It can get pretty murky whenever money is involved as to the final outcome, which to me was the case with Steve Bannon, the popular WarRoom podcaster and former strategic advisor to President Trump. He recently pleaded guilty to defrauding investors on a private effort to fund the southern border wall in the U.S. The hitching point for prosecutors was that the investors believed that 100% of the money was to go to construct the wall, so if some of that money goes to buying a pack of gum for instance, or some administrative cost such as buying paper for a copier, then that could and would be considered fraudulent behavior and a political enemy could then use that technicality to call the behavior fraudulent. It can get pretty wild and scary with all the emails that start dealing with money. I have a standard policy of keeping any money out of it when I do something with others to avoid the pitfalls Bannon found himself in. When you find yourself a prominent national figure, some people will always seek to sink you on any technicality. So, of course, the radical leftists think this admission of guilt from Bannon is going to hurt him in the eyes of his very vast podcasting public, and I hate to break it to everyone, but America likes bandits and outlaws, so long as they are not bad guys themselves and are seen as fighting against a corrupt system. In that case, people will find the criminal behavior to be good and will punish the bad guys who attempt to get control of the law so they can define good and bad behavior. People still have a sense of justice that extends beyond what some central authority tries to impose, which is exactly how President Trump ended up back in the White House and where the mug shot he received from the Fulton County Jail over the case there regarding overturning the election of 2020 is now seen hanging outside the Oval Office in the White House. People are pretty smart and not just compliant followers, and they could smell a rat in that case; the more Trump’s political enemies dug in, the more they supported Trump and, of course, people like Steve Bannon.

A good soundboard on this strange mystery can be seen in my favorite steak house in Cincinnati. I think it’s the best steak house in the Midwest, and it is certainly on par with any restaurant, wherever they are, in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, London, or anywhere else. It’s called Son of a Butcher in Liberty Township, Ohio. Growing up in Liberty Township, I never imagined in my wildest fantasy that something like Son of a Butcher would be located where it would be and that some of what went on in that location would be some of the most essential things in the business and political world. But we’re talking about bad guys here and can’t stray too far off the mark. If you have ever been to Son of a Butcher, it is known for its very wild interior decorating with lots of art painted all over the walls and crazy chandeliers hanging from the ceiling everywhere. Every room in the restaurant has a kind of artistic expression reflecting contemporary pop culture. For instance, in one room looming over what they call the Godfather table, indicated so from the popular movie series, is a painting of the Joker from the Batman movies. Another room is filled with paintings of books from popular literature. It’s a wild place artistically and looks more like a kind of dive bar in New York than something you’d find anywhere in Cincinnati, let alone Liberty Township, Ohio.

Of course, the food is even better than the decorations, as they know how to pack a punch for food preparation. They have some very expensive steaks at the S.O.B., as it’s known, and a couple of people eating there could very easily spend 1K per couple. Some of the food items are moderately priced, but they are on the high end of the menu offerings and is often one of the most interesting places I find myself in routinely. It’s the perfect place to meet people for complicated conversations, to say things appropriately. When I am there, I am usually put into a back room, which is my favorite place, that seats about 8 to 10 people, has crystal skulls all over the place and is pretty wild in a place of wild rooms. They call this place the Criminal Room, and it has pictures of famous outlaws popularly known. Painted on those walls is a large mural of Bonnie and Clyde. Around the circumference of the room are two large paintings of very well-known pop culture icons, Marylin Monroe and the other Snoop Dogg. Marylin Monroe was arrested several times for driving without a license and driving too slow in one instance. Another time, it was for a peaceful protest. The room paints her with a mug shot, illustrating that just about anybody can be seen as an outlaw if people dig far enough. Then there is Snoop Dogg, who lately has been trying to change his image into something more kid-friendly and popular rather than the thug gangster rapper who advocated for lots of recreational pot use. Snoop Dogg was arrested for his role in a murder investigation, the details of which have just been sealed from public record in 2024, about the time that the popular rap star and Corona beer commercial spokesman started to change his image to a broader audience. The murder was a 1993 case that didn’t quite get to prosecute him for extended jail time, but the charges were severe.
The point of the matter is that even with the murder charge hanging over Snoop Dogg’s head, the public didn’t care. They bought his records anyway, turning him into one of the world’s superstars in music. And I probably wouldn’t know much of that story if he wasn’t painted on the Son of the Butcher walls that I see at least once a month. That is certainly the case with Steve Bannon and even President Trump. Republicans have been harming themselves with their brand by trying to push out the bad boys that all the women like and put in place all the embarrassing stiff pencil necks that they think adhere to the law, but when they get pushed around by the political left, they end up being seen as George McFly from the Back to the Future movies. Steve Bannon sees himself more like John Paul Jones, the popular pirate from the Revolution, so he understood all this well before others did in the GOP. But the lesson is, if you want to win people over to your point of view, a background as an outlaw only helps you. Being a criminal, however, hurts you, so there is a very fine line to walk. The difference is public judgment; if the public sees lawfare occurring, they will support the victim if they stick up for themselves, which is why having those celebrities in that room at the S.O.B. is so artistically revealing. We love people who challenge the law that corrupt people use to hold back our society. But people do not love criminals who unfairly seek to exploit people in a weakened position. And the more that the bad guys have tried to prosecute Steve Bannon, who just stepped out of a jail term right before the election of 2024. The more popular and influential they have made him.
Rich Hoffman

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