AMBUSH IN THE OVAL OFFICE: The potshot heard round the world

“By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson – Concord Hymn

If you were to have the privilege of visiting Minute Man National Historic Park in Concord Massachusetts, there inscribed on the front facing pedestal of The Minute Man Statue you would see the first stanza of the poem “The Concord Hymn” by one of Concord’s more famous citizens, Ralph Waldo Emerson. It memorializes the fighting that on April 19, 1775 sparked the war that would be fought to establish a free democratic republic on the north American continent, the United States of America, and extols the spirit of revolution and freedom. [https://www.nps.gov/places/the-minute-man-statue.htm]

That opening salvo of the Revolutionary War was a shot that would reverberate around the world, and the outcome of that war would change the course of world history. This past week in the Oval Office, the seat of what for all my life has been “the leader of the free world,” potshots were taken that once again reverberated around the world. It was a salvo that in the matter of mere minutes once again changed the course of world history. The world that we now have today is a far, far cry from the world we knew last week.

The Mirriam-Webster dictionary defines the term “potshot” as:
1 : a shot taken from ambush or at a random or easy target
2 : a critical remark made in a random or sporadic manner
[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/potshot]

The world-changing potshots took place in the Oval Office of the White House at a staged, televised ambush of the President of the sovereign nation of Ukraine, a country that was unjustly invaded just over three years ago (February 24, 2022) by neighboring Russian forces under orders from the authoritarian regime of Vladimir Putin. [To learn about casualties during the war visit: https://kyivindependent.com/a-very-bloody-war-what-is-the-death-toll-of-russias-war-in-ukraine/].

The ambush and ensuing potshots were delivered in ignominious fashion before a world-wide audience by two petulant, boorish, ill-mannered, provocative, juvenile, deceitful and buffoonish heads-of-state, America’s POTUS and VPOTUS. (These terms used to describe the behavior of these two men in lofty leadership positions are mild in comparison to what other citizens and world leaders have used.) But in typical MAGA media fashion and true-to-form “kiss-the-ring” Republican politician’s, propaganda spin, President Zelenskyy was painted as the ungrateful and disrespectful foreign leader who has benefited from an overabundance of Americana benevolence in the form of military arms and economic assistance. The truth, however, is just the opposite, as many objective media outlets and independent journalists reported. [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-trump-and-vances-attacks-on-ukrainian-president-zelenskyy].

Former Republican Representative, Liz Cheney, once again displayed her non-partisan moral backbone and defense of American democracy with this truth-telling post on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly Twitter) as she recalled the patriotic beginnings of this great American experiment in democracy, and the price Ukrainians are paying to defend democracy today:
“Generations of American patriots, from our revolution onward, have fought for the principles Zelenskyy is risking his life to defend. But today, Donald Trump and JD Vance attacked Zelenskyy and pressured him to surrender the freedom of his people to the KGB war criminal who invaded Ukraine. History will remember this day— when an American President and Vice President abandoned all we stand for.” [https://x.com/Liz_Cheney/status/1895543534377152668]

The ambush in the Oval Office ended one of the more historic weeks of the post WWII era. It was a week which saw America abrogate it’s historic place as the leader of the free world. It began on Monday when representatives of the current administration sided with Russia and other authoritarian regimes to vote against the UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine. That split with decades old allies of free world democracies ended Friday in a seismic rift when the US President was not duly flattered by the non-capitulation of the Ukrainian President who sought to explain why Ukraine needs a deal that assures a “just and lasting peace,” in the face of repeated Russian failures to curb its aggression. But it all fell on deaf ears and loud rebukes from the man who behaved more like the head of a Mafia family (along with his VP) than the diplomat and leader of the free world.
[https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/24/politics/us-joins-russia-ukraine-un-vote/index.html]
[https://cepa.org/article/europes-decade-of-failure-in-ukraine/]

The final week of February 2025 was a very bad week. One of the primary “litmus tests” we use in our Creation Justice blogs as to what is good or bad is the prophetic proclamation from Micah 6:8, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness (mercy) and walk humbly with your God.” The events orchestrated by the current MAGA regime during not only this past week, but over the past five weeks fail the Micah test on all counts (justice, mercy and humility).

In this new world order in which the current administration is taking the MAGA/Project 2025 wrecking ball to not only democracy at home but also around the world, what remains of the authentic Church in America now faces the same challenge of the Confessing Church in Germany in the 1930’s and 1940’s under the Third Reich. As we look forward this week to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten season, this is an appropriate time to take an in-depth look at how the Confessing Church sought to combat German fascism. As a Lenten discipline, read about the Theological Declaration of Barmen.
[https://cathedralofhope.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/The-Theological-Declaration-of-Barmen.pdf]

“Almighty God, all thoughts of truth and peace come from you. Kindle in the hearts of all your children the love of peace, and guide with your wisdom the leaders of the nations, so that your kingdom will go forward in peace and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of your love; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
– Lutheran Book of Worship – page 40