Step Away From The Phone, Mr. President #104

We confront a racist video tied to Trump’s account, call for a real apology, and challenge the dehumanizing language that fuels our divide. We press toward accountability, prayer for opponents, and concrete reforms in Virginia’s redistricting fight while rooting our hope in the Good Samaritan.

• Trump’s repost and why apology matters
• Ego, leadership, and social media responsibility
• Prayer for political rivals as a daily practice
• Language that dehumanizes from left and right
• Immigration, rule of law, and mercy in tension
• Virginia’s gerrymander push and legal process
• Culture notes on the Super Bowl and music
• The Good Samaritan as a civic ethic
• Identity in Christ above party and state

“Pray for someone you disagree with today.”

Transcript

Opening, Prayers, And Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Welcome back to overopinionated everyone. I'm so sorry for the long break in my defense. I had been sick, it feels like for a month. And right when I was about to get over it, um I got sick again uh with all this cold. We lost our power last week for a day, not too long, but a day, very, very cold day. Thankfully, we had a generator um to help us. But um I'm back and uh we'll get in today's episode, and uh with nothing further ado, um we'll say the uh Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer. I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, which was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead, he ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From hence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of the saints and the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen. And as always, the Holy Catholic Church means the universal church, not the Roman Church. And descending to hell, that's kind of a debate, but many people just take that as he died and was buried. Um, let's say the Lord's Prayer, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, and thy kingdom come, the will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against you, and lead us not in temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, divine is the kingdom, the power, and glory forever and ever. Amen. Alrighty, folks. Um so yesterday when I was taking a break at work, I was scrolling on Fred's, which is a um like Instagram's version of Twitter, Matta's Facebook's version of Twitter, and I saw an image that I thought was fake and I wish was fake, and uh showed a screenshot of Trump's Truth Social account. Truth Social um basically exists because after the 2020 election and January 6th fiasco, social medias were banning Donald Trump and he put together a team and um to make a social media and he called it Truth Social. And it was a very racist image, um in a video at the end of a video that uh showed the former First Lady, Michelle Obama, and the former president Barack Obama um photoshopped their heads onto gorillas and monkeys. Um and this has started at fiasco. The White House um came out and said that a staffer sent this out. Um no one believes him, and then when I saw it, I rolled my eyes because I wasn't born yesterday. Part of Trump's appeal is he does his own tweets. That was part of his appeal for a long time, right? Um, you know, he knows how to work his own social media, he handles his own business, and Trump basically, I don't know who made up the lie that a staffer did it, but uh Trump basically debunked that lie when he was asked a question. I'm gonna I'm gonna show you a clip of a reporter asking Trump about the post. I'm gonna puzzle it there. I know there's some feedback. So the reporter was asking him about the staffer posting it, and he said he he was wanting to post the videos about motor from it. We'll get into that later. I'm gonna keep letting them on the tongue, I'm gonna puzzle it just because it doesn't even want to be bad. So he's saying that there's a picture that a lot of people didn't like, and he wouldn't like that picture either. That's important to say. Um that's important what he said there. He wouldn't like that picture either. There's a picture that he liked, but he he admitted it that he posted the video that he only watched a part of the video. Okay, um, we'll stop it there. The reporter asked him, Mr. President, many Republicans are calling on you to apologize. He said no, um, I'm not gonna apologize. Um, I look at thousands of things, and basically he was saying that he made the post but only watched part of the video. This has happened before to Trump. I believe it was in the 2020 election where he was uh getting praised in a video, and an old man wearing a Trump shirt said white power. And uh toward the end of the video, and he posted it. This is a problem that the president has, that he is um he's only watching part of the video and retweeting it. Now, I don't want y'all to hop on here and say, You're defending the president. The president was racist, he saw listen, guys, it took me a while to find this post before you deleted it, because it's not just a picture of Michelle and Barack Obama as monkeys, um at the beginning of the post. It's not, it's at the very very end, it looks like a screen recording, and you know how a video will come up. This is something your dad or uncle that's a little um insensitive to say the least would send you. Okay. Um I'm not making an excuse for this. He's the president of the United States of America. This should not happen. This is Trump shooting himself in the foot. Um at a time where the nation is very polarized, you're gonna be this um this negligent with your social media. I've made them post on social media, I've had to apologize for them. But I'm not the president of the United States, and I've never posted something that could be said that was as racist as that. I've been accused of racism forever, right? I'm a Republican, I'm a conservative, and I hold I hold an unpopular opinion of the Civil War. I I think the South has a right to leave the Union, and I don't view the Confederates as evil people, and I definitely don't view them as the same as Nazis. So I I'm already in a uh in a tough position there, um, with the left, and especially the radical left. So um you'd never see that on my Facebook. You'd never see that on my Twitter feed. And if I did, if you did see it because I didn't watch the whole video, you would see an immediate apology. Now people might not buy it. People might say, well, we already we always knew he was racist. Donald Trump should apologize. His ego gets in his way, and I don't care if you voted for the man. I voted for the man three times. Four if you count the primary, because I voted for him against Nikki Haley. I voted for Ted Cruz in 2016. Um, so it could be five, but it's four. Um I voted for the man, I've made phone calls for the man, I've knocked doors for the man. I've stood out poll, I've stood outside polling places, handing out literature so people would vote for the man. And I've prayed for the man. And I'm still going to keep praying for him, and I encourage you guys to pray for him. I encourage you to pray for someone. This is this is how you can, if you're in good faith, okay, and it's hard. But I I want you to pick a politician that you can't stand and pray for them. And I want that prayer to sound like they're Jesus, please help them to make the best decisions you can for their country, for their state, and please show it in the light of the gospel to them. Because you love them and you die for them. That's hard to do, isn't it? It's hard to do. The Bible doesn't say pray for your leaders when you like them. Doesn't say that. It says pray, uh it says honor the emperor. Pray for pray for those over you. Romans 13, go read it. The president should apologize. My point is, um I support the president. I believe the the majority of his uh things, majority of his positions and the majority of what he's doing for the country is a good thing. I'm supporting him with a lot of the ice raids, not all of it. I and I think I should do some more training to uh especially when it comes to de-escalating situations. Um but I support deporting illegal uh immigrants. I don't hate illegal immigrants, but I support deporting them, uh, especially the ones that have committed violent crimes after they've been here. Most of them aren't that, but I'm okay with deporting all illegal immigrants. Some people would say I'm evil for that. And it's not because I hate them. I believe they're made in God's image. Uh I want them to be saved. But I believe in the rule of law. And um this isn't a small law. I've heard Democrats say, well, Trump is a felon. Well, technically, yeah. Um Republicans would say that was a BS uh a BS court case that was rigged against him. Um maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. I will say this that it was obvious that people were going after Donald Trump hard in the uh 2024 and 2023 um to uh get him off the ballot box. I'll say that. Um but Donald Trump should apologize, he should put his ego aside. His ego hurts us. Right now, when people are protesting us and calling him a king, and people have been calling us Republicans racist for years, us conservative racist for years, and you're gonna share an image on your social media that shows uh the only African American president and first lady this nation has ever had is gorillas and apes. It doesn't matter what um their politics is. That's racist. That's a racist image. Um that's a racist image. It's indefensible. I will I will say um some people and uh including uh and some people that I know have been um I have watched the full video that that racist image came from, and it is a mockery of the Lion King, and they're putting the faces of politicians on um on these characters, and at the end, Donald Trump's face is the line. It is Simba. But why did you make Obama and uh Michelle and Barack really big gorillas? It's pretty obvious, right? It's racist. And I heard someone say, Well, Biden was a baboon. Come on, guys, you could have put them on any other animal, and then you put the Illinois governor on the elephant because he's overweight. Now, Trump didn't see that video, he didn't repost that video, he saw an election fraud, uh many would say conspiratorial video, and he reposted it. I think he only watched just a little bit, and oh all this is talking good about me. Trump's ego is up. He posted it on Truth Social, and then at the end you see the screen recording of um the racist image. Just apologize. You made the post, you didn't watch it all the way through. This is all you have to do. And would all of the American would all America believe you? No, no, but you have to own up to it. You screwed up, you're the president of the United States, you're not a podcaster like me, you're not just a social media user like me. Okay? If Josh Scott does this, yeah, maybe someone keeps calling me a racist. You're the president of the United States of America. This is what you need to do. I posted the video. They were talking about election fraud. I agreed with it. I did not stay to the very end of the video. I should have been more responsible with my social media post. Um, what I did last night was unbecoming of the office of the presidency. Um and at the end there was a racist image of the former first lady and President Obama, and I would like to offer my sincere apology and apologize to anyone that this hurt. Um, racism is a horrible thing that we have fought against for years in America, and I'm glad that we have made strives to improve. I apologize. I asked the American public to forgive me. Um, we have all made bad social media posts, and I'm not above that, as you can see. This is all a lesson to be learned, and I'm sorry. That's what a politician should say, and and mean. That is a now what I said is a very political answer, but that would have been a good answer instead of no, I'm not going to apologize. The ego on this man, the size of Mount Rushmore, got him in trouble. Oh, this post is talking good about me and how I actually won the 2020 election. Um, and the ego on this man not to apologize. And remember, he has been promoting Christianity more in the White House. And I'm not opposed to that. I'm not opposed to the things he's been saying. Um, but if you're going to be the commander-in-chief that brings back the Christian religion to America, which I have my doubts, maybe you don't do this. Maybe you own up to your mistake and apologize. So many Christians defend this man because he's a Republican. Um well not only that, they think he's better than most Republicans. And and you know what? When it comes to his policies, I'd agree. Um, but this isn't their guy. The MAGA cult as the left calls us. I get called part of the MAGA cult. They're not gonna listen to this episode of me being pretty harsh to the president. They're not gonna go back and listen to my episodes where I told you guys, and I told my friends, my family, uh people that listen to this podcast, vote for Ron DeSantis. I said that in 2020, uh let's see, 2024, yeah. I said that in the 2020 uh um it would actually be 2023, some of the uh primaries going into uh sorry, the the primaries was wrapping up in 2023, then the uh voting in 2024. I told you uh this was gonna happen. I actually didn't know if Trump could win. But once Trump destroyed everyone into primaries, and it just became him or Nikki Haley, is uh I I had to vote for Trump. I don't like Nikki Haley, I never have. Um so I voted for Trump and uh and if Ron was still on the ballot come Super Tuesday and he has a chance, I'm voting for Ron DeSantis. No doubt about it. And I'm telling people to do it. But Trump won the primary, um and then he won the election. I'm glad he won the election. I don't regret my vote. The Democrat Party has come has become the party of everything that's um against what I believe in. I believe that they're against the traditional nuclear family. Um they are fighting for the Holocaust of killing unborn babies, and Trump might not be great at that. And I I have raped him for his weak stance on abortion. But I'm not worried that he's gonna appoint Supreme Court justices that is going to allow something like Roe v. Wade to take over again, or that he's going to push to codify Roe v. Wade. I know he's not gonna do that. I know he is um not going to go after my free speech rights. I don't know but I don't know about that from the Democrats. Um so especially with what's happening here in uh the Commonwealth of Virginia of Abigail Spanberg, which I plan to get a couple delegates on to uh talk to me about um in the future. We are going to discuss one thing the gerrymandering, the redistricting attempt. Um, yeah. I'm disgusted by it. I'm disgusted. Um I can I can say all of these things, and I can praise Trump when he's right. I praised him when he got Nicholas Maduro. Um I believe a lot of the things he's doing for this country is good. I think I actually think the way he's using ice for the most part is good. And I've wanted that. I think the the funding to finish the border wall is good. He is sh he's helping the border. Um people are uh respecting the United States military again as a force around the world. Um he's done a lot of great things. He's made Marco Rubio the Secretary of State, and you don't want to mess with Marco Rubio. Um he can kill you and speak two different languages while he does it. So uh no moss. Um but yeah. President Trump has the um the habit of st stepping on a rake, putting his foot in the mouth, and then shooting that foot while he does it. I will forever and always believe that his staff should steal his cell phone, throw it into a volcano, and replace it with a fake cell phone. Um and give so and give it fake uh replies back to him. That would help. That'd help the country, that'd help the presidency. Steal his cell if you are on his staff, steal his cell phone. Uh have a an exact duplicate of a cell phone. Uh it'll be a real phone, obviously. Um put truth social, all his apps and stuff on it. Steal his real phone, throw it into a volcano. Give him this other phone that when he thinks he's sending a post, it doesn't send. It sends it into a fake algorithm that gives him a bunch of feedback. That'd be nice. That'd that'd be nice if if anyone can do that. Um and if the you know people might say, What about the Secret Service? Yeah, maybe maybe the Secret Service helps us out a little bit. You know, uh so um ma maybe uh maybe that happens. Uh we all know the president likes uh to watch UFC and stuff like that. Maybe maybe get him a Big Mac. You know, he he likes McDonald's. Get him a Big Mac. Turn on a UFC fight or something, you know. Um make wait wait till he's uh he's um chewing on his Big Mac. He's got both his hands in it. You know, put put whatever he likes, get whatever he likes. And uh while he's chewing on that Big Mac, you reach down and you grab a self. I'd appreciate it. I'd appreciate it. But um yet the president should apologize. Um, no doubt about it. But there is a um, I'm not gonna pretend that President Trump is the first to to uh harper division within the United States. He's not. I actually think President Obama um harpered a lot of division in the United States. Uh and then Trump, I actually think was a f um was honestly kind of a boomerang effect from Obama. He was loud, his brash wasn't as polished. But uh Obama said a lot of offensive things in a nice tone. Um and I'm deeply, deeply concerned that Americans right now. Americans are at each other's throat. I think we are more divided now um than we were in Vietnam. Obviously, I didn't live through Vietnam, but this is just me looking back. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Vietnam's the most we've been divided since uh the Civil War. But I really do think this is the most America has ever been divided since the 1850s, right before the Civil War. That's my personal belief, you can think I'm wrong. That's fine. But I want to play you a montage of politicians saying inflammatory things. And uh you tell me um if Trump started this fight. He didn't. I'm not saying what Trump did is okay, it's not. But I also want you to tell me um that if we on all sides, Republican and Democrat, could be nicer to each other and not fuel the flames of hate. So I'm gonna be playing a montage, a little bit of a montage. And this is former President Barack Obama, and um the audio is not great, but I do want you to listen to it and I'll repeat what he's saying. So Obama said people have been felt beaten by the government for so long that they are they become bitter and cling to their religion and their guns. We are bitter clingers, conservative Christians, we are bitter clingers. And he said, and don't like people that are like them. Well, you know, um there's some truth there, yeah, I guess. Am I a better am I a bitter clinger because I love Jesus Christ, then so be it. Am I a bitter clinger because I'm a gun owner? So be it. So be it. Then he adds in them there's some people that uh they don't like you. Um you know, um they there's some people out there that uh don't like other people because they're different. I agree. There's some people like that, and they're on the left, and they're on the right. Okay? They're on the left and the right. They're the most intolerant people I've ever met in my life has been tolerant liberals, and the most un unloving and hateful people I've ever met in my life have been loving conservative Christians. I've said that for a long time, and it's still true. There are hypocrites on all sides. And yeah, you should love people different than you. But I'm just a bitter clinger, ain't I? I'm gonna play some more comments. I'm gonna play you another clip from someone you might recognize.

SPEAKER_05 26:29

You know, to just be mostly generalistic. You can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.

A Call To Pray For Rivals

SPEAKER_00 26:44

You can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Half of 'em. So about half the country voted for Trump. So uh about half the voters of the country that voted voted for Trump. So let's say roughly 25% of the country is deplorable. Um, because they're right-leaning. Um okay. Uh well it was real nice. Obviously, she apologized, but she said they are deplorables, irredeemable, she said. Uh pretty disgusting thing to say, don't you think? Maybe she didn't tweet about it at 3 a.m. Maybe it wasn't a racist image. But we're bitter clingers and deplorables is what a lot of Democrats think about us. And yeah, I think some of the things Trump said is horrible too. But this is horrible too. It's just said with a nicer tone. And it divides Americans, and I think it's getting people killed, actually. I think it's getting people like Charlie Kirk killed. I think it's getting people in the streets killed. Because you know what I'm seeing? I'm seeing people on both sides hating each other, and we are posting bad about each other when someone dies before the bodies are in the ground. No empathy, no love. You are on the other side, you are not one of us. Forget the fact that we're all made in God's image, forget the fact that we're all Americans. America is really two or three different nations, forced to be one right now. We don't love each other, we hate each other. We have to fight against this. So if you see a Democrat out and about, don't assume the worst of them. You can assume a few things. If someone let's say someone has a Democrat candidate bumper sticker on their that you're voting against, they voted for someone different than you. I want you to pray for that person. As you're going down the road, I want you to pray for him. Let's say they have a pro-choice bumper sticker or something you find disgusting, bumper sticker that you can't stand. I want you to pray for that person. I don't want you to hate them. I don't want you to view I want you to view that person going home to their families and to their loved ones and eating at the dinner table. Because that person's an American, and that person is a human being made in God's image. Yes, we can disagree with them and we will. Yes, we will fight against evil. Yes, we will we will vote for life. Yes, we will vote for conservative ideas and against madness, but we can love them while doing it. And let's stop assuming that everyone on the other side isn't saved and going to hell. Sometimes people grow up differently than you do. Sometimes they were brought up in a different situation than you. And sometimes they see the world different than you. They can be wrong, and we can be wrong. I I guarantee you we're wrong about some things. Let's just be honest. We're human beings. Do I think we're wrong on the majority of issues? Obviously not. Obviously not. I would rather be on the side that doesn't cut off the balls of children and cut off the breasts of children and transgender them. I'd rather be on the side that doesn't want to suck up babies through a tube before they can even cry as before they can even have an audible cry. I would rather be on that side. Um I'd rather be on that side. I'd rather be on that side. But yes, um people think differently than you. And one of the hardest things I have to defend sometimes is how Republicans stand economically. Um, I do consider myself a capitalist. I'm 100% a capitalist. And I still believe in uh economic responsibility, fiscal responsibility, but um I also believe that we need a strong and robust um welfare system to take care of those in need. I I I want to cut the fraud, but I want to help those in need. Um I have different ideas about healthcare than a lot of Republicans, so that's fine. So um, and uh, you know, when we read the first few chapters in Isaiah, um God gets very angry with those who forget the poor and the widow and the needy. Um I'm not a socialist at all. I think socialism sucks, I don't think it works, I don't think communism works, I am a capitalist, I do believe in the free exchange of goods on a competitive and robust market, but I also believe um that a Christian government, if you're gonna have one or if you're gonna promote Christian principles in your government, I know we're not a Christian government, I'm just saying uh if if we're going to fight for that, part of that is going to have to be making sure people that are l the least of these economically and uh you know medically are taken care of. But I want to play you guys a complication of elected officials and um notable people on the left, the commentators saying some pretty violent things. Pretty vile things. So save me that Trump has made everything worse. It's just not true. Democrats have been using uh dehumanizing language, and Trump has too, and we can both say that both are wrong.

Policy Stances And Moral Tensions

SPEAKER_07 32:52

An extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic. Are they a threat to democracy? Yes. Are they going to take our rights away? Yes. Are they going to put people's lives in danger? Yes. Are they going to endanger the planet by not dealing with climate change? Yes.

SPEAKER_00 33:06

Okay. So the first one was former President Biden. The second one is disgraced uh former vice presidential candidate and current governor of uh Minnesota, Tim Walls. Look at the language you're saying. Are they destroying our planet? Yes. Are they doing all these horrible, horror things? Now you might believe somewhat believe that, but it's very dehumanizing language and parts of why they they go about this. Um they make us the enemy, make us nothing better than the Nazis.

SPEAKER_07 33:38

We can do all that.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

Fascists. We're we're just fascist, no better than the Nazis.

SPEAKER_05 34:48

Comparing the tactics of Donald Trump to Mussolini and Hitler is a very legitimate thing.

SPEAKER_06 34:56

We have a Timu Hitler in the White House.

SPEAKER_00 34:59

T Move Hitler. So, you know, Timu is a cheap uh Chinese website. You can go buy stuff on it. Sometimes product's okay, sometimes it's not. A lot of people shop there. T Move Hitler. That's what uh Jasmine Crockett plays. I believe that's Jasmine Crockett. Um but anyway, let's keep going.

SPEAKER_05 35:22

I have filmed an aluminum about blowing up the white house.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

They're still gonna have to go out and put a bullet in Donald Trump. And that's a thing we were all warning.

SPEAKER_00 35:32

I thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House. I believe that was Madonna. I'm surprised no one's put a bullet in Donald Trump. Well, uh, they have actually. Um that was before that, but for the last few years.

SPEAKER_04 35:46

It's not coming, it is here. We do now live in a country that has an authoritarian leader in charge. We have a consolidating dictatorship in our country.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

And we'll consolidating dictatorship in our country. That's Rachel Manadel. Millions of leftists listen to her on MSNBC or MBC, whatever it's called, uh SNBC, whatever it's called now after their rebrand.

SPEAKER_04 36:21

It's a real dictator type stuff.

SPEAKER_05 36:23

The American people will have to decide that they're the last in the line of defense against Donald Trump in America. What is happening right now with this presidential attack?

SPEAKER_01 36:36

We live in a few people. That's what's happening right now. That's what it feels like. This is where we are.

SPEAKER_07 36:41

You have to call it what it is.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

Here's the guy who said stand back and stand by to the broad board. Look at what he's doing last night, as you know that you know, more or less salute that are either QAnon or almost look like Nazism. What is the psychological impact here?

Virginia Gerrymander Fight And Process

Redistricting Rules And Hypocrisy

Super Bowl Talk And Culture

Remembering A Music Figure And Faith

SPEAKER_00 37:17

So I want to end it there. Um, guys, it just the list goes on and on. That's just a small clip. And if you're a leftist listening to this, well, they're just criticizing the president on what he said. Well, you can criticize him without calling him Hitler. You can criticize him without saying, I've fought an awful lot about blowing up the White House. Why hasn't someone put a bullet in him? My gosh, guys. To pretend that the country's division is all because of Donald Trump, when Barack Obama called us bitter clingers, Hillary Clinton called us deplorables, both sides can use better language. Both sides. Uh current Abigail, current Governor Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, let your rage fuel you. Save me your crocodile tears. We can both do better than this. Both of us. So that's my encouragement. Pray for someone that you disagree with today. A politician? A co-worker. Someone on the left. And if you're on the left, someone on the right. But I'm gonna be honest, I the majority of people who listen to this podcast are probably Republican. I hate to break it to you. I hate to break the be the bear bad news. Um it's not a unbiased uh you know, some would say it's it's a little over-opinionated in its biases. Alright, guys, I'm gonna shift a little bit to Virginia politics. Not a lot, but a little bit because it does impact the country as a whole. And I want to cover it a little bit. Um, we are going to talk about a lot of the bad laws coming out of Richmond and unfortunately will be signed. And it's just the Commonwealth we live in now. The Commonwealth we love is being destroyed by the Democrats, and we have no one to blame but ourselves for this situation. Okay. Um, and yes, I understand our part of the state doesn't vote Democrat, but Southwest Virginia is not the only part of the state. People have to learn that. Just like Nova is not the only part of the state, even though we feel like it is. But Democrat lawmakers in Virginia have put forward a new constitutional amendment to gerrymander. For years, Democrats in Virginia fought against gerrymandering, putting up a proposition. Uh, it was uh Proposition 1, Amendment 1, the first one we voted for in 2020, it passed overwhelmingly with 65% of the vote around. Only one locality, only one county in northern Virginia voted against it. Um I believe that was Alexandria County, and uh all the other counties approved it. Well, the General Assembly, led by Don Scott, Louise Lucas, and um have um pushed this bill, and also the uh the Senate Majority Leader who's not the same as uh uh Louise Lucas, but uh have pushed this bill very hard to redistrict the state 10 to 1. It is an ugly gerrymander when you look at the uh map. A very, very ugly gerrymander. Even some Democrats were arguing that they should make it a 9-2, two Republicans and non-Democrats, that'd been more manageable. Well, they went for broke and went nine to one. The problem is in the state of Virginia to pass a constitutional amendment to edit our state constitution, you have to pass it twice in between an election. Well, the Democrats put forth this amendment after the uh election had started, is what the Republicans are saying. And which is true, it was not before now was it before election day? No, but the election starts when the first ballot is cast. And um in Virginia we have around 45 days of voting. They passed this amendment, they rushed it so that they could gerrymander. Um, so they passed this amendment um after the election, after early voting started, and a um a district judge in Taswell County has struck this down as unconstitutional in Virginia law. Um, so it will be going to the Supreme Court. Now the House of Delegates has passed another referendum just in case um it passes the Virginia Supreme Court. I'm hoping that the Supreme Court strikes this down and says that no. Um the only one that counts is the one that you've done now because the one that you did um last year doesn't count because you did it after the election starts. Okay, if you want to put forth an amendment for the people of Virginia to vote on to change our constitution, you have to do it constitutionally. That means the General Assembly, both houses have to pass a resolution, um, and then have a interceding interceding election. Why why do we have that? Because if it's a bad resolution that they're putting up uh for a constitutional amendment, uh bad constitutional amendment, that can change your vote. That's why we have that. Then we have an intervening election, and then they can go back, and if they uh vote for it again, then it gets presented to voters. Now Democrats are rushing this, and they're making and they're putting it um up for ballot in April, so pretty close. Um, with another with a bunch of other constitutional amendments, gay marriage, uh, abortion, and automatic right once you get out of jail to vote. Um so I'll be voting no on all of these. So that's where we are. The gerrymander looks horrible. It's a 10-to-one gerrymander with a state uh with about 48 to 47% Republican. You're disenfranchising tonal voters, and their excuse is well, Texas did this first. They start at the mid um the uh mid-midterm redistricting, okay. But you can't just point to one state and say, well, Republicans gerrymander to most. Um well, Republicans control the most states, so they have the most opportunity to gerrymander, is normally the case. But you cannot look at Illinois or Maryland, um, you cannot look or New York or Massachusetts, you cannot look at these states and say they are not gerrymandered. Illinois has the ugliest gerrymander there is, it's worse than Texas. So California got on board and they're gerrymandering. But really, um, it's hypocritical of the Democrats because they fought so hard in Virginia to fight gerrymandering. Why? Because when we were in control of the state, we gerrymandered like crazy. And they fought so hard against it, and they said, let's put it in our constitution that we hate gerrymandering so much. We're going to have a we're going to have a committee ride our districts composed of both Republicans and Democrats. And if that committee doesn't work, it'll go to the Virginia Supreme Court, and the Virginia Supreme Court will appoint a board to draw the districts. It passed by 65% of vote. And I want to read you a tweet from Governor Spanberger when she was a congresswoman. Alright, a quick correction. I don't think this was after it passed, but this is good news for Virginia and the country. Gerrymandering is dismantling our democracy, and it weakens the individual voices that form our electorate. Opposing gerrymandering should be bipartisan. And the tweet that she retweeted in the Virginia House of Delegates. Seems hypocritical to me. You fought for years to pass this amendment. We have it. We have a committee to draw our districts. If they don't agree, it goes to the Supreme Court of Virginia. I think they'll strike it down because it's illegal. Also, you're asking the Supreme Court to take away part of their power now. You gave them the power to redraw the districts if uh no one if there's not a consensus meant. And most of the time that's what will happen. So you're asking the Supreme Court of Virginia to take away its own power. Maybe it'll do it, but doesn't seem like that normally happens. Um so there's that. Also, um the uh big games tomorrow. Um the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots. That'd be a rematch from 11 years ago from a Super Bowl when I was in high school that never made sense to me to ending when they had the best running back in the league at the time. Um and uh they called him um he'd always have Skittles with him. And uh that man would be Marshawn Lynch. Um and Russell Wilson threw an interception. And I think this would have been a repeat victory because I'm pretty sure they beat the crap out of Peyton Manning to the Denver Broncos the year before, um, giving Tom Brady another Super Bowl ring. Um I'm obviously going to be rooting for the Seahawks because of several reasons. I'm not a New England fan, but there's a rivalry between Pittsburgh and New England, and New England has definitely definitely kept Pittsburgh from getting more Super Bowls. Let's say that. Um, and I don't want them to beat our record. Right now we are tied at six Super Bowls, and um I so I'm rooting hard for Seattle, and I think most people are. I know that the quarterback of the Patriots is a believer in Christ and our brother, so I hope he plays well. Um but um so I hope everyone enjoys the big game tomorrow. If you're listening to it, the Super Bowl is a huge, huge uh cultural event. Have fun. Um don't gamble a ton of money away. Uh, you know, some of these markets, uh the big thing that they gamble on, they don't just gamble on the game, the big thing that they gamble on is uh um when the commercials are gonna be, what type of commercials, um um little things, what players, uh, what accessories. But the biggest uh non-game uh thing is um that they bet on is the color of the Gatorade bath. Is it gonna be blue, is it gonna be uh green, is it gonna be yellows? And uh that's just funny. So I love the Super Bowl, I love the game of football, and I will be watching it tomorrow. Um I know that there's two halftime shows. TP USA is having a halftime show as an alternative, and uh the NFL's doing their halftime show. I'm probably not gonna watch either one. So um, you know, um I know TP USA is doing it as a kind of a rebuttal, uh have a different option. Um, but you know, um if if I was gonna do it, I wouldn't ask Kid Rock. I would have asked someone like Skillet. Also, you know, speaking of music, um a big man in um the music industry passed away today, uh Brad Arnold, uh lead singer of Free Doors Down and a co-founder of the band. I got to see him live in concert one time with my wife and um and at a charity event and he pauses and he um before uh he he starts his concert or during the concert, I can't remember, he tells everyone that Jesus loves them. Now I'm not saying this man was a theologian, um, but he told thousands and millions of people that Jesus loved them um to seek a relationship with Jesus. And um you know, music makes such a huge impact on their life. Um if you listen to some of the Freedor's Downs uh music, it's um it's gonna have a good message. There's a lot of uh you know, a ton of um music out there that has horrible messaging. And I don't really think Freedor's Down meets that. You know, I'm not a huge, huge music guy. But um we'll keep the prayers for his family, his fans. Um, but the good thing is we know he's with God. And uh we know he's with the Lord, that he put his faith in Jesus Christ. If he put his faith in Jesus Christ, we know he's with God. So we will be seeing him again. Um I want to end this with a Bible verse, and you will be on your merry way. I want to read you guys a passage. Um, and this will be our scripture reading of the day. From Luke chapter 10, the New King James Version. Then Jesus said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By now a certain priest came down that road, and we when he saw him he he passed on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked and passed by the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and he sent him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day when he departed the two took out the two denaris, and then gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, Take care of him, and whatever more you spend when I come I will repay you. So which of these three do you think was neighbors to him who fell among the thieves? And he said, Who showed him mercy? Then Jesus said, Go and do likewise. This is the parable of the good Samaritan. This man fell among thieves, they beat him up, took his stuff. A priest walked by uh who was his countryman. He didn't save him. Another man walked by and didn't save him. But a Samaritan, someone that was half Jewish, walked by and helped this Jewish man. And uh someone that was different than him. In a day and age where there was a lot of a lot a lot more racism we have now. The Samaritan looked at him in love, put him on his animal, um gave him a room at end, saved his life. This is a story that Jesus told a parable. The man that loved him was the Samaritan. I'm telling you this because we need to love each other. We need to love those who are different than us. As hard as that can be. And sometimes we're gonna make mistakes and you have to say, Jesus, forgive me. Jesus forgive me. And uh sometimes you gotta apologize. That's hard. I don't like apologizing sometimes. But I I do. You know, I I've apologized when I got married, I um I uh learned how to apologize better. Because I realized that I made more mistakes than I'd like to admit that I was human and um we're all Americans. And if you're not an American, you can apply just to your left too. But we're Americans. We're Virginians. We disagree with each other bitterly. Well, let's disagree with each other bitterly and respectfully. Let's love each other, let's reject this hate that's killing people, it's literally killing people. Let's pray for people that we don't agree with and try to love other people as hard as that is, and especially when it's hard. Because I feel all the emotions you are. But we have one country, and um, if the past and the history um is in the indicator, we're not gonna break up. So, um, you know, maybe there could be a a big divorce in the country where some of the states break off, and I just don't see it happening in this day and age. And I guess and I believe if we could do it right now, and if there wasn't it the United States of America didn't have the biggest military industry world, not even close. Not even close. Yeah, I could see something happening, but I I can't right now. I can't right now after Supreme Court said that secession is illegal in 1968, and a court versus Texas, I disagree with them, but I don't see it. And I don't want a civil war. I don't want bloodshed. I want us to be a great nation where we can debate, where we can have elections and win and lose, and at the end of the day, love people different than us. That's why I still say I'm a proud Virginian. I hear some conservatives say I'm a s I'm ashamed of Virginia, I'm ashamed of the way things are. I can't I'm gonna go to Tennessee and go into uh West Virginia. I'm not going to Tennessee, I'm not going to West Virginia. I like both of those states. And you know, I'm not even saying it's wrong to do that, to go be with a group of people you more agree with. I don't believe that's wrong, by the way. But I love Virginia too much to abandon her. The only way I would leave is if I felt called to leave and uh God wanted me in a ministerial role somewhere else, or just a role in particular. Um, that's probably the only way I'll leave, other than that, or if Virginia made it where I couldn't consciously practice my faith in God. Um I had to go against my conscience. So other than that, I I really plan on leaving. Um I don't see it. I'm not saying it never happened, but I love Virginia, I'm a proud Virginian. Even when we lose. I'm a proud American even when we lose. Even when I think we're going down the wrong way, proud Virginia, proud for me, proud American. But above all things, our identity is in Christ Jesus. So I know if I can see that the state's going down the wrong direction or the country, God's God in control. And if more people live with that attitude, we'd be better off. So pray for your fellow countrymen, especially the ones you disagree with. God bless you. I appreciate your prayers. We'll see you here soon. About the life of David. I do want to get back into that. I'm I might try to record it tomorrow and then release it next week. I'm sorry, it's been crazy. I've been sick, we've had a ton of snow, but I'm gonna try to get back into the life of David so we can finish the first book of Samuel and go into the second book of Samuel. I haven't forgotten David. So, but God bless you, have a great day.