The Way It Is

I watch with amazement and sadness at the battles to dismantle our free press and speech afforded to us as citizens in the 1^st amendment to the Constitution. I watch as evil people look to erode and then fully change constitutional rights that many have come to take for granted. We have a president who looks to emulate Victor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary. An authoritarian ruler and strongman. Trump looks to follow in the power grab of all authoritarian leaders who reign with complete control. To defy them is to risk loss of income, job, security and prestige. And many that are enablers to Trump’s power grab will soon see themselves as victims. He has no loyalty to anyone but himself, money, power, and the evil one he worships. Those who agree with him and stand with him will be judged harshly.

Recently I watched the news report saying Stephen Colbert was told his show would be cancelled. The reason given was financial problems but his show is the number one rated of the late night shows. I rarely watch any of the ABC, CBS, NBC late night shows but I fully believe they should exist. Mr. Colbert brought his bosses at CBS/Paramount to task for capitulating to demands of Donald Trump. He basically accused them of being bribed by Trump with their agreement to “funnel” 16 million dollars to the Trump presidential library. I would think that could be fully supplied by a few coloring books and crayons. He doesn’t read. The president of Paramount is CEO David Ellison. His father, Larry Ellison, is a billionaire and a major supporter of Trump. And Trump is doing his best to quiet all dissenting voices with daily threats. And with every win we get closer to authoritarianism.

I remember as a child watching Walter Cronkite take off his glasses to wipe away tears as he announced the time of death of President Kennedy. And later I watched and listened with great interest as Cronkite spoke of the ongoing war in Vietnam that was tearing our country apart and killing our finest. He said, “To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past.” Cronkite further concluded, “We are mired in in a stalemate.” No major news reporter had said such words during this era. This was a turning point in public perception of the war and is often cited as the “Cronkite Argument.” President Lyndon Johnson reportedly said, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America.” Imagine someone with that much clout and authority speaking today. Reporters saying anything negative to Trump today are called bad, evil, liars, paid by the opposition, or nasty people. And he then enlists his henchmen to scare them with lying reports and threats or entrusting his band of maga Christians to come against them. We are closer to authoritarianism than many care to realize. To quote Walter Cronkite’s famous sign off, “And that’s the way it is.” And as citizens and Christians, we must speak up.

For some reason many hide their heads in the sand and refuse to face facts. Especially those wrapped in evil. We must be cognizant of what is going on and how our fellow countrymen are affected. We will answer for our disinterest and callousness. James 4:17 tells us that he who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it will be accounted as sin. Hosea 10 tells us that if we sow to righteousness, we will reap mercy. But if we plow to wickedness you will reap iniquity because you have eaten the fruit of deception. According to Ephesians 5:11. “We are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose them.” And that’s getting harder to do right now as so many either follow this darkness or are afraid or apathetic. We cannot sit idly by. We must stand for righteousness no matter the cost. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. And how we love our brother speaks to who we are in Him. As it says in Isaiah 1:17, “Learn to do good; Seek justice. Rebuke the oppressor. Defend those in need.” Be a voice. Blessings.