Five Thoughts Under the Fedora: Graham over McConnell, Ignorance isn’t bliss, Yesterday’s Outrage is Today’s Ho-Hum, Planter Political Death and in Egypt yet another Islamic Conspiracy

Posted: July 12, 2026 by datechguy in culture, politics, Sports
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While everyone has been on the Mitch McConnell death watch the entire political world was caught completely by surprise by the sudden death of a seemingly healthy & vigorous Lindsey Graham.

It’s an important reminder that nobody is promised even tomorrow or even the rest of today.

Plus you never know, back when the Catholic “Sacrament of the Sick” which is now regularly given to those who are ill, was the called “The last rites” given to people expected to die my mother had received them 7 times before she was 50 due to illness & incidents.

She lived to be 88.

Of course Graham will get a full autopsy because he was considered “young” & that he was on Iran’s kill list but in my youth a person dying at 71 would not have elicited a 2nd thought.

A lot of people complain food is killing us or the environment is killing us or manufacturing is killing us but the truth is that we are living longer and longer because western civilization gives us a safer & cleaner life than than even the richest people 100 or 150 years ago.

As a biographer of Churchill, William Manchester, noted in the first of his three volumes on his life, the food served to the lords of the Manor in the 1890 would not pass a basic safety muster of today.

We live in what most people in history would consider a paradise & the only reason why so many young are discontented is because they’re too ignorant & uneducated to realize it & it’s in the interest in those who wish to use them to keep them that way.

The reaction to the death of Lindsey Graham is a great example of the new rules of culture and how they are applied.

As recent as two decades ago the idea that any person with a national platform would speak ill of the dead within 24 hours after they died unexpectedly was considered beyond the pale.

Today the fact that I completely expected to see it online, both by people who want to get credibility with their fellow haters & by their opponents to get clicks by saying how nasty they are for doing so, doesn’t move or outrage me at all.

It’s the natural results of the new rules. I disagree with these rules & I would like them to no longer exist but one must live in the world you’re in even if you wish it changed.

I can’t get angry at people when I don’t expect better from them.

Since we’re speaking of death it’s worth noting the political death of Graham Platner in Maine.

I was actually surprised that he pulled out of his race as he had nothing to lose by staying particularly since the left is completely terrified of the violent DSA types, not to mention his overwhelming victory over a sitting Democrat governor. Whatever incentive they offered must have been really something.

The only thing that really surprised me is how fast the media played the “boy were we stupid” card so soon after they had done so with Joe Biden.

That anybody falls for it is amazing, but it shouldn’t be. It’s amazing how much you don’t see when blindness fits into your political or financial desires.

I don’t blame fans of Egypt for being disappointed. After all they were up 2 goals with under 12 minutes to play for a chance to get to the final 8 in the World Cup before the defending champions with perhaps the single best player in the world managed to put three goals in the net

I don’t even mind them questioning the calls.

What I do mind is trying to turn their defeat by the defending champions into a Jewish conspiracy against Islam in general & Egypt in particular & also going after Argentine “football” as something corrupt.

The only thing funnier is how they champion the “Palestinian” cause while having one of the tightest fences & borders to keep Gazans out of their country.

Egypt’s team had a great run that it should be proud of. 150 countries would have celebrated a team in the final 16 & their fans would be right to lionize their players & coach’s skill. Alas that’s coupled with pulling this kind of idiocy because since they attributed their victories to calling on Allah to curse the Christians & Jews before each game it’s impossible that they might actual lose a legit match.

Fortunately they don’t care about losing the respect of outsiders like me as long as they’re able to lie to themselves.

No wonder today’s left embraces Islam so.

Five Fifth of July Thoughts Under the Fedora: The Truth Will Set You Free, Media Aristocrats in Exile, Communism Feudalism by another name, 1 down 358 to go and Mysterious Ways and 250 years

Posted: July 5, 2026 by datechguy in Always look at the bright side of Trump, culture, politics, Uncomfortable Truths, under the fedora
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One of the most important parts of the speech of Donald Trump on July 3rd was his calling out communism. The thing the left & the father of Lies have most in common is their hatred of a truth plainly spoken, particularly when that truth threaten their power & hold over others. Trump has the biggest megaphone in the world & his calling out of communism for what it is & always has been, just like Reagan before him & others before Reagan will never fail to trigger the left/media.

I’m not a big podcast guy but I noted a clip from Joe Rogan where he bluntly states that his audience vs the Cable News audience is bigger by a factor of 10 or more. A lot of the media left on TV are pretty much like minor princes in the Holy Roman Empire having power over a tiny region trying to pretend that this power is more than what it is.

Think of them as French Aristocrats who fled to America after the revolution who don’t have the wealth & power they once did but still arrogantly belief they deserve deference from those who ignore them..

Of course this desire for deference is why the media/left loves Communism. It’s simply another form of feudalism. Think of Socialists/Communists as Feudal Lords with the state as King giving out favors and lands to his loyal subject for them to rule under while paying tribute to him. Communists aspire to be those feudal lords with a bunch of peasants serving them.

That’s why they are happy to ban air conditioning for the lesser folks rather than considering increasing power capacity, because what distinguishes the Lord from the serf isn’t just wealth but status and comfort & if the serfs life good enough lives they don’t envy the Lord’s status & privilege’s. It’s not enough for them to have money & a comfortable life, they need you to have a lesser one so they can feel superior & have YOU feel inferior to them.

That’s why they get along so well with the Prince of this world because like him their primary sin is Pride.

Although it was only for three days it was a happy day when my first paycheck from my new job was deposited.

Just 358 more of those to retirement, barring an unexpected windfall of course. If I was richer I’d retire this week.

I must admit those 48 days off with time spent with DaWife was a very nice preview of retirement & I’m very anxious to get there.

Finally I’ve often said that faith isn’t believing in God because God is fact. Faith is trusting that God knows what he’s doing even if he hasn’t told you.

I remember arranging a Eucharistic Procession before the 2000 election asking God to help protect us from evil.

Little did I realize that the successful steal of the election was the answer to my prayer in disguise and let me tell you the Biden years was a pretty good disguise.

Can you imagine what a Trump 2nd term would have been followed with? At best a Pence milksop presidency at worst Newsome.

Trump was able to do and more importantly willing to do so much more & achieve so much more BEACAUSE of what the steal had taught him. He was further able to make alliances with folks like Kennedy, Gabbard, Rogan & Musk because of the excesses of the left.

The fraud that’s been exposed, the graft that’s been exposed and yes the corruption & theft of votes that has been exposed doesn’t happen if Trump is president in 2022.

I’ll wager those who decided on the steal ( & I suspect many voices were in on making that call) wish today they had just given it a pass. China particularly must be kicking themselves.

God works in mysterious ways & that we were blessed with the 2nd Trump term during our 250’s anniversary, during our hosting the World Cup & at a time when he was most able to address serious crisis was just what we needed as a nation.

God knew what he was doing, trust that always.

July Indulgence Calendar and an Update on the Knights of Columbus Monthly Chosen nights

Posted: July 1, 2026 by datechguy in catholic, special events, entertainment, catholic devotions
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Before I put up this months’ indulgence Calendar I’d like to post an update concerning my Knight of Columbus Council 15962 Monthly Chosen nights held the 2nd Wednesday of each month where we

  1. Provide Pizza & drinks
  2. Show an episode of the Chosen (this month Season 3 Episode 7)
  3. Have a discussion about the episode (What’s biblical, what’s not what’s Catholic what’s not etc) led by our pastor

While during training this week I’m on the day shift I was on before starting next week I’ll be doing a night shift & will be unable to run the event. While someone will be handling July there is no Knight who can do so on a regular basis.

So beginning in August our chosen nights will become Chosen Mornings. They will still be the 2nd Wednesday of each month but will begin after the 8 am daily mass at St. Bernard’s Parish at St. Camillus Church on Mechanic Street in Fitchburg MA. When the mass is over people will be welcome to come downstairs for

  1. Coffee, Tea and donuts
  2. An Episode of the Chosen (Aug Season 3 Episode 8)
  3. Then a discussion of the episode led by Father

(Note there my be a slight delay depending if I pick up the donuts before mass or have to do it after mass)

As always the event is free and open to the public.

And now the monthly indulgence Calendar for July 2026

indulgence calendar July 2026Download

Trump Economy vs Obama Economy Final Result 48 days jobless vs 2-7 years

Posted: June 27, 2026 by datechguy in Always look at the bright side of Trump, economy
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It’s the Economy Stupid

James Carville 1992

On May 8th the day I was laid off from my full time job I wrote that this was an excellent test comparison between the Economy of the Barack Obama years who was president elect when the company I worked for folded & I found myself out of work, and Donald Trump, who was president when the company I worked for laid me and all my co-workers off to move operations from Massachusetts to Arizona and Georgia.

You might recall that I only managed a single interview during my time out of work in the Obama Economy. I ended up diving into journalism two years later with my own radio show & making the blog my job but finally had to beg to get a temp 3rd shift warehouse job in 2015 seven years later at 45% of what I had been making in 2008.

Here is how I closed my VE day piece on my last day of work.

So tomorrow I spend the day with my youngest, Sunday I spend time with DaWife on Mother’s day and starting Monday my focus becomes finding a new job to employ me till retirement at 70.

Despite the gas price spike I find myself confident both in the Trump economy and my prospects within it. We will see if that confidence and my natural optimism is rewarded or if as before it will be crushed until fate throws a curve.

If nothing else it will be an excellent practical measure of the Obama way vs the Trump way.

Wish me luck.

Well there has been luck, some good: Gas prices as of yesterday in my area are down 57 cents, from their peak & still falling (although still $1.20 above before the war) I had a great road trip with my oldest son and a spectacular time with friends at a get together last month, Some bad: My wife has run into thousands of dollars of both medical & auto repair bills & my mechanic tells me 1999 Buick may or may not make it to the end of its 27th year but certainly won’t make it to the end of its 28th.

On the job front there has also been good and bad luck I had multiple interviews with multiple companies and some disappointing rejections, but this past Wednesday I started orientation at a new job.

Now to be fair this job wasn’t my first choice or even my 2nd and there is always the possibility that I might not take to the training I need to master for this position or over time either they or I might decide the position is unsuitable for me.

But the bottom line is starting next week instead of collecting an unemployment check I’ll be collecting a paycheck in a job with pay and benefits comparable what I had before being laid off.

So let’s compare

I had a good paying job with good benefits before Obama was elected

  • It took me 2 years to dive into my radio show and start selling ads no benefits or insurance in the Obama Economy
  • It took me 7 years to find a full time temp position (no benefits) in the Obama economy

I had a decent paying job with good benefits in the 2nd Trump economy when I was laid off, I was given an 8 week severance package & medical paid for through July.

48 days later I’m at a job with comparable wages and benefits to the one I lost.

48 days, less than 7 weeks, less weeks than my severance package, over a month before my medical benefits lapse.

48 days in a blue state that companies are fleeing, whose economy isn’t anywhere near as good as those in red states that Trump won.

48 days vs 2-7 years

If you want to know the difference between the Trump economy and the Obama Economy this is it.

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