“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert.” –J. Robert Oppenheimer
When you get time and if you are interested in the subject of the Uniparty and The Club, I hope you will consider reading this HOH four part series. Please forgive my writing style and focus on the content and implications because stories like this one give us big clues.
That said, let’s finish this and move on. Time to Monday morning quarterback this puppy and put it to bed (H/T to Catturd). I want to start by asking an off-the-wall question of our resident numerologists, symbolism experts, and those skilled in family planning and development.
Why would all of the major members of the subject Haslam family each have THREE children?
Big Jim and Cynthia – Three: Jimmy, Ann, Bill
Natalie – Three Children from first marriage
Jimmy and Dee – Three: James (Jimmy adopted Dee’s son), Whitney and Cynthia
Ann and Steve – Three Children from Steve’s first marriage
Bill and Crissy – Three: Annie, Leigh, Will
Coincidence? Seems strange. What if one or more had gone off the rails and only had one or two? Would it have brought the whole family circus down or something?
Cynthia’s Death
This one is a whole lot more serious. Why no autopsy of Cynthia with a sudden, unexpected death at age 42 in the middle of the day? Big Jim and her family knew her father reportedly died of a heart condition in his 30s. Not having an autopsy started rumors, possibly unfounded. Why would Big Jim not want to know for sure about the cause of death of his wife and mother of his children since a similar condition may affect one or more of his children or anticipated grandchildren in the future? The rumors grew over time when two years after her death Big Jim married his long time friend, fellow UT classmate and former Miss Tennessee, Natalie. She had divorced her first husband a year after Cynthia’s death. The rumors quieted down two decades later when his daughter, Ann, was diagnosed and had surgery for an aorta dissection in a similar age bracket as her mother. Did Cynthia ever exhibit symptoms? Would Big Jim know if he was on the road as much as has been reported? Would he have insisted on her going to a cardiologist if symptoms occurred in front of him?
What if Cynthia had lived a normal, longer life? So much to question and unpack.
Ann was strongly impacted at age 18 by discovering her mother dead in the couple’s bed. She never really got her act together after that. She went to UT but did not finish. Did not marry Steve until she was well into her thirties. Family life had become more complicated with her trying to take over for her mom and Big Jim marrying Natalie with her three children to add to the family dynamics so soon. She discovered her personal aorta problem after marriage to Steve. Was it causing her problems all along?
More importantly, how would the children have turned out if Cynthia had lived? A reportedly grounded, kind, giving soul who took care of family and friends. In the public eye, but no socialite beauty like Natalie. Would Big Jim have been as aggressive in business nationwide with all of the galas, events and dinners? Would Jimmy have been more careful and considerate with his mom in his ear? Would Bill have gone to seminary and become a pastor as he planned, or, would he have even been involved with people who kindled the desire? Would Bill have ever started going to Young Life, which made such an impact on his life. Would the family have joined The Club, or, just been a regionally successful, pay it forward family in the local Club?
Natalie’s Divorce/Remarriage to Big Jim
Wow, that was quick. Apparently, Natalie’s first marriage had been on the rocks for several years. But it completely cratered quickly when Big Jim became available. Natalie was already a big thing in local high society and could handle herself well with powerful people.
What if Natalie had remained in her first marriage? How would things have gone for the children of both Big Jim and Natalie? What would have happened to Pilot? Natalie proved herself highly valuable in both the local and big Clubs.
Big Jim’s Early Career Choice and Financial Missteps
What if Big Jim had gone into the other career he considered upon his return from military service – marketing and advertising for radio and this new fangled thing being developed and sold called a television, which he thought was just a fad (his comments)? Would he have been as successful? What impact would it have on his family and their futures? What if Big Jim had adopted a slower, more measured expansion rate in the early years? What if Marathon, his supplier, had not agreed or been capable of stepping up and buying an interest in Pilot while also providing more money for expansion when he over expanded and the company finances tanked? Banks were reeling from the Ford/Carter years with sky rocketing interest rates. Money was tight for small businesses in particular.
To Big Jim and Marathon’s credit, they were loyal to each other from that first deal on. That’s the way it should work. There were periods when they did less business together based on individual circumstances, but each always stepped up for the other as the situation and opportunity presented itself.
Religion
Big Jim’s faith is old school. It’s there, just not discussed much in the media. But people know he is a believer and a benefactor. In the local Club, historic St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral is high on the list and apparently that may have been where they went based on a few media reports. We do know Big Jim did not ever drink alcohol or smoke per Jimmy.
But he deemed it OK to sell both to customers in the business. He just chose not to partake.
Jimmy does what Jimmy does. Who knows.
Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church has been the choice of Bill since his youth after his mom died. It has always been highly evangelical in approach, outreach and worship services. Bill became very active in Young Life as a teenager, an international Christ based organization. It had a profound effect on his faith journey. You can look it up to learn more. It has been effective over the decades in its outreach to all young people to bring the message of Christ in a more fun and relaxed environment. Bill is on the Board even today.
What if the rest of the family had gone the route of Bill? What if Bill had gone the route of the rest of his family?
Philanthropy
What would the University of Tennessee, its facilities, its athletic programs, and the many charities and community organizations who benefited greatly from the philanthropy of this family look like today if Big Jim and Pilot never happened to the scale it did?
Pilot Business Expansion
What if the bank President I worked for had not taken Pilot and Big Jim on as a customer such that he trusted them enough to make an out of policy financing package? It was a career limiting move if it had failed. What would Pilot have done from that point on? Between the efforts of Pilot and its primary competitor, TA, the travel and trucking industries were changed forever in North America. What if Marathon had not continued as a supplier with their buyout by Big Jim in 1988? What if Marathon had not reentered the picture in ownership later to push the expansion of travel centers such that the Flying J merger occurred? Would Buffett have ever been interested enough to make the move after Jimmy’s mess, which probably still would have happened with Jimmy being who Jimmy is and doing what Jimmy does.
Ross, Dee, and Jimmy
What if Ross had never left Knoxville to go to NY to learn the globalist television production business? What if Big Jim and Ross had never met and became friends and birds of a feather? What if Jimmy never went to see Ross about going into state politics that day? Would Dee and Jimmy have ever hooked up on their own, even with both families presenting opportunities to make it happen? What if Dee remained married to her first husband or had married somebody else first who was more compatible?
Informant/Whistleblower
The confidential informant for the FIB investigation is a guy named John Verble, although he had to sue to try to be recognized as a whistleblower, presumably to make some money since he was fired from Morgan Stanley afterwards for reported non-Pilot related violations of company policies. Verble had recorded conversations with former Pilot sales exec Greco who had left the company who knew about the rebate fraud. Greco was supposedly angry at having been passed up for a promotion and became concerned about it all.
It also appears MS did not want Verble revealing other incriminating stuff about them and other clients per Verble. Which he may have known before making the decision to go to FIB first about Pilot. Was he a bastion of integrity who just wanted to preserve truth, justice and the American Way with no other motives?
It was not long after Greco/Verble did their thing that another Pilot employee came forward about the fraud. The following articles give some good info:
But, what if John Verble had remained in his previously chosen profession of 20+ years before becoming an investment advisor for MS? Why did he leave being a therapist and licensed marriage counselor with a doctorate in psychology from UT? He made a mid-life change to the investment career in his mid-late 40’s. Why? Again, why did he not go to HR at MS when he first learned of the fraud from Greco, why immediately contact FIB and agree to record future conversations? The situation seems really weird to have happened organically, does it not? One might even think Mr. Verble was created or otherwise turned into what he became for purposes we later see. Why would he (or anybody) risk a $350 K per year job at MS that he needed education, training and licensing to receive, to just chunk it all and turn FIB informant with no guarantees of anything other than being embroiled in a legal mess for years? Those type jobs with that much personal income do not grow on trees in the Knoxville, TN area. Did FIB have stuff on him concerning other MS clients that they used to compel him into the role to avoid personal prosecution, which he has managed to do despite MS’s allegations of improprieties?
What is that smell in here?
What if Jimmy and his gang of crooks had never been discovered? Greco states it had been going on since 2003. Why did the charges only relate to 2008-2013? Who are the feds protecting by limiting the dates of the scheme? Who was the Pilot outside accounting firm and why did they not suspect cooking of the books during their exams, or did they and looked the other way? Did they suffer consequences for “missing” this?
Better yet, what if the USPS decided to honestly investigate Verble’s charges of defrauding them with the rebate scheme? Why didn’t they?
As PDT might say, it’s nasty business, folks.
Berkshire
Again, how long had the Berkshire purchase of Pilot Flying J’s stock been in the works? Warren Buffett was a keynote speaker at UT’s College of Business as far back as 2003 that Pilot sponsored among others. Berkshire had purchased Knoxville based Clayton Homes along with their mortgage companies that same year. They are now the nation’s largest manufactured home company. If not before that point, Buffet would have spent time with founder Jim Clayton’s friend, Big Jim Haslam and family during the visit and beyond.
Would Berkshire’s planned purchase of Pilot ownership have influenced the USPS decision? Remember, Obama and Buffett are very close. Would FIB have been sent in to rattle Pilot’s cage to lower the future deal value for Barry’s super rich benefactor friend? Buffett and Berkshire study industry leaders for years and perhaps decades before pulling the trigger to do a deal. The Pilot purchase is a big dollar deal even for Berkshire. They will be reportedly borrowing $11 billion for the second PFJ stock purchase next year. Jimmy is already out as CEO and will be out as Chairman. With an 80% ownership position, Berkshire will have a restricted subsidiary in their holding company (control) with the Haslam family still being able to enjoy the 20% ownership position’s financial upside in the future. Deals like this don’t happen quickly. There is a lot of estate and tax planning that occurs beyond the business aspect. How much, if any, did Jimmy’s antics cost the family and other investors during the period in terms of monetary valuation?
Employee Attitudes/Morale
In one published survey with individual active employee responses I read recently, Pilot ranked at 3 out of 5 stars. Average. The interesting part was the vast majority in the survey ranked them 1 (poor) or 4 (good). Mundane work without much career upside in a stressful environment with long hours were the gist of the complaints. One of the top positives was that it was a good place to learn for the next job in their employment careers. Pay and benefits reflected the average rating, not great but OK.
Which is basically what I observed back in my day. I saw many people there under the age of 40 with very few happy faces. They were polite and professional, but seemed tightly wound and intimidated by management. I’m sure they would be called energetic and enthusiastic by Jimmy. Job turnover was high in many lower rung positions because of the lack of upward mobility.
So, what if the environment was more relaxed with stronger positional upside that would encourage people to make Pilot their career employment and increase productivity via good incentive programs that ensured integrity? Would they see employees willing to risk their futures and that of the company by doing stupid things like committing rebate fraud against their lifelines – the customers? Would the job hopping be less, meaning quality people stayed for longer periods adding to better productivity. What would that mean to customer satisfaction and the potential for fraud and corruption from within?
What if Big Jim Never Went to UT
Woah. Something like that could probably be asked of all of us. Pass. It hurts the brain.
Conclusion
I have provided a snapshot of American capitalism at work that led a family that I briefly had involvement with on their journey to the inner circle of Club membership. The patriarch is getting closer to meeting his maker after being a pioneer of sorts in his industry He parlayed his business prowess into political service for the RINO faction of the GOP. The eldest son achieved his dream of playing with the big boy owners of the NFL, stepping on whoever he needed to along the way and since. He is widely regarded by most sources as the first or second worst owner in the league with Dan Snyder of the Washington Football Team. The daughter is just happy to be there, she just loves being a Haslam (her words). Then there is the youngest son, conflicted for most of his life with his occupation, who spent his political capital as a NeverTrumper in a Trump MAGA state, creating a situation of having peaked at a relatively young age for politicians. He waits for a Bush type RINO Revival Train that may never come in his lifetime, despite the prep work the GOP provided to have him work his way into the oval office when it was his turn.
Does having great access to F U money and power make it worth the sacrifices of integrity and character you have to make to be accepted members into The Club? You decide. I personally passed on following that pathway several decades ago. Evidence of that is that I am a QTreeper.
Next Up
Less darkness, more light. Fun and butterflies. Until then…
My hope is that you have invested time into the HOH series. I believe you will find it worth it starting today if you have questioned the commitment. I wanted to shorten this one. Impossible. It simply has too many nuggets to shorten.
There is a soothing peace one receives in his or her spirit when he or she is no longer chained to the expectations of others and the world. The black hats will still throw their spears at you. Friends and loved ones will still disappoint you on occasion. The bank account and gas tank may run low along with your patience. However, you know what you know and evil can no longer have access to your heart and soul. Your wisdom and discernment regarding what you see and experience grow rapidly.
At this point in life in the mid-90’s my personal rebuilding project had begun. I received confirmation quickly that my career choice was blessed as there was early success. Even back then I was doing what now is in vogue, working from a bedroom office at home, calling on prospects and referral sources at their places of business while taking them to lunch occasionally. Using an old school approach with personal service. My faith journey at church and at home began to evolve quickly.
Almost a year after I left my ill-fated job with the equipment dealer, our lives would change dramatically through a very difficult experience that proved to be priceless in value. We learned the Godly principle that our prayers are always answered, just not always as expected. This will be discussed in a future story with more Goober Gump adventures.
Let’s begin with: Are you aware you can commit a federal white collar crime, whether with intent or not, in such a way that it is difficult to prosecute in criminal court, or, can be sheltered by the alphabets in a legal and judicial way to make it appear difficult to prosecute? A constructed situation on both sides of justice, which they will then allow you to buy your way out of potential prosecution in a federal investigation. Sort of a federal pre-trial or even pre-charge intervention. Maybe you have heard about this or suspected it happened.
You are about to learn MOAR! I’ll try not to bore our attorney/legal expert Qtreepers on here who know far more about the specifics than I do. However, average folks may want to know the method exists and a summary of how it works with an example.
Guess which POTUS exponentially increased the usage of that negotiated settlement in civil court for criminal claims maneuver? There’s that name again – Slick. HW’s good buddy. Cranked it up in the mid-1990’s while causing raised eyebrows in the legal community; definition of “is” being what it “is” and all.
Guess which past AG paved the way for its higher usage going back to PRR and as AG for HW? Yeah, this guy…
Some of us PRR fans will remember B2’s impassioned defense of the use of pardons, which was highlighted in the Iran-Contra mess. He pushed them across the finish line later for HW. As far as the previously referenced negotiated settlement of potential charges or trial issue, in a largely scrubbed TV interview in discussion of the bad cops in the FBI who were exposed during the Mueller Investigation and FISA scandals, he stated that not all criminal actions of government employees should rise to the level of imprisonment (paraphrased from memory). He clearly indicated that bad cops like Comey, McCabe, etc. losing their jobs and possibly their pensions was probably enough unless they were proven to have committed more heinous crimes. What could be more heinous to America than committing treason with foreign nations and conspirators to frame a sitting POTUS? In essence B2 promotes softening the landing of the players with pardons and negotiated settlements for gotcha’s and caughtya’s regardless of intent. He set up a system that gives discretionary authority to DODGE and the judiciary.
At the same time he covers for this discretionary administration of justice principle he pushed across by lamenting and bashing the two scales of justice we see today.
We did, jackwad. They stole the elections and you knew they would before it happened.
Hypocrite. May not have been the mastermind, but he was the promoter and implementer of two scales of justice over a long period of time. B2’s a card carrying member of the inner circle of The Club who has been activated as needed. Sundance has stated rightly, he’s the Bondo.
We can even begin to see why PDT agreed to bring him in as AG to kill the corrupt Mueller farce, which would better protect those he hired and family members.
We can also see serious potential downside of these pre-trial/charge interventions with how they can be used to extort people not in or involved with The Club via false allegations and charges such that bad cops can rip them off for money that goes into the alphabets’ coffers. We can also see where it is used by those in power to achieve nefarious purposes with payback being escape from charges and trial if caught.
Which begs the question – where do the real intervention case settlement funds and the extorted money go after collection? I confess to not knowing the answer, but I am quite sure it does not go for the benefit of We the People.
We have now established the predicate for what happens next.
In addition to media reports and other personal experiences; the legal sources of my information about interventions were senior partners in the law firm of now deceased GOP Senator Howard Baker. He of Watergate, Senate Majority and Minority leader fame. For what it is worth, one of the senior partners was a business associate and a lifelong Democrat. That says something about the Uniparty for those paying attention.
Pilot’s Progress
As previously discussed, Pilot was flying even higher through the period. I will no longer bore you with a lot of operational detail, just will discuss key events in their history that are important for seeing how The Club works a bit better. The official Pilot Flying J corporate history is available for all to see on the web.
My personal involvement with the Haslam’s stopped at this point, however, what I learned from others in the local business and legal community continued. I learned I was not alone in my reformulation of opinions about Big Jim, Jimmy and others in the Haslam family’s circle of influence, which included many attorneys and business associates. At this point Big Jim was less involved with daily operations due to age and other interests, yet, used his profile and influence in other ways. Philanthropy, sports, UT and politics appeared to dominate his and Natalie’s days. As an example The Warrior Queen highly benefited from Big Jim’s and the local Club’s support. With the huge, newly constructed Thompson-Boling Arena opening in 1987, the largest on campus facility in America at that time, the basketball floor was later named The Summitt as the Lady Vols program became the gold standard in women’s collegiate athletics. Pilot sponsored all UT sports programs and athletic events since Big Jim was carrying a big stick at the university along with a handful of other wealthy businessmen, boosters and donors.
However, the following made a lot in my circle wonder about the reality at the time. Pilot sponsored an annual Chamber or Rotary (cannot remember – does it matter?) event at the Hyatt that I attended with this guy as keynote speaker…
NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 22: Ted Turner attends the 2014 Global Leadership Dinner at Cipriani 42nd Street on October 22, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Pont/FilmMagic)
Fidel’s comrade. That along with many other horrible things he said, did and promoted.
Then there was this guy who spoke at UT as recently as 2013. The same UT where the Haslam family donated millions to build the Howard H. Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy. Better known as the Future Uniparty Student Development Center.
H/T to Wolf for the photo reminder today…
Before Brokaw and after Turner, there was Tim Russert as keynote speaker at the Hyatt sponsored by Pilot among others. It finally dawned on me years later that a key groomer and intermediary into it all was Mr DIY himself, GOP RINO Ross Bagwell…
Ross with daughter, Dee Haslam
Ross went to NY to finish school. Afterwards he went to work at NBC – media home to all things globalist. He was introduced and worked with the Uniparty globalists and brought methodology back home to Knoxville and to inject into state GOP politics. He connected the Haslam family tighter to the politics and media in DC and NY, including marrying Dee into the family.
Think about the subtle ramifications. Pilot sponsored an evil globalist business/media mogul commie along with two globalist commie media hacks to speak at globalist events to spread more commie propaganda to whoever would listen in a nationally perceived red flyover hillbilly state.
Maybe Tennessee was not the red flyover hillbilly state the MSM portrayed it to be. Maybe it was being operated undercover, sort of like Arkansas. More on that in later Goober Gump stories.
But I am getting ahead of this story, so back to the Pilot history at the turn of the century. Big Jim really had taught his boys the business. Jimmy had continued to assert himself and company control with his no holds barred management style and borderline ethics, which was not Bill’s style at all. Bill was more thoughtful, analytical and reflective in his approach; with a nature more like his deceased mother. After twenty years in the family business he had learned a great deal, handled his role well, and become wealthy. However, his heart was elsewhere and he no longer seemed to want to play the game with Jimmy anymore. He left and appeared to have employment flings with Saks and Harold’s. In reality he needed something to do while GOP RINO Victor Ashe was finishing his second term as Knoxville’s Mayor. He needed time to prepare out of the spotlights of Knoxville and Pilot. What better way to do it than by spending time in NY with Saks and other globalists while learning the ropes for a few years. Realizing another big opportunity, Big Jim pulled in the GOP support and the campaign began. Bill’s sister, Ann, even campaigned for him door to door. Bill won with 53% of the vote. Politics became another family enterprise.
The key events of Pilot from the 90’s forward were about going nationwide and becoming even more dominant. It led again to partnering up with old friends, Marathon, in 2001. This time they rolled in 223 travel centers into one investment entity that included the centers I had underwritten and our bank participation financing handled a decade before. Marathon had merged with Ashland and grown their supply to handle much more volume. They saw the joint ownership opportunity as an investment for future marketshare and capital if their interest was ever sold.
In 2010 they merged the company with anther industry stalwart, Flying J. The combined company was then over 550 travel centers with Pilot having management and Board control. They had grown to top ten nationally in privately held businesses for market value. In 2017, the ownership sold a 38% ownership stake to Berkshire Hathaway. With the deal Buffett and Berkshire also gained the rights to buy up to an 80% stake in Pilot Flying J in 2023. The company now has over 750 travel centers in the U. S. and Canada while doing over $20 Billion in revenues annually.
After decades of honest intent as well as intentional deception, acceptance into the inner circle of The Club will be complete next year. But it did not happen the way it was planned or anticipated.
NFL & White Collar Crime
As stated in Part One, Jimmy and Dee are controlling owners of the Cleveland Browns. They paid $1 B+ for it from Randy Lerner in 2012. Jimmy had set his sights on NFL team ownership well before then. He was able to purchase an ownership interest in the gold standard org of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008. With that experience he was accepted into the NFL owners’ inner circle, which made the purchase of the Browns easier to get done. It is interesting that the Times of Israel reported the purchase ended 51 consecutive years of Jewish ownership of the team. Maybe the purchase of the Browns was coincidental. However, the stadium for the team is located just 15 minutes away from the headquarters of Pilot Flying J’s primary competitor, TravelCenters of America.
Soon the highs of realizing that long held dream and love for a sport would be nuked into the low point in their company’s history. Unannounced, FIB walked into the Knoxville headquarters of Pilot Flying J in 2013. They left with everything they needed to make a strong federal criminal case against key personnel in the company with Jimmy himself under the microscope. Seems key senior management, including the Pilot President, Mark Hazelwood, had knowingly participated in a scheme to steal contracted rebates from many commercial trucking company accounts over a period of 5 years. Millions of dollars were involved and the participants received part of the ill-gotten gain as personal income with Pilot Flying J pocketing the rest. There were blatant racist statements and defamation of some of their less sophisticated commercial customers on tapes made by a whistleblower turned informant.
Jimmy pled ignorance. Audio tapes recorded by the whistleblower seemed to indicate otherwise. The statements made about less sophisticated commercial customers by several managers started a firestorm that was uncontrollable.
So he followed the raid with these remarks at a hastily called press conference:
As a result in a wise move, Pilot Flying J and Jimmy decided they better cut deals. As part of the deals, they agreed to continue to pay for legal representation of the employees that contested federal charges until their cases were adjudicated. The media questioned why would they do that if the employees violated company policies and the law? Jimmy claimed it was company “tradition” to do so. Or, in my opinion it was code for, “It’s payment for them to keep quiet and protect my tail.” You decide.
Word is that the mess cost them $190+ million in federal fines and customer restitution along with taking it on the chin with many commercial corporate clients. The tapes were damning. Many lower level staff members and managers pled guilty for plea deals after coming clean with details. A handful of senior mangers, including Hazelwood fought on. Interestingly, he lost in his first trial. That judge is African American with Hazelwood being white. He filed an appeal for a new trial as he felt he was not treated fairly at all through the proceedings. He made charges of reverse discrimination against the judge during his first trial. His request for a new trial was approved by a federal appellate court this year, along with that of two other employees. In essence, Jimmy’s crony that knows the extent of his boss’ involvement is working a path toward freedom or a reduced sentence/fine that is being provided through the judicial system. That is happening combined with the statute of limitations running out for charging Jimmy in April 2018. Shocked face…
That statute of limitations expired about 6 months after the 38.6% interest in the company was purchased by Berkshire. It would appear that DODGE gave the all clear to Buffett to complete the deal as Jimmy remained the Chairman and the family retained 50.1% majority interest with the provision that Berkshire would purchase an additional 41.4% in 2023, leaving them with the remaining 20% interest.
The fines Pilot willingly agreed to pay the feds were related to a negotiated financial settlement to avoid trial expenses and potentially even higher losses. There was no Weissmann, Enron style attacks. I guess Andrew was too busy with other legal schemes at the time. More likely he knew they were Club members. We would never be granted access to see it all, but I can almost guarantee there was a personal check or funds transfer written by Jimmy for a settlement of criminal claims against him through the civil system. No admission of guilt required, no public release of documents, and on with life.
With this behind him, Jimmy has turned his attention to pro sports and trying to make the Browns better while buying franchises in other pro sports. In a typical, tone deaf move he recently made a deal with the Houston Texans for Deshaun Watson as their QB. The same Watson who has been accused of sexual advances and harassment by over 25 masseuses and been suspended by the NFL for one or more seasons, who recently wrote checks to settle over 20 of the lawsuits. Right up Jimmy’s alley. All while they disrespected their existing injured starting QB, Baker Mayfield, who they later unceremoniously traded to Carolina. Use ’em, abuse ’em and toss ’em away when they become less useful.
A sign in the lobby of Pilot Flying J headquarters says, “We do the right thing — Integrity comes first.” Big Jim had it installed there decades ago. See the above referenced scandals.
Big Jim was quoted in an ESPN story not long after the FIB raid. “You ask what I’m proudest of Jimmy for?” Big Jim says. “It’s how he’s handled all this since April 15. It’s just like I would’ve hoped he’d handle it. He realizes he’s in charge and he’s going to stay in charge.
“We’ve learned a lot, and nothing like this will ever happen again.”
Revealing, huh? Apple did not fall far from the tree it appears. Why did it happen at all, Big Jim? I mean, it was five years of it. That’s not a mistake. It appears you are covering for your son and company getting caught, not for having done it. Are we supposed to believe nothing like that had ever occurred under your watch?
Words mean one thing, actions frequently mean another. The Club uses money and media influence to cover the intent and purpose as needed.
Some things never change. But when you are in the inner circle of The Club, what does it matter? Pay some money after mistakes and scandals and they simply go away. There will be even more money to make up for it when you get to play in the bigger leagues. Like what was announced last week.
In recap, we have Berkshire controlling Burlington Northern railroad which transports oil, fuel, fertilizer, etc.; while Dem politicians are shutting down oil and gas pipelines; while the RINO’s stand down with their thumbs up their arses; while Berkshire buys 80% control of Pilot to have the largest fuel distribution network for commercial trucking in North America; who has entered into a national EV charging network arrangement that caters to GM’s EV vehicle expansion; while buddy Gates and others globalists and nations who hate us are buying up farmland and into food production of all types. And so it goes on and on.
Yeah, the RINO’s are as thick as thieves with the Dems. They plan to do the green idiocy anyway. Follow the money. They don’t even need congressional approval and they certainly don’t care about the desires of We the People. Be informed. The moderate (RINO) wing of the GOP has been controlled opposition for over 70 years. The only person on the planet who has been proven able to stop it and reverse course for We the People is named Donald J. Trump, along with the help of his supporters and patriots.
As far as where We the People stand, we either acknowledge we are in a civil war and fight it, or just go quietly into the good night. Fighting well does not necessarily include violence, but it does include the righteous delivery of justice and truth as each situation may demand.
We will conclude the HOH series with some what ifs and other stuff with the next part. It’s time to have some fun, get some R&R, jump into some rabbit holes, make some observations and ask some thought provoking questions. Until next time…
As promised we will now move into the HOH rise to power within the expanding Pilot Oil empire in the vehicular retail fuel distribution industry. From the start of the business until Big Jim’s buy out of Marathon’s ownership, the company grew primarily through internally generated cash flow, smaller bank loans and funding from Marathon. Convenience with fuel stops was the path of the industry and Pilot was good at it. As the cash flows became stronger Pilot’s headquarters in Knoxville began to expand with more support staff. Experimenting with the travel center concept began. During this time Knoxville had been introduced to the general public internationally with the 1982 World’s Fair, so Pilot’s marketing opportunity to become a fixture in the minds of motorists throughout the country was magnified. In 1980, The Wall Street Journal gave Knoxville the “scruffy little city” name that stuck as the city bid for the fair. A section of the city and businesses within adopted it and became known as Scruffy City. The WSJ’s intent to disparage was adopted and turned by locals into a compliment and business opportunity.
During the period there had been complications within the Tennessee banking industry as the empires of Jake and CH Butcher crumbled in the early 80s with Jake’s obsession with his ill-fated run for governor (Democrat), funding of the World’s Fair and related businesses, while also growing their bank holdings through an investor Ponzi type scheme. Along the way they would siphon off excessive cash for themselves and personal ventures. The Haslam family had steered clear of the Butcher shenanigans, however, all banks were being impacted by the downturn in the industry after banking deregulation and the 1986 tax reform act. This led Pilot to rely on their partner and supplier, Marathon, along with a handful of financial institutions to fund the growth in locations.
Pilot, which had strongly increased its retail locations regionally, began expanding into the rest of the country through acquisitions as well as internal development of travel centers. They had somewhat perfected operations, customer products, facilities design, marketing, and so forth. There were many independents in the travel sector and the southeastern U. S region. There were also chains with lower facilities costs that mixed retail and trucking needs equally in Speedway and RaceTrac as well as higher end, trucker dominated chains known as TravelCenters of America (TA) and Petro (now owned by TA). Each had its own operations model and target market. However, the industry was splintered nationwide and no industry consolidation efforts were underway. It was still the wild, wild west in the sector. Pilot saw its opportunity.
Jimmy and Bill Haslam had begun to make their marks on the company at this point with Jimmy being more operations and marketing oriented and Bill with more finance and executive management duties. The buy out of Marathon had increased their ownership interests at the same time that regional banks had begun increasing risk taking with finance as well as making acquisitions of other banks. Pilot had grown to a size that made it an attractive target for corporate banking. Big Jim’s politicking and associations with other business leaders and bankers around the country began to pay off for the business.
Store without fast food franchisee
Enter Goober Gump
As previously discussed, my life had changed significantly in the mid-80’s with a divorce, move to east TN and remarriage. My employment began in east TN with a large, regional, Memphis based bank that had made acquisitions of bankrupted Butcher banks around the state. They needed a commercial loan officer to develop the Knoxville business market, the third largest market in the state, from a bank they had acquired in a nearby county. Their intent was to acquire a bank or simply branch into Knoxville after building a book of business. I expressed my interest, interviewed and received the job offer. A month later I moved to the area and began.
Commercial loan officers are employed to make and service commercial (business) financing. So the job meant I needed to get out of the office and go meet potential customers and referral sources to learn more about their businesses and build relationships. Once an opportunity to do business occurred, my job was to determine if the business customer had the profile, financial condition, ability, etc. to use the financing to accomplish their business goals and repay the loan(s) to the bank on a timely basis as agreed.
It is one of those unusual jobs where you ask a prospective customer for their business, the prospective customer agrees to give it to you or give you a shot to see what you can do, and then sometimes you have to back out of taking their business and decline it because the prospective customer may not be able to repay the loan or your employer may not want the prospect’s business type in its loan portfolio. Weird, huh? Happens everyday, multiple times per day, all across the business world in America and other capitalistic countries.
Over the next seven years I built a customer and referral base in the market with a couple of banking employers. I obtained 90+% of my customer base through customer involved professionals or by satisfied existing customers. I called on every CPA and attorney who would give me time to gain their trust as they are an integral part of every successful business owner’s team. For two of those years I left bank employment to partner in a small commercial real estate financing firm that worked with commercial developers and financing sources. We later merged into a much larger regional banking and mortgage operation based in Virginia who wanted a presence in our market. With the merger I returned to a better version of business banking that included commercial real estate financing. In addition to being a business lender I became the regional underwriter of all commercial real estate loans. Later, I was also given the role of the regional commercial construction underwriter. To say I wore many hats in that banking organization would be an understatement. Senior management asked me to attend an executive seminar series in my areas of expertise at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville at their famous Darden Graduate School of Business. I was humbled as this was an honor since the school was then and is still rated now in the Top Ten in the world. While there I listened to lectures and broke bread in the evenings with other business bankers and a couple of their highly accomplished graduate school professors. Turned out the professors moonlighted as consultants and trainers of corporate and small business bankers for my employer and were scheduled to do so in our state’s main offices in six months. I was aware of a training I had to attend during the time period, so it was easy to put two and two together. We scheduled time together at that future event. This was in the fall of 1991.
My employer finished that year going through yet another bank merger, this time to form a top twenty in assets sized bank that was located in a half dozen states primarily in the southeastern U. S. Our systems and loan policy remained as they were and it all appeared to be business as usual, a true merger of equals. So in the spring of 1992 I headed to the training event and met with the professors. We hit it off well again and came up with a plan where they would do a training program designed for prospective business customers in our area over a three day event. I made arrangements for facilities and invited business owners and leaders in our area. I would act as the presenter on behalf of my employer, who would sponsor the shindig.
Upon my return to the office the next week after the training session, I looked up from my desk to see four men in suits walk into our offices. Big Jim, Jimmy, Bill and their CFO had made arrangements to see us through my supervisor while I was gone. It turned out they were long term friends and had done business previously with our bank’s state President. The President had sent them to us to work on a financing project since they were local to our market. My supervisor typically handled the large corporate accounts and had been assigned as primary contact. My role typically was more small business accounts under $20 million in sales. However, it appeared the professors had informed the President that I needed to run point on underwriting Pilot’s financing proposal, especially since it involved commercial real estate and construction. My supervisor was known to be a good back slapper, but not much with the numbers and the President wanted it done right since the loan facility was his to present to the Board of Directors in our state. No pressure on ole Goober Gump, right?
The Deal
Over the next couple of weeks we met with one or more of the Haslam’s a few times along with their CFO many times. The deal itself was to take their version of the travel center prototype they had been developing and fine tuning, and formally introduce it throughout the country. Pilot had developed a prototype that was mid-cost in the sector. It had much more to offer than the independents and low end companies, but was lesser cost and expansive as well as more retail customer oriented than the high end TA’s and Petro’s, which were dominated by trucking customers.
In 1992 dollars it meant their average project cost was $3-4 million depending on land and local building costs whereas the low end competition was at $1.5 to $2 million with less products and services. The higher end competition was at $5-7 million per location. The mutually agreed financing plan even provided for them to be able to expand the facilities with loan funds of some of their proposed locations at their sole discretion later if business was good. They had tested the concept with actual locations and felt comfortable they would succeed. After non-disclosures were executed, the details and projections were provided. I was assigned to work directly with the Pilot CFO, who I liked a great deal. Just a regular guy doing his job well.
I would be remiss if I did not give my observations and impressions of Big Jim, Jimmy and Bill. They were pretty much as you might imagine. Big Jim was confident and cordial to all of us including the admin assistants. It was clear he was large and in charge. Jimmy ignored all of us except my supervisor. He was all business and it was clear in his mind he did not want to mingle with the lesser players. Bill made it a point to get to know everybody, ask what our roles were and shake hands. He was very polite and people oriented.
Upon completion of the underwriting and presentation of the financing for approval by the President, we were given the perfunctory ‘atta boys and girls’. We had the satisfaction of helping a locally based national business take the next step. The financing itself was a $45 million participation loan with a half dozen other regional banks taking anywhere from $2-10 million dollars for their portfolios. It was a considerable sum in those days. The loan facility provided for Pilot to construct and start up operations on as many as ten travel centers around the country initially. It was designed differently than most packages and outside of normal loan policy. From the beginning, loan proceeds would be used to start construction of facilities after Pilot acquired the land with their own funds. Upon the first use of loan funds there would be interest only payments on the loan balance outstanding for each location for up to three years. The locational loan balance that remained at the end of that three year period would be amortized over 10 years. As loan balances were paid down, loan funds would be freed up to finance additional locations in the same manner. If it worked as well as projected, the financing package could be renewed periodically and continue for as long as Pilot desired to expand.
In practice, Pilot accelerated the pay downs of loan balances faster than projected as many of the locations were major successes. Only a handful were amortized. This accelerated their expansion. It was not long before other larger banks began offering the company similar, larger loan facilities, which allowed them to take the expansion nationwide even faster. They struck deals for acquisitions of other smaller competitors that banks clamored to finance. Domination of an industry had begun.
Their timing for the expansion could not have been better. Slick Clinton had gone in as POTUS and the GOP had taken over Congress with Newt’s Contract with America. Business was rolling and jobs were plentiful. America was on the move.
As a side note before we move on, fuel providers for vehicles make very little money selling gas and diesel. Typically they make their money on the stuff and junk they sell (my personal technical banking terms – lol). Stuff is food items and junk is non-perishables of every type if you have ever visited a travel center. They also make money on leasing fast food space to franchisees as well as providing specific services to corporate trucking customers. Pilot did not start fuel wars, but they could move their prices down with them to keep customer traffic up and outlast the independents because of the profit margins in all of the stuff, junk, leases and services.
StuffJunk
The Larry and Bob Show
Normally the story would end there for Goober Gump’s 15 minutes of fame. However, it did not as while all of that was underway, the event I had planned with my UVA professor buddies was being set in motion. The name I came up with for promotion was The Larry and Bob Show. Obviously, those were their first names. In their side venture as trainers of commercial bankers, they had developed quite a routine that utilized great humor. For old timers, picture Mutt and Jeff as high end business professors doing their schtick. The only visual difference was the tall one was also heavy and the short one had an average build. Their presentation was spectacular in terms of business value and entertainment. They held the attention of every attendee for three days and all of us gained a great deal of practical knowledge, applicational tools and business wisdom that we could apply.
Included in the group of 40 invitees was the CFO of Pilot along with a host of other business owners and key managers of businesses from the area. The CFO had already cut a deal with the Haslam’s to leave after the financing and project began to go to a nearby state and build two independent travel centers that he planned to own and operate while granting Pilot a first right of refusal to buy them if he ever sold. Which is what happened and he never had to work again, but I lost track of him. Another of those attending you may have heard of by the name of his new business venture at that time, Regal Cinemas. Yes, Michael Campbell, the founder of Regal along with his partner/CFO at that time were participants in our event with the professors. He would later grow Regal Entertainment Group into the largest and most influential cinema chain in the world. It is now the second largest. And yes, his company was based in Knoxville. Regal sold a majority interest in it to Cineworld out of Great Britain in 2017. After the event he made it a point of thanking me, Larry and Bob, and the bank for all they had learned from the event. Our corporate bankers were soon granted access to work on Regal’s future financial needs due to the relationship we built. Similar results occurred with nearly all of the attendees.
Life Change
I had given my eye opener to senior management. My thoughts were, “Hey guys, none of you have ever done something like this that worked this well and brought in so much business, throw me a bone.” I had spent $20 K of my region’s marketing budget to produce untold millions in profit long term for the bank. My expectations were to be given a more clear path to position upside in our growing organization instead of them throwing even more responsibility at me in more market segments without more compensation. The actual senior management response was disappointing. I received a 5% of salary bonus at year end with a bank wide announcement that, once again, we were merging with a larger bank in early 1993. We would soon be working for Hugh McColl and NCNB with a name change to NationsBank. Our policies would be changed to their policies and reorganization was in the works. So, in reality, we sold out to a brutal dictator type CEO and his cronies. Great. It was the same NationsBank that later acquired Bank of America on the west coast and changed their name to it.
In not quite 4 years I had worked through three mergers, four assigned customer market changes, taken on two additional market segments to underwrite all regional requests, and had four immediate supervisor changes – while still exceeding every personal job performance goal they set before me. In return I received mediocre salary trap compensation, no clear upside mobility, and a heck of a lot of frustration. It seemed the referral and customer base held more respect for my work than my own employer who benefitted greatly from it. Even other bank employers had inquired about making a move to them, which I had declined.
As we entered the fall of 1993, I had enough of commercial banking even though I loved my small business banking role. I resigned and went to work in senior management for a local, long term established equipment dealership. I learned a hard lesson in a very short period of time that one should refrain from doing things in frustration or based solely on increased compensation. Eight months later I was unemployed as I had learned they were committing bank, insurance, and tax fraud while violating every applicable environmental law on the books. I did not think I would look good in a prison uni, so it was better to vacate than try to fix the unfixable. For what it is worth, a few years later they tanked and creditors sold off their remaining assets.
During this period I hit 40 years old. I was unemployed and burned out from playing the game. I helped others realize their dreams including the Haslam’s and many others while struggling to provide reasonably for my own family when considering the time and commitment that was required. I still had bills to pay, a family to provide for, and a lot of years left to live if it fit the Lord’s plan. So, I hit my knees and gave all of me to Him, not just the parts I wanted to give. I revisited The Cross, the place He died for my sins and the sins of the world. I gave him all of my goods and the bads and handed him the keys. I was done trying to get ahead and giving more than I should have to the world. Whatever happened, from that point, happened. He would determine, not me. I literally prayed all night and followed up with renewed dedication daily.
The next morning I called a friend who ran a small business banking operation for the holding company of a small group of local rural banks. He had asked me for years to work with him. It was time if he would have me. I needed less job pressure and to do what I enjoyed doing instead of playing somebody else’s game. I was at peace in my heart, even though I knew the salary would be much smaller albeit with a good commission percentage for getting deals done. The customers would be small businesses and we would use SBA guaranteed financing programs a lot of the time. My trusted referral sources could use my services for clients. My friend and now, new boss, told me the offer would be in the mail that day, to consider it done. I asked if I had time to take my family on vacation for a week that we had scheduled previously and he agreed.
Effectively, I had taken a major step back in the world’s view, however, I decided it was time to bet on me and doing it the Lord’s way from that point on.
The vacation went wonderfully. I sat at the ocean’s edge with my wife and daughter for the most part of 6 days as my internal peacefulness grew. My wonderful wife continued to do her part upon our return and stand in the gap for us throughout the process. She found part time work in a mortgage company to supplement our income in the interim after having left her full time banking position the year before to take care of our young daughter who had just started school with a hearing disorder. She wanted her husband back, the guy she married and not the guy I had become while striving so hard to get ahead.
It was a bet we would win together with the Lord’s clear direction and blessing.
Don’t think I have strayed too far from the series as this will lead to the next part of the HOH story. We are not done with them yet by a long shot. Stay tuned.
For you, Sunshine…
Look at the quiet reverence of his friends as greatness is displayed.
Many of you are going to say, “Who?” Others are going to be aware of one or more of the key big three male members of the subject family. You may even wonder how a discussion about them will be the least bit interesting. Well, grab your favorite beverage and get comfortable. This will be a multi-parter. My spoiler alert is that this family personifies how The Big Club(s) work nationally and internationally, so please do not assume this is all about Tennessee as it is not. However, I need to provide historical context to set the stage for future parts to hit their marks.
As always I promise that the stories I bring will be truthful as openly sourced, or, personally observed first hand, or, as a family member, co-worker or close personal friend witnessed first hand. I don’t do fiction well and the truth is much more interesting anyway. I will tell you when I am giving an opinion based on my observations and discussions with others. I will typically publish on weekends since there is typically less going on in the news and folks have more time for reading stories if so inclined.
My first story spoke of The King, Elvis, and my relationship with one of his confidants and mentors, JD Sumner, in the later days of his life. It discussed a bit about the corruption of the ruling Democrats of the area in which I lived during the time. We will return to that area of the country in a future story that has bigger ramifications. My second story was more personal. It was more about first hand experiences with The Warrior Queen, Pat Summitt, and her family.
This story begins with some background and history of the referenced family and its primary business that led to their positions and fame in Americana, currently known as Pilot Flying J. The title of the story is stolen from others, of which many in our area will claim to be the author. It is used by many east TN residents in a joking manner as a reference to local royalty, somewhat like the House of Saud. However, it is an accurate description
“Big” Jim and Natalie Haslam
First, we will discuss the family patriarch, “Big Jim” Haslam. Big Jim is currently 91 years old and active for his age. He was born and lived as a young child in MI and PA before his family moved to St. Petersburg, FL. He was a star high school football player who was highly recruited, eventually choosing the University of Tennessee in Knoxville for his education and sport. He played for the legendary coach, Gen. Robert Neyland, and was a starting offensive lineman during the team’s 1951 national championship season. He was named Captain of the team the following year. The General was a major influence on Big Jim as well as many other lives at the university, collegiate football and within the fanbase. A statute of him sits at the entrance of the football stadium that is named in his honor. I invite you to learn more about him as he was an inspiring and accomplished person. Even Alabama HOF Head Coach Bear Bryant had the utmost respect and most often came up on the short end in games when their teams played.
Big Jim met and married his first wife, Cynthia, while at UT. She later became pregnant with their first child after Big Jim joined the Army as a Second Lieutenant, serving in the Korean Conflict. After he was released from service, their child was born. During this time Big Jim went to work for Fleet Oil, which was a regional distributor with some retail gas locations. In 1958 he decided to leave Fleet and go into the retail fuel business independently. He signed a territorial non-compete to stay out of Tennessee for three years with Fleet and then set out to find a retail location in an adjacent state to buy. His first purchased location was just across the state line in Gate City, VA for $6000. It was a four pump quick stop in a small town. He had incorporated the business with the name Pilot Oil. Over the next few years he expanded its retail locations in VA and KY.
After the non-compete expired with Fleet he entered TN and grew his small chain to a dozen retail fuel locations. However, he went a bit too fast and had some financial trouble. He made a deal with his primary supplier, Marathon Oil, who took a 50% interest in the company. He was able to retool Pilot’s finances along with receiving a loan from Marathon to be used for expansion. Big Jim had a really good eye for potentially successful retail locations and would stake them out and observe the traffic and communities personally. He focused on convenience and quick stops as the future of the industry. Over time Pilot grew into a strong regional presence. Along the way Big Jim and Cynthia had three children; Jimmy, Ann and Bill. Unfortunately, Cynthia passed away suddenly of an apparent heart attack in 1974 at age 42. Her father had passed away suddenly in a similar manner in his 30s. Her place on the Pilot board was given to the eldest son, Jimmy, still a student at the University of Tennessee. It was one of those “events” that children never forget as they saw their mother’s deceased body. The family’s brief video story about the event may be found on YouTube.
Big Jim married his second and current wife, Natalie, a couple of years later. Natalie Haslam is a native of Knoxville and graduated from UT the same year as Big Jim. She has been a volunteer and philanthropist extraordinaire in the area. UT, the East TN Historical Society, the Knoxville Symphony Society, Zoo Knoxville, Maryville College and others have been helped by her tireless efforts through the years. UT’s College of Music is named after her, the Natalie M. Haslam Music Center. Natalie has remained close to Big Jim’s side.
The 80s saw Pilot continuing to expand retail locations as well as enter the truck stop business as a new concept was introduced called travel centers by them and others in the industry. Travel centers combined the retail and trucking fuel stop needs with a convenience store and later, fast food offerings. The quick expansion of locations and volume of Pilot began to concern Marathon Oil, so in 1988, Big Jim bought their ownership interest while continuing to receive fuel supply from them and others. Pilot Oil was off to the races and Big Jim knew what he wanted the company to achieve and become.
Skipping ahead to today, Pilot Flying J is in the top ten in size for non-publicly traded companies per Forbes. The Haslam name and influence is everywhere at the University. They have given huge sums for buildings, facilities, athletics, the Baker Center, business and music programs. Literally, tens of millions of dollars (or more) to UT and many other charitable organizations. Their financial and personal contributions are legendary. Through the years Big Jim has never strayed far from his beloved Rocky Top. In my opinion Big Jim can best be described as a true force of nature. He would be described by many as a self made man since he did not come from wealth. Some say his life has been a Horatio Alger type story.
Jimmy and Dee Haslam
Jimmy grew up in the family’s Knoxville home and also went to UT. While there he became a close friend and roommate of a future Mayor of Chattanooga and US Senator most of you have heard about named, Bob Corker. I can already see your alert flags going up.
Jimmy was known to his friends and others around the community as a bit of a wild child. My observations which were shared by business associates and co-workers at the time were that he was extroverted, intelligent, focused and brash. He jumped into his role at the company and there was little doubt what he planned to do with his work life as he was a vocal and driven leader. He wanted to learn the business and was named VP over Sales, Development and Operations upon graduation from UT in 1976. His father then sent him out into the business world and among the competition to analyze and provide the best practices to use in Pilot.
After graduation Jimmy began considering a run for the state senate, so he went to seek the advice of another prominent businessman and friend of the family who was involved in GOP politics, Ross Bagwell. Ross was the original show developer and producer for DIY type home shows that litter cable network channels today through his company, Cinetel Productions. Cinetel was headquartered in Knoxville. In the early 90s, Cinetel became the largest production company in America as they contracted to produce over 3500 shows. Over time these shows made it to HGTV type networks and were later purchased by Scripps Howard, which were later sold to Discovery Communications.
Ross’ daughter, Dee ,was born in Knoxville, but the family moved to Long Island while Ross completed his education at NYU and went to work for NBC. Upon their return to Knoxville and Ross starting his company, Dee finished high school and later graduated from UT. She was well known to the Haslam family as they were all friends.
Ross offered his advice during the visit. Later, after Jimmy left, he told his daughter, Dee, that Jimmy was the man she needed to marry. Dee dismissed her Dad as being a crazy father as she was a divorced woman with a young child and no way would Jimmy be interested in that situation at his stage of life. That is until the two families went on a vacation together in FL six months later. Jimmy needed a date and asked Dee. They never left each other’s side from that point on and married six months later. In an interesting twist, Jimmy’s mother, Cynthia, had always loved Dee as she grew up and had even thrown a party to celebrate her marriage to her first husband years before. It was highly likely that she would have approved of Jimmy and Dee being wed. Much of this was a well known, publicized story to Knoxville area folks as it was just a big, country town where people knew people in those days.
Over the ensuing years Pilot grew to nearly 150 locations with the majority being travel centers until Jimmy’s promotion to CEO of Pilot in 1996 as Big Jim took a step back from daily operations. It was during this period in the early 90s when I had involvement with Pilot Oil through my business banking occupation. More on that later.
Skipping to Jimmy’s and Dee’s world today, Jimmy still acts in the Chairman role of Pilot Flying J. He is also the owner with Dee of the NFL football’s Cleveland Browns and a MLS soccer club, the Columbus Crew. He has an approximate $4 billion personal net worth. The couple maintain homes in their native Knoxville as well as a historic mansion in ritzy Bratnenahl on Lake Erie near Cleveland. Jimmy and Dee have contributed in major ways to their alma mater, especially to the well being of athletics. They have also provided funding for high schools across East Tennessee and in Ohio to install synthetic surface football fields. This has reduced operating costs for the schools while providing the athletes better, safer surfaces on which to compete.
Dee was given the family developed RIVR Productions by her father, which she operates. Recently Discovery placed the modern production facilities and campus her father developed for sale as they have moved operations to other locations. The couple have three children and six grandchildren at last count.
I will expand the discussion of Pilot and of the Haslam family from my observations and open sources from the early 90s forward in Part 2. This will include much more on the exploits and travails of Jimmy and The Big Club.
Bill and Crissy Haslam
Some may remember that Bill Haslam was a two term governor of Tennessee recently. Prior to that he was the two term mayor of Knoxville. Born about four years after Jimmy in 1958, Bill was also groomed to be a part of the family business. He chose a different path for his college education by going to Emory University in GA (yeah, I know, alert flags again) and graduating with a degree in History. From his own words in interviews it was his plan to teach history and eventually become a minister. As a teenager in Knoxville he was very active in Young Life and was a member of a large evangelical Presbyterian Church. However, he returned to Knoxville after graduating to work at Pilot for a time to gain business experience with the intention of leaving in a few years to go to seminary. It never happened as Big Jim named him President with his brother Jimmy as the CEO. Over time he seemed to grow weary of working in the family business. This statement is based on personal observations, friends and co-worker comments at the time (more on that later). In 1999 he left to become CEO of Saks Fifth Avenue’s new e-commerce and catalog division. He stayed there a few years and left to join Dallas based Harold’s Stores (clothing) for a year before deciding to run for mayor of Knoxville. He had long desired to serve the public and with the current GOP mayor Victor Ashe being term limited, he decided to run. He won a relatively close race against Democrat Madeline Rogero. He then won the governor’s race after his second term as Knoxville’s mayor. This was followed by an easy second term governor’s office victory four years later. Bill has an approximate $2 billion personal net worth and is a past President of the GOP Governors Association. In 2015, Forbes had Bill as the wealthiest politician in America. With the election of Donald Trump as President and JB Pritzker as Governor in Illinois, Bill moved down the list a bit.
The former First Lady of Tennessee, Crissy Haslam, is also an Emory University graduate with a degree in Finance. She was born in Houston, TX and grew up in Memphis. After marriage to Bill she returned to school to gain her Masters in education from UT. She has been very dedicated to working for children’s rights and education her entire adult life. She partnered with the state law enforcement agencies to provide books for low income children around the state as well as assisting with foster care programs.
Bill was an effective governor for TN. He was helped immensely by a state that had enough of fake conservatives and Democrat politics. Much of Tennessee had embraced the Tea Party, in many ways the predecessor to MAGA. The state legislature has been taken over by a more conservative GOP over the past decade. Except for the two Dems, the federal office holders also know to vote conservative, even though a handful will slip into RINO mode on occasion. As a result, Bill was given a clearly directed path to follow from the majority of legislators and voters during his two terms that ended in 2020. He, his staff and appointments used their business and legal acumen to improve the state’s financial condition to its highest bond rating ever and at one point it became the highest rating of any state in the nation. All of it accomplished without a personal state income tax (state constitutionally prohibited) and in compliance with the state’s balanced budget (state constitutionally required). It was primarily accomplished by strongly increasing the revenue base and supporting industrial growth while holding the line on state government spending. It was also helped by the lowering of interest rates to reduce borrowing costs. In the meantime the legislature also passed legislation that killed the state’s estate and inheritance taxes. In summary, Tennessee became and still is a hot spot for relocating a business as well as for new residents.
DC, meet states and legislatures who know how to do things better. Meet a true republic.
New manufacturing facilities flocked to Tennessee. The introduction of community colleges and tech schools providing free tuition was implemented to help with that effort as the work force grew more education and trained. It was a successful period that has continued under current GOP Gov. Bill Lee, who in many leadership ways is Bill Haslam, version 2.0. It has been my observation to date that the legislature has overcome RINO inclinations of the two Governor Bills as any contentious issues arise. The Bills knew they would have a potential veto overridden, so they both decided to not sign the more contentious bills to draw less media attention. As a result the legislative bills go into law irrespective of the lack of a governor’s signature within a 30 day period. However, both Bills have supported the second amendment, are pro-life and are traditional family oriented.
It is also somewhat humorous that many bills have been signed by Bills over the past decade.
Bill and Crissy have three adult children and seven grandchildren. They live in Knoxville. Bill has been a lecturer at Vanderbilt and remains active on the Board of Young Life as well other charitable organizations. He released a Christian living book called Faithful Presence recently. He has not ruled out a run for political office again.
Ann Haslam and Steve Bailey
Ann is the middle of the three children of Big Jim and his first wife, Cynthia. She has maintained a lower profile, except when it comes to campaigning for her brother, Bill, as well as working within the Haslam Family Foundation. When the Cynthia died, Ann assumed her mother’s role the best she could in the home while at the same time continuing her role as a teacher at Knoxville Adaptive Education Center for children with disabilities. Later she married Steve Bailey, who owned and operated a wholesale lumber company in the area and became the mother of three children from Steve’s previous marriage. At that point she left her teaching role to focus on the family and later, the foundation. And yes, the selected photo above is intentional.
House of Haslam Politics
Personal observation: notice the political animals are in the same pile of money.
Big Jim set the pace for the family in his younger years with support for and participation in GOP politics. He was a fundraiser for prominent TN Sen. Howard Baker and President Gerald Ford. He supported HW. He was very active in the state campaign for W. In 2005 he managed long term family friend, Sen. Bob Corker’s financial campaign. In 2012 he was state co-chairman for Mitt Romney’s presidential run.
Yep – Mittens. You get the picture, right?
Jimmy has been less publicized for his politics. He donates millions to the Republican National Committee to stay connected.
As stated previously, Bill is a Never Trumper. He aligns with the Bush family, but did not endorse Jeb immediately when he announced his presidential run. He waited and endorsed Marco Rubio along with former Senate Majority Leader Bill First. Tennessee went strongly pro-Trump, so that showed how much influence they have with state GOP voters. He recently became a Sammons Institute Fellow of the George W. Bush Institute. He holds great respect for W’s leadership as President and personally attended HW’s funeral. I really don’t think anything else needs to be said regarding his alliances within the GOP and politics in general.
In my opinion, running for public office would probably not end well currently for Bill as he was vocally against President Trump in 2016 despite them sharing numerous political views. As a Never Trumper, it is probably why he did not run for the retiring Lamar Alexander’s Senate seat in 2020, which was won by Bill Hagerty. Tennessee is strongly MAGA by a large majority of voters. Hagerty redeemed his previous RINO association by working as an Ambassador to Japan under PDT. He became very close with PDT’s friend, PM Abe. Bill Haslam was unwilling to reconcile his past position and statements per his own public comments. He has remained aligned with the Bush family. As a result he had very little shot to replace Alexander in the current political environment as there has been more than a little Bush and Haslam fatigue in TN. More on this later.
Summary
This part sets the stage for what follows. You likely saw a few “more on this later” statements. We will explore those and much more in the parts that follow as they are revealing. In Part 2 we will dig deeper into Pilot Oil Company, pre-Flying J acquisition, beginning in the early 90s.
I leave this with you instead of the Elvis Aloha version because I believe it reflects The House of Haslam better. On a personal note, as a much younger man I saw Ol Blue Eyes in Vegas a few years after this at a show at Caesar’s Palace. He delivered then as well…
As Election Day approaches, THE GLOVES ARE COMING OFF.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s milquetoast stance on vaccines has muddled along, but as we watch vaccine mandates DESTROYING blue states, that tinge of purple in Ohio is looking more and more dangerous, with a WEAK LEADER in the capitol.
The man sure loves his purple ties. Is that ROYALTY, HILLARY, or XI?
Well, today that changed.
Is there salvation? It’s not too late.
Republican gubernatorial challenger Jim Renacci launched a salvo of emails with this message:
NO VACCINE MANDATES. PERIOD.
There’s not a lot of room there.
But if you’re uncertain about who to vote for, here is the full text of the letter.
Friend,
You get to decide what goes into your body – not the government.
Giving up your right to bodily autonomy is a slippery slope to losing other rights, like freedom of speechc and bearing arms.
That’s why Jim Renacci opposes vaccine mandates now and forever.
Just like President Reagan said, “If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.”
While DeWine is stripping Buckeyes of their freedom, Jim Renacci is putting Ohio first. Renacci will make Ohio a sanctuary state and protect your right to refuse vaccinations.
The first step to preserving your freedom begins with firing DeWine. Team Renacci is working hard to make that happen, but we need all the help we can get. Please consider donating today.
Halloween is just around the corner, and DeWine is hoping he can trick you with HB 244. Don’t be fooled. It doesn’t prevent school vaccine mandates. Instead, it’s a backdoor that allows approved vaccines, like Pfizer, to be forced onto school children.
Renacci will never deceive or trick you. That’s why his message is clear:
NO VACCINE MANDATES. PERIOD.
Thank you,
Jim Renacci
Candidate for Governor of Ohio
I went to the Renacci website, and found this right at the top, about mask mandates:
Here is that video:
Digging deeper, Renacci has a statement on vaccine mandates HERE:
MIKE DEWINE REFUSES TO PROTECT OHIOANS’ FREEDOMS FROM UNCONSTITUTIONAL MANDATES
10/12/21
Cleveland, OH – Former congressman and candidate for governor Jim Renacci released the following statement on Mike DeWine refusing to protect Ohioans from unconstitutional mandates as other governors like Greg Abbott signed an executive order banning mandates of any kind in his state:
“It has been 33 days since Joe Biden announced his vaccine mandate for workers and Mike DeWine has still done nothing to shield Ohioans. DeWine continually proves he is a feckless leader who refuses to protect Ohioans’ from overbearing mandates that strip away our freedoms. We have seen throughout the pandemic other leaders like Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott govern better than DeWine, who instead chooses to lead like Andrew Cuomo and Gavin Newsom. Every single day we see our freedoms eroded by DeWine’s policies and, if we do not have new leadership in Columbus soon, he will continue to be an emboldened tyrant willing to sacrifice our futures by living under his warped rule of law. As governor, I will protect all Ohioans from these mandates and ensure the government will never intrude on their ability to choose what is best for themselves and their families.”
There is a way to fight back against this stuff. FIRE milquetoast weakling Mike DeWine.
Every Ohio Republican MUST get out and vote for Jim Renacci. Even the Blystone people need to throw their votes to Renacci now, IMO. Get DeWine OUT. Otherwise, mandates are coming, and millions of Ohioans will be FLEEING Ohio to take up residence in saner states.
OK, to be honest I had Zero plans to write this post when I woke up “today”. In fact I’d been hoping to take advantage of my solo weekend to wrap up a post or two I’ve had in draft mode for months, but it appears that they’ll have to still wait. My hunters will be home soon…
This journey started out by reading Carl’s beautiful Sunday post.
Being very moved by the teaching he shared I wanted to look up the source material by John Piper AND finally came to a page that appears to contain much, or even all, that Carl shared, here:
In the course of searching for the actual message, & not just other people’s blog posts about Piper’s teaching that was apparently given at some type of conference, a few interesting links popped up. One looked to be addressing how seemingly Piper weighed in on the 2020 election & from the couple lines of text visible at the search may have spoken against Trump. I was curious so went to read that article too.
What a surprise to discover that the article was more about promoting the vax from the pulpit rather than steering people away from Trump during the stolen election. Hmmm
OK, so this post is NOT trying to attack John Piper as a man, a Christian, nor as a theologian. I’m trying to steer clear of my own biases, which is obviously impossible. In reading the search engine thumbnail descriptions it appears that Piper is affiliated with the Baptist church, which makes my “legalism radar” perk up. I’m just being honest, I have issues with legalism that go way back & have a (possibly misplaced) perception that Baptist takes might hover in the legalism domain…so grain of salt going forward here…
Here are a couple places where I’ve addressed legalism, & the other end of the spectrum, the prosperity gospel, for context on some of my thinking in these arenas…
So, back to the issue at hand. I like to think of myself as a Truth-seeker AND a Truth-teller. So let’s see if we can unearth some Truth in the controversy before us, namely shilling for the vax from the pulpit. Whom the Son sets free is Free indeed!
Let’s look into John Knox’s Not The Bee article a bit first. Per his opening remarks he appears to be a Conservative Christian, who is perhaps comfortable with MAGA & Trump’s leadership.
“I’m not here to slander John Piper. He’s a brother-in-Christ and a man who has, by all accounts, picked up his cross daily to preach the hope of Christ and Christ crucified to a broken world.
With that being said, Piper has come to some odd conclusions in recent years, starting most notably with the idea that voting for the worldly bravado of Donald Trump was just a [sic] morally wrong as the utter institutional corruption, unfettered support of abortion, and woke totalitarianism of Joe Biden.”
Let’s dive into Piper’s perspective without immediately referring to Knox’s take & see what might jump out…
Here is his opening & yikes he’s seeming like a Pro-vaxer from the outset, not just pro-freedom (in Christ).
“My aim in this article is to encourage Christians to be vaccinated, if they can do so with a good conscience and judicious medical warrant.
The people I have especially in view are those who are not vaccinated because of fear of being out of step withpeople they respect, and in step with people they don’t admire. My message to them is simple: You are free.
So, I am not talking directly to everybody. If the shoe fits, put it on, check your conscience, consult your doctor, and go get vaccinated. If it doesn’t, go tearfully and cheerfully on your way. Tearfully, because over 4.5 million people have died from COVID-19 worldwide (including over 700,000 Americans). And cheerfully, because Christ makes it miraculously possible to love people by being “sorrowful yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10).”
So I’m pretty close to an anti-vaxer for numerous reasons now. It would be nearly impossible to read consistently here at The Q Tree & not be Extremely Concerned about the many & manifold dangers of the so-called Covid vaccine. Obviously Piper is coming from a very different worldview, though we Might be somewhat similar in our Christian biblical foundational viewpoints. Some of what he said above strikes me as manipulative, which is a big red flag to me!
Below is a comment written before the Plannedemic was on the scene with some vaccine concerns I expressed elsewhere, for perspective, but we’ll just stick with the Covid “vax” concerns today:
So Piper cites a number of sources that all seem to show that being unvax’d is Way more dangerous than being vax’d. Obviously here at the Q-Tree we consider material much more wider afield & also take into account the numerous reports, medical, scientific, & anecdotal that expose Much of the danger of the clot shots. It appears that Piper is unaware of this alternative & alarming material. Here’s his take, shudder:
When people respond to this increasingly clear reality by pointing to untrustworthy and disreputable government and medical leaders, I respond, “That’s a non sequitur.” The team called “vaccination” just made a first down, even if monkeys are holding the chains. For friends around the world who don’t know American football, that means a win is a win even if all the coaches and referees are incompetent.
Piper’s take on freedom is interesting & I encourage you to read it for yourself. He then lists a series of considerations to ponder as one decides for the shot or not. He doesn’t elaborate on those issues, even the implications of fetal cell lines, though he does link to a YouTube video on the topic. I have no idea if Piper is a pro-lifer or not, but at least he brings up that fetal tissue issue, though by implication doesn’t apparently consider it an impediment to Christians taking the “vax”. He appears to have made up his mind to take the shot & seems to be freeing, or even persuading, his parishioners to do the same–concerning!
Now let’s consider Knox’s other cited material that is opposed to Piper’s take before returning to Knox.
James White, the author of the above, pulls no punches & calls Piper out for his writings AND remarks on the election & the shot! Here is White pointing out what many Q-Treepers might consider to be quite obvious.
God’s ownership of our bodies implies our own stewardship thereof, which is why many of us take serious issue with experimental genetic therapies with record-breaking reports of adverse reactions, including death, with no long-term studies relating to safety (cancers, fertility), for a disease with an average mortality age above life expectancy and a mortality rate of less than 0.5%.
Further from White, bold is my take:
…there is the arrogance of the secular worldview that actually leads man to believe he is wise enough, while remaining in rebellion against his Creator, to meddle with the very essence of his being (genetics). When such arrogance is joined with a lust for power and dominion, it becomes deadly.
So the bulk of the article, comprising numerous biblical citations about freedom, is not the issue. Instead, the problem is found in the section that reads like a Pfizer promotional advertisement, and then the application portion at the end.
White’s wisdom & Piper’s naivety are on display in this next quote from White (not italicised to preserve his presentation):
“From late October of 2020, as word about the technology that is behind the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines came out, I have stated that I would consider use of these vaccine [sic] once three and five year safety studies had been completed. Prior to 2020, this would have been considered a sober, even mundane position to take. You do not do genetic manipulation at “warp speed,” especially when the threat you are seeking to counteract is one that almost always requires multiple co-morbidities and results in an age of death equal to or above life expectancy. But we do not have such data, and with how this one particular disease has been handled, we have good grounds to wonder if we will ever have geniune [sic] data in the future. The VAERS database, maintained by the CDC, has catalogued record numbers of negative results from the vaccines, so it is now regularly dismissed as “untested” (the irony is palpable) by the media. The amazing reality that we are now counting deaths with the Covid-19 as the same as deaths from Covid-19 has resulted in massively inflated numbers, numbers Dr. Piper repeats without comment, and uses in his final argumentation as well. The fact is we are playing with dangerous and unknown long-term impacts with these types of experimental1 therapies. Dr. Piper does not even acknowledge this reality.”
Here is the material for the footnote #1 above & a reference to further work by White (an 8 page pdf). This appears to be a level of truth AND integrity to be much admired & emulated, yet too rarely seen!
1 Yes, they remain experimental. The FDA approved the Pfizer jab without public comment, fundamentally altering the entire process. Video exists of Anthony Fauci in 2019 (Milken Institute found on CSPAN2) lamenting how long it would take to get these kinds of vaccines approved. Given his own role in the Wuhan lab, gain-of-function funding, etc., the reality of the situation is clear.
“Many studies are now showing efficacy rates below 50% and dropping for these vaccines. But the UK report is even more dangerous. We are now seeing that the vaccines are inhibiting the natural ability to produce antibodies against not just the well-known “spike protein,” but against the shell of the virus as well. Our bodies provide not only a much more robust immunity (as all studies are showing, and which Dr. Piper misrepresented when he said natural immunity is “as effective as vaccination immunity” when it is actually 13 to 27 times greater), but it is a much wider immunity, responding to more of the structure of the virus. This study is telling us that vaccination degrades our natural immunity, leaving us even more exposed to future infection.”
And this treat from White on Piper!
“He then provides one of the most disappointing lines in the article: “You have pondered the likelihood and unlikelihood of conspiratorial conjectures.” Without defining his meaning, or providing examples, Piper does us no favors. Is the recognition of the cooperation of Big Tech and Big Pharma with the extreme leftists in political power resulting in the transfer of literally trillions of dollars of wealth a “conspiratorial conjecture”? Are the banishments from social media of medical experts who are warning about dangers fictional? We are not told.”
Winding down toward his conclusion White displays both insight AND wisdom:
“It is undeniable that the vaccines are not a solo issue. They are coming to us after mask mandates and church closures and pastoral imprisonments and before the next onerous demands from governments drunk on the power that inevitably comes from the rise of secularism. The secular state is far worse than the ancient pagan context of Rome (which was bad enough), for by its very definition it must be ultimate in all things as there is no Creator. Why Piper does not see the role the vaccines play in the overall demands of the newly empowered totalitarianism I cannot say, but it is not the first time he has missed the role a particular element plays in the whole. Mean, arrogant tweets are, in the overall scheme of things, significantly less important than the fact that the Biden regime is intent upon forcing your children to celebrate drag queens and likewise just as intent upon taking control of every aspect of your life to force you to live in denial of the lordship of Christ. What Piper has missed, badly, is the role these vaccinations play in a much bigger, much more basic movement into a technologically based, chemically and medically controlled secular totalitarianism.”
Obviously it is easier to resonate with White, at least for me. So let’s return to Knox. Piper is presented as
“…either unable or unwilling to see past the veneer of Everything is Fine™ that’s been peddled by the leftist politicians, the woke media, the “progressive” academy, and the neo-Marxist Big Tech offices.”
Knox reminds us to consider the source AND question conclusions drawn from faulty data & assumptions:
“As a math professor once told me, even if your calculations are 100% correct, your solution will be insanely wrong if your starting premises are off!”
Honestly I did enjoy reading all three pieces. Knox was my intro to the other two & his framing & take is invaluable. Piper was who I’d been searching for in appreciation of the Wonderful Teaching Carl shared with us today (now yesterday). Piper was shallow on facts but deeper on scripture in his writing compared to what the other two shared, but both Knox & White were addressing Piper’s factual fallacies more than his biblical prowess. Because I was reading Piper’s article as more of a vax skeptic, I found some of his scriptural insights to work on me in the opposite way than where he was going in his applications. White was factual, truthful, & masterfully insightful on both human nature & the creeping totalitarianism in our societies. I resonated with his take & hope to read further of how he also might “rightly divide the Word of Truth”!
I guess I would prefer to just hear from Piper on scripture, not social issues. Because White & Knox are seemingly aligned with my worldview they are more comfortable reads to me when addressing social &/or cultural concerns. Knox is an easier, quicker read, so he’s a good place to start. White dives in deep & dispenses truth, wisdom, & integrity quite liberally. Piper would do well to stick to biblical truth & could expand his sources of information so he has a better grasp of what is Really happening in the world today.
Now let’s turn to the reason for this post’s title, since many Shepherds (pastors & other leaders) are seemingly leading their flocks of Sheep to the metaphorical, if not literal, slaughter.
I’m going to share Ezekiel 34 in a moment, but this is how thinking along those lines developed, in the comments section on this excellent post by Wolfmoon:
There are markers in the vaccine, AND they are testing (using useless PCR) for infection, AND they are taking DNA.
All bases are covered. The sheep will see the “testing for viruses” part and be satisfied. The lions will see the markers and the DNA theft and walk majestically away.
They are flailing around trying anything they can think of to trick the lions into submission.
But I am a lion, and not subject to such gaslighting trickery.11 Reply
EXACTLY! That’s what I’m thinking. The small cheese was the vaccine in as many as possible. The BIG CHEESE was “everybody gives their DNA to the globonazis just to travel”. The really big cheese behind the scenes is “now we can modify and study every single person like a lab animal”. When we talked about being “controls”, they rubbed their hands in glee. “We can use that! We can surely use that!” The trick THERE is to foil that plan – to say “No, KlauSS. No DNA for you!”
One of the things they would surely be testing for would be immune function. Shedding. OMG. There is so much modification and study of us possible.
cleverly disguised as “peace and safety” for all !
and coming soon…
marker
sounds like mark.
but we’re not quite there just yet.
the UN’s Sustainablity crap + the 2030 Agenda + the WEF + the Vatican + the Covid/Climate Change tyranny…and the global compliance to all of that…is creating Alinsky style chaos.
they will need all the chaos they can manufacture…so that…
the machiavellian psychopath man of universal “peace” can show up, and quell all the chaos…
by then, ppl of the global village will have become rendered compliant enough so as to readily take the mark which will require, not just relinquishing our privacy, but something much worse : our souls.
to worship that man of lawlessness, perversion & lies.Last edited 7 days ago by smiley29 Reply
We would be stronger if the Church leaders around the globe including Pop would stand with God’s people. They are not for a second time in history the past 80 years. They failed God and humanity and will be judged more harshly for selling out God and Christ for a lousy bag of silver.4 Reply
The whole 34th chapter of Ezekiel is profoundly applicable Right Now!
Ezekiel 34 New International Version The Lord Will Be Israel’s Shepherd 34 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
Let’s add the rest of Ezekiel 34 (that wasn’t included in my original comment above) for perspective:
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
17 “‘As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
25 “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. 26 I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing.[a] I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. 27 The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. 28 They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. 29 I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. 30 Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. 31 You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Footnotes
Ezekiel 34:26 Or I will cause them and the places surrounding my hill to be named in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or I will cause them and the places surrounding my hill to be seen as blessed
VC housekeeping note, footnotes from Bible Gateway show up as numbered here though they are lettered within the biblical text, please make adjustments (a=1, etc.).
I was going to expound on that passage but I think at this point it might be best for the Word of God to speak to your own heart as He wills…
Here is an example of a church that has gone overboard in the wrong direction, way beyond Piper’s vax persuasion. They wouldn’t allow the unvax’d to enter nor apparently work there, even those with medical or religious exemptions. I really hope the majority of the remaining flock got saline instead of the real clot shot!
Closer to home there have been disturbing trends. Our old home church seemed to go pretty overboard on Covid craziness. Earlier we visited to support a family member’s music ministry. At that time masks were strictly & personally enforced by deacons or elders, significantly impeding worship AND fellowship. They had Covid stations w/ hand sanitizer & masks positioned by entrances & strategically elsewhere in the building. Thankfully, over the summer the restrictions were relaxed as in people were encouraged to wear masks rather than “required”. At our daughter’s wedding there in August only a very small minority, like 2% of attendees, were pretty consistently masking.
My parents’ very large & prosperous church went through a season of only having online services. They spent exorbitant amounts of money to install various health measures including outfitting multiple gathering rooms w/ microbe killing lights, I believe. Since they also operate a Christian School they may have been proceeding with an abundance of caution. The online services were a blessing to my parents who may continue to do church that way when health or weather issues make attendance an hour away from home much more challenging. More churches having an online presence AND broadcasting services can be one of the seeming few positive changes since Covidiocy has mesmerized global sheep & tantalized totalitarians!
My husband has been very activie in music & leadership in a local church that might best be described as “seeker-friendly” & more youth oriented. This church is part of an extended church plant ministry in Michigan & most of the leadership are on the young side too. Michael, my husband, got one of our sons involved in music ministry there & our daughter-in-law was active in the children’s ministry. M & son got quite close to a Conservative Christian church employee who grew increasingly frustrated with various “woke” aspects of leadership that he was unable to sway whatsoever, even though he was on the church board. He finally moved out of state, largely to escape what was becoming toxic church culture.
Our son chose to leave because he couldn’t stand the mask mandates that were pretty heavy-handed for many months. Our daughter-in-law lost her motivation when they shut down all of the children’s ministry areas due to Covid lies. This church has had an extensive youth & children’s ministry & much outreach to the community. What had been a welcoming atmosphere, complete w/ complementary coffee & treats, turned into a desert of fear, in so many ways. Talk about serious mixed messaging…
My husband’s experiences with music there were becoming so frustrating compared to pre-covid freedoms. Significant enforced masking. No access to normal musician hang out rooms before or between services–much interpersonal ministry had occurred spontaneously in that environment previously. No longer were refreshments provided for the worship team (nor the church at large, for that matter). In fact they often had to wait in their cars when they weren’t on stage or in the service. Michael would hit a nearby drive-through & pick up cheap breakfast food to share with his team but it wasn’t even close to the same.
I attended service there at Easter & M had to RSVP so the church would have a head count & not get overcrowded. I’m not sure if they were attempting to limit numbers due to “social distancing” or what. Our son wasn’t able to make the RSVP cut so he stayed home on Easter, again. I refused to wear a mask & nobody called me on it, which was a relief. There were Many empty chairs so our son could likely have come too but the “restrictions” made the concept of joyfully coming into the House of the Lord pretty foreign–Tragic! Compared to the previous Easter, when virtually All Michigan churches were closed, this was an “improvement”. What a very twisted way to disrupt the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection, the very lynchpin of the Church’s existence. Surely just accidental tyranny–NOT!
Although my husband Loves being a part of that music ministry AND has developed a number of quality relationships that have extended beyond just fellowship within the church walls, he has stated on numerous occasions that if that church ramps up the Covid crap again he is going to have to leave.
Churches bowing to government lies, tyranny, AND deception is transforming the natural areas of ministry that should be unfettered and subject to the leading of the Holy Spirit, Not the permission of The State! To see a pastor, like Piper, shilling for the death shots is beyond horrifying to me. Having ubiquitous masking & promoting fears & isolation & a lack of human contact (touch, hugging, holding hands to pray, shaking hands to greet others, laying hands on others in prayer &/or fellowship, facial expressions, etc.) are all destructive of the church & in effect are putting the Light of Christ under a metaphorical bushel.
Early in the Scamdemic when our dictator in the Governor’s mansion (Gretchen Half-Whitmer, to quote Trump) banned churches from being opened, or even people leaving their own households, we had a House Church service in our home. People from Four different households attended (family & pending family) and we were technically in violation of some illegitimate “mandate”. It was joyful, liberating, moving, godly, AND surreal. I wondered if we were, as a society, on the cusp of seeing the church driven underground, like in China or ancient Rome. Honestly our home church service was more meaningful & powerful with God’s presence than Any church building service I’d experienced in Many Years (my issues, not necessarily the church’s “fault”).
If driven underground The Church, The True Bride of Christ, will survive AND thrive…& suffer significantly…
In contrast to some of the above, other family members have been blessed to discover a vibrant & growing church about an hour away that did not bow the knee at Any level to the “pandemic” paralysis. Apparently this church has been on the front lines in fighting against illegitimate powers & even has some legal eagles in the congregation that have contributed significantly to clipping the Nazgul’s wings (Gretchen Whitmer). Standing up to tyranny may be One of the key factors why this church is growing so much right now.
I went to the church’s website to see if any of their Covid “activism” featured prominently, and it did not. Here is a link to an article from earlier in the scamdemic that quotes the pastor & gives context to his decision to keep their church open against manifest pressure from the system. It’s interesting given our hindsight view on much of what was happening then.
Another distant family member, on the other side of the state, has recounted how her small community church has fared during the Covid manufactured “crisis”. Her church stayed mostly open, didn’t mask, & didn’t do social distancing. Many people got sick AND now have natural immunity. Many congregants are well-versed in alternative healing approaches to Covid & have been helping to bring healing to their community whenever the illness kicks in. I’ve shared some of her approaches here before & hope to do so more fully in another post…eventually.
Alarmingly on Detroit area TV there are a number of pastors featured prominently in Michigan propaganda pieces trying to still convince the masses of the importance of taking the clot shot. Every time I see one I think of Margaret Sanger’s desire to keep the “uppity” “undesirables” from thinking for themselves & not getting abortions. Basically the de-population agenda is still finding “spiritual shills” to sell their snake oil!
OK I went looking at Michigan.gov to see if I could find an example commercial featuring a faith leader & found this document on fetal cells & the “vax”. At the bottom are links to various faith organizations statements on the topic. I would guess the state isn’t linking to anyone who objects to the “vax” but am not taking the time to check. All of the links say Catholic or Vatican except the Charlotte Lozier Institute.
It looks like in order to view one needs to download the file. The top one tries to convince pregnant women the shot is safe. The seventh video features one of the pastors lamenting people dying alone. From the second from the bottom on page 2, link below, there is a spot on “keeping the faith”.
Just even considering this material makes me feel like I need to take a shower. This is like the PR campaign to convince people to willingly enter the Nazi cattle cars & showers, bringing about their own destruction!
Here’s an example of the kind of pastoral leadership I would much rather see!
Here’s the larger scene preceding that one:
I’ve spoken/written numerous times about movie-quoting as a language in our family, including at my inaugural Q-Tree post immediately below. Comments are closed now, but well worth reading. If someone might care to comment there is a copy of that post on my main blog, Special Connections, also below.
Oh for a protective, patriotic pastor’s heart to arise in these dark days! Here is a possibility. I haven’t watched this video in full just share it for your consideration…It’s almost 2 hours & from earlier this month. Interestingly You Tube won’t allow that video to embed…hmm…just a glitch in the matrix surely!
Here is an appropriate warning from scripture for those who presume to teach others.
James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly
I went looking for some scriptures that might be applicable & encouraging in these dark days, here is truth!
2 Samuel 22 New International Version
David’s Song of Praise
22 David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said:
“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; 3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield[a] and the horn[b] of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent people you save me.
4 “I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and have been saved from my enemies. 5 The waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. 6 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.
7 “In my distress I called to the Lord; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears. 8 The earth trembled and quaked, the foundations of the heavens[c] shook; they trembled because he was angry. 9 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. 10 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. 11 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared[d] on the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness his canopy around him— the dark[e] rain clouds of the sky. 13 Out of the brightness of his presence bolts of lightning blazed forth. 14 The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. 15 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them. 16 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of breath from his nostrils.
17 “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. 18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. 19 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. 20 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
21 “The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. 22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I am not guilty of turning from my God. 23 All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. 24 I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. 25 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness[f] in his sight.
26 “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, 27 to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd. 28 You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low. 29 You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light. 30 With your help I can advance against a troop[g]; with my God I can scale a wall.
31 “As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. 32 For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? 33 It is God who arms me with strength[h] and keeps my way secure. 34 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights. 35 He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 36 You make your saving help my shield; your help has made[i] me great. 37 You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.
38 “I pursued my enemies and crushed them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed. 39 I crushed them completely, and they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet. 40 You armed me with strength for battle; you humbled my adversaries before me. 41 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes. 42 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the Lord, but he did not answer. 43 I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth; I pounded and trampled them like mud in the streets.
44 “You have delivered me from the attacks of the peoples; you have preserved me as the head of nations. People I did not know now serve me, 45 foreigners cower before me; as soon as they hear of me, they obey me. 46 They all lose heart; they come trembling[j] from their strongholds.
47 “The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior! 48 He is the God who avenges me, who puts the nations under me, 49 who sets me free from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from a violent man you rescued me. 50 Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name.
51 “He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.”
8 “But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him. 9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. 10 He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside. 11 The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. 12 He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. 13 He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away. 14 Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night. 15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful. 16 So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
17 “Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.[a] 18 For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal. 19 From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will touch you. 20 In famine he will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. 21 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes. 22 You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the wild animals. 23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. 24 You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing. 25 You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth. 26 You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season.
27 “We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself.”
I’m searching for scriptures based on the word “rescue” AND there are Many. Here are more that leap out to me: Psalm 18; Isaiah 35; & II Peter 2. Also the many shared below!
Psalm 35:10My whole being will exclaim, “Who is like you, Lord? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them. ”In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Isaiah 46:4Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Isaiah 50:2When I came, why was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Was my arm too short to deliver you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you? By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert; their fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Isaiah 51:11Those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Jeremiah 15:20I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you,” declares the Lord. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Ezekiel 34:10This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Ezekiel 34:12As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Ezekiel 34:27The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Daniel 3:28Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Zephaniah 3:19At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you. I will rescue the lame; I will gather the exiles. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they have suffered shame. In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Acts 12:11Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.” In Context | Full Chapter | Other Translations
Acts 26:16-18 New International Version
16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. Iam sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
As you can see from the numerous scriptures shared above God’s Word is full of hope for us all! Please dive in for yourself & see how God might speak directly to you in your hour of need from His Word!!!
Here is the passage I was originally searching for, Absolutely Applicable to pastors, leaders, AND to us all!
Proverbs 24:10-12 New International Version
Saying 25
10 If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength! 11 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. 12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?
God grant us the wisdom, grace, AND strength to speak the truth in love AND to rescue those who are “staggering toward slaughter”.
Well God Bless you AND thank you for reading along with these thoughts today. I hope you are encouraged, inspired, AND challenged to go forth boldly proclaiming grace And truth. In Jesus Love, Valerie
VC note on use of AND throughout. This is a bit of an inside joke at The Q-Tree as Wolfmoon is fond of using the term “AND logic”, as in many times things aren’t either or but more like both AND…
PS, if this post has blessed you an earlier post reflecting on God’s intervention in our battles is below:
Please find more and better copies of this street-corner speech!!!
I will add them here.
Yeah, we know this stuff, but this is like the “check-mark red pill” that seals the deal and shows the URGENCY of turning this shit over. This old boy puts it all together in a way that simply cannot be denied.
We have to stop it COLD.
What I want people to do is to IDENTIFY all things we need to do RIGOROUSLY in order to save businesses and stop this process.
We have to begin IMMEDIATELY.
I want TWO classes of actions / inactions.
(1) What must WE as individuals do or not do.
(2) What must politicians do or not do.
The LATTER (and how it affects the FORMER) is how we will TEST the WHEAT from the CHAFF.
Better hope that TEAM TRUMP is paying attention. Because WE ARE.
At a critical time in our nation's history, we need fighters in Washington who not only love this country but love God. @JoshMandelOhio has made America First and God First an instrumental part of his platform. He is also a Marine and supports forensic audits – something (1/2) pic.twitter.com/63Dvt0UVOr
that is essential or we will never have free elections again. We need that kind of leadership in Washington. Therefore, I endorse Josh Mandel for United States Senate. Let's get Josh in. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/JKwpznejRa
NOW – while I do like one of Josh’s opponents – Jane Timken – she treads a bit lighter on the election fraud issue, although she does say President Trump was cheated (see HERE).
Josh, however, does not tread lightly. Josh is front and center on the cheating issue. SEMPER FI!!!
As you can see, Josh is the REAL DEAL on REAL VOTING.
I had hoped to report on this LIVE on Tuesday night, but as you know this site was brought to its knees for “whatever reason” in a timeframe which was precisely centered on this ELECTION INTEGRITY RALLY.
Do the math. IMO, the “global” forces behind FAKE ELECTIONS will stop at nothing to keep their scam going. They are particularly interested in controlling the FAKE NEWS CYCLE in WASHINGTON and other capitols. It is important to them that they control what the LEADERS are seeing.
They do NOT want certain narratives getting “out of control” and FAKE ELECTIONS is at the top of their list.
ANYWHO……
If you want to watch a recording of the rally, HERE YOU GO.
Please note that I am unable to embed the video here. Also, it is very long – about 3 hours. There are multiple excellent speakers, and you have to click around for them.
Here is a rough timetable for where to find the different speakers:
00:00:00 – Title frame (Rally)
00:35:00 – Video begins
00:36:00 – Welcome (Pastor Church, guest pastor from a church near Columbus, Ohio)
00:42:43 – Prayer (Pastor Jeff Evans)
00:45:00 – Pledge of Allegiance (Hawk Busby, kid speaker)
01:21:25 – Guest Pastor Intro of Matt Tierman (sp?)
01:23:45 – Matt Tierman (journalist / political analyst / conservative activist)
01:45:30 – Josh Mandel Intro of Wendy Rogers
01:48:00 – Wendy Rogers
02:13:50 – Josh Mandel Intro of Jenna Ellis
02:18:12 – Jenna Ellis
02:53:00 – Guest Pastor Intro of Pastor Alter
02:55:15 – Pastor Alter Closing Sermon
03:02:30 – Pastor Alter Closing Prayer
03:04:45 – Closing Credits (Josh Mandel)
03:05:09 – End
Josh, Wendy, and Jenna are all great speakers. I will try to emphasize some of the others, too.
The other side did NOT want this going live. If you watch this, you will see that America is FED UP with FAKE ELECTIONS. It is a POWERFUL overall message.
Standing ovations in a CHURCH have HUGE IMPACT.
The introduction by the guest pastor (Pastor Church) is quite excellent. Indeed, just like the other speakers, this would make a GREAT separate video.
It would really be nice to see all these talks as individual videos.
This kid speaker, though – OMG – he had ’em CHEERING!
Josh Mandel is great. You can really get a sense of who he is, and how much of a FIGHTER like Trump he is. The most important thing, IMO, is that he does NOT have to look at his watch to know what time it is. He does not have to check the polls. He can fire from the hip because he has DEAD AIM. He knows exactly where he stands. The other speakers all validate this point.
Josh’s friend Matt Tierman’s talk was POWERFUL. He’s the political analyst. He watched the steal. He knows it was stolen.
He has one of the BEST outooks on the race that has ever appeared. One of the most important reasons to listen to him is that he has a real grip on how utterly FAKE J.D. Vance really is. The man is a CONSTRUCT – he’s a HANDLE – he’s a WAY for the coastal elites to control us – to put words in our mouths – to PRETEND that they know us – when all they do is SHUT OUR MOUTHS WITH DIGITAL DUCT TAPE.
No. Matt Tierman has the truth. And JOSH MANDEL understands that we MUST have Truth.
Wendy Rogers has GREAT news from Arizona. She’s very impressive. Soft-spoken, but INTENSE.
Jenna Ellis has a message for the super-moms. Very powerful. And for all of us – be PROUD to be an American.
The closing sermon – WHOA!!! Must listen. This is a REVOLUTIONARY WAR pastor! This guy sets a high bar for a patriotic pastor.
The total time is about two and a half hours. Pick a few parts and listen. If you’re curious which one to listen to, ask me in the comments.
I was unable to find much media coverage of this rally, sadly. What coverage I found, I will list at the end.
In any case, take heart. Listen to some of these speakers, and listen to Josh, and you will understand.
If you read all the way to the end, the last three paragraphs are gold.
And I quote:
Many members of the military are heroic individuals, worthy of admiration and emulation. But many other members are not, and increasingly the worship of the modern American armed forces serves to distract from how wastefully American troops are used abroad, and the sinister way the Pentagon is transforming America’s security into a social science experiment.
Kyle Rittenhouse is braver and more admirable than most of the soldiers conservatives are reflexively trained to worship. The average American soldier fights in conflicts that have either no bearing on Americans’ safety and well-being, or a negative bearing on both. Rittenhouse, on the other hand, selflessly put himself in peril to protect his own community from marauding psychopaths. American troops are rewarded with college tuition, pensions, and affirmative action for millions of federal jobs. Rittenhouse’s reward for defending his fellow Americans is personal ruin, a potential lifelong prison sentence, and denunciations from cowards. If Black Rifle had an outlet in Kenosha, Kyle Rittenhouse would have risked his life to defend it. But Black Rifle won’t even risk unpopularity to defend him.
So what should patriots do going forward? Well, if you like coffee, buy coffee. If you can give money to a company that shares your values, or avoid giving money to one that hates them, even better. But stop tethering your identity to specific corporations, and stop being an easy lay for slick marketers who try to impress you by putting a gun on a coffee mug. Fundamentally, it is liberals who derive meaning from brand allegiance and living life as contrived stereotypes (this is why they are so attached to identity politics). Americans of all political affiliations must adhere to something greater: Family, traditional values, and enduring, inherited institutions that don’t treat them as marks from which to grift another dollar.
BRAVO!!!
Or BRAVA – the author is not signed.
To me, THIS is a moment to truly “unite the right” in a way that the phony Occupy Wall Street veteran and likely FIB informant Fake Kessler neither could nor would, with his media TRAP for foolish, unwary conservatives at Charlottesville.
It is not in DEFENSE of one more phony, counterfeit, sabotaged symbol propped up by the left as a trap, but in standing over the CARCASS of another such fake symbol – Black Rifle Coffee – that the GRIZZLED VETERANS of information warfare will find supernatural replenishment in the PURE, FRESH, and STEAMING AROMA of RELENTLESS TRUTH.
BANANA REPUBLIC COFFEE CORPS
Let me ECHO more deeply and in great detail, where this deep destruction of the military started – not counting all the earlier subversion. In my opinion, the most damaging subversion of the United States military began with the creation of the “unassailable vet card”, which could protect both HEROES and TRAITORS.
Heroes and traitors were REDEFINED by a treasonous media.
A card DEFINED BY TREASONOUS Democrats, operating under the cover of their own defense-savvy blue dogs, who could not deny the CHARLATANS like Chuck Schumer and Bill Clinton in their own party.
Helped by treasonous Hollywood, as a “victor” of Vietnam, with its ensuing “reeducation” that WE PAID FOR.
This goes back to the great wars of Maoist and Soviet demoralization of America – Korea and Vietnam. These wars had a purpose – WIN IN AMERICA. Because of our TRAITORS here, these conflicts were a done deal. Retreat was inevitable. One hand was tied behind our backs. But it’s not like what happened overseas would have really mattered. What happened HERE was the whole point.
The media, of course, made our inability to see this trick stick like glue. They marginalized, ignored, and ridiculed the few voices that SAW the reality.
Worse yet, these same tactics worked for DECADES.
When communist thug Robert Creamer – “husband” of Bolshivette Jan Schakowsky – joined Soviet brainwash job John McCain in trying to get us to enter another idiot conflict in Syria, it was all made clear to me – the concept of BAIT WARS. Obama led us to the gate, but WE had to enter the entrapment voluntarily. THAT is how they operate. The left needs COVER for their traps.
TRAITORS – both the despicable kind like Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, and the pathetic kind like Soviet psychological guinea pig John McCain – are the unbeatable ace that Bolsheviks use against us EVERY; SINGLE; TIME.
Remember how Hollywood helped Schumer and his ilk create the pooh-pooh, there-there of forgiveness for ALL veterans returning from Vietnam? This insanity, after the MEDIA had created the conditions in which it made sense, as the lesser of apparently available evils.
I find this particular image of Jeremiah Denton the most beautiful, because it demonstrates the utter disrespect that the left, including YouTube Menshevik diaperette Susan Wojcicki, holds for true heroes.
In contrast, let’s check John McCain around that time.
Do you see it now? Do you see how a treasonous media – operating at the edge of what they could get away with, made the evil of tolerating TRAITORS a condition of their own relenting on recognition of the betrayed HEROES of Vietnam?
Think long and hard, how the military was betrayed – not just by them – Democrats and “Mediatifa” – but by us. Yes, by us. WE THE PEOPLE.
Yes. There were a FEW civilians who resisted the psychological campaign by the media, but not many. I knew a very few conservative hardcores who never relented. I admit that I was not one of them. I sucked up all the propaganda, like most. It took me DECADES to undo the Vietnam programming which in folly betrayed the TRUE HEROES, and accepted the left’s revisionist version of patriotism.
We have to GO BACK IN TIME and CORRECT THE ERRORS.
And yeah. There appears to be a plan to help us, even though it – too – is imperfect.
Welcome to WAR.
It is my opinion that by analyzing our DEFEATS – things like Charlottesville, January Sixth, and Black Rifle Coffee – we become STRONGER.
Grizzled, SCARRED, and limping at times, but stronger. WILY AND WISE.
Rally to the flag, the REAL flag, again and again, because that is what THEY cannot truly do.
(@realJennaEllis) 
