James Fallows responds to Trump's statement about Robert Mueller's death — "Good. I'm glad he's dead":

"Any head of state who can say this in public about a countryman, even about a political adversary, is a moral monster."

#RobertMueller #Trump #MoralMonster #WhiteChristianNationalism #WhiteEvangelicals
/1

https://fallows.substack.com/p/one-man-a-hero-one-man-a-monster

One Man a Hero. One Man a Monster.

America has lost a very good man. It must find a way to control a very bad one.

Breaking the News
Benjamin Cremer (@brcremer) on Threads

There’s just no words anymore.

Threads

"For many Americans, the gap between Christian teachings and MAGA politics is baffling. How can people profess faith in Jesus ― who preached love, mercy & care for the oppressed ― while supporting policies that punish immigrants, demonize LGBTQ people and glorify cruelty? The key to understanding this apparent contradiction might lie in something called 'vertical morality.'"

~ Caroline Bologna

#Trump #WhiteChristianNationalism #WhiteEvangelicals #morality #cruelty
/3

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/vertical-morality-might-describe-why-maga-christians-seem-so-unchristian-goog_l_69bc09f1e4b0bb6debb7954b/amp

What Drives MAGA Christians' Un-Christian Actions? Experts Say It Comes Down To This.

This framework reveals why some MAGA-aligned Christians act in ways that contradict Jesus’ teachings.

HuffPost

"This ethical framework measures righteousness not by goodness to others, but by something more simplistic. ...

'Vertical morality teaches that authority, power and a moral code of right and wrong, or acceptable and unacceptable, come from "above" ― an external superior who designates rules, systems and tenets that must be obeyed by those beneath,'” (continued in /5)

#Trump #WhiteChristianNationalism #WhiteEvangelicals #morality #cruelty
/4

(continued from /4)

"said Tia Levings, a former Christian fundamentalist and author of 'A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy.' …

'Evangelicals are taught that all morality comes from God and therefore true goodness can only be spread by obeying God, even if it harms people around us,' [April] Ajoy said."

#Trump #WhiteChristianNationalism #WhiteEvangelicals #morality #cruelty
/5

As Bologna explains, vertical morality prizes rules and laws that are conceived as divine commands, unquestioning obedience to such rules and laws, and straighforward absolutism, and it demonizes empathy.

It has no willingness or ability to compromise or dialogue, since it imagines itself on the side of the divine and anyone raising questions as on the side of evil.

#Trump #WhiteChristianNationalism #WhiteEvangelicals #morality #cruelty
/6

"Even if I’m not sure the final verdict on the special counsel investigation, I am sure that part of the verdict on Donald Trump someday will be how he reacted to Robert Mueller’s death yesterday — I can’t say any of it better than James Fallows, who called Trump’s reaction: 'The most despicable public statement by an American public official in my lifetime. It needs to be recognized as such.'”

~ Garrett Graff

#RobertMueller #Trump #MoralMonster
/7

https://www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/remembering-robert-mueller

Remembering Robert Mueller

The reporting subject I knew best

Doomsday Scenario
@wdlindsy That's the nazi ethos, plus a great big beard in the sky 😞

@wdlindsy

There's absolutely nothing moral about it.

@wdlindsy “Let us remember him as an exemplary American. And learn from him rather than the monster who now controls the airwaves.”
@wdlindsy Trump is nothing more than an internet troll. There is nothing of substance to him. Inflicting pain, in all forms, on civilization is all he offers to the world.