Let me shaek yoru hnad

 Very sloppy work. 

Get over yourself

Losing a loved one, or an acrimonious relationship breakup warrants this kind of reaction; not an election result. 

Merciless skewering

As inevitable as death and taxes?

Analysis of the most recent Republican presidential candidates debate, between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramasamy, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. Nobody emerged from the debate as the clear winner. It seems highly likely that former President Donald Trump will again win the nomination. Slaps hand on forehead. 

Think a little

I have been doing a lot of thinking about leadership, character, integrity, and manhood. The CNN article below prompted this post. A passage from 1 Timothy in the New Testament of the Bible has a lot to say about such matters: 

"Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money."

In context, this was originally written as instructions to the early church, for vetting potential leaders, but its principles also speaks to leadership in other areas of life, including politics. To my mind, a voter should be careful about whether somebody with an unstable personal life should be given the responsibility of elected office. For male political candidates, they should be good husbands to their wives, and good fathers to their children.

They should also be level headed, and not constantly lashing out verbally at their opponents. This speaks to the importance of self-control, being respectable, hospitable, kind, able to learn and grow, and not arrogant and greedy.. This also extends to being scrupulously honest in handling money. These are the things that I hope my American friends are weighing up as they enter yet another election cycle over the next eighteen months. 

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/07/politics/casey-desantis-iowa-campaign/index.html

Please read me

I read with interest the news reports of former US Vice President Mike Pence's speech to the Gridiron Club in Washington, DC, in which he mocked former President Trump for holding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home.

“I read that some of those classified documents they found at Mar-a-Lago were actually stuck in the president’s Bible," Mr Pence said. “Which proves he had absolutely no idea they were there.”

During his 2016 election campaign, when has was courting the evangelical vote, Trump claimed to have a deep love for the Bible, but when asked to elaborate on this by journalists, he gave vague and evasive answers. If mainstream media reportage of this issue is any indication, it appears doubtful that he has read that much of it. In a 2020 article in New York magazine, Ed Kilgore charted Trump's clumsy attempts to articulate coherent Christian beliefs. 

By contrast, Pence, on the face of it, appears to be more sincere in his Christian beliefs. Every chapter of his memoir, and possible campaign biography, So Help Me God, which was published earlier this year, begins with a Bible verse. 

For the Christian, Trump is a good example of how not to engage with the Bible. Christians should make it their life's work to master its contents. This means reading it carefully, understanding it, and correctly applying it to their life. Passages such as Acts 17:11 and 2 Timothy 2:15 are instructive here. If asked questions about the beliefs they claim to hold, we should be prepared to give convincing answers to anyone who asks. The Bible is to be treated with respect, and not used as a prop.

https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2020/06/02/donald-trum

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mike-pence-trump-accountable-gridiron-dinner-b2298963.html