OK, friends, last week we talked about the arrest and arraignment of President Donald Trump—and I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I don’t remember when we stopped saying “former President” and just started calling all ex-presidents “President” but I guess that’s a thing. Emilypost.com says that it’s incorrect to call a former President “President,” and Miss Manners from a Washington Post article back in 1992 says that the correct address is either Mr. or the highest previous title that the former President is entitled to, so you would call him Governor Carter, Governor Clinton, Governor Bush, Senator Obama, Mr. Trump, historically Washington went by General Washington and Jefferson as Mr. Jefferson, theoretically you would call Taft Justice Taft—although he only lived for a month after he retired, but you get the point. The point is that there’re a lot of social rules and niceties and conventions about the person of the President.
There used to be another social convention around the president—you don’t put former Presidents in prison!
There’s a famous anecdote from history about this. And that is that when the United States sent Franklin and the boys over to Paris to request military aid from the Bourbon Monarchy to help overthrow British rule in the Americas there were a lot of close advisors who told Louis XVI that it’s not really wise for an autocratic imperial monarch to help peasants overthrow a neighboring imperial monarch, indeed, overthrow one even less autocratic than yourself.
It sorta, you know, gives people . . . ideas.
I mean, we’re sending French soldiers and sailors to Boston to overthrow the British because all kings are tyrants . . . nope, hold that thought . . . nope . . . only King George is a tyrant, all is well in France, carry on your lives of abject poverty, exploitation, and having virtually zero accessible civil rights.
Anyways, you get the point. Political leaders, at least the smart ones, realize that there’s a certain “good for the goose, good for the gander” philosophy about prosecutions. And basically, it’s the golden rule of corrupticos. If I don’t prosecute my opponents, they won’t prosecute me. And frankly, it’s probably wise to follow this. Constantly arresting former Presidents is, I would argue, not in the best interests of the political stability of the Republic.
But that ship has sailed. We have gone, as the Phantom of the Opera would say, “Past the point of no return, no going back now.”
And last week I said that this crossing of the line would need to be answered by conservative politicians or it’s all over. If one side is going to decide that the rules don’t apply then the other side has to take them at their word. Now, please don’t mishear me. I’m not saying that conservative and especially Christian lawmakers should break the law of do anything immoral or illegal. That’s NOT what I’m saying. What I AM saying is that all the niceties and unwritten rules and norms and conventions are over. The days of playing by unwritten rules are over. Now, some conservative politicians have already learned this lesson and are using it to great effect. Others are catching on quickly. And if I were a betting man I would say that soon and very soon we will see a member of the Biden family indicted in a Redstate.
And I said that if Christians want to see Christian laws put on the books then they are going to have to learn to play political hardball. Christians are going to have to learn that once the norms and conventions and unwritten rules and niceties are broken, they’re broken for good. And the can ONLY be reestablished when both sides decide to play by them.
You can’t have one side playing by the unwritten rules and losing real power while the other side refuses to play by the unwritten rules and they gain real power. You can’t have one side threatening to pack the Supreme Court and threatening to add states to the Union and threatening to abolish the filibuster and refusing to enforce Federal Laws in sanctuary cities and weaponizing the Justice Department and weaponizing the IRS and promoting political violence and to do it with the entire establishment media and big tech on their side. You can’t have just one side doing all this and leave it go unanswered.
Again, I am not in any way shape or form advocating anything illegal, unethical, or immoral. What I am saying is that one side can’t take off the gloves and forgo the unwritten rules and play dirty while the other side refuses to play hardball. Well, I mean, you CAN do that if you want to lose. And I believe, in fact I KNOW that there are a lot of Christians out there who are politically conservative and there are a lot of Christians out there who think that even if the godless leftists want to break the norms and conventions we must continue to play by the unwritten rules because, doggonit if we nobody plays by the rules then the Republic is lost.
And I’m sensitive to that take because I think it’s true. If nobody plays by the rules the Republic IS lost. But that take misses a very important piece of reality which is that, if the Republic is lost if both sides stop playing nice, then the Republic is already lost. Because it doesn’t matter if two forces refuse to play by the rules or if one side does play by the rules but it has no power and no ability to affect change. If the conservatives in this county continue to follow the lead of the Point-of-Order-Republicans then all we’re going to see is a very polite descent into tyranny. Or rather, we’ll see one side being very polite and orderly while the other side continues to act like a pack of unhinged demon possessed maniacs as we descend into tyranny.
But enough talking around it, what am I saying should happen? I’m saying that Christian politicians should and Christians should encourage Conservatives in positions of power to do a series of very specific actions. Now listen, I know that last week I said that I would give a theological defense of my claim that Christians can and should engage in and encourage our representatives to engage in political hardball. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that I needed to be clear about what that actually entails. And long story short playing political hardball in a Christian way means that Christians can and should use their political power and influence to promote Christian morals and ethics; reduce the power of the military-industrial-tech-media-pharma-education-complex; root-out and prevent corruption; punish those who misuse political power; prevent the creation of inflation and debt that abuses the poorest, punishes the financially prudent, and robs future generations of wealth by saddling them with inflation, debt, and taxes; and promote localism and state power and the reduction of the size and power of the Federal government. I believe that these are all policies that every Christian can get behind and which I can make a strong Biblical argument for.
In what follows are twenty-one points. These twenty-one are not the only things that could make this list, and certainly there are things I missed, and perhaps more important things I missed. And you may disagree with some of these points. I’m not perfect. I am not claiming that these have come from on high; I didn’t climb Sinai to receive these 21 points. And I’ll admit that they could certainly be improved in how I present them and order them and all that jazz. But I believe, that if these twenty-one points were put in action that our country would become godlier, more Christ-honoring, more Christian, and better to live in. And, so, here they are.
First, Conservative lawmakers can and should propose the strongest laws that have a possibility of passing, that promote Christian morality in the justice system, and promote Christianity in the culture.
Second, Conservative lawmakers can and should punish, to the strongest degree that has a possibility of not being struck down by the Supreme Court, businesses that are seeking to pervert our children, corrupt our society, and undermine Christianity.
Third, Conservative Governors, when capable should remove godless prosecutors who seek to weaponize the justice system against the community’s they are sworn to protect. Moreover, the laws for prosecutorial misconduct should be more heavily enforced and laws when applicable should be broadened. Moreover, the release of information about evidence collected and prosecutorial theories should be banned from being disclosed to the public before a trial. Pre-trial press conferences should only include the name and the charges that have been filed, anything else should be considered an attempt to prejudice the jury.
Fourth, Conservative Governors can and should appoint conservative Christians to serve on the boards of trustees of all state universities and those trustees must fire any and all woke staff, as permitted by law, standards of education must be reestablished, title IX committees must be shut down, grievance-disciples and education departments must be eradicated, administrative bloat must be cut, and universities must be made places of learning that creates good and godly citizens.
Fifth, Conservative lawmakers can and should remove members of legislative bodies who promote rioting and unrest or who stoke racial hatred.
Sixth, Conservative lawmakers can and should refuse to approve federal justices appointed by Biden.
Seventh, Conservative lawmakers can and should break-up tech monopolies under anti-trust laws.
Eighth, Conservative lawmakers can and should continue to outlaw abortion to the degree that it will be successful.
Ninth, Conservative lawmakers can and should use congress’s investigative power to subpoena anyone associated with Hunter Biden’s pay-to-play schemes, launch a multi-year investigation of Anthony Fauci and everyone else involved in deceiving the United States about the truth concerning Covid-19, its origins, its safe treatment, and anyone associated with the manipulation of statistic that led to the continuation of lockdowns and the violation of civil liberties. Moreover, Congress should revoke vaccine manufacturer’s indemnity and hold pharmaceutical companies liable. Moreover, congress should conduct a multi-year investigation of the FBI, NSA, CIA, and any and every other organization, to gather evidence for prosecution of Agents who spied on citizens without or with illegitimate warrants, who leaked false evidence, who instigated violence on Jan 6, who have targeted Roman Catholics; and this investigation should get on record, why crimes against Christian Crisis Pregnancy Centers have been attacked without investigation, why acts of terror by Antifa and Black Lives Matter have gone largely uninvestigated and why BLM continues to maintain its tax-exempt status. Moreover, congress should launch an investigation, in partnership with conservative lawmakers in the states where they have sufficient power, to investigate hospitals who have conducted transgenders surgery on minors and when applicable prosecute them for child abuse and if that is impossible revoke their medical licenses. Moreover, congress should use its investigative power to determine where taxpayer money is going in the Ukraine war and should investigate who blew up the Nordstream II pipeline.
Tenth, Conservative lawmakers can and should where they have the votes to do so, completely outlaw transgender surgery and hormone therapy on anyone who was not born intersex.
Eleventh, Conservative lawmakers can and should, where they have the votes to do so pass laws outlawing and criminalizing the teaching of transgender ideology to children with criminal prosecutions against people in positions of authority including but not limited to teachers, professors, school administrators, school employees, pastors, psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, coaches, medical doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, aids, or any other hospital employees.
Twelfth, Conservative lawmakers can and should, where they have the votes to do so pass laws outlawing and criminalizing as child abuse parental promotion of transgender ideology.
Thirteenth, Conservative lawmakers can and should, where they have the votes to do so, in keeping with the precedent set by liberal city councils, mayors, state legislators, and governors, refuse to recognize gay marriages, refuse to recognize trans-identities on government paperwork, and otherwise refuse to recognize, enforce, or assist in the enforcement of any Federal law of Federal bureaucratic regulation deemed obnoxious to the state or location. This refusal to participate on the enforcement of obnoxious laws should be carried out on a local level by conservative sheriffs, deputies, and municipal and state police officers.
Fourteenth, Conservative lawmakers can and should revoke the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, ensure that the US ceases to engage in military adventurism without a formal declaration of war from Congress, and either nationalize or federally mandate that the profitability of weapons and military supply manufacturers be limited to rates approved by state referenda. Or that profits made in production of weapons exceeding the national profitability rate for that year shall be collected and used to provide veteran’s services such as health-care, GI Bill expenses, and lifetime financial support for the wives, husbands, or children of soldiers killed while serving.
Fifteenth, Conservative lawmakers can and should ban anyone serving in the US House or Senate or any of their aids, or any or their spouses to execute any trade of any stocks for life.
Sixteenth, Conservative lawmakers can and should revoke the Executive Bureaucracy’s ability to create regulations that have the effect of law. Law must be created by lawmakers. Moreover, the congress must reject and fight the Executive branch on presidential orders, the creation of executive agency czars, and other actions that take legislation away from the legislative branch and give it to the executive.
Seventeenth, Conservative lawmakers can and should severely reduce the budgets of several federal agencies and executive branch departments to reduce their power and influence.
Eighteenth, Conservative lawmakers can and should declare major tech platforms publishers and revoke their right to stifle or editorialize on free speech AND declare internet service providers as common-carriers who have no right to deny service for political reasons.
Nineteenth, Conservative judges should fight to reverse previous decisions including but not limited to Obergefell, as well as either revoking or revising the doctrine of qualified immunity.
Twentieth, Conservative lawmakers and judges can and should eliminate no-fault divorce, either by changing the law or by refusing to grant such petitions.
Twenty-First, Conservative prosecutors can and should, when sufficient evidence exists to justify a prosecution, prosecute any member of the Biden family or any of his business associates for any crime. Moreover, Conservative prosecutors can and should, when sufficient evidence exists to justify a prosecution, prosecute any and every politician who promotes godlessness, the erosion of Constitutional rights, chaos in the streets, corrupt racial theories, abortion, or the degradation of marriage and the traditional family.
So, these are my twenty-one points on how Christians can play political hardball. And whether you agree with these points or not isn’t the biggest and most important thing. The most important thing is for Christians to recognize two things. First, we have a duty to God and country as citizens of Heaven, the State of Ohio, and these United States to use our pollical influence for the glory of God and the good of our communities. Second, this duty includes the duty to use political power in ways that the enemies of God will find unpleasant and distasteful.
We need to play hardball.