DeSantis makes lethal career blunders?

I don’t know if I can take another 18 months of the politics as it’s being reported in the news and on various social networks. It’s mind-boggling that the next presidential election is so far away and yet here we are with politicians declaring their candidacy (Republicans mostly, as Joe Biden seems to be a shoe-in for the Democrats).

I voted for Donald Trump but I think his time has passed. That’s not taking away anything from what he did when he was in the office. In fact, I very much appreciate his four years as president. I just think his term was perfect timing and he was meant for the time he was president. Another term? I have my doubts. It seems like someone along the lines of a Ron DeSantis would be more fitting for where the country is now. The problem is that DeSantis seems to be making some blunders.

What’s it called when basically all someone needs to do is coast into the next phase of whatever they’re doing? Like when a football team is winning 40 to 7 with just a quarter to go. Don’t do anything crazy. Just play smart and win the game. DeSantis was poised to coast into a Republican nomination run but he’s made a few decisions that baffle me and others. Does that take away from his overall stance on what Americans care about? Maybe not. But changing laws in Florida to fit your political needs, feuding with Disney, and seemingly unnecessary overseas trips (as a governor of a state) certainly doesn’t look good. There’s a bit of a signal though, in him always being in the news. It means he’s making his opponents nervous. If he weren’t a threat, no one would really care what he does or where he goes. But it’s hard to get through a day without hearing about DeSantis in one way or another. To illustrate this point, when’s the last time you heard about Doug Burgum in the national news? Exactly. He’s the governor of North Dakota and I had to look up “who’s the governor of North Dakota” just to find out who it is.

There’s definitely an element of joy in NOT watching the news, and I suppose I’ll be going through phases where I watch a lot of it and then need a detox. It would be nice, though, if both sides could just calm down and do some actual compromising instead of fueling division.

-Out of the Wilderness

American Idol – Luke Calls Colin Cute and the Top 5

I’ve strayed from my normal note-taking during American Idol episodes because the top 8 singers would be getting 10s in all categories. At the end of the latest episode, 8 shrunk shrunk down to 5 when Oliver, Haven, and Warren were eliminated. Here are my thoughts from the episode in the form of a list, because who doesn’t love lists?

What’s with the weird and unnecessary connection to England

Was King Charles even speaking English? Couldn’t understand

More drug commercials

Loved the input from Alanis for each contestant

Duets were OK

Can anyone beat Iam? Serious question

Love that Alanis performed an old song of hers

Ed Sheeran seems like a really nice and humble dude

Luke called Colin cute

Top 2 tonight were Megan and Iam

The finale is in two weeks???

I was right about the bottom 3 in my post yesterday

Did I miss anything? I can’t believe the finale is less than two weeks away now. My top 3 continue to be Zachariah, Megan, and Iam. What Iam did with his Hawaiian lei, giving it to Oliver, was a sweet moment barely caught on camera, and makes everyone like Iam even more (if that’s possible?). It appears as though Iam will be the winner (lots of social chatter, his YouTube videos far surpass everyone else’s) but as is always the case, anything can happen. Should be a fun final two episodes.

See you tomorrow (because I post every day at 1pm central!).

-Out of the Wilderness

American Idol – Tea with Royals and a Perfect Twist of Irony

Isn’t it ironic? American Idol judges Katy and Lionel are over in England for a royal to-do and England’s own Ed Sheeran is here in the U.S. to be a guest judge on Idol. I wonder if he’ll say anything about the coronation of King Charles III and is it as awkward as it seems that he’s not there?

Ed will share judging responsibilities with another well-known (unless you’re under the age of 30) artist, Alanis Morissette. I’ll be honest, I’ve known her and her music for decades but hardly recognized her in this SiriusXM commercial last year. At least Luke Bryan will be there to advise the judges on how to judge. Alanis is also the mentor so that’ll be interesting.

My Two Pence. I can’t think of a single reason any of us here in the U.S. should care about the daily happenings of the royal family. Now I’m thinking about the wedding that people woke up early to watch and the media frenzy when Harry and Meghan had a baby. Who gives a flying flip!

Royal Rules. After last week’s show and after reading my exceptional recap (sarcasm), you’re aware the show is down to eight contestants: Zachariah, Haven, Wé Ani, Oliver, Warren, Iam, Megan, and Colin. I read that they’re going down to five tonight, although I’m wondering if they would give guest judges that much responsibility? I know America is voting, but it still puts some pressure on Ed (who is kind of coming off a tough week, don’t ya know) and Alanis to judge fairly and professionally. Plus, the show doesn’t seem to care about rules anymore, so why not delay eliminations for one week?

Proper Predictions. At this point in the show it’s hard to easily pick who will be going home. They’re all so talented! Each of the singers have a clear musical lane they’re aiming for as a professional, except one. Historically I’ve casted votes for Zachariah, Wé Ani, Iam, Megan, and Colin. So I’ll go with those as my top five. Cutting Warren is tough and Haven clearly has all-around talent. Oliver… I can’t categorize him in any particular genre so I think that will be his downfall.

Who are your top five? Do you care about what goes on with the royal family? Chime in with your thoughts below and until we meet again, cheerio…

-Out of the Wilderness

Allen, TX – A Bad Guy and the Truck That Could’ve Saved the Day

Another shooting. More people hurt. More people’s lives cut short. Just weeks after the shooting in Nashville, a city I lived in for 16 years (read my reaction here). It’s not fair. It’s not right. I can’t imagine being in that parking lot in Allen, Texas yesterday. The sound of the weapon. Cars screeching out of the parking lot. Nearby, traffic going this way and that, unaware of what’s happening just a few hundred yards away. I’d like to think I’d do something heroic if I had the opportunity. But then there’s a thought I keep coming back to. In movies, usually it’s easy to learn who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. We have the luxury of seeing the whole story from a birds eye view. Sometimes I think to myself why people who are passing the bad guys on the street don’t just tackle them in the cross walk? Pin their car so they can’t get away? Or if there’s a van carrying a kidnapped person, why don’t the other cars on the highway do something? The reason that never happens is because the other people don’t know. They don’t know what we know, that the bad guys are RIGHT THERE, just do something!

But that’s just a movie script. In Allen, Texas there was a truck that peeled out of the parking lot and it was caught on a different car’s rear camera. People are calling out the driver of this truck for not mowing down the shooter. Certainly he or she could’ve. Here’s a screen shot from a dash cam in the parking lot, showing the truck.

Knowing what we know now, it’s easy to say what that driver should’ve done or could’ve done or what we would’ve done. But just imagine for 5 seconds being in that driver’s situation. They have no idea what’s happening. Is it a terrorist situation? Is it a mass shooting in progress? What if it’s an undercover cop shooting at someone with a weapon? An off-duty officer taking out a threat? Let’s play it forward and say the truck rams the shooter. Maybe it’s heroic or maybe they injured an officer because they acted before they had solid information. That would be embarrassing and not heroic.

It’s impossible to know, in the moment, what we learned after. So I don’t blame the truck driver at all. Like I said, I’d love to say I would crashed hard into the shooter, taking him out with pain and severe injuries. But I don’t know that I would, and to be honest I think I’d screech out of there just like others were doing.

We also know this shooter was a bad man. It’s so unfortunate he had access to guns. But still, guns aren’t going away. It’s just not going to happen. At this point, I believe the only way these tragedies end is when bad people become good. I support some kind of gun reform. But it has to start with the bad guys with guns. More laws aren’t going to fix anything. It will probably just make things worse because only people that care about the law (the good people) will obey it. Gun-control activists need to stop hating the NRA, stop hating conservatives. They need to start making bad people good. That’s the only way this changes. Once criminals give up their guns, then there will be progress because it seems like we Americans are so forgetful: murder is already illegal. Do you really think somebody hell-bent on inflicting this kind of horror is going to suddenly obey a law which carries less penalties (unlawful gun ownership) when they are planning to break one that has more severe penalties (murder)?

I think liberals have their heart in the right place but they forget to use their heads. It should be said that conservatives use their head but should balance that with more compassion.

At the end of the day, politicians aren’t going to save us. No one in Washington, D.C. has that power. Lyrics in one of my favorite songs from The Avett Brothers sum it up best…

When nothing is owed or deserved or expected
And your life doesn’t change by the man that’s elected.
If you’re loved by someone, you’re never rejected,
Decide what to be and go be it.

“Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise” The Avett Brothers

-Out of the Wilderness