Signs, symbols, and untimely demise.

By J. Basil Dannebohm

There are occasions when one is faced with the difficult decision of being quiet or being blunt. For me, Sunday, July 12, 2026, was one of those days. I've never been one to sugarcoat. I'm just not wired for superficial niceties or platitudes. Unfortunately, being silent in the face of evil and injustice has never been my strong suit, either.

It's truly pitiful when one's last words are spoken in hatred, especially against "the least of these."

We witnessed it a little less than a year ago, and with the most recent high profile demise of a man whose last public words reflected his fixation with dropping more bombs in senseless wars. It was his obsession, albeit an obvious overcompensation and deflection.

God sends us signs. Christian Nationalists would do well to take heed.

The Creator won't be mocked or reduced to a mascot aimed at justifying destruction and emboldening hatred.

Recently, one of their ilk took to social media suggesting the weather in Washington DC during Mr. Trump's second inauguration, and on July 4th, was "geoengineered" by "someone with TDS."

Perhaps God, who evidently suffers from "Trump Derangement Syndrome," was sending a message to a flock of misguided sheeple?

Just as foretold in scripture, the mighty are being "cast from their thrones." Soon enough, the rich will be sent away empty and the proud will be scattered in their conceit.

The Book of Proverbs tells us, there are seven things that are "detestable" to God: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. (Proverbs 6:16-19)

Lindsey Graham, a spineless, insecure warmonger who called for the bloodshed of innocent people, was the embodiment of all these detestable things throughout his political career. His fiery rhetoric was extinguished in an instant, his divisive flame snuffed without warning.

"Thoughts and prayers?"

Thoughts, I have many. Prayers, I have but one: May God have mercy on a man who showed little.