by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
I miss my friends in Phoenix, miss them dearly, but there is not an army in hell that could ever force me to move back there. I miss my friends, but not enough to endure the blistering heat, the god-awful dust, the scorpions - and, most of all, the pervasive and powerful ignorance among certain elements of the population, and particularly the leathery, close-minded, old farts who run on racist fears and alcohol.
But it's not just the elderly who suck the humanity out of the desert metropolis, as Donald Trump proved this week. There are also lots of young people in the Phoenix area who stand ready to express their own racism and hatred.
After Trump's sparsely attended rally in Tulsa last weekend, he was anxious to parade himself in front of a packed venue where he could shout his nonsense to the masses and bask in the glory of them shouting it back to him. The campaign decided that the next event would be for its "Youth" component, and they selected the "Dream City" megachurch in the Cave Creek area of Phoenix for the rally. Dream City has an auditorium that holds 3,000 - or roughly half of the people who showed up at the Trump fiasco in Tulsa.
To help encourage people to come to their church for the Trump rally, church officials put out the word that they had installed an air-purification system that would remove 99% of COVID from the air. - and that those attending would be perfectly safe from the disease. However, before the event actually took place, those same officials changed their tune and admitted that their air-purification system would not protect people against "coughs and sneezes." They also had to admit that they had not known the difference between "coronavirus" (the virus) and COVID-19 (the resulting disease).
So, it wasn't 99% effective, but perhaps God would protect them anyway. It was His house, after all - even if it was big and tacky.
And so they came, three thousand strong, young (and very white) Barbies and Kens, and they packed the auditorium, and they roared at Trump's racist "Kung flu" line, and they shouted back "Lock them up!" when Trump whined about Black Lives Matter protesters. It was almost more joyful hate than their young hearts could stand!
The excitement was electrical, the noise was deafening, and racial animus ruled the day. It was, in many ways, reminiscent of the Hitler Youth rallies that happened in Germany during the 1930's and 1940's. Trump was their fuhrer and they were his storm-troopers in the making - young, and bold, and ready to commit their very lives for the glories of the Fatherland.
And they may get their chance to do just that.
The campaign did not take the temperatures of people as they entered the auditorium. There was no social distancing, and there were almost no face masks in use. The only thing that attendees had going for them, besides the Trump bombast, were the wavering claims of the air-purification company - and perhaps a slim hope that God actually does like abominable megachurches after all.
Arizona is one of several southern and western states where confirmed cases of COVID-19 are rising sharply, and it is a dangerous and ridiculous time to be hosting any large indoor rallies, especially ones that openly flaunt all safety precautions and encourage shouting by those in attendance. But that's the way Trump rolls. And yes, young people are less likely to become seriously ill and die from the disease, but some do - and all of their grandparents are at risk. The Trump campaign is making a bad situation worse, and placing thousands of lives needlessly at risk.
But it's not about them, it's all about him - Donald John Trump - and when people get sick and die from attending his hate-fests, Donald John sleeps well and secure in the knowledge that he "bears no responsibility whatsoever!"
(But he should. And any church that allows its facilities to be used for large, partisan rallies should definitely be paying taxes!)
Citizen Journalist
I miss my friends in Phoenix, miss them dearly, but there is not an army in hell that could ever force me to move back there. I miss my friends, but not enough to endure the blistering heat, the god-awful dust, the scorpions - and, most of all, the pervasive and powerful ignorance among certain elements of the population, and particularly the leathery, close-minded, old farts who run on racist fears and alcohol.
But it's not just the elderly who suck the humanity out of the desert metropolis, as Donald Trump proved this week. There are also lots of young people in the Phoenix area who stand ready to express their own racism and hatred.
After Trump's sparsely attended rally in Tulsa last weekend, he was anxious to parade himself in front of a packed venue where he could shout his nonsense to the masses and bask in the glory of them shouting it back to him. The campaign decided that the next event would be for its "Youth" component, and they selected the "Dream City" megachurch in the Cave Creek area of Phoenix for the rally. Dream City has an auditorium that holds 3,000 - or roughly half of the people who showed up at the Trump fiasco in Tulsa.
To help encourage people to come to their church for the Trump rally, church officials put out the word that they had installed an air-purification system that would remove 99% of COVID from the air. - and that those attending would be perfectly safe from the disease. However, before the event actually took place, those same officials changed their tune and admitted that their air-purification system would not protect people against "coughs and sneezes." They also had to admit that they had not known the difference between "coronavirus" (the virus) and COVID-19 (the resulting disease).
So, it wasn't 99% effective, but perhaps God would protect them anyway. It was His house, after all - even if it was big and tacky.
And so they came, three thousand strong, young (and very white) Barbies and Kens, and they packed the auditorium, and they roared at Trump's racist "Kung flu" line, and they shouted back "Lock them up!" when Trump whined about Black Lives Matter protesters. It was almost more joyful hate than their young hearts could stand!
The excitement was electrical, the noise was deafening, and racial animus ruled the day. It was, in many ways, reminiscent of the Hitler Youth rallies that happened in Germany during the 1930's and 1940's. Trump was their fuhrer and they were his storm-troopers in the making - young, and bold, and ready to commit their very lives for the glories of the Fatherland.
And they may get their chance to do just that.
The campaign did not take the temperatures of people as they entered the auditorium. There was no social distancing, and there were almost no face masks in use. The only thing that attendees had going for them, besides the Trump bombast, were the wavering claims of the air-purification company - and perhaps a slim hope that God actually does like abominable megachurches after all.
Arizona is one of several southern and western states where confirmed cases of COVID-19 are rising sharply, and it is a dangerous and ridiculous time to be hosting any large indoor rallies, especially ones that openly flaunt all safety precautions and encourage shouting by those in attendance. But that's the way Trump rolls. And yes, young people are less likely to become seriously ill and die from the disease, but some do - and all of their grandparents are at risk. The Trump campaign is making a bad situation worse, and placing thousands of lives needlessly at risk.
But it's not about them, it's all about him - Donald John Trump - and when people get sick and die from attending his hate-fests, Donald John sleeps well and secure in the knowledge that he "bears no responsibility whatsoever!"
(But he should. And any church that allows its facilities to be used for large, partisan rallies should definitely be paying taxes!)
1 comment:
The punishment must be proportionate to the offense, or as Gilbert and Sullivan song from the Mikado says "Let the punishment fit the crime". A problem with revocation of the tax exempt status of a §501(c)(3) is that it is likely the offending organization will dispose of its assets, cease to exist, and form a new tax exempt organization. That is the course of conduct for non-profit tax exempt status under IRS code §527 for “independent-expenditure only committees”; making disclosure of donors impossible.
But 26 U.S. Code § 4955 provides for taxes on political expenditures of section 501(c)(3) organizations, such as the church in question. The initial taxes on the church are for each political expenditure by a section 501(c)(3) organization a tax equal to 10 percent of the amount thereof. The tax imposed by this paragraph shall be paid by the organization.
Then there are taxes on the management. There is hereby imposed on the agreement of any organization manager to the making of any expenditure, knowing that it is a political expenditure, a tax equal to 2½ percent of the amount thereof, unless such agreement is not willful and is due to reasonable cause. The tax imposed by this paragraph shall be paid by any organization manager who agreed to the making of the expenditure.
Then there are additional taxes. In any case in which an additional tax is imposed by paragraph (1), if an organization manager refused to agree to part or all of the correction, there is hereby imposed a tax equal to 50 percent of the amount of the political expenditure. The tax imposed by this paragraph shall be paid by any organization manager who refused to agree to part or all of the correction.
Under §(d)(2)(E) Any other expense which has the primary effect of promoting public recognition, or otherwise primarily accruing to the benefit, of such individual, the pure air system might be taxable as it was a lure to attract crowds to this event.
It is one thing to host forums or allow candidates to speak to the congregation. It is altogether a different thing to host campaign rallies.
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