No freedom of speech for cops

PPB, ORI retired a few months ago after having 41 years in law enforcement, working for the FBI, being a sworn US Marshal, and serving two local Fornicalia agencies.  If I had a son or daughter considering law enforcement I’d tell them to look elsewhere and to become a nurse, a plumber, an electrical contractor, mechanic, electrical engineer or programmer — a job that cannot readily be replaced by a robot.  And I’d stay away from law enforcement because more and more the job involves politics not service, and you have fewer rights than the citizens you serve.  That trend is growing, not receding.

Including freedom of speech.

People eschewing law enforcement will occur in any event, because Millennials are not used to or desire to serve, sacrifice or have their freedoms of speech curtailed.  The small group of Millennials who do understand about sacrifice and service for a higher goal or greater good are former military personnel — but their ranks are thinning as well.

From OregonLive.com:

Portland police officer removed from street after Twitter message about Black Lives Matter

by Maxine Bernstein

A Portland police officer who wrote a Twitter message complaining that he’d be stuck late at work Friday night “to babysit these fools,” referring to a planned Black Lives Matter-Not Black Friday march at Lloyd Center, has been taken off the street while an internal investigation proceeds.

Portland police Acting Chief Donna Henderson, filling in for Chief Larry O’Dea who is off until next week, announced the investigation Tuesday afternoon in a news release.

“I am highly offended, and I think other people should be,” said Teressa Raiford, a community activist involved in Don’t Shoot Portland. “I think it’s very unprofessional, especially someone in his position.”

Officer John Hurlman, a 24-year bureau veteran, removed the post from his Twitter feed, but a screen shot was caught by others.

His message read, “Black Lives Matter is planning to protest at Lloyd Center on black Friday. Oh joy, stuck late again at work to babysit these fools.”

Damn that officer for daring to state the obvious.  BLM activists are fools because black lives don’t matterYou may care to read this link, as well as this and this and this for my reasoning.

Further, the story doesn’t immediately reveal this salient fact: the officer produced that message on his own time, off duty, with his own account and not utilizing government resources.

But because of the community it serves, the ball-less Portland Police Bureau circled its own little Leftist wagons and, realizing that if a sympathetic take wasn’t promptly expressed, the BLM activists would soon be torching the sycophantic little purple-skied territory of Portland itself.  Precisely because BLM “activists” couldn’t give a fuck.  It ain’t their property they’d burn and loot and destroy.  BLM “activists” enjoy embracing lies for the “common good” of themselves only.

It is interesting, however, to read some of the comments below the article I linked, which include some of the following:

Why aren’t black lives matter going door to door where black people live spreading their message not to kill black people?

So does this mean if a neo-nazi group were to march, only those police officers who agree with the neo nazi’s could work the neo-nazi march that day?  

Oh yes, such a peaceful community group that chants:”What do we want, dead cops, when do we want ’em. NOW!” and “Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon!”

Nothing like stomping on the man’s First Amendment Rights…  What’s next from the “Thought Police”?  Lie detector tests for anybody accused of having an alternative viewpoint or perspective contrary to the Left’s?  Give me a break… 

You are assuming that somebody being called a fool should lose their job?  Does that mean I should lose my job by calling you an idiot?  Just trying to understand your perspective of justice and equality…

Office Hurlman was correct in his personal opinion description of  BLM as fools, and I would submit that the even bigger fool is acting like a moron chief Donna Henderson.  Calling someone a fool is speech protected by the 1st ammendment.  The officer did not threaten or encourage any one to threaten or harm anyone.  The Portland PD admin is wrong on this one and should publicly admit such.

So I guess you feel that the officer has to take responsibility for expressing a personal opinion on a personal twitter account? A personal opinion that did not threaten anyone?  Is that what you are trying to say?  If so, you are one misguided soul.

These comments mostly reflect a rational response to ridiculous political correctness being exercised by the Portland police chief. The sane ones among us look at the BLM fools and state the obvious. The BLM fools falsely perpetuate the myth that Michael Ferguson had his “hands up” when he was killed, when the forensic evidence shows he did not. Even the Obama administration’s Justice Department investigation concluded he was justifiably killed by a police officer defending his life. But the BLM fools refuse to believe it and agitate for the sake of agitating. They, and you by extension, can’t be reasoned with. You’re too blinded by your grievance ideology.

There are more than 1,000 additional comments.

I spoke over the air earlier this week on the Hugh Hewitt Radio Show to retired Congressman John Campbell (R, CA, 45th & 48th Dist) who was admirably filling in for Mr Hewitt.  The topic concerned the rise of homicide rates and overall crime in major cities and elsewhere.

I indicated there were any number of factors for this rise, but one of the major factors now is the lack of what law enforcement calls “self-initiated activity,” which translates to getting in there, digging, knowing your beat, district, precinct, area, community, and seriously working it.  Looking for crime, turning over the rocks and getting actively involved.  In other words, proactive vs reactive law enforcement.

Certainly, cops won’t shirk their calls for service.  Whenever the laptop or terminal beeps, or the radio beckons, cops will attend to their assignments.  But once there, it exists in their minds that they too could be another Darren Wilson.  Being “right” isn’t enough.  Being “lawful” isn’t enough.  And what law enforcement, the public and courts will soon realize: having a video body-cam isn’t enough.  Video is another tool — it is not the end-all panacea just as having the melanin-count match the neighborhood isn’t an end-all panacea.  Just ask Baltimore or New York or Chicago or LA, some of the most mixed race departments across the nation if not the planet.

Cops talk about officer survival.  The mindset that, “no matter what happens to me, I will prevail during a given critical incident.  I will survive to see another call, to help my partner, to see my family and fight another day.”

A few years ago in 2009 and 2010, besides officer survival my deputies faced budgetary survival.  My department eliminated over two-hundred deputy positions.

Cops are having to additionally consider political and career survival.

They are having to ask: just how deep into this call do I want to go?  Just how far do I want to dig into my beat or district or precinct?  Particularly in terms of political survival or career, officers are now asking: what is my career worth?  Where is the line where I’ll even remotely consider jeopardizing my family’s future?  The security of my wife or husband, my children, my retirement?

Even more important to officers is this: does my department have my back if I acted in good faith and within the “reasonable officer” mantra?

Darren Wilson was proven correct, he was completely acquitted on any number of levels by any number of investigative resources and separate agencies including — literally — one hundred FBI agents swarming over Ferguson and the case itself.

Yet Darren Wilson had to physically leave his department, had to take his family and physically leave the town where he was employed and, truly, will forever be unemployable by any law enforcement agency in the US.  He and his family received very serious death threats and his department had little interest in supporting or providing security for him.

You ask why crimes, homicides and the like are starting to increase?  The so-called “Ferguson Effect” is most definitely a factor no matter what any police administrator or spokesperson says.  I know this because my own deputies tell me so.  Quietly.  They are constantly having to weigh these thoughts on their calls.  They are doing the “balance test.”  How do I do my job while not jeopardizing myself, family or future?

And that is the truth.

Portland, Oregon is certainly the locus of Leftist thought in Oregon, right there with Seattle, and the Portland PB isn’t radically different from the Leftards it protects.

Ladies and gentlemen, Leftists, Demorats and Progressives alike, if you don’t like cops — they’re too judgmental — but instead wish to be involved in a Robocop future, monitored and arrested by mechanicals, you are well on your way.  You won’t care for it one bit when the human element is eliminated.  You can’t argue or reason with a robot.

Perhaps you’d just care to do away with your civilian police protection altogether.  Make sure, however, that if this is your choice you likewise surrender all your firearms, defensive or offensive materials such as slingshots, baseball bats, rocks and any sort of edged weapon.  Hell, any weapon whatsoever.  Live by your code.  Be honest and live your honesty.  Mark or placard your car, your house, your apartment, your tent as a WEAPONS FREE ZONE.  Be proud of your philosophies and take a real stand.  Show some courage.

There is a problem however: when you have fewer and fewer persons who desire to be Sheepdogs, your society is in greater and greater jeopardy from within and without.  Because the wolves, you ignorant and complacent sheep, are not reducing their numbers.

Your job is already being targeted for elimination by robots, Mr and Ms Millennial.  Your life, property and sense of security is already being target by criminals whose philosophy is generally “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine unless you have the strength to stop me.”  Gosh.  Just like Islamists or China or Russia.  Or any bully.

You think that won’t or can’t happen?  Just you watch.

BZ

P.S.

Officer John Hurlman, an extremely interesting article about freedom of speech and police officers can be found here, at the FraternalOrderof Police.net.

You may find it handy and applicable.  You also might wish to click here and here.

 

Breitbart focuses on Hugh Hewitt

Hugh Hewitt Looks Right Smiling - DSalem Radio Network radio host Hugh Hewitt interviewed Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump on Thursday, September 3rd, for the Hugh Hewitt Radio Show.

Trump believed he’d been ambushed with a series of “gotcha” questions regarding the situation in the Middle East, and called Hewitt a “third rate radio host” the following day, despite the fact that he’d sent a note to the show thanking them for the opportunity to Donald Trump On Hugh Hewittspeak — a fact made evident by co-producer Marlon Bateman, himself a US military veteran, something that Mr Trump is not.

Donald Trump On Hugh Hewitt, Redux RetortIn my opinion, the questions asked by Hugh of Mr Trump were not “gotcha” insofar as they were asked of pretty much every other GOP candidate appearing on Hewitt’s show.  These same questions were posed on the same show of Carly Fiorina, for example, who managed to field them and appeared familiar with most of the territory, also including some personal experiences.

For background, Hugh Hewitt will work alongside Jake Tapper on the next GOP debate, September 16th, at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley (to now include Carly Fiorina), hosted by CNN.  Tapper will moderate and Hewitt will pitch the questions.

Once this became known, many GOP brokers who formerly disdained any appearance with Hewitt somewhat soiled their shorts in order to line up a segment on his radio show.  As a result Hugh has interviewed Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and any number of GOP presidential contenders.

That’s why Trump appeared on Hewitt’s show last week.

That information, therefore, was the requisite set-up for the newest article on Breitbart today, taking a swipe at Mr Hewitt.

From Breitbart.com:

Hugh Hewitt, GOP Debate Questioner, Sides with Establishment, Not Voters

by Julia Hahn

Hugh Hewitt, the moderator picked by GOP leaders for the upcoming candidates’ debate, is firmly on the establishment’s side in its struggle against outsider Donald Trump.

Hewitt is going to be asking the questions in the Sept. 16 debate, and he’s already made clear he doesn’t like Trump—he doesn’t like his populist priorities, and he prefers establishment candidates, such as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who has tried since 2012 to boost the migration of lower-wage, profit-boosting foreign workers into the United States.

“No. no, he doesn’t” have the “temperament” to be president, Hewitt said about Trump, to NBC host Chuck Todd Aug. 9.

The thrust of the article is that Hugh Hewitt hates Trump, and that Trump was correct in his labeling of Hugh as a “third rate radio host.”

Mr Hewitt certainly doesn’t need me to fight his wars for him; he’s more than capable of defending himself in any venue.  However, some have said — and I am tending to agree — that Breitbart is becoming a bit of Trump Central, where persons or entities that don’t pull the Trump line are run through the Breitbart Ringer.

Frankly, I find that rather disappointing on any number of levels since I utilize Breitbart not only as a valid news source but a form of reference for the blog.

Yes, Hugh pulls a good deal of water for the Republican Party but not all the water imaginable.  There are times when I disagree with Hugh (one of those areas being some areas of immigration).  But I find that Hugh isn’t selective in terms of how he treats his on-air guests.  He particularly attempts to treat those involved in politics in an egalitarian fashion.  He did so with Trump, Fiorina, Bush and with Ben Carson — whose interview likewise did not go what could be quantified as “swimmingly.”

I don’t expect Trump or other interviewed pols appearing on the Hugh Hewitt radio show to be perfect; far from it.  What I do expect is that presidential candidates have staffs.

And with those staffs, I would expect candidates to have paid for consultation services, and to have researched those places and points where the candidate will interview.

I would expect those staffs to have researched every place I would speak and to have at least a semblance of understanding of that potential interviewer.

Paying a consultant for these considerations should be the last thing Trump is thinking about.  That advice to each candidate should already have been made and been in place prior to each interview.  Shame on the candidates and their staffs if that hasn’t happened.

It isn’t Hugh’s job to do their job.

Further, you have to be smart enough to realize that the questions Hugh asks, when you appear, may be remarkably similar to the questions he’ll pose on CNN’s September 16th GOP debate.

Hello?  (taps on mike)  Any of you candidates getting a clue here?

This isn’t “gotcha,” folks.  This is called “show prep.”  For Hugh and you.

BZ

 

“Gotcha” third-rate shock jock Hugh Hewitt and Trump

DSC02653-ASometimes you just have to laugh.  For me, this is one of those times.

First things first: say what you will — and what I’m about to say — about Donald J. Trump, there’s no doubt that he is leading the Republicans in terms of presidential contestants.  He’s been doing it for almost three solid months now despite his “open mouth/insert Stefano Bemer” syndrome.  Which hasn’t seemed to matter a whit.

And yes, I know precisely how Donald J. Trump got to where he is: disgust with the current iteration of the GOP, what I shall commence labeling the GOPEE.  As in GOP Establishment Elite.  I think that sums up the Old Staid Country-Club Invertebrate GOP quite concisely.  These are the members of the Republican Party who greet those on the other side of the aisle at the end of the day in various DC watering holes, slap backs, order expensive non-well drinks all around and comment about how utterly and abjectly they took the American Taxpayer to the woodshed that day.

The GOPEE truly created Donald J. Trump, of that there is no doubt whatsoever.  A major problem continues to be that the GOPEE is incapable of Grokking that concept.  It refuses to understand that the more it pushes against Trump and those horrid TEA Party people, the more they push back.  And here’s why:

The GOP literally owned the White House, the House and the Senate under Bush, then both Houses back in 1994, and did absolutely nothing with their power.  They wielded it not.  The GOP owns the House and Senate right now.  What has happened but capitulation, caving, “we can’t bring that back” and the tears of Boehner — plus Boehner calling a fellow Republican (Ted Cruz) a jackass.  That’s not what I want from the Republican Party.

Were the Demorats to own the Triumvirate, you know what they’d do because they did it.  They passed ObakaKare in the dead of night (despite, thankfully, not one Republican voting for it — that’s how reprehensible it was), disallowed or obstructed any number of serious investigations from getting off the ground or acquiring traction, and turned their

heads when Mr Obama, who said he wasn’t a dictator, became a dictator via the stroke of an EO pen because he realized Congress would do what it does: question him.  Obama does not brook questioning his authority very well at all.

Back to that horrendous “gotcha” Shock Jock Hugh Hewitt.

You may not know that Hewitt is going to work alongside Jake Tapper on the next GOP debate, September 16th, at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley (to now include Carly Fiorina), hosted by CNN.  Tapper will moderate and Hewitt will pitch the questions.

Once this became known, many GOP brokers who formerly disdained any appearance with Hewitt somewhat soiled their shorts in order to line up a segment on his radio show.  As a result Hugh has interviewed Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and any number of GOP presidential contenders.

Let me state the obvious: Hugh Hewitt is everything but stupid.  He is Harvard educated, took his JD in 1983, clerked for judges in the DC circuit, worked for Nixon and Reagan, continues his law practice in Southern Fornicalia and is a Constitutional Law professor at Chapman University.

And unlike many interviewers, he doesn’t just throw softballs.  His two favorite questions asked of many guests are 1) Have you read Wright’s The Looming Tower, and 2) Was Alger Hiss a Communist spy?

It is Hewitt who revealed a fundamentally flawed worldview when he interviewed Dr Ben Carson on August 7th.

That said, Donald J. Trump appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Radio Show yesterday, September 3rd, and Hugh asked some fairly pointed questions of Mr Trump.  Which, frankly, Mr Trump booted.

The full transcript follows so that you may decide for yourself if Trump’s accusation of Hugh Hewitt being nothing more than a craven “gotcha” third-rate radio announcer is valid.

Donald Trump joined me today:

Audio:

09-03hhs-trump

Transcript:

HH: Joined now by Donald Trump. Donald Trump, welcome back to the Hugh Hewitt Show, it’s always a pleasure to talk to you.

DT: Thank you, Hugh.

HH: I would thought that today, this is our sixth interview, I’d turn to some of the commander-in-chief questions. Are you ready for that?

DT: Okay, fine.

HH: Are you familiar with General Soleimani?

DT: Yes, but go ahead, give me a little, go ahead, tell me.

HH: He runs the Quds Forces.

DT: Yes, okay, right.

HH: Do you expect his behavior…

DT: The Kurds, by the way, have been horribly mistreated by …

HH: No, not the Kurds, the Quds Forces, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Forces.

DT: Yes, yes.

HH: …is the bad guys.

DT: Right.

HH: Do you expect his behavior to change as a result…

DT: Oh, I thought you said Kurds, Kurds.

HH: No, Quds.

DT: Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you said Kurds, because I think the Kurds have been poorly treated by us, Hugh. Go ahead.

HH: Agreed. So Soleimani runs the Quds Forces. Do you expect his behavior is going to change as a result of this deal with Iran?

DT: I think that Iran right now is in the driver’s seat to do whatever they want to do. I think what’s happening with Iran is, I think it’s one of the, and I covered it very well. I assume you saw the news conference. I think Iran is, it’s one of the great deals ever made for them. I think it’s one of the most incompetent contracts I’ve even seen. I’m not just talking about defense. I’m not talking about a contract with another country. I’ve never seen more of a one-sided deal, I think, in my life, absolutely.

HH: Well, Soleimani is to terrorism sort of what Trump is to real estate.

DT: Okay.

HH: Many people would say he’s the most dangerous man in the world, and he runs the Quds Forces, which is their Navy SEALs.

DT: Is he the gentleman that was going back and forth with Russia and meeting with Putin? I read something, and that seems to be also where he’s at.

HH: That’s the guy.

DT: He’s going back and forth meeting with other countries, etc., etc.

HH: That’s the guy.

DT: Not good.

HH: And so do you think…

DT: Not good for us. And what it shows is a total lack of respect, I mean, that the other countries would even be entertaining him, and they’re entertaining him big league, big league.

HH: So when you went before the Senate, and I always tell people my favorite testimony of all time is when Donald Trump just schooled the Senate on the construction of the U.N. remodel.

DT: Right.

HH: You know that stuff. You know every developer in Manhattan. You know everything about building buildings. You could build the wall. I have no doubt about that.

DT: Right. By the way, and nobody knows how easy that would be. And I mean, it would be, it would be tall, it would be powerful, we would make it very good looking. It would be as good as a wall’s got to be, and people will not be climbing over that wall, believe me. Go ahead.

HH: You know, I’d buy that, because you’re a builder. But on the front of Islamist terrorism, I’m looking for the next commander-in-chief, to know who Hassan Nasrallah is, and Zawahiri, and al-Julani, and al-Baghdadi. Do you know the players without a scorecard, yet, Donald Trump?

DT: No, you know, I’ll tell you honestly, I think by the time we get to office, they’ll all be changed. They’ll be all gone. I knew you were going to ask me things like this, and there’s no reason, because number one, I’ll find, I will hopefully find General Douglas MacArthur in the pack. I will find whoever it is that I’ll find, and we’ll, but they’re all changing, Hugh. You know, those are like history questions. Do you know this one, do you know that one. I will tell you, I thought you used the word Kurd before. I will tell you that I think the Kurds are the most under-utilized and are being totally mistreated by us. And nobody understands why. But as far as the individual players, of course I don’t know them. I’ve never met them. I haven’t been, you know, in a position to meet them. If, if they’re still there, which is unlikely in many cases, but if they’re still there, I will know them better than I know you.

HH: That’s what I’m getting at, because the Islamist extremism is metastasizing. Nasrallah’s been there a long time, and al-Baghdadi’s running ISIS. And so I wonder if you’re going to throw yourself into the details of this during the campaign the way you did into the U.N. deal, because you knew that stuff cold.

DT: Well, you know, and unfortunately, I said I’d build it for $500 million. They were at $3 billion. And it ended up costing $6 billion, and I told them that would happen. And it was a disgrace. Frankly, that whole U.N. situation was a disgrace. They ended up spending $5-6 billion dollars to renovate a building that I would have done for $500 million, and I told them I would have done it, and it would have been better. Now as far as what you’re talking about now, I will know every detail, and I will have the right plan, not a plan like this where we’re probably going backwards based on everything that I’m hearing, but we’re probably going backwards, zero respect. We have, we are not a respected country, and certainly as it relates to ISIS and what’s going on, and Iran.

HH: Now I don’t believe in gotcha questions. And I’m not trying to quiz you on who the worst guy in the world is.

DT: Well, that is a gotcha question, though. I mean, you know, when you’re asking me about who’s running this, this this, that’s not, that is not, I will be so good at the military, your head will spin. But obviously, I’m not meeting these people. I’m not seeing these people. Now it probably will be a lot of changes, Hugh, as you go along. They’ll be, by the time we get there, which is still a pretty long period of time, you know, you start, let’s say you figure out nominations, and who is going to represent the Republicans in, let’s say, February, March, April, you’ll start to get pretty good ideas, maybe sooner than that, actually. But that will be a whole new group of people. I think what is really important is to pick out, and this is something I’m so good at, to pick out who is going to be the best person to represent us militarily, because we have some great people, militarily. I don’t know that we’re using them.

HH: All right, well, let me expand it, because you know, it’s not gotcha. I’m trying not to do that. But I wanted to see if you…

DT: Well, it sounded like gotcha. You’re asking me names that, I think it’s somewhat ridiculous, but that’s okay. Go ahead, let’s go.

HH: All right, good. Now have you ever been to Israel? And how often?

DT: Yes, I’ve been to Israel once.

HH: And if Israel acts unilaterally against Iran because they view this deal as so bad, will you unequivocally stand by the action of the Netanyahu government?

DT: Of course, I will. In fact, he’s a friend of mine. I did commercials for his reelection. And according to what he said, I’m the only celebrity, he’s used the word celebrity, this was a while ago, that did commercials, that he asked to do commercials. But he’s a good man, and I would absolutely stand with him. But you know, we have a problem, because according to the deal, and this is hard to believe, but we’re supposed to be protecting Iran against any invader. And if Israel invades, nobody knows exactly what’s going to happen, because if Israel invades Iran, I don’t know if you know, but we have a clause in that agreement that the way I read it, it’s almost like we have to go, and by the way, I can guarantee you that clause, first of all, should have never been there, maybe they had it taken out, but we didn’t win anything. But do you know there’s a clause in there that in theory, we’re supposed to help them fight Israel?

HH: Yup. Yeah, it’s in Annex Three. We agree to cooperate in the security of their nuclear installations. It’s remarkable, and I’m glad you know about it. And I’m glad you’ll stand with Israel. Let me ask you about Saudi Arabia and Egypt. I don’t know if you’ve been able to get to those countries, yet, have you?

DT: I have, yes.

HH: And so do you…

DT: Well, I think the biggest, you know, I think it’s terrible, first of all, with Egypt, and with Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia in particular, was making a billion dollars a day, one billion dollars a day. Now let’s say they make half of that number because oil prices have been so depressed. But Saudi Arabia was making a half a billion dollars. It was a billion dollars a day. Why aren’t they helping us out? When they asked, and you may not like this, but I like it, because when we owe now $19, we’re up to $19 trillion dollars, I certainly like it, and I like protecting…why aren’t they helping us with the costs? We get virtually nothing from Saudi Arabia. Every time somebody raises a rifle in the air and points it in the direction of Saudi Arabia, or, by the way, South Korea and other places, every single time that happens, and I mean without exception, we start loading up and getting ready and sending ships and sending all sorts of things. We get nothing. And you know, maybe you’ll explain why, but we get nothing. And I don’t like that.

HH: I’m curious, though, if we need them, in your opinion, as strategic allies – Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan. Do we need them even if they’re not paying us money for their defense?

DT: Well, you need, I think Egypt and Israel get along, and they’re starting to get along pretty well. Mubarak should have been frankly, probably, taken care of better than he was. That sent a bad signal around. But I think in terms of Israel, Egypt starts getting very important. Maybe we don’t need the oil to the same extent as we did, and pretty soon, if we allowed, if we allowed what we have, technologically, to go forward, we wouldn’t need them at all. You know, we have potentially the greatest oil reserves in the world right here, and we wouldn’t need them at all. You know, we used to need Saudi Arabia for oil, and that part of the world. It all started with the oil, and it sort of ends with the oil. But now, we’re at a point where we’re going to be doing ten million barrels. It’s very interesting. We’re probably, very soon, if we allow our people to get going, we’re probably not going to need them for the oil. So we don’t need Saudi Arabia nearly to the extent that we needed them in the past.

HH: Okay, looking to Asia, if China were to either accidentally or intentionally sink a Filipino or Japanese ship, what would Commander-In-Chief Donald Trump do in response?

DT: I wouldn’t want to tell you, because frankly, they have to, you know, somebody wrote a very good story about me recently, and they said there’s a certain unpredictable, and it was actually another businessman, said there’s a certain unpredictability about Trump that’s great, and it’s what made him a lot of money and a lot of success. You don’t want to put, and you don’t want to let people know what you’re going to do with respect to certain things that happen. You don’t want the other side to know. I don’t want to give you an answer to that. If I win, and I’m leading in every single poll, if I win, I don’t want people to know exactly what I’m going to be doing.

HH: Fair response. Good response.

DT: Part of the problem with Obama, he says we’re going to do this, we’re going to do that, we’re going to attack here, we’re going to do this. Every time they capture somebody, they make a big deal out of it, and all of the other people, like for instance, they hit somebody with a drone, and they start making a big deal over the fact that they took out a mid-level accounting person, and now everybody else goes and runs, and it makes it harder. I don’t want to explain, and I think it’s a very bad thing. I think we do too much talking, and not enough, do you understand what I’m saying in this, Hugh?

HH: Oh, it’s a great point. It’s a very good answer.

DT: We do too much talking. General Douglas MacArthur, I was watching as President Obama was talking about, I won’t go into great detail, was talking about attacking at a certain time in a certain place, and I’m saying can you imagine General Douglas MacArthur, General Patton, they must be spinning in their graves when they hear it. So when you tell me a ship is attacked, I don’t want to tell you exactly what I’m going to do. I don’t want people to know my thinking on that, and I do have very spoken…thinking on it.

HH: Fair play.

DT: But I don’t want people to know my thinking.

HH: All right, next question. Presidents respond to disasters. Governors respond to disasters. What disasters have you, Donald Trump, responded to?

DT: Well, I’ve responded very much to disasters. I’ve had, you know, fires in buildings, big buildings. I’ve had economic changes where the world crashed in the early 90s, and I came out stronger than I was before. And I didn’t go bankrupt like many people they were forced into bankruptcy, and they were forced into, like, you know disasters never to be heard from again. I came out stronger than I was before. There was an old expression in the early 90s – survive ‘til ’95 that I made up, and I gave. And I actually became much stronger. But I’ve gone through, I’ve watched economic problems happen. Eight years ago, nine years ago when I was buying and everybody else was selling because they had no money and I did have a lot of money and I bought a lot of great assets. And you know, I’ve gone through a lot of different things, and I’ve come out on top always.

HH: Very good. Now some political questions. Do you own a gun?

DT: I do.

HH: What kind?

DT: I’d rather not say.

HH: Okay.

DT: I have a license to carry. I have a license, you know, I have a concealed license, I have a license to carry concealed.

HH: Didn’t know that. How do you define assault weapon? This is important to our 2nd Amendment friends out there.

DT: Well, yeah, I think that you know, the word assault weapon, and a lot of people, there’s been a lot of controversy, but I wouldn’t give you exact, I am in favor, I have two sons that are members in very high standing at the NRA.

HH: Right.

DT: And I would ask them for a definition, but I am in favor of allowing, I’m very, very pro-2nd Amendment. And if you want to ask that, I would go to the experts. All I can tell you is that I am totally a 2nd Amendment person, and totally in favor of not doing anything. You know, an interesting thing happened. When the two prisoners escaped in upstate New York, Hugh, people that really were very much against guns all of a sudden, they have these two prisoners, and they are someplace up there and nobody knew where, and a woman who said she used to fight with her husband all the time, she didn’t want guns, all of a sudden, they felt so safe because they were sitting with guns, and they were able to protect themselves. Now nothing ever happened, and ultimately, they caught the one and they killed the other. You know the case I’m talking about three months ago.

HH: You bet.

DT: But it was very interesting to watch this woman who was totally, and I mean absolutely totally against guns, and all of a sudden, she felt safe because they were able to have guns in the house. So it’s interesting. No, I’m totally pro-2nd Amendment.

HH: All right, now the age question. Hillary’s had to face it. You should as well. You’re 69. How’s your health? And is it legitimate for people to worry about you being president at 69?

DT: Well, my health is very good, and my father was 94. My mother was 89 when she passed away, and my father was in great shape until he was really like almost 90. My mother was in great shape almost until the end, and mentally, her capacity was 100%, so from a genetic standpoint, very good. I’m in the process of getting some documentation from doctors that have taken care of me over the years. I’ve never had a major problem. I’ve had almost no minor problem as I knock on wood. But my health has been very good and very strong. And maybe you get to see that, because people say boy, you have a lot of energy. You’re able to do so many things. Don’t forget, in addition to running a campaign where it’s number one in every poll, I’m also running a business, which I’m rapidly giving over to my executives. I have a very big business, and I’m rapidly giving that over to my executives and my children.

HH: All right, now every GOP candidate for high office gets this question, Meg Whitman most recently. It’s the illegal alien employment question. Usually, about six weeks before an election, so Donald Trump, have you or any of close member of your family hired an illegal alien in close proximity to your family?

DT: Not that I know of, no.

HH: Okay, Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia blasted you yesterday without naming you. He’s a very well-respected Catholic cleric for belligerent bombast about illegal aliens. He’s a man of the cloth. What do you say in response?

DT: Well, I think that’s fine. I mean, he can feel that way, and I understand that. And he’s not the only one, but I feel we need borders. I feel that we have to, the word illegal means we’re a country of laws. You saw that at my press conference today, and illegal means illegal. They’re not supposed to be in the country. And we’re either going to have a country or we’re not. And if we’re not going to have strong borders with a wall, which will make it very strong, by the way, and walls do work if they’re properly built, not the little 11 foot walls that we have up right now, and they’re not walls, they’re fences. There is a difference. But you know, I can understand him saying that. And other people have said it, too. But I believe we either have a country or we don’t. We either have laws in the country or we don’t.

HH: All right, now some personal stuff in our last few minutes, because people are curious about Donald Trump. What’s your, what was your worst health crisis to date?

DT: None. I mean, none. I really haven’t had…

HH: Wow, are you blessed. What’s your worst business decision that you’ve made?

DT: Worst business decision? Well, I’ve made some business decisions where markets changed, but in virtually every case, I was able to take those decisions and make them good, and take those jobs and make them good, which I think is a great test. I mean, I’ve had buildings going up and the market crashes, which is not my fault, and I go back and I negotiate with the banks, and I negotiate tough and I negotiate hard, and I’ve taken some jobs that were, that could have been disastrous and made them better than if the market had stayed the same. So I don’t know, I view business, I view that question as something you have to learn from it, and you can never make a decision that’s going to take you down. In other words, you’re not going to do something that if it doesn’t work out, because the best businessmen in the world, I know all of them, the best businessmen in the world have had difficult times, and they’ve had bad deals. And you can never allow a deal, Hugh, to take you down. You just can’t do it. So you have to know what you’re doing. But one of the things, and I get a lot of credit in the world of business, I’ve taken deals that should have been bad, and I’ve made them great, better than if the markets stayed good.

HH: Made them work.

DT: And I’ll tell you one thing, I bought deals for very low prices, like recently Doonbeg in Ireland, this incredible piece of land on the Atlantic Ocean, and other things, I’ve taken deals and bought deals that, and I bought them for very low prices, and turned them around and made them fantastic. So you know, I think you have to learn from business, and ideally, you want to learn from other people, not from yourself.

HH: All right, now President Obama is President Obama today, because when he ran for the United States Senate, his principal opponent, Jack Ryan, had divorce and custody records that had been sealed unsealed. Is there any smoking gun sealed away in records that could come out about Donald Trump down the road to destroy the Republican nominee after you’re the nominee, if you’re the nominee?

DT: No, I don’t think so, and I think one of the things you know about me, I’ve been a very public person. While I’m private, I’ve also been a very public person over many years. I mean, people know me. I’m very well known, and whether it’s the great success on The Apprentice, where it was one of the top shows on television for a long time, and by the way, NBC renewed it, and is not in love with the fact that I didn’t do it, but they renewed me for The Apprentice for many, many shows on The Apprentice, and you see the kind of money I made on The Apprentice, and I turned it down. I said I’m going to run for president, I’m going to make America great again. They were not happy that I did that, so they’re stuck in limbo. But they renewed The Apprentice. I didn’t do it. No, I think nothing. I’m a very public person, even though I’m private. I think you have seen me, and long before we met and spoke, you’ve seen me, and you know exactly what I’m talking about. So I would say nothing.

HH: all right, last question, I want to go back to the beginning, because I really do disagree with you on the gotcha question thing, Donald Trump. At the debate, I may bring up Nasrallah being with Hezbollah, and al-Julani being with al-Nusra, and al-Masri being with Hamas. Do you think if I ask people to talk about those three things, and the differences, that that’s a gotcha question?

DT: Yes, I do. I totally do. I think it’s ridiculous.

HH: That’s interesting. I just disagree with that. I kind of figured that…

DT: All right, I think it’s ridiculous. I’ll have, I’m a delegator. I find great people. I find absolutely great people, and I’ll find them in our armed services, and I find absolutely great people. And now on the bigger picture, like the fact that our Kurds are being treated so poorly, and would really is the one group that really would be out there fighting for us, I think, and fighting for themselves, maybe more importantly to them, I understand that. But when you start throwing around names of people and where they live and give me their address, I think it’s ridiculous, and I think it’s totally worthless.

HH: Well, I wouldn’t do that. That’s crazy. I agree.

DT: Well, and by the way, the names you just mentioned, they probably won’t even be there in six months or a year.

HH: I don’t know. Nasrallah’s got such staying power.

DT: Well, let’s see what happens.

HH: And so I think the difference…

DT: And you know what? In that case, first day in office, or before then, right at the day after the election, I’ll know more about it than you will ever know. That I can tell you.

HH: Oh, I hope so. Last question, so the difference between Hezbollah and Hamas does not matter to you yet, but it will?

DT: It will when it’s appropriate. I will know more about it than you know, and believe me, it won’t take me long.

HH: All right, that, I believe.

DT: But right now, right now, I think it’s just something that, and you know what, if you ask these candidates, nobody’s going to be able to give you an answer. I mean, there may be one that studied it because they’re expecting a fresh question from you. But believe me, it won’t matter. I will know far more than you know within 24 hours after I get the job.

HH: Donald Trump, congratulations on taking the pledge today. Your numbers are going to go up as a result of that.

DT: Well, let’s see what happens. I mean, I’m not sure that that’s true. I think my numbers are very high now. But I’m not really sure that that’s true, but I know you feel that. I hope you’re right. I mean, let’s see what happens.

HH: Donald Trump, thank you, always a pleasure.

DT: Thank you very much.

End of interview.

In my opinion Trump booted it.  On the same show, Carly Fiorina — not doing as well as Trump — managed to answer all those same questions posed by Hewitt, the same day.

Trump isn’t a detail guy.  My guess is that he’ll be mostly done by January of 2016.

I know why he’s ranking as he does.  He served a purpose.

But being a generalist won’t do.

And no, that wasn’t a “gotcha” by Hewitt.

I want my presidential nominee to be able to answer those salient questions and then some.

BZ

 

TribbleFest 2015 in retrospect

HHRS TribbleFest Graphic 1It all started with a can of Monster, of course.  All long journeys do.  Okay, fine, alright, a can of Monster and a can of RockStar.  Alright, stop, enough.  A can of Monster, a can of RockStar and a stop at McDonald’s for a large diet Coke.

Sheesh.  You guys are relentless.  Really.

Though TribbleFest has been in existence since 2011, and I’ve been listening and advancing my Evil Agenda in the Hughniverse chatroom since at least that time via my website at BZ, I had never physically attended one of those “TribbleFest” thingies.  And I almost didn’t attend this one, but for a last moment’s reconsideration.

08-11-14 Samsung 544You see, I’ve just retired after 41 years in law enforcement.  This is one of my last photographs at work.  And I instantly went from relevant to irrelevant in one day.  That was tough for me, mentally, to take.

I’d heard the TribbleFest was imminent but first thought: no, just sit this year’s festivities out.  Then I decided: yeah, take a break.  Why not embrace your internal schizoid?  I finally determined I didn’t want to be the one sitting at home and listening to the radio vicariously whilst everyone else was potentially having at least one metric tonne of fun (the equivalent of approximately 2,204.6 pounds of fun).

So I signed upThanks to Tami Jay for assisting me with the extremely last moment arrangements on most every level, from the Fairfield Inn to Disneyland.

“Once upon a time, on the second floor of a strip mall in Irvine.  .  .”

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 580I started before sunrise at 4:30 AM to be precise, Wednesday the 15th.  I thought it would take me a good 10 hours to reach Lost Angeles.

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 585I got to Newhall, which means a terrible thing to me and the California law enforcement community, but mostly nothing to everyone else.  Four CHP officers died in Newhall in 1970.  They perished not because they were necessarily outgunned, but because their tactics fell behind that of their aggressors, who knew what they would do in advance.  That was a seminal day for law enforcement, which changed the way it trains at least statewide.

In truth, I greatly overestimated the time it took to arrive in LA, as I had failed to account for the Kenworth Factor.  That is to say, if you don’t at least equal or better the overall 85-to-90 mph speed of surrounding Kenworth traffic on I-5, you’re going to get your ass run over.  It also seemed as though my GPS could only say “keep left.”  A lot.  I was driving in Fornicalia, after all.

Therefore, I arrived at the Tustin Fairfield Inn & Suites at 11:30 AM and, kudos to them, I was given a room immediately.  They didn’t have to do that (check-in is at 3 PM) but they did.  The staff was quite kind and the gesture much appreciated.

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 595That said, I arrived a day early as did Jay Dub, Major Bob and Major Bob’s best half.  We met and had dinner at J.T. Schmid’s in The District.

For those unknowing, The District is one of the most hideously-foul shopping centers in America.  Packed with cars, it is confusing, confounding, tight, its roads are small, parking spaces smaller, and you can’t get wherever you want to go from wherever you are.  It invites you in readily with no stop signs whatsoever.  The problem is, you can’t get out.  Ever.  It’s planned that way.  It’s planned to make your passengers pissed off and quite verbal because you can’t — no one can — seem to extricate yourself from its evil grip.

That was Wednesday, my driving day.  Thursday the 16th was everyone else’s fly-in/drive-in day.  I met Eyelah, Tami Jay, and Tribbles to be named later when we

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 598Eyelah and Jay Dub navigate technology that leaves BZ light years behind.

congregated at Lucille’s for dinner.  It was here that the rest of TribbleDom was introduced to me, and Hugh Hewitt producer Duane (I Wish I Had A Producer) Patterson (and his glorious wife, Mrs P) made a surprise appearance, handing out gumballs, Turkish towels (with a generous thread count) and small plastic painted frogs you get in Ensenada which can be affixed to your dash with tape for personal amusement.

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 604Here, a clutch of Tribbles (A passel of Tribbles? A feast of Tribbles? A congealment of Tribbles?) enjoy the pre-dinner conversation.

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 619GTS93 and Tami Jay, first night of TribbleFest 2015.

The dinner at Lucille’s was great (ribs, chicken, sauce, salad, fixin’s) and the atmosphere was convivial and relaxed.  I was formally introduced to many more fellow HHRS devotees and began to wonder: just how and where did this sobriquet of “Tribble” originate?  Of course, because my memory chips are mostly mush, I failed to ask the obvious question.  All trip.  Though I would wonder at night and forget the next morning that I had wondered at night.

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 610Bedford Guy archives his trip with CG and GTS93.

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 631DP receives a shirt gifted from DaveinAZ and L, as MB and Major Bob watch.  No, the shirt was not misspelled, a crease covered two letters.

DaveinAZ & DPDaveinAZ (L) and DP (R). Dave would have another graphic surprise or two up his sleeve for later, we discovered.

The next day was our raison d’etre: Disneyland.  The Tribbles would pack their finest sunblock, iPads, tablets, hats, cameras and don their most comfy walking shoes.

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 645There we were on Friday: the happiest place on earth, with Disneyland celebrating its 60th anniversary.  It was suggested the population would swell to 120,000 persons on July 17th of 2015.  And boy, could you tell.  The high was 88 degrees that day.

Tribbles At 60th Anniversary Disneyland“Pod-o-Tribbles” adjacent the Matterhorn, to include MB, Bedford Guy, Eyelah, Mrs MB, CG, Tami Jay and Jay Dub.

The day at Disneyland exists so that the Tribbles can watch the Hugh Hewitt show, live, near the town square, and to support and cheer on producer Duane Patterson in his multiple-round journey through the ride “It’s A Small World.”

Duane Patterson Thusly ApproachethDP thusly approacheth.

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 665Duane later wrote in chat:

5:33 Generalissimo: I have decided that when stretched, I have a 12 hour bladder, sir.

5:34 Generalissimo: you gradually starve and dehydrate yourself all day. that’s the trick.

I asked: how did the idea of riding around in an IASW boat get concocted?

5:40 Generalissimo: Hugh hatched the idea in 2005. Disney’s 50th was coming up, and he was in Phoenix, as was I for some strange reason, and he was giving a speech. I was on the side of the room trying my best to ignore him, and he singled me out for recognition, and then he told them that Disney was coming up, and this was what he was going to do – 50 times to celebrate. I gave him the f-you face without the finger, being in public and all.

5:42 Generalissimo: people felt sorry for me on one level, but there was a sadistic car-crashy side to it that made it funny.

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 669TamiJay, DP, Jay Dub, Bedford Guy, CG, MB, S and Eyelah cruise in watery comfort.

So by gum, we walked over to support Duane in his efforts and soon learned that there was a very purposeful and crafty side to his apparent madness: the bulk of time spent per lap is in cool, air-conditioned comfort.  I Grokked that concept quickly.

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 674A short time later, Duane turned around and took a photo of those sitting behind him, to include Eyelah, BZ and Tami Jay.  In twelve hours, Duane made an astounding 54 laps around the water course.  Not one pee stop, either, yet surrounded by lapping water.  You’re a better man than I, Gunga Din.

We hit the House of Blues (just outside Disneyland near the trams) for lunch and sat under some strategically-placed blue umbrellas for maximum shade.  A wedge salad sounded refreshing.

L, DaveinAZ, M, Major Bob, MBSitting down at the House of Blues was a nice respite from a very warm day, having been on our feet from 8 am to noon.

DaveinAZ & Mr Fastbucks House of BluesHere, Mr Fastbucks learns that 1) he has been voted as recipient of the bill, and 2) DaveinAZ is ordering filet and lobster tails for everyone.

After lunch, I had orders from the Home Office to purchase a figure of Stuart, one of the Minions of Despicable Me fame.  I shortly discovered that, though Pixar (the studio producing the Minions) had been purchased by Disney, it was Universal Studios who owned the rights to the Minions themselves.  Hence, no Minions in Disneyland.

The Hugh Hewitt radio show ramped up at 3 PM Pacific, with Disneyland artist and historian Stacia Martin as his constant guest throughout.

DSC02653-AHugh with Stacia Martin, preparing for live broadcast on LA’s AM 870, The Answer.

As I worked in radio during the mid-to-late portion of the 70s, from Ohio to Fornicalia (and for KFBK), I was very curious how a remote worked these days.

DSC02670Remotes are now apparently run by laptops and a small board with sliders.

Back in my time everything was manufactured by Sparta, including the boards with round potentiometers (called pots), VU meter, cart decks and turntables, with some open Sennheiser headphones or my beloved Koss Pro4AA phones.

Hugh Hewitt began his live broadcast under rather warm conditions whilst bands played loudly in the town square adjacent the front entrance of Disneyland.

DSC02658Hugh was presented with the now world-famous Troutslayer and The Queen shirts, courtesy of graphics genius DaveInAZ and his wife Mrs Dave, modeled thusly.

HH TroutSlayer PerceptionHere we see the outcome of Hugh’s trout fishing experience as he envisioned.  Great T-shirt graphic, eh wot?

HH TroutSlayer RealityCompare and contrast to what were rumored as the actual results.

DSC02661As Hugh interviewed various guests and took calls from HHRS listeners, Stacia was constantly drawing.

HHRS 2HHRS 5Various moments during the Hugh Hewitt Radio Show on LA’s AM 870, The Answer.

Hewitt & BZHugh paused to take photographs with the various Tribbles extant, including yon author.

HHRS 7Cut, it’s a wrap.  Hugh acknowledges the TribbleFest contingent.  “Now get out,” we were told.  So we did, toting various forms of sunburns, sore feet, extra toys and gurp back to our cars.

Buca de Beppo DinnerTime for some Italian food at Buca de Beppo in Garden Grove, and dinner with DP and Mrs DP, amongst others.

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 693Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 696Following my consumption of two 7.9 pound BdB meatballs, DP held court and provided some “inside baseball” factoids about radio.  Mum’s the word.

And just like that, it was Saturday already; many Tribs visited Balboa Island.  As my feet were broken and still flaming despite numerous dunkings in the toilet (the room didn’t have a tub!), I let them rest and spent time with Eyelah, CG and Jay Dub.  We visited various points of interest and — zounds — as we were chowing down burgers at Five Guys, it began to actually rain.  Our mouths fell open and bits of burger fell out.

CG & BZCG and BZ huddle in fear at the prospect of having to face fluids falling vertically from the SoCal sky.  Then we charged our phones.

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 703Jay Dub and Eyelah likewise quake in abject terror, knowing that they will soon have to face the distinct and recoiling moisture of an angry Orange County.  What did we do to deserve such unspeakable treatment?

This, of course, called — scratch that, screamed — for a stop at Starbucks.  We watched, aghast, as more liquid assailed the streets and sidewalks of Tustin.  Then we decided to get ready for our “farewell dinner” at Taco Rosa in Irvine.

TR1 TR2We said our initial goodbyes and dined on tasty Mexican food, washed down with only the most pure of filtered waters; no heinous alcohol tainted our pristine palates.

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 715Some of us, however, upon returning to the hotel from Taco Rosa, changed up our heads and decided to, at the urging of Mr Fastbucks, engage in a game of Cards Against Humanity in the rain.  This ran to some unknown point beyond midnight.  Motel occupants later opened windows and began throwing dead fish and stale cats down upon our rain-glistened pates, which compelled us to call it a morning.  Those are not liquor bottles.  Major Bob is wondering why he always acquired cards with the word “pustulence” on them.

Samsung Note 4, 7-20-2015 725The familiar Fairfield Inn fire pit, doused by rain.  Zounds!

That Sunday morning the bulk of Tribbles departed.  I, however, decided to stay one extra night as — I discovered — did DaveInAZ and L.  Because of the torrential rains in SoCal, a section of I-10 washed out completely, cutting off that main route from LA to Phoenix and points east.  Luckily, Major Bob, M and Jay Dub made it over that portion of the I-10 a short time before the collapse itself.

I spent Sunday bopping around various bookstores in the area and then enjoyed a nice dinner at the Outback in Irvine, graced by the presence of Mr & Mrs DaveInAZ.  We pitched tales of woe, discontent, triumph, gluttony, sloth and small plastic frogs quite similar to the ones handed out by Duane a few days prior.  A grand time was had by all.

And that would be equally applicable to my time in the company of the Tribbles, my new friends.  I now have faces and histories and good times to associate with their names.  I met a host of wonderful people who spared no emotional or fiscal expense in order to make me feel welcome and right at home.  I thank everyone for their kindness, their welcoming demeanor and miens.  You made me immediately feel as though I was already a part of the “team” and that this was nothing more than a reunion, which it certainly was for most.

My thanks to Hugh Hewitt, Duane Patterson, Tami Jay, and the staff of the Fairfield Inn & Suites, who treated me and the Tribbles with grace and courtesy.

SLAUSON CUT-OFF In LAI barely missed the Slauson cut-off on the way back up to NorteCal.

God bless you for your kindnesses, may you all be well and healthy.  It was an absolute pleasure to meet every one of you, and I fully intend to rekindle our friendship next year, same Bat time, same Bat channel.

BZ

P.S.

See Page 60 for my review of the Slauson cut-off.

 

On the road

HHRS TribbleFest Graphic 1Today is a driving day for ol’ BZ, as he is on an expedition to Southern Fornicalia in order to attend the 2015 TribbleFest, held in conjunction with the Hugh Hewitt radio show.

You see, if one enjoys listening to Hugh’s radio show either live over terrestrial radio or via various forms of streaming — and you participate in the chatroom — you have become a Tribble.  That is to say, a devotee of the show and a subscriber to the live video as well.

I am such an individual.

The interesting point is, as I’ve been a member of the Hughniverse for at least four years now, once you appear in the chatroom you meet a wide array of new people and hold any number of discussions with them.  Some threads become a tad heated, some threads have absolutely nothing to do with the topic on air at all.

As such, I have made a number of what I now consider to be good friends.  Now I’d like to meet them in person, along with Hugh Hewitt and his steadfast producer Duane Patterson — both mentioned, by the way, in more than one CJ Box novel.

I’m spending close to 12 hours on the road in order to attend the 2015 TribbleFest, which will feature at least one day in Disneyland this week — Disneyland now celebrating 60 years of fun.

I suspect I’ll possibly be posting videos and photographs here and perhaps you can begin to appreciate the good and kind persons I’ve only known through the chatroom.  I’m looking forward to meeting them all.

I-5 In LAExcuse me, I’ve got to go now, I need to pay attention to my driving, I’m about to take the Slauson cut-off.

BZ

HHRS TribbleFest Graphic 2