Gas or Food? Oh, Cry Me a River

Cue the violins. Here come the sad songs, the despairing portraits, the finger pointing and—once again—the flushing of common sense straight down the drain.

Forget politics for a moment. It doesn't matter who's at fault for the government shutdown—even though we know it's the Democrats, to be clear about that. What matters is that paychecks are frozen, and yes, that stinks. Nobody wants to work for free. But the work still has to be done, and someone still has to do it.

And let's be honest. Those paychecks will eventually arrive. That's not the real issue.

After the Great Depression one lesson became painfully clear: You cannot depend on the economy, your job, or any so-called "safety net" to rescue you when things collapse. You have to rely on yourself. At least to some degree, you have to be prepared.

What did Rush Limbaugh used to tell us? Create your own economy so you aren't forced to abide by the rules of the real one.

That's why the 6-month rule was born. Save half a year's salary and create a rainy-day fund. It's been preached for nearly a century. Yet here we are, hearing stories of air traffic controllers—who earn around $125,000 a year by the way—claiming they can't afford gas to get to work.

So, what happened? Did they miss the memo? Ignore the advice? Or simply choose not to prepare?

Look, I'm not without compassion. I understand the frustration. Even when it comes to the world outside of government, CEOs make decisions all the time and someone gets hurt in the process and people have to make tough choices.

But let's be real. What these air traffic controllers are facing, and what anyone faces in this position—it's a self-inflicted wound. Jobs vanish. Paychecks stop. That's life. It's been this way since the beginning of time.

So, who's to blame when you're left exposed? The greedy rich? The bickering government? Society? The system? Or maybe, it's you. The one who ignored the warnings, skipped the preparation, and left yourself vulnerable.

Spare me the sob stories. Life isn't fair. Sometimes you're left holding the bag through no fault of your own. But the larger truth is timeless. This cycle has repeated for generations and will repeat long after today's headlines fade.

From layoffs to government shutdowns to people losing their SNAP benefits, the story is always the same. It's someone else's fault that someone must suffer. Yet, as I said before, it's not like the memo hasn't been out there for everyone to plainly see it. The endless dependence. The failure of so many people in society to be able to fend for themselves in some way when the time comes.

People making six-figures living paycheck to paycheck.

Like I said, I am not without compassion or feeling. I do get it. But I also get that sometimes things are just beyond our control, and so we have to have a backup plan to compensate for that.

The harsh reality is that if you are caught unprepared, it's your own damn fault. It's really as simple as that. End of story. Stop the violins.

You wrote the song, but you missed the chorus. And like all choruses do, that's the part that repeats over and over again and sticks the most prominently in memory. It's hard for me to shed a tear when someone falls victim to the obvious.

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©2025 Jim Bauer

If the Republicans Invoke the Nuclear Option, It's Double Disaster for the Democrats

President Trump is now urging Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster and invoke the so-called "nuclear option" to break the deadlock and reopen the government—an option that's hovered in the background all along.

Under current Senate rules, the filibuster requires 60 votes to advance most legislation. With a 53-47 majority, Republicans can't pass a budget reconciliation bill without Democrat support. And so far, they haven't gotten it. Despite 14 votes by Republicans to reopen the government—with the exception of two GOP holdouts—Democrats have opposed every attempt.

That leaves Democrats in a political bind. Republicans have made it clear. They won't negotiate. Shut down or not, the bill stands as written. Meanwhile, Democrats have muddied the waters with misleading claims about who's responsible for the impasse—a tactic that's backfiring as public frustration mounts.

This standoff isn't just about reopening the government. It's about the rules of engagement going forward. If the Republicans scrap the filibuster and push the bill through with a simple majority, they'll do so without amendments, without compromise, and without Democrat's input. The bill passes "as-is," and the precedent is set.

That's a double loss for Democrats. First, they lose the substance of this negotiation. Second, they lose the structural leverage that allows them to shape future legislation. Without the filibuster, Republicans can pass bills unilaterally until, or unless, the rule is restored.

So, what's the smart play for the Democrats at this juncture? It's to concede this round. Vote to reopen the government. Preserve the filibuster. Live to fight another day.

Because if Democrats force the Republicans to go nuclear, they don't just lose this battle. They lose the battlefield. And while they might try to spin the move as a power grab—"Look what they've done!"—that narrative won't stick. The public is already tuned in, and the longer this drags on, the worse it gets.

Sometimes, the best strategic move is to take one on the chin. This may be that moment.

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©2025 Jim Bauer

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I'll Stand Where it Makes Sense

Sometimes I clash with someone purely on politics. We all know the type. But I don't just flip the switch and tune them out. Disagreement, to me, doesn't mean total disqualification. Even when I am at odds with someone nine times out of ten, there's always room for a tenth time surprise.

Take James Carville. Or hell, John Fetterman. Even Bill Maher. These guys often say things that make me wince, rolls my eyes, or wonder what planet they're from. But every once in a while, even if it is rare, they drop a line that hits.

So, what do I do with that? Pretend I didn't hear it? Toss it out because the political playbook says they're hacks, and I'm supposed to stay in my lane?

That kind of purity test feels more like self-sabotage than using my own common sense.

If I tell someone I'm not being herded like a sheep—that my politics are my own—I have to mean it. It can't just be a badge I flash when it's convenient to do so. That principle has to live in how I think, not just what I say.

That means I have to listen. Really listen. I have to sit with what I hear, let it rattle around, and form an opinion that's mine—not just something that's spoon fed by a tribe, a group of my fellow think-alikes, or a pundit with a punchline on my favorite news outlet.

Otherwise, I'm just another echo pretending to be a voice.

And this cuts both ways. I can disagree with my own side just as easily as I can agree with the other. That's not betrayal—it's being human. It's being honest. It's doing the work of thinking for yourself.

Because the moment I let someone yank me around the stage on strings, it's no longer my dance. It's someone else's choreography I am dancing to. The act stops being mine.

Yeah, it's a dressed-up way of saying I refuse to be a puppet.

This, I think, is where the political conversation has gone off the rails. It's turned into a one-way street, paved with loyalty tests and echo chambers. And for what? Not progress. Not clarity. Just noise.

You can't stand for something if you don't know why.

We've split ourselves into camps so deep as a country, it's beginning to feel like trench warfare. And that kind of division doesn't serve us—it sabotages us. When emotion or blind loyalty drives the way we think, it fogs our judgement almost every time.

There are good ideas and there are bad ideas. From both sides. That's not radical—it's reality.

But we've got to hear them all. We have to be willing to. Let them stand on their own legs. Decide for ourselves what holds up and what crumbles. Not just echo what we're told, or tiptoe around the fear of challenging the status quo we're supposed to defend.

How many times do I have to hear it? I take a different stance, maybe echo a point from the other side, and suddenly it's, "Who's side are you on?"

As if thought has to come with a team jersey.

Can I disagree with Donald Trump? Sure. Can I agree with John Fetterman? Also, yes. Why not? If I dismiss everything the other side says out of reflex, I might miss something worth hearing. And if I blindly nod along with my own side, I might help to usher in something I should've stood against.

We've got a two-party system. Fine. Most of us lean one way or the other. But we don't have to be a two-party People. Loyalty to a party isn't the same as loyalty to the country. Or to principle. Or to our own damn judgement.

We owe something bigger than just blind loyalty to any one or any thing. Or, for that matter, absolute opposition.

We owe it to common sense. To the common good. To the idea that thinking for yourself isn't treason—it's the bare minimum.

Politicians thrive on division. It wins them votes, airtime, and power. But most of us? We just want a country that makes sense. One we can live in, build in, and even laugh in. A place that offers real opportunity and lets us chase happiness without tripping over chaos.

We want a country that works.

But it won't work if we're silent. It won't work if we're siloed. It only works when we speak up, think together, and aim for something bigger than party lines or pundit points.

We don't need perfect unity. We need honest effort. Shared purpose. A collective voice that's loud enough to matter and clear enough to move things forward. We are not Republican or Democrat. Left or right. We're Americans.

They chose division. We can choose not to accept it.

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©2025 Jim Bauer

You Cancelled Us and Now We Cancel You

The left birthed cancel culture. They cheered when Aunt Jemimah was erased, when the Redskins were renamed, and when Uncle Ben quietly disappeared. They toppled statues and called it progress.

But they never imagined the blade might swing back.

Stephen Colbert? Fading. Jimmy Kimmel? Flailing. The View? On life support.

There's an old warning: Be careful what you wish for—you might just get it. And they did. They got the culture war they wanted. But they didn't count on the majority waking up.

They thought "woke" was popular. That it was righteous. That it was winning.

Then Bud Light happened. Then Target. Then Cracker Barrel. Then the 2024 election when the Democrats lost everything and Kamala Harris conceded to Donald Trump.

Now the cancellations are coming for them. Not out of spite, but out of clarity. The progressive movement is being rejected—not by fringe voices, but by the silent majority who never bought the message in the first place. 

It was easy to shout when the megaphone was theirs. It was easy to silence dissent when the media played backup. And thus, it was easy to pretend the country had changed.

But it hadn't.

We hadn't.

Our values didn't shift. Our principles didn't vanish. The foundation of this nation—its decency, its grit, its common sense—remained intact. The left just tried to convince us otherwise. Like magicians, they used smoke, mirrors and camera angles to sell the trick.

But we saw through it.

And now the same cancel culture they weaponized is being turned on the false narratives, the curated outrage, and against the phantom majority.

We're setting the record straight.

They stood at podiums, hijacked sporting events, hijacked award shows, and told us what to think. And for a while we listened. Some even nodded along.

Maybe the word DID change, and we just fell a bit behind getting the memo?

But then we talked to each other. We looked around and we realized, "This isn't us. This isn't the whole. This isn't the truth."

So, thank you for the invention. We'll use it now for the common good. Because good always wins. And your mistake was believing evil could prevail.

You tried to cancel everything we hold dear. Now, we're cancelling the lie.

We win.

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Law and Order: Trump Steps in Where Bowser Checked Out

By sending in the National Guard to support overwhelmed police in Washington, Trump has spotlighted the failure of "soft on crime" policies that plague many Democrat-run cities. While the Guard isn't trained for law enforcement, their presence is a force-multiplier, giving police breathing room to do their jobs.

And say what you want, but DC police have actually welcomed the federal backup, though you wouldn't know it from the silence of the media—except for them to go on and on about police states and more echoes of Trump the Dictator.

Meanwhile, Mayor Muriel Bowser was sipping Pinot at Martha's Vineyard while Trump stepped in to handle the chaos she couldn't—or wouldn't—control. Kind of reminds you of Mayor Bass who vacationed while her city burned to the ground.

Where there's disaster, always look for a Democrat to be behind it, either absent from it, or absent minded about it, with their first priority being only to find someone to put the blame on for everything that goes wrong.

Her only answer to rising crime? Leniency, no matter what the offense is. But again, that's a Democrat for you. Bass is guilty of it too. And don't take your eyes off Chicago and all the chaos happening on a daily basis there.

In cities like this, drug dealers and gang bangers rule the roost, and the citizens can only live, entrenched in a domestic terrorism that their so-called leaders just turn a blind eye to.

Some liberals do get it, but they are few and far between, and of course, many don't speak out because if you tell the truth, there may be dire consequences from doing that. Take MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, who's no fan of Trump, mind you, who admitted on air that DC's crime problem is out of control despite whispers in his ear from Chuck Schumer saying, "DC is safe."

Hey Schumer, you know eggs look better on your plate than on your face, right?

Granted, if you ask any one of these Democrats about crime rates, they will tell you they are all going down. But of course, the numbers tell a very different story and the grieving families and ruined lives their ineptitude creates, know better.

A 3-year-old girl was shot and killed while watching fireworks on the 4th of July. Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a young congressional intern, was gunned down on June 30th walking near 7th street.

And so much of this crime? It's done by kids. Kids know the score. In cities run by liberal DAs, crime pays, and punishment is a slap on the wrist. That message spreads fast. I mean, look at liberal Milwaukee—you can't park a car anywhere without it being at risk of being stolen and taken for a joyride, and the same kid who steals your car today just stole one two days ago and got off easy for it. The jailer should just hand them a set of keys on their way out the door and tell them, "See you again next week, I'll have a sandwich waiting for you."

The bottom line is that accountability isn't cruelty—it's protection. The question isn't complicated. Should we shield criminals, or defend the law-abiding citizens who live, work, and visit our cities?

A justice system that turns a blind eye, offers endless second chances, and defunds or hog ties the hands of the very people who are there to keep order isn't justice at all. It's surrender. And regardless of what anyone thinks about what Trump is doing here, there's only one place one needs to look to place the blame on it, and that's Mayor Muriel Bowser. If she was doing her job, the National Guard wouldn't even be a thought.

It's gone on too long. People are tired of rampant criminals running loose on our streets and making life difficult and miserable. Someone has to do something, and if that means taking drastic, tough measures then so be it. Maybe it is akin to a police state that we don't really want. But think about, didn't people vote for it when they put these people in a position that created it?

There can only be two solutions here. One is to run the crime out of town, and the other is to vote out the people who allowed the crime to run the town.

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© 2025 Jim Bauer

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