The Dangers of Hero Worship in the Second Amendment Community and in Life
BY Herschel Smith
6 months ago
Here is a bracing video on the goings on with Mike Glover.
Now, I won’t judge him, especially until everything is done and finished with this ugly affair.
However, there are some noteworthy things about this affair that I should bring up. First, have your family life in order.
Second, have your family life in order.
Third, have your family life in order.
Fourth, have your family life in order.
Eleven months ago, Mike posted a video of a tent review with this family. As it turns out, that wasn’t really his family. He divorced his wife, with whom he had children, and apparently chased after a girl twenty years his younger. She also apparently had mental problems, and he put his children in her care.
As for the ugly happenings which are the subject of the event in question, as I said, I won’t judge until I hear all of the facts. But he talked to the police.
He … talked … to … the … police. Without his lawyer being present. Presumably he did this because he is “buddies” with cops and trains them. That’s another problem we could address, but not here. Anyway, I repeat. He talked to the police without his lawyer being present. Then after that, he violated a restraining order.
I feel pretty certain that all of his firearms have now been confiscated by the police. His business is likely all but finished, and probably his “family” too, as much as you can call it a family.
Folks, I don’t care how good you have done at your career, or how many enemy fighters you have killed, or how many decorations you can adorn your uniform with. If you fail at family life, you have failed.
Have your family life in order.
And don’t put other men up on pedestals. It harms the second amendment community when you do that.
Now, let’s discuss Tim Kennedy for a moment before embedding two videos.
I’ve heard all about Tim’s anti-2A views. I’m not so sure about that – it just seems to me like he has a big mouth and doesn’t know when to stop talking. It also seems to me like he immature and prone to hyperbole and extreme exaggeration. But the most troubling thing about this interview with Tim begins at about 38 minutes.
His views at that point are the most bizarre, strange, and unchristian I have ever heard. And despite what he says about not celebrating eugenics, he does do that very explicitly and directly when discussing his views on evolution, self-correcting problems, and natural selection in the context of the Spartans.
Another thing. David didn’t kill Goliath because he was physically fit. That would have destroyed the entire point of the biblical report. The point was that despite his small stature, he killed the enemies of God because of faith. It wasn’t faith AND fitness, it was faith alone that did it.
As to his assertion that the “smartest dudes I know are [like] insanely fit,” the two don’t go together at all, and Tim must not know anyone who is smart. If he thinks he does, let him discuss the various methods of solving differential equations and then I’ll listen.
Finally, Tim has far too much confidence in his own abilities and what he will be like at 85 years old. No matter how much money a man has or how fit he is, age humbles a man. Tim will be humbled at some point, and disease will take him, perhaps not before someone has to change his diaper.
And no, we can’t do sit ups or push ups to the point that we no longer need doctors. That denies both the second law of thermodynamics and Genesis Chapter 3.
The Tim Kennedy silliness begins at about 38 minutes.
Folks, don’t make heroes out of former Spec Ops guys. It’s always and forever a mistake of huge proportions. Just don’t do it. There is no good reason to do it.
On May 15, 2024 at 5:19 am, Bill Buppert said:
Family is the foundation from which all of your greatness in life starts. We are all flawed and I have certainly experienced my failures and triumphs but if you set family right, you can achieve the provision and protection that fathers and husbands are built for.
Folks have this idea that SOF folks are supermen and they are not, just as screwed up and prone to bad habits as the rest of us. And, BTW, if SOF is all that, what is the explanation for their failure planet-wide to put America on top in the US wars of choice since 1945?
On May 15, 2024 at 9:10 am, Latigo Morgan said:
Good advice.
These men put their pants on one leg at a time and are just as vulnerable to stupid mistakes as any of the rest of the population.
If you must idolize someone, idolize the man who sacrificed everything to provide for his family and never asked for, nor expected any recognition for doing so.
On May 15, 2024 at 11:27 am, Russell G. said:
The ex- *.mil spec ops fetishes (and monetized UTube industrial workers) and 50 bucks cash in your pocket should get you a cup of coffee anywhere.
On May 15, 2024 at 12:25 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:
@ Latigo Morgan
Re: “If you must idolize someone, idolize the man who sacrificed everything to provide for his family and never asked for, nor expected any recognition for doing so.”
Remember the scene in “The Magnificent Seven”? I’m talking about the one in which Charles Bronson’s character admonishes the Mexican boys who idolize the hired guns protecting their village, but speak poorly of their fathers. He scolds them harshly, saying that a man who goes out to work the fields day after day to feed the family he loves – is the most-courageous man of all…
On May 15, 2024 at 2:07 pm, Original Grandpa said:
you know, reading this – and the comments – make me realize there is more than just a glimmer of hope for those who believe as we do, in surviving this mess. Thank you Herschel, and Latigo Morgan – your last sentence is so correct and right on, you are one of my heroes.
On May 15, 2024 at 5:46 pm, Mens Bellator said:
Great points. Even imperfect men can do incredible things in service of their nation. But they are fallible just like all of us. However, many or most of us toil in relative obscurity and do not require or desire notoriety. In fact, fame and notoriety are an intoxicant that leads many good men to bad ends.
On May 16, 2024 at 12:21 am, Georgiaboy61 said:
@ Bill Buppert
Re: “Folks have this idea that SOF folks are supermen and they are not, just as screwed up and prone to bad habits as the rest of us. And, BTW, if SOF is all that, what is the explanation for their failure planet-wide to put America on top in the US wars of choice since 1945?”
One possible explanation lies in the fact that tactical and operational excellence cannot overcome a fatally-flawed grand strategy. Or the lack of one altogether.
Perhaps the example is a by-now hackneyed one, but one often hears people in the military affairs and history communities speak of how superb were Germany’s soldiers during the Second World War (or pilots, submarine commanders, etc.), yet there is no denying who lost the war.
There are various reasons for that outcome, i.e., logistical and material superiority, the enormous U.S. manufacturing base, etc. – but one must surely be the flawed grand strategy pursued by Chancellor Adolf Hitler and the senior leaders around him. Once they declared war on the U.S. and then attacked the USSR, their fate was sealed.
The U.S. – I would argue – has pursued a flawed grand strategy for the last half-century – perhaps even longer, when it has had such a long-term plan at all. Due to the nature of the U.S. political system, continuity in much of anything is difficult, even when everything else is working well …. and as you know, that is often not the case.
But it can be summarized aptly by stating that whereas many westerners – including Americans – think in terms of the next quarterly earnings report or the next election cycle, our adversaries are playing the long game, years and even decades into the future. Americans used to know how to do this, too, but for a variety of reasons, we no longer do – at least not to the degree we once did, especially politically and institutionally.
Another reason for the lack of slam-dunk victories a la VE or VJ Day at the end of WW2 ~ is that the nature of warfare was permanently changed by the invention/use of atomic weapons. Once those weapons were invented and enough states had the technology to make atomic devices, it made nation-state warfare between the largest peer nations a much different and potentially more-costly proposition that it was prior to 1945.
There have been large conventional wars since 1945, but with rare exception, they have been between proxies for the super-powers or nations not yet members of the atomic club, or just gaining membership to it in the case of India and Pakistan and maybe Iran-Iraq during the 1980s.
And finally the ever-changing face of war itself, as it mutates, evolves, and adapts to technological and other changes in society and the world around us.
But your basic point remains valid. I’m old-enough to remember the humiliation in the desert when President Carter mounted the disastrous plan to “rescue” the U.S. hostages in Iran.
And the “cult of special ops” is very real, at least among many members of the public who don’t know any better. in fairness to the great unwashed, however, that is a myth that neither the U.S. political and cultural establishment nor the U.S. military itself has done much if anything to dispel. Wouldn’t want to threaten next year’s budget increase, now would we??
On May 16, 2024 at 7:36 pm, X said:
You like in a police state. Police are not your friends. Anything you say or do can and will be used against you in court.
The Bill of Rights is very simple. Demand a warrant. Demand a lawyer. Do not talk to the police except to tell them you are demanding a warrant and a lawyer.
On May 16, 2024 at 7:36 pm, X said:
You like in a police state. Police are not your friends. Anything you say or do can and will be used against you in court.
The Bill of Rights is very simple. Demand a warrant. Demand a lawyer. Do not talk to the police except to tell them you are demanding a warrant and a lawyer…
On May 17, 2024 at 7:23 pm, PGF said:
Worship Jesus Christ. Make Him your hero and do what He did. Make of yourself a disciple of the one true King.
On May 19, 2024 at 5:46 pm, Bradley Graham said:
My hero is my wife , for putting up with me for 40 years and my 2 daughters, whom are both registered nurses.
On May 21, 2024 at 12:08 pm, Beast5 said:
My original comment was lost in the ether. I’m not judging either man, just making a few observations from the perspective of a worn out GWOT guy.
Tim needs to pray for wisdom. So much more to say but that sums it up.
Mike is not adapting to his environment or the situation if you followed his podcasts for any length of time. It’s not the 1990s anymore.
I’m guessing both men have a massive amount of chronic stress, mTBIs, and multiple deployments. Mike has pronably had numerous SERE schools on resisting interrogation, yet he still failed at crunch time. I’m guessing he’s emotionally burned out and has no idea. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Everyone gets there eventually if you spent years in combat or years living with a volatile family member, or you got super vaccinated as a kid (millenial and Z and all GWOT service members), or you were malnourished on corn flakes and low fat milk and margarine, or just about anything bad happened to you repeatedly. This happens every day to our fellow countrymen, these two are just public figures so their decline is public. When you get to that point, resisting interrogation is impossible, you just want to give all the answers because you’re in the right and you’re the good guy.
That’s as far as I’ll go with that subject, just realize that they’re both on the same glidepath and haven’t figured it out yet. Everyone believes they’re Superman until they actually get beat down. God humbles us all, as does trauma, or stress, or whatever you want to call it. Once you’ve seen or experienced it, you see it everywhere and it changes your perspective on sin and society.