Of all my (many) hideous, awful, immature, and professionally damaging character flaws, the one my wife hates the most is my choice in friends, partners, and associates. (And it’s not even close!)
Y’know how some people are excellent judges of character — and seem to have a sixth sense for detecting dirtbags? That’s not me. In fact, I’m the opposite of that.
I like everybody.
Including people I probably shouldn’t.
I dunno. If I go to a bar and see a guy with three fingers on one hand, a black eye, and an ankle monitor, I’ll probably grab the barstool next to him. (I figure, he’s got at least one really good story to tell.)
I’ve had friends who are racists. Friends who cheated on spouses. Friends with DUIs, broken families, and criminal records.
About 15 years ago, I had three business partners in a row (!) get in legal hot water, including one of the sleaziest, greediest thieves in North Carolina financial history. It cost me a lot of money. You’d think I’d be smart enough to course-correct, but nope.
I keep making the same mistake over and over again.
Usually, they don’t stay in my orbit very long. That’s the upside: Insanely self-destructive people tend to self-filter. (They’re on a different journey. With very different rules.) So, we’re more like ships that pass in the night — sharing a few cocktails and making a few memories — and then we go our separate ways.
But some hang around for decades.
One of my best buddies is an inventor. Super-smart guy: I met him when he was building prototypes for new HSN products. He built a bicycle-powered boat and used to take my kids out on the water. Total sweetheart.
He’s also 100% convinced that Barack Obama is the reincarnation of Ramses II and is seeking revenge for losing his slaves to Moses. (It’s all tied to Revelation. Apparently, the clues are all there!) And he’s bought into every kooky aspect of the Epstein conspiracy — and I do mean EVERY aspect — hook, line, and sinker. It’s always one conspiracy after another.
But I genuinely love the guy. He’s been fantastic to me and my family.
Because I met my (now) wife when I was still in law school, I didn’t have a lengthy dating career. (I cashed out of the dating game just before my hair fell out. Score!) But when I was an undergrad, I tried to date different types and personalities.
I dated a left-wing animal rights activist for a little while. (Hi Julie!) That was nice: She was a vegan, so our dates were cheap. I’d order Buffalo wings; she’d order a side salad (hold the cheese).
I figured, it’d be fun to date someone who challenged me. And good Lord, Julie did.
Next, I dated a right-wing Republican whose mom was a local politician. (Hi Lisa!) I figured it’d be more fun to be with someone who didn’t challenge me so frickin’ much.
Yet somewhere along the way, I figured out who I’d be compatible with — and, just as importantly, who I’m not. Without my misadventures with Julie, Lisa, and a handful of others, I never would’ve known how perfect my wife and I were for each other. We met in 1999, which means… we’ve now been together for OVER ONE THOUSAND YEARS!
(Or maybe less. I’m not good at math.)
Dealbreakers: It’s one of the most underrated words in the English language. If you don’t know what your dealbreakers are, you’re destined to have a miserable life.
I guarantee it.
You must have dealbreakers when you date. You must have dealbreakers in your professional life.
And even though it’s my big, personal blind spot, you desperately need dealbreakers with your friends, too. Not everyone deserves access to your inner sanctum — because, when you let in the wrong people, the consequences can be cataclysmic.
“If you lie down with dogs, you get up with thieves.”
Which begs the question: What are your political dealbreakers?
Obviously, we can’t demand perfection. That’s not realistic. And we probably shouldn’t abandon a politician for backtracking from a campaign promise. That’s not realistic either.
I don’t like it, but all politicians lie. That’s the nature of the beast.
If we abandoned every politician who’s ever lied, there’d be no one left!
To paraphrase a Chris Rock joke about refs not calling every double-dribble in the Special Olympics, “Some things you’ve gotta let slide.”
Nor should we be overly critical of a politician’s grandiose ambition. Pretty much every congressman, councilman, mayor, delegate, ambassador, and governor has a special tie in the back of his closet that he’s planning to wear to his presidential inauguration.
In politics, grandiose ambition is the rule, not the exception.
Sometimes a politician changes his mind because the facts on the ground change. That shouldn’t be a dealbreaker.
It’s sometimes a sign of high character.
Personal shortcomings, like broken wedding vows, aren’t the dealbreaker they once were. Most voters consider ‘em secondary to the functions of the job, including many conservative Republicans. If your two favorite presidents are Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, well, there’s been five weddings between ‘em.
Backing the wrong legislation can be a dealbreaker. There are millions of Republicans who still haven’t forgiven Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio for backing immigration reform in 2013.
Last week, plenty of PJ Media readers wrote in the comments that Vice President JD Vance’s rhetoric about Iran and Israel was a 2028 dealbreaker. If Vance wins the GOP nomination, will most of ‘em change their mind?
Probably. In our two-party system, it’s a binary choice: Republican or Democrat, one or the other.
It’s not like dating, where there’s (literally) billions of options. In politics, you get two.
And sometimes, the best you can do is pick the less-sucky option. That’s legitimate, too.
So what are your political dealbreakers, dear readers? Is it a single-issue policy redline, like abortion? A moral failing? Or is it far more nebulous — like an abstract tipping point, where (to paraphrase Popeye) “That’s all I can stands, an’ I can’t stands no more!”
Let me know in the comments.
PRediction: For Democrats, supporting Israel is now a dealbreaker. And the bluer the blue state, the more it’s a dealbreaker.
Which means that the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, where (in many states) only Democrats are allowed to vote, will be the most anti-Israel election in American history.
Believing Israel is guilty of genocide is an 80%-20% issue for the Dems’ base. (Technically 77%.) The genocide blood libel is the beachhead belief of today’s antisemitism.
But the trouble with beachheads is that they grow: They’re a launching pad for what comes next.
So it’s not going to be limited to the Jewish state: Anything connected to Israel will also be radioactive — including “Jewish money” in the form of AIPAC.
And it won’t end there either.
PRojection: Donations from rich Jewish donors will be targeted, too. (Including Jews who’ve never been to Israel and consider themselves “secular progressives.”)
The dog whistle has been firmly established. If someone like Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) stands up and accuses an opponent of being bought and paid by “Goldberg, Cohen, and Rosenberg,” the left-wing base will know what he means. (Same goes for “Epstein class.”) It’s become political catnip for DSA members.
And it’s next to impossible to dissuade a politician to stop doing what’s getting him votes.
The intriguing angle for Republicans? It raises the possibility of some of the Dems’ top donors jumping ship and switching sides.
PRaise: To the small number of liberals — including John Fetterman, James Carville, and Bill Maher — who’ve stood up to the DSA mob and told them their agenda is a dealbreaker.
Comedian Bill Maher on Sunday slammed the Democratic Party and its socialist wing, adding that he would be open to voting for Vice President Vance if he runs for president in 2028.
Maher told ABC News’s Jonathan Karl on “This Week” that the Democratic Party is being “taken over.”
[…]
The “Real Time” host added that when Democrats are “cheering for the intifada, cut! I’m out,” referring to the Arabic word for “uprising” and commonly associated with Palestinian resistance against Israel’s government.
“They’re cowardly,” Maher said about the party.
[…]
“OK, I’ve read the quotes from the DSA platform from their own mouths,” Maher said, referring to the organization Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). “Don’t tell me I’m not seeing what I am seeing. And DSA, again, they say things like ‘takeover of key industries’ … That’s communism. You know, there is a definition.”
He again emphasized left-wing talking points inherited by Democratic lawmakers, such as “abolish the police,” and described them as “a level of nutty.”
It took courage. And courage ought to be applauded.
PRedators: Let’s give this one to Julie: Would it have KILLED YOU to try one lousy Buffalo wing?!
(Trust me, they’re WAY better than your cheeseless salad.)
Her loss. More for me.
