BE NOT AFRAID!

 

Vice President Biden speaks out against the violence and looting under Trump.  He quotes Pope John Paul II, "BE NOT AFRAID!!"  

BIDEN RESPONDS TO THE TRUMP RIOTS

"The deadly violence we saw overnight in Portland is unacceptable. Shooting in the streets of a great American city is unacceptable. I condemn violence of every kind by anyone, whether on the left or the right. And I challenge Donald Trump to do the same.

Donald Trump has been president for almost four years. The temperature in the country is higher, tensions run stronger, divisions run deeper. And all of us are less safe because he can’t do the job of the American president."

"This president long ago forfeited any moral leadership in this country. He can’t stop the violence — because for years, he has fomented it,"

"He may believe mouthing the words 'law and order' makes him strong, but his failure to call on his own supporters to stop acting as an armed militia in this country shows you how weak he is. Does anyone believe there will be less violence in America if Donald Trump is reelected?"

"We need justice in America. And we need safety in America," Biden will say. "We are facing multiple crises — crises that, under Donald Trump, keep multiplying. COVID. Economic devastation. Unwarranted police violence. Emboldened white nationalists. A reckoning on race. Declining faith in a bright American future."

"The common thread? An incumbent president who makes things worse, not better. An incumbent president who sows chaos rather than providing order,"

"We must remember the words of Pope John Paul, quoting Scripture, 'Be Not Afraid!'"

-- JOE BIDEN

Requiescat in Pace, Congressman John Lewis

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 
2 Timothy 4:7

Vice President Biden's statement:  

We are made in the image of God, and then there is John Lewis.

How could someone in flesh and blood be so courageous, so full of hope and love in the face of so much hate, violence, and vengeance? Perhaps it was the Spirit that found John as a young boy in the Deep South dreaming of preaching the social gospel; the work ethic his sharecropper parents instilled in him and that stayed with him; the convictions of nonviolent civil disobedience he mastered from Dr. King and countless fearless leaders in the movement; or the abiding connection with the constituents of Georgia’s 5th District he loyally served for decades.

Or perhaps it was that he was truly a one-of-a-kind, a moral compass who always knew where to point us and which direction to march.

It is rare to meet and befriend our heroes. John was that hero for so many people of every race and station, including us. He absorbed the force of human nature’s cruelty during the course of his life, and the only thing that could finally stop him was cancer. But he was not bitter. We spoke to him a few days ago for the final time. His voice still commanded respect and his laugh was still full of joy. Instead of answering our concerns for him, he asked about us. He asked us to stay focused on the work left undone to heal this nation. He was himself – a man at peace, of dignity, grace and character.

John’s life reminds us that the most powerful symbol of what it means to be an American is what we do with the time we have to make real the promise of our nation – that we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally. Through the beatings, the marches, the arrests, the debates on war, peace, and freedom, and the legislative fights for good jobs and health care and the fundamental right to vote, he taught us that while the journey toward equality is not easy, we must be unafraid and never cower and never, ever give up.

That is the charge a great American and humble man of God has left us. For parents trying to answer their children’s questions about what to make of the world we are in today, teach them about John Lewis. For the peaceful marchers for racial and economic justice around the world who are asking where we go from here, follow his lead. For his fellow legislators, govern by your conscience like he did, not for power or party. He was our bridge – to our history so we did not forget its pain and to our future so we never lose our hope.

To John’s son, John Miles, and to his family, friends, staff, and constituents, we send you our love and prayers. Thank you for sharing him with the nation and the world.

And to John, march on, dear friend. May God bless you. May you reunite with your beloved Lillian. And may you continue to inspire righteous good trouble down from the Heavens.

Trump Makes False Accusations Against Elderly Catholic Activist

During a protest, two Buffalo police officers were captured on video knocking down Martin Gugino a 75-year-old member of the Buffalo Catholic Worker.  

Martin was seen lying on the ground, blood pouring out of his ear after his head hit the concrete.  He was later taken to the hospital. The officers involved were ultimately fired, and a local prosecutor charged them over the weekend with felony assault.

This morning, Trump used his Twitter to lie about this elderly, Catholic, non-violent and still hospitalized man.

Trump falsely claimed that this member of the non-violent Catholic Worker movement could be 'Antifa'.  He also voiced several false assertions that come from a former writer for Putin's propaganda outfits.  

Trump's false claims come from Kristian Rouz, currently with the right-wing OAN and whose prior media employment was with Sputnik News — an outlet funded by the Kremlin.  The Daily Beast reported last year that Rouz was working for both outlets simultaneously.

Please pray for the full recovery of Martin Gugino and for the non-violent social justice work of the Buffalo Catholic Worker.  

Vice President Biden responded with his own, much more decent, Tweet: