Trump gave his speech Tuesday night on the border wall and government shutdown. By all counts, it was a disaster which didn't help him any. He received much criticism and the Democratic response drew higher numbers.
But if you were a supporter and follower of groups like the Family Research Council, which claims to stand for truth, honesty, and good Christian values, no one can blame you for having a less negative view of Trump's speech.
In a recent piece, the Family Research Council bends over backwards to scare its followers about the crimes allegedly committed because Trump's wall isn't there:
"These coyotes [guides and smugglers] know what they're going to do in the middle of nowhere," Maria says quietly from a soup kitchen in Nogalas. For most women, the entire trip is one, non-stop sexual assault. When she couldn't keep up with her group, one of the coyotes leading Maria's caravan said he'd wait for her -- but only if he could have sex with her daughter. She refused, and he left them. If it weren't for Border Patrol, Maria remembers, they would have died. "It's awful," she shakes her head, "making this trip as a woman."
Younger girls are even bigger targets. Older men promise their parents they'll take them to America, only to sell them to brothels by the border or force them into sex slavery once they get there. Along towns like Mapastepec and Frontera Comalapa, the houses of prostitution are full of young women who were tricked or trafficked. Their moms or dads send them anyway, knowing with 80 percent certainty in some countries that they'll be raped -- or never seen again.
. . . While the media's attention is usually on the hardship of these immigrants, they're far from the only victims. When drug smugglers and gang members cross into the U.S., they rarely leave their culture of violence behind. "In the last two years, ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of aliens with criminal records," the president said during his primetime appeal for more border security last night, "including those charged or convicted of 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 violent killings." Thousands of Americans -- from 16-year-old girls to Air Force veterans -- have been viciously murdered by the wave of criminals entering our country illegally. "This is a humanitarian crisis," the president insisted. But more than that, it's a crisis for the future of our country. Every American is hurt -- either physically, or emotionally, or economically by the people who refuse to enter our country legally.
You will notice that FRC didn't talk about Trump's repeated lies about Mexico paying for the wall. FRC didn't mention the constant nauseating strain of lies told by Trump and his Administration to justify the border wall. Lastly, FRC didn't mention the misleading statements Trump made during his speech.
FRC's post was all about semantic threats of boogeymen, sex crimes, and violent killings all strewn together haphazardly without any care of cohesion or context. Or facts.
It's no secret how much I have written about FRC and groups like it because of their constant lies against the LGBTQ community. Nor is it any secret how these organizations have publicly humiliated themselves making excuses for Trump because of the access to the White House he gives them.
But this craven attempt by the Family Research Council to buttress Trump's exposed and constantly refuted values to its supporters is especially sad. The relationship between the two parties reminds me of that motion picture, A Clockwork Orange, in which the lead character is tied down with his eyes forced open by metal pins while being fed a steady diet of images which will supposedly make him a functioning member of society.
In this case, it's evangelical groups such as FRC feeding its supporters a steady mantra of pro-Trump propaganda.
"Trump is good." "Trump defends Christianity." "Trump is protecting us from the terrorists." Trump is the best friend Christianity has ever had. He has done more for us than maybe Jesus."
This is nothing new from FRC. Before Trump the mantra was:
"Homosexuals are evil." "Homosexuals want your children." "Homosexuals want to put you in jail and persecute you."
What's even sadder is that FRC doesn't need to physically tie its supporters down or hold their eyes open with metal clamps. The group has a more powerful hold on its supporters. It has their trust, which it extensively and freely abuses.
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