Last Friday as I pulled up to work, I do what I do every day: pick up my gaiter mask from the emergency brake and put it over my head. As I did so, I experienced every ounce of everyday oppression that modern man endures.
Wearing a mask is, indeed, a small thing to ask, but it’s become the proverbial straw—and my face the camel’s back.
So I decided, then and there, to make an extremely small stand for my own independence. In some limited scenarios, I am going to stop wearing my mask publicly.
Readers know that I’ve been using SubscribeStar to host subscription-based content—like SubscribeStar Saturdays for $1 a month subscribers, and Five Dollar Fridays and Sunday Doodles for $5 a month subs—for over a year now. It’s a fairly rudimentary blogging platform, without some of the robustness and customization options of WordPress, but unlike WordPress, it’s leadership is not inherently left-leaning.
In other words, there’s very little chance SubscribeStar is going to shut down a “star“—their term for their content providers—over groundless accusations. That’s one big reason I signed up for their service: I had confidence that they wouldn’t shutter my blog posts simply for thinking critically and questioning the prevailing orthodoxy.
I now receive ad revenue here at The Portly Politico, so if you’re using an ad blocker, please consider disabling it on this site. Of course, you can always subscribe to my SubscribeStar Page, which is the best and easiest way to support the site and get access to exclusive weekly content. Thanks again for your support! —TPP
As I’ve long suspected, The Virus is not nearly as lethal as the doomsayers predicted and insisted. It turns out that only 6% of reported COVID-related deaths were purely related to The Virus; the other 94% of victims had other underlying medical issues.
Let me be clear: I do think The Virus is real and is potentially life-threatening, especially for the elderly and the chronically ill. Indeed, the CDC findings indicate that is, indeed, the case. Even when not life-threatening, it’s surely unpleasant—just like a particularly bad case of the flu is unpleasant.
But just as we’ve done in the past with bad flu seasons, we should begin returning to some degree of normality. Indeed, Sweden’s approach to The Virus has been practical and effective: protect the elderly and other vulnerable populations while encouraging as much normality as possible for the rest of society. Let younger people work, play, and mingle, and develop that coveted herd immunity.
Lazy Sunday is rolling on with some more “Forgotten Posts” (check out Volume I and Volume II). Again, the criteria for selection is pretty loose—I scroll through my archives and find posts I don’t link to very often, or which I’ve largely forgotten that I wrote. Even that’s not a hard-and-fast rule.
This week’s selections come from June 2019. The summer is always a slow month for new; ergo, it’s a slow month for blogging. But with a self-imposed daily post requirement, I’ve gotta come up with something. Here’s a taste of those somethings:
There’s another Lazy Sunday in the books. Speaking of books, I’ll be cracking them pretty hard this week, as school resumes this Thursday. It’s going to be an interesting year. Wish me luck.
In the meantime, enjoy your Sunday!
—TPP
Other Lazy Sunday Installments:
Looking at national polls and predictions, it’s easy to get discouraged about President Trump’s reelection prospects. Even with Joe Biden losing his mind, and the pick of a radical, authoritarian Kamala Harris as his running mate, “Sleepy Joe” is managing to stay up by hunkering down.
On our side there’s grumbling that Trump hasn’t done enough—on immigration, on law and order—and those aren’t entirely warrantless grumbles. Republicans squandered—perhaps intentionally—an opportunity to fund the construction of the border wall while they controlled both chambers of Congress. John McCain pompously and vindictively voted to keep the odious Affordable Care Act in place, a clear parting shot at Trump. Trump did not seem to offer a robust response to the CHAZ/CHOP fiasco, but is now belatedly defending federal property in Portland, Oregon.
Those critiques aside, it’s worth remembering what Trump has accomplished—and he wants you to be reminded. That’s why he gave Breitbart a six-page document of his achievements. They are substantial—and make him one of the greatest presidents of the last fifty years.
Lately, it’s been easy to give in to despair. Trump is way down in the polls, we’ve suffered reversals on DACA (and Trump’s own reversals on rescinding foreign student visas for colleges going online-only in the fall and on suspending foreign worker visas through the end of the year), BLM is murdering people for saying “All Lives Matter,” and so on.
Despair is a sin. Like most situations in life, doing the opposite of what you feel is virtuous. Wallowing in self-pity (or shouting angrily during one of Tucker Carlson‘s litanies of unpunished progressive malfeasance) is the emotionally satisfying approach, but it’s not very productive.
I’m noticing that a number of folks on our side of this great culture war are taking the “black pill.” Z Man railed against Trump in this week’s podcast, and in a post earlier this week (which I referenced yesterday). Milo had all-but written Trump off until the Roger Stone commutation.
It’s a bit late to commemorate Independence Day (and I did it already on Saturday), but it’s #MAGAWeek2020 (read installments here, here, and here), and it seemed fitting to dedicate this edition of TBT to America’s Birthday.
I’m reblogging a reblog of a reblog from the old site. Last year’s post was “TBT^2,” or “TBT Squared.” Well, to be mathematically consistent, I had to square that square, which I think makes it “TBT^4,” or “TBT to the power of four.” I sure hope I’m right. Regardless, next year will be “TBT^16,” and so on.
I like the layer of commentary, like my piddling blog posts are Talmudic commentaries on other rabbinical commentaries (or, since I’m Christian, Biblical commentaries on other Biblical commentaries of the Bible). It’s interesting seeing how what’s changed over the years in this throwback posts.
For example, last Independence Day I had my first SubscribeStar subscriber. That was fun! I was also in New Jersey—one of the nicer trips I’ve taken. This year, it was a Southern Fourth, with lots of barbecue and hash.
On a more somber note, America has seen better days—but also far worse. I have to remind myself of that latter point, as it’s easy to get black-pilled and give into despair. It’s a commentary on the softness of my own life that today’s ructions—piddling when compared to conflicts of the past—seem insurmountable.
But even if America is on the rocks in some areas, God is still in control. We’re still the greatest country in the world, despite what the BLM and AntiFa ingrates think. To be quite frank, if they hate America so much, they’re welcome to move.
With that, here are past Independence Day posts:
“TBT^2: Happy Birthday, America!” (2019)
It’s Independence Day in the United States! God Bless America!
I hope everyone has been enjoying #MAGAWeek2019. Remember, you can read those full entries only on SubscribeStar with a $1/mo. or higher subscription. Your subscription also includes exclusive access to new content every Saturday, as well as other goodies from time to time.
I’m happy to announce, too, that I have my first subscriber. You, too, can support my work for just $1 a month (or more). That’s the price of a large pizza if you paid for it over the course of an entire year—you can’t beat that!
In case you’ve missed them, so far #MAGAWeek2019 has commemorated our second President, John Adams; our first Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton; and our national cuisine, fast food. You can also check out all of #MAGAWeek2018’s entries.
This Fourth of July I’m in New Jersey, and spent a great day yesterday at Coney Island in New York City. Despite not liking rollercoasters, I rode the historic The Cyclone, which was first constructed in 1927. I also visited the New York Aquarium, and tried a cheese dog at the original Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand, the one that will host America’s favorite hot dog-eating contest today. It was all quite touristy, but very fun.
To commemorate the Fourth of July, I’m reheating last year’s TBT feature, itself a reblogging of a classic Fourth of July post from 2016.
Enjoy your independence, and God Bless America!
–TPP
“TBT: Happy Birthday, America!” (2018)
Two years ago, I dedicated my Fourth of July post to analyzing Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. In the spirit of MAGA Week 2018—and to preserve the TPP TBT tradition—I’m re-posting that classic post today.
A major theme of the blog posts from that summer was the idea of America as a nation, an idea I still find endlessly compelling. The election of President Trump in November 2016 has reinvigorated public debates about the nature of American nationalism, as well as revived, at least partially, a spirit of unabashed patriotism.
As a child, I took it for granted that America was a special place. When I learned American history as a child, I learned the heroic tales of our Founders. While revisionist historians certainly have been correct in pointing out the faults of some of these men, I believe it is entirely appropriate to teach children—who are incapable of understanding such nuance—a positive, patriotic view of American history. We shouldn’t lie to them, but there’s nothing wrong with educating them that, despite its flaws, America is pretty great.
“Happy Birthday, America!” (2016)
Today the United States of America celebrates 240 years of liberty. 240 years ago, Americans boldly banded together to create the greatest nation ever brought forth on this earth.
They did so at the height of their mother country’s dominance. Great Britain emerged from the French and Indian War in 1763 as the preeminent global power. Americans had fought in the war, which was international in scope but fought primarily in British North America. After Britain’s stunning, come-from-behind victory, Americans never felt prouder to be English.
Thirteen short years later, Americans made the unprecedented move to declare their independence. Then, only twenty years after the Treaty of Paris of 1763 that ended the French and Indian War, another Treaty of Paris (1783) officially ended the American Revolution, extending formal diplomatic recognition to the young United States. The rapidity of this world-historic shift reflects the deep respect for liberty and the rule of law that beat in the breasts of Americans throughout the original thirteen colonies.
America is founded on ideas, spelled out in the Declaration of Independence and given institutional form and legal protection by the Constitution. Values–not specific ethnicity–would come to form a new, distinctly American nationalism, one that has created enduring freedom.
***
“Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.“Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . . can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.“We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.“But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth. “
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America turns 244-years old today. We’re living through a moment that is unusually difficult, as racial grievance mongers and hipster terrorists loot cities and topple statues. Even Mount Rushmore, where President Trump gave a powerful speech last night, is under attack—some defeated tribe sees it as a legacy of white imperialism (which, let’s be honest, ended millennia of Neolithic tribal warfare).
But America survived worse than our present crisis. We went through a similar—and, to the discredit of today’s milquetoast (yet, to be clear, still dangerous) activists, far bloodier and gutsier—wave of radical upheaval in the 1960s and the 1970s. We saved Europe in two World Wars. We endured the Great Depression—and many other economic downturns. We’ve been through four presidential assassinations (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy). We reconciled following a protracted and brutal civil war.
It’s easy to forget sometimes, when the Leftist mobs and their corporate and governmental enablers seem so dominant, that America has conquered far greater crises than these current ructions. What we have achieved before, we can achieve again.
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One of the harsh realities for conservatives these days is that the only true guarantee of your rights is deep pockets and a good attorney. With the direction things are heading, that’s even truer today than when I wrote this post one year ago.
Indeed, I think the Masterpiece Cakeshop guy got sued again, but at this point, I’m not even sure. There are endless combinations of protected and preferred identities at this point, so I’m sure refusing to bake a cake for a Wookie Life Day banquet will result in fines from the Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
