Former President Donald Trump made the trip to Miami to be indicted for not giving back the classified documents he took to Mar-a-Lago from the White House. According to him, the government’s charges are just the continuation of the communist/socialist deep state witch hunt he has been subjected to for the last eight years. Many of his followers have rationalized that the current administration is unjustly “weaponizing” the Justice Department against their political opponents. 

In my mind, our country, “we the people,” deserve everything we are getting from the former President. We had more than enough time before the 2016 Presidential election to witness Donald Trump’s global shenanigans. We have had plenty of time to observe his character as a Presidential candidate and as President.

Since then, we have had plenty of time to witness his influence on the character of others who came into contact with him. Today we live in a tainted apple barrel where the bad bad apple has seeped into and spoiled all the barrels of our government. From the Executive Branch to the Legislative Branch and now the Judicial Branch we can see and smell the festering rancid apple’s contamination on our entire federalist form of government.

According to Merriam-Webster: “We define bad apple as ‘someone who creates problems or causes trouble for others; specifically, a member of a group whose behavior negatively affects the remainder of the group.’ This term is often misunderstood to mean that a troublemaker’s behavior is not representative of the whole group, but the proverb this term originally comes from is “one bad apple spoils the whole barrel.” We are at the point where Johnny Rotten-seed is propagating noxious orchards everywhere.

“…every good tree bears good fruit but, a bad tree bears bad fruit.”

Matthew 7:17

I am not one given to proselytize but Matthew Chapter 7 covers a lot of moral and philosophical ground to live our lives by. Whether you are a Christian or not; or if you don’t even believe in God, it is about building your life on a strong foundation, knowing people for who they are; and not judging. 

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”

Matthew 7: 15

The interesting thing about judging is everybody has an opinion on how “things ought to be.” The concordance of any Bible has numerous citations on judgement, judging etc. For instance, John 7:24 Jesus says, “Stop judging by mere appearance, and make a right judgment.” So how do we tell which four-legged beast on the hillside are wolves and which ones are the sheep—making the assumption that there are always more sheep than wolves. Normally sheep run from wolves but today the sheep are running with the wolves.

It seems like Matthew 7 has us metaphorically bouncing back and forth between animal and plant. Jesus says “By their fruit you will recognize them.” He was so emphatic about rotten fruit that he repeats that sentence twice. Once in verse 16 and again in verse 20. And therein lies the dilemma, which tree is bearing all that bad fruit we are dealing with and which ones are just producing sour fruit. And then who determines if it is bad fruit or fruit that is just fermenting.

Rotting is an uncontrolled act of a food decomposing. Dangerous bacteria take over the food in question, breaking it down to a dangerous and foul state. Rotting kills the food.

Fermenting is just the opposite Fermentation is a controlled process that creates an environment in which the food is placed (jar, crock…); when done correctly, beneficial bacteria are produced that discourage the growth of harmful bacteria allowing you to eat it well past its usual shelf life.

fermentationkitichen.com

Some people claim that those who wrote the Constitution where the equivalent of today’s Evangelical movement. Without a doubt the foundation of our country is build upon the Judeo-Christian foundation–“values”–and not sand. But one must remember that in the late 1600s and early 1700s Quakers in Pennsylvania didn’t mix to well with Congregationalists in Massachusetts. Anglicans in Virginia had their qualms with Baptists and most colonists kept a suspicious eye on the Papists in Maryland–and later nobody cared for Latter Day Saints, who got chased right on across the Mississippi River and out to Utah. I am going to go out on limb but I would think that all of the various religions could agree on what tree gives off good fruit and which trees should be hewn down. And I would also go farther out on that limb that those who wrote the Constitution put together a document based on secular beliefs of the time with the idea that they would reflect the diverse views Judeo-Christian ethics. Granted, there are exceptions to every rule (of law).

I think the world honestly would be a much healthier place if instead of trying to find rationalizations for our bad behavior we would just say, “I was an asshole. Sure, there were reasons behind it, but that doesn’t matter.”

Colin Quinn

In the last year we have witnessed some surreal and absurd public behavior that has people rationalizing what kind of fruit is coming out of the apple barrel. Debating public policy is one. There is no Good Shepherd protecting and guiding the flock. We have shamans and one-eyed pirates roaming the hillsides beguiling the herd. What we are experiencing is the active and open deception of wolves and sheep commingling under the spell of a deal maker. We the people somehow voted him in; but as Carl Sagan once said: “Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”

 

Pete:
The Preacher said it absolved us.

Ulysses Everett McGill:
For him, not for the law. I’m surprised at you, Pete, I gave you credit for more brains than Delmar.

Delmar O’Donnell:
But they was witnesses that seen us redeemed.

Ulysses Everett McGill:
That’s not the issue Delmar. Even if that did put you square with the Lord, the State of Mississippi’s a little more hard-nosed.

Oh Brother Where Art Thou