It’s time. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me. Trump's election victory speech

When I hear Trump speak about "all Americans" - I cannot in looking at his actions believe that he means African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinx Americans, or any other minority, disadvantaged population here.

Armed white protesters are "very fine people", black and brown protesters are "THUGS".

Trump says that he defends the rights of "citizens"; but citizen is a legal/political construct that can be redefined and narrowed to exclude those without power or privilege.

Consider the new (Feb 2020) Denaturalization Section of the Justice Department:

The Denaturalization Section “underscores the department’s commitment to bring justice to terrorists, war criminals, sex offenders and other fraudsters who illegally obtained naturalization,” Joseph H. Hunt, the head of the Justice Department’s civil division, said in a statement.

No one wants "terrorists, war criminals, sex offenders" in the country, but –

“The Denaturalization Section will further the department’s efforts to pursue those who unlawfully obtained citizenship status and ensure that they are held accountable for their fraudulent conduct,” Mr. Hunt said.

Trump's Justice Department considers entering the country illegally to be a crime (of the worst sort, considering the resources they have put behind CBP and ICE). There's the real goal: the power to strip the rights and liberties from any immigrant who has been here as a productive member of society long enough (7 years?) to become naturalized.

The Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, established after the civil war to establish and protect the citizenship of former slaves, says in part:

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

The Denaturalization Section is in practicality an end-run around the Citizenship Clause of the Constitution. And to drag out a long post longer...

This clause reversed a portion of the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, which had declared that African Americans were not and could not become citizens of the United States or enjoy any of the privileges and immunities of citizenship. Citizenship Clause (Wikipedia)

The goals of denaturalization laws now are the same racist goals as the Dred Scott laws of the post-US Civil War era.

From Sojourners in 2018, When White Nationalist Christians Redefined Their Neighbors :

Ludwig Müller, who became the Nazi-sanctioned Reich Bishop, went so far as to “Germanize” Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In his 1936 translation, Jesus says: “Happy are those who are at peace with their fellow Germans [Volksgenosse];"

In doing this, he captures how German Christian nationalists had already redefined who counted as their neighbor. If neighbors can be defined primarily as the “non-foreign” members of one’s nation first, then one can morally justify all sorts of actions against people who are categorized as outsiders.

I want to focus on my own white Christian community here. We are seeing this redefinition in action right now in our nation. Americans who consider themselves Christians are reading Facebook, watching FOX News, and watching Trump's speeches and going "you know we definitely do not want thugs or illegals in our streets! LAW & ORDER!"

But the "thugs and illegals" are whoever Trump considers them to be today. That photo op at St. John's Episcopal in DC? Among the "violent protesters" that were dispersed with tear gas and flash grenades was a priest from the church Trump wanted to visit.

We must take stock and recognize how much even our faith has been shaped by the systematic recism of our nation, and re-evaluate our worldview in the light of the scripture we claim we follow:

Who Is My Neighbor?

Luke 10:29-37:

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ...

This is what Müller's false interpretation was targeting, for the same reason the questioner in Luke did: to narrow the definition of who he was expected to . But Jesus insists on the wider interpretation - even to the those whom the Jews considered heretics to be treated as dogs:

33 "But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out [his own money] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'"

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

(Emphasis mine) While our cities burn and police departments are instigating riots... on whom will we have mercy?

If we are not heartbroken and angered at the every day treatment of black and brown people in our communities, cities, and nation, if we will not speak up for them, if we will not spend our resources to give them reprieve, then we no longer consider them our neighbors.

Those who demand individual liberties for themselves, usually only demand individual responsibility for others #uspol

What one president can say and not mean, the next will say and mean, and the next will say and do. Sometimes they are the same president #uspol #authoritarianism

"...acting in the name of society should mean you have an audit log for us to inspect."

https://twitter.com/lmorchard/status/1267581934290386944?s=20

How Western media would cover Minneapolis if it happened in another country

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/29/how-western-media-would-cover-minneapolis-if-it-happened-another-country/

The white girl in the first car waves and smiles - the two black people in the car following are accosted, their vehicle disabled and broken into, and they're dragged into the street - by police. https://twitter.com/elonjames/status/1267462019227279360?s=20

(SORRY, LOST IMAGE)

Our nation is deeply, systematically racist, and no amount of "I'm not like that" changes that. Anti-racism activist Jane Elliott says it perfectly:

"If you, as a white person, would be happy to recieve the same treatment that our black citizens do in this society, please stand."

"Nobody's standing here. That says very plainly that you know what's happening, you know you don't want it for you, I want to know why you're so willing to accept it or allow it to happen to others."

(SORRY, LOST IMAGE)

I'm not standing either, and that makes me deeply ashamed.

It's a Pandemic Monday morning, and beyond all comprehension the US has become even worse over the last week. Trying to stay quiet myself, boost black and POC voices on social media, and otherwise listen.

So far in 2020 I’ve read 30 books #quarantine #covid19

Grandpa: Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...

The Grandson: Doesn't sound too bad. I'll try to stay awake.

(from The Princess Bride of course, but applicable)

I stayed awake! 😂

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Taking time to update my list of books read in 2020 (I’m up to May 22)

http://monkinetic.blog/tag/reading2020

I really enjoyed this whole series. Book 2 finds Kellen - magical outcast from his Jan'tep family - beginning to accept his new status as outlaw and trickster, while learning that there is a whole world outside the insular society he grew up in.

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Calling all blog/CMS nerds: many of our systems have an idea of a "day" worth of content: archives, dialy digests, etc. My question is: what defines the current "day"? Is it from my perspective as the author? The reader's? What about email digests?

I recently learned about MacOS' emoji picker, which you can bring up with Control-Cmd-Space ⌨️. Since modern OSes support Unicode pretty effectively, it has transformed my blog posting! 😂

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Good morning world ☀️

Kellen and his makeshift crew have defeated (most would say survived) a large number of assassins, bounty hunters, unnatural disasters, and his own persistently scheming Jan'tep family.

Now it seems there's a... God out there he's expected to deal with?

The last book in the 6-book Spellslinger series, which has been really fun.

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Good morning world ☀️ ☕️

Working on timezone code for #goldfrog, still the worst

If you had been in my welding shop a while back, you'd have seen a paper sign hanging on the wall that said "Do Not Set Yourself On Fire". A sensible individual might see this as self-evident. I've had reason for reminder.

Today I decided over lunch to pursue a project I've had in mind for a long time, making a hanging bell from an old propane tank. Yes, you -- being a sensible individual -- can see where this heading.

Now, I'm not actually stupid, and this tank has been sitting with the valve open for probably 1.5 years in my side yard, which seemed a long enough time for the tank to be well empty (the foreshadowing is painful, isn't it?)

So I cut off the collar that prevents the valve from being damaged, and -- seeing as the valve is rusted in place -- begin to use an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel to remove said valve. Thankfully this task id not come to an early and explosive conclusion, but about halfway through the tank began spewing foul-smelling propane into the shop. I put (read "threw") the grinder down, ran and slammed the mains off at the electrical box, and opened the garage door. Unstrapping the venting tank, I scrambled to get it out front to finish emptying while I tried to convince my heart that I was not, actually, currently, ON FIRE.

(SORRY, LOST IMAGE)

A quick tour of YouTube reveals a few ways to go about emptying the tank properly, most would be easier if I'd left the collar on... back to the drawing board?