By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on November 20, 2018 Yesterday, we reported that President Donald Trump would find a way to give Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a pass on his Royal Order to murder Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Today, Trump did just what we reported. He announced that the U.S. would not sanction Saudi Arabia for torturing and murdering Khashoggi. Shockingly, Khashoggi’s body was dismembered after his October 2, 2018 gruesome murder at the Saudi Embassy in Turkey. Initially, the Saudis attempted to cover-up Knashoggi’s murder by simply denying it. Eventually, they admitted that Khashoggi was murder, but claimed the Crown Prince was not involved even though the killers were linked directly to him. As choreographed between Trump and the Saudis, the President parroted every explanation the Saudi’s provided for Khashoggi’s murder and found each one of the ever-changing explanations to be "credible." Last week, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency joined other foreign intelligence agencies in concluding that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered Khashoggi’s murder. The CIA 's report did not matter to Trump because he was already compromised. Trump said he was standing up for the Kingdom and Crown Prince because Saudi Arabia is a “great ally.” Of course, this was a pretext for Trump’s real motivation for condoning politically motivated murder. Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner have close business ties to the Kingdom. It has been an open secret in Washington for the last six weeks that Trump would not take any meaningful action against the Saudis for Khashoggi's murder. In fact, one of Trump’s undisclosed assignments is the protection of the Crown Prince's and Trump Organization’s private business interests in Saudi Arabia, by any and all means necessary. Furthermore, Trump has a knack for embracing every murderous despot who will meet with him and stroke his oversized ego and finance his businesses. With his “no sanctions” announcement today, Trump has officially embraced the murder of political dissidents as an acceptable political tool. It is well known that Donald Trump will always place his private business interests ahead of America’s national interests whenever the two conflict. As a result, there was never going to be justice for Jamal Khashoggi as long as the Saudis and Russians finance Trump's business empire. PHOTO: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (left), President Donald J. Trump (center), and Jared Kushner (right) taking care of their business.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on November 18, 2018 In the midst of America’s contentious debate about migrants from Central America who are traveling to the Southern border of the U.S., we seem to have forgotten the Biblical story about the world’s best known immigrants -- Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. According to the Bible, Joseph woke Mary up to give her urgent news. Jehovah’s angel had just appeared to Joseph in a dream, telling him “Get up, take the young child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I give you word, for Herod is about to search for the young child to kill him.”​ ​-- Matthew 2:13. After this warning, Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus fled their homeland. They escaped just in time because Herod learned that the astrologers who found Baby Jesus’ location had tricked him. Herod told them to report back to him when they had found Jesus. Instead, they left the country without giving Herod Baby Jesus’ location. Herod was filled with rage. In an effort to kill Jesus, Herod ordered his soldiers to kill all boys in Bethlehem and its surrounding communities who were two years of age and younger. In the meantime, Joseph and his family made the migrant journey to Egypt. They continued living there until it was safe to return to the land of Israel where they settled in the city of Nazareth. -- Matthew 2:20 Were Mary, Joseph, and Jesus refugees? Yes. They were a family fleeing their homeland to avoid persecution and Baby Jesus’ death at the hands of King Herod. As they headed toward Egypt, they were undocumented migrants seeking refuge and safety in foreign country. In the Bible, Jesus reminds us that any time we “welcome the stranger” we welcome Jesus himself. These are his recorded words: 35 “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:35-40) Refugees and migrants have been fleeing violence in their native countries for thousands of years. They are usually in desperate need of help. Jesus commands us to “welcome the stranger.” Many Anglo-Saxon Christians in America simply ignore Jesus’ command when it comes to refugees and migrants of color. They seem to pick and choose which portion of the Bible they want to govern their personal lives. When it comes to welcoming migrants with open arms, they will do so with migrants from European countries but not with migrants of color from other countries. The clearest example of this disparate treatment is presented in how President Donald J. Trump views the migrant caravan from Central America, as compared to how Trump treated First Lady Melania Trump’s parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs. The Knavs, who made their first trip to America from the Yugoslav Republic of Slovenia in February 2004, took their oaths to become Americans in August after the First Lady sponsored their green cards. They were not fleeing gang violence or persecution. Instead, the Knavs benefited from the “chain migration” that Trump has repeatedly denounced for non-white immigrants. Under “chain migration,” a single immigrant who becomes a U.S. citizen may sponsor an unlimited number of other relatives for green cards and citizenship. The migrant caravan from Central America consist of innocent men, women, and children who are fleeing gang violence and abject poverty. Contrary to U.S. law, they will not be allowed to apply for political asylum at the U.S. border. Instead, they will be met by heavily armed U.S. soldiers who have been ordered by Trump to turn them around by any means necessary. Fortunately for Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus, a pharaoh with Donald Trump’s mindset was not ruling Egypt when the “Holy Family” fled Herod’s death decree. Such a leader would have ordered his soldiers to stop Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus at the Egyptian border. At the time, Egypt was one of the greatest civilizations on the planet. Thousands of years ago, the Egyptians built the “Great Pyramids” and other magnificent structures that are still standing today. Yet, they did not erect a wall to keep foreigners out of their country. Only two countries have built world-famous walls -- communist China (from 770 BC to 220 AD and 1368 to 1644) for the purpose of protecting its territorial borders and Germany for the purpose of separating communist East Berlin from pro-western West Berlin during the Cold War (from 1961 to 1989). In 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn down and Berlin is now unified. The Great Wall of China is now a tourist attraction. Donald Trump’s Great Wall at the Southern border is the third project of its kind in world history. Trump’s stated purpose in building the Wall is to keep migrants out of America who are fleeing violence, political persecution, and abject poverty back home. On the campaign trail, Trump promised his supporters that Mexico would pay for the Wall. Now, he is demanding that American taxpayers pay the $20 billion tab for his Great Wall. Ultimately, God will decide whether the Bible’s teachings on Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus’ immigration into Egypt will prevail over Donald Trump’s narrow-minded political views on the subject. Throughout recorded history, no national president, prime minister, king, dictator, or pharaoh has ever wielded more influence and power than God. They all fade from the scene over time. God is here forever. I side with God's Biblical teachings on the subject of immigration. PHOTO: Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus fleeing into Egypt after King Herod issued a death decree for his soldiers to kill Jesus.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on November 19, 2018 On October 2, 2018, Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was tortured, murdered, and dismembered by a Saudi Arabian “hit squad” in the Saudi Embassy in Turkey. Initially, the Saudis attempted to cover-up this murder by simply denying it. After the murder, President Donald J. Trump parroted every explanation the Saudi’s provided for Khashoggi’s murder and found each one of the ever-changing explanations "credible." Trump justifies his enduring passivity in this matter by saying he does not want Khashoggi’s murder to interfere with a multi-billion dollar arms trade deal that is supposedly in the works. Last week, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered Khashoggi’s murder. Once again, Trump is attempting to discredit the CIA, which is led by his own appointee, and defend the Crown Prince. He has refused to listen to audio tapes the CIA obtained of Khashoggi’s gruesome murder. Yesterday, Trump defended Saudi Arabia as a “great ally” and insisted that intelligence reports from Turkey, Great Britain, and the CIA on the Crown Prince’s personal role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi are "premature." Late last month, the Kingdom finally admitted that Khashoggi had been murdered. The Kingdom also admitted that the killers are linked directly to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is the son of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner have close business ties to the Kingdom. As such, Trump has refused to take any meaningful action to address Khashoggi's murder case beyond protecting the Crown Prince and Trump’s private business interests in Saudi Arabia, at any and all means necessary. Furthermore, Trump has a knack for embracing every murderous despot who will meet with him and stroke his oversized ego. He has shown absolutely no disdain for the use of murder as an acceptable political tool. Nobody inside Trump’s inner circle of White House staff and cabinet members has been able to convince Trump that murder is not an acceptable political tool. Khashoggi fled Saudi Arabia following the arrests of his close friends, and took up residence in America. Since moving to the U.S., Khashoggi has been a U.S. “resident.” He was employed by the Washington Post and actually lived in the country. Khashoggi was living in the US on the basis of an “O-Visa,” which is a classification of non-immigration temporary worker visa granted by the United States to a foreigner "who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or atheltics, or who has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements,” and to certain assistants and immediate family members of such foreigners. Trump has promised a definitive report on Khashoggi’s murder by mid-week. Washington insiders expect Trump to trash the CIA’s investigative findings in order to save Saudi Arabia and the Crown Prince from U.S. sanctions for Khashoggi’s murder. It is well known that Donald Trump will place his private business interests ahead of America’s national interests whenever the two conflict, even if he has to condone the murder of a U.S. "resident" in the process. After all, the only thing that is sacred in Donald Trump's world is his money. PHOTO: Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi (left) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right).

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on November 13, 2018 It has been one week since the Midterm elections. During this seven-day period, President Donald Trump has acted like a dangerous Pitbull that is unleashed and is mauling everyone in his sight. People inside and outside of the Trump Administration are afraid of him. Attacking the Media Last week, Trump angrily mauled Abilio James “Jim” Acosta on live TV and in front of his media colleagues. Trump later suspended Acosta’s White House press credentials as punishment for Acosta’s propensity to ask the President questions that challenged his public policy positions. Acosta, who is CNN’s Chief White House correspondent, is the son of a Cuban father, who was an immigrant, and an Irish mother. Peter Alexander, the MSNBC reporter who stood up and tried to defend Acosta’s journalistic integrity, was promptly mauled by Trump, as well. The attack on Acosta and Alexander terrified the rest of the White House press corp. Trump also attacked three African-American reporters – April Ryan, Abby Phillip, and Yamiche Alcindor -- who asked the President straight-forward questions about issues of domestic policy, including questions about the Robert Mueller investigation. Trump called respected CNN contributor April Ryan, the NABJ Journalist of the Year for 2017, a “loser” and “nasty.” He also threatened to revoke Ryan's White House press credentials. Trump claimed that Yamiche Alcindor, a White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour and the NABJ's Emerging Journal of the Year for 2013, posed a racist question when she asked Trump whether he was encouraging white nationalism in America. Alcindor’s question was a fair and reasonable one in light of the President’s recent comments about nationalism and his failure to condemn the Neo-Nazis protestors who chanted “Jews will not replace us” during a violent rally in Charlottesville, Virginia last year in which an innocent female counter-protestor -- Heather Heyer -- was murdered by one of the Nazis. On Friday, Trump berated CNN reporter Abby Phillip for asking a "lot of stupid questions." Phillip had asked whether Trump wanted newly appointed Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to "rein in" special counsel Robert Mueller -- a matter of heavy speculation given Trump's objections to the Russia investigation and Whitaker's past criticism of it. Insulting America’s Military Veterans and War Dead On Sunday, Trump insulted America's veterans and dishonored her fallen soldiers during the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. Trump and dozens of other world leaders who had gathered in Paris for the commemorative event were scheduled to attend an event marking Armistice Day and visit a cemetery where Americans who died in World Wars I and II are buried. To the shock of the free world, Trump cancelled his cemetery visit due to rainy weather. He was the only world leader to do so. More than 2,000 soldiers are buried at the World War I cemetery, many of whom died in the Battle of Belleau Wood. Ironically, these American soldiers fought and died in the European theater in the same rainy weather conditions that deterred Trump from honoring them. “Normalizing” Trump’s Lack of Respect for Media Organizations and Soldiers As expected, no Republican leader in the House of Representative or U.S. Senate rebuked Trump for his cemetery faux pas in France. Likewise, no Trump supporter or Evangelical Christian leader had the courage to confront Trump about his tirade against the respected White House correspondents he had trashed. As expected, Fox News did not defend the right of Jim Acosta, April Ryan, Abby Phillip, and Yamiche Alcindor to ask President Trump questions on matters of significant interest to the American people. Furthermore, Fox did not applaud MSNBC’s Peter Alexander for attempting to defend Acosta’s right to ask the President public policy questions during Wednesday’s press conference. It is well known that Donald Trump views the media as the “enemy of the American people.” He likes Fox News because it is a right-wing media organization that functions much like state-run media organizations in Russia, North Korea, China and other countries led by dictators. Worst of all, Donald Trump does not care at all about America’s servicemen/women, war veterans, or fallen soldiers. America’s celebration of Veterans Day is an inconvenient annual occurrence for Trump. The President lost interest in this celebratory event when the military told Trump that he could not have his own military parade like the dictators in North Korea and Russia. The only thing Trump got out of his trip to Paris this weekend was a visible “thumbs up” gesture from Russian President Vladimir Putin during one of the commemorative ceremonies. Trump seemed to gloat over this refreshed validation from “puppet-master” Putin. Unlike his predecessors, Trump does not visit American troops at military bases on foreign soil. Yet, he finds time to golf at his country club in Florida every weekend. What is worst, the Veterans Administration is one of Trump’s lowest cabinet priorities. Sadly, there is no Trump-led initiative to improve the delivery of health care services or other earned benefits to veterans. Trump has repeatedly attacked “Gold Star” families, even when they are still grieving the loss of their loved ones. A soldier’s death in his/her service to our nation means absolutely nothing to Trump. We must always remember that Trump was a successful draft-dodger during the Vietnam War. Yet, Trump has consistently refused to recognize the late Sen. John McCain as a “war hero” simply because McCain’s plane was shot down over Hanoi, he was captured by the Vietcong, and he endured years of torture as a prisoner of war. Trump justifies his callous attitude towards McCain by saying, “I like people that weren’t captured.” Those are mighty big words for a certified draft-dodger. Finally, anyone with “walking around sense” can clearly see that Donald Trump has a real problem respecting women, people of color, Jews, gays, Muslims who are not in business with him, Gold Star families, military veterans, American soldiers who have died in the service of our nation, America’s national security agencies, and America’s longtime allies, among others. He panders to white nationalists and America's foreign enemies. He has no self-respect or control. For these reasons, Donald J. Trump presents a clear and present danger to America and its allies. PHOTO: White House correspondents Abby Phillip (left), Yamiche Alcindor (center), and April Ryan (right) have drawn the ire of President Donald Trump for asking straight-forward questions about domestic policy issues.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on November 9, 2018 The Midterm elections are over. It’s official -- America is a divided nation. There is a political and cultural “cold civil war” going on in America. We are divided into two political tribes -- Republicans and Democrats, and neither tribe is taking prisoners. Next January, Democrats will control the House of Representatives, while Republicans will control the Senate. President Donald J. Trump is not trying to unify Americans. In fact, he is the “Divider-in Chief.” Leaders who typically start every sentence with “I” have no cognitive concept of “We the people.” On Wednesday, the White House press core was decimated after President Trump angrily trashed CNN’s Jim Acosta on live TV and in front of his media colleagues, who were petrified and paralyzed by the President’s unprofessional conduct. Trump constantly reminds Americans that the free press is the “Enemy of the American People.” While Trump and the far right members of the Republican Party have focused on 7,000 migrant men, women, and children from Central America who are marching slowly toward the Southern border of the U.S. and whom Trump declares (without supporting evidence) are “thugs”, “drug dealers”, “gang members”, and “rapists,” the serial mass murders of innocent Americans by gun-toting fellow Americans continues unabated. Jeff Sessions was fired as Attorney General the morning after the elections even though he dutifully licked President Trump’s boots in a manner that would have made any self-respecting man or woman sick. Thereafter, President Trump installed Matthew Whitaker as Interim Attorney General. Whitaker is a known Trump loyalist and a staunch critic of the Russia investigation. The Justice Department is now officially politicized. The FBI is divided into two camps – those loyal to President Trump and those who are loyal to the U.S. Constitution. U.S. Attorneys and career federal prosecutors fall into the same two camps. Justice Department attorneys now interpret and prosecute U.S. laws in a way that advances Trump’s political agenda. The Department and its resources are also used as tools to punish political dissidents and Trump's critics. The U.S. Supreme Court is in jeopardy of being packed with political cronies who are loyal to an outdated ideology instead of the U.S. Constitution. Two Trump cronies have been installed on the high court since he took office in 2017. The rest of the federal judiciary is politicized in much the same way. State and local governments in the Old South are under the firm control of Republican officeholders. These officials specialize in creative ways to disenfranchise African American voters [e.g. (a) the illegal gerrymandering of voting districts, (b) the politically-motivated purging of voter rolls, (c) the passage of new and restrictive voter ID laws, (d) the passage and application of impermissible “exact match” voter signature laws, (e) the failure to count legitimate votes cast, etc.]. Women, African Americans, Native Americans, gays, Jewish Americans, Muslim Americans, and migrants of color are at risk in this new political paradigm. They are the targets of a rising sea of hatred in America. This paradigm reminds me of the poem "First they came…" by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984). It is about the cowardice of German intellectuals following the Nazis' rise to power and subsequent purging of their chosen targets, group after group. Here is Niemöller’s poem: "When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak for me." A divided nation cannot sustain itself. It will eventually crumble under the weight of its divisions and the government's persecution of targeted groups. What will be American's fate? PHOTO: America Divided.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on November 2, 2018 Under heavy criticism from retired military officers, President Donald Trump today walked back his authorization for U.S. soldiers to shoot rock-throwing migrants at the Southern border. Trump, who does not know when he is lying or telling the truth, now says he did not use the word “shoot” when describing how soldiers would react to rock-throwing migrants at the border. Of course, Trump’s videotaped interview from Thursday contradicts him on this point. Lt. Col. Ralph Peters had this to say about Trump’s authorization to shoot migrants. “I want to take the president of the United States seriously, but he manages to be an embarrassing fool, an insidious menace. He's the antithesis of the America that I and my military comrades meant to defend, if necessary, with our lives. He's an un-American American president." I agree with this assessment. What is so frightening about this situation is the fact that so many Republican politicians, voters, and so-called Evangelical Christians were prepared to support Trump's willingness to slaughter migrants for throwing rocks at heavily armed American soldiers. The mass murder of rock-throwers was apparently an acceptable form of border control for Trump's supporters. As a civilized society, how can we condemn mass murder by deranged shooters in our schools, work places, movie theaters, churches, mosques, and synagogues when we are willing to permit U.S. soldiers to commit similar atrocities against unarmed men, women, and children in the name of border control? Why would a U.S. President, who dodged the draft during the Vietnam War, lead us into a modern-day version of the “Mỹ Lai Massacre?” Why is he so eager to kill vulnerable migrants of color in a televised confrontation at the border where rocks and stones are matched against military grade weapons, battle gear, and armored vehicles. Finally, where is Donald Trump’s rage at the Saudi Arabian officials who were allowed to come in and out of the U.S. at will, who murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi last month, who dismembered Khashoggi’s body, and who dissolved Khashoggi’s dismembered body in acid. If peaceful Central migrants of color are labeled as “gang members”, “terrorists”, “thugs” and “drug dealers” (as claimed by Trump with absolutely no proof), then how does the President characterize the 15 Saudi murderers who butchered Jamal Khashoggi (as officially admitted by the Saudi Kingdom and first reported by the Turkey government)? PHOTO: Screenshot of NBC news report on President Donald Trump's denial of his shoot-to-kill authorization.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on November 4, 2018 Shortly after the death of South African President Nelson Mandela in 2013, businessman Donald J. Trump reportedly made this statement to his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen: “Name one country run by a black person that’s not a ‘shithole,’ adding, ‘Name one city’.” Trump has repeated this “shithole” comment since taking office as the 45th President of the United States. Because of his shameless ignorance of U.S. and world history, I will name one American city for Mr. Trump that we all know is not a “shithole” city – Atlanta. This majority black city has been led by a succession of black mayors since 1974, including Maynard Jackson (1974–1982, 1990–1994), Andrew Young (1982-1990), William “Bill” Campbell (1994-2002), Shirley Franklin (2002-2010), and Kasim Reed (2010-2018). Time will not permit me to educate Mr. Trump on the successes of other American cities that have been led by black mayors. These include San Francisco under the dynamic leadership of Mayor Willie Brown (1996-2004), New Orleans under the mayoral leadership of the father and son team of Earnest “Dutch” Morial (1978-1986) and Marc Morial (1994-2002), and Chicago under the leadership of Harold Washington (1983-1987). Like Atlanta, all of these cities are world-class cities and all of them experienced remarkable growth under these visionary black mayors. Is Atlanta a “shithole” city? It is well known that Mr. Trump will make reckless and racially inflammatory statements about people of color and places where they live without reading anything about them. The background information on Atlanta is readily available on the Internet and is derived from Wikipedia and reliable government sources. Atlanta was founded as a transportation hub at the intersection of two railroad lines in 1837. After being mostly burned to the ground during the American Civil War, the city rose from its ashes to become a national center of commerce and the unofficial capital of the "New South." During the 1950s and 1960s, Atlanta became a major organizing center of the civil rights movement, with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, and many other locals playing major roles in the movement's leadership. In the decades following, the city earned a reputation as "too busy to hate" for the relatively progressive views of its citizens and leaders compared to other cities in the "Deep South." During the modern era, Atlanta has attained international prominence as a major air transportation hub, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport serving as the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic since 1998. The Airport, which is operated by the city’s Department of Aviation, is Georgia’s largest employer, with more than 63,000 airline, ground transportation, concessionaire, security, federal government, City of Atlanta and Airport tenant employees. For 12 consecutive years, the Air Transport Research Society has recognized the Airport for its excellence in efficiency. In 2015, Hartsfield-Jackson was named the most efficient airport in the world. The Airport produces $31 billion in annual revenues and produces an economic impact of over $64 billion a year in the metro-Atlanta area. Atlanta was selected as the site for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games during Bill Campbell’s tenure as mayor. As a national center for cinema and television production, Atlanta also plays a significant role in the entertainment industry. Atlanta is rated as a "beta (+)" world city that exerts a moderate impact on global commerce, finance, research, technology, education, media, art, and entertainment. It ranks in the top twenty among world cities and 10th in the nation with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $385 billion. Atlanta is home to professional franchises for four major team sports: the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball, the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association, the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League, and Atlanta United FC of Major League Soccer. Atlanta has been the host city for various international, professional and collegiate sporting events, including Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994 and Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000. It will host the Super Bowl again in 2019. In 2001 and 2011, Atlanta hosted the PGA Championship, one of the four major championships in men's professional golf. In professional ice hockey, the city hosted the 56th NHL All-Star Game in 2008. The city has hosted the NCAA Final Four Men's Basketball Championship four times, most recently in 2013. In college football, Atlanta hosts the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, the SEC Championship Game, and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. In January of 2018, Atlanta hosted the college football national championship game. Given Atlanta’s staggering record of growth and achievement under the leadership of black mayors, what else can Atlanta do to escape Mr. Trump’s “shithole” designation? Hopelessly Trapped in a Perpetual State of Ignorance and Bigotry It is probably too late to educate Donald Trump on the encyclopedia of positive achievements by people of color in America and around the world. He is a dyed in the wool bigot who tweets racist statements instead of reading books and briefing papers for knowledge and enlightenment. If I had more time and energy, I would also educate Mr. Trump on Namibia, an ultra modern Southwest African nation with a State House, Supreme Court, and Presidential complex that rivals those of Western nations. This former German colony is rich in minerals and is governed with a level of efficiency, productivity, accountability, and transparency that could easily serve as the standard of excellence for the Western world. Yet, Mr. Trump has labeled Namibia as a “shithole” country. I would also educate Mr. Trump on Nigeria, Africa’s largest country with a population of 191 million people.  Nigeria received its independence from Great Britain in 1960 and has been a stable, progressive democracy in Africa since that time.  The country has its own stock exchange, which also has dual listings with the prestigious London Stock Exchange.  Nigeria has numerous oil, gas, manufacturing, and exporting companies that have produced more than 50 black billionaires in the private and public sectors.  America only has 3 black billionaires (i.e., Robert Smith, Oprah Winfrey, and Michael Jordan) that have been recognized by Forbes Magazine in 2018. While Mr. Trump was constructing buildings in Manhattan during the past 30 years, Nigeria was busy building a new national capital city named Abuja. Today, Abuja is a planned, ultra-modern metropolitan city with an estimated population of 2,918,518 million residents. The building of Abuja was the greatest construction project since the erection of the great pyramids in Egypt thousands of years ago. Mr. Trump, whose private companies have filed bankruptcy proceedings six times, will often talk in demeaning terms about Nigerian “scams.” However, we must always be mindful that it was Wall Street’s out-of-control greed and engrained corruption during the 2000s that caused the Global Recession of 2008, which, in turn, cost Americans $16 trillion in lost wealth. Was Bernie Madoff a Nigerian, Mr. Trump? Of course not; he was a New York friend of yours and a Wall Street icon. While sensible readers would probably appreciate these lessons in American and international history, it is clear that Mr. Trump is hopelessly trapped in a perpetual state of ignorance and bigotry. PHOTO: A scenic view from the lake in Atlanta's 189-acre Piedmont Park. Atlanta is a city that is "too busy to hate."

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on November 3, 2018 Michael Cohen’s interview with Vanity Fair’s Emily Jane Fox last week confirms what many Americans already knew about President Donald J. Trump – he is a dyed in the wool racist. Cohen, who was Trump’s personal lawyer and “fixer,” gave four credible examples of Trump’s racist words and behavior. One incident involved the first season of The Apprentice. Trump had to choose between finalists Bill Rancic and Kwame Jackson. “Trump was explaining his back-and-forth about not picking Jackson,” Cohen said. Jackson is an African-American investment manager who graduated from Harvard Business School. “[Trump] said, ‘There’s no way I can let this black fag win’,” according to Cohen. Another incident occurred in 2016 when Cohen mentioned to candidate Trump that his campaign rally crowd “looked vanilla on television.” According to Cohen, Trump shot back, “That’s because black people are too stupid to vote for me.” Shortly after the death of South African President Nelson Mandela, Trump said to Cohen, “Name one country run by a black person that’s not a shithole,” adding, “Name one city,” Cohen said. After Trump became president, he repeated the “shithole” comment in a meeting with Senators. Cohen also recounted a conversation he had with Trump in the late 2000s, while they were traveling to Chicago for a Trump International Hotel board meeting. “We were going from the airport to the hotel, and we drove through what looked like a rougher neighborhood. Trump made a comment to me, saying that only the blacks could live like this.” None of these revelations is shocking. Trump’s racist words have matched his racist actions for a very long time. Furthermore, Trump’s engrained racism hides in plain sight. Indicia of Racism Trump’s White House staff is all-white. His cabinet has one token African-American – Ben Carson -- who has outsourced executive decision-making in his department to top white deputies selected by the Trump White House. As President, Trump called fired African-America staffer Omarose Manigault Newman a “dog” and a prominent African-American Congresswoman Maxine Waters a “low IQ” person. Last year, Trump disparaged Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights icon who was viciously beaten by Alabama Governor George Wallace’s state troopers on “Bloody Sunday”, as “All talk, talk, talk - no action or results” and attacked verbally him for representing a Georgia district that Trump claimed was “crime infested” and “falling apart.” In 2016, Trump indicated that the "Central Park Five" were guilty in a notorious 1989 rape case. Trump took out a full-page ad at the time of the crime calling for the State of New York to reinstate the death penalty in response. The five defendants were convicted as teenagers after implicating each other under intense questioning over a brutal sexual assault on a jogger that dominated the tabloids. Defenders said they were coerced into confessing. Four of the Central Park Five were black and one was Latino while the victim was a white banker. All five were cleared decades later by DNA evidence and a separate confession in 2002 from another criminal who took credit for the assault. In 2014, New York also paid them $41 million in a settlement over their ordeal. Yet, Trump wanted the "Central Park Five" put to death despite the DNA evidence and voluntary confession from the real perpetrator. Last year, a violent group of neo-Nazi protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia took to the streets and chanted, “Jews will not replace us.” One of the Nazis murdered Heather Heyer, an innocent counter-protester. Yet, President Donald J. Trump quickly declared that there were “good” people among the neo-Nazi group. Last month, Trump praised Confederate General Robert E. Lee during his campaign rallies. As noted by historians, General Lee not only fought for the American flag early in his military career, he also fought against it during the Civil War. By traditional definitions of the term, General Lee was a “traitor” who was saved from hanging by a forgiving President Abraham Lincoln and Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Yet, Trump reveres General Lee and all that he stood for, as do so many white Southerners who long for a return to the “good ole days" when the institution of slavery and the Jim Crowe era defined daily life for African-Americans in the South. Presently, Trump is using every opportunity to vilify and dehumanize a caravan of migrants of color from Central America who are marching to the U.S. to seek political asylum.. He has labeled them as “gang members”, “terrorists”, “thugs” and “drug dealers”, without offering any evidence to support these claims. He ran an overtly racist ad attacking their efforts to seek political asylum in the U.S. In reality, these migrants are desperate men, women, and children who are fleeing gang violence and abject poverty in their countries. A few days ago, Trump authorized U.S. soldiers to shoot these unarmed migrants if they threw rocks at them at the border. Trump’s authorization was intended to produce a modern-day version of the “Mỹ Lai Massacre”where U.S. Army soldiers massacred between 347 and 504 unarmed men, women, and children on March 16, 1968 in Sơn Tịnh District, South Vietnam on direct orders from Lieutenant William Calley, Jr., a platoon leader in Army C Company. After intense criticism from retired military officers, Trump walked back his “shoot-to-kill” order the next day. It is presently unknown whether any American soldier would have complied with Trump’s “shoot-to-kill” order. We must all remember that Trump bragged during the 2016 presidential campaign about killing people when he said: "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters." Trump appears to be right on this point because his diehard supporters readily embrace all of his controversial words and actions toward people of color. Trump's Self-Portrait is Complete After two years as president, the real Donald Trump’ has finally emerged. The self-portrait he has painted depicts a sick and demented man who hates women, Jews, gays, transgender Americans, Muslims, and people of color, whether African-American citizens or immigrants. Interestingly, Trump’s father exhibited the same bigoted traits and routinely discriminated against people of color. Apparently, the father successfully passed these traits on to his cold-hearted son. PHOTO: In 2016, Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump disclaimed that he is a racist in an interview with CNN's Don Lemon. Trump's words and actions have proven otherwise.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on October 30, 2018 History holds the answer to a lot of the questions we face today. In the wake of Saturday’s massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the nation is asking, “Who is responsible for this massacre?” Michael Harriot’s article in the Root.com, which was published on Friday after the pipe bomb plot last week, addresses this burning question from a historical approach. His thoughtful article is reprinted below in its entirety: “Now, we know. When 19 sticks of dynamite planted by Klansmen exploded inside the 16th Street Baptist Church on September 15, 1963, killing 11-year old Carol Denise McNair, and 14-year-olds Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins and Carole Robertson, it was not the first time white supremacists had bombed a home or place of worship in Birmingham, Ala. It was not the second. It was not the 10th, nor was it the 40th. It would also not be the last. Fifty. Although the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing is the most famous of these, it was not a lone incident. Bethel Baptist was bombed three times. Explosives were planted at the home of Rev. A. D. King twice in two years, including 50 sticks of dynamite in 1965. Between 1947 and 1965, homes, gathering places and churches in Birmingham, Ala., would be bombed 50 times. But on that September day in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was about to step into the pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta when someone delivered the news. King first contacted President John Kennedy and promised to appeal for peace. But of all the people on the entire planet, King wanted to have a word with one particular man. King did not blame God or Satan for this tragedy because he knew who was responsible. So he sat down, dictated a telegraph and sent it to that man, saying, in part: '...[T]he blood of four little children ... is on your hands. Your irresponsible and misguided actions have created in Birmingham and Alabama the atmosphere that has induced continued violence and now murder.' Then he sent that telegram to the honorable governor of the great state of Alabama, Mr. George Wallace. Aside from his spelling and ability to speak in complete sentences, George Wallace was a lot like Donald Trump. His racist rhetoric fueled his constituents. His presidential campaign slogan 'Stand Up for America' was the 1968 version of 'Make America Great Again.' He told followers at his rallies to attack people and had protesters dragged out of his rallies. He claimed he was standing up for his base and white resentment. But most of all, he invoked hate and racism. After a failed bid for governor in 1958, he claimed he lost because he wasn’t racist enough and vowed to never be “out-niggered” again. In 1962, Wallace ran again as the staunchest segregationist in the country and harnessed white supremacy as his platform. When a supporter asked why he started using racism as a political tool, Wallace replied, 'You know, I tried to talk about good roads and good schools and all these things that have been part of my career and nobody listened. And then I began talking about niggers, and they stomped the floor.' And at his inauguration in 1963, after his racist invocations made him the most powerful man in the state of Alabama -- much like Trump did with his white nationalist speech to the joint session of Congress shortly after his 2016 election -- Wallace told the adoring crowd in his infamous 'Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever' speech: 'As the national racism of Hitler’s Germany persecuted a national minority to the whim of a national majority . . . so the international racism of the liberals seek to persecute the international white minority to the whim of the international colored majority... But we warn those, of any group, who would follow the false doctrine of communistic amalgamation that we will not surrender our system of government . . . our freedom of race and religion . . . that freedom was won at a hard price and if it requires a hard price to retain it . . . we are able . . . and quite willing to pay it.' Doesn’t it sound familiar? And many of those previously mentioned bombings, including the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, were carried out by a man named Robert 'Dynamite Bob' Chambliss, one of the most notorious terrorists in American history. Chambliss had risen to the title of the 'Exalted Cyclops' in the Ku Klux Klan.  He eventually became friends with some of the most notorious racists in Alabama including Birmingham’s Bull Connor, who hired Chambliss as a city mechanic and protected him during his 'one-man war' against integration. What supposedly inspired the 16th Street Baptist bombing was George Wallace standing at the entrance of The University of Alabama to try to stop federal troops from forcing the school to integrate.  The FBI’s informant says the integration of Alabama combined with the desegregation of Birmingham schools sent Chambliss 'over the edge.' But was this necessarily Wallace’s fault? Should political rhetoric be blamed for this heinous act of violence? To say that, you’d have to prove the words were meant to incite violence. You’d have to prove that Wallace’s words were an intentional provocation by someone who knew exactly what they were doing. Maybe it isn’t George Wallace’s fault because, to him, they were just words. In fact, those words weren’t even written by Wallace. They were written by Wallace’s speechwriter, Asa Carter (whose story may be the most fascinating one you’ve ever heard, by the way). Asa had a gift for words and became Wallace’s speechwriter after he changed his trajectory in life when he was charged with attempted murder during a shootout at one of his hangouts where he was a leader for... The Alabama headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan A Klansman’s words resonated with a Klansman killer. They may not have caused those bombings, but they were kerosine on an already lit fire. George Wallace might not have been personally responsible for the political violence of his day, but he at least played a small part, according to many people. And words matter. They can inspire violence as much as they can inspire hope. Trust me, I know. Dr. King knew. Yet, in spite of the recent acts of political terror, we have learned one valuable lesson: When Donald Trump repeats his infamous slogan, you should think of the city called 'Bombingham.' You should think of the one neighborhood in Birmingham that is still called 'Dynamite Hill,' which was bombed more than most war-torn countries. And you should think of the 50 separate times between 1947 and 1965 that dynamite was planted in that city Because that is obviously the 'again”'part of 'Make America Great Again' on the hat that makes Kanye feel like a superhero. Now, we know.” Meanwhile, Donald Trump, who is devoid of genuine feelings for any human being other than himself, blames the synagogue massacre on the 'Fake News Media,' which is the 'true Enemy of the People.' In the end, God held George Wallace accountable for the violence and suffering he inflected upon innocent men, women, and child. I am sure God will hold Trump accountable for the hatred he has spewed, as well. PHOTO: Victims of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre last Saturday.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on November 1, 2018 President Donald J. Trump has authorized some 15,000 U.S. troops that have been dispatched to the Southern border to turn back a caravan of 7,000 migrant men, women, and children from Central America to shoot-to-kill any migrant who throws rocks at them. Prior to Trump, no U.S. president has ever authorized the use of deadly force in this circumstance. Trump has used every opportunity to vilify and dehumanize the caravan of migrants. He has labeled them as “gang members”, “terrorists”, “thugs” and “drug dealers”, without offering any evidence to support these claims. With each passing day, Donald J. Trump has escalated his hate speech against migrants of color, many of whom are innocent men, women, and children fleeing gang violence and abject poverty in their countries. Today, Trump announced that he has authorized U.S. soldiers to shoot unarmed migrants seeking political asylum at the Southern U. S. border. In doing so, Trump has scripted an “Edmund Pettus Bridge” moment that makes Alabama Governor George Wallace’s “Bloody Sunday” beatings of civil rights protesters in 1965 look like a mild-mannered crowd control police exercise. Trump is preparing to inflict extreme violence upon these migrants. All one of the migrants has to do to trigger this violent response is throw a rock at a U.S. soldier. George Wallace chose a similar path when he ordered state troopers to brutally attack unarmed and peaceful civil rights marchers in 1965 at the base of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. However, George Wallace never authorized his state troopers to use deadly force against the innocent marchers. Trump’s shoot-to-kill authorization should not surprise anyone. Trump idolizes Presidents Rodrigo Duterte (Philippines), Kim Jong-un (North Korea), and Vladimir Putin (Russia). These despots are murderous dictators who slaughter people as a strongman governance tool and who experience no repercussions for these actions. Because Trump emulates the tactics of the world’s most notorious despots, his scripted border confrontation is expected to resemble a modern-day version of the “Mỹ Lai Massacre” where U.S. Army soldiers murdered between 347 and 504 unarmed men, women, and children on March 16, 1968 in Sơn Tjnh District, South Vietnam on direct orders from Lieutenant William Calley, Jr., a platoon leader in the U.S. Army's C Company. We must all remember that Trump bragged during the 2016 presidential campaign that: "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters." He actually believes this statement. Trump's shoot-to-kill authorization is meant to give him “street” credibility with his fellow despots. This is the primary reason why Trump's authorized use of deadly force is directed at helpless migrant men, women, and children of color. In Trump's warped and bigoted mind, his authorized massacre has to be bigger, bolder, and bloodier than the “Mỹ Lai Massacre.” In Donald Trump’s world, all forms of evil are on the table when it comes to his dealings with women, Jews, gays, transgender Americans, Muslims, and people of color, whether African-American citizens or immigrants. There is no "check and balance" system inside of our national government, or inside the Republican Party, or in the Evangelical Christian community that will check Trump's evil conduct. They all seem to look the other way as they struggle to normalize his fits of evil. PHOTO: Victims of the March 16, 1968 "Mỹ Lai Massacre."

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on October 14, 2018 On April 30, 1945, German Führer Adolf Hitler died after taking cyanide pills and shooting himself in the head. On April 28, 1945, Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini was shot by a firing squad and then publicly hung by his feet in a suburban square in Milan, Italy. On December 30, 2006, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging. All three men were despots who rose to power by standing on the necks of fellow countrymen/women, whom they demonized and persecuted. All three men maintained their grip on power through a non-stop campaign of fear and terror. To many of their countrymen/women, these three despots seemed invincible during their reign of power. Most of their citizens turned a blind eye to the brutality and mayhem these men inflicted upon the native men, women, and children who were targeted for persecution and death. A cult of diehard followers actively supported their narrow-minded agendas of fascism, white supremacy, sexism, homophobic behavior, and religious intolerance. Nobody working on the inside of their administrations dared to criticize these despots for fear of reprisals, or worse. In public, everybody bowed down to these men. In cabinet meetings, government ministers regularly and lavishly praised them. All of these despots suppressed freedom of the press. All of them demonized and exterminated political dissent. Things seemed hopeless for those citizens who were subjected to their tyrannical rule and who yearned for a change in national leadership. As is always the case with despots, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Saddam Hussein overreached in their quest to cement their stranglehold on power. They made enemies out of people and countries that had been allies. They lied to their countrymen/women with impunity. They undermined institutions of government that once enjoyed popular support. Their inhumanity to perceived “enemies of the state” knew no bounds. Their arrogance, narcissism, and ruthlessness became unbearable to friends and foes alike. Soon, these despots could trust no one. When they reached this tipping point, it was the beginning of the end for each man. A Modern-Day Despot For those in America who think President Donald J. Trump is invincible today, they should study history. He is a despot, and despots do not last long on the American political scene. Sooner or later, they all fall from grace and power. When they do, it is usually ugly for them, their family members, circle of friends, and political allies and supporters. Fascism and national white supremacy movements never prevail, no matter who the standard bearers are or how popular they may seem in their moment of glory. Greatness as a national leader is never achieved through political tribalism, strong-arm politics, and purpose-driven divisiveness. America, with all of its imperfections and blemishes, is NOT a fascist state. It will never become one. For the last two centuries, tens of millions of Americans of interracial goodwill have given blood, sweat, and tears to make America a nation of freedom, liberty, and equal opportunity for all Americans. These patriots came from all walks of life and all ethnic backgrounds. Their collective body of personal sacrifices and human rights work has made us the beautiful mosaic of talented, hardworking, civic-minded, and decent people we are today. President Donald Trump, who was raised by a cold and insensitive father who could not bring himself to embrace African-Americans as valued citizens and patriots, is trying to take us back to a dark and ugly time in America’s history. Just last year, Trump could not bring himself to condemn the white supremacy rally and ensuing violence (including the murder of an innocent woman by a neo-Nazi at the rally) in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump’s White House staff eventually persuaded him to denounce this violence. A few days later, Trump reverted to his old, insensitive self and disclaimed his fake and "scripted" denunciation of the violence. Today, Trump is praising Confederate General Robert E. Lee at campaign rallies. As noted by historians, General Lee not only fought for the American flag early in his military career, he also fought against it during the Civil War. By traditional definitions of the term, General Lee was a “traitor” who was saved from hanging by a forgiving President Abraham Lincoln and Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Yet, Trump reveres General Lee and all that he stood for, as do so many white Southerners who long for a return to the “good ole days" when the institution of slavery and the Jim Crowe era defined daily life for African-Americans in the South. The Beginning of the End All despots have diehard cult followers who idolize them. Trump is no different. His followers have excused Trump’s complete lack of character. They have forgiven Trump for not adhering to minimum standards of morality and decency as an American president. They have tolerated and/or attempted to normalize Trump’s daily debasement of the American presidency. Fortunately, we do not execute political despots in America. We retire them from public office through our participation in democratic elections. No American despot has ever survived the expiration of his/her political shelf life. Participatory democracy has outlasted all of them. I predicted Trump’s election as the 45th President of the United States two weeks after he announced his candidacy. I watched Trump quickly tap into the heart and soul of so many American voters who were disenchanted with traditional politicians in Republican and Democratic Parties. However, the same constellation of socio-economic-political factors that gave rise to the Trump presidency will eventually cause his political demise. Nearly two years after Trump's ascension to the presidency, a majority of Americans now see him for who and what he really is -- a self-centered, narcissistic, chauvinistic, xenophobic, homophobic, TV hungry, love-starved, paranoid bully and despot who spews hatred toward women, Muslims, gays, undocumented immigrants and their children, physically challenged Americans, Gold Star military families, Vietnam war heroes, former White House staffers, award-winning media organizations, and people of color with a vengeance unbefitting of an American president. Trump has no loyalty to anyone but himself. Everybody in his world is expendable. Trump privately mocks his Southern cult followers for the way they speak and for what he believes is their inferior higher education background. Trump admires and praises Presidents Rodrigo Duterte (Philippines), Kim Jong-un (North Korea), and Vladimir Putin (Russia), all of whom are murderous dictators and fellow despots. In contrast, Trump regularly and publicly scorns and humiliates America's most trusted allies. In time, Donald J. Trump will join the ranks of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Saddam Hussein, and the world’s other disgraced despots in the dustbin of history. Somehow, they all wind up there. PHOTO: Donald J. Trump, an American bully and presidential despot.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on October 31, 2018 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was my Sunday School teacher, pastor and Baptist Training Union instructor in Montgomery, Alabama during the early 1950s. One Bible verse King stressed repeatedly is found in Matthew 25:40 (King James Version): “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” The “least of these” are those persons who are vulnerable. They are the socially, psychologically, and economically disadvantaged, such as the sick, the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the mentally and physically disabled, and the downtrodden. Jesus cared about the needs of the poor. In fact, he identified with their needs, for he himself was poor and, during his three years of public ministry, homeless (cf. Matthew 8:20). Given all of the hate speech that is dripping from the lips of President Donald J. Trump about the caravan of innocent men, women, and children from Central America who are escaping gang violence and abject poverty, and who are traveling to our Southern border to seek political asylum in a nation that professes to cherish Christian values, it is important to remember what the Bible teaches true Christians about the treatment of immigrants. As expected, “lip-service” Christians are largely silent on Trump's treatment of immigrants. Dr. King described the nature of their duplicitous Christianity in his infamous August 1963 “Letter from the Birmingham Jail.” Here is what the Bible says about our responsibility to immigrants. From The Old Testament (New International Version): 17 “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:17-19) “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9) 33 “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born.  Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:33-34) “The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner residing among you.” (Exodus 12:49) “Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.” (Zechariah 7:10) “The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.” (Psalm 146:9) 4 “You have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries. 7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.” (Ezekiel 22:4, 7) “’So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,’ says the Lord Almighty.” (Malachi 3:5) 5 “If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,6 if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm,7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever.” (Jeremiah 7:5-7) “This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.” (Jeremiah 22:3) 19 “When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.” (Deuteronomy 24:19-21) “When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.” (Deuteronomy 26:12) From Jesus Christ: 35 “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:35-40) From The Book Of Hebrews: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2) And From Peter (on whom Christ bestowed the task of building His Church): “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.” (1 Peter 2:11) Trump’s War on Immigrants of Color Betrays These Biblical Teaching President Trump has declared war on immigrants of color. American soldiers will meet the migrant caravan from Central America at the Southern border and will turn them around, by any means necessary. Innocent men, women, and children will be needlessly harmed. The evil within Donald Trump will be on full display in front of the whole world. What public policy initiative on immigration could possibly be greater than the Biblical teachings of Jesus Christ? Will you follow the leadership of Jesus Christ or Donald Trump on the subject of immigration? Is Donald Trump more important in your life than Jesus Christ? Finally, why do so many Donald Trump-led Christians turn their backs on the Bible when it comes to immigration and matters of race? PHOTO: Migrants from Central American. They will be met and turned around at the Southern border by American troops in what is expected to be Donald Trump's modern-day version of "Bloody Sunday."