This Week’s ‘People Who Searched My Name On LinkedIn’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Here’s this week’s list of the types of people who searched for me on LinkedIn. Nothing really o f note, I don’t think, even though, in general, some of them are at least intriguing.

Top companies your searchers work at
WJW Architects
This seems pretty random. Why would someone working at an architect agency be searching for my name on Linkedin?

Dell EMC
I’m assuming this search comes from one of my technology-related posts.

Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning
Again, this probably has something to do with me ranting about AI here and there across the Internet

KYOBO BOOK CENTRE(교보문고)
Given what an unusual character I was in Seoul, this one makes my heart skip a beat. The idea that people in South Korea might STILL be talking about me is rather alarming.

Top job titles of your searchers

Administrative Employee  25%
I dunno.

Illustrator  25%
Cool, but I dunno.

Founder  12.5%
Intriguing.

Project Manager  12.5%
Really interesting, but why they would be interested in me is pretty much a mystery.

Service Delivery Specialist  12.5%
I dunno. Seems pretty random.

I’m Wading Into Dangerous Territory As A Male Author By Making My Heroine A Feminist

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m finally, finally, FINALLY, beginning to do some of the long-delayed reading I’ve been aiming to do to make my novel better. At the moment, I’m reading some feminist literature in hopes of credibly having my heroine be a feminist. It’s a lot of fun because if I do it right, women in the audience will dig it.

Look at me (on the right) a budding feminist literature reader.

Of course, if I do it WRONG, they wrong the book across the room in disgust at how presumptuous a smelly boy was to think he could not only write from a female POV — but write about feminism, as well.

But that’s part of the fun of writing a novel to begin with. Seeing if you can go outside your comfort zone by writing about things you don’t know first hand is a real challenge — and also really fun.

I’m well aware that, by definition, there will be women or (wymxn) who will get REALLY ANGRY that a boy is attempting to do what I want to do. But, lulz, I’m not afraid of the devil as my late mother often said of me.

If nothing else, this particular challenge makes me feel like I’m growing into the role of being an actual professional author, not just a notice who dreams of being a novelist.

2025: Am I Going To Be Antifa In A MAGA Fascist State?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Unlike most fucking keyboard warriors on Twitter, I have enough strength in my convictions that should the worst happen and we turn into a MAGA fascist state in 2025, I’m prepared to risk my life and sacred honor in the real fucking world.

I only say this because I’m something of a loudmouth crank and it’s inevitable that if things get as bad as I fear that I’ll round afoul of either autocrat Trump or autocrat DeSantis

So, there you go. Whatever that means in real terms, I’m prepared to live that new, scary existence. I’m just never, ever going to be a “Good German,” whatever that means for me once the United States is an autocracy. HOPEFULLY, I will have written a breakout first novel by that point and maybe that will give me the funds the get the fuck out of the country.

I will be able to a guest on all the Left-leaning podcasts that will be produced in the south of France once all the fucking smug liberals have left the country. In fact, I’m looking forward to being a smug liberal expat. That would be kind of fun, if late in life.

And, again, I could still be wrong — no fate but what we make and all that. It could be that, just like with 2020, the hand of God will step in and somehow allow us to punt all these existential problems we have down the road one more election cycle.

I have my doubts, but you never know.

‘To Schlapp’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

There’s a neologism RIGHT THERE for English speakers to adopt. The verb, “to schlapp,” which would mean:

“to touch the genitals of another person without their permission.”

So, you could say, “Donald Trump claimed he could schlapp a woman without any recourse because he is a celebrity.”

No one listens to me, so, lulz.

What The Fuck Is Going On With Henry Cavill?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While I’m a fan of James Bond and also was impressed with Henry Cavill’s performance in that one Mission:Impossible movie he was in….I really don’t know the specifics of what I’m about to write about.

I know, in vague terms, that something strange is going on with Cavill and I’m just too lazy to do much investigation.

But one thing I do know is that, for some reason, Millie Bobbie Brown allegedly had a “strictly professional” relationship with Cavill on the set of Enola Homes. This is curious because why would she go out of her way to note such a thing? And why would Cavill be so distant?

There is a lot of bad buzz about Cavill about things that if you’re all that interested in, you can look into yourself. But, let’s just say, some of abrupt changes in Cavill’s career may be explained by these bad vibes.

Who knows. I still half want him to be the next James Bond. He would be great.

‘Cry, The Beloved Country’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Well, it’s time for me to redouble my reading about the rise of the Nazis in Germany. My Traditionalist relatives — who I love dearly — totally lulzed the idea it’s possible my fears about bloggers such as myself being forced to register with the government.

So, I think my alarm over MAGA being American Nazism is valid. I’ve found myself reading a lot more about history — especially the Nazis — and Great Men. I need to understand how to live through what could be Very Interesting Times starting sometime between now and, say, spring 2025.

What do I think is going to happen?

I honestly don’t know. Maybe nothing is going to happen. I’m always wrong, afterall.

But the idea that my conservative relatives would not realize that I, personally, could run afoul of our new American Autocrat, whomever that may be. I’ve long suggested that my Traditionalist relatives have one Red Line — ME.

And, yet, given how much they are lulzing the prospect of me NOT being a Good German ike them, I definitely seems like I may be on my own when the crisis strikes.

I have to prepare myself for either going underground once we’re an autocracy, or I’m going to become a domestic political refugee. If it’s the latter, then, I suppose it’s possible that I might be able to make a name for myself within Blue ranks.

That sounds rather delusional at this point, but in times of civil war and revolution, strange, unexpected things are known to happen.

Fuck Florida & Ron DeSantis: Slouching Towards Autocracy

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m well aware that just because a state lawmaker thinks up a bill, doesn’t mean it will ever become law. But given how of American politics runs on “vibes” these days, I think it’s only fair that I can grow alarmed about the following bill proposed in the Florida legislature.

If this bill became law, then bloggers who wrote about state officials would have to register with the government. It’s not so much the law itself as the mentality behind it that alarms me. It definitely gives us some sense of how much MAGA loves autocracy and if Florida Governor Ron DeSantis becomes POTUS, there’s every reason to believe he will be receptive to some sort of law similar to this on the national level.

He’ll rationalize it somehow, but somehow, someway, it’s possible that at some point starting in 2025, bloggers like me will have to register with the government.

I am not going to do this, whatever the consequences.

I’m prepared to go to jail. Be sent to a camp. Whatever. I. Am. Not. Going. To. Abide. By. A. Law. Like. This.

Whatever the consequences.

Are We Going To Have A Civil War?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

First, it is highly unlikely that the United States will have a civil war. And, what’s more, if we have one, it’s probably going to be because Trump is the Republican nominee and that, unto itself, forces Blue States out of the Union.

But, let’s speculate on what all the MAGA Republican cocksuckers are obsessed with — the idea that MAGA is going to demand a National Divorce and, as such, cause a Second American Civil War.

It’s kind of difficult for me to even imagine how this might happen, given how politically ascendant MAGA is at the moment, but, for the sake of argument, let’s try it.

The most obvious straight line scenario is Biden wins re-election and that, unto itself, causes states to leave the Union — probably starting with either Texas or South Carolina. I still struggle to imagine any scenario whereby we have the long-hoped for “MAGA Revolution” whereby good olde boys, en masse, pick up their AR-15s and start shooting, “every liberal they see.”

I still believe, at least at the moment, that any Second American Civil War we have will happen at the state level, just like the first one.

But there are some high-level complications to such a clear-cut scenario. One is, Biden — and Trump — are both so old that that potentially throws some curveballs into any future history predictions. I could see if something happens to Biden between Election Day and Certification Day that might be the type of complication that leads to a civil war.

Another possibility is DeSantis gets the Republican nomination and Trump leaves the party, splitting the Republican vote. That is another way that I could see Red — rather than Blue — states leaving the Union and starting a civil war. That would give us a replay of 1860’s election where Slave Power was so divided that they they lost against Lincoln.

But, again, I just don’t see Reds starting a civil war because I just don’t see MAGA allowing any Democrat winning the presidential election in 2024. It seems as though the most likely endgame is DeSantis is the nominee, Trump backs him and DeSantis is America’s Putin.

And, yet, MAGA Republicans have a huge boner for a National Divorce where they serve the papers, so I will talk about it some more.

The key is Trump.

Trump is not a historical Great Man, but MAGA Republicans are so frothy these days with their rhetoric that it seems as though Red States are primed and ready to leave the Union given the proper excuse.

I still don’t believe there will be a Second American Civil War. You may want to leave the country, yes, but it won’t be because of violence.

I’ve Decided To Manage My Drinking Better

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

They say there’s nothing worse than a dry drunk and with that in mind, I won’t say that I’m going to stop drinking, but I am going to manage it. I’ recently turned 50 and it’s really beginning to hit home that I have a limited amount of time on the planet.

As such, I want to free up some time by not being drunk all the time.

The thing about booze is everyone comes at it from a different direction. Some people think that, by definition, if you drink at all you’re an alcoholic. Meanwhile, I’m of the opinion that my drinking so much has been the result of just pure old laziness.

I feel it’s possible — not probable — that I’ve entered a New Era in my life because it’s really hit home how precious every moment of life is. Something about turning 50 has rattled my cage some.

I have a lot of plans and, yet, I’m not getting any younger. And, what’s worse, even if somehow I miraculously did become a success late in life, the whole context of that success would be different. Sure, I might finally reach my dream of being a fucking smug bi-coastal Twitter liberal looking down on the Poors of middle America as I jet between New York City and LA, but….I will be an Old.

It’s not like I can experience New York City as a wide eyed and bushy tailed 24 year old…ever. The closest I ever came to that situation was in Seoul. Even then, I was in my 30s.

I think…what’s happening is I’m beginning to feel some regret? Is this what it feels like to be an Old?

Anyway, I hope to use my new quasi-sobriety to get a lot of creative work done. I’m not prepared to make any grand pronouncements about how I’m on the wagon now, I’m not.

But I am trying to be more productive.

DeSantis Is Worse Than Trump

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve begun to see some signs that the #NeverTrump movement may be beginning to buckle at little bit now that they don’t have malignant ding-dong Trump to rally against. I saw a headline from The Bulwark, a major #NeverTrump online publication, suggesting that DeSantis is “not worse than Trump.”

This is totally wrong.

First, some context. American democracy is so fragile at the moment — in large part to Republicans not even believing that we ARE a democracy — that, by definition, I believe our next Republican president will be America’s first autocrat.

One way or another, the moment we have another Republican president, that’s it for American democracy. We’re going to slide into a Hungary-like situation where we’re no longer a functioning democracy. There are two ways this might come about.

There’s the brazen — when President DeSantis demands a Constitutional Convention for what sounds like harmless reasons that goes rouge and ultimately codifies MAGA into the Constitution. and there is far more subtle, insidious version.

So, I could see either that the years 2025 – 2033 are a huge struggle over what a Constitutional Convention is going to cram into the Constitution or it could be that we wake up to Speaker (Veep?) DeSantis in 2033 while he figures out how to get the Constitutional Convention.

This is what Putin did, ultimately, and given how popular authoritarianism is within Republican ranks, I don’t see why this won’t happen to America, too. It could be that someone like DeSantis could decide that the fucking so-called “Resistance” is simply too weak to worry about and he will consolidate power in such a way that he gets everything he wants while Morning Joe commentators whine and complain — but ultimately aren’t able to do anything.

DeSantis is worse than Trump because he’s young and focused and knows how to use the levers of power to get what he wants in ways that Trump is too lazy and stupid to do. Though, I will note that if Trump is the 2024 Republican nominee, the chance of some sort of Second American Civil War increases dramatically.

So, DeSantis is far, far worse than Trump and if he’s elected the great fleeing of Twitter liberals will begin and they’ll all sit around drinking white Russians in the south of France, telling me how great MeUndies are on the podcasts.