Four For Friday - Think Tank Blues - Reader Blind

This well-known, right-wing "think tank", which is actually a conservative religious organization, has several expert political analysts as well as several bigots. One of their bigots, probably the most handsome on their roster (which perhaps isn't saying much), is definitely a tormented closet case.  For a few years, the think tank tried to butter up the government of a certain nice, but uniquely isolated, nation in an attempt to sway it from making history in its part of the world (something legal in several countries, but the think tank publicly campaigns against). The think tank continually ran articles and research boasting how this country was the best in this or that, and met with its government several times. The leader of the country, a very capable and educated politician who likes to appear as a fun-loving cat lady, would nod graciously but wasn't having any of it and went ahead and made history. This pissed off the think tank, and they stopped their bootlicking. The fact that the country is riding high during the pandemic, with credit for this given to a genius sexual minority appointed by the savvy cat-loving leader, added insult to injury to the think tank. You see for the think tank, although they won't come out and say it, God punishes certain acts, rather than allowing something to become successful and the envy of the world, and the fact that the history-making, nice nation was doing amazingly well by any measure was embarrassing. It is only recently in light of certain recent political events involving the country's bigger neighbor that the think tank has slowly started to again mention the nice nation. Just don't expect heaps of praise like before.