The Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, has been acquitted of the charges of impeachment levied against him by the former Bush political machine. This should be a lesson that everyone should take note of. The old Republican Party, the one of Mitt Romney, and other RINOs like him, John Kasich comes to mind, is over. For anybody who wants to survive in politics going into the future, you better get right with the direction of the world.
The case against Paxton began back in 2015 when he was indicted on three counts of securities fraud and one count of failure to register with the state securities board. The charges were related to Paxton’s involvement with a company called Servergy, which he allegedly promoted without disclosing that he was receiving commissions for his efforts.
Despite the accusations, Paxton maintained his innocence throughout the trial. His defense team argued that the charges were politically motivated and that he had not broken any laws. In the end, the jury agreed with Paxton’s defense and found him not guilty on all counts.
While some people are celebrating the verdict, others are frustrated and disappointed. Many believe that the justice system has failed to hold Paxton accountable for his actions and that he has gotten away with a serious crime, as the Bush family had hoped to use against him.
There are also concerns that the verdict could set a dangerous precedent, sending a message that public officials can get away with unethical and illegal behavior without any consequences.
Despite these concerns, Paxton has maintained that he is innocent and that justice has been served. He has thanked his supporters for standing by him throughout the trial and has vowed to continue fighting for the people of Texas.
Get ready, there will be a long string of these types of MAGA acquittals in the year to come. And Trump is going to win in a landslide election. And all those who performed as bad guys across the world will have revenge coming their way, as is perfectly justified by their own actions. That revenge will come nationally, statewide, and locally. And many will be in shock. But they have it coming because of what they did.
It’s all About Politics and candidates who are afraid to let people see who they really are in a setting they can’t control
Supposedly, there was a meeting at the West Chester Tea Party at the St. Gertrude the Great Catholic Church on September 5th, where accused vitriolic hatred toward the Jewish people was expressed in antisemitic rhetoric, and it was a news story that gained much attention. And it was members of the “Republican Party” who tipped off the Cincinnati Jewish Community Relations Council, pressing them to denounce the West Chester Tea Party for its actions. Apparently, there was a guest at that September 5th meeting where topics about the Jewish people’s role in the world came up. This Jewish organization wanted to attach that discussion to a form of controlled speech that we see as such a strategy of the political left, where they determine what parameters of debate anybody is allowed to have. Anyone who dares to step outside those boundaries will then be attacked publicly, such as what is being attempted by the West Chester Tea Party. And if that was all it was, we could perhaps overlook it. However, I have a long affiliation with the West Chester Tea Party and Tea Party groups in general, and of course, as Paul Harvey used to say, “there’s the rest of the story.” This isn’t about hate speech being expressed over a controversial speaker. But I would say this is all about the West Chester Tea Party coming out and not endorsing Lynda O’Conner for the Lakota school board and ensuring people knew about it. I wrote an article that has been seen by many thousands of people on August 27th, 2023, establishing that the West Chester Tea Party would not endorse Lynda for her next run for the school board. So just a few days later, at this September 5th meeting, supporters of Lynda were looking for something to attempt to water down that lack of endorsement because Lynda has been affiliated with the West Chester Tea Party for over a decade. And the Tea Party just didn’t become an anti-semantic group a few weeks ago.
How do I know all that? Well, because I know all the people involved and how it works. I know how phone calls are made and the favors from the media are granted. I understand that the West Chester Tea Party is an open, free-speech-oriented group and that the caricature created by an institutionalized religious group does not reflect who they are. Many tempers have flared in the background over their lack of endorsement. I’ve heard many of them myself and I just let it ride out. I can understand Lynda’s feelings being hurt, but she has brand damage that she did to herself. So getting mad at the West Chester Tea Party isn’t a rational expression of justice, but that has been the byproduct of their emphatic refusal to not endorse her. We keep hearing about how small the West Chester Tea Party is, yet so many people are concerned about what they say and when they say it as if they are rationalizing to themselves its importance in the community. But I like the Tea Party people quite a lot and know how they work, and they are as far from a hate group as you can get. But I do know they hate one thing I share with them. If hate is the correct expression, which I think it is, we all hate corruption, and this kind of story is dripping wet with just the sort of corruption that has targeted RINOs in the Republican Party, and that is the real essence of this story.
I write many articles, many of which are about religion. Some of them, the West Chester Tea Party, has spread around their network, which is undoubtedly part of the criticism toward them by these institutionalized groups. I’ve even specifically addressed the Jewish issue as conspiracy theorists think of it because it’s a natural part of modern politics. I love the Jewish people and have said so many times. Jesus was Jewish. We wouldn’t have a Bible if not for the Jewish people. I even recently wrote an article about why we should all participate in Jewish rituals such as eating unleavened bread. Any criticism that was expressed falls under the general failures of institutionalism, which is a much larger issue. And, of course, those who seek refuge in institutionalism to hide their levels of corruption are at the heart of the matter here, and the perpetrators of injustice are playing a dangerous game that is falling apart in this second decade of this new century. The political game of controlled free speech. To censor people based on what they say and do, as if institutionalism could control people’s thoughts through the act of peer acceptance. This isn’t a new game; it’s an outdated one. And the 2010s want their political games back. Because in the increasing MAGA movement where President Trump continues to be the leader of the Republican Party, these games are exactly why there is a severe hatred of RINOs representing people in politics. That is precisely why the West Chester Tea Party made sure to distance themselves from their long affiliation with Lynda O’Conner once they found out she was running again, because of the many mistakes she has made that they couldn’t endorse.
We no longer live in a world where people care what the newspapers say or the television media in a city. This idea of ruling over others with hurt feelings is what created the mess we are in presently, and what has given politics a bad name. So, any hope that this story would destroy the West Chester Tea Party, by the established RINOs who want their party back, will only blow up in their faces. The hope was to force anybody to crush free speech to stay within the parameters of institutionalized controls, which is expected of the West Chester Tea Party, to apologize, and condemn members with opinions. Then, they minimize their message so that the RINO faction of the Republican Party can gain back some respect that they have lost. Because of these games, the West Chester Tea Party is still around and a vital force that works in the background, especially for Central Committee members. Party politics is never going back to what it used to be. People are not happy with it. And they certainly don’t appreciate being used by political figures to get elected, then to have those elected representatives turn away from the freedom movement, and align themselves with institutionalized politics. And that is the merit of this entire West Chester Tea Party issue. They have nothing to apologize for. I think they will gain members with this news media coverage. But more than anything, they will gain respect for their position against Lynda O’Conner and other political figures who have turned away from the Tea Party ways and hope to wipe their guilt away as Judas did after taking money to sell out Jesus. When the responsibility doesn’t go away from the reflection in the mirror, getting rid of the mirror is all too tempting. But the reflection comes in many forms, not just the bathroom mirror or a news media that is already a poor reflection of actuality.
Of course, we are going to have this fight in Butler County, Ohio. It’s happening globally, nationally, statewide, and regionally. Look what Ken Paxten is going through with the Bush political machine in Texas right now. We find the same kind of problem regarding issues on the Lakota school board: populism as opposed to machine politics. The main reason I can’t support Lynda O’Conner for the school board is due to her performance, which has been rooted in machine politics that has stood against the kind of reforms education needs. She has her role in the nasty storm that is about to hit, and rather than trying to destroy fellow school board member Darbi Boddy personally, she should have been preparing the community for what’s about to happen. I know many people are getting caught up in the Rs and the Ds, even though school board people are supposed to be nonpartisan. We know from experience that such a concept is far from the truth. And based on partisanship, I don’t see any difference between Lynda O’Conner, Julie Shaffer, or Doug Horton. They all would fit nicely in Kathy Wyenandt’s living room as like-minded Democrats. Lynda has called herself a conservative, and she has a network that leans in that direction, but her behavior has been more on the side of Kathy Wyenandt’s pro-government school posse of progressive insurgents and far from small government and fiscally conservative values of the GOP. All the intimidating phone calls, going through people’s garbage, messing with their utilities, or property ownership with useless bureaucracy attempting to show power over the anti-Lynda forces can’t change what she has done. She has told me what I wanted to hear in the past, yet she has behaved in the opposite direction, and those are not traits that can be endorsed. She brought us Darbi Boddy, then immediately, as soon as she was sworn in, turned on Darbi in excessively unhealthy ways, not showing good leadership at all. And now Lakota has a lot of problems looming on the horizon, and because of the time she has been on the board and what she has chosen to do with her time over the last two years, any rational mind would be crazy to endorse her. I was hoping she wouldn’t run and that she would point her interests in a different direction, such as a trustee position. But she has done the worst thing possible: running again when strategically it makes no sense, so now we must have a difficult conversation.
I’ve heard it all before: We must have Republicans on the school board, and these conversations have occurred in name only. Like some sports player who wears any team’s jersey, they are told to play against, without true loyalty to any team. The brand damage associated with Lynda will be very damaging in the months and years to come. I was at an event recently where some very smart political people were talking, and one of these particular people was right about this “perfect storm” that is about to hit. But we disagree on what role Lynda should play in it as an endorsed candidate of the Republican Party. I would advise that the GOP doesn’t touch this one with a 50-foot pole and let the Democrats choke on it because the storm is an act of their creation, and Lakota can do nothing to avoid it. I’m not against the GOP endorsing candidates. A GOP endorsement is powerful enough to do as it has in the past, but with two more good Republicans on the school board; otherwise, we’ll end up with union stooges. But for one of those two endorsements to be Lynda is a problem because the candidate might as well be one of the many liberals of Butler County who know they would never otherwise get elected to anything unless they were affiliated with the Republican Party.
The time to deal with this story would have been over the last few years when Lynda picked a fight with Darbi over, essentially, political power, and now the kicking the can down the road is leading to catastrophic circumstances. Obviously, it would have been better for Lynda not to be near a school board when these things hit the fan. But nobody listened, so the brand damage is going to be devastating. Nobody will be able to say I didn’t warn them. The best thing to do would be to throw this election to the Democrats. That doesn’t change any positive support for Russ Loges, who I think will be a great school board member. Darbi could use help, and Isaac can decide whatever he wants to do. But a teacher’s contract is coming, and they will want more money. There is a facilities plan that looks like it will legitimately cost a billion dollars over the next 20 years. Of course, that is attractive to people in construction, but it’s a vast, expensive commitment to a school system that is changing rapidly with school choice options that will become more dominant soon. This isn’t something that just occurred; the school board has been discussing this facility plan since Brad Lovell was president of the school board, and Lynda was looking for help dealing with him. It’s been a long time; meanwhile, Lakota has burned through its surplus and worked up the community toward a tax increase. The problem is that property value assessments are increasing significantly due to state auditor complications. So, the amount of taxation from those increased property value assessments will be significant. Not the environment that makes for a healthy community passing tax increases to support a government school. Then, of course, the national political challenges with inflation, supply chain issues at the grocery, and general temperament have brought pain to everyday people. These next few years are going to be rough.
I would have advised Lynda to ride off into the sunset after 16 years. Instead of digging in and picking a fight with Darbi Boddy because she didn’t fall under the control of the school board president like other members did in the past. And now there is a whole political faction within the Republican Party that is very angry at Lynda. And with all the intimidation techniques employed, it has only dug them in deeper. And they will continue to make their voices heard. Instead of working to solve those genuine problems, we have significant fractures that will be very destructive. Things would have been different if anybody was willing to play a little chess. The blame for this would be much better placed where it belongs, around the neck of Julie Shaffer or Doug Horton. But if Lynda is the endorsed candidate, it will likely end up around her neck, which isn’t good for her. And everyone supporting her will end up with eggs on their faces during a crisis period that will need a lot of leadership. This happens when you mix political philosophies in the way things have been done at Lakota. It is far better to have apparent political disagreements and to let the losing side be obvious than to let a GOP member burn at the stake with everyone else. And that is what kicking the can down the road financially for over twenty years will cost, which won’t be good for anybody. Lakota is not a quarter of a billion-dollar business with Lynda running it. It’s instead a quarter of a billion-dollar lottery ticket for the unions that have the power to distribute that pile of money collected by property tax owners that is spent on liberal political issues. And as all that hits the fan, it would have been best to have distance politically from the destruction that will follow. That is why I won’t support Lynda O’Conner for the Lakota school board. I would have supported her for trustee or some other position. But not for this mess, which occurred on her watch, actions she did not provide the leadership necessary when it was needed most.
I liked Russ Loges the first time he ran for the Lakota school board. I came to know of him during the last election as my focus was on the Republican-endorsed candidates in the previous election. Russ wanted to remain independent as he was getting involved in the school board business then. However, without any name recognition and much support outside of his efforts, he had an excellent showing, gaining several thousand votes with a noticeably conservative position. I have since met Russ at a few events here and there, and each time, I found that I liked him quite a lot. He’s a very likable person who has an excellent temperament. And now that we are in September with the November election coming up quickly, one that will have a lot of Democrats voting because abortion and marijuana will be on the ballot, so there will be unusually high voter engagement during an off-year election, it’s time to get endorsements. And Russ has already received an approval from some Central Committees around Butler County. One of the two that are specific to Lakota schools. So, he came to a meet the candidate night with the Liberty Township Central Committee to present himself with some questions and answers, which are shown here for those interested. I’ve been to quite a lot of these over the years, and this one was unique. I liked Russ Loges before the event, but after, I found my opinion of him had inflated quite a lot. He answered many tough questions very well and cared a lot about what’s going on in Lakota and the specific challenges that are on the horizon. Russ Loges is precisely the kind of person that the community would benefit from putting on the school board during the upcoming election, and he will win the support of many more Republicans for a party endorsement due to his excellent conservative positions.
Yet what Russ Loges is not is a person trapped in ideology. He’s a very even, measured person getting into the school board business from parental concerns. We have seen over the years that, typically, the best school board candidates who become board members are passionate parents who want to make things better for everyone. It’s a generally thankless job that doesn’t pay back any real fiscal compensation, but to play in that game, you must raise a substantial amount of money to become impactful in an election, especially in the Lakota school district, which has around 100,000 people within it. When Russ ran before, he did it as a concerned parent who wanted to help. This time, he has a broader approach that makes him well-positioned for much more support. And given the crowd reaction at the Liberty Township Central Committee event, many more will become very eager to support his run for the Lakota school board. Based on his answers, Russ is more than prepared for some of the complex challenges that are coming quickly on the horizon, and to deal with those challenges, Lakota will need people who care which was clearly expressed during the questions asked by Matt King during the event. Russ has kids in the district and a wife who is a teacher. Currently, he is a nurse and his bedside manner is instantly noticeable. He’s personable, cares, and wants to help his community, so all those traits were very encouraging and made it easy for everyone who met him to get excited about it.
On those times that I had met him, I wasn’t sure if he was the real deal. So often, when it comes to political events and the people filling specific seats, you get images of people but not much knowledge of the person. When I learned Russ Loges was a nurse, I instantly thought of a smart car driving, COVID mask-wearing big government type. But I was able to meet Russ outside this event, getting out of a big truck, and he’s a good fit for the conservative base of Butler County, Ohio. He’s outdoors-oriented and robustly presents himself. He reminded me of many of my friends in the fast draw community, even down to the jokes. Good, sincere people who love the American flag and the many who revere it with the pledge of allegiance. He’s certainly not a political radical but more of an even-balanced family man who is proud of his country and wants to help it improve. He’s a big guy with a warm personality who comes across as sincere without many pretenses. As he shook my hand, he seemed ready to go fishing, or hunting more than anything. He has a very natural leadership ability that is instantly noticeable. So, it wasn’t a surprise to learn that he has already sat down with the Lakota superintendent to talk about improving test scores for the students and building a successful team that can tackle some of the challenges looming. You could tell that he wasn’t just a nurse as an occupation, but that he was a leader as well. He is used to managing other people because he has a balanced approach to communication that has been well-tested by experience.
There are a lot of challenges on the horizon for Lakota and it will take outstanding leadership to meet them. There is a teacher’s contract coming up that could be very contentious. There is a facilities plan also emerging that will require a small fortune. There are indications that the current school board is planning to seek a tax increase even as property value rate assessments will increase sharply due to state challenges. So passing a levy will be even more challenging, especially in an environment where school choice will increasingly become the reality of tomorrow, regarding education. It would be easy to sit on the sidelines and turn away from some of these community problems, especially for those who have grown kids. But Russ and his wife plan to be in Lakota for a while. He mentioned that he wanted Lakota to be good for his grandkids, so he’s planning to keep deep roots in the community, so this isn’t a fly-by-night endeavor for him. He wants to help, and after meeting him, I am sure he is just the kind of person we need to work on some of these very difficult problems that are on the horizon, storm clouds coming in fast that will be painful. Yet, those problems are manageable with the right kind of people to deal with them, and Russ Loges was very encouraging. He could have easily won if more people had known him during the last race. More people will know him this time so he should be able to get votes in the required numbers just by letting people get to know him. I will certainly be voting for him, and I’ll be excited to do it. Things don’t always go how you want them to in politics, but sometimes you get to meet good people, and if not for this school board race, I wouldn’t know Russ Loges any other way. And after meeting him, I’m happy I did.
It’s tough to be a front-runner, which is where Vivek Ramaswamy finds himself among the second-place contenders for President of the United States. As much as I like Vivek, I’m a Trump guy, and from the beginning, it has always been for me Trump, Trump, and more Trump when it comes to the White House. It’s Trump, or something much harsher, that does not consider civility. Trump was treated wrong during his first four years and has been treated wrong since he left office. And to set things right in America, Trump must be back in the White House. So, I have not covered Vivek Ramaswamy’s presidential campaign because he has been running against Trump. However, now that the smoke is starting to clear, and Vivek has shown that he’s never betrayed Trump and has adopted a very MAGA platform in the running for president, there are some things that we can talk about that have come up regarding his character. Now that the world has come to know Vivek Ramaswamy, there are concerns that he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing, the picked insurgent from Wall Street. After all, he is worth nearly a billion dollars, so he doesn’t exactly fit the profile of “one of us.” But then again, Trump is a billionaire, and as I’ve said many times, the Trump of the 80s and 90s is not the kind of person I would have voted for President. And Vivek is still a very young person, not yet 40. But now that he has overcome DeSantis in most polling, and everyone else, all the presidential candidates likely running to be vice president, Vivek is getting more negative media attention, which requires some clarity.
Before there was a book there was a bright young man who wanted to do something good.
I don’t think Vivek Ramaswamy is anything but sincere in his efforts to run for president and have a political future to continue something good that Trump has started. I know Vivek to a degree and have met him several times. He’s from my area of Cincinnati, so our paths have crossed a lot. I remember very well when he launched his political career at the Middletown Republican Party headquarters, talking about a book he was about to release called Woke Inc, which has gone on to bring great awareness to the dangers of corporate Marxism run by people like Larry Fink from the World Economic Forum. Vivek is a person of magnificent intelligence, and I would look to him as the next great economic advisor in the Trump administration. Vivek Ramaswamy has started Strive Management as an offering to take on the prominent money managers in BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard, operating out of Columbus, Ohio, instead of Wall Street, New York. Strive Management, I think, is the solution to the monster that the Federal Reserve has created. So, Vivek Ramaswamy isn’t just some dreamy Republican looking for attention. His heart is undoubtedly in the right place, and I can say that because of my interactions with him. Vivek came to an event that I was a part of organizing, and as he explained to me, it was there at that point in his life that he began to see the other side of things, and it inspired him to step away from being a CEO of biotech companies and instead do his part to save America. So, just because people are wealthy and successful, it doesn’t mean they have sold their souls away and are useless for the rest of their lives. People are always on a journey; they seldom stay the same throughout their lives. They evolve as they learn, and Vivek is still a young man and learning who he is.
I like Vivek quite a lot
Vivek Ramaswamy is a great talent, and I am not surprised he’s getting much serious attention as a presidential candidate. I hope he is in that kind of position for many years. As much as I support President Trump, it is time to start thinking about 2028 and beyond. And I believe Vivek Ramaswamy is there to continue a MAGA platform that can help correct America’s severe problem with international finance, where America’s real problems start. It’s not some faraway country that is the next military threat to American interests; it’s the local bank and the money manager of our 401K plans, and few people in the world understand that better than Vivek Ramaswamy. And that will be just as much of a problem four years from now as it is currently. So, I am very supportive of Vivek Ramaswamy, and I want him to succeed in this presidential venture so that he continues to offer his talents to politics to carry a MAGA platform well into the future. And I have enough personal information about him by knowing him and talking to him to give my opinion on his motives in all this. I think he’s a young person who has had great success and realized it wasn’t enough. He has a gift for communication and wants to use it to save a country he loves. I know the event that he told me about helped shape that moment for him in stepping away from being a wealthy CEO and becoming a political figure that could extend the Trump platform for the Republican Party well into the future. With a wink and a nod, I would say to everyone, that’s why we have events like the one I’m alluding to. Because you never know how many Vivek Ramaswamys are out there asking questions about their lives and looking for something meaningful to do next.
NEW: Donald Trump says he *is* open to picking Vivek Ramaswamy as his vice presidential pick and likes what he sees, but suggests that Vivek is a little controversial.
I think Kari Lake is the leading vice-presidential candidate. But for many reasons, I believe Vivek Ramaswamy would be better. The more he talks, the better things get, and as a political party of Republicans, we want Vivek to speak as much as possible. I would love to have four years of Vivek as a vice president, getting on-the-job training for eight solid years as a president. The Vivek I know is a guy who made it big, and it wasn’t enough. Like Trump, he has independent wealth and wants to use his skills to help his country. His political activity has nothing to do with a desire to be near corruption and be recognized as necessary. He already is. But due to his financial independence, like Trump, he is turning to politics to give something back that few people in the world ever get. So, I think Vivek is running for president, not as a controlled asset of Wall Street. But as a person who has stepped over from the dark side of finance and can help fix a very broken problem with his unique skills. I don’t think Vivek ever meant to be on the dark side; he left college and stepped into the world to be successful for all the right reasons, the way society measures it. But these days, he’s more than that; he has grown. And that is why he’s running for office, and he should be a positive contributor to positive political efforts for many years. There are good guys out there, even in the world of politics. Trump came to this good guy desire late in life. And when it comes to Vivek Ramaswamy, it has come early, and perhaps just in time to help save the world.
It will continue to be one of the universe’s great mysteries why people can look at sports teams and have opinions about what they should be doing, but they can’t apply those same methods to their lives. This is a prominent issue every year in pre-season football with the mini camps as teams figure out which players they will cut and which will make their final roster. Good teams figure out the right players and get them all pointed in the right direction for the success or failure of a season. If the players are allowed to pick their fellow players, teams tend not to do so well. It takes good leadership to figure it out and put people together who likely wouldn’t figure it out for themselves. Good teams tend to have players playing together who wouldn’t otherwise be friends. One of the mysterious qualities of leadership is to see things of value beyond the choice of friendships, and when it comes to sports, most people get it. They understand what makes success and have many opinions about it. But they can’t do it when it comes time to utilize those same skills in their lives. That is certainly the situation in business. And it is undoubtedly the case in politics. The goal of all these endeavors is to figure out what success looks like, whether it be winning a Super Bowl, having a great business quarter, or providing a great political party to the voting public; once success is understood, then leadership needs to do what it must to give that result. It’s not complicated. Yet, it remains one of the least utilized factors in human interaction.
There is only one correct measure to winning in politics; it is in a political party providing the voting public with good people they can vote for. Any other action is missing the point. If a political party is not focused on those attributes, then they aren’t trying to be a good political party. I would say this is a problem all over America, in every aspect of county politics, no matter where we talk about it. And that is certainly the case with the Butler County Republican Party in Ohio, where I live. I can say that I know many people at that party, and I personally liked them all in some way or another. If you sit down and talk to people, I can usually find something I like about just about anybody. But the problem is, do they make an excellent political party just because you want them? And in most cases, that is not the reality. Politics should only aim to provide voters and taxpayers with good people to represent them best. When political parties lose sight of that strategy, things go wrong. And that is how RINOs in the Republican Party come to be. Most people get into politics for ideological reasons. However, the concessions they make to get along with other people become detrimental to their representation of the voter base, which is the value of the party brand. If people have good representation in politics, then the brand of the party could be said to be good. If voters don’t, they start to lose faith in the system, voter engagement lowers, and the direction of victory in politics changes dramatically. When voters feel that the people they elect don’t represent them, we could say that politics has failed.
It’s just like the comparison with the sports team that desires to put a winning team on the field so people come to the games and feel good about the chances for a victory, so they buy beer and overpriced hot dogs at the concessions, which is really how the team makes their money, how they measure their value to the customer base. If the team isn’t winning, there are fewer fans to buy hot dogs, to put it simply. The same holds in politics. I know many people who want to run for office within the Butler County Republican Party. But, they do not feel they can remain people of integrity because of the restrictions of party politics. So, we end up with the wrong people running for office while much better candidates that the public would love to have representing them are sitting on the sidelines. This is a case where the players on the field pick people they like and are comfortable with, not the leadership of the voting public deciding how that team would shape out. Too often, and this year of 2023 is undoubtedly a good example, many good people are not participating in the political process because they have learned that they aren’t in the cool kids club and will never be invited. Because the party is picking the members, not the voters. And instead of letting the voters shape the party, the players are forming the team; then they wonder why many fans are not supporting their losing effort.
Not everyone gets into politics for the same reasons. I understand that some feel that getting into politics protects their business interests from a corrosive government and provides a barrier to their efforts to keep their businesses healthy. These are not ideological people but practical ones who see government as dangerous to their interests in business, so they get involved in politics to protect their efforts. And those people are trying to play nice in the sandbox with ideologically based people who enter politics for reasons of genuine philosophy. And those kinds of people are scary to those looking for political stability. I get it. Just like a wide receiver on a football team being upset that a new tight end is playing the slot receiver role, the wide receiver might feel like the coaching staff is trampling on their turf. But so what? Maybe that is the best way to become a winning team. That doesn’t mean that the tight end should be run off the team to make the wide receiver feel like they have job security and aren’t threatened by challengers. Challenges make the team better. But then better for whom? For the players or the fans? That is what must be decided, and what I have seen from the GOP in general, especially since Trump has been out of office, is a party for the players, not for the voters. It’s the players making the teams they want to play with. They are not trying to give the voting public the best representatives they can get. And if a political party isn’t doing that, they aren’t trying to be the best they can be for their communities. While such a concept may not be complicated, it remains the biggest stumbling block to any successful venture within human endeavor. And that is certainly the case in politics. Some great people want to participate, but they have been told in so many words or less that politics is about maintaining friendships and that everyone needs to stay in their lane and behave. But that is not what voters want, and until political parties listen, the public will continue to be let down by the result.
For clarity, the West Chester Tea Party has not, and will not endorse Lynda O’Conner for the Lakota School Board. There has been some rattling around from several people that they would, but they have told me personally that those rumors were untrue and they do not support her. And neither do I. We all have long friendships with Lynda and other candidates who these days call themselves Republicans but have drifted way to the political left. But friendships or past relationships don’t make a good candidate. Whether or not they represent our values to earn a vote is the issue at hand. Too often, endorsements are given out because of friendships, not actual performance. Lynda O’Conner has been the school board president for a while now, and she has attended Tea Party meetings in West Chester for over a decade and has formed relationships with many of us over the years. However, based on her performance and what she did to Darbi Boddy as she begged us all to give her a conservative school board, the moment she had it, she essentially turned into the progressive governor that Ohio had, John Kasich, and betrayed us openly, even recklessly. I tend to move on when I experience people like that. I’ll give them a chance once, and once they show who they are, I don’t get too kinked up about it. It’s always worth a try to give someone a chance. Then, once they show who they are, you make decisions and move on. Knowing she has betrayed many people in the Liberty movement within the Lakota school district and is running again, she is seeking endorsements for the upcoming election. I had some reason to believe the rumors that the West Chester Tea Party might endorse Lynda, but quickly, they set the record straight and wanted to make sure they screamed from the mountaintops that they would not support Lynda O’Connor for the Lakota School Board and based on what they have learned about her, they never would.
I wouldn’t usually talk about something that happened that was confidential, but looking back on it as I have, those privileges are meant within the context of friendly trust. Yet after what happened with the previous Lakota school superintendent and the behavior against free speech that Lynda led against the incoming school board member Darbi Boddy, it’s clear what was going on, and I’m still insulted that she thought so little of me to try it. I mean, she should have known better. I spent hours and hours with Lynda O’Conner on the phone, meeting her in person, trying to help her. But from her side, all she was doing was consensus-building in the classic sense against someone she had targeted as a political rival in the community. And that didn’t become clear until the days after a specific meeting in the basement of some of our mutual Tea Party friends in May of 2022. I should know what she was up to because I have covered these modern versions of The Delphi Technique for years. It’s one of the most corrosive tools used in all public schools. After a contentious school board meeting where I spoke in favor of Darbi Boddy, it was clear Lynda was trying to run her off the school board over minor issues. Lynda had recruited Darbi to give her a majority on the board, along with Isaac Adi, and I did what I could to smooth out the edges and give credibility from the freedom movement side of things. If I were on board with the effort, it would help the conservative base.
I didn’t see a need to be overly cautious with this relationship with Lynda. She had just spent the previous decade trying to win my trust, so I figured getting a functional, conservative school board in charge of Lakota schools was worth a shot. Even that day I met with her and several other people, it became pretty clear what she was doing; I still wanted to give the effort a chance at working. But she was looking for compliance out of Darbi Boddy to some liberal view of authority that was shocking to many of us, especially the West Chester Tea Party. We all found ourselves in the basement of one of the leading members, with Isaac Adi and some school board mentor of his from Monroe schools pushing a sheet of paper in front of me, asking me what I wanted out of Lakota schools, which made me angry because of the amateur effort. It was an apparent consensus-building exercise, much like the Lakota community conversations had been trying to win over opposition to school policy for a while. And Lynda sat across from me with a smile, thinking all this was acceptable. She had surrounded me with people I had trusted, especially in the Tea Party, and she felt that the peer pressure might win me over and away from the continued support of Darbi Boddy. After all the years and everything I had written over all the time we had known each other, she thought I was that stupid.
The meeting didn’t go well. My wife and I left that day, never to speak to any of them personally again, because, within a few months, we had all the drama over the school superintendent. Everything got worse after much further erosion in the community led by Lynda’s tampering with everyone’s political sentiments and wanting to pull everyone to the left, and lawsuits became a significant issue. I had to explain to the attorney for the superintendent that if he had just apologized to Darbi Boddy for his role in trying to do what Lynda wanted, which was to remove her from the school board after many of us had spent the previous year trying to get her elected, then a lot of the trouble he found himself in wouldn’t have been such an issue. But now that people knew and learned how much Lynda knew about it all along, those were self-inflicted problems that ultimately cost a lot of money in the district. Through it all, I hadn’t talked to any of them in that basement meeting, so when I heard that the West Chester Tea Party was thinking of endorsing Lynda, it wouldn’t have surprised me after all the other people who had fallen off the wagon over the last year. But if there is anything good that did happen, as a result, they did let me know that they felt the same way about Lynda as I did and that they would not support her or any of the other candidates who have gone over to the dark side of politics. That’s certainly the case with Ann Becker, who is running for another term as trustee in West Chester. She used to be president of the Tea Party for both West Chester and Cincinnati, but she has moved well away from those good old days now, more toward the political left. Watching that kind of thing is painful, but it always happens. And when it does, you always must wonder what people believe. But happily, it is good to see that the West Chester Tea Party has not waivered, as others have, and they will not be endorsing Lynda O’Conner for the Lakota School Board. And neither will I.
This persecution of Trump is not a new thing in the world. It always happens when dynamic challenges confront stagnant orders. The most obvious example is when Christ was persecuted and killed for his challenges to the static order of the day. But we could say the same thing of Joseph, son of Jacob, whom God had renamed Israel. Or the Apostle Paul, who was killed by the Romans who continued the preaching of Christ around the Mediterranean to the point where they killed him. Or even Socrates was killed in Greek society for corrupting the youth with his words. People being killed for challenging a static order filled with corruption is the story of the human race, and President Trump is the most modern example. It’s not unusual for what is happening to him to be happening to someone who is a challenge to the established order. The only real difference is that most of these occur regionally, but the Trump case is genuinely global. And the process is always the same, made-up charges, weaponization of the legal system, and the implementation of a death penalty. That is what Democrats are out for in America, but more than that, much of the world is rooted in communism, socialism, and all elements of general globalism. Trump is a threat to that order, so the powers that have been corrupting our lives in the background are showing their presence by coming out against Trump. Trump is the most famous person on Earth and is prepared to handle this prosecution, as they have always been looming in our lives in terrible ways. Yet what’s different this time is that someone like him is coming out of America to challenge the world in ways they never have before. This time, as opposed to all the biblical and historical figures, there is an assumption that Trump has a right to challenge those forces, making the panic ever deeper.
It’s not just that Trump is having all these grave injustices done to him, such as the arrest in Georgia for doing nothing but trying to run for office again. I have said it often, the anger is that the established order has been picking our representatives for us for years, and Trump is truly a representative of the people. They know Joe Biden didn’t get 81 million votes. They knew they cheated in that election. They know what they did during Covid. They know what they are doing in Ukraine and many other places. And they are being caught. And their only option is this desperate prosecution of Trump, just as many have been destroyed as they emerged in history. I particularly like the story of Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob whom his brothers sold into slavery in Egypt. He was jailed for several years and essentially sentenced to death. But Joseph had a particular skill, interpreting dreams, and he did rise to the top of Egyptian society under the care of Pharaoh, who had come to love Joseph. And the tables were turned on the brothers, and the people of Israel flourished until the next pharaoh found them a threat to his power. That’s the motivation behind most of these classic stories. Threats to power must be destroyed. This time is no different, only now it is the efforts of globalism for communist domination of the entire planet that is at stake. And Trump and his first term scared that power to its very foundations. And we are witnessing how scared they are by what they are doing to prosecute Trump and his supporters in obvious ways. I see Trump, as I have now for a long time, as an instrument of God to destroy these powers and that much of what we are witnessing is a divine history meant to kill that vast evil on earth.
And why not, why not Trump, out of all people? I think a look at Trump’s life now, in hindsight, makes a lot of sense. He had great success in enduring what is happening now, to have the personal resources not to be like John the Baptist and be arrested for the pleasure of the powers ruling the day. Trump is too big to stop and throw in jail to rot away until some wealthy socialite pleads for the head of the cousin of Jesus to be presented to her for all the vanity that evil would bathe in. Trump isn’t perfect; he’s on his third marriage and has made many mistakes. But then again, remember King David, who wanted to sleep with a woman who caught his eye, so he sent her husband to war to kill him so he could be with her. Or what about King Soloman, who had so many wives, many of them worshipers of Baal? God seems to shake his head at these shortcomings but forgives them so long as the primary objective is fulfilled. And Trump fits in perfectly with these historical characters. But this one is different because it’s global, and it is happening under the American assumption of free speech, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights that protects our society from such incriminations. The communist globalists, of course, want to destroy the American way of life and the laws of the Constitution, making Trump the most crucial element to that preservation that has ever appeared on earth.
Recently I couldn’t help but draw the comparison after Season Two of Chosen, where Jesus was having his famous Sermon on the Mount. It reminded me of a Trump rally. Of course, the popular show Chosen is a modern interpretation of a scriptural story of significance, and the current Trump rallies might have influenced the director. But it indicates how this story of human need is as old as time. When people see that someone is breaking down the static order that is suppressing them, which Jesus was doing, by the hand of God himself, they will crawl through broken glass for that person to shatter that suppressive static order. And we know that because of the events that occurred over the next 2000 years. We can see the hand of God at work again on a grand scale, not just a persecution for a speech given at the Sea of Galilee, but the words of Trump have reached every corner of Earth. And just as the powerful forces of Roman society watched Jesus’ speech with fear at the power being displayed, we are watching that same persecution unleashed yet again. But this time, we aren’t talking about Christ being crucified, Socrates being poisoned, Joseph being sold into slavery and killed in prison, or John the Baptist having his head cut off. This time Trump is running for president to gain control of the free world as our direct representative, and he is too big of a personality to be prosecuted. The public wants him to represent them on the world stage. And it’s beautiful to watch. The reason for America being created in the context of history is to unleash a person like Trump onto the world to destroy these tyrannical elements once and for all. We had to have a fight because we have always had it. Only this time, we have a country in America that expects to win, not for the forces of darkness to prevail. Because Trump is just the right personality for this task at hand, and it’s wonderful to see and witness such a historical moment that thousands of years have been building up to this precise culmination.
One of the reasons I enjoy my time around Fast Draw Shooters, as a sport, is that most of them have reverence for old westerns and the values of the gunfighter instilling justice against bad guys as typically defined by a social dedication to the Ten Commandments. I was at an event in Cleveland this past weekend, and we had a friendly little discussion going on about the moral erosion that is obvious to everyone. Now these events are fun because everyone is armed with guns, and we wear our gun belts all day, and nobody thinks anything of it. It is productive because it puts me in the right frame of mind to discuss these things. And I reminded people that the world isn’t as different as it always has been. I reminded them of my report from traveling around the world that most countries, including England and Japan, love American Westerns, especially old ones. If you turn on the tv in those places, you will constantly find a lot of old American Westerns playing. Hollywood changed along the lines of the BlackRock view of radicalism that has caused much of the modern trouble. But people are still people, and they always will be. And I told these old gunfighters what I’m about to say to you, dear reader. Never forget the Law of Fallow Ground, which, if you are a farmer or know farmers, is the deliberate rotation or avoidance of planting crops into the soil to allow it to replenish its nourishment. If you keep growing the same crops in the same parcel of land over and over again, the product that comes out of the ground becomes compromised and much less efficient.
I told those old gunfighters that America was going through just such a period. For many years we planted good things in the ground of capitalism, and the return to society was fantastic, and the world clamored to be a part of it. Our old westerns were reflective of that culture. People always did love them, and they always will. The decision not to make those Westerns by a radicalized leftist culture of communist sympathizers run by financial tyrants is a kind of Law of Fallow Ground in the greater scheme of things. This is a period in America where we are letting the soil rest. For too long, Americans got used to everything coming out of America being good. It will be again, of course, the yearnings of the Trump administration and his supporters represent that hunger. But the world needed a break from what America produced because they didn’t appreciate it when they had it. People are seeing how good those crops were and having conversations like the one I was having with those gunfighters, talking about how messed up the world is now, they are getting hungry for the good stuff. They should have appreciated America when America was producing good crops. They are not happy with this Fallow Ground period. And when America is great again, maybe they won’t take things for granted as they have been.
I was getting a hamburger just north of Columbus, Ohio, at a Hardees, and I caught a conversation with a woman with the cashier complaining about how high the prices were for fast food these days, and she was shocked. On the store sound system was a station playing 80s greatest hits because music isn’t very relatable these days, just like the westerns that used to be expected on television. Occasionally something good comes out in entertainment, but most of it is garbage compared to how it used to be. The people at that Hardees were far from political people, but they missed the excellent ol’ days when fast food was cheap, great music came out every week, and people had a generally optimistic view of things socially. Human potential was celebrated, and American culture cultivated it in everything from hamburgers to pop music. This was never more obvious than our plans for a Disney trip with the grandkids we had been planning for a while. I have personally been very hard on Disney. When I think of Disney programming, I think of Davy Crocket and the Zorro television show. As a little secret that I don’t usually talk about, I was deeply inspired as a kid by the Zorro television show, and it’s no accident that my life as an adult reflects those values. So despite all the woke garbage that Disney puts out now, I want them to see the amusement parks while they are still there. Yes, I predict they will be gone in the not-so-distant future. They will not survive this Fallow Ground period because they took people for granted. People are moving on since Disney no longer represents those classic American values. I have been shocked by how badly Disney has fallen on vacation planning. Their brand damage is substantial and unrecoverable. They haven’t planted anything new for a long time, and their crops are stunted, wilted, and not consumable. So, they are dying. Ten years ago, planning a Disney vacation was a much different experience. They are almost begging people to visit now, which they never used to. But in many ways, what is happening to Disney will happen to every American corporation. This plot to collapse capitalism into a communist centrally planned society was destined to fail from the outset.
Just because people see a barren landscape and that the Law of Fallow Ground was imposed on a culture by a hostile society, such as the levels of Marxism we now see injected into the American economy by radical leftists; the unfortunate answer is that we needed to let this happen so that we could restore greatness to the soil of our economy. Giving the soil time to rest by allowing other things to grow, mostly garbage has been good because people will appreciate the good stuff when it returns. And it will return. Companies like Disney will likely be gone forever, as will many companies that have tried to take advantage of this Fallow Ground period and grow weeds in our gardens. But once pulled and cleared, many companies won’t be there any longer. But the values of our culture, shown in all those American Westerns which people worldwide appreciate so much, will return in whatever form they grow into. And as I told those gunslingers, the values are still desired. Because communist corporations have tried to plant weeds in our culture, people will tire quickly of their offerings and want a restoration of the good stuff. So I don’t see all this depletion as permanent. It’s a trait of the Law of Fallow Ground. It’s a necessary period that people need to gain an appreciation for what America has produced in the past. Once our culture makes those things again, people will appreciate it more because now they will have seen the option. When Zorro was on television for the first time, produced by Disney, people expected a good society that understood why that show was essential and enjoyed. Now they see the benefits and want more of it in the future. The lesson is that corporations and communist governments are not in charge. The market economy is the desires of people and values that most represent them. And what we see today is just the Law of Fallow Ground, and the good crops from that ground will return.
This will be a nice yard sign for Trump supporters who can’t wait for next year to vote for, or against some anti-American political enemy.
Because I, like many people involved, I must at least provide fair warning. Enjoying people is one thing; agreeing with them is an entirely different matter. This was grotesquely obvious while driving by Lakota West in West Chester, Ohio, on August 8th, 2023, where the special election was a significant focus. As far as the eye could see from the road were Vote No signs, a blatant reminder that the progressive government school there is a factory of liberal politics intent to convert confiscated wealth from property owners and to turn it into Democrat activism. And many Republican-leaning people have been suckered into the game, even to support it against conservative, traditional values. Even on issues like Issue 1, which would have made it more difficult to change the Ohio Constitution, Lakota schools are aggressive in favor of change. That’s the purpose of their existence, to change our traditional American culture into some monstrosity of liberalism. And that election day was just a reminder of that sentiment and the genuine catastrophe of the upcoming fall election in November. Lynda O’Conner is up for re-election, and many people close to the matter have been hoping that she wouldn’t run because the opposition against her is on a crusade that has not been seen at Lakota in all the years of its existence. Before things get too messy here, I would call to mind a few monumental memories of the past, such as when the Tea Party had to take a stand against John Kasich after he turned into a progressive after his loss with the state labor unions. They turned him into a progressive pretzel, and many of us worked hard to destroy him because we had to. In a few short years, you don’t see him around anymore. And many of the people who are now pushing for Lynda O’Conner to be re-elected this fall, after all that’s happened, went after Speaker of the House John Boehner and essentially knocked him out of the Republican Party because he was too much of a RINO.
The plan is for these to be everywhere
It’s an old game; we all get it. Friendships are made with people who are politically dangerous so that they can be controlled and perhaps worked against their original positions. And that certainly has been the case with the Butler County Republican Party. It’s always tempting to be invited to the cool kids’ table just so they can control you, not because they really like you. I just spoke about an excellent event with Nancy Nix where some of us have had some cantankerous hostilities toward each other. But at that event, we put a lot of that aside and had a nice evening together and enjoyed the comedians who were performing. It was a nice story. But all that is about to go sideways with Lynda O’Conner, which is fine. But the belief that friendships and private meetings would turn the resistance against her into captured assets of compliance with party sentiments was ill-advised and has only stirred up the hornet’s nest. The people involved with this next generation’s fight against the progressive objectives of Lakota schools will not be enamored with the shiny keys of friendship and gaining a seat at the table with the cool kids of power. The people I know standing against Lynda O’Conner for this upcoming election have a moral problem with her. It goes far beyond even calling her a RINO. They are not interested in Unity for the Community or coming together as a Republican party; this is all about right and wrong and standing up to the intrusions of a progressive political machine that works against conservative values in every way possible. And the passion is much greater than in those days of Governor Kasich and John Boehner. Many of the people involved in those old battles are now part of the cool kid’s club, and they like it, and they are supporting Lynda for the upcoming election and have been whispering in her ear and thinking that little secret meetings and emails of consensus building might work as it had on them in the past. I heard about some of these attempts while driving by Lakota West on that August election day, and I feel compelled to warn everyone that this is different, and there will be severe brand damage in the aftermath. This is unlike anything yet experienced in politics, which says a lot. And I don’t think many people understand.
There is a really graphic version of this one that will be used later
The advice that I have been giving to people is that this is a throw-away election. If a new school board will not work with a three to two majority to eliminate excessive administrators to save runaway cost losses at the government schools, then what’s the point of any of it? Cutting 20 or 30 equity and inclusion administrative hires could save many millions of dollars, which Lakota needs to do. But there are a lot of soft-shelled tacos out there, some in the GOP who would be running as Democrats if it wasn’t Butler County who want to feel good about themselves by supporting a big government school. The trans issue has been a challenge forcing people’s real politics to emerge along those lines. I would say that because of the way everyone has treated Darbi Boddy as a school board member to let them choke on it. Let the rope go and let Lakota destroy itself; let the liberals have their way. Let them do what Biden has done to the country because then and only then will people wake up. The campaign to fight them will become more apparent when people see what they are about and can’t focus their union efforts of progressivism against someone like Darbi. And for the soft-shelled types who want to support Lakota under Lynda’s leadership, the tax levy they have in mind will change their sentiments quickly. And we’ll be back to fighting tax increases instead of legitimately trying to control the costs.
The people I have been talking to who are thinking of running and don’t think they have much of a chance, I have told them the same thing I’ve said to Lynda in the past. The union threshold is around 7000 voters. That is a baked-in number. If you want to beat them, you must get over 8000 voters, however possible. Lynda hopes to blend that a bit with GOP support, and enough RINO types are willing to cross that line because they don’t want more of a fight than what we have seen so far with Darbi on the board. Yet Lynda’s role against Darbi has woken up something new in the Lakota school district that goes far beyond typical political disagreements. Something that traditional politics has no way of dealing with. This is a battle over ethics and the essence of right and wrong, and the way Lynda handled the superintendent issue and the protection of children at Lakota is a deeply emotional issue that there is no compromise on. This isn’t like the days when the Tea Party wanted John Boehner out, and a more Tea Party type like Warren Davidson was put in, and everyone shook hands and ate a sandwich together. This is more of a civil war, casualties included. Many Lyin’ Lynda types have been waiting for this opportunity, and it’s only fair to warn everyone involved. Because I generally like everyone involved. But right and wrong are not negotiable. That’s certainly always been my position. If people wanted to be friends, okay, I’ve been willing. But I’ve never been willing to compromise right and wrong as determined by conservative, Republican politics. I’ve never been some dope-smoking libertarian. I’ve always been a traditional Republican party supporter. However, some of this new generation are perfectly willing to abandon any pretense of friendship to defend traditional, conservative values. And they are far more interested in doing what is suitable than compromising with what’s wrong to have unity in the community and an intact Republican party. And I provide that warning with sincerity for the good things in the past that have been done and the good memory of them.
These are the kind of teachers Lynda, Julie and Doug want teaching your kids at Lakota. Here is a recently hired teacher at Endeavor Elementary
The Overmanwarrior 