06/20/22 Sanity has left the station. – Radically Rational

06/20/22 Sanity has left the station.

There is no “Fringe Wing” of the Republican Party.

Now there is only the Republican Party. Crazy is cool. Insanity is “in.” Mania has been mainstreamed.

I literally have circled the date on our fridge calendar. Saturday, June 18, 2022. The day the GOP Tantrum Train officially left the station, went clear ‘round the bend, jumped the tracks and free-fell toward the Ash Heap of History.

I thought my wife was kidding me. She’s very good at that. So, when she started reading platform planks from the Texas Republican Convention to me, I first assumed that I was the chain and she was the yanker.

Turns out the joke’s on all of us. I just wish it were funny.

Our deep political and cultural divide can no longer be framed as right vs. left, Republican vs. Democrat or conservative vs. liberal.

This is now facts vs. fantasies. Truth vs.fiction. Sanity vs. psychosis.

Reality vs. Republicans.

It’s one thing to be nuts, I suppose. It’s quite another to be proud of it.

Biden is an illegitimate president? Remember when claims like that required at least a grain of evidence? Particularly when the claim has been debunked at every turn?

Homosexuality is a depraved, “abnormal lifestyle choice”? Let me ask you a personal question. When did you “choose” to be heterosexual?

We’re going to teach “pro-birthism” in our public schools?

Thou shalt not dare even mention the word ‘gun” when discussing guns?

Abolish the Federal Reserve? Gee, that would be kind of ill-timed, don’t you think?

We’re declaring jihad on pedestrians and cyclists?

Formally condemning clean energy?

We’re a “Christian Nation”? Uhh, did these folks have the mumps for a dozen years and miss grades one through twelve?

Saturday, June 18, 2022.

The day the GOP finally and completely “transitioned” into the Gestapo. Or the Gazpacho. And they’re leaving sanity in the soup.

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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.