Chief Law Enforcer?

I am a bit confused over President Trump's latest appointment, Matt Gaetz, for Attorney General. I have loved every single one of Trump's picks for Cabinet, up until this point. I just can't get behind this one. That won't be popular, I know. I feel like I am the only one that has doubts.

I was originally a Gaetz supporter, years ago. At least, I didn't have anything against him and I believed him to be a strong conservative. Then the interview below happened. I believe this was about 3 years ago.

Truth be known, when I saw that interview, in my heart of hearts I believed Matt Gaetz was guilty. I know; I know; we don't do that. We don't judge and we don't go by feelings. But I think anybody with even a modicum amount of discernment can read between the lines of that interview.

Gaetz tried to drag Tucker into his mess; not once but twice. Once, by reminding Tucker that Tucker had the same thing happen to him...meaning the accusations. Misery loves company and so does guilt. And then secondly, by insinuating that Tucker had met the "woman" and they all had dinner together.

Number one, a 17 year old is still a teenager and that's usually how we refer to them. At the end of the interview, Tucker obviously wanted to disassociate himself from Gaetz, and afterwards, he did not have him on his show at Fox for a very long time.

A couple other reasons I came to my conclusion that he was guilty, was that his friend and business partner with whom he was involved at the time, went to prison for 11 years on the same charge, at the same time as all this took place. That's seen as guilt by association, I know, and when you put it all together, things just aren't adding up. The Department of Justice ended up investigating Gaetz due to this connection.

Further, when an anti-trafficking bill, came before Congress, Matt Gaetz was the only one - Democrat or Republican! - that voted against it. Think about that! He was the only one in the entire House of Representatives to vote against human trafficking! He claimed freedom was his reason. I don't think so. There are about 434 other people working with him who also believe in freedom.

I also tend to believe the charges against him for illicit drug use and taking illegal gifts are true. He is a supporter of legalization of pot and a known partier. He has been described often as "a smart guy with no morals.” I, too, believed that to be true, after seeing him poorly attempting to quote Bible verses on Mike Huckabee's show; and a few days later throwing out F-bombs every other word on someone's podcast.

The Department of Justice eventually dropped the investigation of Matt for whatever reason, but he is was still under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.* I don't know why in the world that's taking that took so long. It was due to come out just a few days after Trump nominated him for Attorney General. Instead, he quickly resigned.

People are trying to say it was the Democrats that brought the charges against Matt and it is all political. But that's just not true. This all started while Trump was in office. I believe it was 2017 or 2018. It was his connection to Joel Greenberg who is now serving time in prison for sex trafficking that caused him to be investigated. Apparently Joel implicated him.

Then the feud between Kevin McCarthy and Matt Gaetz began. It has been reported that Matt asked Kevin to do some things in regard to his troubles, which Kevin had no authority to do. Kevin told him, "No, we just have to let it play out through the Ethics Committee." (Probably a paraphrase.) Matt didn't like that and hence began the feud, ending in Matt working with Democrats and 7 other Republicans to remove Kevin as Speaker of the House. It was dirty revenge and nothing more. But by doing what he did, he set a dangerous precedent that now allows only one person to bring a Motion to Vacate the Speaker. Something like 96% of the Republicans supported Kevin McCarthy as Speaker, so basically seven of Matt's friends supported him as he worked behind the scenes with Democrats to make the removal happen. And those seven Republicans were probably about the only friends Matt has in the entire Congress. By multiple accounts, those around him can't stand him. And for good reason, if you ask me. I believe there have been efforts to change that rule back to a higher majority than just one person. I am not sure if that has been accomplished yet.

So there's that. That brings me to President Trump's decision to appoint him as Attorney General. I totally do not understand that decision with all these things hanging over Matt's head.

This totally threw a monkey wrench into an otherwise perfect transition of power and selection of Trump's Cabinet. Why do that? It's already bringing chaos. Normally, it wouldn't even be a worry, because there is no way that Matt would ever make it through the confirmation process. I just don't think the majority would ever vote for him. And I am not alone in saying that. Many would, like Lindsey Graham, who has said that he has always voted for all Presidents' appointments, because he believes as President, they deserve to choose the people they want. I believe that too; but there are so many different innuendos to this appointment, because of Gaetz actively being under investigation by Ethics. The reality is, Trump is our President, not our God. The Balance of Power is critically important and orchestrated by our Founders, just for situations such as this.

Then to top it off, President Trump has demanded recess appointments... I basically agreed with that... until this. I now totally see why that might not be the best thing to happen. I do understand his reasoning; but then he made *this* appointment that was sure to kibosh it all. It doesn't matter if I'm right about that or not; but that's the way many people are thinking now. So basically President Trump kind of stuck a knife in his own request for that type of procedure - recess appointments. It has thrown in an unnecessary obstacle. And it all probably would have gone unnoticed, had it not been for the appointment of Matt Gaetz.

As a side note, recess appointments have been used by Presidents ever since George Washington. It began due to time constraints in travel. Most recently Presidents Clinton, and Bush used them 139, and 171 times, respectively. President Barack Obama used them 32 times and would have continued doing so, but out of concern for abuse, the Supreme Court ruled against using them so freely to help limit the President’s power. A 2014 ruling required Congress to be out of session for 10 days before the President can appoint. The House of Representatives also has some authority over recess appointments. They can vote to keep the Senate in session, not allowing them to adjourn.***

All of this is why President Trump made a point to ask Congress to be sure he would be allowed to use them. That is understandable really. He has constantly had to fight tooth and nail about unfair tactics used against him...number 1, a biased media and number 2, basically what I would call a hostile Democrat Caucus.

I know President Trump believes Gaetz to be a bulldog or a "firebrand" as Gaetz likes to call himself, but character is important to us. Personally, I have wondered because of all the false accusations against Trump, if he isn't just a bit more willing than most, to take a chance on Matt's innocence. Yes, I believe Trump is innocent on charges continually leveled against him and yes I believe Matt Gaetz *is* guilty. I get to think for myself, research and decide.

Matt, to his credit, (maybe) has resigned his position in the House. This, in order to allow Governor DeSantis time to find a replacement, because under state law he is allowed to run an expedited election. As I noted above, others believe Gaetz resigned in order to avoid the Ethics Committee Report being released. He resigned two days before it was to be released. They no longer have jurisdiction now that he has resigned and it is the norm to not release a report of someone no longer serving in Congress.

This all also brings up another important point. We have to be extremely careful to hold onto the low numbers the GOP holds in the house. We really can't afford to lose anyone and keep control. It will work out for this situation, because in Florida, Governor DeSantis has 8 weeks to run an election for a representative; but in many States that's not allowed.

Governors can appoint *Senators* in every state, so that isn't as much of a worry, but Governors cannot *appoint* Representatives in most States. I know President Trump and Speaker of the House Johnson are working together on this. And I have confidence they won't let the numbers in either Chamber get too low. I am aware that Speaker Johnson is not in support of the Ethics Committee releasing the report, which has only happened one or two other times.** So a precedent has been set...kind of.

I have been praying the truth comes out about Matt Gaetz. It doesn't seem to matter to most Gaetz supporters. They love to point out that the Department of Justice (DoJ) acquitted Gaetz two years ago. But that was for connections to the sex trafficking case for which his friend, Joel Greenberg, was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in prison. The investigation of Matt Gaetz began, which sought to determine if he violated sex trafficking and obstruction of justice laws. He may or may not be guilty, but the DoJ ended up dropping those charges...due to what I believe was lack of evidence. However, that didn't stop the investigation into *ethics* charges brought against Gaetz by the House. If you are comfortable with consensual sex with an underage teenager (I'm not!), there is still the issue of his alleged illegal drug use, accepting illegal gifts and lying to Congress. All of these are crimes, albeit on a different level than the crimes the DoJ was investigating.

I am hoping Trump has an unseen plan and Gaetz will not be our AG. I really don't care if he is a "firebrand". After everything we have been through, we deserve better. I don't want to be like what we have already been enduring. I want to be "unburdened by what has been."

There are other people that can fight DoJ as aggressively as Gaetz, without the drama and doubt created by what is hanging over his head. This appointment will slow Trump down and continue to divide the GOP. The DoJ didn’t find evidence of sex-trafficking or obstruction of justice. Did they investigate sex with a minor, illicit drugs and accepting illegal gifts, which the ethics committee was investigating? Personally, I think everyone knows he could be guilty of all of that...they just don’t care...you know – "personal life doesn’t matter.” Except it does...especially for the position of Attorney General! That seems to matter only to a rare few in DC. Gaetz seems to have beat the rap.

Did anyone check to see if anyone was paid off at the Department of Justice? No, really! Couldn’t that be possible? Gaetz family is loaded; it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. Certainly not making any accusations; but don't we usually check out things like that? Attorney General, of all positions, needs to be held to a hire standard. I’m going against all the people I have long supported, (only on this issue) but I think this is a mistake we could do without. This won’t end well.

There are very few people with a platform that seem willing to talk about any of this. Perhaps afraid of repercussions, or looking poorly by seemingly not agreeing with President Trump. Will we ever get back to the days where we can state our opinion without being mocked or attacked? Discussion is how we learn. No one is perfect….including my favorite President. *Since I wrote this Matt has resigned the House which ends the Ethics Committee Investigation because they lose jurisdiction. It has also come out that the Ethics Report revealed that the 17 year old testified against Gaetz saying the allegations were true. Go figure. There is also reportedly an eye witness. It seems we can now also add lying to Congress to the list of his offenses. We deserve better... especially for the top position in Law Enforcement.

** Speaker Mike Johnson has just come out in support of NOT releasing the Ethics Committee Report. He certainly knows more than I do and I trust him. But I still hope the truth comes out in a confirmation process. We just can't afford a compromised Attorney General.

*** Days after the most controversial appointment, I think we are seeing a difference in wording of the calls for demanding every nominee be confirmed. It seems now they are making a point to say, "we only want them to have a fair chance at confirmation." That is how it should be. And the only thing, I for one, wanted all along. No one should get a free pass, just because it is the President's request. That's the purpose of checks and balances. However, if there is nothing egregious hanging over a nominee, the President absolutely should get his nominee confirmed. It is my personal belief, President Trump in the case of Matt Gaetz, not confirm him in a recess appointment. Due to everything that has happened in way of investigations, the citizens have a right to know exactly who we are getting in the highest Law Enforcement officer in the land.

Updated with corrections: November 19, 2024. Additionally due to ever changing news on the situation, new information was added on November 21, 2024

Promises to Keep

I am in a reflective mood this morning and I feel like writing today. People may have guessed that I write as a hobby; I write to order my thoughts; and I write to relax. Lol I write...that’s what I do. When I write on here...it isn’t as much for you, as it is for me. I don’t expect to sway anyone’s beliefs. And I know very few  people read my blog…and I don’t expect anyone to read it. I just like to write and have a place to keep my thoughts...and it is easy here.   

I am thinking about the election tomorrow. I have been waiting for four years for that day! I am thinking about President Trump and all the different views America holds about him. There has never been a more polarizing figure. That is by design. The Democrat Machine is scared to death of him. I happen to believe he is God’s choice for these last days, we find ourselves.

Regardless of what anyone thinks about him...I believe him to be God’s man for the hour. There is no one else that can do what this man has done. Of course he is not perfect. But there is no other time in history where we ever expected our President to be perfect...no other time...ever! But some how we don’t like President Trump, because he talks like a New Yorker, raised in that environment. Go figure.  Sometimes he talks like a guy in the locker room...well I hate to tell you, but you probably married someone like that; have a friend or brother that has done the very same thing at some point in his life. Ok well "you", don't and I don't.  We rail against Trump, while we talk the same way. Everyone gets to be “born again”, but Donald Trump. Everyone gets time to grow in their faith...except DJT. He has to be perfect...Why? Because the media convinced us of that. Did we do that to Bill Clinton? Nope. Did we do it to JFK, well known for his affairs? Nope. Did we do that to Barack Obama and his radical life style, prior to the Presidency...or even during??? Nope. Do we even do it to Kamala Harris? She is most certainly not without a past!  

Oh, but Donald Trump...he’s icky. The truth is, we are all icky.

Lindsay Graham once lamented...(yes I know, we conservatives don’t like Lindsay, but this truth remains) that people keep saying that they “want Trump’s policies, but they don’t want Trump.” And Lindsay reminds them: “But you *can’t* get Trump’s policies without Trump!” And he is absolutely right. There is no man that has thus far perfected the “Art of the Deal” like Donald J Trump. To do what Trump did during his Presidency, should be appreciated by all of us!! The security and peace he brought alone should be at the forefront of our thanks. And there is no one else who can bring to fruition what he already did, one more time!

It is my belief that God chose this man, because of “the stuff” he is made of. Who else would get up after being shot and yell “fight, fight, fight”? Well, “Bulletproof George Washington” would...that’s the only one I can think of. Who else, the next opportunity he had, would return to that same spot he was shot to finish what he began there? Who else would survive a call for impeachment on day one – 19 minutes after being inaugurated...and thereafter survive the Russia Hoax, two impeachments with an attempt of three, hundreds of lawsuits, false charges of rape, an FBI raid of his home, attacks on his family, betrayal of people once "friends" (like Hillary and Oprah) and on and on and then still want to keep going? I know of no one else like that. Why is he still standing? 

President Trump has just spent almost 60 days without a day off!! Sometimes 3 rallies a day! Who does that??? And still laughing and joking?!!! And looking better than ever!

The strength that this man has, can only come from God. I am not saying he is perfect, but it is a bit frustrating when someone complains about the choice they have in candidates; or uses his character to not vote at all. Kamala’s character is better??? I am not going into her background as a human being! Because I don’t really believe in that, but come on! Just look at her voting record! That is fair game! That in itself is evil! And her flip-flopping and lying about that for which she stands disgusts me the most. No. What disgusts me the most, is her trying to talk like a preacher at a church service and misquoting the Word of God while lying to us about what she is going to do as President. The unity she now momentarily talks about, probably should have started with Joe, when he made that promise as a unifier in 2020. Instead we got names like, Nazi, Hitler, “garbage”, and “anti-American”. Oh...until just the last few days. How dumb do they think we are? I don't want to hear Trump started it. No. He did not. Obama called us "Clingers" who cling to our Bible, God and guns....well that part he got right...but "Clingers"? And truthfully, I have heard Trump call politicians a lot of names...some funny, like "Pencil Neck Shifty Shift", but I have yet to hear him say anything derogatory about US citizens, like Joe and Kamala have. Feel free to correct me if you have.

I watched one of my favorite pastors the other day. He was a bit frustrated with Kamala’s preaching event (in PA, I think) and he basically felt led to point out the problems in what she said at that church service. I believe he was right to do that. The Pastor was kind enough not to mention the phony preacher accent, that she somehow perceived as necessary. But someone most certainly needed to speak the truth about what was clearly wrong about that little sermon of hers. The well-known and popular pastor mostly did a pretty good job. But at the end of his corrections, he stated: “You know what I would do if I was God, I would give us Kamala.” Yikes! Glad he isn’t God! But what he meant was, because a Presidency with Kamala is what we actually deserve, due to the rabid and growing sin in our nation. Yes, it is rampant. We do get the leaders we deserve...that’s Scripture. But I think my favorite pastor forgot a few things, in his frustration, while wishing that kind of judgment on us. Lol (I *do* get it...and yes we absolutely deserve nothing good...especially grace.) 

Yes, our nation is in the worst spiritual condition it has ever been…I truly believe that. BUT, at the same time, in all my years of following politics, since I was a kid of about 9, I have never, ever seen the calls to prayer that we are seeing today. Oh, every election we hear the recitation of 2 Chronicles 7:14 - “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and heal their land.” We are hearing that this time too. And we should! It is of utmost importance, but never have we seen the amount of organized prayer from a multitude of groups like we are seeing this election. I listed some of them in a previous post, and it wasn’t even close to all of them. People ARE praying!!! And I believe God is hearing.

I will even go a step further, (because no one has probably read this far anyway)...and this is simply one of those “ordering my thoughts” missives. I absolutely believe the election was stolen from us last time. I am not talking just about the machines, or the boxes of ballots brought in during the night. We can agree to disagree on that type of steal. But what I am talking about is the absolute unconstitutional changing of election laws in states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia. That is absolutely *fact*! But that discussion will have to be for another post, because this is already getting way too long. Suffice it to say, voting laws *were* unconstitutionally changed using Covid as an excuse, and due to a flat-out desire to defeat Donald Trump. It is Constitutionally mandated for state legislators to be the means in charge of the voting laws of a state. But that isn’t what happened; Judges and Governors were the ones changing election laws at the last minute, because there wasn’t time to do it correctly through legislation and the legislators. I call that cheating. They knew it was wrong.

Anyway, I am a firm believer in God’s sovereignty. I am also a believer in God’s allowance of free-will. I believe that sometimes our free-will is allowed to trump (pardon the word) His perfect will. Our free will is the biggest part of His sovereignty. That’s what love is about; and that is also what prayer is about – to align us with His perfect will.

Let me give you an example. I will try to keep it short (well, because...this is reallllly getting long.) In Joshua 6 and 7, when the Israelites were trying to conquer Jericho, we learn of a man named Achan from the tribe of Judah. Achan was a thief who stole items from Jericho and hid them in his tent. The Israelites were clearly instructed by God, that after a battle they were not to take any plunder; that it belonged to God. Achan decided he would go against God...well because that is what we sometimes do. Long story short, Achan’s sin brought judgment on the whole camp. Israel learned the hard way that sin affects the whole nation. God didn’t just punish Achan for what he had done. He punished the entire camp for what Achan alone had done! It was corruption from “WITHIN”. Imagine that. It happens. Lol  But Achan brought a curse upon the entire nation of Israel. Sound familiar? Even though they defeated Jericho, it ended with the city of Ai (a Canaanite city of Palestine) defeating Israel in a battle where 36 of their soldiers were killed. They were only temporarily defeated, but they lost life and ground. That should sound familiar, too! We also have most certainly been suffering in the last four years to the point of losing lives, unnecessarily. I guess we could ask why God punished the entire nation for just one man’s sin...it’s because it brought a stain against God’s name as they were *His* people. It compromised the holiness of the entire nation! You think we aren’t compromised when we allow and especially vote for the killing of babies? Just a thought we might be wise to consider. Pretty sure that is one thing that should never be justified or rationalized.

Aside from that, I believe what happened to the Israelites in that moment, is exactly what happened to us with the theft of the 2020 election. Our election was stolen from us. And instead we got a man that was clearly not well, with policies that brought God’s judgment on our entire nation. Abortion was allowed up to the moment of birth, with a governor saying; “if the baby is born alive, we will keep the baby comfortable, until the mother decides.” Google it. Former governor of Virginia. Transgenderism exploded, men in women’s sports destroyed sports for women...this from the party that claims to be the best advocate for women’s rights! I know Christians disagree on some of those positions and sometimes they are rationalized. But Scripture is very clear on what God thinks of each of those actions and the rationalization, justification, needs to stop if one believes God’s Word.

Further, under Joe Biden, our own energy production was subverted, while Biden shut down our pipeline and instead purchased oil from our enemies. Our economy tanked and prices skyrocketed from the rise in the price of oil. How dare Kamala blame businesses for price gouging!! A thinking person should ask, “Why didn’t businesses price gouge under Trump when gas was 1.87 a gallon? The truth is Trump had us energy independent. After Biden’s first day, Executive Order, oil prices went up to over $5.00 a gallon in most places. He later used our National Reserves to try to bring down prices just a bit, to look better for the 2022 elections. And apparently we were supposed to be suckers and thank him, forgetting the $1.87 prices under President Trump.

And then Americans were left to die overseas while war broke out because Biden wanted credit for getting us out of Afghanistan. Instead, he has brought us closer to WWWIII with wars in both Ukraine and Gaza. Next there was our betrayal of Israel. Kamala Harris used Obama as her template and totally dissed PM Benjamin Netanyahu when he came to speak to the Joint Session of Congress. We threatened to hold weaponry at Israel’s most critical moment of war! We tried to pressure them into a ceasefire that would lead to their destruction. Thank God for Bibi Netanyahu who was strong enough to stand up to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris!!! But if we treat our greatest ally like that, no wonder we have not received God’s blessings under this administration.

I suppose there are many people that do not understand my strong support of Israel. But the Bible clearly instructs us in Genesis 12:3 – “I will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you.” I believe that! And I believe it is not only for nations, but for individuals. So in my private life, I want to support Israel. I believe that verse to be especially true for nations. It is God who created the nations and he did so for His purposes. It is not for me to question that truth. It is up to me to ensure my nation follows that command wherever it is in my ability to do so. Enter: Elect the right President. That’s Trump.

Kamala is out there spewing one speech to Michigan who has a large Muslim population and a completely different speech to Pennsylvania which has a large Jewish population. Even CNN pointed out the hypocrisy in her doing that. But it is a well-known fact that she has always been staunchly against Israel and has instead voted along with "the Squad" (AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and growing) for the policies that hurt Israel.

Personally, I can’t help but feel that God will right that wrong - the stealing of the election from Donald Trump. Yes, he allowed it. Yes, it was for His purposes. But I always felt like God would bless Trump and *us* as a nation due to the pro-Israel policies of DJT, There has never been any President who has done so much for Israel. I think God will reward this:

• Publicly named Jerusalem as the Capitol of Israel

• Moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem

• Got us out of the JCPOA (Iran Nuclear Deal) which was extremely harmful to Israel and dangerous to the entire world. (Biden got us back in)

• Recognized Golan Heights as part of Israel...which it is!

• Abraham Peace Accords

• Trump sided with Israel against the International Criminal Court (ICC) that wanted to investigate alleged Israel war crimes in Gaza and Judea and Samaria

• Stood with Israel against the ridiculous UN Sanctions

• Trump stopped money to UNRWA (of which Hamas is a part) for Palestinians which was hurting Israel.

• Rejected Obama’s claim that Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria are illegal and problematic for peace.

• Trump cut aid to the Palestinian Authority and closed the PLO office in DC.

I list those because I believe that is plenty to gain God's favor. And I am counting on Genesis 12:3, which speaking of Israel states: “I will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you.”

What I believe is, Trump’s Presidency was stolen from him in 2020. The attacks against him, were directed at his supporters in the next 4 years, growing exponentially the closer it got to Election 2024. I also believe with the calls for fasting, prayer and repentance along with God’s promise of blessing those that bless Israel, the election this time, will end in a Trump victory and a bit of reprieve for our nation.

I will be accused of placing my hope in Trump, making him an idol or thinking he is perfect. None of that is true. I know fully where our Hope lies. I have no idols and if I were to have one it would not be a political candidate...especially one whose whole life has been so unfairly, barrenly and graphically exposed, compared to those leaders of the past.

I just think based on God's promises, He is going to give us the grace that we so clearly don’t deserve, for a little more time to do what we were supposed to do in the first place, as the Christian nation we were founded. I can't wait until tomorrow. Vote!! It's our responsibility as well as a cherished freedom.