America has gone totally off the rails in its worship of the wildly undeserving — and that includes the so-called Rock Star running the show right now.
— Richard W. Memmer: Epilogue
While I had Obama and Bush primarily in mind — my message was about that behavior no matter who it is. We’ve become a country that’s way too easily accepting of those who speak to us — and have done cosmic damage by blindly defending them.
We all have our heroes — and that’s a healthy thing when looking up to them elevates us. Hero-worship is something else entirely.
What would you call countless people heaping praise upon someone for his principles — then flagrantly ignoring them the second he’s under scrutiny?
Speaking of the King of the Wild Frontier:
In the book: DUKE, We’re Glad We Knew You: John Wayne’s Friends and Colleagues Remember His Remarkable Life — in the forward is a 1979 article that includes the following:
To him a handshake was a binding contract. When he was in the hospital for the last time and sold his yacht, The Wild Goose, for an amount far below its market value, he learned the engines needed minor repairs. He ordered those engines overhauled at a cost to him of $40,000 because he had told the new owner the boat was in good shape.
Speaking of the worth of your word:
This 60-second scene from The Searchers squares with the quote above — and it’s at the bedrock of my beliefs (backed by my lifelong record to boot).
“I Told Ya, Didn’t I!”
John Wayne was also a jerk on some of his stances. But it’s ludicrous to waste time and effort on purity tests about the past that do nothing but poison the present and cripple the future.
It’s equally absurd to inflate someone’s record as it is to taint the totality of it for political correctness.
John Wayne was 34 years old when the attack on Pearl Harbor shocked the nation. And when the U.S. declared war, Wayne rushed to sign up for active duty. The patriot John Wayne was overwhelmed with despair when informed that he was both too old to fight, and under contractual obligations to the studio — which would keep him out of combat.
Grade-A Horseshit
[R]ushed to sign up for active duty . . . overwhelmed with despair . . . too old to fight . . . under contractual obligations
They’re either lying or incredibly sloppy in their research.
Pick one
Either way — if they’re willing to produce such shoddy work on something as uneventful as The John Wayne Story, what do you think passes for accuracy on matters of importance? And this is precisely how the media molds your perception — by wildly oversimplifying issues and leaving out anything that doesn’t fit.
To tell the truth on Wayne’s reluctance to serve when his career was kicking into gear — complicates the narrative.
Recognizing complicated issues is what this country desperately needs. Appreciating complexity sharpens the mind and simplifies problem solving — as it cuts through the crap that narrow-minded narratives create.
What do you think I’m saying with these black & white outfits below?
A young man sittin’ on the witness stand
The man with the book says “Raise your hand”
“Repeat after me, I solemnly swear”
The man looked down at his long hair
And although the young man solemnly swore
Nobody seemed to hear anymore
And it didn’t really matter if the truth was there
It was the cut of his clothes and the length of his hair
What is Truth
Just how “brilliant” could you be and blow it on something this big and glaringly obvious?
This isn’t about intelligence, it’s about ulterior motives. But shouldn’t Sowell have the foresight to see the inherent holes in his motives? That however well-intentioned they might be, catastrophic consequences tend to come with endless lying and ineptitude.
Not to mention the poison of partisanship to absolve it all — running the nation into the ground while you’re at it. At what point does it dawn on you and your beloved Sowell — that blind loyalty to that cause would predictably damage your others?
So you found one small crack in Sowell’s character where he defended Iraq having WMD, does that hurt his credibility?
This man muddied the waters of debate to serve himself: On a little matter of war in the Middle East in the aftermath of 9/11.
On top of unconscionably ignoring irrefutable evidence of world-altering consequence, he has a habit of toeing the party line. Not only did Sowell flagrantly fail to follow the facts on all-things Iraq — he brazenly ignored the debauchery in his own party to politely pounce on the other.
In light of his history being wildly out of sync with his sanctimonious claims: That “one small crack” is a wide-open window into his character and credibility.
I wouldn’t care if Sowell cured cancer:
You don’t get a pass for basking in baseless beliefs that cripple the country — and have the bottomless nerve to preach responsibility & accountability to boot. That — is a cancer of its own . . .
The poison he pumped into the atmosphere helped destroy the internal organs of America. So we have very different standards as to what qualifies as a National Treasure.
In the film, Larry Elder describes Sowell as the “greatest contemporary living philosopher and notes that he causes people to “rethink their assumptions.” Rethinking and questioning our assumptions has long been en vogue in the academy, and if you really listen to what he has to say, few scholars will make you rethink your assumptions like Sowell will.
— Art Carden
Next to zero . . .
Number of Sowell’s followers willing to “rethink their assumptions” — about the “greatest contemporary living philosopher” who “causes people to ‘rethink their assumptions.’” In trying to tell this story to Thomas Sowell’s supporters: They’ve shared their values with venom.
Sowell’s a well-mannered guy on the whole and these people act like animals to “honor” him.
And that — is an opportunity:
And that’s just the beginning.
What I have in mind is something of a JSOC — to join forces for a greater good that’s the gold standard of unimpeachable integrity. Institute for Honesty? Institute for Integrity? Something along those lines.
Let’s just stick with JSOC for now — since it sounds cool and it’s got a nifty badge and all.
Whatever the name . . .
JSOC’s scrutiny spares no one
Note:
There are strategic steps as to how JSOC would be established (which can be found elsewhere on this site).
Right now, I’m just floating the concept — and other ideas this nation so desperately needs:
You cannot be, I know, nor do I wish to see you an inactive Spectator . . . I greatly fear that the arm of treachery and violence is lifted over us as a Scourge and heavy punishment from heaven for our numerous offences, and for the misimprovement of our great advantages.
If we expect to inherit the blessings of our Fathers, we should return a little more to their primitive Simplicity of Manners, and not sink into inglorious ease.
We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.
— Abigail Adams, 16 October 1774
If we don’t right this ship
We will not see a return to some semblance of recognizing reality in our lifetime. Mark my words — your ways will seal that fate. As my videographer perfectly put it:
We finally figured out what we were doing by the end
If we don’t change course as a country — we won’t.
Thank you for reading!
When you open your eyes to what’s underneath — it intrinsically trains your mind to see with increasing clarity
— Richard W. Memmer . . .
One Voice Became Two 