It’s the political gaffe that keeps on gaffing. The other day, Donald Trump set up a last-minute photo opportunity in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church by having the military use tear gas and chemical weapons on peaceful protestors to clear area. Then he strode toward the church, held up a Bible, and posed for photos.
But here’s the thing. Take a close look at that Bible. Well, maybe if Trump would actually HOLD the Bible so that you could see its spine.

Yeah, you see what it says? Revised Standard Version.
Now if you’re thinking, “So what, all Bibles are the same, that’s why they’re called Bibles.” Um, sorta.
You remember that old story in school about how those who grew up in Alaska have 40 different words for snow? By the way, so do skiers – packed powder, granular, man-made, you get where I’m going.
There are different Bibles, depending on the translation (King James, NIV, RSV) or on the faith (Douay-Rheims Bible for Catholics, the Jehovah’s Witness bible where God’s name is replaced with Jehovah throughout the text).
And according to Mother Jones, Donald Trump took a Revised Standard Version to the steps of St. John’s Episcopal Church.
Again, according to Mother Jones, the RSV book that Trump used as his photo prop is the Biblical translation that contains a few liberal edits. Mother Jones points out that even if Trump had used a more appropriate text for an Episcopal church – say, the King James Bible or the New International Version, he would have had a translation in which, for example, Isaiah 7:14 would read like this –
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (King James Version)
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (New International Version)
But the RSV translation changes the text a wee bit.
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Imman′u-el.” (Revised Standard Version)
So the RSV reads that Jesus was not born from the Virgin Mary, but by a young woman named Mary. Essentially that waters down the great mystery of faith. Whoops.
Yeah, I know, it’s a nitpick. But the fact of the matter is, Trump took this whole thing and turned it into a photo op to make him look like some authoritative strongman. When, in reality, it made him look weak and petulant and cowardly.
Someone replayed the interview during 2016 when he claimed the Bible was his favorite book, even more than The Art of the Deal. But he couldn’t name a verse or a concept – “I just love all of it.” And you knew right there that he was a lyin’ POS.
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Well, of course. It exposes the fact that Trump conned the evangelicals and everyone else into thinking he was on their side. He’s allergic to truth, and the Bible is all truth.
It is written in those pages that pride goes before the fall, and so it needs be for Trump……
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Welcome to the world of “Taking cheap shots and spinning them for all they’re worth.”
I hesitated to sink this low and chime in, but I guess someone has to try and balance things out.
I watched yesterday as our pathetic excuse for a governor tried to one-up President Trump.
He trotted out on stage for episode # ?? of the Daily Andy Show, brandishing what was supposedly a Bible.
(The Power Point slide captured the top 1/4 of a book’s spine, which read: “Holy Bible.” The bottom could have read “The Word According to Cuomo,” for all anyone knows.)
Andy bragged that here in New York, we actually read the Bible. And then the Savior of NY Nursing Home Residents plopped down, gazed intently into the opened “Good Book,” and began quoting passages from:
Matthew 5:9
Mark 3:25
Psalms 34:14
James 3:18
I was soooo impressed. WOW! He DOES read the Bible!!
And the I realized that as he was quoting, the Idiot In Chief never turned a page.
Obviously some flunkie did his research homework, and jotted them down for Andy on a sheet of paper.
Did some one mention a cheap photo op?
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