67-33, part 2: Let's talk about manhood and monsters

Lt. Michael Byrd and Lakeland Mayor Bill Mutz showed you can beat "monsters" who demand no consequences for their warped sense of masculinity. We should look to them for positive examples of manhood.

Here’s part 1 of the Lakeland mayoral election post mortem:

67-33, part 1: Victory, grace, and the path out of our abusive civic household

See part 2 here:

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I’ve been searching for Jordan Peterson’s celebration of Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd’s extraordinary manhood. Has anyone seen it? Here is Peterson laying out his famous “monster” riff about masculinity on Joe Rogan’s show.

“Those that have swords and know how to use them but keep them sheathed will inherit the world,” he says, re-translating the “meek shall inherit the earth.”

Surely, if Peterson is not a weak man-indulging grifter, he’s been all over the Joe Rogan show since Jan. 6 singing Lt. Byrd’s virtues. After all, Lt. Byrd tamed the most dangerous part of the Capitol Lynch Mob — with a controlled, professional act of righteous unsheathing. See deep account of that here. Surely, Lt. Byrd embodies what it means to a constructive “monster” in the Peterson-sphere.

LOL. Let me know when you see Peterson say it somewhere.

Enough with the weak white man indulgence industry

There is a giant industry dedicated to making men feel good about “grab ‘em by the pussy”-ism. It has made Jordan Peterson very rich and famous — along with quite a few other people. Indeed, there has always been massive money and power in literally any “movement” that absolves socially and economically and physically powerful men — and women — from restraint or consequences of their behavior.

So the last thing that industry is ever going to do is celebrate the manhood of the police officers who kill the “monsters” of “grab ‘em by the pussy”-ism when they need to be killed in order to protect the vulnerable.

The last thing that industry wants to do is praise men who tame the “grab ‘em by the pussy”-ism “monsters” too weak to follow through on the purpose of their own Capitol Lynch Mob as soon as it comes with any real consequences.

Indeed, the mob of weak men following Ashli Babbitt toward retreating, unarmed congresswomen, let a woman take their bullet for them and then stood down like meek chastened dogs before a single “good guy with a gun.” Prosecute them as legal insurrectionists; but do not grant them the moral dignity of anything more than a cowardly lynch mob defeated by a professional black officer with one bullet.

Indeed, I can’t think of any moment that more perfectly captures the new “masculinity” movement than Lt. Byrd killing Ashli Babbitt and freezing the mob behind her in impotence.

It’s an industry devoted entirely to giving weak men permission to torment the vulnerable without consequence. So of course it considers any consequence for their “monster”-ing of any kind unfair — a sad-violin, self-pity inducing cancellation.

Have you ever seen a self-described “monster” caught lying or abusing or criming who didn’t immediately complain pathetically about woke mobs or other forces emasculating them? I have not. This week it’s Aaron Rodgers; it’ll be some other “monster” dude tomorrow. That industry will never celebrate consequences. Ever. But I certainly will. So here’s to you, Lt. Byrd — a man, in the best traditional sense of the word. Respect.

The difference between power and strength

Power is not strength; and vulnerability is not weakness. One should never confuse those words. Some of the weakest people I know were born with the most power. All of the strongest people I know — every single one — is or has been quite personally vulnerable to power in all its forms.

Indeed, I would say that all children and women — and most men — are vulnerable, particularly to the raw physical and social power of men. But that does not make them weak. Anyone who has ever watched a woman or child endure the suffering most adult men will not and cannot — and yet keep moving forward — knows that.

Of course, that suffering too often beats adult men — and women — into weakness.

I was taught and modeled — by the men and women of authority in my life, dating back generations — that honesty and protecting and nurturing the vulnerable are the ultimate expressions of manhood — and womanhood, for that matter. Of personhood. My study of history and participation in public life confirms it for me.

I was personally taught and modeled this by my combat-wounded Vietnam veteran father; my World War II veteran of the Normandy hedgerows grandfather; my grandparents who had a cross burned in their yard for supporting integration in higher education in 1960s Louisiana; and perhaps most acutely by my mother and my wife, who were and are both “monsters” in the good sense — if that nonsense word has any meaning.

Both of them, in their differing ways, reach in to me to demand manhood, as I perceive it. They love and loved me by indulging no whining and constantly calling me away from my own weaknesses. I love them both for it, among their many other qualities. They know and knew the man I want to be; and they hold me to it. (My mother does it still from the grave; because I know if I ever weaseled like Aaron Rodgers, the look she would fix on me would melt my face.)

“courage and independence and assertiveness” — lol

Capitol Lynch Mob cheerleader Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri could point to strong, professional, black police Lt. Michael Byrd as a flesh and blood example of “courage and independence and assertiveness.” 

Those are the virtues that Capitol Lynch Mob Senate cheerleader Josh Hawley is complaining that American men have lost. He blames “the left,” whatever that is, for some men spending too much time with porn and video games. He does not blame his culture on “the right,” whatever that is, for lustily embracing “Grab ‘em by the pussy” and Capitol Lynch Mobbing and whining when you get caught as the ultimate expression of manhood.

He doesn’t blame this guy who strangled his wife and is Trump-endorsed for the U.S. Senate.

David Priess @DavidPriess

Who’s gonna tell him? “It used to be, you know, women were attracted to your strength because you could defend them from dinosaurs.”

Maybe now there’s an entire of generation of men that don’t want to put up with the BS of a high maintenance, narcissistic wife.

Or this guy …

And it just goes on and on. “Grab ‘em by the pussy”-ism is the defining aspect of what it means to be a man for Hawley and Peterson and the other grifters making money off indulging weak men. Perhaps my greatest victory as a father is that my daughter never went anywhere near any abusive, weak MAGA boys. She’s married to an actual man and life partner.

None of this is to say that men and boys are not in crisis. I think much of it relates to the abstractization of schooling into useless government tests that punish boys for meaningless things they can’t do. I think sports and competition and performing tangible things are massively important for boys — and girls. I’ve spent hours and hours coaching and developing boys and girls and trying to model a decent masculinity. That never includes bragging about strangling “narcissistic” women or “grab ‘em by the pussy.”

Josh Hawley, who whipped up the mob of weak men and helped sic them on Lt. Byrd, a real man, is full of crap about anything he says. He’s just angling for petty power. I mean really, what a tough guy:

But I don’t think there’s any doubt that weak men, celebrated and indulged by today’s Republican Party, are the greatest threat to us all. If he were at all serious, Josh Hawley would be talking about protection of the vulnerable — not dominance, exploitation, and impunity.

Mutz manhood, Saga manhood, and Grady manhood

Manhood played a fascinating role in the endlessly fascinating Lakeland mayor’s race. Bill Mutz is the first Republican I have seen — in years — who turned to non-Republicans and said: “I’m not your enemy. Let’s work together.” That’s why he got almost 70 percent of the vote.

Half the Lakeland GOP hated him for that of course — because that’s not manly. That’s not what a “monster” does. He didn’t set out to dominate his opponents. Indeed, Saga set out to dominate him; and Bill took a barrage of catcalls and nastiness from weak “monsters” attacking his family. And then he kicked their butts with a smile.

Bill is not a “monster.” Anybody who knows him knows that. His masculinity is nurturing and anchored in a loving — if socially conservative — conception of Christianity. He is a kind, old-school TV dad of more than 10 kids.

Compare that with the emasculated silence of Grady Judd, Polk County’s biggest swinging AR-15, who cowered before Saga (and “monsters” like Capitol Lynch Mobber Jonathan Pollock). Saga just took Grady’s endorsement from him in one of the great public emasculations of a supposed “monster” I have ever seen.

And you can see Saga try to go “monster” on me here — and then retreat into weakness because she has no substance as a person or “leader” beyond petty aggression.

She crumbled when that didn’t work — just like the weak men she indulges and emulates. They’re always left with nothing but “I’m gonna beat you up” or “shoot you” or “I’m done.”

Saga’s bullshit in that clip is a lot like Peterson, who never mentions honesty or forthrightness in “monster” riff. But he does say this. Note the part in bold.

“Because everyone says you should be harmless, virtuous. You shouldn’t do anyone any harm. You should sheath your competitive instinct. You shouldn’t try to win. You don’t want to be too aggressive or too assertive. You want to take a backseat. No. Wrong. Yo should be a monster, an absolute monster and then you should learn how to control it.

The “everyone says” is such lying nonsense. I’m one of the more competitive people you will ever meet — across a range of pursuits. I’ve played and coached sports my entire life. No man or woman or coach or teacher ever said any of that to me. I never said it to anyone. And with one possible exception, no one ever said it to my kids.

This is just whiny, lying, grifting, and excuse-making for weak men and boys. Everyone says — right that’s monster-speak for, “all those mean women are out to get me when they should be having sex with me because I’m entitled to it.”

And you’ll notice that nobody in the “masculinity” grift ever talks about the importance of honesty — of owning what you do and say like a man. Perhaps it’s because lying like Peterson does is one of the chief “virtues” of the masculinity movement. That’s why they all lie and whine and mope when caught being weak assholes.

The Peterson and Rogan grift is creating tons of “monsters” — and no “control” or moral male strength. Enjoy that with your daughters, girl dad MAGA boys.

MAGA boy monsters have always been with us

I am a father to three children — rather than one (or none) — because a weak MAGA boy “monster” (before that had a name) took advantage of my wife’s brief period of vulnerability as a girl and very young woman. And then he bailed on their bad marriage — leaving her to clean up his mess with no child support or parenting cooperation. This is the essence of MAGA manhood. He’s a big MAGA boy “monster” now from everything I know.

When I adopted the children he quit on, he decided to actually show up to the hearing and “give his permission” for me to take on the manhood duties he had forsaken. (He had no standing in Louisiana law to give such permission. He just came to whine like Aaron Rodgers.)

The judge asked him why he had not been able to pay $200/month in child support and had abandoned his kids. His answer was that he wanted to see the kids, but my wife would get “really mad,” he said. Also, he refused to work to help my wife who worked non-stop and went to college. What a classic Jordan Peterson moment:

Because everyone says you should be harmless, virtuous. You shouldn’t do anyone any harm. You should sheath your competitive instinct. You shouldn’t try to win. You don’t want to be too aggressive or too assertive. You want to take a backseat. No. Wrong. Yo should be a monster, an absolute monster and then you should learn how to control it.

That useless dude — who is apparently now a pretty high paid tech bro — embodies what Jordan Peterson is selling. And you MAGA boy monsters should celebrate him. He’s not encumbered by pursuit of virtue. The monstrous sorriness of men goes way back; and if that deadbeat and I were on a ballot together, you MAGA boys would damn sure choose him.

Bailing completely is by far the best thing that guy ever did in my wife’s life. And I do think he suffered as a child with a range of pathologies that became adult weakness and selfishness. I can hurt for his childhood vulnerability, tortured and exploited by “loved ones,” without pitying the adult weakness, predatory instinct, and refusal to pay $200/month in child support.

If the weak man-indulgence industry gave a shit about protecting his childhood vulnerability so it didn’t become adult uselessness, it might be helpful. It is not weak to strive to be “virtuous.”

By the time I came along, my wife, with the help of her mother and sister — two other powerful women — had fully seized control of her life. I fell in love with her strength, not her powerlessness, which she had long since overcome by the time I asked her out.

She modeled for me all the virtues that Jordan Peterson despises. She inspired those same virtues in me. We’ve been married 26 years. Together, we’ve raised our children as best we could — a very humbling experience. And we’ve shared a life without the need to dominate each other as aggressive monsters.

Jordan Peterson and his weak monsters could take some lessons.

In the meantime, if I need manhood examples, I’m looking to Lt. Michael Byrd and the real men who protect the vulnerable and endure real consequences for it.