The Big Lie

Niccolo Machiavelli, writing in the 16th century, recommended a political leader try to be honest, but if telling truth puts you at a disadvantage, then tell a lie.

One year ago yesterday, President-elect Biden promised Americans he would not implement a Wuhan coronavirus vaccine mandate.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, and Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki made the same promise.

To keep their "advantage," the Leftist political class is also breaking promises, clinging to mask mandates with one state changing temporary mask mandates to permanent mandates in Oregon. Washington, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, and New Mexico are not far behind.

Let's put aside masks and shots for a moment and look at truth as a value.

Be informed, not misled.

Sustaining the advantage of power.

Some believe it was the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan where hundreds of Americans remain stranded to this day that prompted President Biden to announce a federal vaccine mandate. A mandate for private businesses with more than 100 employees and a federal mandate for federal workers and members of the military to receive the vaccine or be terminated. I would be among the "some."

OSHA was designated the "point man"---the enforcement officer, the "Brown Shirt."

Thus public attention was turned away from Afghanistan to the possibility of losing one's job.

Ask about the legality of that kind of mandate. The president said even said if the courts don't approve, we'll have a lot of people vaccinated before they rule on the case.

Fast forward a year. Over the past four weeks, Biden's mandate has been halted by courts for the private sector and some federal healthcare workers. OSHA announced on November 17 that implementation and enforcement of the mandate have been postponed indefinitely. Medicare and Medicaid have done the same.

But it really doesn't matter to the elite.

Perhaps a lot of people have gotten shots to save their job, perhaps not, but the mission of distracting America was really quite successful. Generally, the public's attention has moved on from the tragic absence of leadership by President Biden in pulling out of Afghanistan to focusing on one's personal employment.

In a cable to Washington DC in 1944, George F. Kennan, counselor at the United States Embassy in Stalin's Moscow, warned of the occult power held by lies, noting that Soviet rule "has proved some strange and disturbing things about human nature."

For most among these, he wrote, is that in the case of many people, "it is possible to make them feel and believe practically anything."

No matter how untrue something may be, he said, "for the people who believe it, it becomes true. It attains validity and all the powers of truth."

Machiavelli also said, "People don't like being lied to, but one who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived."

Sustaining the deception

With six states still requiring masks, Oregon is drafting a rule to make masks permanent.

To suggest that the political class in several states has become completely devoid of reality, where Covid is concerned would be a massive understatement.

Frank Salvato says, "But one state is taking the lunacy even further, illustrating that the Leftist ruling class in the United States is both ignorant and drunk on power.

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Rules Advisory Committee (RAC) met last Thursday to begin the process of drafting an order to make the state's indoor mask requirement permanent.

"Community stakeholders, including those from the hospitality and faith sectors, joined in the meeting according to local news. "People from the Seventh Day Adventist Church, the High Desert Museum, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and McMenamins were included in the meeting."

The greatest concern from these folks was that the public would not want to comply with "permanent" mandates.

The solution?

Dr. Paul Cieslak---the OHA's medical director for communicable diseases and immunizations---said that just because the rule would be deemed "permanent" doesn't mean it will be enacted forever." He said we'll tell them that the order "can be repealed as well."

But, we mustn't forget; Omicron is now among us.

Salvato says:

"The larger point here is not that the omicron variant is less potent than the common cold or that COVID has been affecting people for decades (the "19" in the virus name means it is the 19th detected strain of the corona virus), it is that we are ceding our freedom, our right to freedom, to a group of people who were elected not because they govern well, but because they marketed their line of political propaganda the best."

We are experiencing a strange mixture of feelings-oriented arrogance and ignorance in our leadership. Passing the mere "dangerous" level, we are now at a point in our country where the Left is actively diminishing freedom and liberty.

The people of Oregon are about to feel the tip of the spear of government intrusion regarding our God-given rights. Other blue states will follow.

Salvato says, "When we as Americans started to cede oversight of government---at every level---to the media and government 'watchdogs' simply because it is more enjoyable to do less important things, the process of reducing the levels of freedom and liberty became easier for totalitarians and Fascists."

The takeaway

A readiness, even enthusiasm, to be deceived has, in recent years, become a driving force in politics across our country. Even around the world.

The hallmark of the time in which Christ returns is "deception."

There is warning of deception from Genesis to Revelation.

• II Timothy 3:13 tells us of evil people and impostors who will go from bad to worse.
• II Thessalonians 2:3: Let no one deceive you in any way.
• Galatians 6:7: Do not be deceived: God is not mocked.
• Matthew 24:24: Jesus says, "See that no one leads you astray."
• Ephesians 5:6: Let no one deceive you with empty words.
• II Corinthians 11:14: Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light.

We are walking a perilous path in our country and our communities today, but the Light of God's Truth lights our way.

"Well," some would say, "it's time to dig in, get tough, stay calm and carry on, because the Bible says that God helps those who help themselves."

That too is not true.

Aesop, (620-564 BC) in his fable "Hercules and the Waggoner" tells the Waggoner "the gods help them that help themselves."

While that may be a great point in a motivational speech, it isn't Scripture.

Proverbs 28:26 pretty well sums up what God says about deception: "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered."

If anyone lacks wisdom, he is to ask God for it. Stay close to God and His Word and wisdom will follow.

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.