You’ve probably noticed that the mainstream media is hyping a new WuFlu threat. Not a strain and not a variant, this time it’s a subvariant. Naturally — and by that I mean doing what viruses do — it’s more transmissible and less lethal.
Since the press can’t instill fear with low death counts, they’re leading with cases. And yes, it’s categorically stupid to do that with a disease that’s clearly now endemic, but that’s what they’re up to.
It helps explain why I’ve been seeing that annoying pitch to take a WuFlu survey every other time I log onto Facebook. The “pandemic” nonsense has become something of a marketing niche now, targeting the panic-prone, so I expect it’ll be with us for a while, as long as there’s money in it. What’s the half-life of hysteria, anyway?
(In related news, maybe we could all chip in and buy the fear-whipping, pearl-clutching, masks-forever Arthel Neville a ticket from Fox News to a place where the audience better suits her.)
Meanwhile, runaway inflation engineered by the Daffy-Chuckles regime is grinding away at American middle-class households. Worst and most obvious are gas prices, which blew through the $4.50 mark without slowing down.
When I checked the national average yesterday it was a record $4.601.
Since we’ve been occupied here at Second Chance Ranch lately, it’s been weeks since we re-fueled my truck or Deb’s. The statewide average in Ohio yesterday was $4.438. Locally we’re paying about a penny more than that.
And where did I see the nation’s lowest prices? That’d be Arkansas at $4.12. I checked Marion County, which is where The Mountain is, and around there the average was $4.139.
This week we’ll be putting a tank of gas into Deb’s Tacoma and maybe three or four tanks into mine. We’re looking forward to a couple of whirlwind road trips but not the expense. Let’s go, Brandon.
“If my life should end at the hands of ‘a bad guy with a gun,’ don’t let anyone exploit my death to assault the Second Amendment.”
posted to my personal Facebook page Friday evening
Among my social-media friends is a retired police commander and firearms instructor. I take note of what he drops because he’s an authentic been-there-done-that guy, speaking not merely from study but from experience.
Friday, as the media’s condemnation of cops’ allegedly delayed action in Uvalde hit full song, he posted (paraphrasing), “I don’t understand. I don’t know. It’s complicated.”
We all should be so measured.
I’m a communicator, not a cop. I’ve worked with a number of department PIOs over the years and I gotta say, the after-incident communication in Uvalde has been wretched. Responding agencies set themselves up for much of the criticism they’re getting.
They’re over-communicating. They sprinted to the cameras and started speaking before after-action de-briefs were complete. Inexplicably, they briefed the governor and other state executives prematurely, supplying bad information that apparently wasn’t framed as incomplete and preliminary.
It’s human nature to want to look good, to “tell my side of the story.” Usually it’s best, however, to STFU for a while (probably longer than either the public or the media would like). I don’t know who’s driving communications down there, but they need to back off and give the press some dead air.
They also should grow a thick skin and take time to study the NTSB model. Just sayin’.
What you just read was me “staying in my lane.” Like I said, I’m not a cop, so I don’t have a lot of cred on tactics. I have no direct knowledge of the incident, and with all the conflicting chaff in the air it’s best if I reserve judgement on who did what and when.
I know what I know, though, and I see what I see — it’s what we all see. In my opinion, the authorities have mismanaged their crisis communications. And you can take that or leave it, as you like.
The current occupant of the Oval Office and his entourage will descend on Uvalde, Texas today. We’re being told that he’ll be there for eight hours. (It’ll require a lot of medication to pull that off.) He’ll attend Catholic mass, provide official State comfort and make speeches.
Locals, even those who welcome the intrusion, are begging him not to make the visit political. What do you think the odds of that are?
The guy didn’t have discipline when he wasn’t senile, and he sure as hell doesn’t have it now. He’s both an empty shell and an empty vessel, a tool to be wielded by leftist agents bent on destroying this country.
He’ll make this political alright — you can make book on that. I predict he’ll invoke a fresh set of talking points, catch-phrases to be parroted by surrogates and a complicit media. I wouldn’t be surprised if he unveils the unconstitutional “gun control” legislation we all know is coming, probably a permanent ban on “assault weapons.”
Oh, and he’ll divide. He’ll plow the trench, fill it with six-dollar diesel fuel and set it on fire. He’ll tell the world that law-abiding, Liberty-loving American Patriots are the problem, and that banning an inanimate object is the solution.
And we know he’ll lie.
The only thing in doubt, really, is exactly how he’ll incorporate the requisite references to racism, white supremacy, white nationalism, domestic terrorism and The Great MAGA King. Stay tuned for that.
One year ago today, we did chores. It was extra-ordinary.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB
(Today’s header image is from a cartoon by Steve Sack)