for decades. He’s a plagiarist, a liar, and a traitor. He’s taken kickbacks from enemies of the United States.
"Who knows how many classified documents have gone to China, not to mention the technology given to terrorists by leaving advanced equipment in their hands to be studied and copied," Kreitzer said. "What he and Teddy Kennedy did to Judge Robert Bork was absolutely shameful.
"Apologizing for calling Biden stupid? Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites and whited sepulchers full of dead men’s bones. And He didn’t apologize," Kreitzer said. "Why not call Biden the name he really deserves -- heretic and apostate! Oh -- and excommunicant would be appropriate. How long do we have to wait for that?"
Conservative Republican political consultant Constantin Querard said:
"I can understand why a Church bishop might want to be gracious with his word choices; after all, he's not a politician or radio shock jock. If a man of God apologizes for harsh language, that's fine and behavior more of us should emulate, so good job setting a good example.
"Of course, that doesn't mean he can't or shouldn't find the right word to use to be critical when appropriate," Querard said. "Joe Biden is a bad Catholic by any rational measure, and the words 'bad Catholic' can and should come from the bishop's mouth without any need for apologies."