The Kavanaugh Hearings and What They Mean for the Future of the Republic

I don’t ordinarily engage in hyperbole (believe it or not). But I very much believe that we are at a turning point in the history of republican self-governance. That is to say, are we going to remain a republic based on constitutional law and custom or are we going to degenerate into banana republicanism?

The recent confirmation hearings and subsequent extra-judicial hearing in which uncorroborated and fantastical allegations made against Judge Brett Kavanaugh by an incredible witness are that inflection point.

I won’t go into the lurid details made by one Christine Blasey Ford or Deborah Ramirez or Julie Swetnick as they are laughable on their face. Each of these women proved to be the rule, not the exception as to why women who have legitimate allegations of sexual assault never come forward. Because of these three floozies, more honest victims will continue to suffer in silence. Of this, there can be no doubt.

And it won’t be because of The Patriarchy or Dead White Males. If anything, the GOP and American men, in general, are so pussy-whipped that they can’t muster the courage to call out some over-educated trollop like Ford over her lurid allegations. In an earlier day, the Senate, indeed all of America, would have laughed at Ford to her face making her an instant laughingstock.

But no, actual victims of sexual assault will not come forward because of the Alinskyite tactics of the progleft. It was Sen Dianne Feinstein of California for instance, who outed Ford in order to derail the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh at the last minute. Not anybody on the right. Indeed, nobody outside of Feinstein’s inner circle knew about Ford’s incendiary letter.

what Feinstein and her ilk did was nothing short of a “search-and-destroy” mission. Having exhausted all the legal and procedural remedies to derail the legitimate nominee of a duly elected President, they resorted to a species of terrorism. Unlike Sen Ted Kennedy’s earlier jeremiad against Robert Bork (which was bad enough) this particular tactic against Kavanaugh was nothing short of illegal, unethical and unconscionable.

Leaving aside the original fantastical allegations which she proffered in her original letter to Feinstein, it’s clear that Ford committed perjury before the Senate when she was given her chance to state her case. This is becoming more and more obvious as the days progress.

But you see, here’s the thing: she wasn’t supposed to go public before the Senate. According to the RINO playbook, the letter itself was enough to get Kavanaugh to withdraw his name from nomination. The trouble was, Kavanaugh was not the usual Republicuck and Donald J Trump is not the usual country-club Republican President who caves in at the first sign of trouble in order to please Pope Stephanopoulos or Cardinal Maddow.

Sen Chuck Grassley, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, an aw-shucks farm-boy from Iowa turned out to be a strategic genius, not unlike Sen Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader. It’s now clear to me (of which I will comment more on below) that they were ahead of the game. Once the letter was leaked, the white hats in the intel community went into overdrive. In no time flat, Trump, McConnell, and Grassley knew what was going on and laid out a careful trap for Ford and her Democrat handlers. What many of us thought (myself included) was a disaster, that is to say, acquiescing to the Democrats to delay the final vote for confirmation, proved to be a brilliant stratagem.

In short, they gave the left enough rope to hang themselves.

Now, how do I know that the white hats had exposed the subterfuge? If you remember the line of questioning on Monday when Rachel Mitchell (the sex-crimes investigator that the Republicans had hired to interrogate Ford), asked Ford two seemingly innocuous questions about whether Ford has ever advised or coached somebody about taking a polygraph test. Ford unequivocally answered “no” and “never” to both questions.

Now we know that this is a lie. But that’s secondary to the point which is that why would the GOP even bring up this line of questioning? The reason, of course, was more than merely to lay a perjury trap for her (which she fell into) but to signal to the Democrats on the Committee that the intel community is on to them.

This has caused panic in the ranks of the Inner Party. It means that the Deep State is in danger of being exposed. It’s important to remember at this point that the allegations against Kavanaugh were not to be used unless they had to. Otherwise, Feinstein, who had been sitting on that letter for at least six weeks, could have flashed it before the Judiciary Committee’s eyes and Kavanaugh’s nomination would have gone down in flames that very moment.

Feinstein obviously felt that she had no choice but to use that letter when she did. But it’s even deeper than this. If you remember, President Trump had earlier issued an Executive Order that would have forced the FBI and the Justice Department to release all documents pertaining to the FISA warrant in unredacted form and as soon as possible. This was the reason for the panic. The Kavanaugh nomination was a bargaining chip which the Deep State tried to use against Trump into forcing him to not release those documents. In other words, they would have allowed Kavanaugh’s nomination to proceed without incident if Trump rescinded that Order.

Trump did not take the bait. Hence Feinstein was ordered to release the Ford letter. Why then derail Ford’s nomination? This is where it gets juicy: if you remember Sen Lindsey Graham’s earlier interrogation of Kavanaugh, he asked him certain specific and curious questions regarding military tribunals and whether American civilians could be prosecuted –and executed–under martial law. I thought this line of questioning came out of nowhere.

Now it’s obvious that should Kavanaugh win his appointment, there will be a solid majority of justices on the Supreme Court who will uphold military tribunals. And this will be apocalyptic.

More to follow. Anyway, for a more vociferous defense of Judge Kavanaugh, I’d be flattered if you took the time to watch the following vlog. (Below the vlog, Yours Truly will introduce you to the Q-ANON phenomenon. Suffice it say, we live in interesting times.)

P.S. I owe Sen Lindsey Graham of South Caroline an immense apology: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I read you wrong. You have more spine and cojones than the most Republicans combined. Keep up the good work. If this Q-Anon guy is correct, we’re gonna need you in the very near future.

Monomakhos

Monomakhos

Q-ANON: a primer:

https://youtu.be/e3KGT_YboSA

Comments

  1. The Kavanaugh hearings should be very instructive for those older than I (50), but I doubt that they will. I can actually remember what a more or less traditional society looked like, though from a little child’s point of view. Those who grew up before the late 60’s can appreciate the contrast even more.

    The Civil Rights Movement was a mistake in its sweeping degree of reprogramming. On the back of that movement, the feminist movement got its impetus, momentum and gravitas. It is the feminist movement that resulted in the current spectacle.

    Women have been raised above men on the food chain. I used to see this every day in domestic proceedings. The alleged female victim is always right, dispositively so. It is not a question of being a victim, but a female victim. This is so because females are a protected and favored class. This is in contradistinction to the more natural former status as wards of their closest male relatives.

    From a patriarchal point of view it is a deeply sick state of affairs. Where there is no patriarchy there is no Trinity. And where there is no Trinity there is no salvation. There is instead only secular humanistic existentialism – a competition for stuff and for power. Whoever dies with the most of these presumably wins.

    It is no way to run a society. But it is Western Liberal Democracy at its most acute.

    • Alitheia1875 says

      Are you serious? “…..more natural former status as wards of their closest male relatives”? Do you have relatives in Saudi Arabia? “Where there is no patriarchy there is no Trinity”? So, if a totally, truly, egalitarian society were to exist, there could be no salvation? Interesting theology……

      • Yes, Alithea, it is war and I have drawn lines from before the onslaught of feminism, which is inherently evil. And yes, seen from a certain perspective and in a certain way, Saudis are more in line with Christian teaching on the role of women than anyone in the West. The Fathers were relentlessly patriarchal, as I have pointed out in the past through extensive quotes.

        And, yes, a truly egalitarian society would never acknowledge the obedience of wives to husbands or the offices of the episcopacy or priesthood. Albania wiped itself clean of Christianity and I dare say there was no salvation there except whatever managed to survive underground.

        Glad you understood my remarks.

        • Michael Bauman says

          Egalitarianism is heretical in nature and the root lie that troubles much of our society and our souls. The question, Misha, is whether Christian patriarchy subugates women as you depict. Islam requires such subjugation because of the demonic nature of their “god”.

          In Christ there is no subjugation. Patriarchy and hierarchy, obedience to be sure, but not subjugation. Subjugation is, at best, of the Law.

          Christian Patriarchy is not tryanny any more than there is tryanny in the Holy Trinity. There can be no salvation in tryanny.

          Salvation requires the complete inter-relationship of communion without the diminuation of hierarchical differences. The Son is not the Father even though they are of one essence. Indeed the Son comes from the Father and does all that the Father asks. Thus is it supposed to be with men and women–women being drawn from man. But as Jesus displayed His Headship on the Cross, so too are men to display our headship-as priests, father’s, husbands, providers, leaders and protectors. Still it is the women who take what we provide and give it life and substance.

          Christian patriarchy allows women to be women fully and completely–utilizing their unique gifts and creativity without fear. It does the same for men. We just have to have the strength to be obedient to God as men are called to be. He is greatest who serves the most. I think that is what the Gospel says.

          Just as the Son cannot be who He is without the Father so women cannot be women without men being men and, in our case, the reciprocal is also true. Thus the call to become one flesh yet still male and female. Just as Christ is fully human and fully God.

          Thus the mystery at the heart of being.

          A shame and a sham to reduce it to legal subjugation.

        • Michael Bauman says

          Misha what you forget is that in the Holy Trinity and in Christ there is no subugation. Subugation is if the evil one thus it is practiced in Islam.

      • Tim R. Mortiss says

        The “Father, Son” part would seem hard to get around.

        Women need not be “wards of their closest male relatives” in a society that is “patriarchal”.

        One could not have a “totally, truly, egalitarian society” without destruction of the Church. The Kingdom of God is a hierarchical society, methinks.

      • Beware of Utopianism. It’s pursuit is dystopia.

      • Michael Bauman says

        Egalitarianism has no place in Christianity. It is a lie.

        • George Michalopulos says

          Agreed. It is the most pernicious of lies. Being that it is not based on truth, facts or evidence.

  2. The left is very dangerous. I think of the book, Animal Farm, where the rules apply to everyone except the pigs. The left is already going homophobic and gay-bashing with Senator Graham. I thought that was a big NO-NO? NO!?

    CNN hosts, Cooper, Lemon, and Cuomo, the first two who are gay, laughed it up, noting that Graham got the vapors.

    HBO host Bill Maher joked, Graham needed stabilizing influence from his dead boyfriend.( McCain)

    Kimmel compared Graham to Liberace.

    Rosie Tweeted:”F__k off closeted idiot-this is the patriarchy exposed-this is reality, deal with it!

    And the puke that cut off Trump’s head, Kathy Griffin Tweeted:”Miss Lindsay Graham doesn’t have the balls to speak up today does she?”

    Speaking of Trump and the never ending new lows by his hysterical haters: Jimmy Kimmel brought out a tray of mushrooms on his show, and asked the porn star Stormy Daniels to pick which one looks like Trump’s penis. This on a major broadcast channel. Times have changed indeed, since Johnny Carson!

    Imagine if a Democratic President picked a Muslim Judge for a seat to the supreme court, and the Republicans dared ask a “sensitive” question about Islam, Islamic Jihad, or his religion’s view of women or homosexuals.

    • George Michalopulos says

      Ironic, isn’t it? We’re supposed to bend the knee to the average, run-of-the-mill homosexual or lesbian we meet on the street but if one of them turns out to be a principled conservative (a la Graham, Tammy Bruce) or a principled liberal (a la Camille Paglia) –to the flames! Let loose all the gay-bashing at once!

      • M. Stankovich says

        I was walking down the hall today and came to an abrupt halt in front of a monitor where a mental health tech was watching Fox New. They were arguing over a point that I had attempted to make here a week previous – that the only actual “victory” in this whole shameful transaction over Brett Kavanaugh was to maintain the status quo of old, millionaire Southern white men, epitomized in the person of Sen. Lindsay Graham. I crossed the hallway to sit on the bench, and I couldn’t stop laughing. Fox News, media servant to the rich white geese of this country, at least gave voice to an opposing opinion – even as they fell all over themselves denouncing it. Whereas the “Champion of the 1st Amendment,” Mr. Michalopulos, censored me not once, but twice for the same opinion! And don’t get me wrong, Mr. M., you’re the boss, as you made clear to me at the last go-round. I’m merely suggesting that “Champion” is not the truth when you need to take a step “up” to the level of Fox News.

        People on this site draw lines in this sandbox, “Bring it. I can take it.” Demonstrably, however, you must agree that I am adept at taking shit from most anybody, whether I request it or not. And that would be up to an including the responsibility for a man’s apostasy; a man with whom I had never exchanged a word. Yet some experience you as an angel of light…

        • Constantinos says

          Dr. Stankovich,
          Your post is incoherent; it makes no sense whatsoever. If Monomakhos is a sandbox, why do you incessantly post here? And when does a life long “Orthodox Christian” who is on a first name basis with all the ” important people” in Orthodoxy use profanity in his jeremiad?
          For your information, the vicious character assassination against Justice Kavanaugh was a disgrace. Christine Blasey Ford had no credibility whatsoever in making her fake accusations against him. She was lying through her teeth.
          President Trump has been an exemplary president. In fact, he’s by far and away the best president I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. As they say, this is a president “who keeps his promises.” He has accomplished more in less than two years than Obama accomplished in eight years. Trump promised to beat the heck out of ISIL. Done! Appoint excellent judges. Done! Renegotiate NAFTA. Done! Get tough with China on trade. Done! Revive the economy. Done! Bring jobs back to America. Done! The list goes on and on. President Trump is so good I’m changing my registration to Republican. Let’s not forget, he broke the Bush and Clinton dynasties. He’s a fantastic president, and Justice Kavanaugh is on the Supreme Court where he belongs. I pray the Congress will remain under Republican control while you can continue to tilt at windmills.

          • M. Stankovich says

            Mr. Michalopulos,

            I resent my comments being “trolled” when there is the obvious option of choosing to ignore them. You previously allowed more than enough leeway for “catharsis” at my expense, and it needs to stop.

            • Constantinos says

              George,
              I don’t know why Dr. Stankovich is so thin skinned. I swear to you I am not trolling him. I have critiqued two of his posts. So what? I sincerely think many of his ideas are wrong and very dangerous. From his negative comments aimed at Justice Kavanaugh, I fear he is implying the man is somehow guilty of committing some kind of a crime. Nothing could be further from the truth. Christine Blasey Ford had zero credibility whatsoever. The prosecutor said no DA would bring charges against him; she also said For could never win a civil case based on the preponderance of the evidence.
              This is what I fear about Dr. Stankovich’s thinking. I get the impression that when a woman makes an accusation against a man, she is not lying, and should automatically be believed. That’s wrong. Many women bring false charges against men; we have see this in divorce cases where there is a custody battle. Some snowflake said on the View that a woman should automatically be believed. Do you realize how scary and stupid that kind of unconstitutional thinking is?
              I knew Dr. Stankovich would accuse me of trolling him before he complained and expressed his “resentment.” He has chided you on the first amendment, then he wants an honest critic to be censored. I disagree with his thinking.

            • Gail Sheppard says

              Michael,

              Please believe me. No one is trolling you, headhunting you, targeting you, censoring you, challenging your First Amendment rights or keeping others from seeing your posts.

              Constantinos didn’t say anything about you personally. He was talking about your post.

              • Constantinos says

                Thank you Gail. I happen to think President Trump has been very good for this country; his presidency has been very refreshing. He has stated his administration has a zero tolerance policy against illegal immigration, and what is happening now? They’re having another mass migration march from Guatemala and Honduras right now. These people are bringing little children seeking asylum into the US. This is an invasion. President Trump is trying to make America safe, and these people are flouting our laws. I appreciate your sensibility, rationality, forgiveness, and kindness. You are an example of the kind of Christian I aspire to be. Thank you so much. I mean that sincerely.

              • M. Stankovich says

                Now this, par excellence, is a great teaching moment!

                When you want to assess the reality of a given situation, or the voracity of the “agents” involved, the tendency is to “probe,” question, talk, dialog, refute, or defend, when, in fact, the paradoxical “remedy” is to do as little as possible. Case in point:

                The deliverer of the single most vicious, most despicable, most demeaning, most misogynistic comment I have ever read on this site in seven years (undoubtedly acknowledged on several levels with the preface/provocation, “You’ll never post this, so I’m just going to say it…”) is unimaginably aligned with the recipient of that same vicious, demeaning, misogynistic comment! WAT? Yup. The power of forgiveness. And the intention of the alliance? Challenge the perception of reality or “You can believe me or your lyin’ eyes”: “Please believe me…” ” I swear to you I am not…” Add to this that, unbeknownst to the “guarantor” of free speech, a comment where I described this same dynamic was, in fact, censored.

                Finally, one issue that arose in the Kavanaugh hearings was regarding the lie detector test. This is the theory that voracity – or the lack thereof – can be physically measured in a combination of visceral responses: heart rate, respiration, perspiration, and so on. In the end, the question becomes, are you measuring “truthfulness” or “anxiety?” The courts have ruled “anxiety.” So, after many years of working with criminals in and out of criminal institutions – where there is absolutely no benefit or value in telling the truth (and in fact, telling the truth “can and will be used against you in a court of law,” or worse on the prison yard), I have settled on a system of intently listening and trusting Warren Haynes’s cover of the Robert Palmer classic, Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley:

                Trying to talk doubletalk, get myself in trouble talk
                Catching myself in lies,
                Mama just looked at me as if I was crazy
                She didn’t even bat an eye
                So I began to try to explain, ah that it just wasn’t what she thought
                She said I’d better find something to do with my time
                The fact is ah just been caught, just been caught,
                Sneakin’, sneakin’, sneakin’,
                Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley

                And for the record, you don’t need to have been enlisted in the United States Navy or Marine Corps to have proudly served in a military facility by providing servicemen, servicewomen and their families the professional level of care they deserved. There are heroes and there are also those who have dishonored themselves; when they become a patient, however, they are all equal.

                • Gail Sheppard says

                  So, Michael, since you’re not naming names, I’m going to take a wild ass guess, and say you’re talking about the things Constantinos has said to me in the past and the fact that he expresses himself differently toward me now. I’d like to believe this was because I was able to change his opinion of me, as he has changed my opinion of him. I have been on this blog many. many years and THAT is the single most productive reason I feel this blog works. At the end of the day, more of us come together than don’t. This is a good thing. I’ve seen the same thing happen between you and Beryl (formally, Jane).

                  • Constantinos says

                    Gail,
                    If I could be one hundredth the Christian you are, I would be one hundred thousand times a better Christian than I am right now. You are a true role model, like the Mother of God- and I mean that sincerely. Thank you

                    • Gail Sheppard says

                      What a nice thing to say, Constantinos. It goes without saying that I don’t deserve it but I certainly appreciate it. I hope you continue to have affection for me. I know there have been those who cannot fathom where I’m coming from sometimes, but a few have been able to say to themselves, “This is Gail just being Gail. I love her anyway.” These are the kind of friendships you want on this blog and what I hope for you and me. . . for all of us.

                • Constantinos says

                  Dr. Stankovich,
                  Wrong again! First of all, I have noticed you reserve your opprobrium for people who are against abortion, gay rights, and all the nonsense the left has to offer. If a person is pro gay marriage, he’s your guy. You fancy yourself as intellectually superior to all the other posters on this forum, morally superior, a defender of women, a civil rights leader, and that Monomakhos is a “sandbox” to you.
                  First of all, don’t forget the members of law enforcement are the ones who put their lives on the line- not you. You work in a prison. So what? Big deal! The real heroes are law enforcement personnel.
                  As far as serving in the military, you and I both know that members of the US Marine Corps would never consider you a brother in arms- and would take umbrage at you for using the Marine term “Semper Fi.” You have done nothing particularly courageous so stop patting yourself on the back. Humility is always appropriate for me- and even for you, Dr. Stankovich.
                  By the way, how about showing some appropriate condemnation toward Crooked Hillary Clinton- you know , the woman who bragged about getting a rapist off whom she admitted was guilty, and whose husband is a known rapist, a man who unquestionably forcibly, violently raped Juanitta Broadrick- and who is known to have used violence against women in other sexual encounters. In my opinion, until you express condemnation for gay marriage, and the criminal acts of the Clintons, you will continue to have no credibility. And by the way, Jim Brown, the man whom you praised, is a proven batterer of women. Unlike you and your lofty opinion of yourself, I know I am a million miles from perfection. I pray for forgiveness all the time every day. You know the Jesus Prayer- Lord Jesus, have mercy on me a sinner.

                  • M. Stankovich says

                    Mr. Michalopulos,

                    I rest my case.

                    • Constantinos says

                      George,
                      ” I rest my case.” That was really funny; It proves to me that Dr. Stankovich has a really good sense of humor. I appreciate that. I love people who can make me laugh. Thank you Dr. Stankovich. May God bless you and your family.
                      Oh- before I go, I would like to nominate Dr. Stankovich as the Rev. Al Sharpton of Monomakhos. George, it’s a good thing that Dr. Stankovch is not the president because, if he was, Maxine Watters would be seating on the Supreme Court right now.

          • Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) says

            Retired Supreme Court Justice Stevens said Kavanaugh should not be on the Supreme Court. I prefer his opinion to that of anyone on Monomakhos.

        • Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) says

          Michael Stankovich, many of those who love Trump here and brag about it may be people who have always approved of Adolf Hitler but were afraid to mention it. At last they’ve got someone on their side that knows their lingo——–and it’s “RESPECTABLE.”

          • ChristineFevronia says

            I’ve been reading this blog for years now, and hands down, that is the most outrageous comment yet posted. What a horrible thing to think–let alone write.

          • Gail Sheppard says

            Your Grace, this isn’t Facebook. You are addressing the laity of the Church on this site. If we don’t see your comments again, at least we’ll know why.

            • Gail,

              Please! Let His Grace speak his mind. He knows tens time more than most of us when it comes to Orthodoxy’s administrators, her politicians, and the puppet masters. He also a fallen man, like most of us, and may come abrasive with his opinions.

              I ask you give the bishop, the same latitude you give the man, whom you bend backwards to forgive every other month or so, after he personally, verbally assaults you. That man has called me every name in the book, and who knows what that George did no allow posted. Yet, I do not call for his censor. I just ignore him.

              Likewise with Michael Stankovich, and the Bishop. They might use double and direct speak to insult me, but at least I learn not only something from the other side of politics, but also enlightened by their deep vault of Orthodoxy’s in’s and outs, we might never know of, if we would just simply shut our mouths and let them speak freely.

              You go on and on about heresy and schism, insulting many in laity about “their” leaders, about which you really know nothing about behind closed doors, and then when Bishop Tikhon violates your thought patterns, you suggest he either: Leave in shameful guilt, or maybe, leave by the judgmental censor of you and George, of which you have already hinted your vote to George.

              • Beryl Wells Hamilton says

                Like.

                • Beryl Wells Hamilton says

                  “Bitter Harvest and the Bitter Present in Ukraine
                  The lessons of the Ukrainian terror famine, in the age of Putin”
                  I found this National Review article about the film “Bitter Harvest” thought provoking.
                  Excerpt:

                  The (very) low-end figure has 2.5 million Ukrainians starved as an act of Soviet state policy, while reputable demographic studies suggest that as many as 10 million innocents died in the Holodomor…

                  It is also important as America and the West consider their response to the Russian aggression in Ukraine that began three years ago this month. For while Putin’s war in eastern Ukraine has not taken anything close to the toll of the Holodomor, it has rung up a serious butcher’s bill: Ten thousand dead and 23,000 wounded, with 1.8 million internally displaced persons trying to rebuild their lives in other parts of Ukraine. And as Brian Whitmore of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty points out, this is not (as so many in supine, feckless, or mindless Western political circles seem to think) the “Ukraine conflict.” This is, as Whitmore puts it, “a war on Ukraine, and it is a war of choice.” So was the Holodomor.

              • Gail Sheppard says

                Dino,

                Please don’t appeal to me. Talk with George! It’s his site.

                My history with His Grace goes back over a decade and I have affection for him as I hope he has for me. The same goes for Michael. I am tired of their obvious disdain for this site, though.

              • Constantinos says

                Dino?
                For a person you choose to ignore, you certainly seem to have an unhealthy obsession toward me. I want to acquire the virtue of humility.. They say to become humble, I have to think of other people as being better than me. You make this task very difficult. My prayer f or you and me is:
                Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
                Where there is hatred, let me sow love:
                Where there is injury pardon:
                Where there is doubt, faith;
                Where there is despair, hope;
                Where there is darkness, light;
                Where there is sadness, joy;
                O Divine Master
                Grant that I may not so much seek
                To be consoled as to console;
                To be understood as to understand;
                To be loved as to love
                For it is in giving that we receive;
                It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
                I hope this helps you as much as it helps me.

                • I am sorry I make anything difficult for anyone, especially one acquiring Humility.

                  In reality I was defending one’s right to speak freely without censor nor banishment. Unless of course one threatens to harm someone.

          • Michael Bauman says

            Your Grace, while there is a strong under current of genuine Fascism in American politics, anyone who connects it to Trump is mistaken.

            • Michael Bauman, and Bishop Tikhon Fitzgerald,
              Trump is attacked 24/7 by our American Journalists. Journalists that accuse Trump of being stupid, racist, fascist, and yes Hitler like. Yet they sleep well at night, and are well paid millionaires.

              Until Trump hating journalist are murdered here in America, like they are in Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea, and Holy Russia. Hitler and Trump are miles apart.

          • Constantinos says

            Your Grace,
            Your comment is completely and totally nonsensical. You have utterly destroyed your credibility. Very sad to see you do that to yourself. By the way, an apology from you is definitely a good idea.

          • now everyone gets mad at the bishop for pointing out that there is in fact gambling going on in the establishment

            • Beryl Wells Hamilton says

              Hi Deep Steak!
              I happened to come across the following from Harlan Wolff (an author living and Thailand, and also, a person I follow on Facebook). Thought I would reply to your post, since you seem less up in arms than others over this topic. I also recommend the discussion that happens underneath Harlan Wolff’s post on his Facebook page, for anyone remotely interested in what His Grace might be talking about.

              “I am a Nationalist.” – Donald Trump

              “Nationalism is just racism with a flag.” – Peter Joseph

              “Nationalism is like cheap alcohol. First it makes you drunk, then it makes you blind, then it kills you.” – Daniel Fried

              “The real choice we have to make is between peace and nationalism.” – Orhan Pamuk

              “Nationalism, in my opinion, is nothing more than an idealistic rationalization for militarism and aggression.” – Albert Einstein

              “Nationalism of one kind or another was the cause of most of the genocide of the twentieth century.” – Arundhati Roy

              “Make Germany great again.” – Adolf Hitler

              …tiptoeing back offstage… – Beryl

              • Gail Sheppard says

                Seriously, Beryl? Two can play this game and it IS a game . . . of stupidity.

                Remember the whole “hope and change” thing? Hitler sold “hope and change.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mvP0ArKIGY

                Bet these same people later voted for Trump. LOL

                • Beryl Wells Hamilton says

                  You have got to be kidding me!

                  • No, you’ve got to be kidding us.

                    You’re coming here with your ‘nationalism is evil’ nonsense, yet you’re defending Filaret and his band of violent hoodlums elsewhere.

                    “Nationalism for me, but not for thee” I suppose?

                  • Beryl Wells Hamilton says

                    Basil, I didn’t say “nationalism is evil.” I linked to Harlan Wolff’s Facebook page, and cut-and-pasted quotes he put together in order to try to shed some light on what is possibly going on around with the thinking around here. I live in the United States, and we have committed genocide, there is no doubt. So now, because BBC says so, Assad is evil again! Archbishop Attalah Hannah serves Divine Liturgy at the very place where Christ was laid in the tomb, and he is a terrorist? “Israel” arrests an Orthodox monk and oh, how we love Israel? Because people say so, Patriarch Philaret is evil. But no one knows what goes on behind closed doors. I DO NOT KNOW. But I do know that throwing good patriarchs under the bus has happened before, and good patriarchs can be innocent of charges brought against them, no matter what the laity believes, based on what they are told. I thank God that the Patriarchs all over the world are in touch with one another, privately, without any of us dummies knowing about it.

                    Patriarch Philaret delivers an inspiring, God-inspired speech and SUDDENLY he goes INSANE, right? The Ecumenical Patriarchate, mind you, not just the Patriarch, but the entire Patriarchate and all who support him, are schismatics idiots, and you are correct. Everything we read on the Ecumenical Patriarch’s web site is false. But your opinion will not matter in the end. God is in complete control of EVERYTHING.

                    If the Ecumenical Patriarch disappears, then what will happen?
                    Do you actually believe he wants to add the filioque back into the Creed, since he is such a papist that some of the wisest among us decides his panagia represents the three children of whatever? Good grief1 What kind of logical thinking goes on around here?

                    What do you suggest should be done if the EP disappears? Should MP become the overarching Mother Church? What do you suggest should be done about the situation with the tens of millions of Ukrainians who are “schismatics” according to your thinking?

                    No one is quick to answer, but all are quick to criticize, judge and condemn.

              • Beryl, Bashar Al-Assad, whom you supported when using the moniker ‘Jane Rachel,’ is a nationalist.

                Ba’athism is a form of national socialism, based on the Arab peoples.

          • Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) says

            Please note the two words: “MAY BE.” Where I went to school they indicate a declaration of nothing and a judgment on no one. By the way, I myself have never felt insulted by anyone.

            • Gail Sheppard says

              Master, bless.

              “MAY BE” is pushing it, as no one on this site has even come close to saying something that would suggest we were closeted Adolf Hitler lovers.

              Words have little meaning. Even George Carlin knew that. It is the intent that carries the lion share of the weight and it was your *intent* to say something truly ugly about Trump supporters. As far as I’m concerned, you might just as well have named George. Sadly, we’re seeing more and more of this kind of behavior from the purportedly, “caring, inclusive” part of the population and it gives one pause. In fact, this particular slam is so common it has its own fake Latin name, the reductio ad Hitlerum.

              We’ve grown to expect more substance from you, Your Grace. It’s one thing to abandon the hope that you could ever actually be NICE to any of us, but quite another to see you comparing us to evil personified.

              A few days ago, you addressed Father Philip with the seemingly (I say “seemingly” because one can’t know with you) warm salutation, “May the Lord bless you!” I remember thinking, JUST ONCE I’d like to see His Grace greet one of us with the same love and respect. You even skip over the “niceties” when people ask for your blessing so no one does it anymore. Not because we wouldn’t want your blessing, but because you’ve created a brawling atmosphere where blessings don’t exist. When people have asked, “Master, bless,” I do not recall a single time where you have given it. If I am wrong about this, I apologize in advance, but I don’t think I am.

              No, I’m not THE laity. In no context would that even make sense. However, like the vast majority of the people who post here, I am PART of the laity and we, collectively, deserve a little more respect from YOU, a member of the clergy. Having “Retired” in front of your name is not a “get out of jail free” card. As long as you carry around the title of Bishop (and you do), we are entitled to expect you to treat us as any bishop would, i.e. with charity, and not accuse us of supporting someone who was responsible for the genocide of 17,000,000 people.

              • Gail,
                True leftists usually have neither honest nor truly sensical arguments, based in the reality of our fallen world to give. They usually open their arguments toward their opposition with descriptions such as homophobe, racist, misogynist, heretic, idiot, insane, and personifications of evil, such as Hitler/Stalin. Then the conversation simply becomes the accused defending themselves towards these false accusations, instead of the original argument.

                Sad, but in this day and age, such over, and liberally used descriptions carry no weight any longer. In fact they show lack of intelligence that one today would NOT know any better, in using such descriptions.

                Honest I find it baffling that men of such learned brilliance, spirituality, and exposure to high levels of Orthodoxy can be so influenced by leftist ideology.

                Then again even lemons have a purpose in a kitchen.

                • Gail Sheppard says

                  Dino, I like that line “even lemons have a purpose in the kitchen.” I’ll have to remember that.

              • V. Rev. Andrei Alexiev says

                Gail;
                I must come to the Bishop’s defense. I used to post here and I would ask His Grace’s blessing and he never declined. If one is not Orthodox or if one has severed ties with the church, it stands to reason that one would not ask a blessing.
                But we have witnessed people addressing the bishop by his last name, which is never done with any monastic clergyman. Worse, people have invoked a blessing on His Grace rather than asking it, and His Grace has been too much of a gentleman to correct them. Some have even called the bishop names.
                I don’t endorse most of His Grace’s political views, but he is a retired hierarch of the church. The OCA considers him a bishop, my bishop considers him a bishop. Enough said.

                • Gail Sheppard says

                  Father, I stand corrected. I’ve just never seen it.

                  I’m not sure how one would know that someone has severed ties with the Church on a blog. I don’t think one needs to be in the Church to receive a blessing, either. As an Inquirer, I always received them. I hope you weren’t suggesting that *I* severed ties with the Church!!! Heaven forbid.

                  You are not the only one who has defended him over the years. I have, too, especially when he is shown disrespect. I have also mentioned many, many times that I have a great deal of affection for him and that remains true. This doesn’t mean I always approve of what he says. What he said recently really bothered me and though I was not disrespectful, I let him know it. I would be disingenuous if I just fawned all over him all the time. I’ve seen people do that with him with little success, BTW. He’s not one to be played.

                  It’s not his political views that bother me. I don’t detest Democrats. I certainly don’t detest him. At least half of my friends are Democrats but they don’t say Trump supporters may be closeted Hitler lovers! None of them would be stupid enough to say something like that in my presence regardless of party. Frankly, what we’ve been seeing as of late is a hybrid among the “bad guys” that cross party lines. Nothing is as simple as it used to be.

                  You and I have something in common. Bishop Tikhon was my bishop when I was baptized and now that I have moved and joined the OCA, he is again my bishop, albeit retired. Frankly, I’ve always treated him as if he were. I’ve also treated him as a friend. There is absolutely no animosity on my part, I assure you, and I my comments to him was not an endorsement of comments other people may have made.

              • Beryl Wells Hamilton says

                “and not accuse us of supporting someone who was responsible for the genocide of 17,000,000 people.”

                Putin made the statement that Lenin’s tomb is not much different from the relics of Orthodox Saints.

                Holodomor.

                I’m not big on having opinions, but I do know history when I read it. Replace “Hitler” with “Mr./Mrs/Ms________”; i.e., governments who have committed genocide, including our own United States Government. We read where Putin is coming from concerning Ukraine in the “National Review” link I posted, and his absolute control over Patriarch Kyrill, and the blind support of the Russian Orthodox Church, and there you have it. It’s about examining ourselves, I’m thinking.

                • Far be it form me to defend Lenin, but he was dead when the Holodomor started.

                  The Holodmor was obviously a great evil, but to hear Ukrainians screeching about the ‘Russians committing genocide’ is grating.

                  Lazar Kaganovich, the man behind the Holodomor, was a Jew. His boss, Stalin, was Georgian. Huge numbers of Russians also perished in this atrocity.

              • Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) says

                One MAY BE a “Hitler-lover” (not my term), I suppose, without knowing it. I admit to the conviction that Trump followers are LIKELY candidates. I feel justified by the comprehensiveness of the analyses of my character which followed upon my expression of that one opinion. I grew up when Hitler was flourishing, I am fluent in German, am partly of German ancestry: I can recall my maternal grandmother saying (during the war!) that Hitler was “doing so much for Germany.” She never SAID “Hitler is making Germany great again,” but I believe she thought that was true. I heard it more than once at social events, too, where we played pinochle, skat, and/or danced the Schottische. At age 85+, I find the re-emergence of the old defensive analyses of current events that some Germans uttered back then to be disappointing. I apologize if I mistook anyone’s “Master, bless,” to be more a polite convention than an expression of want or need! I blessed Father Philip Speranza, unfairly, perhaps, as I know him and respect especially his knowledge as an Orthodox canonist. If I overlooked anyone’s need for my blessing, please forgive me. Gail was right to bring this outright SIN to everybody’s attention!

                • Constantinos says

                  Your Grace,
                  As a strong Trump supporter, I guess Hitler wasn’t all bad. After all, he killed Hitler, didn’t he? Personally, I think you should still apologize fro your stupid remark.

                • Archpriest Alexander F. Webster says

                  The retired OCA bishop in California keeps digging in when he ought to raise the white flag and apologize to the Trump supporters on this website and, indeed, to all of us Orthodox Christians.

                  Leo Strauss, the Austrian political philosopher in the 20th century, coined the phrase reductio ad Hitlerum (which another commenter here has already cited) to describe an impoverishment of argument, whereby one is reduced to calling his opponent(s) by any of an array of Third Reich “metaphors”: Hitler, Nazi, Stormtrooper, jack booted thug, or fascist, to name a few.

                  I, for one, cannot think of a more odious epithet to hurl at anyone who is not a professed or self-evident Nazi, particularly on an Orthodox blog where most of us are, I presume, faithful Orthodox Christians who also happen to vote in U.S. elections.

                  • Fear not!

                    Apparently Hitler isn’t so bad after all, so maybe His Grace is complimenting us:

                    https://www.rt.com/usa/442082-trump-hitler-favorable-twitter/

                    Looks like we’re really in trouble!

                    • Estonian Slovak says

                      Hitler was more skilled at killing his enemies than our President. If Trump is Hitler, why aren’t his enemies in prison or dead?
                      It is the left behaving like Nazi thugs, harassing people in public. I also don’t buy the reports of ” packages” being sent to Soros, Obama, the Clintons, etc. Are we to believe that such prominent people don’t have security guards and security cameras? Reminds me of the Reichstag fire , but I fear not too many Americans even know about that. I come from an older generation.

                    • Joseph Lipper says

                      Surely the Athonite monasteries who pledged their support to Adolph Hitler in the 1930’s would have been highly offended by comparisons of Nazi supporters to Trump supporters.

                  • Deep Steak says

                    you ever rebuke the guy who runs this site for using those metaphors about folk he dont like?

                    i think trump supporting faithful orthodox christians best be practicing for a lifetime of apologizing and repenting for that support tho

                    • Constantinos says

                      Hi George,
                      Personally, I couldn’t care less if the retired bishop from the OCA apologizes or not; I just wanted to see if he possesses the saintly virtue of humility. In other words, if he is the kind of man I should admire, and try to emulate or not. When it comes to acquiring the saintly virtue of humility, I have concluded that I should in no wise seek to emulate him.
                      You see I have no idea what kind of a bishop he was when he was actively serving in the OCA. I guess I really don’t have to know. I would have to say based on his inability to say,” I’m sorry,” in all likelihood, he probably was not my kind of bishop. What’s my kind of bishop? A humble, kind, loving, holy servant of God who manifests the love of Christ like ” a shining city upon a hill.” Of course, I could be all wrong.

                  • Billy Jack Sunday says

                    Archpriest Alexander F. Webster

                    “I believe those who support Trump may be admirers of Pol Pot.”

                    Said no one ever

      • And now of course George, they label the black rapper West, insane, Uncle Tom and attention whore because his opinion is not lock step with the left. So much for liberal diversity. For some reason they did not attack Jim Brown who was also visiting Trump, and sitting next to the rapper.

        • M. Stankovich says

          It would seem fairly obvious that Jim Brown was not attacked because he isn’t an “insane, Uncle Tom and attention whore.” He is a tireless advocate for minority youth and community programs to support them. You basically never hear about him because he does not promote himself over his work.

    • M. Stankovich says

      wow. And imagine if a hard-partying drunk of a Republican, Congressman Duncan Hunter, who, only by nepotism took his father’s seat in Congress, got into big financial problems and started using started using campaign contributions for his “go to the barroom 4-times a day in DC,” lavish vacations, and even groceries and underwear at Walmart, and who knows what, Hey, it happens. But when he got caught a few weeks ago, and on the way to his indictment, he did what every man of character would in a situation like this: spoke right into the cameras and blamed his wife. She was in charge of the finances, and he, personally, did nothing wrong. He was pulled from all the congressional committees to which he was appointed, but complained that they could have waited until after the election. He’s running campaign ads is San Diego now dogging his opponent’s name – Ammar Campa-Najjar (his mother is Mexican and his father is an Arab) – suggesting he’s “unamerican,” bordering on supporting terrorists, bordering on he just might be a terrorist. And despite all this – even when his district includes the United States Marine Base at Camp Pendleton (Semper Fi, bro’s) – the NY Times reports he stands a good chance of being re-elected. I don’t recall Sen. Graham denouncing this guy, just the usual quacking from his colleagues reporting that he was “fine soldier, and a damn good congressman.” One who didn’t feel like paying for his underwear at Walmart.

      • With a name like Ammar Campa-Najjar I’m sure that’s all that’s needed in the brown majority Cali-urban utopia. Regardless of the bad white man. Hey if Gavin wins for gov, maybe we can break bread, have a beer, and shoot a shot of Don Julio when I come to Cali for free healthcare! Might get more visits to the free Cali ER,s from outta staters than Disneyland, and Lego land get! Whatta country, er, state!

        • M. Stankovich says

          Perhaps you could name a state in the US where you would be turned away from care in the event of an actual medical emergency because you could not pay? There is a notice prominently posted both outside and inside every CA ER to this effect. If I am not mistaken, this is federal law. That Emergency Departments have become the de facto “primary care” sources for minorities and “working poor” is hardly unique to CA. Patients come into the ER with, say complications from the flu, and are discovered to have high blood pressure; they are prescribed an anti-hypertensive and told to follow-up in the hospital’s out-patient clinic. Dino would consider this “free healthcare!” worthy of a trip to CA. The reality is, federal funding would pay the hospital for the patient’s ER visit, but the patient cannot afford to fill the prescription for the anti-hypertensive nor the clinic follow-up visit. When a major illness again occurs, they’ll return to the ER for more “free healthcare!” Woo-hoo.

          For anyone who doesn’t know, it is traditional among those of Mexican, and others of Hispanic descent, to honour both parents by using both last-names hyphenated, mother’s first. Dino knew that, but thought it necessary to punctuate the “racial nuance as distraction” because that’s just what those people are compelled to do. That Ammar Campa-Najjar has not tried to benefit from the problems of the “bad white man,” all the more speaks to the character of the creep he’s running against. And please, do enjoy our year-round fruit and vegetables.

          • My friend I am not talking about emergency admittance into an emergency room. I am talking about your new governor to be, Gavin Newsom proclaiming he will give free medical to all illegal aliens. He did such a good job in San Francisco. He now wants to bring it to the rest of the state. I suppose you native Californians can expect even higher state taxes and us visiting your state can expect hotel, car rental,sales, and airport taxes to to be higher than the profit percentages that even the businesses make after expenses.

            I suspect with the influx of homeless and illegals coming to the golden state, for yet more freebies,it will become even more golden, if you know what I mean.

            If the Rebublican politician is more criminal and corrupt than most, let him serve time, as for the Arab Latin democrat. I’m sure pure as snow and will serve your state well. Anyway I was busting your chops but if I come into your state speak with a Spanish accent while speaking Greek maybe I can pull one over on you guys and get some free healthcare. Then with all the money I saved I can afford to take you to your favorite restaurant.

      • Constantinos says

        Dr. Stankovich,
        Your post provides a great teaching moment. You rightly condemn this congressman’s corruption and moral turpitude. This proves the dishonesty of the mainstream media, and the corruption in the government under the Obama administration. Crooked Hillary’s crimes were much worse, and, yet, she wasn’t even indicted. If we had an honest government when Obama was in the White House,, Crooked Hillary would be sitting in federal prison right now where she belongs.
        Instead of trying to overturn the election of a duly elected president, these liberal snowflakes should have been protesting Crooked Hillary and the exceedingly corrupt Barry Sotero aka Barack Obama.
        In defense of the congressman, he did not gain his office through nepotism. You must have meant Crooked Hillary and the Clinton Crime Syndicate. Also, the congressman is a decorated war hero, unlike the draft dodging, loathsome, credibly accused rapist Bubba Clinton. Also, the congressman is right on most of the issues we as a country are facing. He has a zero percent rating from Planned Parenthood, ,and a one hundred percent rating from The National Right to Life. Thank you for pointing out how much better things are under our great President Donald J. Trump. Let’s get on board, and help President Trump continue to make America great again, by demanding the end of this supercilious Mueller investigation. As a final word, you may be better served by avoiding saying “Semper Fi, bros: because it may mislead other readers into believing that you honorably served in the US Marine Corps.

      • M. Stankovich says

        Yesterday, Congressman Hunter held a news conference here – that included dragging out his retired father whose seat he assumed – to announce that four (4) retired Marine generals had signed a letter that, not only was Ammar Campa-Najjar unfit to hold the office of Congressman in the US House of Representatives, but was a danger to the security of US troops home & abroad if he were given access to the sort of classified documents a Congressman is routinely given access. What would prevent him from passing this information on to family members and thus on to terrorists. For his part, Campa-Najjar, who stood in the back of the room for the news conference (and apparently drew the attention of Hunter Senior, who pointed toward him and said, “This is not about race; it is about national security.” has simply stepped up his posting of photos of “meet & greet” opportunities he had with Pres. Trump as a representative of Arab-Americans, and the kind words the Pres. had about him. Campa-Najjar’s only comment to the press was that he never had an expectation of winning the election until Hunter was indicted and his support dramatically vanished. “This move only proves his desperation.” I ask again, how is it that his colleagues – notably Dana Rohrabacher – continue to vigorously defend this man as a “war hero and a damn fine member of congress?”

      • Rep. Duncan Hunter is a marine war hero (Iraq and Afghanistan), and the son of a marine war hero (Vietnam).

        He lost his way a bit perhaps by going to Congress to young but given what his family has sacrificed for our nation I would give him the benefit of 100 doubts.

        I hope he is re-elected, finds his footing again and goes on to many more years of continued honorable service to our nation.

        I never served but had an adopted son service in Navy intelligence in Iraq. Lots of re-adapting after that tour. I know some of what the younger Duncan Hunter went through and may still be going through. I say a hero always deserves a second chance.

  3. When you get a chance,
    Please explain the significance of military tribunals,
    Thank you for this excellent column today

  4. Michael Bauman says

    The circus has detracted from any examination of Kavanaughs Constitutional positions. The Constitutionalists at the 10th Amendment Center have concerns about his positions on the Fourth Amendment, executive power and the like. Military Tribunals may be one such area.

    I do not know. At a certain level I don’t care because we lost the republic a long time ago

  5. Pat Reardon says

    Misha writes, “Where there is no patriarchy there is no Trinity. And where there is no Trinity there is no salvation. ”

    Frankly, this is arguably the best—and, certainly, the most theologically correct—sentence I have ever read on this site.

    • M. Stankovich says

      Fr. Patrick, I believe it is only appropriate to rightly acknowledge the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council for this dogmatic formulation.

      In the context it is being used here by Scott, “patriarchy” bears absolutely no resemblance to the understanding of the Ecumenical or the Cappadocian Fathers (and it is impossible to exclude St. Basil’s younger brother, their friend and contemporary, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and his, On the Making of Man). You apparently have not followed the shameful attempt to demonstrate women as “ordained” by our God in the creation itself as merely an “addendum” to the creation of man. Not only is this notion patently offensive at face, it is in contradiction to the writings of the greatest of the Patristic Fathers, and cannot avoid disparaging Her who is the Queen of Creation, the Glory of Mothers, and the beginning of our salvation.

      The sentence you laud is “arguably the best—and, certainly, the most theologically correct” on this site when it is spoken in the context of and with the intention of the Holy Fathers.

    • Thank you, Father Patrick.

  6. M. Stankovich says

    Mr. Michalopulos,

    As apparently my observations have hit the wall of your staunch defense of the First Amendment, let me point out that as I was walking down the hall, I passed a monitor to see the customary semi-circle of old white bread rallying around Sen. Grassley as he tried to explain what he “really” meant when he said this morning that the “workload alone discourages woman from seeking placement on his judicial committee.” Really? Will they get frustrated and perhaps lash out in an uncontrolled fit of whining anger? Or is that reserved for senators and candidates for the SCOTUS? All I will say to you, Mr. Michalopulos, is that whether you allow anyone to read it for themselves or not, when I’m right, I’m right.

  7. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find an article from yesterday on KNOE 8 News from Monroe, Louisiana.

    Coalition of 100,000 Christian churches call for Kavanaugh withdrawal
    Posted: Thu 10:38 AM, Oct 04, 2018  | 
    Updated: Thu 12:09 PM, Oct 04, 2018

    https://www.knoe.com/content/news/Coalition-of-100000-Christian-churches-call-for-Kavanaugh-withdrawal-495170961.html

    • When I got to “…gender justice…” I stopped reading. The NCC is a lib dominated organization. Ignore the noise from the Left

    • Michael Bauman says

      The NCC is not a Christian organization. They certainly do not represent 40 million people in any way whatsoever. The NCC a nihilist lobby group that represents the opinions of several hundred apostates. Best thing Met Philip ever did was pull the Antiochians out.

    • Amazing Mr. Saddened,

      Imagine my surprise as I was about to slam the type of churches under this coalition, that is, before I read the link!

      Imagine what kind of churches that would have gone political in a time of our great national polarization. I never heard of this coalition, and imagined the churches to be the type that Obama would attend, or one that would fly a rainbow flag on it ‘s flag pole, and your typical Roman Catholic haters. Instead I discovered almost all American Orthodox churches are part of this coalition! DROP THE JAW!

      To say it a shame has become too common, almost a cliche on Orthodox blogs, with all the BS lately. Our national, and our spiritual leaders, many say, are what we deserve, and what we allow. BUT! In all honesty how do we get better? The deep fix in with both, and we are powerless to the great amount of money special interests throw at them, and the power of nations such China, Russia, The EU, and of course OUR nation.

      I will NOT debate the whole EP/MP Ukraine deal, if you all can’t see the corruption from all sides, oh well, nationality will become yet another method for the demons to conquer, divide, and remove more from our Churches. All is no different that the polarity we now witness as a nation, it will divide and conquer us from within, the demons are working hard my friends. Some of our closest friends, leaders, and associates might be entrapped by their snares.

      We are beginning to see it here on this blog. What if I don’t want to leave the Greek Orthodox Church? Am I no longer a TRUE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN? I say piss off, all you quitters, and posers, I am staying. Go pretend being holy than thou, with TRUE ORTHODOXY”! TRUE BECAUSE A POLITICIAN WITH A IMPERIAL MARGARINE CROWN TOLD YOU SO??!! Good luck, and Lord Have Mercy!

      As a simple minded Orthodox man which is the case with most. I have one question. Why for so many years, decades, centuries, whatever, have we all pretended the EP was the leader of World Orthodoxy? Why have we been liars and hypocrites as to allow the media and governments to accept such a title for our EP, if it was not the case. Why has not Russia spoken up, before, to say what they say behind closed doors. Why do we skirt issues as a church, and proclaim black is black and white is white. Right is right, and wrong is wrong? Who really controls our Church? The words of Nevins always haunt me, it should all you “Orthodox Christians” as well.

      • We pray!

      • Michael Bauman says

        Dino, good questions. The life of the Church is not only what the Patriarchs do or do not do. The life of the Church in most cases local. Even more it is in your heart and my heart.

        Hierarchal but personal at the same time. In is one of those paradoxes that signify the reality of things. For Protestants it is always and only personal. For the RCC it is mostly hierarchical.

        We cannot be the Church without a Bishop but neither can we be the Church without us.

        • George Michalopulos says

          Indeed. “Catholic” means “of the whole”. As we believe, everything needful for salvation takes place at the parochial level. That’s why the various “national ministries” of the various jurisdictions fall flat. People intuitively know that they are not “Orthodox” in a meaningful sense.

        • Michael Bauman,
          My heart loves my mission parish, rich in love, and Christ Centered, and even Greek Orthodox. We even stand thru the entire liturgy, except for Epistle reading and Father’s sermon. No plans for an organ either. Humbled in the converted storage room of a Catholic church, we call Saint Anna’s. Prayerfully awaiting to find a property to call home, which should come very soon, pray for us.

          • Michael Bauman says

            Dino, it sounds like a good place to be. Hold each other close– especially your priest.

    • It’s sad that Orthodox Churches are listed as members of this subversive organisation. We’re being listed alongside liberal and degenerate Protestant sects such as the Episcopalians and Swedenborgians for crying out loud! We need to get OUT of the NCC and WCC and stop being dragged along with their destructive agenda! Has the NCC ever spoken out against the “extreme partisan bias” of the pro-abortion faction?

  8. The transformation of Lindey Graham has been amazing. One of the few things that has truly astonished me in this whole affair.

    • M. Stankovich says

      I too had some thoughts regarding Sen. Graham, notably about an article he wrote while a military prosecutor regarding the defense mechanism of repression in victims of sexual and physical trauma. For its time, it was astute and expressed the fact that he fully understood the concept. You were not allowed to read my full commentary as to this matter because Mr. Michalopulos suppressed them, prolly because I used an expression related to “saltines.” This is curious to me to me, because if I were someone Mr. M. openly indicated he “admired,” and would like to sit down and share a few whiskies, I would have full license to repeatedly employ the epithet “niggah” without restraint. I’m trying to memorize all the verses to “Dixie” and then planning my First Amendment appeal, because this site is notoriously ape**** in its defense (That, by the way, is not rudeness, but rather to acknowledge Beyoncé & Jay-Z).

      • Michael Stankovich,
        Wait! WUT! Billy Jack Sunday is white?! I Must of missed this one. Shizzle, I thought Billy was a black man and that was why he got the pass with the ‘N’ words. Not to mention his great knowledge of 80’s and 90’s rap, and love of malt liquor over beer. If I am wrong, I must protest as well.

        • Billy Jack Sunday says

          Dino?

          My Nigga

          Thanks for the shout out

          BTW

          In regards to our fearless leader

          “Shame on tha’ nigga [EP] who tries to run game on a nigga [MP] . . .”

          • Solitary Priest says

            What’s with the racist comments? Oh, that’s right. You and Misha are George’s little favorites.

  9. Gus Langis says

    If you want to get out of the WCC then you need to get out of “canonical” Orthodoxy. Any of you read any of the documents of the Crete Council?, Whole bunch of positive stuff on the WCC and other interfaith dialogues. If it matters to you, you only have two options. Accept ecumenism as Orthodox doctrine or dont accept it and leave for an old calendarist group. As for the Kavanaugh fiasco, nothing will change until you repeal the 19th amendment.

  10. Michael Bauman says

    Two good ideas Gus.

  11. Michael Bauman says

    No Patriarcate is identical to nor essential to the Orhodox Church. They are administrative divisions that more or less coincided with the important cities of the Roman Empire.

  12. Matthew Segel says

    Thank you for this article.. well done

  13. Greatly Saddened says

    Below please find a press release on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America website pertaining to NCC’s recent statement.

    NEWS OFFICIAL NEWS 2018
    Greek Orthodox Archdiocese not consulted on NCCs recent statement
    Stavros Papagermanos
    pressoffice@goarch.org
    October 5, 2018

    https://www.goarch.org/-/greek-orthodox-archdiocese-not-consulted-on-nccs-recent-statement

  14. No, dude. Trump and Kavanaugh expose the hipocrisy of the religious right. They don;t care about morality or fetus, they care about power. So do you when you c0ondone the lavender mafia of the pyramid necrophine Anthony.

    • George Michalopulos says

      Mr Comney, speaking as an ardent pro-lifer (who’s walked the walk as well as talked the talk), I can only say that as far as the American people are concerned, Roe v Wade is (unfortunately) settled law. Now, unfortunately anal marriage is likewise settled.

      That doesn’t mean however that the present abortion-on-demand regime which exists is permanent. Roe for example contained the word “viable” which means that based on medical advancements, restrictions can (and will) be placed on this barbarous procedure. This subtle defect has been noted by liberal jurists such as Lawrence Tribe. If it was truly “settled” as a fundamental right, then it would read thusly: “A woman’s right to procure an abortion at any point during gestation is untrammeled.”

      If I may take as an example the issue of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment which was ratified did not explicitly outlaw slavery. It only outlawed slavery based on birth. Slavery as a punishment for criminality or even debt could still be imposed. It took the Fifteenth Amendment to explicitly outlaw slavery in all its forms.

  15. The resistance to overturning Roe v Wade will be akin to the Picket”s Charge in pure maniacal malice towards all pro -lifer Americans. The fact that there is no human right to murder innocent human children in CHRISTIANITY or the US Constitution. is to be ignored by people calling the right to murder the innocent : their privileged right. We pro-lifers may not win this fight,but we will fight it. Obey and Teach the Vision so the people do not perish, and or fall due to lack of knowledge and perish.

  16. Excellent !!
    https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/01/10-waynes-world-quotes-you-probably-say-all-the-time/
    Extended FBI investigation could go all the way back to Kindergarten or even pre-school for interviews with nannies and grammar school teachers for “full investigation” Feinstein Booker Harris Blumenthal might like, after school detention records from 5th grade, any mistreatment of girl classmates? .. Democrats !!

  17. Beryl Wells Hamilton says

    Orthodoxyinfo is not available for some odd reason, so here is the text of the article posted there yesterday.

    Russia Paying Big Money for Articles, Black Propaganda in Light of Ukraine Developments
    by Andreas Loudaros

    Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew yesterday sent a clear message to Russia vis-à-vis the Ukraine issue, stating that Constantinople has no intention whatsoever of giving in to pressure.

    While addressing an audience at an event in Istanbul celebrating the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Feriköy Greek community, His All-Holiness made it clear that the prerogatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate are rooted in the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils and legally binding for all within Orthodoxy.

    “Whether our Russian brothers like it or not, soon enough they will get behind the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s solution, as they will have no other choice,” said Patriarch Bartholomew, adding that he is well aware of the Russian side’s efforts in funding the writing of articles and creating ‘black’ propaganda in order to strike back at the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

    This is possibly the first time the Ecumenical Patriarch is responding to Moscow’s challenge in light of developments concerning the Ukraine issue. Indeed, yesterday His All-Holiness also expressed the opinion that, “Our Slav brothers cannot accept the primacy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and our nation within Orthodoxy.”

  18. Beryl Wells Hamilton says
  19. Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) says

    Thanks, Father Alexander Webster, for your prim condemnation. It is in character and good for my soul. I’ve never given up on my hopes for you and your search for the right road to salvation! I’ll refrain from listing what “my kind” (SIC) of Priest is, though—I hope this doesn’t offend a Priest as humble as you! I’m sure your students at Holy Trinity Seminary are delighted to learn from you what your kind of hierarch, presbyter, and deacon is! They are so lucky. May God always be with you!

    • Billy Jack Sunday says

      Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald)

      As both a high ranking clergyman, as well as someone having honored retired military service

      Thank you for demonstrating to us what exactly the Christian verbal “one finger salute” looks like in your response to lowly Archpriest Alexander F. Webster

      Maverick and Goose would be proud

      I just took a mental Polaroid

    • Constantinos says

      Your Grace,
      You could have responded to Father Webster’s post with grace and humility, but instead of showing Christ like love, your post is dripping with sarcasm. Nothing like setting a good example for the rest of us. Wouldn’t it be appropriate for you to apologize to Father Webster for your oblique nasty post? This- coming from a bishop!! I guess I should expect this kind of rancid, turgid, demagoguery from you by now. Anyway, I just realized your birthday is coming up soon in November so I would like to wish you a happy birthday, and many years.

    • I know from friends that Fr. Alexander is doing a great job at Holy Trinity Seminary and is preparing future pastors to serve our Church, while Bishop Tikhon is alienating the faithful with his caustic remarks.

      So much for the dignity of the episcopal office.

      • M. Stankovich says

        To be fair here, I do not believe that there is a single person in this scourging of Vladyka Tikhon who 1) is actually interested in receiving his blessing, example, or guidance, or 2) actually believes he suggested anyone here is promoting genocide, gross extinction of humanity, or the other war crime horrors one associates with a type “Hitler.” As Vladyka’s comment was specifically addressed to me, let me say that I interpreted it as 3) hyperbole for the dictatorial, self-righteous, oblivious-to-the-truth (or one might say “in spite of the truth”), egotistical attempts to bully anyone who differs from and/or objects to the “consensus” of anonymous creeps who swing from the rafters, that also happen to characterize a type of “Hitler.” And 4) Vladyka employed a technique referred to as “gossiping in front of the [likely proponents]” by addressing me, to discover that the fish, indeed, are biting.

        And finally, 5) this is evidenced by responses that reek of the “J’Accuse!” of our day – “I am outraged” – which then apparently imparts license to an advanced, unbridled scrutiny and judgment of a Bishop’s heart and actions. This is always justified by the fact that “He is a Bishop” and should be held to a higher standard, yet the “criterion” for this standard, as I read St. Paul, is no different than that to which we are all called on the narrow path of our salvation. Yet, the anointed of our God will answer only to the Master (As even reflected in the Vesting Prayers, “My heart has spoken a good thing, and I proclaim my works to the King [ἐξερεγξατο ἡ καρδία μου λόγον ἀγαθόν, λέγω ἐγὼ τὰ ἔργα μου τῷ βασιλεῖ] (Ps. 44:2 LXX), not to men. And as I have quoted St. Ignatius (Branchianinov) on many occasions, “If you were able to actually see the holiness imparted by God to Bishops, you would fall down.”

        All of this is to say that, while you might disagree with Vladyka Tikhon and reject his opinions, you do not have the right to question his faith, his heart, his “manifestation” of his office, and all the other overblown accusations intended to belittle and humiliate, masquerading as “affront” to Orthodox sensibility. You have the adult choice not to read his posts if you wish.

        • Gail Sheppard says

          I hope you weren’t talking to me, Michael! I don’t need you in the middle of my exchanges with Bishop Tikhon. Not that it is any of your business, but I would be a real hypocrite suggesting he should be giving me a blessing if I don’t make the effort to ask for it. I should have been doing it all along. Just because he doesn’t do it *here* doesn’t mean he isn’t giving it to me, either!

          Bishop Tikhon likes to tweak us and from time to time. Don’t ruin his fun by making him out to be someone who needs defending. He doesn’t. He can run circles around all of us.

        • Constantinos says

          Dr. Stankovich,
          All the bishop had to do was show some humility and apologize. You are the one who gets “outraged” if someone disagrees with you. Please stop with that quote; it means nothing. Bishops are accountable for their words and actions just like everyone else. Yes, according to St. Paul, bishops are required to set a good, holy example for the rest of us.
          The bishop addressed you because he knows you are a liberal snowflake. You are also one who is too insecure to apologize when you are frequently wrong. The bishop’s demeanor on this forum does not demonstrate the love of Christ, just like you do not. You frequently use the word “creep.” I can see why you do that because your behavior was downright creepy in the story you told about your experience with the intoxicated woman. Yeah, I think it’s creepy for a married man to give an intoxicated young woman “a safe ride home.” Why should she trust you? Now, that was creepy. A smart person would have called her a taxi, paid for her fare,and given the cab driver directions to drive her home safely. How was she to know whether “Ted Bundy” was giving her a ride home or not. Being a social worker , you know better. Instead of lecturing other people, perhaps you should make sure your own house is in order. Does anyone really need lectures from a liberal snowflake like you? Your holier than thou crap really gets old. It’s tedious and boring.

  20. Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) says

    Gail, this is what you wrote: ““MAY BE” is pushing it, as no one on this site has even come close to saying something that would suggest we were closeted Adolf Hitler lovers.” Suggest to whom? Did I use the word “closet?” If so, I apologize, but I don’t think I did. It would be more accurate for me to have written “unconsciously.” “Closet” implies awareness coupled to secretiveness. I believe “closeted homosexuals” are those who are VERY AWARE that they are homosexuals, but choose to hide it..

    • Gail Sheppard says

      Master Bless,

      You said: ” . . . people who have always approved of Adolf Hitler but were afraid to mention it. ”

      Closeted is EXACTLY the right term. If one “has always approved” of something one would have awareness of it. If one “were afraid to mention it,” it would suggest “awareness coupled with secretiveness.”

    • Constantinos says

      Your Grace,

      I don’t respect anyone simply because of their office. I respect you for your service to our country,and because you are one year younger than my late Daddy. I don’t ask for your blessing because I don’t think you are holy, and lack humility along with kindness. I’m decidedly not a fan of Orthodox etiquette. There are many hierarchs I don’t respect. For example, the corrupt financial miscreants in the OCA, the despotic thug Saliba because of the way he and his minions treated our precious sister Gail. Everyone of these corrupt, thuggish, hierarchical bums should have been sent to prison.
      You don’t even have the grace and humility to apologize when you are wrong. That makes you a peevish, little man in my book. Not the slightest. least bit Christ like in my humble opinion. Who am I to criticize you? No one. I probably have more faults than you. May God help me to purge myself of my pride, vanity and false humility. May He do the same for you.

  21. Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) says

    “If one “has always approved” of something one would have awareness of it” It ain’t necessarily so.

  22. Beryl Wells Hamilton says

    Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew says this (posted on their Facebook page)s (sorry, translation is from Greek via Facebook):
    “the true Christian does not belong to himself, but to God and to adelphón. This is not just a matter of the greatest sacrifice of life by Christ, as in the appropriate of blood torment, but on continuous authyperbáseōs, autoprosphorás and bishopric, on daily sacrifice, which requires race, karterían and Lord. Of course, and to the witness of blood, the martýrion is not instant éxarsis, but pinnacle and crowning of a long course in Christ, emptying of me, and staurikḗs testimony in the world, soul te and body aproüpothétou devote and affection to the Savior Lord, Which was shall by the sacrifice of their lives.”

    I take this to mean that people are more important than canons. How will the people of Ukraine be helped if the EP “repents of his insanity,” is dissolved, does his “proper” job by “obeying” the canons, and does nothing? Anybody?

    Does anyone know whether Patriarch Kyril and Patriarch Bartholomew are having conversations behind the scenes? Wanna bet?

    Here is an excerpt from a recent interview with Metropolitan Onuphry:

    ” If a parish priest asked to read the burial service or give communion to those who were baptized in a church of the ‘Kiev Patriarchate’, what is the right response to this request? Perhaps, it is more logical that our priests should bear responsibility for only those who are in their pastoral care and who are in the area of their immediate pastoral concern?

    – Concerning the question about reading the burial service for those who were ‘baptized’ by the schismatics, the answer is clear: those baptized in the canonical Church have thus testified to their wish to be also buried by that Church. But if one is ‘baptized’ in a schism, one thus expressed the wish to be send to glory in it. We do not read burial services for schismatics because we do not want to violate the freedom of their choice.

    In life, however, each individual case has an underlying meaning. And before refusing a request, a canonical priest should thoroughly clarify all the reasons why the deceased chose a different faith. If in doing so, a priest finds arguments associated with a human weakness, not the deceased’s fanatical stubbornness, then he has the right to show oikonomy, that is, a concession, with a blessing from his bishop.”

    Would anybody like to respond to this in terms of whether he answered the question or not? What are people supposed to DO? Lessee, Jesus Christ Himself is approached by a family of these “fanatical,” “stubborn,” willingly schismatic, “non”-Orthodox Christians (say… four children, parents, and both sets of grandparents) who believe with every fiber of their being that Jesus Christ is God, that Orthodoxy is the True Faith, and that the Holy Spirit changes the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. “Oops, sorry,” says the Lord Jesus Christ, “I cannot give you My Body and Blood because you are looking to be ‘sent to glory’ in a schism!”

    One more thing:

    Metropolitan Onuphry said this in the same interview:

    And it is taken into account that ‘the Mother Church’ herself is suffering from her own deepest schism because of which the Orthodox Byzantine Empire has turned into a country in which Islam is confessed today, then it will be appropriate to recall the words for the holy Gospel: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ (Lk. 4:23).

    Is Metropolitan Onuphry blaming the Ecumenical Patriarch for the fact that Turkey has become an Islamic country?

    Who’s right?

    • Gail Sheppard says

      Beryl asks: “How will the people of Ukraine be helped if the EP ‘repents of his insanity,’ is dissolved, does his ‘proper’ job by ‘obeying’ the canons, and does nothing? Anybody?”

      Answer: This isn’t about the “people of Ukraine.” This about the CHURCH! The canons are the criterion upon which the Church is defined and upheld. To compromise the canons would be an affront to who she is, which, in turn, would be an affront to Christ because the Church belongs to Him, Beryl. Not to the EP, not to you, not to any person or group of people you can name.

      Every person in Ukraine has the option of coming into the Church but they do NOT have the option of changing her. For whatever reason, the EP has decided to reject her. He wants to mold and shape her into something he perceives is “better” and “better” (were that possible) is not “same as.”

      You keep asking, “What would we do without the EP?” Look around you, Beryl. We’re mourning his death as we speak. He’s suffered a fatal blow and doesn’t know he is a ghost yet. No one did this to him. HE did this to him.

      * * *

      Beryl asks: “Would anybody like to respond to this in terms of whether he answered the question or not? What are people supposed to DO? Lessee, Jesus Christ Himself is approached by a family of these “fanatical,” “stubborn,” willingly schismatic, “non”-Orthodox Christians (say… four children, parents, and both sets of grandparents) who believe with every fiber of their being that Jesus Christ is God, that Orthodoxy is the True Faith, and that the Holy Spirit changes the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. “Oops, sorry,” says the Lord Jesus Christ, “I cannot give you My Body and Blood because you are looking to be ‘sent to glory’ in a schism!”

      Answers: Yes, he addressed the question. – This is what people can do: they can come into the canonical Church. With regard to what GOD will do? We know where God is, i.e. in the Church, but we don’t know where God isn’t, i.e. He will save whom He will.

      * * *

      A true “schism” can only occur within the canonical Church. What YOU are talking about is the choice some people made to operate outside the canonical Church. The remedy is for them to come under the MP. It will screw up the plans of Poroshenko and NATO but if the EP is willing to consider working through this Pan-Orthodox Council, he might be able to save himself AND be credited with unifying the Church! Wouldn’t THAT be a kick in the pants! God works in mysterious ways, my friend.

      • George Michalopulos says

        As usual, lots to chew on here Gail. If I may, I’m intrigued by one point especially: I.e. what would we do without an EP? All the Orthodox Church needs is four bishops anywhere in the world to operate. (Three but it’s always good to have a spare.)

        Asked another way, how did the Orthodox Church operate in the ante-Nicene period without an EP?

        • George Michalopulos says

          In another thread, Nikos intimated that Ukraine is a “bolt hole” for the EP to escape to if things go south for him in Istanbul.

          What do y’all think?

        • Billy Jack Sunday says

          George Michalopulos

          “what would we do without an EP?”

          “Asked another way, how did the Orthodox Church operate in the ante-Nicene period without an EP?”

          Or

          What would we do if Captain Crunch got demoted to Sergeant Crunch?

          • Joseph Lipper says

            Billy,

            If Captain Crunch got demoted to Sergeant Crunch, then you’d end up with Count Chocula and Pope Chiquita Banana playing with their Lucky Charms. You really don’t want that to happen.

            • Billy Jack Sunday says

              Joseph Lipper

              Let me tell you something

              Some people may want The Ukraine to eat the EP’s Tome-Oh’s and Autocephal-Oh’s

              But all the EP is really giving is two scoops of bullsh!t in every bishop

              • Joseph Lipper says

                I’m Pope Chiquita banana and I’ve come to say

                Bananas have to ripen in a certain way

                When they are fleck’d with brown and have a golden hue

                Bananas taste the best and are best for you!

                • Billy Jack Sunday says

                  Joseph Lipper

                  I’m Green Banana Patriarch

                  And you can’t ‘top’ this

                  This G’s loaded with lots of starch

                  And full of hubris

                  Bad for the Ukraine

                  But good for yo’ poo

                  Grub them – then you be

                  Green Pope green poop too

                  • Pope Chiquita Banana says

                    Green, I’m still the Top Banana

                    Now with help from my Muscovite peeps

                    Going to divide and conquer you bunch of little green banana creeps

                    I’ll slice them up and put them in a stew

                    And feed them to the Vatican’s zoo.

          • ““Asked another way, how did the Orthodox Church operate in the ante-Nicene period without an EP?””

            Same way as The Church managed when heretics occupied throne of Constantinople. Other leaders stepped in, like Alexandria against Nestorius or Rome against iconoclasts.

            No man is infallible, neither gathering of bishops is. Only God is infallible.

    • Gail “Would anybody like to respond to this in terms of whether he answered the question or not?”

      He did answer: “before refusing a request, a canonical priest should thoroughly clarify all the reasons”. So either he should refuse services, or apply ekonomia and do not refuse.

      • Beryl Wells Hamilton says

        “So either he should refuse services, or apply ekonomia and do not refuse.”

        Great solution. Refuse services or apply ekonomia to some +-22 million Orthodox Christians (who are, according to you, without grace, which makes their Eucharist invalid). But then again, we just don’t know, do we? Oh, and also, it’s not about the PEOPLE, as we hear from the wisest among us, it’s about the CHURCH, you dummy!

        He did not answer the question. He only refers to the deceased.

  23. Constantinos says

    Hi George,
    Do you know what is interesting ? Some liberal snowflakes call us Trump supporters
    Nazis. Well, tell that to the Israelis. Trump is revered in Israel, hardly the breeding grounds for Nazis. Abraham Foxman, former head of the ADL specifically said not to blame Trump for the Pittsburgh massacres. After all, the lunatic disliked President Trump because of Trump’s love for the Jewish people. I was reading an article along with the comments in the Jerusalem Post this morning; Trump has overwhelming support on that web site. I have to believe that real Nazis hate Donald Trump because of his love for the Jewish people and the state of Israel.

  24. Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) says

    Constantinos, it’s not that simple(“Trump is revered in Israel, hardly the breeding grounds for Nazis.”) Some Jews loathe Netanyahu and the Israeli policies he fosters: Those who loathe him and his policies range from traditional liberals to super-Orthodox Jews. I find his invasion of the West Bank and the justification he and his government give to it to be pages right out of the book called “Our Need for ‘Lebensraum”! IOW, Israel has been a breeding ground for Nazi-imitators. Tell Orthodox Christian Palestinian Arabs that
    Israel is not a breeding ground for Nazis!!! And you know here are Americans that VAUNT their affection for Hitler and Nazis—they never say a word against Trump. I think you are wrong when you write. “I have to believe that real Nazis hate Donald Trump.” Why “have to?” Why not ASK one of them, rather than making a possibly uninformed guess?

    • Constantinos says

      Your Grace,
      Instead of writing et al in your response to Peter Papoutsis, you could have included me. By the way, you touched the third rail. It is considered deeply antisemitic to suggest that Israel is a breeding ground for Nazi imitators. If a person doesn’t like Donald Trump, wouldn’t it be fair to say that person supports abortion, illegal immigration,and birth right citizenship? You know that birth right citizenship nonsense is a scam in which illegal aliens game the system. It has to stop. You are aware of the birth right tourism packages offered in China. I must be a Nazi because I am tired of seeing the US being ripped off and scammed on a daily basis.