By Dr. Jim Ferguson

Perhaps the most influential science fiction novel of the 20th century was “Dune,” written by Frank Herbert. Too often people discount the science-fiction genre as Flash Gordon-esk with cheesy plots and ray guns. If this is what you think, I can assure you that you are wrong. An example of the contrary is the science fiction movie Arrival nominated for best picture of the year.

In my science fiction novel, “Epiphany,” I quoted the noted writer, Ray Bradbury who said, “Anything you dream is fiction. Anything you accomplish is science. The whole history of mankind is nothing but science fiction.”

I won’t bore you with the many plots and subplots in “Dune,” but one is relevant to our current state of affairs. The novel opens with one faction taking control of government from another, only to find that the previous faction had left spies and saboteurs buried at all levels of government. We are learning that Washington D.C. is full of Lois Lerners embedded throughout the vast bureaucracy. The term “shadow government” is now being used to describe these non-elected government officials who oppose those duly elected by We The People. (4th branch?)

Many in the Washington establishment and the media complain about the speed that Trump is implementing his policies. Congress in general and the Senate in particular are designed to move like molasses. By contrast, Trump, the businessman, is a man of action and has been planning and promising to change the direction of the country since his campaign began in 2015. The colossal messes of Obamacare, illegal immigration, ignoring laws, the politicized IRS, as well as a world left in flames (as Obama fiddled), dwarf the financial crisis BHO inherited in 2008.

Recently, Trump garnered criticism when he identified his enemy, something Obama refused to do in the war on Islamic terrorism. Trump called out the politicized media and the Democrat party which has been taken over by liberal-progressives like Elizabeth Warren, jokingly referred to as Pocahontas. I’m sure Trump realizes that the “never-Trumpers” will never support him, nor will the ruling class, the donor class, George Soros and his anarchists or the unhinged loons of Hollywood. The media were even galled that Trump would go to Florida for a rally (not to be confused with a march) to be “with friends” instead of Schumer and the Beltway boys.

Though we would all like to be a unified people again, I don’t think this will be possible for awhile. I recall the kumbaya that arose after the 911 attack by Islamic terrorists. This was soon replaced by the Bush-hatred syndrome. Now we have the Trump-hatred syndrome. Liberal-progressives will only be satisfied when Trump is destroyed, conservatives sit quietly in the back of the bus, our borders are obliterated and the world government elites of the UN and Brussels make America subservient to their brand of socialism.

I like to read several books at a time, perhaps because my mood changes. Sometimes I prefer a book of substance which necessitates thoughtful reflection, while other times I prefer to be entertained or to escape the cares of the world. I jokingly refer to science fiction as my “trash reading” even though the concepts are not “trashy.”

Currently, I’m reading a serious historical book about war by the academic, Victor Davis Hanson. Naturally, it caught my eye when I came upon a recent essay he penned describing the civil war currently raging in America. Hanson describes “deep government” operatives within the EPA who are trying to obstruct the will of the duly elected President of the United States. Similar saboteurs working within the intelligence community leak “fake” stories to the media about Trump’s purported escapades in Russia. These become “fake news” when broadcast by bloggers and the deplorable CNN. Even the Wall Street Journal joined the so-called “drive-by media” and published fake news about the President being denied intelligence briefings. And now we learn that details of Presidential conversations with world leaders are being leaked to the media. This is a treasonous act because all Presidential conversations are of a National Security level and highly classified.

Another example of fake news is the Russian imbroglio. To be honest, the Democrats should be comparing Trump’s contact with the Russians to Obama’s promise to Putin’s Medvedev that he could be “more flexible” in the reduction of America’s deterrent nuclear arsenal, after the 2012 election. But asking Schumer and Elizabeth Warren to be honest would be like asking them not to be hypocrites. (To be fair, Schumer did warn Trump in early January that he (Trump) would pay for his criticism of career intelligence officials.) The Democrats continue to spin the Wikileaks story of hacked emails and the election. What’s never mentioned is the dishonesty revealed in the DNC and John Podesta’s emails. Now we learn that John Podesta, Hillary’s campaign manager, has been hired as a columnist by the Washington Post. “Surprise! Surprise!” as Gomer Pyle would say.

It’s not just Democrat officials who are discussing impeachment, assassination of Trump and Nazis. Foreign media, nut jobs like Madonna and Obama’s network of two hundred and fifty community organizing offices are all manipulating uninformed zombies in America. The MSNBC co-host, Mika Brzezinski, daughter of Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, recently blustered the truth, saying that the media’s job is to “control what people think,” not Trump’s. Food for thought.

However, the unhinged bunch has shown their colors. Rioting and destruction, and the obstructionist “scorched earth” policy of Democrat leaders will not work with Americans, at least those who aren’t blinded by hatred. The real scandals are government saboteurs and paid operatives who demonstrate, disrupt and destroy property just like those paid by the Clinton campaign to disrupt candidate Trump’s rallies.

Pilate once asked Jesus “what is truth?” an appropriate question even today. The Apostle Paul spent twenty years proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. He was met by Jewish leaders with violent and murderous resistance. Pagan skeptics and elitist Greek intellectuals also discounted Paul, who was no shabby philosopher, and was a highly educated Pharisee, as well as a Roman citizen who spoke four languages. One day in Corinth, Paul asked the sophists, “How long must I suffer fools?” (paraphrasing 2 Corinthians 11:19). I sometimes feel similarly of those who claim they are so tolerant when, in fact, they are so intolerant and driven by blind hatred.