Since the last “Alois” update, his condition, alas, has accelerated. It’s as if there were a tiny mouse in his brain, eating all the circuitry. Cognitive decline is gruesome to witness — and even worse, I assume, to experience.
Alois used to have a normal phone, but he went through a phase where he kept calling 911 (he was trying to get his nurses arrested), so we swapped it for a number-free phone that had eight preprogrammed numbers, including my own.
So then he started calling me 40-plus times a day. That was fun.
At first, I tried correcting the behavior. I (gently) explained the boy-who-cried-wolf syndrome, and how I might miss a real emergency ‘cause there’s no way I can field that many calls. I explained that it’s impolite and making my job more difficult. I tried to tell him that he’s conditioning me — and others — to ignore his calls, and that’s not in his best interests.
But then I stopped. There were no verbal solutions, and his phone calls kept on coming.
They still do.
Because whatever I said was forgotten minutes later. And when I reminded him what we had discussed, he was just as surprised as I was.
I’m a “rage against the dying of the light” kind of guy. That’s how I deal with problems: I focus on how much [whatever] pisses me off — and then I lower my shoulders and get to work.
It’s a life-or-death battle, me versus the problem!
And rage is my cheat code. It keeps me focused and energized.
Proving naysayers wrong is a helluva motivator. Even when it’s (mostly) in our head, it can inspire us to rise off the mat, wipe away the tears, and defeat the competition. (Just ask Tom Brady. Or Michael Jordan. Or Shaquille O’Neal, or a million other examples.)
But what happens when there’s nowhere for your rage to go?
When Alois’ condition began snowballing, my impulse was to dig in my heels and attack the problem. Because that’s what I’ve always done: I’m a one-trick pony, but hey, I’m good at the trick.
With Alois, I had to learn a new trick.
Maybe three-ish weeks ago, I came to the realization that this isn’t a winnable war. Rage won’t help. It only gets in the way.
Because Alois is on his deathbed. These are the symptoms.
All that’s left is offering comfort — and holding his hand as his light fades away.
Can’t stop the dying of the light. Best I can do is fluff the pillow, open the blinds, and make Alois’ day just a little bit better.
There’s a famous story by Loren Eisley about starfish:
One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?” The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.” “Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…” I made a difference for that one.”
Breathe in. Breathe out. This war is unwinnable, but maybe that’s not what matters.
Maybe there’s nobility in doing what’s right.
Little by little. Day by day. Second by second. Every moment counts.
Especially when the light is almost dead and our world fades to darkness.
PRediction: The most likely outcome of the 2026 midterms is something schizophrenic.
Democrats are predicting a Blue Wave. Republicans are bracing for the worst. (And a few contrarians on the right are cautiously optimistic.)
But if it’s not a Blue Wave, the results are likely to be all over the place: weird, inexplicable upsets, polling SNAFUs, and badly cracked crystal balls.
And since most crystal balls are predicting a Blue Wave, that’s probably good news for Republicans.
Which means, we’ll have plenty of Republicans upsetting Democrats, too. Perhaps not enough to retain the House, but enough to make things interesting.
Either conventional wisdom is right (for the first time in a long time) or Republicans will defy these bleak predictions. Stay tuned.
PRojection: And if conventional wisdom is proven wrong for [checks watch] the zillionth time, lots of blame will be directed at the pollsters. They’ve been botching predictions with such regularity, their “science” seems more akin to a pseudoscience.
It’s just a step above Tarot cards.
Media outlets love opinion polls, because they give their talking heads something new to talk about. First, they report on the poll, then they argue about what it means, then they report on what the political parties think of the poll — and then they argue about what that means, too. Great fun.
But it only works if the polling is at least somewhat credible. And at this point, its credibility is in the toilet.
It sorta sounds like Cosmo Kramer’s coffee table book about coffee tables, but every now and then, polling companies conduct opinion polls about what opinion people have about opinion polls. (Very meta.) The results don’t bode well for the polling industry.
Turns out only 10% of voters have a “lot” of trust in polls. Nearly 60% believe poll results are skewed to serve a political narrative.
(Which, of course, they certainly are.)
If the 2026 midterms make yet another mockery of polls, it won’t give polling another black eye, because polling ran out of black eyes decades ago. It’d be more like taking a hatchet to a decomposing corpse.
Turning point moments occur all the time. (Often with minimal fanfare.) This could be another.
PRaise: To the GOP grassroots!
We’re now 37 days from November 3. It’s crunch time.
Off-year elections depend greatly on turnout. An enthusiastic, highly motivated grassroots — knocking on doors, making signs, attending rallies, pushing hard on social media — gives you a competitive edge.
One of the secrets to MAGA’s success is the intensity of its grassroots support. Trumpists will stand in the rain — during a hurricane — to vote Republican. It lets us outwork, out-hustle, and out-compete the Democrats.
But it also creates a vexing dilemma for conservative media.
The overwhelming majority of PJ Media readers are pro-Trump conservatives. They passionately care about advancing conservative ideals, preserving the American Dream, and defeating the left-wing/socialist menace.
Which is why they’re the heart and soul of our grassroots movement — and the people we most need motivated, engaged, and optimistic. Especially during the final few weeks of the campaign.
But sometimes, the news is bad. The honest, truthful analysis is demotivating.
Does this mean we shouldn’t write about it?
Maybe. It’s not an unreasonable argument: If winning is our priority, then anything that makes winning more difficult is counterproductive. So don’t do it!
And if you’re a VIP supporter, the last thing you’d want is your money being used to sabotage the MAGA movement. That’s a slap in the face.
But on the other hand, our movement must be honest with itself. Nobody is perfect — which is why we need a vehicle for self-correction. Ignoring a calamity doesn’t prevent it.
Then again, timing matters, too. And maybe, 37 days from November 3 ain’t the right time for MAGA-critical content.
I’m curious about your thoughts, Dear Reader. Should conservative media focus more on rallying its audience and optimizing our chance at victory — or critically analyze Republican strategy, even when doing so is demotivating?
Kindly let me know what you think in the comments.
PRedator: Rage. The politics of rage — and its value as a personal motivator — has its limits. It’s better as a spice than as a main ingredient.
That’s a lesson I’ve learned only recently.
At least for me, raging against the dying of the light is super-easy. Has been all my life. ‘Cause I really, truly hate it: I hate dying, I hate death, I hate losing, and I hate darkness.
If the Reaper had a face, I’d smash his skull in.
Learning how to watch the dying of the light with love is totally new. It’s different. Scary.
I’m not used to it. Dormant muscles are overstressed. It’s exhausting.
But I think I’ve caught my second wind. Rage might be a powerful motivator, but it’s not as strong as love. That’s something I’ve recently learned, too.
We might lose this war, but we’re still gonna win some battles along the way.
