Is my president mad at me?
He’s punishing our whole state. I hope it’s not because of this blog.
Jared Polis, governor of the US state where I live. Read on to learn why Donald Trump thinks Polis should rot in hell.
Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. —James 1:19–20
The US state of Colorado, where I live, is in big trouble. Our national president is repeatedly refusing to help us. I hope it’s not because of me.
On December 30, President Trump vetoed a financial assistance bill for the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a pipeline project designed to bring safe water to rural residents of southeastern Colorado. The bill had passed both the US House and Senate with no opposition.
Officially, Trump said he was opposed to making federal taxpayers pay for the project. But the bill’s cost to the federal government was estimated at less than $500,000.
Lauren Boebert, the member of Congress who represents the affected area and usually a supporter of Trump, released a colorful statement. “If this administration wants to make its legacy blocking projects that deliver water to rural Americans, that’s on them,” she said.
Boebert added in a social media post that Trump had vetoed a “non-controversial, bipartisan bill that passed both the House and Senate unanimously. Why? Because nothing says ‘America First’ like denying clean drinking water to 50,000 people, many of whom voted for Trump in all three elections.”
Boebert wondered if Trump’s action was retaliation against her, because she was one of the few Republicans to force a complete release of government files on deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, some of which are damaging to Trump.
But Trump has been attacking Colorado for months. He moved the US Space Command from Colorado to a Trump-friendly state, canceled federal transportation grants to Colorado, announced the dismantling of the Colorado-based National Center for Atmospheric Research, and denied a Colorado rural electric association’s access to federal disaster relief funding after wildfires damaged its power lines.
He’s also continuing to call climate change a hoax, even while record December warmth is making life miserable for Colorado’s world-famous ski resorts.
So this retribution is not just about Lauren Boebert. I wondered if maybe it was about me. After all, I’m a Colorado resident who has called Trump a dangerous authoritarian and has openly encouraged Canadians, as well as Christians around the world, to resist his influence.
You may think I’m overestimating my importance, since I don’t have a very large readership. But if Trump can claim to have ended eight wars—including Congo versus Rwanda, even after Rwanda-backed rebels overran a Congolese city and sent an estimated 88,000 refugees fleeing into Burundi—I think I’m entitled to engage in a little narcissism too.
In a festive, pleasant New Year’s Eve social media post, Trump gave a more credible clue to his motivation, expressing his desire that Colorado governor Jared Polis will “rot in hell.”
As the post explained, Trump is upset that Polis will not release Tina Peters, a Trump supporter and former county clerk serving a nine-year state prison sentence for election fraud. With his usual attention to detail, Trump urged Colorado to let “Tina Petters” go free.
Phew! I guess I’m not the problem.
Trump’s “rot in hell” message proves that he is not a true Christian. If he were an Arminian-type Christian who believed strongly in free will, he would be urging Polis to find Jesus and avoid rotting in hell. If he were a hyper-Calvinist Christian who believed strongly in God’s sovereignty, he would have written, “I fear that you may be among the people whom God has foreordained to rot in hell.”
Rather, Trump is just an angry, bitter, vengeful man. And Christians are never that way. Right?