It’s Easy to Point the Finger…
Turning on the TV, watching the first debate in the 2016 Iowa primary, I stared at a row of candidates standing on stage – they all talked, sounded like smooth-tongued Washington politicians – except one: Donald Trump.
Trump beat Hillary. Covid struck. Biden beat Trump. Trump ran again. Biden got out. Trump called Kamala Harris ‘dumb as a rock.’ She called him ‘a fascist.’ He called her ‘a communist.’
After Ronald Reagan was wounded Tip O’Neill went to the hospital, knelt by Reagan’s bed, said a prayer. Reagan and O’Neill hardly ever saw eye to eye but, at the same time, treated each other with mutual respect.
Today mutual respect flies out the window. Lies were once taboo – now people cheer lies.
It’s easy to point the finger at Trump, say, ‘He did that – that’s his fault.’ But politicians don’t mold Americans they mirror Americans. Trump’s a symptom not the cause of our disease. Our sickness is lost faith.
Living in a fallen world we inherit some ‘flow’rets of Eden’ but as poet Thomas Moore added ‘the trail of the serpent is over them all.’ Telling stories, in my memoir, I follow The Trail of the Serpent twisting and turning through politics – from Reagan to Trump.
You can order The Trail of the Serpent now from Amazon.
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John Bolton: “Reagan lost the first five primaries to Gerald Ford in 1976 – then upset Ford in North Carolina. Carter Wrenn ran Reagan’s North Carolina campaign. He tells a compelling story about American politics, from Reagan to Trump.”
Stephen Mansfield, New York Times bestselling author: “Our generation is awash in a sea of thin analysis and easy opinion about the role of religion in American politics. What we need are the stories told by those who were there, who were in the moment, who smelled the sweat and the fear and felt the hot breath of passion full in their faces. Carter Wrenn gives us such stories and so makes a raucous era of American faith-based politics live again.”
Gary Pearce, Democrat political strategist: “Carter and I have fought on different sides of the political wars, but we’ve remained friends for twenty years. He has seen politics up close in North Carolina and the nation and with the touch of an old school southern storyteller has written a rare book about politics and religion.”
It’s Easy to Point the Finger…
Turning on the TV, watching the first debate in the 2016 Iowa primary, I stared at a row of candidates standing on stage – they all talked, sounded like smooth-tongued Washington politicians – except one: Donald Trump.
Trump beat Hillary. Covid struck. Biden beat Trump. Trump ran again. Biden got out. Trump called Kamala Harris ‘dumb as a rock.’ She called him ‘a fascist.’ He called her ‘a communist.’
After Ronald Reagan was wounded Tip O’Neill went to the hospital, knelt by Reagan’s bed, said a prayer. Reagan and O’Neill hardly ever saw eye to eye but, at the same time, treated each other with mutual respect.
Today mutual respect flies out the window. Lies were once taboo – now people cheer lies.
It’s easy to point the finger at Trump, say, ‘He did that – that’s his fault.’ But politicians don’t mold Americans they mirror Americans. Trump’s a symptom not the cause of our disease. Our sickness is lost faith.
Living in a fallen world we inherit some ‘flow’rets of Eden’ but as poet Thomas Moore added ‘the trail of the serpent is over them all.’ Telling stories, in my memoir, I follow The Trail of the Serpent twisting and turning through politics – from Reagan to Trump.
You can order The Trail of the Serpent now from Amazon.
********
John Bolton: “Reagan lost the first five primaries to Gerald Ford in 1976 – then upset Ford in North Carolina. Carter Wrenn ran Reagan’s North Carolina campaign. He tells a compelling story about American politics, from Reagan to Trump.”
Stephen Mansfield, New York Times bestselling author: “Our generation is awash in a sea of thin analysis and easy opinion about the role of religion in American politics. What we need are the stories told by those who were there, who were in the moment, who smelled the sweat and the fear and felt the hot breath of passion full in their faces. Carter Wrenn gives us such stories and so makes a raucous era of American faith-based politics live again.”
Gary Pearce, Democrat political strategist: “Carter and I have fought on different sides of the political wars, but we’ve remained friends for twenty years. He has seen politics up close in North Carolina and the nation and with the touch of an old school southern storyteller has written a rare book about politics and religion.”