Even their hero, John Wayne, was a cosplay. He was afraid of dying if he got drafted. In that fear, he and Donald Trump are alike; both got multiple deferments for imaginary physical deficiencies.
As a Vietnam Veteran, I can only admire Wayne as an actor, not as a man, and shake my head at his false courage on the screen.
While Wayne was entertaining he really only played one character. I’m not sure if channeling only one personality makes one an actor. If so, maybe just not a very versatile one.
This was news to me, and though I already despised "Marion" as a man, this takes him even further down for me. Thanks for the info, and of course, for your service.
My Dad used to say that John Wayne was playing soldiers while others like Jimmy Stewart, George McGovern were flying planes over Germany and in McGovern's case saving his crew from dying in a crash after being hit by German guns - and he never brought that up during the 68 campaign. Dad was on the ground supplying infantry in Europe in 6 campaigns including the Battle of the Bulge - he was the real antifa.
I have thought that for years! He led people to believe that he was a soldier, but never was one. He starred in so many war & western movies as a tough guy, but served his country only by entertaining them.☹️
I’ve been thinking for some time that the Don’t Tread on Me folk left out part of their mantra. It’s more like “tread on them or those guys, they aren’t white, they aren’t men, they live and believe differently from me just DON’T TREAD ON ME ok pretty please,”
Unfortunately, they don't really know the history behind it. It wasn't meant to prevent the government from removing rights from a select group of citizens.
Like Michelle Bachman's Tea Party, it perverts the Founders' goal of a democratic republic.
“Lie down with the dogs, rise up with the fleas.” Poor Richard’s Almanack, Benjamin Franklin. Racists associating only with other racists remain to be racists. A formula for a group of thugs…or white nationalist evangelicals.
Jenn Budd, a former senior border patrol agent, is another person speaking out against ICE and calling for it to be abolished, The agency has a rampant “rape culture “ which is largely swept under the rug. Because of course it is. That’s our government.
The king has no clothes … those same men are revealed for what they really are. They are now in the clothes of ICE. Their original actions may have been related to their protest about government overreach. But the truth is that they act only within the confines of their ideology. They are the government overreach now. As a result they endorse it, like it, and are a part of it. Because this is who they really are. And they get off on it.
Bottom line to me is that most of these people lack the intelligence and/or knowledge to reason and problem solve. As a result they are functionally stupid. I say that as a statement of fact rather than as an insult. They shouldn't make decisions for themselves much less anyone else. People like this used to have trusted leaders who made safe decisions for them, leaders who took some extra on the side but overall made sure everyone was reasonably taken care of and the system worked. These leaders were in politics, business, clergy, etc. Then power and greed took over. These people were easily manipulated and contributed unwittingly. Certainly there are exceptions........
They aren’t so stupid in my experience. They are blinded by their prejudices and stuck in beliefs. Their egos won’t let them ask questions honestly. It’s too dangerous to open their minds and hearts. Their whole self image and world view crumbles if they let doubt in. My hope is in their doubts and inner questions. It’s the beginning of the way forward for all of us.
Why I use the term "functionally stupid". Blinded by their prejudices and stuck in beliefs cause them to lack the ability to meaningfully use whatever intelligence they have.
Stephen Miller is prime example. Functionally inept and he knows it. So his only method of feeling any self-worth is to be cruel to others. Not a lot of depth in that model.
Can’t confirm been looking. Heard some haven’t got their $50,000. $1,000.00 a month. Some haven’t had medical kick in. If they quit, they have to pay back the bonus! Anyone know?
Some have intelligence and spout admiration for views of Elon Musk and Joe Rogan, are just asking questions, and despise oppressive democrats while fattening as government contractors 🤮
"Oppressive Democrats?" Hmm. The official definition of "oppressive": "Exercising power arbitrarily and often unjustly; tyrannical." It isn't the Democratic party that using financial/punitive tactics to silence the freedom of thought at our institutions of higher education. It isn't the Democrats who are suing what used to be mainstream journalism, to replace it with stories that might be more favorable-to-trump stories. It isn't Democrats who unleashed an army of 3,000 little boy soldier-wanna be's who are inflicting massive pain, violence, and even death on the citizens of MPS, in violation of Constitutional law. Regarding "fattening government contracts", let's look no further than Palantir, the company most responsible for the surveillance/data mining tools used by DHS and ICE. I don't think it's the Democrats that are oppresive.
I had a client who faced federal charges of possession of a hand gun among other charges. Those other charges though serious felonies were not punishable as much as the gun charge. The client was steadfast that he did not have a gun. He refused a plea bargain. His words to me in denial of the gun charge have stayed with me for many years. They have become part of who I am. I understand what my client said and agree with adopting his mantra. “Johnny, I don’t need no gun!” Indeed.
Not guilty of the gun. Time served on the other charges. The jury got it right like they so often do in our democracy. Thank goodness for our democracy.
I no longer needed a gun when I returned to the world. Let’s keep it like that.
I'm floored to hear that Ammon freaking Bundy is speaking up. GOOD FOR HIM. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and I hope he uses every platform available to him to yell at his people about this.
I love this part of your newsletter: "They are actually just damaged men who don’t mind government overreach or abuse as long as it’s directed away from them. Aimed at immigrants and Black folks and women and anyone on the Left." Trae Crowder has had a similar epiphany and it makes me laugh but he nails it as always. https://fb.watch/F4l79o9Ihh/
Ammon Bundy has been coming up a lot lately because of the silence on the far right. Because if the government was coming after them, it would be a totally different story.
That said though, Trump's and others in his Administration's talk about guns has mobilized gun owners all over the country including the right. At one of the Minneapolis marches there were some people with long guns strapped to their backs. Not many, but enough to be noticeable. Which leads to fears here and elsewhere that it is only a matter of time before ICE runs into an armed confrontation with armed citizens that are tired of their BS.
I'm not sure that they're simply "waiting" for such an event. I suspect that DHS is deliberately attempting to drive the citizens of Minneapolis beyond human endurance thus deliberately provoking a violent confrontation. And, when/if they find that to be impossible, they will lose patience and gladly lie and claim that it did. Look how quickly they have lied already. Shortly after Renee Good was murdered, Donald Trump was claiming that she had actually run over the ICE agent with her car and that he had received medical treatment. When Mr. Pretti was killed, Stephen Miller labelled him "an assassin who had brandished a weapon". These people cannot be trusted.
You are correct. I also know that the icecubes are wearing more civilian clothes and buying whistles to blend in… this is the next phase and it will look like the citizens perpetuating something ugh.
But I hate to say that if the Left were armed, the Right, the bullies, would be a lot more careful and maybe even respectful. However - I'm not advocating for arming ourselves. But to them we look weak. This is why tens of millions of us taking to the streets en mass, quietly, almost prayerfully, maybe even just outside our front doors, would be a wakeup call to them. But it has to be millions, standing up righteously. Massive, targeted boycotts are another tool. And if funding is taken away from Blue states, we will have to, once again en mass, withhold federal taxes. Risky, yes. But doing nothing but march and talk won't get to a solution. I'm ready and willing.
Hate to burst your bubble, but the left is armed in Minnesota and other Midwestern states. We just do not talk about our guns the way the right constantly does about theirs.
I was in grade school during the civil rights movement in the 60's. There was a lot of talk about Dr. Martin Luther King's peaceful protest. There was also a lot of fear about Malcolm X's Black Panther violence. I often wander if the perceived fear of violence wasn't more effective than the peacful protests. Hopefully we never find out.
I read many years later that Malcolm X did not preach violence, but that was the perception at the time.
Really interesting, Jess, and I’m going to check out the book you recommended. Another one I thought of when reading your piece is Heather Cox Richardson’s “How the South Won the Civil War” because she gives the history of how southern slave owners joined ranks with the western cowboys against the northern city-dwellers to get legislation passed. That mentality was the jet fuel that propelled Reagan to the presidency, a moment that laid the fundamental groundwork for where we are today. If you haven’t read it, check it out.
I have family like this in my orbit, and I’ve frankly become impatient with their willingness to support suffering and cruelty while hypocritically going to church each Sunday. At least Bundy is living consistent values in some weird way.
Yes, Jess! We can see the hypocrisy and double standard. Excellent column! The same people who condemn Alex Pretti for having a gun on him—for which he had a concealed weapons permit and which he never removed from its holster—(“you don’t bring a gun to a protest,” they say)—are the same people who made a hero out of Kyle Rittenhouse and the men who showed up at anti-government protests brandishing automatic weapons.
Really poignant article Jess. That's really what it comes down to. Militia cosplay. All bark and no bite. As if a bumper sticker sums up their entire value system. When the individual believes he is right and everyone else is wrong is what leads to anarchy and sadly, the prevalent gun violence in America.
Even their hero, John Wayne, was a cosplay. He was afraid of dying if he got drafted. In that fear, he and Donald Trump are alike; both got multiple deferments for imaginary physical deficiencies.
As a Vietnam Veteran, I can only admire Wayne as an actor, not as a man, and shake my head at his false courage on the screen.
Great catch. As another Vietnam veteran (USMC grunt, '67-'68, seriously wounded during Tet and eventually medically retired) I agree 100%.
Thank you for your service!
Yes! Thank you! 75 yo bro, wounded in Nam! Still carrying the schrapnel!
🇺🇸🇺🇸
Thank you to ALL VETERANS!🇺🇸🇺🇸
While Wayne was entertaining he really only played one character. I’m not sure if channeling only one personality makes one an actor. If so, maybe just not a very versatile one.
He wasn’t an actor. And he was proud of that fact. Read Joan Didion’s piece on him in Slouching to Bethlehem.
You've nailed it!
This was news to me, and though I already despised "Marion" as a man, this takes him even further down for me. Thanks for the info, and of course, for your service.
Wayne was a pathetic actor too.
One of the worse of his time. I really can't watch anyone of his movies, he's so bad.
My Dad used to say that John Wayne was playing soldiers while others like Jimmy Stewart, George McGovern were flying planes over Germany and in McGovern's case saving his crew from dying in a crash after being hit by German guns - and he never brought that up during the 68 campaign. Dad was on the ground supplying infantry in Europe in 6 campaigns including the Battle of the Bulge - he was the real antifa.
I have thought that for years! He led people to believe that he was a soldier, but never was one. He starred in so many war & western movies as a tough guy, but served his country only by entertaining them.☹️
Yes Wayne had no trouble portraying a Vietnam soldier but was a pathetic blowhard in real life
Thank you for your service!
I wonder if they know John Wayne's birth name was Marion (Marion Robert Morrison}.
I’ve been thinking for some time that the Don’t Tread on Me folk left out part of their mantra. It’s more like “tread on them or those guys, they aren’t white, they aren’t men, they live and believe differently from me just DON’T TREAD ON ME ok pretty please,”
How sadly true.
Unfortunately, they don't really know the history behind it. It wasn't meant to prevent the government from removing rights from a select group of citizens.
Like Michelle Bachman's Tea Party, it perverts the Founders' goal of a democratic republic.
Bachman was a real mess. Tax laws n attorney! 😳
Blackburn a home ec major!
“Lie down with the dogs, rise up with the fleas.” Poor Richard’s Almanack, Benjamin Franklin. Racists associating only with other racists remain to be racists. A formula for a group of thugs…or white nationalist evangelicals.
One of my fav Franklin’s aphorisms!
I grew up hearing that by my dad!
It was his way of keeping me in line he thought.
"In line he thought", are you insinuating, not so much!
Ben Franklin, a great American, I read Walter Isaacson’s biography of him. 🤩 Franklin would be apalled at the state of our union.
Bundy should be in prison! For breathing!
OR ''ICE AGENTS''
Jenn Budd, a former senior border patrol agent, is another person speaking out against ICE and calling for it to be abolished, The agency has a rampant “rape culture “ which is largely swept under the rug. Because of course it is. That’s our government.
The king has no clothes … those same men are revealed for what they really are. They are now in the clothes of ICE. Their original actions may have been related to their protest about government overreach. But the truth is that they act only within the confines of their ideology. They are the government overreach now. As a result they endorse it, like it, and are a part of it. Because this is who they really are. And they get off on it.
Bottom line to me is that most of these people lack the intelligence and/or knowledge to reason and problem solve. As a result they are functionally stupid. I say that as a statement of fact rather than as an insult. They shouldn't make decisions for themselves much less anyone else. People like this used to have trusted leaders who made safe decisions for them, leaders who took some extra on the side but overall made sure everyone was reasonably taken care of and the system worked. These leaders were in politics, business, clergy, etc. Then power and greed took over. These people were easily manipulated and contributed unwittingly. Certainly there are exceptions........
Yuuuup
Your first sentence captures it perfectly.
They aren’t so stupid in my experience. They are blinded by their prejudices and stuck in beliefs. Their egos won’t let them ask questions honestly. It’s too dangerous to open their minds and hearts. Their whole self image and world view crumbles if they let doubt in. My hope is in their doubts and inner questions. It’s the beginning of the way forward for all of us.
Why I use the term "functionally stupid". Blinded by their prejudices and stuck in beliefs cause them to lack the ability to meaningfully use whatever intelligence they have.
Stephen Miller is prime example. Functionally inept and he knows it. So his only method of feeling any self-worth is to be cruel to others. Not a lot of depth in that model.
I think I'd add an unwillingness to look past their beliefs to that cocktail.
"functionally stupid" Fits a lot of the people "running" "our" government. Thanks for a good smile.
Can’t confirm been looking. Heard some haven’t got their $50,000. $1,000.00 a month. Some haven’t had medical kick in. If they quit, they have to pay back the bonus! Anyone know?
'Functionally stupid'-I love it.
I often wonder how many would be alive if breathing weren't automatic.
Some have intelligence and spout admiration for views of Elon Musk and Joe Rogan, are just asking questions, and despise oppressive democrats while fattening as government contractors 🤮
"Oppressive Democrats?" Hmm. The official definition of "oppressive": "Exercising power arbitrarily and often unjustly; tyrannical." It isn't the Democratic party that using financial/punitive tactics to silence the freedom of thought at our institutions of higher education. It isn't the Democrats who are suing what used to be mainstream journalism, to replace it with stories that might be more favorable-to-trump stories. It isn't Democrats who unleashed an army of 3,000 little boy soldier-wanna be's who are inflicting massive pain, violence, and even death on the citizens of MPS, in violation of Constitutional law. Regarding "fattening government contracts", let's look no further than Palantir, the company most responsible for the surveillance/data mining tools used by DHS and ICE. I don't think it's the Democrats that are oppresive.
Those All Hatters need to learn the chilling poem by German Lutheran pastor, Martin Niemöller.
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
That’s why we the people have to fight like hell. 30 Rethuglikkkrussians in the house are not running or running for some other position!
202 225 3121 or 202 224 3121 will reach ANY member of senate or house! Call n give them hell!!
Share with others!
March 28 No Kings, Indivisible Protest!
I had a client who faced federal charges of possession of a hand gun among other charges. Those other charges though serious felonies were not punishable as much as the gun charge. The client was steadfast that he did not have a gun. He refused a plea bargain. His words to me in denial of the gun charge have stayed with me for many years. They have become part of who I am. I understand what my client said and agree with adopting his mantra. “Johnny, I don’t need no gun!” Indeed.
Not guilty of the gun. Time served on the other charges. The jury got it right like they so often do in our democracy. Thank goodness for our democracy.
I no longer needed a gun when I returned to the world. Let’s keep it like that.
Vietnam 68-69.
I'm floored to hear that Ammon freaking Bundy is speaking up. GOOD FOR HIM. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and I hope he uses every platform available to him to yell at his people about this.
Exactly!
I love this part of your newsletter: "They are actually just damaged men who don’t mind government overreach or abuse as long as it’s directed away from them. Aimed at immigrants and Black folks and women and anyone on the Left." Trae Crowder has had a similar epiphany and it makes me laugh but he nails it as always. https://fb.watch/F4l79o9Ihh/
We are truly through the looking glass when I agree with Ammond Bundy. Thanks Jess, that's an eye opener.
Up is down and down is up. So sad to see past and future results of an eviscerated USA education department.
Ammon Bundy has been coming up a lot lately because of the silence on the far right. Because if the government was coming after them, it would be a totally different story.
That said though, Trump's and others in his Administration's talk about guns has mobilized gun owners all over the country including the right. At one of the Minneapolis marches there were some people with long guns strapped to their backs. Not many, but enough to be noticeable. Which leads to fears here and elsewhere that it is only a matter of time before ICE runs into an armed confrontation with armed citizens that are tired of their BS.
I think they are waiting for that and will declare martial law at that point…
I'm not sure that they're simply "waiting" for such an event. I suspect that DHS is deliberately attempting to drive the citizens of Minneapolis beyond human endurance thus deliberately provoking a violent confrontation. And, when/if they find that to be impossible, they will lose patience and gladly lie and claim that it did. Look how quickly they have lied already. Shortly after Renee Good was murdered, Donald Trump was claiming that she had actually run over the ICE agent with her car and that he had received medical treatment. When Mr. Pretti was killed, Stephen Miller labelled him "an assassin who had brandished a weapon". These people cannot be trusted.
You are correct. I also know that the icecubes are wearing more civilian clothes and buying whistles to blend in… this is the next phase and it will look like the citizens perpetuating something ugh.
I had not heard that but, am I surprised? No. How can we trust those who display no honor, no compassion, no restraint and no honesty?
We must be massively peaceful. But not passive.
But I hate to say that if the Left were armed, the Right, the bullies, would be a lot more careful and maybe even respectful. However - I'm not advocating for arming ourselves. But to them we look weak. This is why tens of millions of us taking to the streets en mass, quietly, almost prayerfully, maybe even just outside our front doors, would be a wakeup call to them. But it has to be millions, standing up righteously. Massive, targeted boycotts are another tool. And if funding is taken away from Blue states, we will have to, once again en mass, withhold federal taxes. Risky, yes. But doing nothing but march and talk won't get to a solution. I'm ready and willing.
Hate to burst your bubble, but the left is armed in Minnesota and other Midwestern states. We just do not talk about our guns the way the right constantly does about theirs.
And I'm going to wear and gift a lot of red ice melt hats.
I was in grade school during the civil rights movement in the 60's. There was a lot of talk about Dr. Martin Luther King's peaceful protest. There was also a lot of fear about Malcolm X's Black Panther violence. I often wander if the perceived fear of violence wasn't more effective than the peacful protests. Hopefully we never find out.
I read many years later that Malcolm X did not preach violence, but that was the perception at the time.
Really interesting, Jess, and I’m going to check out the book you recommended. Another one I thought of when reading your piece is Heather Cox Richardson’s “How the South Won the Civil War” because she gives the history of how southern slave owners joined ranks with the western cowboys against the northern city-dwellers to get legislation passed. That mentality was the jet fuel that propelled Reagan to the presidency, a moment that laid the fundamental groundwork for where we are today. If you haven’t read it, check it out.
I have family like this in my orbit, and I’ve frankly become impatient with their willingness to support suffering and cruelty while hypocritically going to church each Sunday. At least Bundy is living consistent values in some weird way.
Yes, Jess! We can see the hypocrisy and double standard. Excellent column! The same people who condemn Alex Pretti for having a gun on him—for which he had a concealed weapons permit and which he never removed from its holster—(“you don’t bring a gun to a protest,” they say)—are the same people who made a hero out of Kyle Rittenhouse and the men who showed up at anti-government protests brandishing automatic weapons.
Really poignant article Jess. That's really what it comes down to. Militia cosplay. All bark and no bite. As if a bumper sticker sums up their entire value system. When the individual believes he is right and everyone else is wrong is what leads to anarchy and sadly, the prevalent gun violence in America.
❤️