I wrote this on the 28th.
On this Fourth Day of Christmas you should have received by now four partridges in a pear tree, six turtle doves, 6 French hens and 4 colley birds. You might want to think about the fact that this is also the day when we think about the Holy Innocents, the children murdered by Herod simply because he was worried that one of them might be a King. You might want to contemplate the fact that most modern scholars and historians reject the historicity of the event and deny it happened and even try and defend a mad king. Lunatic Kings and crazy Governments will always find sycophants who will support them and promote them. The attitude among the powerful in this country was for awhile, horror at the idea of a Government shut down as if the world would come to end and it hasn’t. The biggest danger of a Government shut down is that people might recognize how ineffective it is, the government, not the shut down.. Today people might be surprised how little government actually governs. 84 percent of the present Government is on auto pilot and stuff will happen without anyone anywhere making decisions. Those that we vote into office to make decisions, pass those decisions off or ignore them or call for special blue ribbon task forces and special councils. There is one person that seems to work full time at the job he was elected for and the majority of the press want to get us to believe that he is a “mad king”.
A group that is working full time to change minds rather than to inform is the press. We are lectured that there is not such a thing as “fake news” and every morning I have to sit and listen to one fake story after another. I even heard that our “mad king” refused to have Christmas parties because he hated that fact that Jesus was getting more attention than he was. Never mind that these are the folks that want to do away with “merry Christmas”, nativity scenes at the Court House and call the birth of Jesus the result of a cosmic rape. Now all of a sudden they are concerned about the season being about Jesus. Anyway, when asked where they heard the story the answer was “at a White House Christmas Party”.
I have to remark about the fake news that really got me over the past few days. A German Reporter for Der Spiegel wrote an article about Fergus Falls that has infuriated the whole town. The reporters name was Relotius and one of the biggest fake parts of his story was that there was a sign outside of Fergus that reads “Mexicans Keep Out”. It wasn’t true. This from the Washington Post quoting a Fergus Falls writeer named – get ready for it – Anderson
“Not only did Relotius’ ‘exposé’ on Fergus Falls make unrecognizable movie-like characters out of the people in my town that I interact with on a daily basis, but its very basic lack of truth and its bizarrely bleak portrayal of the place I love left a very sick, unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach,” Anderson wrote. “There’s really nothing like this feeling — knowing that people in another country have read about the place I call home and are shaking their heads over their coffee in disgust, sharing the article on Facebook and Twitter, and making comments on the online article like ‘creepy,’ and ‘these are the people who don’t believe electricity exists.’”
After joining Der Spiegel as a freelancer in 2014, Relotius became one of Germany’s most respected writers, receiving numerous awards, including CNN’s “Journalist of the Year,” the European Press Prize and, on four separate occasions, the German Reporter Prize. But cracks started to show when he collaborated with another journalist, Juan Moreno, for a piece about an Arizona border militia that was published in November. Suspecting that Relotius hadn’t spoken to the people who appeared in the story, Moreno ended up using his own money to travel to the Arizona desert, where he learned that Relotius had not only never met his subjects but also altered key details about them, including their names”.
We are lectured by the chattering class that there is no ‘fake news” and there it is. You can print it and get awarded for it. You can tell stories about someone that aren’t true and yet they are considered news simply because someone told the story. Mad Kings from of old get defended by trying to convince us that the Bible was reporting fake news, while manipulation of the news today covers a multitude of sins and leaves everyone wondering. The retiring of General Mattis made the press act insane as they screamed about a White House out of control. Obama fired four Secretaries of Defense and there was some concern about a White House out of control, but you had to search for it and search hard.
Going after Presidents is one thing. Going after Fergus Falls is another. It shows a narrative that is meant to denigrate the middle of the country and portray us as the deplorables and those folks in love with their Bible and guns. It is the narrative that seeks to make us rubes that can be smelled at Wall Mart and who reek of stupidity and lack of sophistication. I love Fergus Falls. Trinity Lutheran church in Fergus is one of the most caring, Mission minded, mercy minded, churches I have visited. Rick Drevlow is there and Jan Prause keeps working tirelessly for mercy work. Rick is from the Drevlow family, and Joanne Drevlow from Bismarck ND was an early Project 24 supporter and went to Kenya to help set up work there. Trinity are wonderful supporters of Project 24 and other mercy projects and I cannot imagine their boards and committees putting up with a sign outside of their city that would be so nasty. There was great representation from Trinity at the Mercy Conference that was held in Fargo and sponsored by Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch in October. I can imagine the folks at Trinity trying to help the homeless, praying for the innocents, and generally describing the spirit of the season of peace and good will toward men. They worship Christ the King which enables them to pray for and forgive mad Kings and stupid German Journalists.
