Chaos

Volume 43 Issue Eight August 2024

Last Trumpet Ministries · PO Box 806 · Beaver Dam, WI 53916

Phone: 920-887-2626 Internet: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org

“For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” I Cor. 14:8



Chaos

“For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Titus 3:3-7


What a month! As we finally say goodbye to July 2024, many frazzled Americans might be asking themselves, “What just happened?” From start to finish, the month was a whirlwind that brought us one chaotic event after another. We are living in a time that stands apart from any other time that we’ve known before.

We began the month with record-breaking Hurricane Beryl, which was the earliest Category-4 and Category-5 hurricane ever recorded during a hurricane season since records have been kept. On July 1, 2024, this monster storm made landfall on Grenada’s Carriacou Island and promptly flattened hundreds of buildings (1) before strengthening to a Category-5 hurricane with sustained wind speeds of more than 160 miles per hour. (2) The storm also made unwelcome visits to Jamaica and southern Mexico before slamming the American state of Texas as a Category-1 hurricane on July 8, 2024. More than two million people were without power in Texas the morning after the storm’s arrival. (3) The hurricane’s remnants then went on to spawn sixty-five tornados between July 8-10 in the states of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana, and New York. (4) Hurricane Beryl served as a salient metaphor for the stormy month that was about to unfold.

A Disastrous Debate

Politicians, celebrities, journalists, and pundits are telling us that the 2024 presidential election is the most important election this country will ever have. It has been presented as an existential fight for democracy that will ultimately decide the fate of the United States of America. Of course, they said the exact same thing about the 2020 election. Nevertheless, as a result of this frenetic and desperate election cycle, panic has already ensued, which spawned drastic and unprecedented events.

On June 27, 2024, CNN broadcasted what was supposed to be the first of two debates between former President Donald Trump and current President of the United States Joe Biden. While the debate went on, Democrats watched with stunned disbelief as their candidate, Joe Biden, delivered a performance so poor that it led to immediate calls from his own political party for him to drop out of the race.

As I watched the panic unfold, I couldn’t help but wonder: “Hasn’t anyone been paying attention?” The debate went exactly as I expected it to as Joe Biden's cognitive decline had been evident for years. In fact, I wrote about this problem in the February 2023 issue of the Last Trumpet. One of the things I noted in that issue is that Biden had referred to his Vice President Kamala Harris as President on multiple occasions, even going as far as to call her a “great president” on October 24, 2022. (5) Perhaps he was just jumping the gun a bit?

Throughout his presidency, Biden’s appearances have been carefully planned and controlled. Press conferences have been rare, and it was decided in advance which reporters, if any, would be called on by the President. When he was interviewed on radio or television appearances, Biden’s team would give the questions to the interviewer in advance. Despite all of these efforts to carefully prepare the President and control his environment, he still made one mistake after another throughout his presidency. For example, at a recent NATO summit, President Biden introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin.” (6) (Vladimir Putin is the President of Russia.) At a campaign stop in Las Vegas, Nevada, Biden seemingly forgot the name of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and called him “the black man” instead. (7) In perhaps the most bizarre gaffe of his career, on July 5, 2024, he referred to himself as a black woman. “By the way, I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman, to serve with a black president.” (8)

Given his history, why were people so surprised by his debate performance? Perhaps one of the reasons that liberal Americans were caught off guard is because left-leaning media outlets made a concerted effort to hide Biden’s diminished mental acuity. In a piece published by CNN on July 2, 2024, an anonymous member of the White House Press Corp was quoted as saying, “The right-wing media was calling him senile from day one, and that wasn’t true. Then whenever you report on the age you were in some ways solidifying, giving credence to some people that were actually of bad faith.” (9) In other words, reporters weren’t doing their jobs and reporting the truth because it would have made the President look bad.

Alex Thompson, a White House reporter for Axios, blamed the White House for the cover-up. “The White House’s response every single time it has come up for three-and-a-half years has been to deflect, to gaslight, to not tell the truth – not just to reporters, not just to other Democrats, but even at times to themselves about the president’s limitations at his age,” Thompson said. (10) Famous sports broadcaster Bob Costas also accused the Democrats of deception. In reference to Biden’s poor showing at the debate, Costas said, “That one atrocious night was simply writ-large what could be seen for years and years, that he is in serious decline.” He then added that it “makes you wonder whether we’ve been gaslit by the Democrats.” (11) For those unfamiliar with the term, “gaslight” means “to cause (a person) to doubt their judgment, memory, or sanity through the use of psychological manipulation” or “to deceive (a person or group of people) through repetition of a constructed false narrative.” (12)

 
Joe Biden Gets Canceled

Shortly after the disastrous debate, the New York Times published a piece by the paper’s editorial board that declared in its headline, “To Serve His Country, President Biden Should Leave the Race.” (13) The editorial board of the Boston Globe soon followed suit, declaring that “the nation’s confidence has been shaken.” The piece in the Globe further declared, “In the days since last week’s presidential debate, President Biden’s team has said little that adequately explains why his performance was historically bad, beyond that he had a cold.” (14)

The push to supplant President Biden only grew from there. Throughout the month of July 2024, more than thirty Democrats in Congress called on Biden to drop out. (15) On July 18, 2024, the Associated Press reported that even former President Barack Obama and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, two of Biden’s staunchest allies, were urging Biden to “reconsider” his reelection bid. (16)

Then Hollywood turned on Biden, too. This, of course, sent shockwaves throughout the Democratic Party, especially since members of the Hollywood elite class are some of the biggest donors to left-wing political candidates. This includes Disney heiress Abigail Disney who was quoted as saying, “I intend to stop any contributions to the party unless and until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket. This is realism, not disrespect.” (17) Screenwriter Damon Lindelof also spoke up, “When they text you asking for cash, text back that you’re not giving them a penny, and you won’t change your mind, until there’s a change at the top of the ticket.” (18) Finally, actor George Clooney, who had previously raised millions of dollars for Biden, wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times declaring in its headline, “I Love Joe Biden, But We Need a New Nominee.” Clooney’s blunt assessment included the statement, “We are not going to win in November with this President.” (19)

A poll conducted by the Associated Press in mid-July 2024 found that nearly two-thirds of Democrats said Joe Biden should “withdraw from the presidential race.” (20) Despite the mounting pressure, Biden remained defiant for the first three weeks of July. “I’m the sitting President of the United States. I’m the nominee of the Democratic Party. I’m staying in the race,” Biden wrote on X, the social media network formerly known as Twitter. In an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Biden declared, “If the Lord Almighty came down and said, Joe, get out of the race, I’d get out of the race.” He then noted, “The Lord Almighty’s not coming down.” (21)

As late as July 19, 2024, the Biden campaign claimed that their candidate was not dropping out of the race. “Don’t watch cable news all the time,” campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon told her staff. “That is not the real world. The real world is the voters that are standing with us, the delegates that are with us, and we’re going to weather this because of this organization.” (22) Just a short time later, everything suddenly changed. On July 21, 2024, President Biden announced on X that he was withdrawing from the 2024 presidential election. “While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote. He then endorsed his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to be his successor. (23) With this announcement, Biden became the first sitting President to surrender his party’s nomination since President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. (24)

This entire story is highly unusual. Perhaps the Democrats never wanted Biden to run for reelection in the first place and were looking for an excuse to drop him like a hot potato. It is interesting to note that since presidential debates began in 1960, there has never been a presidential debate in June before 2024. (25) Why is this significant? If the first debate had been held in late September or October as is typical, the Democratic Party would not have had time to find a new candidate for President of the United States. Was this entire controversy all planned in advance? I have my suspicions. Former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said, “In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.”

Meet Your New Candidate

I find it peculiar that the Biden administration was heavily criticized for its dishonesty, yet we are now being asked to trust Kamala Harris, who is part of the Biden administration. Nevertheless, the media, celebrities, and politicians alike are telling us she should be the next President of the United States.

This isn’t the first time Kamala Harris has wanted to be President. In 2019 she ran as a candidate against Joe Biden. Her campaign never gained much traction, however, and she dropped out of the race by December 2019. (26) It was an interesting twist when Biden chose her as his vice president. Thus, it seems likely that she never would have even had a chance as the Democrats’ nominee in 2024 if Biden hadn’t dropped out and endorsed Harris.

Perhaps the most important question we should ponder is, “What has Harris accomplished as Vice President of the United States?” A piece published by The Week on July 24, 2024, set out to document her accomplishments, but that is a difficult task considering she hasn’t done much. The report notes that Biden tapped Harris early on in his presidency to address the migrant crisis at the southern border of the United States. Given the fact that the crisis has only worsened since then, it is safe to say she accomplished very little on that front. In January 2023, the Border Patrol union criticized her in a post on X saying, “If you were given a job two years ago with the explicit goal of reducing illegal immigration, and then you sit around and do nothing while illegal immigration explodes to levels never seen before, you should be fired and replaced.” (27)

In the wake of the United States Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade and make the legality of abortion in this country an issue for the states to decide, Kamala Harris has emerged as a champion of abortion rights. A piece published by Time Magazine on January 23, 2023, states, “Harris has made abortion rights a central piece of her political identity. Since Roe fell, she has met with leaders from thirty-eight states, including lawmakers from eighteen states. She’s been subtly making herself the voice with a megaphone no one can ignore.” (28) In March 2024, Kamala Harris toured a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Minnesota. According to the White House, this was the first time a president or vice president had ever visited an abortion provider in an official capacity. This stop was part of Harris’ “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour. (29)

Abortion is perhaps the biggest hot-button issue in the United States right now. The overturn of Roe vs. Wade has revealed that the majority of the American people want abortion to be legal. A recent survey from the Associated Press and the NORC Center indicates that 61 percent of respondents said abortions should be allowed if “the person does not want to be pregnant for any reason.” Additionally, 70 percent of respondents said abortion should be legal “in most or all cases.” (30) If Kamala Harris does find herself in the Oval Office next year, it will likely be because so many people want abortion to be legal. However, just because the majority believes something doesn’t mean it is right. As Christians, we are to live our lives according to the principles of God’s Word. In Proverbs 6:16-19 we read, “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” There is no blood more innocent than the blood of the unborn.

Shots Ring Out In Butler

In April 2024, The Hill published a startling news report. According to the piece, a recent Marist poll found that 20 percent of American respondents said that violence may be necessary to achieve “political objectives” in 2024. This opinion was found amongst both Democrats and Republicans. (31) While the majority of respondents said they oppose political violence, 20 percent is still a significant percentage and certainly high enough to wreak havoc in the United States. At a recent event, Joe Biden told donors to his now-defunct campaign, “We’re done talking about the debate; it’s time to put Trump in a bull’s-eye.” (32) It was a poor choice of words, to be sure. About a week later, a young man tried to assassinate presidential candidate Donald Trump.

On July 13, 2024, former President Trump was speaking at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when shots rang out. Suddenly, Trump grabbed his ear and was seen to be bleeding. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening,” Trump said. (33) It is safe to say that Trump was only an inch or two away from death on this day.

The would-be assassin was neutralized by Secret Service agents, but not before 50-year-old Corey Comperatore was shot and killed as he shielded his family from gunfire. Two others were critically wounded but survived. (34)

This horrific event was made possible by one of the worst lapses in security ever seen by the United States Secret Service. The fact that the shooting was even possible in the first place shows that multiple people did not do their jobs properly. According to a report from NBC News, the shooter was reported as a suspicious person one hour before shots rang out. Thirty minutes later at 5:51 PM, Pennsylvania State Police notified the Secret Service of a suspicious person. Secret Service snipers were notified at 5:53 PM. Despite the presence of a suspicious person who had passed through security with a rangefinder in his backpack, Trump was still allowed to take the stage at 6:02 PM. At 6:09 PM, people from the crowd notified police that the shooter was on a rooftop. Shots were fired two minutes later at 6:11 PM. (35) Were these security failures just a matter of gross incompetence, or was there something more nefarious in the works?

Interestingly enough, multiple theories have emerged regarding this shooting. Some believe it was intentional negligence, while others believe it was an entirely staged event. God knows the truth. What we do know is that something is seriously wrong in this country. Timothy Naftali, a presidential historian at Columbia University, noted that even before the shooting, the American people “were barely on speaking terms with each other.” He described the country as “unstable, restless, uncertain, irritating, and anxious.” (36)

In a piece published by The Conversation, Arie Perliger, who is a scholar at the University of Massachusetts, reflected on the recent assassination attempt against Donald Trump. “The first thing that I thought about is that we were basically one inch from a potential civil war.” (37) In May 2024, a Marist poll found that 47 percent of American respondents think that it is “likely” or “very likely” that there will be a civil war in their lifetimes. (38) Three days after the attempted assassination, Reuters declared in a headline, “Four in five Americans fear country is sliding into chaos.” (39) Without question, we need our God’s mercy and grace to carry us through the uncertain days ahead.

The fabric of American society is fraying at the seams. There is so much hatred in this country today, and hatred can drive people to do horrible things. However, the Scriptures tell us that we as Christian people are not to be driven by hatred for others. Titus 3:3-7 admonishes us, “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” If you have not yet repented of your sins and dedicated your life to God, I urge you to do so now.

Thank you to all of our readers who make this newsletter possible. We could not do what we do without your help, and we are grateful for your continued support. If you have any prayer needs, great or small, we invite you to send them our way. Each request is always given individual attention. It is more important than ever before to “pray without ceasing.” The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Samuel David Meyer

This newsletter is made possible by the kind donations of our supporters. If you would like to help us, you may send your contribution to our postal address or donate online at http://lasttrumpetnewsletter.org/donate.


Acknowledgments

01. Austin American-Statesman, July 7, 2024, By Brandi D. Addison, statesman.com.

02. BBC News, July 5, 2024, By Mark Poynting, bbc.com.

03. BBC News, July 9, 2024, By Kathryn Armstrong and Brandon Drenon, bbc.com.

04. The Weather Channel, July 22, 2024, By Jonathan Erdman, weather.com.

05. Last Trumpet Newsletter, February 2023, By Samuel David Meyer, lasttrumpetnewsletter.org.

06. Daily Record, July 22, 2024, By Matt Jackson, news.yahoo.com.

07. Ibid.

08. The New York Post, July 5, 2024, By Emily Crane, nypost.com.

09. CNN, July 2, 2024, By Will Lanzoni, cnn.com.

10. Ibid.

11. Fox News, July 13, 2024, By Gabriel Hays, foxnews.com.

12. Dictionary.com/browse/gaslight.

13. The New York Times, June 28, 2024, By The Editorial Board, nytimes.com.

14. Politico, July 3, 2024, By Kelly Garrity, politico.com.

15. ABC News, July 21, 2024, By Ivan Pereira and Leah Sarnoff, abcnews.go.com.

16. Associated Press, July 18, 2024, By Lisa Mascaro, Zeke Miller, Michael Balsamo, and Aamer Madhani, apnews.com.

17. Fox News, July 8, 2024, By Aubrie Spady, foxnews.com.

18. Ibid.

19. The New York Times, July 10, 2024, By George Clooney, nytimes.com.

20. Associated Press, July 17, 2024, By Darlene Superville, Amelia Thomson-Deveaux, and Emily Swanson, apnews.com.

21. The Hill, July 12, 2024, By Judy Kurtz, thehill.com.

22. Axios, July 19, 2024, By Alex Thompson, axios.com.

23. Reuters, July 21, 2024, By Jeff Mason, Jarrett Renshaw, and Steve Holland, reuters.com.

24. Ibid.

25. The American Presidency Project, presidency.ucsb.edu.

26. National Public Radio, July 24, 2024, By Jeongyoon Han, npr.org.

27. The Week, July 24, 2024, By Theara Coleman, theweek.com.

28. Time Magazine, January 23, 2023, By Philip Elliot, time.com.

29. The Week, July 24, 2024, By Theara Coleman, theweek.com.

30. Newsmax, July 9, 2024, By Theodore Bunker, newsmax.com.

31. The Hill, April 3, 2024, By Clayton Vickers, thehill.com.

32. The New York Times, July 15, 2024, By Michael D. Shear, nytimes.com.

33. The New York Post, July 13, 2024, By Joe Marino and Patrick Reilly, nypost.com.

34. The New York Times, July 14, 2024, By Ernesto Londono, Isabella Taft, Christina Morales, and Brian Conway, nytimes.com.

35. NBC News, July 17, 2024, By Julie Tsirkin, Julia Ainsley, Tim Stelloh, and Chloe Atkins, nbcnews.com.

36. The New York Times, July 17, 2024, By Emily Cochrane, Shawn Hubler, Rick Rojas, Kurt Streeter, and Amy Qin, nytimes.com.

37. The Conversation, July 13, 2024, By Arie Perliger, theconversation.com.

38. Marist Poll, May 21, 2024, maristpoll.marist.edu.

39. Reuters, July 16, 2024, By Jason Lange, reuters.com.

Source