Paul’s Daily Ration: 10/07/21

Sixty-seven years into This Experiment Known as Life, I can still author naïve questions.

“Why can’t anybody simply do the right thing, because it’s the right thing?”

“How do liars justify their lying, particularly when everyone knows they’re lying?”

“Why do people who know the lying liars are lying continue to not only excuse the lies and the lying liars, but promote them and even worship them?”

“Is any collective gesture of simple decency now viewed as ‘weak’, or ‘socialism’?”

“When did proven safe and effective vaccines that protect individuals and society from deadly and costly diseases become anything other than celebrated achievements and symbols of human advancement and enlightenment?”

“How can any person of intellect and goodwill contend that ‘freedom’ extends to petty and irrational acts of personal selfishness that endanger the lives of others?”

“How did ‘science’ become a dirty word?”

“A mask—a MASK—throws you into hysteria?”

“When did serious allegations cease to require serious evidence? Or any evidence at all?”

“And on the flip side, when did it become OK to ignore and even deny serious, obvious and conclusive evidence (also known as hundreds of hours of video) documenting a violent, organized, seditious insurrection whose STATED intent was to overthrow the government of the United States?”

“Why is it that the folks who seem to bray the loudest and shrillest about ‘America’ are largely the same people who have abandoned, rejected and openly scorned the very principles and institutions that truly make America exceptional?”

“Racism? Really? Really?”

“Why would anyone care who anyone else loves?”

Naïve questions posed by a 67-year Life Experimentalist.

One Response

Robert Hood says:

October 7, 2021 at 10:39 pm

Rupert Murdoch’s legacy will be as the greatest propagandist to ever live. His “entertainment” news outlets have spawned copycats that perpetuate the lies. The cult member believers cannot see the Nazis standing on their side. They are not the good guys and they don’t know it.

Reply

Paul's Bio

I clearly have the attention span of your median fruit fly.Look! Airplane!

Sorry. I’m back.

It’s both a curse and a blessing. I’ve never bought this stuff about, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” But I do think that a wide range of life experiences helps us grow as people, and helps us better relate to other people. I’ve been fortunate. And I am beyond grateful.

I show up on time. I go like hell. I’m a good listener. I hold myself accountable. I own my mistakes. And I have a natural and an insatiable curiosity. I’m never afraid to say, “I don’t know,” when I don’t. But then I try to find out.

The flip side is I’m a lousy ballroom dancer and my clothes sometimes fit me funny.

Stuff matters to me. I care. But while I take that stuff seriously, I try hard to never take myself seriously. As a result, I have sometimes been told, “Paul, it’s hard to tell when you’re serious and when you’re just having some fun. Which is it? Serious or fun?”

My answer is “yes.” But I think that is a legitimate criticism. I promise I’m going to work on that.

This has been the quickest and strangest half-century I’ve ever experienced. During that period, I’ve been afforded amazing opportunities in news and sports journalism across all platforms. I have taught wonderful students at the high school and collegiate level. Always, I learned more from them than they did from me. I’ve been a high school administrator. I spent ten seasons as a high school varsity football coach. I’ve been an advertising executive. I’ve hosted nationally syndicated television entertainment shows. In maybe the biggest honor I ever received, I was selected by NASA to be “Chet The Astronaut” for the “Land The Shuttle” simulator at Space Center Houston. (All I can say there, is “Do as I say, not as I do.” I put that thing in the Everglades more often than not.) Most recently, I just wrapped up a decade as a television news director, during which time our teams distinguished themselves in holding the powerful accountable, achieving both critical and ratings success.

What does all that mean? It means I am profoundly grateful. It also means I’m ready for “next.” So here we are. Radically Rational. It’s an idea I woke up with in 2017. I scribbled “Radically Rational” on a piece of notebook paper and used a magnet to stick it on our refrigerator. I saw it every day, and it just would not leave me alone.

I am second in charge at Radically Rational, LLC. My wife, Jo (also known as BB), is the president. Clearly, I have failed in my attempt to sleep my way to the top of this organization.

I hope you will learn that I’m loyal as a Labrador. But I will admit that this doggie can bite every now and then. My promise to you? I will show up on time. I will go like hell. I will listen to you earnestly and attentively. I will hold myself accountable. I will never be the least bit hesitant to say, “I don’t know,” when I don’t.

But then I’ll try to find out. Let’s do it.