Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 32 ｜ McCain & Media Mania

00:00:00.000 What's up, Relatable listeners? It is your host, Allie Stuckey. I hope everyone had a great

00:00:05.320 weekend. We in the Stuckey household took on yet another home project. If you follow me on

00:00:10.740 Instagram, you know that we've been doing that back-to-back weekends. We always immediately

00:00:15.680 regret that, but then when it's over, we're like, wow, we are so satisfied that we actually did

00:00:20.720 this thing that we've been trying to do for an entire year. So last weekend, we embarked on the

00:00:25.360 horrific and very daunting task of cleaning out our garage in 100 degree heat, by the way,

00:00:30.900 not very smart. And then this past weekend, we painted our dining room, which is actually going

00:00:36.460 to be an office because do millennials even use dining rooms? I don't know. We don't. We don't

00:00:41.940 even really sit at our kitchen table, which is kind of sad, but just being honest. Anyway, so we painted

00:00:46.900 our dining room and my awesome husband helped me despite his deep-seated animus towards painting.

00:00:53.340 Um, maybe you guys had more exciting weekends than that, but in our lives, in our adult lives,

00:00:59.320 this is as exciting as the weekend gets. Um, but while we spent this past weekend watching

00:01:06.660 paint dry, uh, the outside world did not. So a lot happens, uh, like it always does. Uh,

00:01:12.040 this new cycle was a really busy one this weekend. And so we're going to talk about a couple of things

00:01:16.940 that happened. We are going to talk about, uh, the death of Senator John McCain and why his death

00:01:22.400 was met with a really wide range of extremely passionate reactions, uh, from both sides of

00:01:27.300 the aisle. And, uh, that's going to kind of slide into how president Trump reacted to it and also how

00:01:33.920 the media reacted to it. Um, and how they reacted to other things that happened, uh, the shooting in

00:01:41.100 Florida that happened over the weekend, and then also the murder of Molly Tibbetts. Uh, more

00:01:45.400 information was released about that last week. Um, then at the end, I am going to respond to one of

00:01:50.440 the requests that my listeners had in an ending segment. That's kind of more personal and relatable

00:01:56.460 as a kind of follow-up to the self-love episode that we did a few weeks ago. Okay. Okay. So first

00:02:04.500 things first, uh, Senator John McCain, he was 81 when he died on Saturday of brain cancer. He was

00:02:13.420 diagnosed last year when he, uh, underwent surgery to get a blood clot removed from his eye. Uh, then just a

00:02:20.400 few days ago, uh, the family announced that he was no longer going to be receiving treatment for that

00:02:24.900 brain cancer, that they were just going to allow the cancer to do its work and to let him pass as

00:02:30.640 peacefully as possible. And then it was, it was almost like immediately he went and really was, it was

00:02:35.960 just, I think a day later. And I think that's why it was so shocking for a lot of people, even though

00:02:40.780 we all knew that it was about to happen. Um, I'm not sure that anyone expected for it to happen that

00:02:46.000 quickly. I don't know if his, his family knew or if it was, uh, a surprise to them too, but either

00:02:52.080 way, no matter what, uh, absolutely devastating for his wife, Cindy McCain, and for their whole family.

00:02:59.720 Uh, as you guys know, Megan McCain, co-host of the view previously of Fox news, uh, is his daughter

00:03:05.680 and has been really public in the past year about her kind of process of grief. And in my opinion,

00:03:11.300 she has shown incredible strength and steadfastness, uh, in what I know has got to be,

00:03:17.700 it was, it was probably one of the most challenging times of her life. Uh, from what she's told audiences,

00:03:22.920 she and her dad were really, really close. And I can only imagine what it's been like to have to deal

00:03:29.920 with something like that in the public eye. Um, I personally have been really encouraged and just

00:03:36.060 kind of in awe of her fortitude and all of this. Um, I've thought a lot over the past couple of days,

00:03:42.140 just how much of an impact someone like that can make by walking through pain and through sorrow and

00:03:48.520 through struggle publicly. There are a lot of bad things about media, a lot of bad things about social

00:03:53.960 media. There are negatives to the constant visibility of everyone and everything. But this I think is a

00:04:00.580 positive, uh, at least for those watching. Um, I haven't had to go through a tragedy like this yet.

00:04:06.440 Thank God. And I pray I don't have to anytime soon, but when that day comes for me, uh, I'm going to

00:04:12.720 think about people like Megan McCain. I'm going to think about people like Mary Catherine Ham, a commentator

00:04:18.360 whose husband died suddenly and tragically when she had one small daughter and then another one on the

00:04:24.020 way, uh, who for, as far as I can tell, exhibited a lot of faith and a lot of perseverance in the midst of

00:04:30.380 that. Um, I don't know if you guys follow Laura Grant on Instagram. She is the woman whose, uh, new

00:04:36.440 husband and former Navy SEAL was hurt severely in an accident and, uh, has been unable to talk or walk

00:04:42.580 since then. She's chronicled on social media, their whole rehabilitation journey, which has been

00:04:47.340 incredible. And our faith is amazing. Or, uh, Catherine and Jay Wolf who wrote this book, uh, Hope Heals.

00:04:53.240 You probably have heard of it, uh, telling the story of how Catherine had a stroke when she was, I think,

00:04:57.620 26, uh, that hindered her physical capacities forever. Um, I'll think about people like my mom

00:05:04.020 who, even though she's not a public figure, her whole life, I think has been an example of hope

00:05:09.220 through suffering. Uh, her mom died from a random brain aneurysm when, when she was, when my mom was

00:05:14.920 in her early twenties and she had two babies at that time. Uh, she has struggled a lot with my brother

00:05:20.380 who has special needs, uh, literally sacrificing everything for him and really for our whole family.

00:05:25.860 Um, so I hope and pray that I don't have to go through any of these things. No one voluntarily

00:05:30.880 elects to suffer in these ways, but, but if I do, I can look to all of these people who have suffered

00:05:37.180 really well. Um, and that's one reason I think in addition to its saving power, why Jesus's life

00:05:43.640 is, is so important for us to meditate on. Um, he's the utmost example of enduring pain and justice and

00:05:50.760 loss and rejection, uh, with faith and gratitude and submission and joy. Um, and anyway, to, to bring

00:05:57.800 it back, even though I've never met Megan McCain, uh, personally, and I don't know if or when our

00:06:03.620 paths will ever cross. I just, I would want her to know that the way that she has conducted herself

00:06:09.040 through this season has really affected me. And if it's affected me, I know it's probably affected

00:06:14.040 other people as well, uh, encouraging them maybe, maybe when they needed it most. Um, and that's,

00:06:20.520 I think one really beautiful aspect of God and of being a Christian is his ability to create beauty

00:06:27.200 out of ashes and to bring, uh, good out of what seems like disaster to use devastating circumstances

00:06:34.420 to glorify himself and to help others. Um, and that's, that's the thing is that nothing to God is

00:06:40.040 useless. Everything has a purpose. It's all doing something. It's all being used. It's not pointless.

00:06:45.460 Uh, it's not empty. It's never for nothing. It's always for something. And I think that should give us

00:06:50.560 a lot of hope. Uh, but there are unfortunately several people, it seems like who, uh, don't see

00:06:57.160 this as a tragedy and certainly, uh, don't see the redemption in a tragedy like this. Uh, there are a lot

00:07:03.560 of people who are quite frankly happy that McCain died and apparently pay no mind to the fact that he

00:07:09.180 is a husband, a father, and a friend, and that people are really, really grieved by his departure.

00:07:15.140 Um, it's been crazy for me to watch over the past couple of days, the way that people, especially

00:07:19.500 people on the right have conducted themselves in light of McCain's death. Uh, the way that

00:07:24.500 so-called conservatives have celebrated and maligned him have basically danced on his grave.

00:07:30.400 Uh, there are those on the left who have done the same thing, of course, but, uh, it just doesn't

00:07:35.360 seem as prevalent on the left as it has been on the right. Uh, people on the right have been

00:07:40.120 almost gleeful. It seems like in reaction to his death. Uh, so let me explain why we have seen that

00:07:47.600 reaction by talking a little bit about McCain's life and his career. So, uh, McCain was born in 1936

00:07:53.820 and that in itself is pretty amazing because that's the same year that my grandmother was born and she's

00:07:58.380 been in a retirement home for years. So the fact that he was that active, uh, is active as he was until

00:08:04.060 his death says a lot about his vitality. Uh, he came from a military family, both his father and

00:08:09.420 his grandfather were four-star admirals in the Navy. Uh, he also joined the Navy and fought in

00:08:15.500 Vietnam. Uh, he was flying in a bombing mission over Vietnam in 1967. Uh, he was then made a prisoner

00:08:22.040 of war and was tortured and interrogated by the Vietnamese. Uh, he was in solitary confinement for

00:08:27.180 two years. Uh, in 1968, he was actually offered early release because his dad was made commander of

00:08:33.560 U S forces in Vietnam. But, uh, McCain refused to be released until every other man who had been

00:08:38.920 captured before him was also released. So that's just kind of an incredible act of, of loyalty and

00:08:44.180 bravery. Uh, so later that year, the Vietnamese started a program of intense torture on McCain in

00:08:49.860 order to, uh, get McCain to confess that he was a war criminal and that he was grateful to the

00:08:55.100 Vietnamese. Um, he even got to the point of suicide apparently reportedly, but he couldn't go through 0.99

00:09:00.680 with the attempts. Um, he eventually reached a breaking point and, uh, he did give them this,

00:09:07.000 uh, so-called confession as, uh, many of the American POWs did. Um, but he refused to give

00:09:13.960 additional information after that and was continually beaten for that refusal. Uh, he's still considered a

00:09:19.920 hero of course, even though yes, he, he did reach that point as probably many of us would,

00:09:24.720 all of us would of kind of breaking down. Um, he then got into politics in 1982. He won the

00:09:31.660 congressional seat, uh, in the first district of Arizona. He was a Republican, obviously close in

00:09:37.700 line politically with Reagan at the time. Uh, he was elected to the Senate in 1987 where he, uh,

00:09:44.360 served until his death. He lost to Bush in 2000 in the Republican primary for president,

00:09:49.480 and he won the Republican primary, uh, for president 2008. But as you guys know, unfortunately,

00:09:56.320 uh, lost to Obama. He was not a big supporter of Trump. He said that he had concerns that Trump

00:10:02.740 was uninformed. Uh, Trump, Trump's response, uh, was his now, uh, kind of infamous line. He is a war

00:10:09.900 hero because he was captured. I like people that don't get captured. Uh, that is quite the insult from

00:10:16.060 someone who has never served in his entire life. Uh, but even so McCain said, um, you know, a couple

00:10:22.420 of years ago that he would support Trump because the Republican voters had spoken. Uh, he voted

00:10:27.460 against Senate Republicans attempt to repeal Obamacare, even though repeal and replace was

00:10:32.920 something that McCain had advocated for a lot in the past. Uh, he felt that this bill that the Senate

00:10:38.540 had proposed didn't do enough to protect Medicaid in Arizona. So he voted thumbs down in a now very

00:10:44.140 famous video. Uh, McCain was someone who reached across the aisle a lot. He was not afraid to push

00:10:50.380 back on Republican priorities, uh, priorities, uh, but he was no doubt a conservative, no doubt. Uh,

00:10:56.580 a lot of people call him a rhino, you know, Republican in name only, but that's just not true. Uh,

00:11:02.260 Tommy Lahren, who you guys know, called him a rhino in a speech in Arizona on the day that his family

00:11:07.740 announced that they were stopping treatment for brain cancer. So that's really nice. A lot of people did

00:11:12.580 the same thing. Uh, he opposed Obamacare. He opposed the Iran nuclear deal. He even said that Obama was

00:11:20.040 directly responsible for the Orlando nightclub shooting because of his soft hand on ISIS. Uh,

00:11:25.160 he was a defender of the constitution. He believed in the supremacy of democracy. He was an advocate of

00:11:31.160 American exceptionalism. He was a conservative, no doubt about that. Uh, but there are people who say

00:11:38.480 that John McCain was a traitor because of the confession that he gave in Vietnam. Uh, but let's

00:11:43.300 get one thing straight. Uh, these people only started talking about this claim after Trump made

00:11:49.120 his negative comments about McCain. Uh, so they don't really see him as a traitor of the U S they

00:11:54.960 see him as a traitor to Trump, which is just idiotic. Okay. It's just stupid. Uh, there was this Fox news 1.00

00:12:01.260 analyst who, uh, this year said on air that McCain's fellow POWs called him songbird John, uh, for being a

00:12:08.000 loud mouth in Vietnam and, uh, giving, uh, giving intel to the Vietnamese. Uh, that analyst was

00:12:13.080 subsequently fired, uh, because that's a lie. That's a lie that has been debunked by several outlets,

00:12:19.480 including PolitiFact, who talked to several of his fellow prisoners who all said that John was a hero

00:12:25.040 and was trustworthy, uh, always putting patriotism before himself. Uh, so you may also see, uh, this

00:12:31.920 conspiracy theory floating around that McCain was responsible for a 1967 fire on an aircraft carrier,

00:12:39.200 uh, called USS forestry, uh, that killed 134, 134 sailors. That's just not true. Uh, this was a lie

00:12:48.460 perpetuated in 2008 and then, uh, regurgitated by this random blog in 2017 by pro Trump, crazy people,

00:12:56.300 uh, investigators found that the fire was an accident and that the men on board weren't equipped to deal

00:13:01.800 with it. Uh, McCain was on board and he actually helped save people's lives. Uh, you can go on to

00:13:07.180 snopes.com, which is a fact checking site for this information. Uh, McCain has been awarded with all

00:13:12.920 kinds of commendations for a service, silver star, bronze star, distinguished flying cross,

00:13:17.260 Legion of merit. He was a hero. There is no question about that. There should be no question about that.

00:13:23.160 The only reason that people are saying he was a traitor is because they feel that he betrayed

00:13:28.560 Donald Trump or, uh, betrayed the Republican party by voting against repealing Obamacare last year. 1.00

00:13:35.120 That is stupid. Uh, those are stupid reasons to dance on someone's grave, especially someone who 1.00

00:13:41.220 risked his life for your freedom. And the people who are celebrating McCain's death are evil. In my 1.00

00:13:47.080 opinion, they are wrong. Uh, they, that they are shameful for doing that. And if there's one thing

00:13:53.040 that really bothers me about president Trump, well, there are a few things that I don't like.

00:13:57.620 There's one thing that really bothers me and it's his disrespect for John McCain and the antipathy

00:14:02.780 that he has stirred up among his supporters towards McCain. Uh, you guys know I voted for the president

00:14:08.220 and there are a lot of times that I'm really happy that I did. Uh, but let's just be honest. He has

00:14:14.320 the moral, intellectual, and emotional fortitude of a noodle and that's exhibited through his insane

00:14:21.160 and flippant comments towards a war hero who had more valor in his pinky finger than Trump probably does

00:14:27.100 in his whole body. Um, I'm not saying that McCain was perfect, not personally nor politically,

00:14:32.420 but he demonstrated, uh, throughout the majority of his life and his career, unwavering integrity

00:14:39.540 and strength of character. Uh, he showed more bravery in his five and a half years as a POW

00:14:44.780 than most of us are going to show in our entire lifetime. So shame on people who lay down their

00:14:49.700 politics, who can't lay down their politics and conspiracy theories for a day to honor him. Uh,

00:14:55.200 you expect that from people on the left. Many of them are generally horrific when it comes to

00:14:59.480 respecting human beings on the other side of the political aisle. Uh, there are of course,

00:15:03.820 uh, liberals who have celebrated McCain's death just like they did Barbara Bush's death.

00:15:07.560 Uh, they say McCain was a, was a warmonger and also should be hated for picking Palin as his running

00:15:13.120 mate in 2008, whatever. I anticipated that, but the downright hatred from Trump supporters and people

00:15:19.720 on the right is just kind of especially gross to me. Uh, when I posted a picture of McCain on

00:15:26.340 Instagram, uh, honoring his life, I sadly had a lot of people comment really disgusting things about him

00:15:33.840 and threatened to unfollow me to which I say, and will always say, just go for it. Uh, and just kind

00:15:39.940 of as an FYI, if I say something that offends you, unless I realized that, oh wow, I really shouldn't

00:15:45.040 have said that, that that was really inappropriate or uncalled for. I mean, I'm probably not going to

00:15:50.180 apologize and I'm not going to miss someone who unfollows me for that reason. So if you are so

00:15:56.140 bothered by a differing opinion of mine that you can no longer stand to see me on your timeline,

00:16:00.920 I am certainly not going to stop you from building your own echo chamber. That's none of my business.

00:16:06.020 I just though want to go ahead and take away any feelings of satisfaction. You may be tempted to

00:16:11.640 feel by imagining that I've noticed your departure. I will not. Uh, now that said, I love

00:16:18.120 you guys. I would not be here without you. You guys give me the ability to have this podcast and

00:16:23.340 have a voice. Uh, you guys know you're my friends and I want your feedback and I value your feedback.

00:16:29.240 We talk on email and Instagram message all the time. And if I say something wrong, like I have many

00:16:34.160 times in the past, I want to know, and I hope that we can talk through it and work it out. But if I was

00:16:39.280 constantly scared of rubbing someone the wrong way, then I wouldn't say anything that would actually

00:16:43.560 be a value. And I may actually, because of that, offend you at some point. Um, I will say something

00:16:50.000 that you don't agree with. That's totally fine. That's okay. I hope that I've made clear my desire

00:16:54.720 for us to get along and be friends, have healthy conversations and love each other. Even when we

00:16:59.020 don't see eye to eye, but I do not lose sleep over lost followers. If that were the case, I would

00:17:04.680 literally be awake 24 seven. Uh, so that's my take on John McCain. I don't know about his personal

00:17:10.200 relationship with Christ. I know he identified as a Christian. So I hope with all my heart that he was

00:17:14.700 saved and that he is now with, with Jesus in a place without cancer, without pain, without sorrow,

00:17:19.880 and that we who are also Christians will be able to unite with him one day. Um, I cried when I read the

00:17:26.860 news, like immediate, real significant tears. Uh, for those of you who have been listening for a while,

00:17:32.460 you know, that I cried when Barbara Bush died a lot. Uh, I cry when I even think about Ronald and

00:17:38.500 Nancy Reagan dying. I will cry when HW Bush dies and don't even get me started on W Bush. Um, it's

00:17:45.560 not because I agree with everything these people ever did. It's because to me, they represent a bygone

00:17:51.640 era. I tell my husband this all the time, uh, an era that I myself didn't really get to experience an

00:17:57.540 era of American exceptionalism and optimism that I think died a few years after the turn of the

00:18:03.520 century. I think the war on terror had something to do with it. Uh, I think the relentless march of

00:18:08.680 progressivism and postmodernism had something to do with it. There is a real cynicism towards

00:18:13.700 American greatness. Now there's a rejection of patriotism of traditionalism of the family of

00:18:20.220 church and religion and morality, basic decency. Uh, they represent what I consider to be the old 0.99

00:18:25.900 America, the America that was unashamed of being the best country in the world, uh, the strongest

00:18:30.380 country in the world. Uh, I can't blame the end of that era on Obama entirely because I think it

00:18:36.540 started before him, but he certainly pushed us out of that era. And, um, I think that though Trump is

00:18:42.920 trying to bring us back, I think that we've probably passed the point of no return. I really do. I know

00:18:47.540 that's kind of sad, but I do. I just don't think it's possible for patriotism at this point to make a

00:18:53.600 comeback. I don't think that American exceptionalism, um, is ever going to be promoted the same way that

00:18:59.560 it used to. And every time someone like McCain dies, I'm reminded of that. And that is why I cry. I shed

00:19:06.280 real tears of sorrow. Uh, it sounds really melodramatic. I know, but I can't help it. Uh, McCain's funeral

00:19:12.840 will be this week. And as you guys probably remember a few months ago, his family requested that Trump not

00:19:18.540 attend his funeral. Of course, a lot of Trump supporters were up in arms about that saying,

00:19:23.360 oh, this is so petty. Why is he bringing hatred towards Trump into his death? Well, that's really

00:19:28.600 none of our business. I'm not sure if there is anything petty about deciding who you want at

00:19:33.620 your funeral. Um, Obama and W Bush are going to deliver eulogies. Uh, the white house's response

00:19:39.860 to McCain's death, in my opinion, hasn't been that much to talk about, even though the media has

00:19:43.780 talked about it a lot. Uh, Trump tweeted his respect. I think that's fine. Short and sweet.

00:19:48.100 Uh, the white house flag was at half staff over the weekend, but not on Monday, which is kind of

00:19:53.360 weird. A lot of people are noting that, uh, but overall Trump has done the right thing. He's been

00:19:57.020 respectful. If he had said anything more than what he did, people have would have called him a hypocrite. 0.98

00:20:02.740 Uh, so I think he's, you know, handling it as best as he could at this point. Uh, which brings me to

00:20:09.180 the other part of this. Uh, and that is the left wing media's reaction to McCain's death and how they

00:20:15.460 are leveraging this tragedy to attack Trump. Uh, I think this is equally as gross as some people on

00:20:21.360 the right accusing McCain of being a traitor because both sides are just using McCain to make

00:20:26.500 their own political points rather than just honoring him as the hero that he was. Uh, the same media who

00:20:31.820 hated John McCain when he ran against Obama in 08 now love John McCain because he stood up to Trump.

00:20:37.560 Uh, they love him because of the last 15 minutes of his political career career, just as some people

00:20:43.140 on the right hate him because of the last 15 minutes of his political career. And both sides are stupid 1.00

00:20:48.420 and completely disingenuous. Um, but now that's the culture that we live in. No one considers your entire 1.00

00:20:54.660 body of work, uh, what you've actually accomplished, what you've proven yourself to be as a person. People

00:20:59.860 only care that right now you are punching at the same people that they're punching. And if you're not,

00:21:06.560 if you're not throwing the same punches that they are, well, then you're a bad person. It doesn't

00:21:11.180 matter how many times you've agreed. It doesn't matter. Your resume doesn't matter how much you've

00:21:15.820 sacrificed for the country. If you don't hate the people that they hate, then you don't deserve any

00:21:21.280 respect. It's totally insane. It's illogical. It's entirely emotional and denies any rational

00:21:26.660 thinking whatsoever. And both sides this week, especially are guilty of it. Uh, it's really sad.

00:21:31.820 People can't even die these days without being politicized. Um, and switching gears here a little

00:21:37.660 bit. No one knows that fact better than the family of Molly Tibbetts, uh, the college girl who was

00:21:43.360 murdered in Iowa. Uh, police found her body last week. She was killed by, uh, Christian Rivera. I think

00:21:50.300 that's how you say his name. Um, who was an illegal immigrant who is an illegal immigrant. Uh, and the

00:21:56.480 reaction to this was interesting. Uh, you had some people on the left who immediately were disinterested

00:22:01.740 in the story because it no longer fit their narrative. The guy didn't use a gun, so they

00:22:05.860 can't harp on gun violence. Uh, then there were some people on the right who only cared about the story

00:22:11.240 when they learned the murderer was an illegal immigrant and they made the story only about

00:22:15.660 illegal immigration. Uh, the family of Molly Tibbetts has come out and said that, you know, this has

00:22:20.240 nothing to do with the legal immigration. And I totally, I understand their position and their desire to say

00:22:26.000 that this has to be the most painful moment of their life, uh, to not only have to deal with this

00:22:32.080 kind of loss publicly, but also to have to push against a political narrative that they don't agree

00:22:37.300 with. But here's my take on this whole thing. No, the story is not about illegal immigration or

00:22:44.960 illegal immigrants. Uh, it's not, not all illegal immigrants are murderers. They, uh, are all criminals 1.00

00:22:51.800 technically since they broke the law by crossing the border illegally, but they aren't all violent. 0.96

00:22:56.000 Um, but that said, it would be really stupid for people not to point out the fact that this guy 0.96

00:23:01.980 was illegal and as such, he shouldn't have been here. Uh, this isn't an exploitation of Molly's

00:23:08.440 murder. That is a fact of the crime. And if we're not willing to state the facts of the crime,

00:23:13.080 then that indicates that we really don't care about why a crime happened and what we can do to

00:23:17.260 stop it. And the reality is Molly's murder wouldn't have happened if this guy hadn't been here.

00:23:22.860 That's the point in bringing up illegal immigration. Uh, this isn't an indictment

00:23:27.500 on all illegal immigrants, but it does point to a broken system. Uh, but the left won't even let us

00:23:33.320 say that, uh, they confuse conservatives position on purpose. Uh, they say that we are accusing all

00:23:40.900 immigrants, illegal and legal of being violent. No, we're not even accusing all illegal immigrants of

00:23:48.500 being violent. Uh, we are saying that none of the crimes committed by an illegal immigrant would 1.00

00:23:53.880 happen if they weren't here in the first place. None of them should have occurred. Um, but instead

00:23:59.440 the left says stupid stuff, like, no, this has to do with toxic masculinity. Uh, this was a guy who 1.00

00:24:05.620 was told no by a girl and just couldn't take it. That's what Simone Sanders of CNN said in a tweet last

00:24:10.800 week. And there were several other articles claiming this as well. Uh, I don't even want to

00:24:16.740 dignify that insanity with the response. It's so incredibly dumb. You guys have watched my Prager 1.00

00:24:23.960 You video. You guys know how I feel about toxic masculinity. Uh, it is a myth used in an effort

00:24:29.560 to feminize men in the hopes that if men are more feminine, then maybe women, uh, will be more easily 0.99

00:24:34.720 able to take power and deconstruct this so-called patriarchy. Uh, proponents of this theory think

00:24:39.800 that men are too aggressive. And if they were less aggressive, we'd have less violence, less 1.00

00:24:43.680 inequality, et cetera. No, the truth is there is sin in the human heart and it manifests itself in

00:24:50.560 different ways in all of us. It typically does manifest itself in more violent ways in men than a

00:24:56.760 woman because they are physically stronger and have this thing called testosterone, but demonizing 1.00

00:25:01.580 strength and aggression wholesale is not the solution to violence. Honing that strength is

00:25:06.540 building boys into good, strong, respectful, responsible men, uh, teaching all of our kids

00:25:11.220 decency, respect, honesty, love, compassion, sacrifice. It's called morality. Uh, but the

00:25:16.260 left will resist at all costs talk of personal responsibility and right and wrong. If it means that

00:25:23.280 they can promote some stupid feminist theory like toxic masculinity, which by the way, by the way, 1.00

00:25:29.660 it's also a way of politicizing tragedy. Uh, they accused conservatives of politicizing tragedy, 1.00

00:25:35.340 uh, by talking about illegal immigration. And there are some that did only talk about this case

00:25:41.120 as an opportunity to push talking points. Uh, but there were a lot of us who simply wanted to state

00:25:46.080 the facts of the case while also communicating compassion towards Molly's family. Um, but the left

00:25:52.000 and the media accused conservatives of politicizing it while they talk about things like toxic masculinity

00:25:57.920 being to blame. Give me a break. And their hypocrisy is even further exemplified, I think in their

00:26:05.740 immediate reaction to anything involving guns. Uh, so there was a shooting this weekend in Florida 0.87

00:26:11.860 in which two victims plus the shooter himself were killed. Uh, several others were injured. This was at a

00:26:17.300 Madden video game event. I didn't know those things existed. A 24 year old from Baltimore pulled his gun

00:26:23.460 out and started shooting people. Uh, they don't know the motive yet, but of course the first thing

00:26:27.900 that many on the left do is blame the gun without knowing any of the facts. Uh, for them, the facts

00:26:33.300 don't matter because they don't want anyone to have a gun no matter what. So when it comes to, let's get

00:26:39.000 this straight. When it comes to illegal immigrant crime, we're not allowed to point to a criminal's

00:26:44.240 immigration status because that apparently condemns a whole class of people. But when it comes to gun

00:26:49.300 violence, they are allowed to condemn all gun owners and supporters of the second amendment as

00:26:53.780 complicit in mass shootings. Um, that is the hypocrisy that every liberal outlet has shown over the past 0.51

00:27:01.460 two weeks. Uh, when it came to covering the Parkland shooting, uh, CNN held a town hall about gun

00:27:07.560 violence, obviously biased towards gun control. Uh, gun owners were demonized as nut jobs. The NRA

00:27:14.380 was and is accused of being on the side of murder, all ignoring that most gun owners are law abiding

00:27:21.060 citizens who just want the right to protect themselves and their families. But there was no 0.82

00:27:25.680 town hall on illegal immigration after Molly Tippetts died. Uh, those same media outlets are, are not

00:27:31.820 calling for immigration reform or legislation. They're not calling for advocates of illegal immigration

00:27:37.220 complicit. Um, they're all, but defending this guy. So the leftist media is willing and

00:27:44.360 ready to stand up for illegal immigrants who have no right to be here, quite honestly. And a few of whom 1.00

00:27:50.360 commit crimes that shouldn't be happening on our soil, but they will attack citizens exercising their

00:27:55.840 constitutional right to bear arms. Uh, that's where progressivism gets us. That's where

00:28:01.340 intersectionality gets us. Uh, that is social justice. This soft handling and protection of a group that is

00:28:09.060 arbitrarily considered marginalized illegal immigrants and the degradation of a group that is 0.97

00:28:14.360 arbitrarily considered privileged American citizens. Um, it is all stupid. Everything 1.00

00:28:20.060 is stupid. I think I've said that a million times today and it's sad and it's scary. Sorry to break it 1.00

00:28:24.400 to you. Uh, I can't always end on a happy note. That's just the state of the union, uh, this Tuesday

00:28:30.040 afternoon. Okay. So one closing segment, because I told a listener I would. So a few weeks ago, we talked

00:28:36.760 about this myth of self love, uh, how it's just the world's attempt to make narcissism seem virtuous.

00:28:43.420 It's an excuse to be selfish. In my opinion, uh, loving ourselves comes naturally. That doesn't mean

00:28:49.260 that we always think that we're beautiful or important or smart, but it does mean that we

00:28:52.920 naturally take care of and defend ourselves. Uh, we look out for our own best interest naturally,

00:28:59.420 and it actually takes training and discipline, love and self denial to look out for the interest

00:29:04.620 of others. So I reject this push by the mainstream for self love and, uh, instead think that we should

00:29:11.660 be seeking God's love, which leads to a right perspective of ourselves and others. And, uh, I want

00:29:17.440 to dive into that part a little more deeply and just let y'all know a little bit of what I was thinking

00:29:24.200 this weekend and a little bit of kind of what I learned through my own thought processes. Uh, so

00:29:29.800 if you guys watched my Instagram story this weekend, uh, you know that I went on this little rant about

00:29:35.840 feeling blah. I was just feeling down on myself. Uh, to be candid, I had just gotten some criticism

00:29:41.320 from someone and it discouraged me and it put me in this mindset of kind of overanalyzing everything

00:29:48.220 that I was doing. Just like you, probably I have plenty of people that don't like me. And sadly in this

00:29:53.500 industry, especially the people who don't like you, they really would like to see you fail. In my

00:29:58.860 opinion, they make these kind of snap judgments about you based on something someone said or a

00:30:03.720 snippet of something that you said out of context. Uh, they ignore everything else that you've ever

00:30:08.380 done and they label you. Uh, in my opinion, no matter what industry that you're in, this is just a

00:30:14.320 tactic of, of insecure people who, uh, who know that they're incompetent themselves and it makes them

00:30:21.060 feel better to convince themselves that other people in the industry just aren't actually

00:30:24.700 competitors. Nevertheless, though, it does hurt. It always hurts to get, you know, kind of deep

00:30:29.760 criticism. Uh, and there are other things as well that I was feeling kind of feelings of rejection of

00:30:35.460 not being chosen for this or that, not getting the same recognition that someone else got, whatever.

00:30:39.740 And I just found myself in this kind of puddle of self-pity, just feeling badly about myself,

00:30:44.400 questioning everything I'm doing, doubting my purpose, uh, just feeling down on everything,

00:30:48.880 feeling insecure, paranoid, whatever. Um, and I tell you that because I want you to know that even

00:30:54.300 though I talk a lot about finding my identity in Christ, I really struggle with that sometimes.

00:30:59.280 Uh, I'm naturally a pretty confident person. This is a gift that God has given me. Um, I've always

00:31:05.920 been very comfortable with what I'm good at and the things that I'm not good at, but man, there's just

00:31:10.340 some criticism. Everyone I think has this. There's just some criticism that I really take to heart and

00:31:15.760 it's really hard for me to get over and not to obsess over. I don't know what that criticism is

00:31:21.520 for you, but for me, it's when people assume that I, A, haven't worked hard for what I have,

00:31:26.160 or B, that I'm not genuine. Those two things really bother me. They really cut me to the core

00:31:31.840 because of one, how untrue they are. And also two, because of the fact that there's nothing that I can

00:31:38.800 do to prove those things, except for just keeping my head down and continuing to do what I do.

00:31:44.280 Uh, there is no instant gratification in that. Uh, it's literally just kind of like taking a deep

00:31:49.660 breath, shaking it off, trusting God and carrying on. That's really all you can do when people accuse

00:31:56.540 you of those things. Uh, so I don't know what that situation is for you, but more than likely

00:32:01.140 you have had a period in your life where you have just struggled to feel sufficient or right or

00:32:06.460 acceptable. Uh, you've struggled with confidence, self-assurance, and I just want you to know that I get

00:32:12.480 it because I got a lot of messages after the whole self-love episode asking about how to get

00:32:17.640 confidence and things like that. And what I have to do when I'm feeling pitiful, uh, or maybe it's not

00:32:24.280 just a moment, maybe it's, you know, a whole season that I'm feeling pitiful. I have to force myself out

00:32:29.560 of it by remembering what God promises. Um, and what he promises really ultimately is just that he's going

00:32:36.480 to use me for his glory. That's it. He promises that if I follow him, if I obey him, if I walk with

00:32:42.180 him, he's going to use me to advance his kingdom and bring attention to his name. Uh, he doesn't

00:32:47.040 promise that I'm going to be successful. He doesn't promise that I'm going to be famous. He

00:32:51.500 doesn't promise that I'm going to have lots of fans or subscribers or advertisers or accolades.

00:32:56.040 Uh, he doesn't promise me money. He doesn't promise me comfort. He doesn't promise me health.

00:33:00.340 Uh, he promises that he is going to use me for his purposes, whatever that is, uh, to make him more

00:33:05.720 famous. And if I only do that his way, that's really all that matters. The only judgment that

00:33:12.840 I should ever be afraid of is his judgment. And Jesus has already taken that on my behalf.

00:33:18.080 And the only praise that will ever be of consequence is his, uh, so no tweet, no article,

00:33:25.000 no compliment, no criticism, no hate, no love on this earth has any eternal consequence whatsoever.

00:33:30.580 Uh, the only thing that matters is my obedience to Christ. Uh, my willingness to

00:33:35.720 deny myself to take up my cross and follow him. Uh, all I am worried about is using all of the

00:33:41.440 talent that I've been given for his glory. And I have to trust that he's going to take care of the

00:33:45.940 rest of it. I can't plan my entire life or, or weigh, uh, or weigh the opinions of everyone around

00:33:52.700 me. That's, that's way too heavy a load for me to bear. So instead I get to follow Jesus who says

00:34:00.460 that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Uh, so that's what I offer you instead of self-love

00:34:06.160 when you're feeling down, that's how to feel confident. Uh, the problem with self-love is that

00:34:11.940 sometimes you don't feel like there's anything to love about yourself. So what happens then,

00:34:17.260 uh, what happens when you've convinced yourself that you're worthless, uh, unless you know that

00:34:22.340 your purpose and your worth is in something and someone bigger than yourself, how are you going to

00:34:26.740 crawl out of that rut? So when you look in the mirror and you don't like what you see,

00:34:32.060 who other than the one who created you is going to convince you that you're valuable.

00:34:36.220 Uh, so when you look at your life and all you see is failure, who is going to assure you that as long

00:34:41.440 as you're alive, you have purpose other than the one who actually planned all of your days before any of

00:34:46.960 them came to be, it's not going to be you. Uh, self-love will always fail you because sometimes you

00:34:54.040 don't know how to love yourself. Uh, but God doesn't have that problem. His love is unconditional.

00:34:59.260 It's relentless. He doesn't love you anymore based on what you do or what you haven't done.

00:35:04.140 It's the only thing in this life worth holding onto because it's the only thing that you can

00:35:08.640 actually rely on no matter what. Um, and God is totally unstoppable in his pursuit of his own glory

00:35:15.160 that we, that you and I get to take a part of. Um, remembering that takes a lot of effort though,

00:35:22.060 at least for me, uh, finding your worth in Christ takes a lot of trying. It takes refocusing. It

00:35:29.160 takes deliberate reprioritizing of God's word over the words of other people. It takes choosing to

00:35:34.200 pray when you want to complain. It takes thinking about God's promises when you'd rather just dwell

00:35:38.920 on how unjust your situation is. Uh, it takes preaching the gospel to yourself when honestly,

00:35:45.320 self-pity feels kind of good. Uh, don't get discouraged because you find yourself, uh, sliding into

00:35:51.580 self-doubt and insecurity. Uh, no one said that this is going to be easy. Does self-crucifixion

00:35:56.760 sound fun to you? Does it sound easy? Oh, what about Jesus's life indicates that Christians are going 1.00

00:36:03.940 to be comfortable, uh, that will never deal with rejection or injustice? Nothing. The most that we

00:36:09.820 can do, the, the only thing that we can do is to commit to long obedience in the same direction

00:36:15.640 and trust that God is going to take care of us in the end. So that's what I learned, uh, in my little

00:36:22.540 emotional ditch that I was in this weekend. And I hope that it helps you in yours too, if you're in

00:36:28.020 one, or maybe you can just save this for a rainy day. Okay. I love you guys. I will see you on Thursday.

00:36:32.720 All right.

00:36:32.880 I desse pain.

00:36:33.380 Okay.

00:36:33.480 All right.

00:36:33.520 All right.

00:36:34.500 All right.

00:36:36.040 All right.

00:36:36.880 All right.

00:36:37.060 Let's do it.

00:36:37.120 All right.

00:36:39.100 Come, come.

00:36:41.060 Let's do it.

00:36:41.080 Let's do it.

00:36:42.080 Let's do it.

00:36:42.880 All right.

00:36:43.420 Let's play.

00:36:46.140 Let's do it.

00:36:47.380 Let's do it.

00:36:49.320 Let's do it.

00:36:50.200 Let's do it.

00:36:52.120 Let's do it.

00:36:53.280 Let's do it.

00:36:56.760 Let's do it.

00:36:58.180 Let's do it.

00:36:58.820 Let's do it.

00:36:59.740 Let's do it.

00:37:00.740 Let's do it.

00:37:01.320 Let's do it.

00:37:02.200 Let's do it.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - August 28, 2018

Ep 32 ｜ McCain & Media Mania

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