The Ten Commandments

Louisiana just passed a law requiring all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments because they claim they are the foundational documents of our state and national government. If that's the case why are there only two of the ten related to our current laws: (6) Thou shalt not murder and (8) thou shalt not steal. All of the others are not closely related to current laws and most are extremely religious in nature. Searching the internet turns up many different versions of the Ten Commandments. I decided to go with my father's bible which claims to be an authorized King James version.

Commandment I

(Exodus 20:2) I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

(Exodus 20:3) Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

This one basically states that you can't be of any other religion. This violates the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States which prohibits the government from establishing a religion.

Commandment II

(Exodus 20:4) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

(Exodus 20:5) Thou shalt not bow down to thyself to them, nor serve them: For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

(Exodus 20:6) And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

These seems to forbid making images like taking photographs, drawing, painting, making statues, or any other likeness. Almost everyone violates this today.

Some people believe this refers to bowing to a false prophet. Like Trump's followers worship him.

Commandment III

(Exodus 20:7) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Don't swear using God's name. Many people do this. It's not considered a crime.

Commandment IV

(Exodus 20:8) Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.

(Exodus 20:9) Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work: 

(Exodus 20:10) But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor that stranger that is within thy gates:

(Exodus 20:11) For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

This one is more of an organized labor agreement than a government statute.

Commandment V

(Exodus 20:12) Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

You should honor your parents and the elderly. This a good commandment. It is not enshrined in law other than the Social Security system and Medicare both of which are under attack by Republicans.

Commandment VI

(Exodus 20:13) Thou shalt not kill.

This one is the first commandment that is actually a law with the assumption that it refers to murder. Because it is generally not considered a crime to kill an opposing combatant in a combat situation. Although I don't notice any exceptions here.

Commandment VII

(Exodus 20:14) Thou shalt not commit adultery.

This is not typically illegal although I have heard it may be illegal in certain states. It may not be a good idea but it is pretty commonly practiced by many without legal consequences other than grounds for a divorce.

Commandment VIII

(Exodus 20:15) Thou shalt not steal.

This idea forms the basis of many laws. But this is really only the second commandment that is related to the justice system.

Commandment IX

(Exodus 20:16) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Don't lie. A good philosophy, but his is usually not illegal unless you are testifying under oath.

Commandment X

(Exodus 20:17) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, though shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

This is the tenth that says you should not be jealous of your neighbor which has no basis in law. I will comment that in some translations the terms manservant and maidservant are translated as slaves. Slavery is immoral and illegal.

Voter Fraud

It seems like Republicans are always complaining about voter fraud. Guess what? We finally figured out who has been committing all the voter fraud. Republicans!

Trump allies have recently been charged with a fake elector scheme taking voter fraud up to the electoral college level. So far five states are charging the fake electors with felonies. Trump hatched this scheme during the 2020 election when he saw that he had lost to Joe Biden by a landslide. The election was not even close and Trump started claiming voter fraud while at the same time planning to commit voter fraud on a grand scale. Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to try to get him to commit voter fraud. Trump said, "I just want to find 11,780 votes." Raffensperger refused.

So why hasn’t Trump been charged for this? He has! But guess what? Trump’s legal team has set out to discredit the DA brave enough to bring charges against the former president. Now the case will probably be paused until after the election.

If Trump wins he has already stated he will seek retribution. Who will be on the list?

• Atlanta DA Fani Willis – for bringing charges against him
• Hillary Clinton - just because
• Joe Biden - for having the audacity of defeating him in an election
• Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg – for charging him with felony falsifying business records, of which he was found guilty
• Judge Juan Merchan – the judge in the felony case, for sentencing Trump to whatever the sentence was
• Judge Arthur Engoron of New York – for finding Trump’s company guilty of fraud to the tune of $354 million.
• New York AG Letitia James – for bringing the fraud case against Trump
• James Comey – who is according to Trump just evil
• All the other AGs who are bringing charges against Trump allies
• Anyone who is a liberal because they are liberals
• Anyone who associates with liberals
• Any Republicans who Trump believes turned against him such as Liz Cheney and Brad Raffensperger.

Perhaps the biggest voter fraud of all is the voter suppression tactics implemented by Republicans which have brought voter turnout down to 66%. These include voter ID requirements and restricting access to voting in metropolitan districts. These laws are not intended to prevent voter fraud but to prevent legitimate voters from voting.

Trump on Fox

 Trump on Fox News:

Q: Will you seek revenge after you get elected?

Trump "It's a really tough question in one way because these are really bad people, these people are sick, and they do things that are so destructive, I mean look what they did from the day I got there, and I don't know a lot of people said we have no choice but to elect Trump Republicans because he's the only one that can withstand this. Don't forget if it weren't me they'd be going after somebody else, and I know a lot of the competition that wouldn't do so well (laugh) they wouldn't be doing so well right now. They'd be saying 'Mommy take me home, I wanna go home. This is brutal.' but these are sick people and for instance, the 51 intelligence agents, who fixes these, and they think about it just like they say I'm guilty of, and you know all this information was from so many years before the election, it was before the election..."

OK, so at this point Trump has not stated that he won't seek revenge in fact he has stated that there are a lot of bad, sick people doing destructive things. I assume he means the district attorneys, judges, prosecutors, and witnesses who brought him to trial and found him guilty. He probably wants to get revenge on the jurors as well.

How Trump Could Have Avoided His Current Situation

 George Conway on CNN May 31, 2024 "This case really does capture Donald Trump in a way...It's where he started. He's been a criminal his entire life, and he cannot help himself...you go out there and you see his son and him all claiming that they are the victims of some mastermind scheme by President Biden. I mean, it's just silly and ridiculous. And Marco Rubio should be ashamed. If you don't want to be found guilty of falsifying business records, as a felony, don't sleep with the porn star. Don't lie about it. Don't pay her off. Don't cover up the payoff. Don't cover up the payoff in the middle of a presidential campaign, where you're making a contribution, and don't grouse the guy up for taxes who you used as the frontman. If you don't want to be held liable for rape, like Donald Trump has, don't grab the woman's genitalia. If you don't want to be held liable for defaming the woman that you raped, don't keep lying about what you did and calling her a nutjob. If you don't want to be indicted for overthrowing the Constitution, don't start a self coup. If you don't want to be indicted for stealing classified documents and obstructing justice, don't take the classified documents, when the government asks for it back, give them back. If the FBI serves you with a search warrant, don't hide the documents, and don't lie about it, and don't have your lawyers lie about it. It isn't that hard."

I couldn't have said it better.