Order of Man - One True Patriot

00:00:00.000 During any election cycle, I know it seems increasingly difficult to place any trust

00:00:05.060 or faith in our elected officials on both sides of the aisle, but it's crucial that we find and

00:00:11.020 elect and support those men who exhibit leadership capabilities, even outside of the political

00:00:16.520 circus. After all, much of our lives are impacted by those we elect. And I've often wondered,

00:00:22.380 probably like you as well, why any good man would get into the political arena.

00:00:26.200 And that's why I wanted to have my friend and candidate for Congress back on the podcast.

00:00:31.020 His name is Sean Parnell. He's a man that I highly respect for his friendship, his service to this

00:00:37.360 country as an army ranger with the 10th mountain division, and really his desire to do good for

00:00:42.480 this country. Today, we talk about what true leadership looks and feels like the external

00:00:47.760 and internal threats this country faces, his take on career politicians, term limits, which actually

00:00:54.420 might surprise you, it did me, and the power of story to influence and help others.

00:00:59.820 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest, embrace your fears, and boldly chart your

00:01:04.780 own path. When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time, every time. You are not easily

00:01:10.760 deterred, defeated, rugged, resilient, strong. This is your life. This is who you are. This is who you

00:01:18.320 will become. At the end of the day, and after all is said and done, you can call yourself a man.

00:01:24.600 Gentlemen, what is going on today? My name is Ryan Michler, and I am the host and the founder

00:01:28.780 of this podcast and the movement, Order of Man. I want to welcome you here. I want to welcome you

00:01:34.220 back. You're in the right place. If you're a man and you want to improve your life, that's what we're

00:01:38.880 all about. We've got this podcast. We've got two other podcasts per week. We've got the Iron Council,

00:01:43.680 which is our exclusive brotherhood. We've got the battle ready course, which is a free course

00:01:48.980 designed to give you what you need to plan out your life professionally and personally and succeed.

00:01:55.340 Man, we've got a lot going on. We've also got our store. We just did a revamp, a little site

00:02:01.820 makeover on the Order of Man merchandise store. We're going to have our fall lineup available very,

00:02:08.000 very soon. So if you'd like to check it out, please do. Also, I have a few copies left,

00:02:13.340 just a few. So if you want one, you need to get on a quick few signed copies of my book,

00:02:18.540 Sovereignty over at the store. You can check that out at store.orderofman.com.

00:02:23.320 Outside of that, this is primarily where we're sharing the information that you need to thrive

00:02:28.860 in your life. So we have incredibly successful men from like this week, politicians to New York

00:02:35.940 Times, bestselling authors to warriors. My guest today happens to be all three also scholars. And like I

00:02:42.940 said, just successful men in general, entrepreneurs. So my job is to take their information and their

00:02:49.060 wisdom, and then distill it into practical tips and strategies that will help you and me and

00:02:54.280 everybody else listening thrive. So with that said, we're going to get right into it again, Sean Parnell

00:03:00.500 candidate for Congress and former army ranger with the 10th mountain division is back. He's back by

00:03:05.500 popular demand. The podcast we did, I believe it was in July did very, very well. And I wanted to have

00:03:12.120 him back on because of that. He just got done speaking at the RNC with his campaign for Congress

00:03:18.800 going very, very well. And on top of that, and he's got an insane schedule. Trust me, I know,

00:03:24.300 because we try to schedule on the podcast. He just wrote a new fictional book titled one true Patriot

00:03:30.040 on the heels of other books that he's written, including his New York times, bestselling book,

00:03:35.420 outlaw platoon. Sean is a regular contributor on Fox as well as appearances on CNN, MSNBC,

00:03:43.200 and a lot of other networks on the current climate in the U S he's also the co-founder of the American

00:03:51.120 warrior initiative and has since again, thrown his hat into the ring of politics. And he's running

00:03:56.580 again for Congress in Pennsylvania, 17th congressional district guys. I hope you enjoy this one.

00:04:01.820 Sean, what's up brother. It's good to see you again after what, I don't know. It's only been

00:04:06.080 like a month or, or if not shorter, I don't know. I know, man. It seems like longer though for you.

00:04:11.560 I don't know. Is, is time shorter or is it faster or is it longer for you? Like where are you at right

00:04:16.900 now with everything you've got going on right now? It's way faster. It's so crazy, man. It's like,

00:04:21.800 I've been in this race for 10 months and I'll find myself saying, well, you know, three months ago,

00:04:27.660 I got in the race and I'm like, wait a second. It's not three months ago. It's, it's 10 months

00:04:32.940 ago. And in, and in the interim, there's been like a pandemic and this economic crisis and all this

00:04:39.580 politics is just insane, man. It's just, and then, and then writing books at the same time. And like,

00:04:45.820 you know, I'm, I still have a career, you know? Right. Right. This is, I guess this is what means

00:04:53.020 like people, when people say they want a political outsider, it's like, well, yeah, I still have a

00:04:58.560 job. Right. Like I still have a job. Like I'm not a career politician. So I've got to balance this,

00:05:04.380 like, you know, this amazing, like I, it's a dream come true to be able to like write books for a

00:05:09.360 living. Right. And then it's so balanced that with running a campaign. It's just insane, man.

00:05:16.500 It is funny because that's one of the things that I've said to myself is I'm more interested in

00:05:21.820 somebody who's not interested in being a politician than somebody who is interested

00:05:26.100 in making a lifelong career out of, out of being that type of politician. And yet I think about

00:05:32.880 myself, it's like, what, why would I want to do that now? Like I've got a successful business over

00:05:38.500 here. I've got my family I'm trying to lead. And so the people that I think generally Americans are

00:05:43.600 interested in are not interested in detracting from their own lives and their own goals and

00:05:48.780 ambitions and things going on. Exactly. Exactly. I, the best part about this job is getting to meet

00:05:55.480 the people and be there for them. Right. The job is representative by and for the people. And when I

00:06:01.060 say I'm running with an R after my name, but I'm telling you, I don't, I'm not in this for the

00:06:06.040 politics. That's the worst part about this by far the worst part about this. And I cannot stand

00:06:12.720 how divided we are. I'm not in this to represent a political party. The job is to be a representative

00:06:18.220 by and for the people, all the people. And this is, and by the way, I was scared to get in this,

00:06:25.000 Ryan. I didn't, I've got a great private sector life. I've got a charity, charity that I'm a small

00:06:30.620 part of where we get to give service dogs to veterans and their families. And I write books for

00:06:35.220 a living and I do speaking engagements. Like I love this. And, you know, I was afraid to get in this

00:06:40.720 because of the politics of personal destruction. It just, it's just, why would I want to do that?

00:06:45.620 Like you saw what, what these, what these politicians did to Brett Kavanaugh. And it's like,

00:06:51.440 with his wife and his children sitting behind him. And I thought to myself, this is like,

00:06:57.280 who would ever want to do something like this? And so I was afraid.

00:07:00.780 So what's wrong with you, Sean? What's wrong with you, man? Cause you're in this thing. So I gotta,

00:07:04.160 I gotta ask what in the world is wrong with you?

00:07:06.460 I know, man. I, I, I, this is not, this is never in the car. I mean, every two years people are

00:07:12.400 like, you should run. And every two years I'm like, no, thanks, man. I'm good. I'm good. Uh,

00:07:17.380 what the president called me out in a speech randomly. I'd never, at that time I'd never met

00:07:21.860 him. I'd never talked to him. He just called me out randomly. I wasn't even there. Do you know this

00:07:25.440 story? Uh, you talked about it when, when you came on earlier. Yeah. So he called me out and I got in

00:07:31.840 the race because of that. But I mean, look, like everything that I was afraid of is sort of coming

00:07:37.060 true. Right. Like the, like, you know, I'm a threat to my opponent's campaign right now. So

00:07:42.640 guess what, guess what comes out? You know, I, I believe that, you know, I had an interview where

00:07:47.280 it was, it was on a comedy show, right? It was a comedy show. The host is a standup comedian where I

00:07:53.580 talk about the point that I made is that men desire strong women and that success of one,

00:08:01.360 right? The success of one does not necessarily come at the expense of the other. And that men

00:08:05.640 and women need each other. In fact, I believe we were created in God's image to elevate one another.

00:08:10.640 Right. And to, and, and, and, and it's now that interview is being spun. Oh, Sean hates independent

00:08:17.540 women. It's like, no, wait, no, no, I don't like, I don't. Oh, Sean's a sexist. It's like,

00:08:23.300 no, no, wait, but that's how you know in this job, Ryan, that's how you know you're over the

00:08:30.240 target. That's how you know that you're a threat. And that's, that's, that's why I didn't want to

00:08:34.140 get in this in the first place because bro, it's just so stupid. It's so stupid.

00:08:40.400 You know, it's funny. My wife and I were talking last night and of course we've been, you know,

00:08:43.940 catching up on the quote unquote highlights of the, of the DNC. And I know that the RNC is coming up

00:08:49.060 what next week, it seems like. Yes. And, and, and my wife, as my wife and I were talking about it,

00:08:54.840 I'm like, you know, what's so frustrating about this, the amount of lying and gaslighting that's

00:08:59.860 taking place. And there's on both sides of the aisle, by the way, and there's, and there's no

00:09:05.920 accountability to it. You know, somebody could come out and say, well, that person's lying because

00:09:10.320 blah, blah, blah. And there's fact checking and all that stuff, but it actually is beneficial

00:09:14.760 for a candidate to lie. It's beneficial. And there's no accountability to their lie at all.

00:09:23.460 I mean, they might get some little backlash here and there, or maybe it's like hidden on the,

00:09:27.640 you know, the 10th page of the, of the New York times or wall street journal, but like, there's no

00:09:32.280 negative ramifications of lying, of smearing, of gaslighting, just being an asshole, frankly.

00:09:38.840 I know. I, well, look, man, it's, it's one of those things it's again, this is why I didn't

00:09:44.980 want to get involved in this because I feel like it's just politics of personal destruction.

00:09:49.840 There's really no honor in it. I mean, people lie all the time about stuff. Um, and it's just

00:09:55.180 exhausting, you know, but on the other hand, like yesterday I did an event where I, you know,

00:10:01.960 for a police appreciation event. Right. And, you know, because I, I love and appreciate

00:10:08.140 the job that our police officers do 99.9% of them saddle up every day, put on their badge,

00:10:14.800 you know, and carry a gun to protect people that they didn't even know. They are their servants

00:10:20.300 of our community. Nobody dislikes bad cops more than good cops, you know? And of course this whole

00:10:26.380 idea of defund the police and sort of, you know, besmirching the reputation of people

00:10:31.840 who've made a career out of protecting us is just, I, I love that. And, and I did this,

00:10:36.940 this sort of a, this event and I showed up and there were, I mean, it was unbelievable.

00:10:42.560 The amount of support that we received was overwhelming and it's just amazing to be a

00:10:46.300 small part of it, but that's the other side of this, that the people in this country is

00:10:51.600 worth fighting for. So the, the, the balance that you, that I struck coming into this was

00:10:58.260 like, yeah, they're going to throw shit at me. That's just what they do.

00:11:01.840 And, but if I let them determine whether or not I get in, then they win. Right. Right.

00:11:07.880 The whole reason they, they do the whole reason, like the whole sexist and then, and then eventually

00:11:13.840 it would be racist. And then what they did to Kavanaugh, the whole point of that is to scare

00:11:19.160 good people from saying, you know what I'm going to get in because good people are a threat to the

00:11:23.200 power structure as it stands today. And again, I'm not throwing jabs at one political party,

00:11:27.780 right. I'm not, I'm saying that career politicians are not what the founders intended

00:11:33.820 on either side of the aisle. And anybody that comes outside of that and says, Hey, I'm, I'm my

00:11:40.860 whole goal. And part of my stump speech is I want to go to Washington, hit the reset button on

00:11:46.640 everything, and then leave, retire, buy a farm and spend time with my family and live a life of

00:11:53.500 solitude. I have no desire to make this a career. And so, you know, I'm not worried at what they're

00:12:00.600 going to throw at me. I know that might sound crazy, Ryan, but like, I feel like I'm right

00:12:05.300 where God intends me to be at this time in my life. And I'm not worried about all the other attacks,

00:12:09.520 you know, uh, win or lose. I'm not, I, I'm going to bust my butt to win, you know, but I feel like

00:12:15.300 as chaotic as everything is, as divided as this country is, I'm just right where I'm intended to

00:12:21.720 be, right where, right where God intends me to be. And so I, I'm, I'm comfortable with where I'm at

00:12:27.160 and with what they throw at me because I feel like I can, I can take it.

00:12:32.160 That's good. I mean, you're, you're, uh, more stoic than I, because I would be worked up and

00:12:38.920 infuriated and, you know, things would get under my skin. And I know that's the game, right? You're

00:12:43.660 playing and you've chosen to play that and involuntarily step into that. What do you think

00:12:47.380 about the party system? Cause you, you've talked about on both conversations. Hey, you know, I'm

00:12:51.700 running with an R behind my name, but you know, I feel like I'm trying to serve all the people.

00:12:56.360 I mean, everybody says that quite honestly, right? So I'm not trying to call you out necessarily.

00:13:01.820 I'm saying it is something that everybody says, but what do you think about the part, the two party

00:13:06.540 system to begin with? Do you think that is, is advantageous? Do you think it's detrimental? Like

00:13:11.820 I struggle with it at times. I see the value in it, but then I struggle with it at times.

00:13:17.540 I share the exact same position, Ryan. I mean, yeah, there's, I mean, but here's what you look,

00:13:22.260 you got to look back on and what the founders intended. The founders never intended,

00:13:26.280 they never saw, they never foresaw political parties. In fact, you know, George Washington and

00:13:31.480 folks like him, they, they load the idea of, of consolidated political power within political

00:13:37.940 parties. But on the other hand, uh, just like everything else in this world, when, when people

00:13:44.260 come together that are of like minds on things, their collective voices are more powerful. And so

00:13:50.560 my concern with a sort of two party system is a sort of a group of polarization group polarization is

00:13:58.720 that the more we get polarized, the more compounds on itself and the farther, the farther that divide

00:14:04.760 between the party gets. And look, you're seeing it play out, um, in the conventions right now. Look,

00:14:09.840 man, I am, I grew up like my family. I come from half of a family of Republicans, half union Democrats.

00:14:16.780 I mean, you sit, you sit around my table at Thanksgiving and it's, it's, it's crazy.

00:14:22.260 Could get interesting. It sounds like.

00:14:23.500 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so, but, but we always like grew up watching both conventions, you know,

00:14:28.520 and it was always sort of a part of the fabric of, of our family, but now the parties seem to have

00:14:34.760 almost nothing in common. And so, and, and, and I, so that's why I think leadership is so important.

00:14:39.500 People that have had demonstrated leadership ability, like if you took Nancy Pelosi out of her

00:14:43.900 position and said, Hey, you know, get a job in the private sector, by the way, man, I don't know,

00:14:47.300 they should be able to do it. I don't know. And pick, pick a career Republican. I can't, I think

00:14:52.320 one right off the top of my head, somebody who's been there for, for decades. Well, we'll use

00:14:56.020 Mitch McConnell for an example. Um, uh, you know, I agree with a lot of the things that

00:15:00.600 Mitch McConnell says. I mean, he's obviously in the same party as me, but he's a career politician

00:15:04.260 as well. I wonder if he'd be a, how successful he'd be in the private sector, you know?

00:15:09.020 Well, you know, listen, the fact that we can't answer that question because they've never been

00:15:12.780 in that situation is actually part of the problem. Like you haven't tested yourself.

00:15:17.020 You aren't walking around in the generally, uh, American shoes. Like you don't know what it's

00:15:23.120 like to struggle to make the mortgage payment. You don't know what it's like to be laid off.

00:15:27.260 You don't know what it's like to have to work, uh, triple shifts just to, you know, make ends

00:15:32.040 meet or because the demand requires it. You don't know any of that because, and I'm not saying this

00:15:36.620 to you, cause I know your situation is different, but they don't know any of that. And that's a

00:15:41.740 problem. There is so much disconnect between where these politicians sit and where the average

00:15:46.200 American citizen sits. And that's an issue.

00:15:48.500 Yeah. And I, it is, I mean, well, you look at somebody like Joe Biden, who's running for

00:15:53.200 president. I mean, look, he's been in Washington for 50 years. I mean, I think he was elected

00:15:57.700 a Senator in Delaware at 28 or something so young. I mean, the guy is, he's never known

00:16:04.900 anything else, you know? And so when I, when I, uh, yeah, I just don't think that that is

00:16:10.680 what the founders ever intended. And be, and I think that, you know, when you've got career

00:16:14.360 politicians, you know, that this hold those seats forever, they sort of lose touch with

00:16:21.100 why America was successful and why America is successful in the first place. And that's

00:16:26.300 the people that, you know, you know, put on a pair of jeans and work boots and, and go

00:16:30.660 out every day to put food on the table for their family. They're, they're the people that

00:16:34.160 keep the wheels of this country turning. Right. And, and I endeavor to just be with them

00:16:39.380 and be among them and represent them and, and to not make it a career at all. This is

00:16:43.980 not what I intend to do. I just, I, I, I hate to say like, I, again, like I was plucked.

00:16:51.840 I had a loved my pride. I had a great gig before this, you know what I mean? And I, and by the

00:16:57.340 way, I don't mean to say that this is bad. Like this is the honor of a lifetime to have

00:17:01.200 the opportunity to serve this country again. I'm just saying there's a lot of BS that comes

00:17:04.820 with it. That's not cool. You know? Yeah. Yeah. I think that's a readily apparent,

00:17:10.280 you know, I think for, for anybody just paying any sort of, of close attention, you know,

00:17:14.540 the thing that I get hung up on is you've got, you've got the D's and you've got the R's. And

00:17:19.280 then both of them are saying, we need to come together and be united. I think that's a common

00:17:22.640 thread with the DNC that I've seen this week is like the unity. It's like, well, how is that

00:17:29.420 possible at this point? Like how, how do you, how do you actually unite people because of

00:17:35.120 the polarization? How do I actually agree with that? And it sounds really good, but in application,

00:17:41.600 I just don't know how we get there. We are on such polar opposite sides of the spectrum

00:17:46.980 that it's hard for me to understand how we can unite. And it seems to me that there isn't

00:17:51.340 a whole lot of, in a lot of ways, as much common ground as maybe there used to be.

00:17:55.560 There isn't, there isn't. You're right. And look, I will say, and pardon me for, for being openly

00:18:03.840 partisan on, on your show. And I know that you're careful about that, man. And I think that's why

00:18:07.300 your show is just so powerful, but you can't, I think the reason why many independents, and I say

00:18:14.400 independents, right? Because you know, we're so polarized. There's, there's a people in the middle

00:18:19.380 that are still in the middle trying to figure out the way forward and how they're going to vote

00:18:23.080 in November. I think the reason why so many independents are watching the DNC, right? Or

00:18:28.460 maybe not even independents. Like I went into watching the DNC with an open mind, Ryan, because

00:18:34.420 part of this job is to reach across the aisle when appropriate, come to consensus and do what's best

00:18:41.380 on behalf of the American people. But I experienced that sort of sense of cognitive dissonance as well,

00:18:47.060 Ryan, because I, and I, and I reflected on this for a long time. How can you run on a party of unity

00:18:53.600 when your party has not, not one single person in the Senate or in the house, in the democratic party,

00:19:00.660 I don't even call them the democratic party in the new democratic party has condemned the violence,

00:19:05.400 the looting, the burning of our cities all across this country. In Pittsburgh, we had a, we had eight or

00:19:12.280 nine police officers injured and looting. One got hit in the head with a brick and not a single

00:19:16.860 Democrat politician in this area said, you know what? That's unacceptable. Everyone, everyone that

00:19:23.940 watched what happened with George Floyd wants justice for him and his family. That shouldn't

00:19:26.860 happen in America. Of course. Right. But it doesn't mean that you get to go and burn somebody's house

00:19:32.780 down because of it. You know, that's not right. And I think that if you, so I guess I say all that to

00:19:38.440 say, you don't get to run on a platform of saying, let's bring people together. If you don't even have

00:19:42.220 the moral courage and wherewithal to say, you know what? Riding, looting, burning, attacking

00:19:47.360 innocent people is not the answer. So let, let me play the other side of this a little bit because

00:19:52.380 then, you know, you and the Republican side of the party say, well, unity, unity, unity. And yet here

00:19:57.220 we are talking about what they're doing wrong. I just don't see how we come together. Right. And,

00:20:03.240 and look, I think there's pros and cons to both parties. I do. And, and the older I get,

00:20:08.040 the more I realize that maybe there's some areas, you know, some gray areas that, that ought to be

00:20:12.560 considered by both parties. I look at the Republican party and I think, frankly, it's a

00:20:15.980 bunch of cowards, you know, people elect these individuals to get things done. And they're so

00:20:20.660 worried about, Oh, what if somebody thinks bad of me and, you know, calls me a sexist or misogynist

00:20:26.320 or a racist, and then they don't do anything because they're so spineless. Uh, and it's,

00:20:32.240 and it's a very frustrating thing to watch. You know, I, I don't know. I'm just, I'm frustrated.

00:20:37.260 Listen, listen, I look, I have this. So, okay. So this is complicated. Uh, yes, I am pointing the

00:20:45.540 finger at the Democrats and saying, where are you on this? And, but really what I'm asking is stand with

00:20:50.800 me, right? When, when, when fires are burning in our cities, you know, who's affected disproportionately

00:20:56.500 affected by the rioting, the looting and the burning of small businesses, minority communities

00:21:01.480 in our country, they're the ones who are disproportionately affected. And so this to me

00:21:06.320 presents a tremendous opportunity for unity. Like at least we should be able to come together

00:21:10.720 against rioting and looting while all, while all recognizing the importance of, you know, of,

00:21:17.200 of, you know, justice for George Floyd's family, nobody, especially by the way, you know, good

00:21:22.620 police officers. I've talked to so many police officers that watch that and are like, oh my

00:21:26.700 God, like that's wrong. Everyone thinks that it's wrong. So why can't we even come together

00:21:33.220 on the looting and the rioting? And so when I, when I say this, Ryan, like there has to be

00:21:38.580 some level of, of accountability, right? Like if, if, if, if we see, if I see something within

00:21:44.780 my own party that's wrong or see something within their party is wrong, I'm going to call

00:21:48.520 it out. Just like being a father of small children. Like when you're raising kids and

00:21:52.300 they do something wrong or they've not had to earn something, whether they think they

00:21:56.300 take it for granted, especially if there's no level of accountability. So I'm always careful

00:22:00.780 because I don't want to throw political jabs. Like you're not going to see me out there.

00:22:04.980 I don't like the idea of criticizing Joe Biden because I feel like, you know, because people

00:22:08.760 are like, oh, he's not mentally there. He's lost a step. I don't like that because

00:22:13.120 that's not right. Like I feel bad for him. You know, I I'm not sure that, that they should

00:22:19.060 have put him in that situation to begin with. Um, and so I try to be different from everybody

00:22:24.020 else in that way while simultaneously bringing a level of accountability to both the Democrats.

00:22:27.820 If I see them doing something wrong and the Republicans like Western Pennsylvania, there

00:22:32.620 are a lot of blue collar union people here in Western Pennsylvania and Republicans have

00:22:36.180 the reputation of sort of being over the last several decades, anti-union. Well, guess

00:22:40.540 what? I'm pro worker, man. I come from a half of a family, union Democrat family. And

00:22:44.840 I know my grandfather busted his butt and helped make this community into what it, what it is

00:22:49.980 today. And I'm going to stand with the workers. You know, I'm sorry. That's if I, and if my

00:22:54.700 party does something that runs contrary to that, you bet your ass I'm going to stand up against

00:23:00.680 them. That's just cause it's called being a leader, man. That's called being a voice of

00:23:04.240 the people. I don't, and I said this on the last show and I say it everywhere. I don't

00:23:07.540 care about the political solutions to the problems that we face today. I care about the right

00:23:12.660 ones because that's what leaders do. That's, that's well said. And I think we need more

00:23:18.500 people who, who are willing to do that. Unfortunately, it just doesn't seem like people

00:23:23.580 are willing to do the right thing. I mean, the take, like you said, take the writing and

00:23:26.740 the looting and the vandalism and destruction. I mean, come on, this isn't about George Floyd

00:23:30.800 anymore. Like people's houses are being burned down. Businesses are being destroyed.

00:23:35.340 The items are being stolen. What does that have to do with any sort of, uh, police brutality

00:23:41.620 or, or racial injustice? Like it's well beyond that at this point.

00:23:45.480 I cut a video that said that there's a war going on in this country, whether we'd like

00:23:49.840 to admit it or not. And guess what? Everything that I said in that video is true. The people,

00:23:54.900 and by the way, you think I cut that video just because I, I personally, but I do personally

00:24:00.040 believe that, but who, what I, what I stand for is drawn from the people that I talked

00:24:06.060 to, you know, Democrats and Republicans are like, this is crazy. I don't want this stuff

00:24:09.820 in my neighborhood. I've got kids that play outside. I, you know, I'm worried for their

00:24:13.640 safety. I don't want my house to be burned down with my children in it. Will a leader please

00:24:17.620 stand up and condemn this. And so, you know, you know what happened to me for saying that

00:24:21.620 I had two hit pieces written on me from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette saying, Oh, you know,

00:24:25.820 Parnell and the ad was dark. It was provocative. It's like, yeah, it was provocative. It was

00:24:31.620 intentionally provocative to get people off the sideline. Yeah. And say, Hey, wait a second.

00:24:35.940 Like looting and riding. There's no place for that in our country. And by the way, tearing

00:24:40.340 down statues of Teddy Roosevelt and, and, and, and saints, Catholic saints and Christopher Columbus.

00:24:47.460 I'm sorry. That's my history too. You don't get to do that. You don't get to make that decision

00:24:51.460 for me. And so, you know what it's, it's important to recognize what that's all about, Ryan. And I

00:24:57.120 being from Pittsburgh, it's like, look, we're all Steelers fans, right? We wear our jerseys to church

00:25:03.080 on Sunday. But if, if people came along and said, you know what, all those seventies Superbowls that

00:25:07.800 the Steelers won, all the blood, sweat and tears invested in those Superbowls by the fans, the coaching

00:25:11.960 staff and the players did not happen. Right. And we're going to take the Superbowl trophies out of

00:25:16.860 Heinz field. And we're going to take those players out of the hall of fame. We're going to

00:25:19.640 pretend like the seventies didn't happen. Well, of course, everybody that grew up a Steelers fan

00:25:24.480 is going to still love them because being a fan is woven into the very fabric of our DNA,

00:25:28.920 Ryan. But guess what? My children who didn't have that experience will love them less. And the next

00:25:33.740 generation after that, probably not at all. And while Republicans and Democrats quibble over what

00:25:39.840 statues should be torn down, the long game that these people are playing by erasing our history is

00:25:45.560 making America easier to change two or three generations from now by, by, by setting the

00:25:52.680 conditions for people, the subsequent generations to love our country less. And I, I'm not okay with

00:25:58.140 that, you know, because, you know, people that erase history are doomed to repeat it. And yeah,

00:26:03.120 while America is, is certainly not a perfect country, we've made our mistakes. I, but I believe

00:26:09.780 that this country is exceptional precisely because we always seek to, to, to, to, you know, make

00:26:16.820 course corrections, you know, while slavery was legal, was, was common practice all around the

00:26:22.820 world. This country fought a war that gave hundreds of thousands of America's sons and daughters to the

00:26:28.380 righteous cause that ended it. I'm sorry. I think that's pretty darn exceptional. So are we perfect?

00:26:32.940 Nope. But show me a country who is perfect. And so, uh, yeah, I mean, I stand up and I fight,

00:26:40.160 I fight those cultural battles because I think that they're important for subsequent generations,

00:26:44.440 because that's our, our job is to make sure as parents, right. But also as leaders of, of,

00:26:49.980 of families and leaders in our community is to make sure that our children inherit a better country

00:26:54.920 than we have. And if we don't stand up and fight for that country and what was in the best interest of

00:26:59.800 that country, uh, and again, recognizing that we, we have black marks in our history that of course we

00:27:07.360 need that, that, that we shouldn't be proud of, but, but we always seek to rectify the, that we always

00:27:12.760 seek to correct the ship. You know what I mean? And, and, and that's what this country, I think that's

00:27:17.440 what makes this country truly exceptional. Yeah, I, I agree with that. You know, I, I think a lot of

00:27:22.480 people tend to look at, at, at America's history and compare it to some sort of utopian society that

00:27:30.300 they've dreamed up and imagined in their mind outside of the borders of the United States.

00:27:34.940 It's like, you know, we live in the best country in the world. We live in the most prosperous time

00:27:39.460 in the history of humankind, the least racist, certainly the least violent. Uh, we have soldiers,

00:27:45.360 men like yourselves, women as well, who are willing to go out and fight the battle somewhere else.

00:27:49.300 So it doesn't come here. Like we live in the most prosperous time. You know, the last time I really

00:27:54.920 had to worry about anything was, uh, gosh, I can't even think of like a legitimate worry that I've

00:28:00.840 had. Um, I mean, maybe I was worried years ago about making the mortgage payment, you know, and

00:28:07.140 that's not to dismiss other people who are experiencing things right now. Uh, I know there's

00:28:10.900 COVID and I know there's, I know there's other things, but like relative to history, we've very

00:28:16.320 little to worry about. That doesn't mean we can't keep working. It just means we're on the right

00:28:21.260 path and we're doing things right. Take George Floyd, uh, take any police officer who does

00:28:26.520 something they shouldn't be doing and, and, and, and targets, uh, blacks or is extremely aggressive

00:28:32.100 or violent more so than they should be. Those people are brought to justice. Like the system

00:28:36.880 is actually working correctly. It doesn't make it okay. It means the system is working. Let's use

00:28:41.620 the system. Let's work the system. Yep. And let's improve it where we can because that, that,

00:28:46.420 you know, and by the way, that's why rioting and burning and looting is fundamentally unacceptable

00:28:50.700 because our, our founders gave us a framework by which to discuss these issues, right? That's

00:28:56.620 what the first amendment is all about. The first amendment, Hey, say what you want, right? Because

00:29:01.020 if you don't have the ability to say what you want, people get angry. And then that's when,

00:29:05.900 that's when violence happens. We have the means in this country to use our words to reach common

00:29:11.040 ground. Right. And that's what the constitution, you know, the first amendment and our constitutionally

00:29:17.500 protected freedoms are all about, right? Is that we have the ability to discuss things and work

00:29:21.440 things out. And we should use our words, just like what I, just like what I used to say to my kids,

00:29:25.520 use your words, tell me what you're feeling instead of punching your sister, tell her why you're

00:29:29.680 frustrated, you know? I do. I, I, I will say this. I, I appreciate you likening, uh, members of

00:29:37.060 Congress and politicians to, uh, to, to raising your children. Cause at times it seems like we

00:29:42.060 have a bunch of children around and they need to be reminded how to act like adults. So I,

00:29:46.660 I can certainly appreciate that. I hope you bring some maturity to it for sure.

00:29:51.720 Well, I mean, you know, being a father of young children is, you know, just like being a soldier

00:29:56.460 in combat is what shaped my worldview on a great many things. Being, being a father of, of young

00:30:02.080 children does as well. And it's hard for me not to contextualize my experience and the things that

00:30:07.300 I talk about, uh, in the real world, you know, I mean, being a father is, is, is the most important

00:30:13.580 job that I have and, and making sure that the kids have, you know, a great life and a great education

00:30:20.920 and a great country is, is part of the reason why I'm doing what I'm doing.

00:30:25.140 Well, I believe that, that you as a father, you as a soldier leading men into battle, uh, dealing with

00:30:31.980 the wounds that you suffered and the trauma that you're, your platoon suffered makes you

00:30:38.360 more capable and a better leader in other situations. So yeah, I think you should definitely

00:30:44.100 embrace that you have and bring that into every facet of your life from running for Congress to

00:30:50.840 your other endeavors with writing books and all of the things that you have going on.

00:30:55.200 Well, thanks, man. I appreciate that. But I mean, like, you know, as a young leader,

00:30:58.540 like I was only 24 when I led that infantry platoon in Afghanistan. And like, you think

00:31:03.500 as a leader, like I believe what I believe I was a Republican back then too, but guess

00:31:07.420 what? I had Democrats in my platoon. I had Christians in my platoon. I had atheists. I

00:31:11.500 had Muslims. I had rich serving next to poor people from the North, people from the South.

00:31:16.100 I had six people that weren't even citizens. If, you know, I have, you know, the whole job of

00:31:22.400 being a leader is being able to bridge our many differences and look past them to unite

00:31:26.500 for common purposes. If we didn't do that and those remote hilltops in Afghanistan,

00:31:31.560 we probably would have been wiped out to the last man. So, you know, I always go in to the issues

00:31:37.820 of the, you know, when we, the problems of the society that we face today, I always go into those

00:31:43.140 problems with an open mind and open heart and not necessarily towing the line with what my own

00:31:49.680 political beliefs are, you know, because that's the job of a leader is to go into things with

00:31:54.080 watching the DNC. For example, I went in there really wanted to, uh, really wanting to understand

00:31:59.600 where they were coming from. Um, but boy, these virtual conventions are like, they're a snooze

00:32:05.000 fest, aren't they? I was like trying to watch them, man. I'm like, Oh my gosh, this is so boring.

00:32:09.980 How is that going to be? Is that going to be any different for the RNC or is it going to be

00:32:13.640 very similar to that?

00:32:15.300 That's a good question. I, so, you know, I'm speaking at the Republican national convention.

00:32:19.080 I didn't know you were speaking, but I was talking with your publicist and they said that

00:32:23.360 you're going to be busy next week. So I assumed you had some level of involvement.

00:32:27.020 Yeah. Well, first of all, it's amazing for me. I mean, my gosh, like having watched conventions

00:32:31.180 growing up, like to be able to speak at one, it just shows how incredible this country is,

00:32:35.300 you know, and I'll leave the military 10 years ago, broken, broken, and be able to speak at the

00:32:38.960 Republican national convention a decade later. Yeah. Right. That's amazing.

00:32:43.200 Um, yeah, it's pretty damn cool. And so I hope, I hope that, that the, that the Republican national

00:32:50.540 convention and the president's team was watching the DNC and saying, you know, and by the way,

00:32:56.040 I'm, I'm not being judgmental. Like we're all learning as we go here with this pandemic. I get

00:33:00.740 it. Like, this is the first time I think a virtual convention has ever been done. So I'm not like

00:33:04.860 judging them, but I'm just hoping that at least we're learning and saying, okay, well maybe let's do

00:33:09.120 this a little bit different. Let's, let's, uh, let's give people a reason to watch. And when

00:33:13.160 you look at the ratings of the DNC, I mean, they, they fell significantly. I mean, they fell,

00:33:18.180 I mean, legit 46%. I think it's just because there, it was, it was, it was boring. This is

00:33:22.560 boring, you know? Well, it's, it's like church, you know, sometimes church is a little boring.

00:33:26.480 And so we see, I'm like, man, I don't want to sit in this pew and like have somebody preach at me.

00:33:30.560 I want to go out with men and like do stuff, you know, like let's weave some of these lessons into

00:33:35.180 our activities and the things that we're doing. So yeah, you would, you would, you would never want to

00:33:40.740 see, I have been following your podcast for a long time before you even knew who I was.

00:33:45.360 And, um, I mean, watching your posts on Instagram and stuff like the things that you say are,

00:33:51.500 they are so important and so true. And that's why you have the audience that you have. And that's

00:33:56.340 why you've been able to grow your podcast, uh, uh, the way that you have the things that you're

00:34:01.020 saying is true. But you know what, if you ever ran for political office, oh my God, you bet your ass

00:34:05.200 they'd be weaponized against you because you know, and me, me, if me saying something that,

00:34:09.860 you know, men want strong women and women want strong men is radical in this day and age,

00:34:15.760 it'd be spun as Sean hates independent women. Well, my God, imagine what they'd say. Imagine

00:34:20.700 what they'd say about you. Oh, I don't want to imagine. Yeah. And I, I, I toy, I mean,

00:34:26.400 frankly, I've toyed around with it. Let's say it again. You would be great. You would be,

00:34:30.660 you would be exactly what this country needs, but the, the, the, what you're thinking about

00:34:34.200 right now, Ryan is exactly what I thought about when I get, who the hell want, this is all so

00:34:39.460 stupid. These are, you know, you know, and so you're, you're, you're thinking about it,

00:34:44.900 but then you, it sounds like you immediately, well, God, who the heck wants to, who the heck

00:34:49.800 wants to go through that? You know? Yeah. I mean, there's things, I mean, frankly,

00:34:53.220 I look at it, I'm very interested. I'm very fascinated in the process of how really I'll always

00:34:57.840 really enjoyed American history. Uh, fortunately, I don't know if you knew this, but last year I had

00:35:02.420 the opportunity to go, uh, to the Capitol and we got a tour of the Capitol building and everything.

00:35:07.660 And I was like, Oh my God, it was amazing. Amazing. Uh, and then we went and saw, we actually

00:35:13.140 had a tour of air force one, my family and I, we got to go in air force one and see it.

00:35:19.400 That's awesome. Unbelievable. I mean, once in a lifetime experiences that, that people have,

00:35:24.320 you know, people who have listened to have, uh, have created for us, which is amazing.

00:35:29.020 And so I'm, I'm captivated. I'm like, I'm intrigued. And then I'm like, snap out of it.

00:35:35.560 Like that's, that's the illusion. Cause then everything else, you know, I think about sitting

00:35:41.120 in meetings and talking with people I don't like and like, so you just touched on something that I

00:35:49.120 think is so important, bro, because that's why people never leave. You've been there, right?

00:35:53.380 There's something about Washington DC. Very captivating. Yes. It's captivating. It's,

00:35:58.920 it is the, the power center of the universe. Yes. And so imagine, imagine you, you win your

00:36:06.240 Congressman, you've got staff that are constantly telling you how great you are. You know, I mean,

00:36:11.760 seriously, people, people never want to leave that, which is why I think it's so important. You know,

00:36:17.500 if you want to, you know, judge, uh, the true measure of a person's character, give them power,

00:36:23.340 right? So being a platoon leader in Afghanistan, where everything I did, you know, got my God,

00:36:30.040 if you make a bad decision and somebody goes home in a body bag, I mean, that, that leadership,

00:36:36.140 you've got power, right? You're given a small amount of power as a commander in the military and

00:36:40.060 your decisions matter good, both good and bad. And what I realized at a very, very young age,

00:36:47.320 and I think most career politicians don't have this sort of, um, these, these experiences in life

00:36:52.800 and they don't necessarily have to happen on the battlefield, by the way, just being a leader,

00:36:56.640 right. Prior to running for Congress is important. Like I realized very, very early that, that when

00:37:03.460 you're given an unbelievable amount of power, that what true leadership is about is about taking that

00:37:09.640 power and investing it back in your people and empowering them to do their jobs. So, uh, that's what I

00:37:16.040 did in Afghanistan with my platoon. That's why that right there is why we were so successful.

00:37:21.120 Um, uh, my platoon was so successful in hunting down the enemy in Afghanistan.

00:37:25.340 And, and that's why I'm, when people say, well, you know, I know you, I know you say you're going

00:37:30.500 to, you know, you're going to be independent, but, and that is by the way, a totally fair question.

00:37:35.460 I get that question everywhere where I go. When you say you're going to be independent,

00:37:38.440 but when you get to Washington, things will be different. I'm like, well,

00:37:40.940 you don't know me that well, because I have an amazing ability to be a pain in the ass for,

00:37:46.960 for everybody. You're an equal opportunity pain in the ass. It sounds like

00:37:54.720 exactly, exactly. So, I mean, that, I mean, look, if you're in the army and you're commander,

00:38:02.460 right. I had a great relationship with my commander, but if I thought that he was doing something

00:38:06.820 that maybe wasn't right, God forbid that it, and it, this wouldn't be something here we do on

00:38:12.060 purpose, but God forbid there was some, a part of the plan that would get somebody hurt.

00:38:16.300 If you're not raising your hand and say, wait, wait, wait, this is, this is messed up

00:38:19.540 and someone dies. Well, man, I mean, you got to live with that horrific decision or inaction,

00:38:26.260 uh, for the rest of your life. Right. So that's how I, that's sort of the mindset that I approach all

00:38:31.560 this stuff with. I have no issues challenging power structures. I never have.

00:38:36.820 Um, and so when I get to Washington, it's not going to, it's not going to be any different for

00:38:39.880 me because I've already done all this stuff. Man, let me interject here in the conversation

00:38:45.080 real quickly. Uh, there's a lot of questions that I get on actually a daily basis. Where do I get

00:38:50.860 started? Uh, how do I get back on track? I want to improve my life. How do I begin? Again, I receive

00:38:56.340 these questions every single day. And although the answer is certainly not easy, it is very simple.

00:39:02.760 You start with a plan. That's it. You just start with a plan. Uh, but what

00:39:06.740 kind of plan and what does that planning process look like? So I've made this planning tool available,

00:39:10.960 uh, that will help you get on the path that, you know, you should be on that. You want to be on.

00:39:15.560 And it's called a 30 days to battle ready program. Uh, and in this free email course,

00:39:21.160 you're going to learn everything that you need to know to make the end of this year,

00:39:24.720 an incredible success. Uh, despite the kick in the balls that you may have received from 2020,

00:39:31.080 but only sign up if you're serious, if you're interested in it, if you're serious, and if

00:39:36.520 you're willing to do the exercises and the work to achieve, uh, the personal and professional

00:39:41.300 results that you're after. Cause if you just sign up and you're not interested, you're not going to

00:39:44.620 do it, then just don't waste the time signing up. A lot of people have actually done that,

00:39:48.100 but there's also been thousands of men who have signed up and gone through the full 30 days

00:39:52.520 and the testimonials, uh, and, and support and gratitude that I've received from these guys is,

00:39:58.600 is phenomenal. It's incredible. And that's exactly why I put the course together. Cause I want to serve

00:40:02.300 you and help you thrive in your family life and your business life and every other facet that you're

00:40:07.360 showing up as. So again, if you're interested, check it out. Order of man.com slash battle ready

00:40:12.900 order of man.com slash battle ready. All right, guys, let's get back to it with Sean.

00:40:18.140 Yeah. And I think you've done it in here's the problem or one of the problems is that the decisions

00:40:26.160 that politicians are enacting the law and everything else that's going on, they don't experience the

00:40:32.300 immediate ramifications of those decisions, right? So you're in battle and you tell a soldier to go,

00:40:37.660 you know, take the flank or do whatever it is they do. And that person gets injured or dies or

00:40:43.040 something tragic happens to the rest of the, that is immediate instantaneous and horrific feedback.

00:40:48.140 Yeah. Now, but it, but in politics, you make a poor decision. We may not see the ramifications

00:40:55.000 of that decision for 20 years, long after you're either gone out of politics or even dead. And,

00:41:00.500 and the lack of immediate and instant feedback and relatability with the people who will be impacted

00:41:05.780 by, I mean, these, these, these politicians, they don't have to live under the same rules in a lot of

00:41:10.460 instances that we do. You don't have to experience the ramifications of your decisions. Well, that must be a

00:41:17.460 pretty nice place to be. Well, look, I mean, you, you touched on something that is very important and

00:41:22.940 something that like, you know, the next generation of leaders in this country have to tackle this,

00:41:28.160 this sort of, yeah, you're absolutely right. You know, a Navy sailor gets thrown in jail,

00:41:34.700 four years in jail or something like that for taking pictures. Didn't even mean to take pictures

00:41:39.380 of the inside of a submarine. Didn't even mean it. And I think he deleted him, got thrown in jail

00:41:42.740 where Hillary Clinton did the same thing and what she's fine that no one charged. So there's a two

00:41:47.480 tier justice system in this country. And when you say that people that, that there are, there are a

00:41:53.120 class of people in this country that don't have to live by the same rules, regulations and laws that

00:41:58.600 we do. You're right. And that's a real, that's a real problem. It's a real problem. So how, how do you,

00:42:04.140 so here's the issue then, how does the, the, the body that dictates the law of the land and,

00:42:10.380 and legislation, how, like they're never going to enact that stuff. That's going to be negative for

00:42:16.860 them. Right. They're, they're, they're always going to excuse themselves from the laws that

00:42:21.820 they're making for other people. Generally, I'm not saying individually, you or other people I'm

00:42:25.640 saying generally, like what, of course, Congress is going to vote themselves a pay raise. Of course,

00:42:32.200 they're going to exempt themselves from mandatory health insurance. Of course, they're going to do

00:42:36.080 that. How do you even begin to reverse that trend? Leadership, you know, it's about, you know, what

00:42:42.720 it's about like for me, or maybe just anybody is you get people that are outsiders that aren't career

00:42:47.280 politicians that can somehow manage to win elections. And then all of a sudden, you know,

00:42:52.240 you know, staying in long enough to where you can have some sort of leadership position.

00:42:56.160 And, and once you have that leadership position, doing everything you can to, to, to just,

00:43:01.180 you know, shrink the size and scope and power of the federal government. I personally believe

00:43:07.240 that, that smaller our government is in Washington, the more freedom we have in our day-to-day lives.

00:43:14.100 And, you know, that's the 30,000 foot part of, of my legislative agenda. My leadership goals when I

00:43:22.300 get to Congress is to shrink the size and scope of the federal government, because I believe all

00:43:26.780 governing should be local. Like we, we are, are, we know what's best for our local communities.

00:43:32.340 Like we don't need someone in Washington telling us how to, how to do business.

00:43:36.000 Well, and not only that, what's best for your local community is completely different than what's

00:43:39.980 best for my local community.

00:43:41.260 A hundred percent. And then look, this, this is, this is, that's exactly right. That's exactly right.

00:43:46.260 You know, this, and so, um, yeah, I mean, it's just, this is why I have, you know, people,

00:43:51.080 of course, I tell you right now, I'm not going to make this a career, right? But this is why I have,

00:43:55.240 people are like, Oh, term limits, term limits. Well, term limits are great and they sound great.

00:43:59.040 And now you're, I can bet sure as I'll bet that I'm not going to make this a career. Um, but the

00:44:04.480 problem with term limits is that you basically undermine your own ascension to a leadership role.

00:44:08.820 You know, if you say, well, I'm only going to serve three terms. Well, that's not long enough

00:44:12.020 to be the head of a committee. That's not long enough to have any level of expertise or seniority

00:44:16.140 in the job that you have. That's not long enough to be a leader within the party. So there's that

00:44:19.900 the next consideration. If you say you, you know, a Congressman can only serve, serve six years,

00:44:26.000 three terms, six years, senators can only serve 12 or two, you know, two terms. Right. Right. Uh,

00:44:31.880 well then what happens is, is you take all the seniority away from the people, the seniority in

00:44:37.140 the gravitas away from the people who were elected and you invest it into what Trump calls the swamp,

00:44:42.400 the lobbyists, the staffers, the perma bureaucrats in Washington, who then become the main power

00:44:48.580 brokers because they're the, they're the ones that stay there with a level of consistency. So

00:44:52.860 they're the ones that have all the power. That ain't good for America. And what it does is it

00:44:56.960 revert it. This job is about we, the people, which actually takes power away from the people. Right.

00:45:01.580 And third term limits should be decided by the people, right? They're the way that they vote.

00:45:07.140 If people don't like someone, why remove their constitutional or people like somebody? Why say

00:45:11.580 that, Hey, if you're happy with your representative, well, and they, and people keep voting for that

00:45:16.120 person. Well, why, you know, but I also recognize, yeah, that's a good point. That's interesting.

00:45:22.640 You know what I mean? I think, well, I think people, I think a lot of people say it that way

00:45:27.580 are lazy. So when it comes to their elected officials, it's like, yeah, I get, you know,

00:45:33.660 I don't, I didn't really think about it. You know, I have people close to me who are like, yeah,

00:45:37.440 I'm going to vote for so-and-so. Why are you voting for that person? I don't know. I'm just like,

00:45:42.160 seems, seems like, right. I'm like, don't vote, please don't vote. Like you're not educated

00:45:45.960 about this. That's the blessing, that's the blessing and the curse of living in a free

00:45:49.580 society. Every generation, it gets more free. Uh, you know, it's like giving your kid, um,

00:45:55.820 you know, an allowance, 20 bucks a week, every week for the rest of their life. All of a sudden

00:45:59.020 you take that away. They're like, wait, what, you know, they, they, they've come to expect

00:46:02.960 it. And well, you know, freedom in this country, the fact is freedom is not free. What I hope

00:46:07.240 this, what I hope to, I hope people see in a time of crisis, more people start paying attention.

00:46:12.580 You know what I mean? Like, look at how fast, look how fast, uh, for our freedom was taken

00:46:19.260 from us in this pandemic. And I mean, early on when we didn't know a lot about this virus,

00:46:23.740 of course, you got to take your precautions. You want to make sure that you do everything

00:46:27.080 that you can to protect people while we learn about the virus and how it, and how it affects

00:46:31.800 people. But now we know, we know a lot more now than we did back then. Um, and so why are

00:46:37.400 governors continuing to lock us down? Why are governors, uh, continuing to extend emergency

00:46:42.240 declarations? If the goal was to flatten the curve early on, why are we, why, why did

00:46:46.480 they continue to exercise that power? Right? My, my, my, say all that to say, my point is

00:46:51.160 this freedom can disappear pretty quickly. And, and I, my hope is that more people, those

00:46:56.900 people that you see, there's lots of folks like that who, who, whether they're, they've

00:47:00.660 got a Democrat or Republican representative life in this country, man, is pretty darn awesome.

00:47:05.000 You know? Yeah. Yeah. And it takes, sometimes it takes a real crisis to sort of take people

00:47:10.860 out of that and say, take a look around and say, wait a second, maybe we should reevaluate

00:47:15.140 who's making the decisions in our community. And I hope that that's what happens now because

00:47:19.000 you know, we are in it, we are in a crisis in this country, man. We really are.

00:47:23.520 Well, you know, I've, I've thought about it and, and I, I mean, everybody's probably thought

00:47:27.300 about it to some degree. And, and, you know, you almost hate to say that you've thought

00:47:30.040 about it, but I look at, I know we're coming up on, on the, uh, the, the

00:47:34.860 anniversary of September 11th. And I think, okay, well, what, there was an external threat

00:47:38.580 and what happened after that external threat? We, man, we rallied together, unlike I've

00:47:42.960 ever seen in, in my life. That's for sure. And things changed pretty quickly after that,

00:47:46.960 but we rallied together. And sometimes I feel like because we don't have some sort of external

00:47:51.960 threat, you talk about this in the context of your platoon, man, it doesn't matter what

00:47:56.760 color you were. It didn't matter where you came from or what side of the track you lived

00:48:00.380 on. It didn't matter what religion or what God you believed in. It's like, there's the

00:48:04.200 enemy. They're going to kill us. Let's band together so we can make sure this threat is

00:48:09.380 neutralized. And I feel like in a lot of ways, I don't wish this upon our country, but some

00:48:15.120 sort of external threat is probably going to be, if there's anything, the thing that

00:48:20.420 actually binds us together. I think the external threats we deal with now are infinitely harder

00:48:26.600 to see. You have cyber warfare and you have all of this, you know, meddling in politics

00:48:32.360 and elections by other countries, infinitely harder to see the enemy than it was before,

00:48:37.160 which I think is part of the problem.

00:48:39.700 Yeah, it's time. I mean, yeah. I mean, and threats don't necessarily have to come from

00:48:43.200 the outside. They don't have to be like an enemy from a foreign country, like a 9-11, you

00:48:47.720 know, and that's, that's ultimately inspired. That's what inspired me to join the military

00:48:52.820 and serve my country and get involved. In fact, that, that, that we were attacked and it

00:48:56.720 was the selfless actions of those first responders, those police officers and firefighters and people

00:49:00.860 with no training, even in some cases, people with no training who were trying to save people

00:49:04.880 that they didn't even know. I just thought to myself, how can I do talking while they're

00:49:08.180 risking everything? And, and yeah, and that shocked, I mean, look, it certainly shocked

00:49:12.920 me out of being a sort of missionless college kid. Didn't really know what I wanted to do

00:49:17.240 with my life. And, you know, I think that this, this pandemic and this economic crisis is

00:49:21.920 going to really shape the way the next generation thinks as well. I think people are paying

00:49:26.440 attention and, and I think ultimately that's a good thing for our country.

00:49:31.700 I agree. The more informed, the more involved we are, the, the, the, the better we can hopefully

00:49:37.380 make some of these decisions. Do you, I want to pivot and just shift gears here. And I want to be

00:49:41.500 respectful of your time because I know you've got some other things and you've got a fundraiser

00:49:44.480 this afternoon, but I did want to talk with you about the writing process. Is this something

00:49:50.160 that you actually plan on doing and continuing when you win your election or?

00:49:54.660 Yeah. I would, I would love to do it. I mean, ultimately it just depends on, I mean,

00:49:58.800 it depends on my ability to like sit down and be able to knock out a story, but I I've been

00:50:02.960 sort of crafting Eric Steele and like my, my first fiction book was man of war and then all

00:50:09.180 out war. And then, and then one true Patriot is the third is my third book. But these are,

00:50:13.600 these are stories that I've had on my mind, uh, for, for a very long time, you know? And so

00:50:18.980 thankfully I was able to knock out one true Patriot really before this election picked up. And I'm,

00:50:23.920 I'm sort of chipping away at book four right now, but I would love to continue to continue this story

00:50:29.600 because, you know, fiction stories are part of what shaped who I was as a kid as well, man.

00:50:36.360 Like watching, you know, Indiana Jones and all those movies, you know, fighting the Nazis and stuff

00:50:40.760 was just, um, I don't know. Fiction stories have an unbelievable ability to shape who we are as young

00:50:46.700 people. And I think drawing those, drawing those parallels very clearly between good and evil,

00:50:51.640 right. Help, help teach our children that there is in fact a good and evil in this world and that

00:50:57.520 good people have to stand up against bad people. That's just how it is. Uh, that's reality. And

00:51:03.120 that's sort of part of the reason why I, I wanted to write these books that, that, you know, uh,

00:51:08.740 to help sort of shape, shape our, our, our next generation, you know, and, and also I've just

00:51:14.500 always loved fiction. I've been, I've been a voracious reader my whole life. I've always loved

00:51:19.860 fiction. So, um, it's, it's pretty awesome that I have the ability to do that now that I'm, that

00:51:24.280 I'm doing that now. Yeah, that's cool. I, I actually, frankly, I haven't really read a lot of

00:51:29.480 fiction. I tend to read more, you know, self-help kind of instructional. Um, but I've read your work.

00:51:35.420 I've read a lot from Jack Carr as well. I think you're friends with Jack, aren't you?

00:51:39.960 Yes. Yes. Yeah. Awesome. Awesome guy. And I like what you're saying about, about painting and telling

00:51:48.100 the story of just lessons that are old as man himself, good versus evil, for example, right.

00:51:54.660 And, and mastering yourself and all of these emotions and how to deal with these things and,

00:51:59.700 and real life scenarios and situations. And then taking somebody, you know, like I think as silly as

00:52:04.740 it sounds, taking somebody like Batman, right. A fictional character and thinking, okay, well,

00:52:09.580 there's some virtues there that I would actually like to espouse in my own life.

00:52:14.020 Absolutely. Absolutely. A hundred percent. And when you talk about fiction and reading nonfiction,

00:52:19.020 I mean, I think, I think it's important to read both because nonfiction teaches us about the world

00:52:24.400 and the history and facts. Right. Uh, but, but fiction sort of cultivates a different part of our mind,

00:52:31.520 that creative part of our mind that teaches us how to, to dream, I think, and aspire. Uh, and,

00:52:37.440 and when, and, you know, creatively approach problems, right. One of the issues that, that our

00:52:42.500 kids face in school in many ways is that they're taught to take tests. That's one of the worst things

00:52:48.020 you can do. You want your kids to think differently about the problems that they faced, uh, in the day.

00:52:53.560 Right. And, and the way that you do that is to sort of stir up that creative part of your mind,

00:52:57.840 whether it's, you know, through your own writing or, or reading fiction. And that's, I, I've sort of

00:53:03.360 always done, uh, my best to read both. In fact, I think I probably prefer reading fiction than over

00:53:10.640 nonfiction because it just, it gives me the ability to transport myself to a different world,

00:53:15.020 you know, and, and think about things differently. And so, um, yeah, I, I love, I love what fiction

00:53:21.580 brings to the fight, so to speak. And, and, and it's just, it's just so, it's so, it's also just

00:53:27.000 so fun. It's also so fun to work on. Yeah. I imagine. I know for me, and I, I've, I've increasingly

00:53:33.480 started to pick up more fiction because I noticed for me with the nonfiction and the self-help and all

00:53:38.240 of that stuff that I'm typically used to reading is I get so inundated and consumed with it. And,

00:53:42.600 and I start thinking about it and it consumes my, my attention. And I'm like, well, I have to do it

00:53:47.340 this way. But the fictional work that I read gets my brain thinking about things differently. It's a

00:53:55.860 release certainly for me from my day-to-day grind and the things I'm doing. And it allows me to

00:54:00.560 just see things from a perspective that I personally don't typically consider because I tend to be a

00:54:06.020 pretty structured oriented guy. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And

00:54:12.580 and you know, it's funny, like with a lot of the people that I work with, um, uh, work at a,

00:54:17.820 at a non-bank mortgage company called Fairway. They're amazing, just amazing people, but like,

00:54:22.600 but they, they love the self-help. They love the leadership books. They love that stuff. Um,

00:54:27.240 right. And, but it's also, I just think, I think it's equally important to read fiction. And what's

00:54:31.460 awesome is, is that they, they recognize that too. And I just think it makes you more well-rounded,

00:54:35.260 you know? Of course. Yeah. And the more we can round ourselves out, the better off. What,

00:54:40.000 what is your, uh, what is your writing process like? Cause I wrote one book and for me, I, I,

00:54:45.480 it was, it was just get this thing done, not, not to sacrifice the quality, but get it done.

00:54:50.040 Because if I didn't do it in a short timeframe, 90 days was my goal. If I didn't do it in 90 days,

00:54:54.660 I knew I would never do it. So I cranked out anywhere from one to 2000 words per day

00:55:00.800 for a period of 90 days. So I'm, but I'm really curious about your process.

00:55:04.920 That's how you have to do. I mean, it's, there are so many people out there that say they want to,

00:55:08.700 they want to write a book, but they never get around to it. Right. And they always put it off

00:55:11.960 because it's always easier to just say, you know what, I'll write, I'll write tomorrow.

00:55:16.100 Yeah. Yeah. And so I love that mindset and yeah, you sort of do have to approach it in a sort of

00:55:22.160 rigorous, almost businesslike manner. And with fiction, it's tough, man, because

00:55:26.840 fiction writing, it's easy to get lost in the creative world. And it's easy to, to say this isn't

00:55:33.660 good enough yet. Right. And you have to let, allow yourself to be vulnerable, to put a story

00:55:37.880 out there and say, you know what, I recognize fully that this is not perfect, you know? Um,

00:55:43.720 but I'm just going to put it out there and, and hope that people like it and make the next story

00:55:48.080 better. So for me, I, I, um, I try to think about stories and reflect on stories a year in advance.

00:55:56.320 Right. So I I'm, I'm working on the fourth book now, but I brainstormed the fourth book sort of

00:56:02.420 in the wake or actually I've, I sort of had this story in my heart for a long time. Uh, but I come

00:56:07.640 up with a really strong outline just in the outline changes by the way, uh, during the writing process,

00:56:12.680 but I come up with a really strong outline to help there. Sort of the outline is, is, I don't know,

00:56:17.540 it functions as way points along the journey just to get a sense of where Eric feel is going and how

00:56:22.720 the story will affect him along the way helps me. Um, it's just like having a map and, and,

00:56:26.900 and combat, right? You want to look at, have an overlay of your area of operations before you

00:56:31.200 jump in. Right. Um, and so once I come up with a really strong outline, then I just write to each

00:56:36.980 of those points in the story. And, uh, sometimes, you know, Eric Steele has a say in that, right?

00:56:42.140 Like he's, he's the hero in my book. Sometimes he's got a say in how he gets to certain places.

00:56:46.420 So sometimes the outline can change, but let me, let me stop you right there. Cause I'm actually

00:56:50.680 really interested in that. So he has a say, so you are what, like explain that. What do you mean

00:56:56.620 by that? He has a say, what does that mean? Yeah. Well, like in the first book, for example,

00:57:00.600 Eric Steele was a young, you know, a young operative that's, that's idealistic and believes that,

00:57:06.020 that he can save people and make a difference on the battlefield. And that idealism, I mean,

00:57:11.200 he's, he's, he's always, he always has a tactical acumen and the physical prowess to sort of alter his

00:57:16.240 mission, save the little girl and, and accomplish his mission. Right. Um, and, and so his worldview

00:57:22.440 shapes how he does things. And so, you know, it's important that that's like the character

00:57:27.580 psychology and his worldview changes as things affect him. So, you know, he takes, he takes a

00:57:33.860 licking and he takes, he gets his butt kicked in the first book that affects him in the second.

00:57:38.320 In the second book, he loses someone that is really deep in a deeply personal way that,

00:57:43.440 that affects his worldview. He gets more jaded in the third book. It's like you snatch his soul and

00:57:49.180 you make him fight like hell to get it back. Or he is just, you know, in the third book, it's like

00:57:54.140 he's facing an enemy that he's never faced for a formidable female woman assassin, but he doesn't

00:58:00.100 know who it is and his family members and his friends just start dying. And he's right in the

00:58:04.660 middle of it, left to figure it out, left to solve this mystery and stop this attack before it happens.

00:58:09.740 But all the while he's losing pieces of himself, you know? And so what I mean by that is that yes,

00:58:15.380 you know, in the first book, Eric Steele would deviate from the mission to try to save somebody,

00:58:19.260 but as things affect him, his mindset changes. And it's in those pivotal moments in a story that I

00:58:25.900 think make or break them is how your character reacts in a moment, right? That you would say Eric

00:58:31.300 Steele is a good guy. Eric Steele is a good guy all you want, but it doesn't really resonate with

00:58:35.400 the reader until he deviates from the mission and runs out to save a girl in traffic. You

00:58:40.980 actually have to show the reader his mindset. And so, you know, and there are points in time

00:58:46.600 in the second book where Eric Steele does things and you're like, whoa, whoa, that was a little

00:58:50.160 jarring. That's un-Eric Steele-like, but it's because, you know, things affect him in the story

00:58:56.120 as he progresses through them. And the same is true in the third book. And he gets to a point

00:59:00.960 where he's just, everything around him is falling apart and, you know, things aren't

00:59:06.700 going well. And he starts to lash out at the people that he cares about. And, you know,

00:59:12.900 he just, he ends that book in a very, very, at the end of One True Patriot, he ends that

00:59:18.320 story in a very rough spot. And book four sort of picks up right where book three leaves

00:59:24.240 off. And so you see what I mean? Like each character has their own psychology and they make

00:59:27.760 decisions in their own way, you know? Well, I think giving a character like that dimension

00:59:32.420 is important. This is part of the reason, just to go back to the superhero stuff, because

00:59:35.700 this is kind of like my, like what I know, I guess a little bit is like Superman, like

00:59:40.400 who, who likes Superman? People call Superman a superhero. You do? I mean, I don't like Superman

00:59:46.020 at all. And here's why they call him a superhero, but he's not really because he can't die. He doesn't

00:59:52.620 have courage because there's no risk. Yeah. I know. I always like, I always like Superman

00:59:58.720 for what he stood for, you know, just like I like, I like Captain America and Marvel.

01:00:02.900 Yeah. But it's easy when you can't, it's easy to stand. It's easy to say you stand for something

01:00:07.120 when there's no contention. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I know. I mean, that's why I think one of my favorite

01:00:13.440 Superman story arcs is the Injustice comics, like where, where the Joker tricks Superman into doing

01:00:21.080 something that he regrets in a big way and it totally changes his worldview and not, not.

01:00:25.980 So now you have this guy that is just, um, he's, he's, he thinks what he's doing is well

01:00:31.760 intentioned, but really what he becomes is a, is a dictator, an oppressive dictator and nobody

01:00:37.000 can beat him. And so he's much more interesting. He's, he's very interesting. He's very interesting

01:00:41.840 like that because now you have all these human superheroes and even people with fantastical

01:00:46.120 abilities that can't beat him. And then you have a, and then you have him, Superman who is convicted

01:00:51.040 that he's doing the right thing, but really he's just a, an oppressive, you know, Hitler-like

01:00:55.300 dictator, you know? Right. Right. What's the rule of violence from the face of the earth. So

01:01:00.000 I mean, there's, there's a lot of gray area in that and how to do that.

01:01:04.060 There's a lot of gray area. Yes. And that's why that's my favorite Superman story arc,

01:01:08.720 you know? Um, but yeah, I agree. I agree. Batman is also one of my favorites as well,

01:01:12.020 just because he's a human, you know, exactly. His brain is his, is his superpower. You know,

01:01:19.120 I sort of like that. Yeah. Well, you know, I imagine to your ability to give a character

01:01:25.400 edges to illustrate how Eric Steele in this case, for example, is a good guy, but you don't

01:01:31.800 just say that you illustrate that. I imagine this is what makes you a great campaigner as well,

01:01:38.020 because you understand the power of story. I see you, uh, weave your military and combat experience

01:01:45.920 into everyday situations that will relate to people. And that make you, I wouldn't say

01:01:51.660 more likable necessarily, but more relatable and a human that people can actually connect with on a,

01:01:59.960 on a relatable level, as opposed to somebody who's trying to present themselves as perfect or having

01:02:04.540 everything figured out. Oh, right. Exactly. I mean, yeah, well, stories, I mean, look,

01:02:08.940 stories are everything. So, you know, we all have, there's a phrase out there. Everybody has,

01:02:13.520 uh, you know, at least one book in them and it's their own life stories. So stories are how human

01:02:17.980 beings make meaning of their own life experiences. If you don't have, I mean, look, I mean, Republicans

01:02:23.300 are guilty of this all the time. They get up there at the podium and they say, you know,

01:02:27.940 when you use Martin, use Martin Luther King as an example, somebody who like an incredible civil rights

01:02:33.940 leader, you know, he said, I have, I have a dream. Right. And he was able to get 500,000 people on

01:02:41.140 the Washington mall before emails or phones really, you know, before cell phones, because people also

01:02:46.700 had a dream and they believed what he believed. And Simon Sinek talks a lot about, a lot about this.

01:02:51.840 Um, you know, but Republicans, they get up there like nobody's inspired by, I have a 10 point plan.

01:02:57.780 Right. Right. You know, but Martin Luther King was, he, he, he cultivated that ability to dream

01:03:04.040 through creating a story, right. A, a narrative and a story around what he believed and those

01:03:09.700 beliefs became his dream. Right. And Republicans, you know, because they tend to be like very logical

01:03:16.040 and it has to be rational. There has to be a reason for this dollars and cents and all this other stuff.

01:03:21.320 And all that, by the way, is very, very important. It's critical. But no, you know, nobody's inspired

01:03:27.080 by a guy up on a PowerPoint. Hey, this is my 10 point plan. So story is everything, right.

01:03:33.180 Contextualizing things for people in a way that they make meaning of their own life experience

01:03:38.420 is really, really important. And so, um, you know, you can't extricate yourself from your own story.

01:03:44.700 And so for me, it's just about, you have to be able to tell your own story and articulate it to

01:03:48.440 people. So people, you know, when I speak, people, people hear my story and they might not have the

01:03:53.060 same experience that I do, but they say, Oh my gosh, I felt like this at this moment in my life.

01:03:57.200 And I get where he's coming from there. So we all, we all have our own story. So you have to be able

01:04:01.840 to wrap what you do in a story. It's stories are everything. And, and that's, that's part of the

01:04:07.540 reason why I love writing fiction so much. It's, I love creating a world. I love creating characters

01:04:12.920 who all have their own history and their own psychology and their own motivations. Um,

01:04:18.440 it's just, it's just so fun. It's, it's so, so fun.

01:04:22.020 Well, you're good at it, man. You're really good at it. I'm excited for not only, not only your books,

01:04:26.620 but then what you, what you've gotten in the works with, with your, uh, political aspirations and,

01:04:32.120 uh, man, just really admire and respect what it is. No, I, I'm feeling good about it. I'm feeling

01:04:37.520 good about it. You know, I'm, I'm excited about what's in store and I'm excited about who you are and

01:04:41.740 how you're going to serve the, the, the people that you're, uh, elected to serve. It's,

01:04:46.220 it's exciting times for sure.

01:04:47.340 Thank you. It's a blessing to have the opportunity to serve. And it's, it's,

01:04:50.800 it's a dream to write fiction. It just is. It's just, uh, it's just one of those things that I've

01:04:55.540 always aspired to do and, uh, and be able to have the opportunity to do it now. It's just,

01:04:59.700 it's just awesome.

01:05:01.180 Right on brother. Well, like I said, I want to be respectful of your time. I want to get you out

01:05:04.620 of here so you can get to your, uh, your fundraiser or your luncheon that you have really appreciate

01:05:08.240 our friendship. Looking forward to continuing it and seeing how everything goes, man. And,

01:05:12.580 and happy to, and honored to support you as well.

01:05:14.700 All right, brother. I'll talk to you soon.

01:05:17.280 All right, man. We'll talk soon.

01:05:18.720 All right. Take care.

01:05:21.040 Gentlemen, there you go. My conversation with the one and only Sean Parnell. I hope you enjoyed it

01:05:25.000 regardless of what side of the political aisle you sit on. Um, anytime I have somebody who,

01:05:29.220 uh, is, has, has, has a bias towards one side or the other of the political aisle and the political

01:05:36.280 spectrum, I'm, I'm always, uh, I try to be as unbiased as I can and, uh, represent a, a fair,

01:05:45.120 uh, conversation representing as, as best I can, both sides of the aisle, because I think there's

01:05:50.820 pros and cons to all of our ideas and the way that we show up and the things that we think.

01:05:55.680 And so hopefully, uh, this gave you some different considerations and perspectives to consider as

01:06:00.640 we head into a deeper into the election cycle. Uh, it's very, very important that we elect the

01:06:06.760 right men into leadership positions. Uh, I, I, obviously the future of this country is depends

01:06:13.920 on us electing those leaders who we feel are going to lead this country in the best place.

01:06:19.460 And that's why I'm not going to shy away from these conversations, but again, I do try to present

01:06:24.440 them in a fair way. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. Uh, let's see, what do I want you to do? Check out

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01:06:34.880 that, just please, if you would subscribe, sign up, uh, leave a rating review. We're over 5,000

01:06:40.100 reviews now. So I really appreciate the push over the past several weeks on that. It goes a long,

01:06:44.740 long way, uh, in promoting the visibility of the show. Uh, everybody's talking about Spotify right

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01:06:53.860 of man podcast on Spotify as well as iTunes and Stitcher and SoundCloud and all these other

01:07:00.000 platforms. We're everywhere. Thanks to you guys. All right, guys, we'll be back tomorrow for my ask

01:07:05.620 me anything with Mr. Kip Sorensen, but until then go out there, take action, become a man.

01:07:10.960 Thank you for listening to the order of man podcast. You're ready to take charge of your

01:07:16.320 life and be more of the man you were meant to be. We invite you to join the order at orderofman.com.

Order of Man - September 08, 2020

One True Patriot ｜ SEAN PARNELL

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