The Donald, and his li’l buddy Franklin, are Big Time here in North Carolina<\/a>.<\/p>\n GREENVILLE, N.C.<\/span> (AP) \u2014 Rev. Franklin Graham did not utter the word \u201cimpeachment\u201d as he spoke to thousands of Christians here this week, the latest stop on a long-running tour he has dubbed Decision America \u2014 a title with political and religious undertones.<\/p>\n But evangelicals who turned out to see Graham didn\u2019t necessarily need his warning that \u201cour country is in trouble\u201d in order to tap into their deep-rooted support for President Donald Trump during an intensifying political crisis hundreds of miles north in Washington.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Evangelicals are no more capable of thinking carefully about The Donald than they are capable of thinking carefully about the Genesis<\/i> creation account, because both are connected to self-identity and sense of worth. They’re never going to admit they’ve been snookered, or even expose themselves to the danger of having no choice but to admit it.<\/p>\n Trumpism has all the elements of a cult; it is a movement centered on blind obedience of, and loyalty to, a single, charismatic individual who has all the answers, who is going to restore greatness and dignity even as he leads to ruin.<\/p>\n It all reminds me that the swastika remains a potent and omnipresent reminder of the evil of Adolf Hitler; it is all but a commonplace to learn of it being used to deface headstones in Jewish cemeteries.<\/p>\n So, occasionally, I wonder: Are we at the birth of another dangerous, anti-social, long-lived subculture? Will red baseball caps become … code, an ornamental shibboleth that says, “I belong”?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Donald, and his li’l buddy Franklin, are Big Time here in North Carolina. Continue reading \n