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Mormon Tabernacle Choir Singer Who Quit Rather Than Perform for Trump Gets the Fox News Treatment

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For Fox News’s Christian Warrior Todd Starnes, Religious Freedom Is Less Important Than Supporting Donald Trump

She didn’t ask others to join her. She didn’t demand a boycott. She didn’t even mention the Mormon Tabernacle Choir by name. She merely resigned from her position as a singer in the famed choir, rather than perform at the inauguration of Donald Trump. And for that she’s getting the Fox News treatment from Todd Starnes, the Christian warrior who would have rushed to Jan Chamberlin’s defense if she had refused to bake a cake, take photographs, or sell flowers for a same-sex couple’s wedding.

In a lengthy Facebook post Chamberlin reprinted her letter of resignation to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, explaining that performing for Trump violates her religious and moral beliefs:

For me, this is a HUGELY moral issue. “ as he died to make men holy, let us live to make free” ( The first time I heard this beautiful piece, I was 11 years old; my brother Jim was singing in Honor Choir. IT”S message sent inspirational electricity through my soul and penetrated every fiber of my being. THIS is Choir’s true message, and we don’t want it lost by giving the opposite message).

James 1:27 “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” This scripture has been resonating with me a lot lately.

I only know I could never “throw roses to Hitler.” And I certainly could never sing for him.

Chamberlin also warns of Trump’s tyranny.

“Tyranny is now on our doorstep; it has been sneaking its way into our lives through stealth. Now it will burst into our homes through storm,” she writes.

“History is repeating itself; the same tactics are being used by Hitler (identify a problem, finding a scapegoat target to blame, and stirring up people with a combination of fanaticism, false promises, and fear, and gathering the funding). I plead with everyone to go back and read the books we all know on these topics and review the films produced to help us learn from these gargantuan crimes so that we will not allow them to be repeated. Evil people prosper when good people stand by and do nothing.”

She adds, “I love you all, and I know the goodness of your hearts, and your desire to go out there and show that we are politically neutral and share good will. That is the image Choir wishes to present and the message they desperately want to send.”

“I also know,” she continues, “looking from the outside in, it will appear that Choir is endorsing tyranny and facism by singing for this man.”

And Choir’s wonderful image and networking will be severely damaged and that many good people throughout this land and throughout the world already do and will continue to feel betrayed. I believe hereafter our message will not be believed by many that have loved us and adored what we have stood for.

I know that I too feel betrayed.

Naturally, Todd Starnes, who spends the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s writing about the “war on Christmas,” often stirring up trouble for public schools by falsely reporting bans on Christmas cards or why religious-themed plays were canceled. Starnes is often among the first to twist a story to demonize liberals and those who believe in the separation of church and state, and the first to provide a platform for the anti-gay religious right to spew their particular brand of hate that he endorses.

Yet, now we learn that those who oppose Trump, and take a moral and religious stand to do so, are equally on Starnes’ target list.

And Jan Chamberlin has just gotten the Todd Starnes treatment.

In a Fox News column Starnes describes Chamberlin as “distraught,” and her heartfelt explanation merely explaining why she cannot perform for Trump and thus chose to resign, “shrieking” and “hysterics.”

“Ms. Chamberlin’s shrieking,” Starnes concludes, in his uniquely misogynistic manner, “is similar to the hysterics coming from Radio City Music Hall – where several Rockettes pitched a hissy fit over their participation in the inauguration.” 

“For the record, President-elect Trump has never invaded a sovereign nation, nor has exterminated millions of innocent people,” Starnes writes, as if those were Hitler’s only crimes.

“And to compare the next president of the United States to Hitler is not only intellectually dishonest – it’s downright repulsive,” it’s actually not intellectually dishonest, it’s eerily correct when examining Hitler’s rise to power.

“President-elect Trump is no Nazi, Ms. Chamberlin – but your argument is a few notes shy of a stanza,” he finishes. 

In a separate Facebook post, Chamberlin, with a surprising amount of perspective, writes on the fallout from her post.

“Well, let’s see. Today I’ve been called many things, such as bigot, selfish, self righteous, closed minded, and I believe also disrespectful. Also implied comments to question my character. And previously unpatriotic, unfaithful to God and faith, and not a good hard working Choir member.”

I think that’s hilarious!

Shall we get back to the topic at hand, which I believe was standing up for freedom, fighting against tyranny, and standing true to the values and morals we’ve been taught by God.

I am interested in having dialogue on THAT topic and working together to see how we can work together to do that.

 

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Image by Jerry and Pat Donaho via Flickr and a CC license 

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News

Trump Appears to Think Jeb Bush Was President: ‘He Got Us Into the Middle East’

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9 hours ago

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September 25, 2023

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During a rally in South Carolina on Monday, Donald Trump appeared to confuse former Florida GOP Governor Jeb Bush with his brother, former President George W. Bush, while bragging to supporters how he beat him.

Jeb Bush, who was largely considered to be the default Republican Party nominee for the 2016 presidential election when he launched his campaign, dropped out in February of 2016 after the South Carolina primary.

“When I come here, everyone thought Bush was going to win,” Trump said, before claiming he was “up by about 50 points” over Bush. “They thought Bush because Bush was supposedly a military person.”

“You know what he was…He got us into the Middle East,” Trump claimed, wrongly. “How did that work out?”

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“But they also thought that Bush might win. Jeb. Remember Jeb? He used the word ‘Jeb,’ he didn’t use the word ‘Bush,’ I said, ‘You mean he’s ashamed of the last name?’ and then they immediately started using the name Bush,” Trump claimed.

The ex-president went on to continue denigrating Jeb Bush, accusing him of bringing his mother to campaign with him.

“Remember,” Trump said, “he brought his mother, his wonderful mother who’s 94 years old and it was pouring and they’re wheeling her around and it’s raining and horrible. I said, ‘Who would do that your mother, 94 years old. How desperate are you to win?”

Media Matters’ Craig Harrington, commenting on Trump’s latest gaffe, observed: “In the past two weeks, Donald Trump has:

– Warned that Joe Biden might start ‘World War 2’
– Confused his 2016 election opponent (Hillary Clinton) with former President Barack Obama
– Confused his 2016 primary opponent (Jeb Bush) with former President George W. Bush.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Careening’ Toward ‘Risk of Political Violence’: Experts Sound Alarm After Trump Floats Executing His Former General

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Fulton County Judge in Trump Case Orders Jurors’ Identities and Images Must Be Protected

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September 25, 2023

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The Fulton County Superior Court judge presiding over Georgia’s RICO, conspiracy, and election interference case against Donald Trump on Monday afternoon ordered the identities and images of all jurors and prospective jurors to remain secret, ordering they may only be referred to by a number.

“No person shall videotape, photograph, draw in a realistic or otherwise identifiable manner, or otherwise record images, statements, or conversations of jurors/prospective jurors in any manner” that would violate a Superior Court rule, Judge Scott McAfee ordered, “except that the jury foreperson’s announcement of the verdict or questions to the judge may be audio recorded.”

“Jurors or prospective jurors shall be identified by number only in court filings or in open court,” he added.

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Judge McAfee also ordered no juror’s or prospective juror’s identity, “including names, addresses, telephone numbers, or identifying employment information” may be revealed.

MSNBC’s Katie Phang posted the order, and added: “Another important part of the Order: no responses from juror questionnaires or notes about jury selection shall be disclosed, unless permitted by the Court.”

Judge McAfee’s order comes after Donald Trump’s weekend of attacks on his former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. Trump strongly suggested he should be executed for treason. Trump also strongly suggested he would target Comcast, NBC News, and MSNBC if he wins the 2024 presidential election.

Responding to the news, MSNBC’s Medhi Hasan observed, “We have just normalized the fact that the former president, and GOP presidential frontrunner, is basically a mob boss.”

 

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News

‘Isn’t Glock a Good Gun?’ Trump Asks Before Saying He Is Buying One – Campaign Forced to Deny He Did

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11 hours ago

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September 25, 2023

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During a photo shoot at a South Carolina gun shop, Donald Trump posed with and then said he wanted to buy a Glock, asking if it is “a good gun.”

Some say it might be illegal to sell a gun to anyone under criminal indictment, and if he took the gun with him that too might be illegal. It was not clear if, despite saying he would, he actually bought the firearm. The Trump campaign initially said he had, although later backtracked on its claim, and deleted the social media post saying he had.

In the photo op (video below,) Trump posed with several people, including the Republican Attorney General of South Carolina, Alan Wilson, who has held that elected position since 2011.

“Trump’s spokesman announced that Trump bought a Glock today in South Carolina. He even posted video,” wrote former Chicago Tribune editor Mark Jacob. “If Trump took the gun with him, that’s a federal crime since he’s under indictment. There’s also a law against selling a gun to someone under federal indictment like Trump.”

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Reuters’ crime and justice reporter Brad Heath posted the federal laws that might apply, as well as Trump’s campaign spokesperson’s clip of the ex-president’s remarks, and his spokesperson saying, “President Trump purchases a @GLOCKInc in South Carolina!”

CNN analyst Stephen Gutowski, who writes about gun policy, added, “It would be a crime for him to actually buy this gun because he’s under felony indictment. Did he actually go through with this purchase?”

“People under felony indictments can’t ‘receive’ new firearms. That also means you can’t buy them,” he also wrote.

MSNBC anchor and legal contributor Katie Phang wrote, “I don’t know if he actually bought the gun. At least it didn’t happen in this video. Also, the Attorney General of South Carolina is in this video. Is he watching Trump commit a crime?”

But some pointed to a federal judge in Texas’ ruling from last year. Reuters reported, a “federal law prohibiting people under felony indictment from buying firearms is unconstitutional.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

 

 

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