Pittsburgh Does Not Want Him … Does Anybody?

Last Saturday, during a Shabbat service at the Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a man by the name of Robert Bowers entered the synagogue saying that “Jews must die” and shooting randomly at congregants, ultimately killing eleven.  His reason?  He blamed Jews for the migrant caravan that he has been told by none other than Donald Trump, is coming here to take jobs, kill people, and ruin the United States.  Sadly, Mr. Bowers isn’t very intelligent, so he believed the blatant lies that Trump spewed.

To set the facts straight, the migrant caravan is comprised of families – men, women and children – who are fleeing from the violence in their home countries, hoping to seek asylum in the United States, work hard, assimilate into our society, and make a better, safer life for their children.  Trump’s tales that they are criminals and even Middle-Eastern terrorists, that they were financed by George Soros in order to affect the mid-term elections, are nothing but lies made up in the scrambled mind of a madman.

That same madman now plans to visit Pittsburgh, ostensibly to offer his “thoughts and prayers”, but in truth for a photo op in the days leading up to the election.  Most of Pittsburgh, it seems, do not want him. At last count, more than 44,000 people had signed an open letter from the leaders of a Pittsburgh-based Jewish group who say Trump will not be welcome in the city unless he denounces white nationalism and stops “targeting” minorities.  Here is the letter:

President Trump:

Yesterday, a gunman slaughtered 11 Americans during Shabbat morning services. We mourn with the victims’ families and pray for the wounded. Here in Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood, we express gratitude for the first responders and for the outpouring of support from our neighbors near and far. We are committed to healing as a community while we recommit ourselves to repairing our nation.

For the past three years your words and your policies have emboldened a growing white nationalist movement. You yourself called the murderer evil, but yesterday’s violence is the direct culmination of your influence.  

President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you fully denounce white nationalism.

Our Jewish community is not the only group you have targeted.  You have also deliberately undermined the safety of people of color, Muslims, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities. Yesterday’s massacre is not the first act of terror you incited against a minority group in our country.  

President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you stop targeting and endangering all minorities.

The murderer’s last public statement invoked the compassionate work of the Jewish refugee service HIAS at the end of a week in which you spread lies and sowed fear about migrant families in Central America. He killed Jews in order to undermine the efforts of all those who find shared humanity with immigrants and refugees.

President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you cease your assault on immigrants and refugees.

The Torah teaches that every human being is made b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God.

This means all of us.

In our neighbors, Americans, and people worldwide who have reached out to give our community strength, there we find the image of God.  While we cannot speak for all Pittsburghers, or even all Jewish Pittsburghers, we know we speak for a diverse and unified group when we say:

President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you commit yourself to compassionate, democratic policies that recognize the dignity of all of us.

Signed,

Bend the Arc: Pittsburgh Steering Committee

It is time we all step up to the plate and hold Donald Trump accountable for what he says, for the lies he cannot seem to stop telling.  Yes, republicans, that means YOU, too.  If you continue to support his hate speech, his incitement to riot, then you must share the guilt, share the blame, when innocent people are killed because somebody, somewhere took his words seriously.  Words matter.  It’s time to stop the runaway mouth that is attached to the ‘man’ in the White House before more people die for no reason other than Trump thinks he’s funny.

Despite the letter, Trump and Melania are planning a visit to Pittsburgh today.  Perhaps Melania can wear her lovely jacket that says, “I really don’t care, do U?”  Nothing would surprise me about this pair of unconscionable, cold, cruel narcissists.  You know what would make my day?  If he and Melania landed, and nobody came to greet them on the tarmac, there was no waiting Mayor Peduto, no Governor Wolfe … nobody.  Nobody lining the streets cheering, nobody to greet him anywhere.  That is what needs to happen in order for him to see that there are consequences for his childish, dangerous behaviour.

Read At Your Own Risk …

WARNING:  The following is likely to cause severe nausea, headaches and anger.

On page A20 of today’s print edition of The Washington Post, there is a letter by an anonymous source claiming to be a 90-year-old man.  There is some speculation that Trump himself may have submitted the letter. The letter is listed as an advertisement and I could not find it anywhere in the online edition but had to follow a link to Twitter and from there was able to find the complete text.  Somebody with money to burn submitted the letter, for under WaPo’s advertising rate schedule, it would have cost tens of thousands of dollars to publish. While I realize and understand that the mainstream media has an obligation to give voice to all reasonable viewpoints, I consider this letter to be in poor taste and outside the bounds of ‘reasonable’, and not simply because I disagree with the premise of the letter.  The Washington Post has lowered its status in my view.  I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Dear Mr. President,

In my opinion, on September 25th, 2018, you delivered one of the finest speeches ever given at the United Nations. For students of history, it was reminiscent of Winston Churchill as he faced (and often faced alone) the then threat of Nazism, and Ronald Reagan as he confronted “The Evil Empire” at The Berlin Wall.

Today, the greatest threat facing America, (along with free world), is “The Left’s” new religion of “Radical Liberalism”. Instead of tanks, artillery and aircraft, today’s Radical Left uses fear, threats and false allegations and ideologies to undermine the liberties and spiritual beliefs the West holds so dearly.

As with Churchill and Reagan, you Mr. President, are the only world leader with the courage and insight to identify, confront, and then expose “The Left’s” failed and corrupting ideologies such as “Globalism”, “Political Correctness”, “Multi-Culturalism” and the greatest hoax of all, “Man-Made Global Warming”.

The earth is governed by God’s law, not the whims of mankind.

The Bible says it best, when in Genesis 1, it reads, “… after creating man in his own image…. God blessed them and said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have domination over the fish of the sea, and over the foul in the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth”.

In simplest terms, God created the earth to serve man, and then provided the earth with everything mankind would need to grow and prosper. It’s man’s responsibility to manage those resources to nourish the world.

We can also thank God for the origin of the Rights, Liberties and Freedoms, expounded upon within our Constitution, as they are based on His Ten Commandments and grounded in the “unalienable rights” granted by our Creator.

It’s that word “Creator” that so scares the Radical Liberals.

The Radical Left try to fool as many people as they can into thinking “God is Dead”, because they know people who stop believing in God, will start believing in anything! Even junk science like “Man-Made Global Warming”, or repeatedly failed political philosophies such as Socialism! Just ask the people of Venezuela.

I know this won’t surprise you, Mr. President, but it should be noted that the reasons the Radical Left went “ballistic” in their all-out effort, to not simply defeat, but to destroy Judge Brett Kavanaugh and his family, was based on two key factors: the first is his belief in, and loyalty to our Constitution; the second, is that he and his family are devout Catholics who proudly acknowledge their belief in God. And then if that wasn’t enough to drive the Radical Left insane, America learns that the Kavanaugh family actually “pray together”, and in their prayers, they asked God to heal their father’s accuser.

There you have them. The two key elements that terrify the Radical Left. The first is the acknowledgement of the existence of God, and the second, is the invocation of the power of prayer!

There are many who may laugh at what I am about to say, but I don’t believe you will be one of them. Born and raised within the United States, I am a religious man of Lebanese decent. On November 1st, 2016, while visiting Lebanon, I travelled to the shrine of Saint Charbel (who has been credited with over 160,000 registered miracles attributed to his intercession) to pray for my miracle; the saving of America through your election as our President. I will always believe the Maronite Monk, canonized as Saint Charbel Makhlouf by Pope Paul VI, heard my prayers, granted my miracle, and put America back on a path to greatness.

Another gift your election has given our country is our First Lady, Melania Trump. She has brought a breath of fresh air to the nation. She’s a legal immigrant and naturalized American citizen who speaks six languages and who loves America, her history, her accomplishments and all for which she stands. On February 19th, 2017, the nation, and the world gained insight into the heart and soul of our First Lady when she was asked to speak at a campaign rally, but instead of the typical political rhetoric we’ve come to expect, she led your supporters in reciting “The Lord’s Prayer”. What a gift she is to us and the world!

Respectfully Sir, am I a fan of your “Twitter Diplomacy”? No. Am I supporter of the quickness and ferocity with which you attack your attackers? No. Have you conducted your Presidency with the same decorum as most previous Presidents? No. But then again, no President in modern history has worked so hard, for so long, to make good on so many of the promises you’ve made to America.

Even your political adversaries marvel at all you have accomplished, especially in lieu of the fact that no political personality in history has endured the impact of 90% or more, of negative news coverage, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With God’s help, you have not only survived, but thrived, and your successes have helped “the forgotten people”, both here at home, and around the world. Just as you have promised.

Mr. President, you may think you “chose” to run for President, but I am one who believes, you didn’t choose, …. you were chosen … just like God chose Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt!

May God continue to bless and protect America, as well as you, your family, and all the freedom loving people of the world.              

Signed,

A Reluctant “Anonymous”

​ARA@MyOpenLetterToPresidentTrump.org

Follow us on Twitter! @ToOurPotus

(Mr. President, I’ve lived almost 90 years on this earth in service to my God, my family and my country. Concerned for my personal safety and seeing the confrontations and violence the Radical Left unleash against those who speak out against them, my family pleaded with me not to disclose my identity for fear of such reprisals against them and/or myself. What a sickening, political reality in 21st Century America. However, hopefully Sir, one day we will meet, and I will proudly tell you my name while shaking your hand.)

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