The committee found that Donald Trump was at the center of the conspiracy to overthrow our government. He fueled it with the utterly ridiculous "big lie" that he supposedly won the last presidential election. All of the election officials and all of the judges to whom Trump has appealed have found that there is NO evidence of any fraud that would change the results of the elections. As a matter of fact, it was the other candidate who won by many millions of votes. It wasn't even close.
The major television channels were showing the hearing last night, but Fox, in a desperate bid to keep their viewers from being exposed to the truth, ran an ADVERTISEMENT FREE, hour-long Tucker Carlson show in which he pushed the completely false and debunked conspiracy theory that the FBI was behind the insurrection and the violence. They lost millions of dollars of advertising revenues just to keep their viewers from channel surfing. They obviously wanted to keep them from learning the facts.
(Fox "News" is a streaming channel for subscribers and, since it is not on the public airways, the FCC does not regulate them. Therefore, they can lie as much as they want because they have NO journalistic ethics to which they must adhere.)
In addition, there are interviews with active participants, such as members of the group that calls itself "the Proud Boys" in which they detail how they were organized and prepared for the attack on the Capital, well in advance of the day. They relied upon then-president Trump's marching orders.
The thing that is really bothering me is that nothing has changed since January 6, 2021, and Trump's followers that are in positions of power are still trying to subvert American Democracy, in the Senate and elsewhere. They continue to spread ludicrous disproven conspiracy theories generated and encouraged by entertainers like Tucker Carlson, despite knowing the truth. It is a cynical, dishonest bid to hold onto power by energizing and manipulating the emotions of people who trust them.
Few Republican officials have had the courage to stand up against the personality cult of Trump and his power-mad allies, despite nearly all of them privately expressing the knowledge among themselves that Trump's "big lie" is, indeed, false.
While in office, Trump packed the court and government agencies with partisan, unworthy shills loyal to him instead of our system of governance. Few have done the right thing and called him to account for his attempt to overthrow our government because they owe him and, in many cases, were part of that seditious conspiracy.
So far, only foot soldiers involved in the conspiracy and insurrection have been arrested and charged. This process is ongoing. Hundreds of insurrectionists have been charged. More than a thousand people have been interviewed. But the real movers and shakers behind the conspiracy, the ones who bear the MOST responsibility, have gone free and mostly untouched, thanks, in large part, to the court packing and placement of Trump allies in key government positions.
I do not need to provide the storylines and details behind this situation because the facts are available to everyone, provided one is interested in the actual news, rather than nutty conspiracy theories dished out by entertainers and callow, power-mad politicians.
Powerful Washington players admit the truth behind the scenes, but they dutifully follow Trump in public, including his daughter, Ivanka. This is where it gets interesting for me personally and gives me something to think about with regard to the influence of family members on one another. Ivanka Trump knew that Bill Barr was right and that Trump's story about the election being stolen from him was a lie. (Trump himself knew he did not win.) But in public, Ivanka kept up the façade.
SAINT AMELBERGA'S FAMILY
As I have mentioned before, it is not unusual for saints to run in families, just as it is common for liars to proliferate in other types of families. The values and aspirations of family members are communicated to descendants and, while there is no guarantee that everyone in a devout family will be of good character, I find it very interesting to study these holy families. I often imagine what it would have been like if my father and mother had been less narcissistic and had stayed together and taken us girls to church. I like to imagine that my dozens of sainted ancestors and cousins may have been praying for me, in order to make up for the deficits of my immediate family.
Therese of Lisieux is a member of one of these distinguished families. As a Carmelite saint, she is one of my favorites.
Saint Amelberga was said to be either the niece or the sister of Blessed Pepin of Landen, my 39th great grandfather, making her my first cousin, 39 or 40 times removed. Due to the dates of death, I veer more toward her being the niece of Blessed Pepin.
Blessed Pepin had three children who were sainted:
Saint Bavo, aka "Allowin," my 38th great uncle
Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, "my 38th great aunt
Blessed Pepin was, like Donald Trump, a political figure, but instead of lying, manipulating and inciting violence in order to grab power, as Trump did, Blessed Pepin falls on the side of holiness.
The historical record shows that, at great risk to himself, Pepin took the king to task for his adulterous lifestyle, resulting in temporary banishment from court. Trump, in comparison, is a proudly vulgar man who bragged about grabbing women by their genitals and was credibly accused of rape and sexual assault by nearly 20 women, 17 of whom sued him in a court of law. His comment that if Ivanka was not his daughter, he would be dating her, gave most responsible mothers the shivers.
Pepin suffered for his holiness but would not abandon his principles in order to retain power, whereas Trump and his cronies are willing to resort to violence and fraud. Even today, Trump is loudly proclaiming the fantasy that he won the last election by a landslide and that it was "stolen" from him. Even his family knows it is a lie, but they present a united front to their fans.
Pepin defended the interests of the Church and worked to promote the spread of Christianity, rather than the spread of conspiracy theories that the loudly vocal far right wing is now doing.
Amelberga, as a member of this illustrious and holy family, had a lot of beautiful examples to follow. All five of her children were declared saints. She and her husband each retired to monasteries after the birth of the youngest. Amelberga was given the veil by Saint Willibrord of Echternach, who himself was the son of ANOTHER saint. (Another family dotted with saints!)
Not a lot is known about these early saints of the 7th century. Amelberga is a patron saint known to protect people from arm pain, bruises and fever! Sounds like a good saint for those inclined to sports injuries!
CONFUSION ABOUT SAINTS AND THE MYSTICS
A friend of mine recently suggested that I try to make friends with other like-minded Catholics with an interest in prayer and the mystics, but every time I join one of the groups I find the strangest things posted there. I have had to leave the last Catholic group today. The posts sound more like THE OCCULT than Catholic mystics. The most recent was a long exhortation about how the author hunts and kills DEMONS from people's houses and other locations. More than a bit frightening. I don't like to think about Satan or his demons and stay as far away from them as possible, including keeping my mind on God, our Blessed Mother, the angels and the saints instead.
In many of these groups, Catholics proclaim the bizarre and untrue idea that all the other religions are "Satanic." They think this of the New Age religions in particular, but also believe it of Hinduism and Buddhism, and it simply is not true. In fact, our Catholic Catechism says right in there that if someone behaves like a Christian, he or she is actually a part of the faith, unbeknownst to even themselves!
There are plenty of saintly people of other religions whose virtue is easy to recognize.
Our dear Lord is not as stupid as some people make Him out to be. He sees into people's hearts and knows when someone is sincerely seeking Truth. Our Lord, who is all beauty, all truth, all blessedness certainly recognizes the sincere heart!
Many folks have been turned away from the Catholic faith by the exclusiveness of some Catholics. I myself was turned away in the late 1980's because I had been divorced 13 years previously. That is NOT the rule of The Church, but I've told that story before, so there is no need to go into it again here.
Other people have been repelled by The Church's many scandals. It is our own fault if they go to other religions when they see how we have hidden the child molesters and protected them. If anything, we should be humble. Instead, we sashay around the internet blabbing about how other religions are "satanic." It is ludicrous.
Well, it is a difficult time for us all, and we need to hold onto the Lord as best we can. In addition to my gradually increasing daily pains, I am in the midst of a struggle to maintain my apartment in the face of some really unjust rental increases that the City of Albuquerque has laid onto the backs of the poor (me among them.) On top of that, they have told me they are removing my access to my parking and my garage, impeding my ability to leave and enter my residence. Please pray for me, as I pray for you.
God bless us all!
Silver Rose
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