Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, the three-time divorcee, is still refusing to issue marriage licenses because her god does not want gays to marry. In her mind, doing the job she is being paid to do, would violate her conscience. It doesn’t matter that a state judge has ordered her to issue licenses, or that the Supreme Court has denied her appeal. The woman is simply acting on “god’s authority.”

Haven’t we seen this act before? Remember that Indiana pizzeria owner who said he would refuse to serve his pizza at a gay wedding? After being forced to close because of the backlash that erupted, the shop raised nearly $1 million dollars from supporters of bigotry. Not a bad payday!

Who knew pandering to conservative Christians could be so lucrative? Of course, I use the word “Christians” very loosely. These pious persecuted souls are not followers of Christ but CINO, Christian in name only. They couldn’t be more separated from the message their Lord and Savior preached.

If it hasn’t happened already, it won’t be long before Kim Davis’ camp starts cashing in by fundraising for this new Christian martyr, now on her fourth marriage. Could a book deal be far behind? And won’t this make a great, new Republican wedge issue?

Davis, who faces potential fines or jail time, remains resolute. “My beliefs cannot be separated from me,” said Davis. “”I’m willing to face my consequences.”

While Davis cannot be fired from her job, as she is an elected official, she can, and must, be held in contempt for failing to honor a court order. Perhaps a little jail time might make her realize that, according to her holy book, it’s no more of a sin for two gays to marry, than for two divorced adulterers to remarry (Matthew 19:3.9.) If issuing a marriage license to a same-sex couple would banish them to hell, as Davis has claimed, then the serial bride would not be too far behind.

One thing’s for certain. The more fines and jail time for Kim Davis, the more lucre flowing into her coffer. You can guess her thinking right now… bring it on!

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Today’s Republican Party leaders (whoever they may be) are stumped by Trump. The deeper the billionaire sticks his foot into his mouth, the higher his approval ratings. The more the mainstream, “real” Republican candidates try to go toe to toe with Trump, the more they get their teeth smashed in. Is there any stopping the Trump Express?

What is happening to the Republican Party is nothing more than karmic payback. To the eternal delight of Democrats and many Independents, the party that sold its soul a few short years ago to the TeaBag crazies, is now reaping what it sowed. Since 2008, the Republican Party has succumbed to its basest voices for short-term political gain; where compromise became a dirty word; were Barack Obama was the anti-Christ-Muslim-Kenyan set to destroy all that conservatives held near and dear. It’s as if the children started running the house … both figuratively and literally!

Whether or not Trump wins the Republican nomination is irrelevant. The damage has been done. The dirty laundry is being aired and that gaggle of mainstream Republican candidates looks weak and pathetic. If Trump becomes the party’s presidential nominee, the Republican Party is cooked. If Trump does not get the nomination, and makes good on his third-party threat, the Democrats win in a landslide … no matter whether the Democratic nominee is Hillary Clinton or SpongeBob Square Pants.

The political pendulum has always swung back and forth; from right to left; from retrenchment to progress. It looks as if the backward arc may have reached its apex and the pendulum is slowing, but surely, moving forward. It is not only the Republican Party’s bad deal with the devil that is doing them in, however. It’s shear demographics.

Now let’s see. Republicans have alienated gays, blacks, women, Hispanics, Asians, the poor, immigrants, and anyone who believes in science, education, justice, fairness and equality. Who’s left? Basically the very rich; those feeble-minded Fox fans and religious conservatives. The problem is there simply aren’t enough of those folks for them to win a national election.

Donald J. Trump … every liberal, progressive Democrat’s wish come true. RIP GOP.

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For all those worriers who are beginning to believe a Trump presidency may be possible; to all those delusional supporters who believe the man has more than a snowball’s chance in hell of becoming our nation’s 45th president, I have only one thing to say: Melania Knauss-Trump.

The news media has been so consumed with covering the improbable rise of Donald Trump that very little time has been devoted to Melania, Trump’s third wife. Since the Republican Party’s mouthpiece, Fox News, has not covered the potential First Lady, conservatives don’t have a clue what they’re dealing with.

Safe to say no First Lady has ever posed nude for a magazine spread, as did Mrs. Trump. Nor has any other First Lady talked about her incredible sex life (with Trump) on the Howard Stern show. If the puritanical, family-values conservative base were to see what many others around the world saw in a 2000 issue of British GQ, their knickers would be in a bunch!

Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against the current Mrs. Trump. In fact, I would be more than pleased to call Melania my First Lady. She is not an airhead. Many have likened the former Slovenian model to Jackie Kennedy, in her style and grace. But as hypocritical as Christian conservatives may be, they could never abide a nude model in the White House. We, as a nation, are just not as hip as the French or Italians.

If true craziness were to take over a majority of the electorate, voting Trump in as our next Commander in Chief, I can just hear Pat Robertson now … “We have revisited Sodom and Gomorrah. Another clear sign that the End Times are nigh!”

Hillary, for her part, has dispatched a cadre of staff members to dig up dirt on Melania, just in case. “I’ve learned the hard way that it ain’t over until the fat lady sings. I’m taking nothing for granted.”

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Many political observers have called Donald Trump the Frankenstein of the Republican Party; a monster of their own creation that will now inflict great pain and suffering, not only on the villagers, but also on his master.

This, no doubt, is true. But it does not explain Trump’s continuing dominance over the other Republican presidential candidates. To understand what is taking place in today’s Republican world, you have to look at what can only be described as a “ perfect political storm.”

A unique set of circumstances has converged this election cycle the likes of which has not been seen before. This rare combination of powerful forces, many years in the making, has given the GOP what some might classify as its worst nightmare.

Five disparate events have combined to give the Party of Lincoln the “Trump perfect storm.”

1. Government Bashing – During Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural address, he famously said, “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” Trust in government is at its lowest sustained level since Pew started collecting that data in 1958. Republican voters’ hatred of Washington D.C. is so great these days that it spills over to any career politician. Conservatives are tired of being lied to by their representatives. They are flocking toward any non-politician. Besides heavily favoring Trump, Republicans are strongly supporting two other non-pols, Carson and Fiorina.

2. Money And Politics – Many voters today rightly believe their representatives are bought and paid for. While Citizen’s United has exacerbated the influence of money in politics, that has always been the case. Voters are sick of politicians promising them one thing on the campaign trail then doing something else (the bidding of their financial overlords) once in power. Trump brags about how he can’t be bought; how he turns down millions every day. As he keeps reminding his audiences, “I am very, very rich!”

3. Political Correctness – Most mainstream politicians have to resort to “code” or “dog whistles” to get their hateful messages across to their public. Donald Trump has turned all that correctness on its ear. People like him because he tells it like it is. He gives people the “hate on a plate,” if you will, and the rabble is eating it up.

4. Weak Field – With sixteen chances of fielding a non-extreme, electable candidate, one with passion and personality, this field was the best the adults in the GOP could come up with? Jeb, the anointed one, has not turned out to be the Establishment’s savior. While he looked good on paper, he is about as exciting as that … a sheet of paper. He has turned out to be the most disappointing candidate. Trump, on the other hand, has guts, cojones, energy, style and pizzazz. All his mainstream opponents are weak and mealy-mouthed in comparison. They may have the steak, but today’s conservative voter wants sizzle.

5. Dumbing Down – Years of conservative bashing of intellectualism, science, logic, facts and history have taken a toll on the collective intelligence of the American electorate. Add the conservatives’ war on public education and the teaching profession, you have a toxic combination.

The Trump bid for the Republican presidential nomination continues to have legs because of five “perfect storm” factors: he is not a politician, he is independently wealthy, he doesn’t talk like a politician, he has style and the average American today is less factually-informed (and I’m being kind) than those in years past.

The GOP establishment can try to derail the Trump Express, but in a “perfect political storm,” the worst possible result inevitably becomes the reality.

Safe travels, Donald.

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