Tagged: Blogging

Trump Is the Content that Knocked “50 Shades” Off The Charts. What Will Displace Trump?

Trump has this thing in the bag and has had it in the bag since 2020. Naturally, the question follows, “How do we reconcile the headlines with this fact?” Answer: His base, his fans eat worry like it’s Wheaties. Trump’s loyalists are like America’s Mom. All worry—no peace. They always have been. They always will be. So no, there will never be “Trump has 10pt Lead in Every Single Swing State, and 30pt Lead in Wyoming!!” doozies on any legacy or otherwise sites.

Instead, the newspaper men and algorithms will continue to “sell” (hear: feed) headlines that there is a close race—maybe the closest ever!!—which necessarily implies both that Trump may lose (eek!!) and that it will be simpler for the Left to cheat (double eek!!!).

And why? Because they are in the business of selling stories.

Surely all of us are actually kinda tired of Trump. Maybe it would have been better if he won in 2020, by any means, just so it would’ve been only 8 years of Trump. Now we’re stuck with 12. Oh well.

But can you imagine what will sell newspapers/clicks when Trump is gone? Like, engage in a thought experiment with me for a moment. What is more, or at least as equally, outrageous than airing a nation’s dirty laundry during a televised, ahem, “presidential” debate.

I mean, I met a man at a Black Church in Denver back in 2016ish. He was displaced to Denver from the backwoods, and backwards, state of Louisiana during Katrina. He freely told me that he killed a goose that he had grabbed from the park. He said, “Peedah, everyone was so shocked and upset when they saw me do it.” Then he knowingly smiled and added, “But you can bet they came a-knockin’ when they smelled me cookin’ ‘im up!”

Now would this man’s story have made national news? Absolutely not. And why not? Because it’s pitiful. (He also shared that his sister drove off without him because she chose to fill her vehicle with “stuff” instead of her brother.)

But the idea that immigrants, illegal at that, are doing the same? That is downright shocking. It is appalling. It is sub-human and brings all manner of uncomfortable truths to the surface (America is different and better than BIPOC countries). No one laughs at the idea like I did with my new friend. So the newspaper men run it. Trump runs it. And we all (you all—I’m no sucker) eat it up. In a sense, Trump is like the EL James of American News—our guilty pleasure. What can follow him? Maybe we should ask, What followed 50 Shades?” Nothing.

Or Trump.

Mom’s read BDSM at the park on their Nooks and Kindle’s. Now everyone reads Trump on every screen, all day long.

What comes next? Something just as laughable, I suspect.

Much Ado About Guns, Much Ado About Safety, Much Ado About First Responders

“As a veteran military interrogator…”

“From an ER nurse married to an LEO…”

“As a retired sheriff’s deputy…”

“As a physician…”

“As a retired federal agent…”

Dear Reader, care to make a guess as to the title or content of the YouTube video which had such opening lines to the comments?

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Last week was a busy week for me.

For a myriad of reasons, we just don’t fly as much at night, so most of my night hitches grow long and I run out of things to do. Sure, I read diligently. You remember I dabble in learning ASL. I exercise. But if you are able to rest all night and then have 12hrs before work, that is a lot of time to fill.

With that in mind, I had resolved a while ago to get my concealed carry permit again (I had one while active duty, but never kept it when I moved). Rather than take up time when home with the kids, I figured, “Why not find some training while away at work?” So I did.

I had the training scheduled for last Fri/Sat. It made for a bit of stress, because Thursday night and Friday night now became “I hope we don’t fly” instead of “Let’s see what the shift brings.” But it was a good plan.

Then the school shooting happened. This go-around, the unique part was that the kid was already known to be uncommon, to put it mildly. For all the talk about guns, this fact was the most depressing to me because it makes one feel the most helpless. We simply are not safe.

Then I had some time at the beginning of a shift to catch up on any company mandated CBT and saw that I had to do the annual “workplace violence” one before October. So I did it.

To summarize the week thus far, I knew I had concealed carry training (implies self-defense on the brain), there was a school shooting (I have two high schoolers), the shooter was known beforehand to law enforcement (we are not safe), and even at work I had to contemplate how to survive, as a first responder, to any violence while responding to a scene of violence.

That was all before Friday and the first part of the concealed carry training.

Sidebar: There is an actual shooting/accuracy test to the training, and I hadn’t shot in over a decade, so I was a bit nervous. I reviewed some videos which seemed to have good authority and called to mind what the Air Force had taught me. Suffice it to say, I will never watch another. Nor will I ever “train” or consider “training” as anything other than live fire. The recoil and overall physicality endured while firing a weapon cannot be replicated by any amount of anything. This is different from flying, for example, and many other activities in which simulation is highly beneficial. I’m writing this more for me than you, but if you don’t shoot much and have fallen prey to YouTube charisma, then feel free to use this confession to motivate you to get off your duff and go to the range.

Back to the main point of this post.

While in the training, we learned about a concept that I had never considered before (or heard of): insurance for the legal aftermath of “self-defense” shootings. It seemed like a reasonable concept/product and I was about to purchase it.

Then today I was introduced to the fine print and dissuaded from ever purchasing such insurance, in favor of hiring an attorney on retainer. (I am not sure if that is the proper language, but you get my point.)

Then while down that rabbit hole, I discovered the rather unique video which garnered the comments above. Without further ado, the video was a recommendation (which I have taken to heart) to always have the police take you to the hospital after a shooting. Reasons given ranged from strategic, to physical, to financial. But what struck me was the overkill of “appeal to expertise” or “ethos” (recall from Aristotle “logos, pathos, ethos”) in the supportive YT comments. First responders and others in similar positions at hospitals etc certainly have a thankless job. What else can be the reason they so nakedly want respect?

In the end, I am a dad, not a warrior, not a gunslinger. America is a safe place to live and work. First responders are as guilty for their attitudes as the thankless public. And I will be happy for a nice break, and some camping in the mountains with the kids in two days.

****

So did you guess correctly? Let me know in the comments.

The Gays Will Save Us?

I discovered Douglas Murray by accident. He was openly and authoritatively denouncing Islam—and still breathing.

On the other hand, a friend shared a Bari Weiss piece with me. I assumed Bari was a man. Funny. She just started a new university—who does that?

Neither of them utter nonsense. They both seem to pick the most relevant fights. But they’re gay.

They’re not dead, so it’s possible that they see the light before too long. I don’t want to discourage anyone who fights for truth from fighting. So keep it up! Keep writing and podcasting. Please do.

But I have been thinking about these two figures for some time now and I just cannot conclude that being gay doesn’t matter. Sure it does. Of course it matters. All sorts of historical figures, so we’re told, were gay, and they may have even done good for Western civilization. But being gay isn’t a binder for us.

Something is amiss. The being gay is not going to work for the same reason that there eventually is just one straw that breaks the camel’s back. One cannot rebel in every instance, at every turn.

Put another way, why can’t we (sober, reasoning mankind) just have one celebrity level, A-lister who is married with kids and boring. Why is that so repulsive and stigmatized as inherently uncool and unintelligent?

In the end, my point is simply that the fact that that last question resonates tells me that no, no the gays (Murray and Weiss) will not save us. Whether this is because 1. We don’t need saving, or 2. They are not fit for the work of saving, I do not yet know. (I’m leaning towards option 1.)

I’m a Veteran and I’m Not Voting. (Trump Wins.) And What I Plan To Do If He Loses.

My acquaintances are disturbed when they encounter the fact that I am not voting. Here are my reasons for not voting, as plain as I can write them.

Firstly, I do not want Donald J. Trump or Kamala Harris to be the POTUS during the years 2025-2028.

Secondly, I do not support some higher principle on the issue of voting than that.

Got it? It’s not complicated.

On to the next question my acquaintances have often posed, “So you think life is fine and dandy and this election isn’t as meaningful as the general mood (which you confess to feel) suggests and that Kamala is a sacrificial lamb and the Dems are really just looking at 2028. I get it. But what does it mean if she wins? Like, what do you think it would mean since it would mean that you do not have your finger on the pulse, that you do not have accurate assumptions, and that you do not even know up from down? What then, Pete?”

Fair question. Firstly, action-wise, I plan to go to a store and buy an American flag and flag pole. Then I plan to return home and hang it upside down outside my door. One neighbor already does this. I have always liked and respected the silent power it holds. I also have always liked the idea of citizens silently solidifying through such tactics.

Then I will wait. I do not know for how long. What will I wait for? A hero. There are no heroes at the moment. It may be decades before one emerges. But one will come again. And on that day, I will support the hero—even so far as with violence against men who oppose the hero.

But, and mark my words, none of this is going to happen. My house will stay nondescript. Life is fine-and-dandy and you’re all suckers for believing the hype.

Schools: Please Stop Sending Emails

Stop sending parents emails of every little thing you do. This request is especially for high schools. Who has time? And they’re boring. They only satisfy your need to feel whatever it is you want to feel. No one cares. And they do not influence life on earth. The kids care or don’t.

Please stop sending emails.

Instead, use the newfound free time to…teach!!!

Two Church-Related Thoughts On a Sunday

1. About the Bible: Us Christians love the underdog. We teach ourselves the Bible through this perspective. As a seminarian, I prefer to read the Bible from as neutral of a stance as possible and see what it has to say—and persuade others to do the same. For example, Moses made his tribe (the Levites) the priests (or, cynically, the tribe that doesn’t have to work for their food). Another big not-underdog is David’s Mighty Men. Forget the whole “demonstrated proficiency with a weapon of war” aspect of the infamous David and Goliath battle. Instead move to the fact that, in the same inspired account, he kept mighty men around him.

I ask you, dear sensitive snowflake reader, can you see how, in and of themselves, these facts merely dethrone your love of the underdog, and have nothing to say about the content of Scripture still?

Content, people. Content.

2. The Black Baptists were at it again this morning. Many, I’d say most, are veterans, and so the whole Arlington thing was naturally on their mind. Obviously it was brought up as evidence against Trump. As I sat among them, I couldn’t help but imagine what I would say if given a chance to speak. (Keep in mind, I am not voting for Trump. I just maintain that he had this thing won for a long time. And I’m white.)

After some consideration, I think I would say, “I will happily list many, many negative aspects of Trump and the Republican Party as a whole (though I do not know much about the Republican Party) which will be seen when they serve in the administration next term. I am curious if you all would do the same about Kamala. I am under the impression that Blacks think she is perfect. I know you think she is beautiful. I know you think she is smart. I know you think she is joyful. I know you think she is kind. I know you think she is good. I know you think she is sexy. I know you think she is strong. I know you think she is motherly. I also know that those all *might* actually be true descriptions. But I just heard that you believe in one god, and you just said his name is Jesus. Please list some negatives.”

Plain Sentences Uttered By Kamala Harris

In order to help her (Trump wins, but it isn’t glorious unless he has real competition), I have compiled the plainly spoken sentences uttered by Kamala Harris during the interview. Naturally, I have kept them grouped by question. And, “Yes, I am largely relying on CNN’s punctuation.”

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Q1 (Day One Actions?): Well, there are a number of things. I will tell you first and foremost one of my highest priorities is to do what we can to support and strengthen the middle class. 

Q2 (Repeat: Day One Actions?): There’s the work that we’re gonna do that is about investing in the American family around affordable housing, a big issue in our country right now.

Q3 (People Want To Go Back To Certain Relevant Aspects of the Past. Will You Help Them?): Well, let’s start with the fact that when Joe Biden and I came in office during the height of a pandemic, we saw over 10 million jobs were lost. Hundreds of people a day were dying because of COVID. The economy had crashed. When we came in, our highest priority was to do what we could to rescue America. And today, we know that we have inflation at under 3%. A lot of our policies have led to the reality that America recovered faster than any wealthy nation around the world. Prices in particular for groceries are still too high. The American people know it. I know it. Which is why my agenda includes what we need to do to bring down the price of groceries.

Q4 (Are Three Years Really Enough For Successful Administrations To Achieve Results?): Well, first of all, we had to recover as an economy, and we have done that. Donald Trump said he was gonna do a number of things, including allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. We did it. She’s not doing that any longer.

Q5 (You’ve Never Erred?): There’s more to do, but that’s good work.

Q6 (Is Pennsylvania a Must-Win State?): Sure.

Q7 (Do You Still Want To Ban Fracking?): As vice president, I did not ban fracking. As president, I will not ban fracking.

Q8 (Do You Still Want To Ban Fracking?): I kept my word, and I will keep my word.

Q9 (Gotcha!): Well, let’s be clear. My values have not changed. I believe it is very important that we take seriously what we must do to guard against what is a clear crisis in terms of the climate. That tells me from my experience as vice president we can do it without banning fracking. In fact, Dana — Dana, excuse me — I cast the tie-breaking vote that actually increased leases for fracking as vice president. So I’m very clear about where I stand.

Q10 (Have You Ever Used Reasoning Skills On Fracking?): What I have seen is that we can — we can grow and we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking.

Q11 (Is Immigration Feather Or Black Mark?): Well, first of all, the root causes work that I did as vice president, that I was asked to do by the president has actually resulted in a number of benefits, including historic investments by American businesses in that region. He killed the bill: a border security bill that would’ve put 1,500 more agents on the border. The Border Patrol endorsed the bill. That bill would have allowed us to increase seizures of fentanyl.

Q12 (Is Immigration Feather Or Black Mark?): (There was not a plain spoken sentence.)

Q13 (Is Immigration Feather Or Black Mark?): I believe there should be consequence. We have laws that have to be followed and enforced that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally. I’m the only person in this race who actually served a border state as attorney general to enforce our laws. I recognize the problem.

****

Reader, making determinations about plain spoken sentences is hard work. As is all hard work, it is worthy. But I am not sure if my reach is broad enough to make the effort efficient. If you would like me to finish the interview, please comment below. I need three encouraging comments to finish. Let’s Help Kamala!

Black Women Need To Be Fired

Trump is going to win. The compelling reason after last week’s unbelievable DNC that I use to combat the media circle-jerk is the media does not lead with her “electoral college” path to victory. Instead, they run the headlines of her mere popularity.

This post and its content is not about “we need to follow the rules”. This post is about how there are rules and what the rules (which everybody does currently follow) show (Trump winning) is not being highlighted by the media. Instead, they are avoiding the topic. This, of course, is their prerogative. Who are any of us to insist someone to drop support of their free choice?

Trump wins. Done deal. Might as well write the history books now.

And yet, for as long as I can remember, there has passed a sort-of life-truth among Whites: Black women cannot be fired.

I do not remember the first time I heard of this notion, but it was early. It was probably in high school, ‘96-‘99.

I definitely remember that while in the Air Force I first heard about “Gee-Ess” employees and how they could never be fired. Worse, the rumor was held that the under or non-performer would actually get promoted.

Again, this was just rumor—zeitgeist.

It must have been around 2005, then, that I heard that beyond GS employees not being able to be fired, if it was a Black woman who worked as a GS, she was literally untouchable. In my mind, for over two decades, right or wrong, I have believed that the situation was such that if a black woman was fired from a federal job, it would prompt a Supreme Court Decision.

Do you hear me, people?

Trump has won. It is a done deal.

And yet I am not blind to the fact that the obstacle in his path is a federally employed Black woman.

Clash. Of. The. Titans.

(Or one more example of it.)

Here’s my thought, my underlying not-distasteful philosophy: I want Black women to live abundantly. I want Black women to achieve beyond their highest aspirations. I wouldn’t care one iota if some super-power nation promoting and securing peace and prosperity for all mankind came to be and was led by Black women.

But I do not believe any of those things will ever happen until Black women are fired.

So, I say again, Black women need to be fired.

The DNC Is Overplaying the Black Card

At the modern, respected, and accredited evangelical Seminary I attended, the guest preacher at one Tuesday Chapel was a pastor of a large church in either Michigan or Wisconsin. His sermon was supposed to model to us future preachers a near perfect exegetical (as opposed to topical and/or liturgical) evangelical and biblical sermon. I remember the sermon encouraged “humility”. I also remember he used PowerPoint perfectly. (This means no words, just pictures. And take the picture down after you make your point.) But most of all, I remember that they said he went down south to start a church and never really got one off the ground. But when he went back to where he was from (WI/MI), he had a congregation of several thousand. The implication was “one’s language is far more than English”. (This concept is not new or debated.)

Likewise, the DNC is overplaying the Black Card. This is another reason why I (and you) know Harris loses. They are not speaking to the whole audience.

It is certainly true that the Blacks own pop culture—what influencer-wanna-be teens don’t act Black around friends? No Black teen attempts to ball by imitating Musk or Romney or Tom Cotton or (this is oddly difficult). White is Right, but it is not cool. Mic Drop evidence: Beyonce opened the intro of the USA to the Olympics. (She’s Black.)

The Blacks (even Black Lesbians) own sports. (Thank you, MJ.)

The Blacks own public speaking. From MLK Jr., to Jesse Jackson, to Malcolm X, to Obama, to Oprah, to Corey Booker, to Tim Scott, to any Black Baptist gospel preacher, all other cultures would only improve with diligent study of Black orators. (Tip: Chew the meat; spit out the bone. \m/)

The Blacks own simplifying. Or they own what could be called “sorting.” Try telling a Black a convoluted story or nuanced description of how things went and they will see through you like a window. Three words. They will restate what you said in three words.

The Blacks own Matriarchy. Tiger Woods made the headlines, not only for golf, but because he thanked his dad. Tiger Woods had a relationship with his dad. “Stop the press! A successful Black man has a relationship with his dad? That’s like us!”

But the Blacks, while a unified voting block, are a small group. And while woke Whites in attendance will nod along with the poetry and call-and-response (exciting-‘cuz-it’s-new and I-can’t-wait-to-tell-my-friends), the same woke Whites are not really able to speak Black.

I am certain of this. How do I know? Because no other whites are at the Black churches.

This isn’t manifestation of racism. It isn’t mean-spirited. It happens for the same reason precisely zero non-English speakers are at Black churches. It is why no English speakers are at Spanish services or Ukrainian services. It is why Catholicism dropped Latin. When you go to hear someone tell the truth (sit down for this), you want to be able to understand what they say.

Tonight, Kamala will bring the DNC to climax. For Blacks. The rest of the audience won’t really understand why they’re cheering.

Or why Harris lost.