Dakota Beacon

A few random quotes illustrate a society cascading downward to a new cultural low ground. Should we laugh – or should we cry? Take a look.

That Old Gray Lady, The New York Times, awakened to the wholesome spirituality of our new Commander-in-Chief. On 1/23/21 The Times published the following banner, “In Biden’s Catholic Faith, an Ascendant Liberal Christianity.” The first line reads, “President Biden is perhaps the most religiously observant Commander-in-Chief in half a century.” Whoa! How does that square with his support for Planned Parenthood’s liberal policies in particular and an authoritarian approach to government in general?

Ponder this from intellectual giant Bill Maher as reported in The Blaze, 2/8/21. “We need to stop pretending there’s no way to understand why the Trump mob believes in him. It’s because they’re religious! They’ve already made space in their heads for sh-t that doesn’t make sense.” Get it? Christianity is the problem.

Politico’s Zack Stanton shares Maher’s sentiments in his article titled “It’s Time to Talk about Violent Christian Extremism,” 2/4/21. The title alone reveals the presupposition of Stanton’s argument. Does pontificating such ignorance unify our nation? “For two decades, the U.S. government has been engaging with faith leaders in Muslim communities…in an attempt to stamp out extremism…Now, after the dangerous QAnon conspiracy theory helped to motivate the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, with many participants touting their Christian faith…it’s worth asking whether the time has come for a new wave of outreach to religious communities, this time aimed at evangelical Christians.” Stanton’s conclusion? You guessed it. A bigger, controlling government spending more federal dollars – but with a twist. Now the focus is on re-education much like the Chinese focus on the Muslim Uyghur population.

Nicolle Wallace hosts MSNBC’s Deadline: White House. On 1/28/21 and again on 1/29/21 she floated the idea of drone strikes against Americans in the US as a solution to domestic terrorism. “We had a policy… of attacking terrorism at its root, of going after and killing, and in the case of [American Yemeni] Anwar Awlaki,…with a drone strike for the crime of inciting violence…The way you root out terrorism, is to…kill those who incite it.” She referred to the January 6 demonstrators at the Capitol. Media Research Center’s NewsBusters gave more than adequate coverage to Wallace’s proposal. Check it out. And this under the religiously observant new Commander-in-Chief.

“Yellen Is Creating a New Senior Treasury Post for Climate Czar.” So stated The Wall Street Journal on 2/12/21. The senior post will be charged with tackling “risks to the financial system posed by climate change…[A] veteran of Obama administration, Sarah Bloom Raskin [is] the leading candidate for [the] new senior position.” Raskin is wife of House Democrat impeachment manager Jamie Raskin. Sarah Raskin should look at Biden’s Special Envoy for Climate, John Kerry. New York Post headline 2/3/21: “John Kerry Defends Taking Private Jet to Accept Climate Award in Iceland.” “…[I]t’s the only choice for somebody like me…” Is there a stronger synonym for “arrogant?”

On 1/12/21 Breitbart reported that “Washington Post columnist and MSNBC contributor Eugene Robinson referred to President Donald Trump’s supporters as ‘members of a cult’ that he says need to be ‘reprogrammed.’ Robinson, on ‘Morning Joe,’ asked New York Times writer and 1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones how to start and complete the ‘process’ of deprogramming the Trump supporters.

On 1/19/21 CBN reported the following. “During an appearance [1/19/21] on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, former CBS News anchor Katie Couric rebuked Republicans who failed to vote in favor of impeaching President Donald Trump and suggested the 74 million Americans who voted for the outgoing Commander-in-Chief need to be ‘deprogrammed.’ ‘The question is how are we going to really almost deprogram these people who have signed up for the cult of Trump?’ Couric asked. Her words echoed those of… Eugene Robinson, who last week said… that there are ‘millions of Americans — almost all white, almost all Republicans — who somehow need to be deprogrammed.’”

On 1/19/21 Fox News reported on a CNN story as follows, “Cult expert Steve Hassan told CNN on Tuesday that ‘all of America needs deprogramming’ due to the negative influence of President Trump…” Hassan developed a model that describes Americans influenced by Trump’s behavior, information, thoughts, and emotions. Trump supporters must be deprogrammed.

Much earlier, on 11/20/20, The Western Journal carried the following headline. “DNC Member Suggests 'Deprogramming' 75 Million Trump Supporters.” Continuing, “This belief has been kicking around in the fever swamps of leftist Twitter for some time now — really, since about 2015 — but it’s now accepted enough that a member of the Democratic National Committee is spouting it… David Atkins, a member of the DNC’s California convention, became a lot more famous than he previously was this week when he tweeted that the 75 million people who voted for Trump were basically all dwelling in a massive mental Branch Davidian compound. ‘No seriously…how *do* you deprogram 75 million people? Where do you start? Fox? Facebook?’ he wrote in a Tuesday tweet. ‘We have to start thinking in terms of post-WWII Germany or Japan. Or the failures of Reconstruction in the South.’”

Christian terrorists? US drone strikes on citizens? Deprogramming? And Biden seeks unity? Societal spokesmen issue Siren calls from the destructive cultural low ground.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).