I am working on a longer piece but here are a few stories to chew on in the meantime.
Apologies in advance for so many YouTube videos. I know many of you do not like to use it but since there are so many of them it just made it easier.
A Speech That Upset the Left
What Harrison Butker spoke to a Catholic audience about traditional values, nothing people on the Right haven’t heard before and certainly nothing all that controversial. But because he is high profile and he has something they can take away (pressure the NFL), they decided to wage a mini-cancellation on him.
This should never have become such a big story. In this country, we are allowed to say what we think. Most controversial was that he called “pride” a sin (which, to Catholics, it is one of the seven deadly) and that he said women are being lied to about what is the most fulfilling thing in life, a career or being a wife and mother?
But where is the lie? I was never lucky enough to be anyone’s wife, though nothing would have made me happier. On the other hand, being a mother is the best thing I’ve ever done and it’s not even close. I can’t think of anything, any award, any amount of money, even living forever that would top it. I wish I’d listened to him 30 years ago.
I admire his conviction. He also teared up when talking about his wife, I mean come on.
A fracas in Congress erupts:
I thought this was very entertaining, personally. It didn’t bother me. It was a good old-fashioned girl fight. Far Right and Far Left trading barbs. It was hysterical.
Trump is the keynote speaker Minnesota GOP Annual Dinner:
He will be speaking around 8:30pm, Eastern.
Trump prosecution in big trouble as Costello Ready to Testify
Gotta love a Deus ex Machina. Will they call. him to testify? Who knows.
Trump got to attend Barron’s graduation after all.
RIP the Great Dabney Coleman who died today. Here is his hilarious performance in Tootsie:
The second trailer for Kevin Costner’s Horizon dropped, coming at the end of June:
A Trip Update
I am still in Lakewood, Ohio, cooling my jets. My hand is healing slowly but surely. I spilled water on my recorder, so I had to improvise for the latest piece.
I saw Cybertrucks.
My daughter’s birthday is next week, and then we’ll take a mini-road trip before I head back to California.
Here are some photos of the food at the cafe where my daughter works where she took me for Mother’s Day:
Until next time…
Butker only got it half-right: Men, too, have been lied to about careers being more important than family. Being a father and husband is just as important and fulfilling as being a mom; a career is no more than the way we provide for our families in a modern society. In many ways, Western society is still dealing with the urbanization that accompanied the Industrial Revolution. In an agrarian society, the man and woman were true partners in providing for their children. Yes, in most families, the man did much of the heavier work - ploughing, harvesting, etc. But we know there were families in which the wife was stronger, and did much of the outdoor work. But preserving food, tanning hides to make leather to make clothes, spinning wool and cotton into thread, weaving that into fabric to make clothes. Between them, the man and woman had to provide EVERYTHING for their family.
As we moved off farms and into cities, there weren't hides to tan, wool to card, crops to preserve. As schools became available, and then mandatory, for working and lower class families, there weren't even children to supervise during much of the day.
So the old model no longer applies - but it's important to remember that in the old social order, men weren't the "providers" - husbands and wives together provided, with children pitching in from an early age.
As we continue working out new models for sustaining families, it's important to keep reminding ourselves that the raising of children is the only real purpose of any society - for both men and women.
Because I chose the path of housewife and mother, I truly appreciated what he said. Many times, women who choose to stay home are belittled by other women. I decided I had 100% to give. I could give it to my family or a career, but I don't have 200%, so one or the other or both would suffer. That is just a choice I made. And, I'm grateful to the women who came before that allowed me to make that choice. Another commenter made a good point about being left by a man with no marketable skills. I agree this is a danger. What I would advise in that situation (or what I did) was get my degree - mostly online, some in-person just in case. It gave me security. I just didn't have to use it. Or, I haven't had to use it yet and the kids are grown.