You read something like this …<\/p>\n
THE STATE DEPARTMENT IS CLOSE TO FINALIZING a radical redesign of the U.S. passport to include a picture of President Donald Trump,\u00a0The Bulwark\u00a0<\/em>has learned from two sources with knowledge of the redesign, including one who shared images currently under consideration.<\/p>\n
The redesign is ostensibly part of a larger celebration of the 250th anniversary of American independence. It comes as the Treasury Department prepares to produce coins featuring Trump\u2019s image\u2014both a\u00a0controversial<\/a>\u00a0$1 coin in general circulation1<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and an \u201cas large as possible<\/a>\u201d commemorative gold coin\u2014and as the National Park Service emblazons Trump\u2019s face on its park passes. Both of those redesigns were justified as being part of the 250th anniversary celebration.<\/p>\n
According to the images of the passport redesign provided to\u00a0The Bulwark<\/em>, the inside cover of the new State Department-issued document will feature a scowling Trump\u2014taken from his\u00a0second inaugural portrait<\/a>\u2014superimposed over the Declaration of Independence, as well as the president\u2019s signature in gold. [The Bulwark<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
… and I can’t help thinking it’s deeply reminiscent of Chad Bauman’s piece on then-candidate Trump’s behavior following the 2020 Election, which I’ve cited before:<\/p>\n
The most virtuous and effective act in prosperity theology is positive confession, in which one claims and expresses gratitude to God for the health and wealth one expects to enjoy\u2014even if it seems implausible one\u2019s expectations will be realized. The most sinful act, accordingly, is sometimes called \u201cnegative confession\u201d; that is, admitting failure, ill health, poverty, or disappointment. In prosperity theology, words matter; \u201cDeath and life are in the power of the tongue\u201d (Proverbs 18:21). Those who lay claim to victory actualize it, while those who admit defeat find themselves hopelessly entrenched in it. [Religion Dispatches<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It’s very much a magical incantation, and so I read the passport story – Trump is trying to catch the divinities’ attention so he can sit at the head table.<\/p>\n
Or maybe I’m wrong. I’ll defer to Bauman concerning the plausibility of his assertions, while noting that religious mania and pathological narcissism can be hard to distinguish based simply on analysis of outstanding symptoms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You read something like this … THE STATE DEPARTMENT IS CLOSE TO FINALIZING a radical redesign of the U.S. passport to include a picture of President Donald Trump,\u00a0The Bulwark\u00a0has learned from two sources with knowledge of the redesign, including one who shared images currently under consideration. The redesign is ostensibly \u2026 Continue reading
![second inaugural portrait<\/a>\u2014superimposed over the Declaration of Independence, as well as the president\u2019s signature in gold. [The Bulwark<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n… and I can’t help thinking it’s deeply reminiscent of Chad Bauman’s piece on then-candidate Trump’s behavior following the 2020 Election, which I’ve cited before:<\/p>\nThe most virtuous and effective act in prosperity theology is positive confession, in which one claims and expresses gratitude to God for the health and wealth one expects to enjoy\u2014even if it seems implausible one\u2019s expectations will be realized. The most sinful act, accordingly, is sometimes called \u201cnegative confession\u201d; that is, admitting failure, ill health, poverty, or disappointment. In prosperity theology, words matter; \u201cDeath and life are in the power of the tongue\u201d (Proverbs 18:21). Those who lay claim to victory actualize it, while those who admit defeat find themselves hopelessly entrenched in it. [Religion Dispatches<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\nIt’s very much a magical incantation, and so I read the passport story – Trump is trying to catch the divinities’ attention so he can sit at the head table.<\/p>\nOr maybe I’m wrong. I’ll defer to Bauman concerning the plausibility of his assertions, while noting that religious mania and pathological narcissism can be hard to distinguish based simply on analysis of outstanding symptoms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You read something like this … THE STATE DEPARTMENT IS CLOSE TO FINALIZING a radical redesign of the U.S. passport to include a picture of President Donald Trump,\u00a0The Bulwark\u00a0has learned from two sources with knowledge of the redesign, including one who shared images currently under consideration. The redesign is ostensibly \u2026 Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44423"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44425,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44423\/revisions\/44425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Official_portraits_of_Donald_Trump#\/media\/File:January_2025_Official_Presidential_Portrait_of_Donald_J._Trump.jpg\"){kind=link}