By now most of us have developed a love/hate relationship with social media. What started out as a fun way to keep in touch with friends far & wide has somehow deteriorated into a dystopian experiment gone horribly awry, because that’s what humans too often do…we take something perfectly delightful and ruin it with greed, politics, envy, pettiness, & lack of self control. Some folks have the wherewithal to disengage completely, although oftentimes the people who leave are the ones with class, intelligence, good humor, & a moral compass. Isn’t it sad that the exact people who have something decent to offer to the medium, the ones who we really want to continue connecting with, are the ones we tend to run off?? Many that remain tread lightly because we sure don’t want to offend people who may disagree with our worldview, and God forbid we piss off the power behind the curtain that has suddenly become quite bold in censoring opposing views and using misguided algorithms to erroneously parse language deemed hurtful.
Even considering all that, most of us choose to stay. Why?? Well, I think I may have the answer. I stumbled upon a post from an old high school acquaintance, and what she wrote pretty much hits the nail on the head, so much so that all I can do is second that emotion.
“Thank you for seeing me. I know people use Facebook for different things, and plenty of people might argue that the platform is unhealthy or biased or for ‘old people’.
I don’t love Facebook but I’d say the lot of you have provided more than half of my social need for human connection over the past decade, and moreso during this pandemic. So thank you for listening to my musings and sharing your majestic human stories with me.
Thank you for the pictures and stories of your children, grandchildren, & dogs. Thank you for the videos of you roller skating, swimming in a river, twirling fire nunchucks, or jumping on a trampoline with your kid. Thank you for sharing your moments of accomplishment, your railing rants, your art, your music, and your poetry. You guys are totally awesome as a digitally aggregated community that pretty much exists in my phone and my mind.”
Can’t put it much better than that 🤷🏻♂️.
A few of you are friends, neighbors, & family that I see or talk to with some frequency, while many are former classmates or co-workers that I haven’t seen in person in decades. Some are acquaintances that I’ve met thru various social interactions and would enjoy getting to know better. Hell, there are atleast a half dozen people on my friends list who are dead, but it feels like as long as their Facebook page is still there they remain present in some intangibly tangible way. Regardless of how we met or how often we interact I hope you know that I’m glad for it. A year ago I expanded my social media presence to Instagram. All I do there is post memes. It’s less interactive than Facebook, but I find it oddly enjoyable. I peruse Twitter occasionally but it’s much less interesting. Ditto for Tik Tok. Sometimes I’ll run across a funny video or two, but overall it is overrated and God knows there’s little chance I will ever actually post a video myself.
I suppose the point is that we have a choice when it comes to social media. Those that have left it in the dust have their reasons and I respect that. For those that remain, we can choose to get down into the muck and participate in meaningless arguments. We can choose to moan & whine about ‘FB Jail’, ‘fact’ checkers, community standards, and all the other associated negativity. Or, as my old classmate so eloquently states, we can be thankful for the connection, the stories, the photos, the music, the laughter, & the community. It’s up to you.
twisted by the media daily to fit their narrative. You saw Trump as a Republican, I saw Trump as a Patriot. You saw Trump as a dictator, I saw Trump as a leader. You saw Trump as authoritarian, I saw Trump as the only one willing to fight for our freedoms. You saw Trump as childish, I saw Trump as a fighter, unwilling to cave to lies. You saw Trump as an unpolished politician, I saw Trump as a breath of fresh air. You believe Trump hates immigrants, I know Trump married an immigrant. You saw Trump putting an end to immigration in America, I saw Trump welcoming immigrants to America legally. You saw Trump’s cages at the border, I saw Obama’s cages at the border. You saw Trump with a struggling economy, I saw Trump with an amazing economy until Democrats shut it down. You saw violence in the streets and called it Trump’s America, I saw violence in the streets of Democrat run cities. You wanted someone more “Presidential”, I’m happy we had someone who finally didn’t
weight. 100 lbs. And while I try to always look in the mirror and blame myself first it has to be said that friends & family bringing me things like 2 lbs of bacon (I live alone), fast food I didn’t ask for, entire pies, boxes of donuts & cupcakes, and greasy pepperoni rolls DO NOT HELP. Are people oblivious?!?!?!?!?? Why are you enabling me?!?!?!?!?? Obviously I have a sweet tooth, lack self control, & have made a lifetime of poor choices. That’s on me. But what kind of people look at the 300 lb. guy in a wheelchair and decide that shoving more bad choices in front of their face is a good idea?? Humanity really needs to reevaluate what being nice means. Offering unhealthy food to an already unhealthy person is NOT being nice…it’s pushing them into the grave. Would 
you buy a carton of cigarettes for someone diagnosed with lung cancer?? Would you hand a loaded gun to someone with clinical depression?? Would you push a person who cannot swim into a river?? Would you help a drug addict score their next fix?? But it’s okay to keep giving the unhealthy obese person junk food?? You’re actually an accessory to murder, and I wish people were smart enough to understand that. 
sticks and the baby was screaming for them so the Mom opened the pack and gave him one, which stopped his tears. He walked around with it smiling, but then the bigger boy took it and the baby started screaming again. Just as the mother was about to fuss at the older child, he bent the glow sticks and handed it back to the baby. The baby noticed that the stick was now glowing and his brother said “I had to break it so you could get the full effect from it.” I could hear God saying to me, “I had to break you to show you why I created you. You had to go through it so you could fulfill your purpose.” That child was happy just swinging the “unbroken” glow stick around in the air because he didn’t understand what it was created to do which was “glow”. There are some people who will be content just “being”, but some have been chosen by God to be “broken”…to get sick, lose a job, go through divorce, suffer with addiction, bury a spouse, parent, best friend, or child because in those moments of desperation God is breaking us. But when the breaking is done we will be able to see the reason for which we were created, so when you see us glowing just know that we have been broken but healed by His grace & mercy.
friend Greg in 1991, just in time for the 1992 election season. His books 
game with myself. I’d hear a story, form an opinion, then try to think about it thru the prism of what Rush might say about it. Inevitably, once I was able to catch up with his show (made so much easier thru modern technology) I would realize that I had been on the right track with my thoughts, although he had an uncanny ability to point out things that I’d missed. The point though, is that thru the course of three decades I learned so much that I wouldn’t have if I’d never become a Dittohead. I suppose some will assume that makes me a misogynistic bigot, but when those accusations start flying I know immediately that I’m dealing with an uninformed ignoramus who never actually listened to the man I enjoyed & admired. I am in regular contact with people who spew obtuse MSNBC & CNN talking points almost daily, so I know the type. Thru trial & error and a lot of missteps along the way I’ve learned to accept those folks and appreciate their more positive contributions.
and other powerful parts of our daily lives have long been controlled by The Left and the populace indoctrinated without us even realizing it was happening. That indoctrination has only gotten more bold & pervasive, but many of us are no longer ignorant of it and occasionally even fight back. Rush Limbaugh deserves nearly all the credit for that. He almost singlehandedly saved talk radio, and in the process awakened millions of people to malevolent machinations that had been occurring for decades. Without Rush there is no Bush Dynasty, Fox News, Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America, or Donald Trump. I shudder to think what Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, & a likely Hillary Clinton Administration would have done to our country if Rush hadn’t been around to hold their feet to the fire. Certainly our Supreme Court would look far different and be way more radical. The next wave of conservative pundits wouldn’t be enjoying the level of success they’ve achieved without Rush as a forefather. Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Candace Owens, Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, Tomi Lahren…they all owe him a significant debt of gratitude, and I think they know that. I’ll even go so far as to ponder what the 2020 Election might have looked like if Rush had been at full strength this past year, although I don’t think even he could’ve stopped the theft that occurred (that’s a rabbit hole I won’t dive into right now).
delicious candy bar called BarNone. It was thick…solid…and very chocolatey. There were chocolate wafers with chocolate cream and peanuts on top, all enveloped in chocolate. Their ad slogan was “
those shows I always thought I’d get around to checking out but haven’t, and when I’m being honest with myself I realize I never will. At any rate, some actress from the show recently got fired for right leaning social media posts. Apparently what really got people’s panties in a wad was comparing Nazis treatment of Jews with the modern day cancel culture wherein there seems to be a concerted effort to squash all traces of conservative opinion. I read her tweet and understood the analogy just fine…didn’t find it offensive at all. What’s more interesting is Disney absolutely proving the young lady’s point by firing her. Leftists really don’t get it. They are completely blind to their own insanity. It would be funny if it wasn’t so maddening. 
and might’ve been considered the greatest receiver ever if he’d been on a perennial championship contender. O-Lineman Alan Faneca (Pittsburgh Steelers). DB John Lynch (Tampa Bay Buccaneers). QB Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts & Denver Broncos), who I will always consider a superior quarterback to Tom Brady. DB Charles Woodson (Oakland Raiders & Green Bay Packers), whose combined success in college & the NFL is probably under appreciated. WR Drew Pearson (Dallas Cowboys), who should have been in the HoF thirty years ago. Pittsburgh Steelers scout Bill Nunn, who played a huge part in building the 1970s dynasty. Former Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Flores. Not making the cut: O-Lineman Tony Boselli, linebackers Zach Thomas, Clay Matthews, & Sam Mills, and receivers Torry Holt & Reggie Wayne. 
A few friends posted on social media the day before the Super Bowl expressing total indifference about the Big Game. Actually I have several friends like that – absolutely no interest in sports whatsoever. To each their own, but honestly I’m very thankful to be a sports fan. Watching ball games, golf, & car races on TV has helped me thru some dark times at various points in my life. This past year I have observed several of my Facebook friends doing outdoor activities like fishing & hiking, and I’m a bit jealous. Such things are basically pandemic proof, which I’m sure has been a blessing for them. Unfortunately I’ve never been physically able to be outdoorsy, so I’ve relied heavily on simply being a sports fan. 
began, but now it kind of makes me sad. Not only is it fertile soil for all sorts of misunderstandings & arguments, but too often it proves just how willfully ignorant some people can be. When that ignorance shows itself one is left with a choice…do I call someone out on their BS (thus igniting one of those unnecessary & frustrating squabbles), or do I take the high road and let someone wallow in their obliviousness?? Either way it is unavoidable that one thinks less of that person going forward and that’s too bad.
I’d recently joined on Facebook. The question revolved around fretting about whether or not we’d ever have a Gen X President. Quite frankly such things don’t matter all that much to me…I just want the best person for the job (something we Americans have struggled with in recent decades). Some mental giant gushed about the idea of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a possible Millenial President, and it took all my powers of restraint not to post a response that likely would’ve landed me back in FB Jail. I can’t even take fans of that woman seriously. If you cannot see that she’s a total imbecile there’s very little hope for you and I’d suggest sterilization. At any rate, what occurred to me as I responsibly interacted with more sane members of the group is that we Americans tend to prefer an older President (Joe Biden is the oldest person ever elected)…especially 
conservatives. Wherein there are exceptions…younger folks like JFK, Clinton, & Obama…they tend to be Democrats. One could probably do an in depth analysis of the reasons, but who has time for that?? It just seems like liberals are more slavish to the cult of personality, make decisions based on emotion, choose idealism over pragmatism, & value style over substance. They like political candidates who are charismatic and good public speakers. They probably couldn’t list ten legit things accomplished by Bill Clinton, but they’ll rhapsodize about him playing saxophone on Arsenio Hall. They will never admit that they voted for Obama almost exclusively because of the color of his skin and his oratory skills despite his total lack of meaningful experience. They probably can’t name many of his accomplishments while in The White House either. Joe Biden was elected (allegedly) almost entirely because of Trump Derangement Syndrome and not because of anything he’d ever done. Conversely, Republicans nominate/elect people like the Bushes, Richard Nixon, John McCain, & Mitt Romney. I’m not sure what to make of that.
that. Nothing sinister. No 
deeper meaning…just humor. Parody, dark comedy, sarcasm, satire…it’s all good. Some things might be funnier than others, and what I find amusing may be different than whatever makes you laugh, but intent matters. One might not see the humor in what another finds funny, but they should atleast be smart enough to understand that the other person meant it in good fun. I find people who take themselves & everything else so damn seriously to be quite tedious. 
To paraphrase my man Michael Bublé, it’s a new dawn, a new day, and I’m feeling…not as great as the folks who seemed to have a collective orgasm when Joe Biden took the oath of office a couple of weeks ago. On his first day in the White House Biden killed thousands of jobs, choosing the cult of environmentalism over the employment of blue collar American workers…an inauspicious beginning to be sure.
eventually history would be much kinder to him than people had been in the moment, and I was right. The media & even some Hollywood types seem to think W. is just dandy now, when fifteen years ago they despised him. A decade from now when wounds have healed and historians look back on the past four years thru the prism of what Trump accomplished in the face of unprecedented hatred I believe many will admit what they refuse to right now: despite his many flaws & personal errors in judgment he led a robust economy and would’ve almost certainly gotten a second term if not for some extraordinary conditions. Conversely, I will not join fellow conservatives in calling Donald Trump the best President ever. Let’s step away from the carving tools and not put his head on Mount Rushmore just yet. I don’t think any one term President (even considering the unusual circumstances) deserves those kind of kudos.
dangerous ground here. First, allow me to reiterate…I’ve already stated that the DC rally/protest in the waning days of the Trump presidency that led to so much chaos & heartbreak was a terrible idea. 
term is enough. He knows the hatred for him in certain circles is so deep that his opponents will do almost anything to screw him. He’s a billionaire who doesn’t need the hassle. He steps aside and let’s Pence, Cruz, and whoever else duke it out to be his successor. The nominee can run on Trump policies & accomplishments but will almost certainly be a more palatable candidate, so leftists let their guard down just a bit. Meanwhile, much like the Clintons & Obamas, President Trump is still a power broker in his party. He’s a kingmaker with tremendous influence. In all likelihood his candidate wins, and the Trump legacy thrives. If only, right??
not a smooth talker like Clinton or Obama. He isn’t soft spoken & allegedly “kind” like Biden or Jimmy Carter. He’s egotistical, not a great public speaker, sort of misogynistic, and a bit of an ass. No one is disputing any of that. It’s just a matter of how much it really matters. I get it…we’d all prefer the perfect President, but life isn’t a TV show or movie. Jed Bartlett (
still be calling Donald Trump “Mr. President”. It’s no surprise that people tired of the chaos that defined 2020. Everyone just wants a bit of tranquility & order back in our lives, and whether you put the blame for everything that has happened in recent years squarely on the shoulders of Trump or actually have critical thinking skills the result is still the same…a perception that something needs to change, and the ballot box affords Americans the opportunity to do that. Could Trump have managed the COVID crisis better?? Perhaps, although it’s pretty easy to play armchair quarterback. Let’s be honest…we’ve all been flying by the seat of our pants with this thing. There is no rule book for something we’ve never faced before, and criticizing after the fact is lazy, although that’s exactly what every talking head on television, radio, & The Internet gets paid to do. Is it fair that Trump took much of the blame for the race riots?? Even if you agree that he is a racist (a spurious accusation at best) I’m not sure how one can pin the death of George Floyd & others on Donald Trump, and those events are what gave rise to the #BLM movement. Either way,
life, and there are good guys (faces) & bad guys (heels). One of the most entertaining things in wrestling is a heel turn, especially when someone turns on their tag team partner. That’s exactly what happened in the final few weeks of Trump’s presidency, and I’m not sure why anyone was surprised. After four years of relentlessly going after Trump the media finally painted him into a corner and he became toxic. Politicians don’t stick around in DC or anywhere else for multiple decades by showing loyalty. They have perfected the art of self-preservation and will stab anyone in the back if it means helping themselves. That became clear when they concurrently passed spending bills that sent billions of dollars to foreign entities while barely agreeing to help American citizens with a $600 stimulus check. I’m not familiar with the ins & outs of money laundering, but it is my understanding that much of those foreign aid dollars somehow end up back in the bank accounts of our “leaders” in Washington. That’s nothing new…it’s been happening for decades. It’s a huge reason Donald Trump got elected in the first place…American citizens are fed up, and along comes this guy who isn’t part of it and doesn’t hesitate to call The Swamp out on their BS. That one thing was so huge that half the country was willing to take a deep breath, hold their nose, & vote for an otherwise objectionable candidate. Anyway, the passage of those bills made it quite evident that it doesn’t matter if they are Democrats or Republicans…they’re all crooked weasels who do NOT give a rat’s ass about you & me despite all of their flowery speeches. They are greedy & power hungry. Most of them refused to even acknowledge the possibility of election fraud, and absolutely would not take steps to insure the legitimacy of the results. Nearly all of Trump’s alleged allies turned on him, impeaching him for an unprecedented second time. The Swamp is terrified that he could run again in 2024 & win, although he’d be 78 years old by then and I don’t believe he’d do it, but they’re going to make damn sure of it. Not only that, but the few elected officials who stood with Trump until the bitter end will probably suffer consequences. That’s how The Swamp operates. They are about a half step above the freakin’ Mafia.
the more I become convinced it is true (and vice versa). Whether COVID-19 was a convenient crisis Democrats took advantage of or its origins are much more sinister, the fact is it altered how, where, & when many citizens voted. There are just too many stories about people finding out their dead relative or even their dog voted. There were too many instances of states being flipped by the sudden emergence of thousands of votes in the middle of the night after the election. Too many oddities & irregularities to overlook, like alleged racist Trump actually receiving more of the black vote than he did four years ago but somehow losing. That is unheard of. Like the news media that has eliminated all pretense of fairness & impartiality the Democrat Party barely tried to cover their tracks in stealing the White House. They pretty much openly did it then mockingly said “Ha!! Prove it!!”. With the Deep State, mainstream media, power brokers in business & entertainment, and Big Tech giants who are more iniquitous than we could have ever imagined all in lockstep it became quite effortless. If it wasn’t so damn wicked I’d actually applaud the resourcefulness of it all. Unfortunately I have to live with the results and what’s going to happen the next four years. Let’s just say I’m not anticipating anything good. 
my 
I drink skim milk because my friend Greg 
introduced me to it in college and now it’s the only kind of milk I buy. Greg also gave me Rush Limbaugh’s book The Way Things Ought To Be in 1991 which transformed my life, and he taught me that “no man has ever said I wish I would’ve bought a smaller TV”.
My love for the Steelers & 
Pirates may have become a thing anyway given my hometown’s proximity to Pittsburgh, but it probably helped that my Great Aunt Garnet & my Uncle John both lived up there and we went to visit occasionally. 
turned me onto jazz & 
blues music, and he also introduced me to sushi. My music palate began to be refined in college, and I have several fraternity brothers to thank for that. 
plethora of things…embracing our Italian heritage, an affection for laughter (I’ll always remember watching Johnny Carson & David Letterman on Friday nights with my father), & appreciation for a good biography just to 
name a few. He also introduced me to The Godfather & Frank Sinatra. My grandmothers were both churchgoers & undeniably influenced my faith. They were pretty good cooks too: Grandma Pigott made the best potato salad in the world, while Grandma Mano baked her own bread that paired well with the sloppy eggs she & my grandfather both made. My Papaw Jim exampled kindness & generosity. Sadly, just like the fried potatoes that he expertly prepared (painstakingly stirring them in a cast iron skillet forever) but I cannot seem to 
duplicate, I’ll never be the man he was. When one looks up grandfather in the dictionary his photo should be there. Mom was an unusual mix of kindhearted, empathetic, & tougher than a two dollar steak. She was soft-spoken but could open up a can o’ whoopass when necessary. I’m not sure I believe in all of that Freudian stuff, but perhaps I’ve remained single in a futile search for a woman that could live up to my mother’s legacy.
occasionally checks in on The Manofesto & leaves a comment) provides a different example of what modeling Christ should look like. We’re not related & he’s more of a contemporary than the older folks I looked up to in church as a kid. He’s also more genuine & rooted in his faith than most people but he’s not self-righteous about it at all. 
talk to me, and I found out that it was because I am in a wheelchair & she was afraid she’d say something to upset me. So from the age of 11 onward I decided that a) I’d always be the first person to make a stupid & borderline inappropriate cripple joke, and b) I wouldn’t be easily offended by anything. I don’t know what became of that little girl, but Thank You. 
the teacher’s name (pretty sure it was junior high), but reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle led to me becoming a lifelong Sherlockian. 
appreciation for science, philosophy, & engineering that I never had before I met him, a healthy skepticism of women & relationships, affection for Star Trek, a unique perspective of music, and he introduced me to Ray Bradbury. We used to talk for hours multiple times a week about all kinds of things and I miss him tremendously.
my stance. COVID-19 is undoubtedly very real, with actual people really getting sick & dying. But now, here we are post-election with President Trump getting run out of DC on a rail and Joe Biden taking the reins, and it occurs to me that it might be possible for something to be both real & a hoax concurrently. How else can one explain the sudden 180 of Democrat leaders in places like Chicago & New York City who now proclaim that shutdowns are bad and we need to open up the economy once again?? Donald Trump had been saying that for months and his opponents in Hollywood, DC, & the media excoriated him for it. There are two possibilities. The most likely is that COVID-19 was a conveniently timed crisis that leftists expertly used to their advantage because that’s what they do. The second option is much more evil…that the virus & its consequences were planned from the very beginning. After all, a couple million deaths worldwide might be considered acceptable collateral damage by some who want total control over the rest of us (control, by the way, that won’t go away just because the virus does). Sinister?? Obviously. Crazy?? Probably. I’m not all that comfortable with such conspiracy theories and usually dismiss them…but nowadays I’m not so sure. How far would they go?? I honestly don’t know the answer to that.
it…first female Vice President. Glass ceiling shattered. Yada yada yada. But, is Kamala Harris…a woman who many believe blew her way to the top (and we’re not talking about bubbles)…really worthy of such hero worship?? It is a repeat of what happened with Barack Obama, who was elected President simply because of the color of his skin. Kamala Harris is a woman…that is her #1 qualification to serve as VP, and from what I am seeing that’s just dandy with most of my young-ish female friends. Identity politics is slowly destroying America. It no longer matters what you’ve accomplished or what your (bad) intentions are as long as you fit into some sort of protected minority demographic. Was America ready for a black President?? Of course. A female VP?? Sure. Contrary to what my leftist friends may believe it has nothing to do with racism, sexism, misogyny, or any other accusatory buzzwords they enjoy spewing. I am a straight white male and God knows I’m not qualified to be President of the United States. I don’t give a damn what color or gender a person may be as long as they do what’s good for America and lead us in the right direction. That’s what people don’t understand about Donald Trump, who, despite his many shortcomings, always tried to put our country & its citizens first. Unfortunately he was never a member of the club and they found a way to run him out of DC (clearly he couldn’t get out of his own way either, which didn’t help). At any rate…ladies, when the Biden/Harris agenda starts kicking into high gear and you suddenly realize what is really happening, I do NOT want to hear your whining & complaining. You reap what you sow.
untouchable. Nothing but sunshine & roses. TWICE on social media this week I’ve been rebuffed in reply to fairly innocuous comments. One was a simple prediction that gasoline prices would be raising soon, which was met with something like “I cannot believe there are people still defending Trump!!”. Hell, I didn’t even mention the guy!! The second was actually a conciliatory statement toward Biden, saying I feel bad for him due to his obviously diminished mental capacity. Trust me, if I were being up front & confrontational I could have legitimately said much worse, but I really was taking the high road. Big Tech is trying to silence conservatives and succeeding, but even amongst one’s own friends/classmates/coworkers/acquaintances/peers/colleagues interaction has become a landmine. I did my best for four years not to be haughty toward liberals because I understood that Donald Trump was imperfect and didn’t exactly feel like I occupied solid moral high ground, but obviously that’s not going to be reciprocated. The most prudent strategy is to go into sociopolitical hiding, because even relatively benign statements that could be interpreted as the least bit positive toward Trump or negative about Biden/Harris will be met with harsh rebuttal. Reasonable discourse is dead in America, and that’s too bad. 
The Manofesto 