So the other day, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who gets a load of death threats<\/a> and hate from Good White Christianists, got wind that Paul Manafort, one of the crooks who worked for Trump, was going to be put in solitary confinement in a prison in the district she represents.<\/p>\n Being a decent human being, she demanded he be taken out of solitary, describing this form of punishment as torture<\/a>. She needn\u2019t have done it. Were the shoe on the other foot and the victim were one of his political enemies, there is no doubt that Trump (who has called for the torture<\/a> of prisoners and even murder of innocents<\/a>, as well as the execution of innocents like the Central Park 5) and his vicious cult of personality would be gloating over an enemy in solitary.<\/p>\n But AOC, despite her profound differences with Manafort, did the decent and good thing and called for his removal from solitary lock up. She did so in agreement with the teaching of the Holy Father, who said, \u201cOne form of torture is sometimes applied by imprisonment in maximum security prisons<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n A friend of mine, John Medaille, remarked, \u201cAgree or disagree, this is a woman of principle.\u201d<\/p>\n The instantaneous and all-too-typical response of the Catholic Right Wing bent only on her destruction?<\/p>\n \u201cNo. She\u2019s an airhead.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The proof?<\/p>\n \u201cWhen a fire devastated Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, this \u2018bright, intelligent, and articulate woman\u2019 explained it was really \u2019caused by global warming, duh.\u2019 The only problem with this was the minor fact that this \u201cquote\u201d came from the Genesius Times<\/em><\/a>, a satire site the bills itself as \u201cthe most reliable source of fake news on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n When confronted with this fact, an honorable person, Christian or not, would have retracted and apologized. But the person in John\u2019s comboxes, bent on punching her good name in the teeth for the sin of loving her enemy, refused. It was more important to land the punch than to honor the good deed, because it was a good deed done by an enemy.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, on my Facebook wall, I noted that in addition to being humane and good, her gesture on behalf of Manafort was extremely smart politics because her vicious culture war enemies (like the guy declaring her an airhead) have to either insist on cruelty to one of their Folk Heroes in an epic act of cutting off their noses to spite their faces or swallow their immense pride and face the fact that she is both right and<\/em> good here.<\/p>\n And they <\/em>call her <\/em>dumb.<\/p>\n This is precisely what Paul is talking about when he tells the Romans: <\/p>\n Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, \u201cVengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.\u201d No, \u201cif your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.\u201d Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Ro 12:14\u201321)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Compare and contrast with this:<\/p>\n When someone attacks me, I always attack back\u2026except 100x more. This has nothing to do with a tirade but rather, a way of life!<\/p>\n \u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2012<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nShe\u2019s a dimwit.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n