Forbidden Words, 1923, & Christmas Greetings
Here's the latest dispatch.
Good morning,
For you newbies out there, welcome to Outsider on the Inside. I hope this dispatch from in and around the nation’s capital on underreported topics finds you well.
If you’re just discovering my musings, here’s a backgrounder and make sure we’re connected on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
And have a Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah!
This Christmas, I’ll Wear My American Label Proud
To borrow a quote from the classic film Home Alone 2: Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals! Or is it ya filthy Americans?
We Americans are many things, but filthy? In the eyes of academic revisionists, using the term “American” has a filthy — even harmful —connotation under Stanford University’s much-criticized Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative document.
Instead of saying “American” - how dare we! - Stanford wants us to say “US Citizen.” Their reasoning? The document explains, “This term often refers to people from the United States only, thereby insinuating that the US is the most important country in the Americas (which is actually made up of 42 countries).”
Following backlash to its contents, supporters of the initiative dismissed it as simply an internal document being circulated. (Yeah right!)
But this example isn’t the worst recommendation. Read the full document for yourself.
If Stanford University and other institutions of higher learning had their way, we’d immediately abandon alleged “harmful” words from our vernacular. But what comes with reimagining words - or worse, diluting their meaning altogether? As we see with gendered language being diluted and reframed, we see the words man, woman, mother, father, etc., subsequently lose their meaning too.
I worry George Orwell’s seminal fiction book, 1984, is sadly playing out too much in real time these days. Being a writer who sticks to the book, I’m not too keen with adopting ridiculous guidelines — especially those that stray from conventional grammar and syntax rules.
When words lose their meaning, the effects may be serious—and not in a good way.
This is an extreme example, but one worth highlighting: When people cheapen the word Nazi to mean Republican, for instance, it desensitizes the public to ACTUAL National Socialists and anti-semites who carried out the horrors under Nazi Germany.
Again, it doesn’t have to be like this. Let’s not go down this rabbit hole of reimagining words. Push back. I’ll do my best on this front, too.
I’ll conclude with this: I’m proud to be an American - the first in my immediate family born and raised here to legal immigrant (another harmful word!) parents from Lithuania.
American is an inclusive and welcoming word emblematic of our nation’s melting pot nature.
Wear this badge loud and proud!
You Should Watch ‘1923’
After Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 7 conclude last Sunday, Paramount TV viewers got a glimpse of the latest Yellowstone prequel: “1923.”
When I first learned of its development, I was excited to see the Yellowstone empire grow and the inaugural episode far exceeded my expectations.
Funny story: My friend Madison Hughes and I met some extras (I presume) from the prequel at the Bozeman airport back in August during our client film trip. One guy claiming to be a former MLB player told us working on the set was a dream and the show’s success can be attributed to being anti-woke. (He’s not wrong!)
Yellowstone didn’t escape us that trip. A friend I met up with described his experience being an extra on Season 5. Afterwards, we made our way down to Twin Falls, Idaho, and drove past the Chief Joseph Ranch where the series is set.
Now back to my thoughts on “1923.”
[Warning: some spoilers ahead.]
A successor to “1883,” Episode 1 of “1923” opens with Elsa Dutton (Isabel May) narrating to viewers the fate of the Dutton family.
Cowboys and Indians Magazine recaps it well:
Nice to see, or at least hear, Isabel May as Elsa Dutton from 1883 in what essentially is a sequel to that Yellowstone prequel. And it was helpful for her to provide backstory in her narration for linkage: After the death of her father James Dutton, her mother Margaret wrote to James’ brother Jacob, begging him to come to Montana and help her raise her two surviving children. Unfortunately, by the time Jacob (Harrison Ford) and his wife Cara (Helen Mirren) arrived, they found Margaret “frozen in a snowdrift,” and two little boys malnourished and barely to speak. Jacob and Cara assumed responsibility for the children — the now grown-up John Dutton Sr. (James Badge Dale) and Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) — and the ranch James had founded. Jacob “took my father’s dream and made it into an empire.” And that’s where we are now.
Admittedly, I only watched three “1883” episodes and was oblivious to their fate. (I have the TV channel and am a regular Yellowstone viewer, but am now sold on getting a subscription since I like previewing Taylor Sheridan’s shows on TV. ) But this revelation made sense to me thematically (Yellowstone season openers typically begin and end with deaths) and now I want to get up to speed to better follow the plot.
This prequel is set in the 1920s as the Prohibition era sets in and the fallout from World War I remains. Official show announcements say it’ll be broken up into two seasons.
From an All-Star cast to compelling plot lines, “1923” will definitely lure Yellowstone fans and would-be converts in. And the initial viewer numbers show it’s already a hit.
From Variety:
According to Paramount, the Sunday night premiere of “Yellowstone” prequel series “1923” brought in 7.4 million viewers across linear telecasts and streaming, marking Paramount+’s biggest debut ever. That number comes from a combination of Nielsen data and Paramount’s own streaming data.
Do you plan to tune in? Let me know!
TikTok Bans to Protecting Farmland: How The CCP is Being Put On Notice
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses the biggest threat to the United States.
Even the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the embattled intelligence agency, understands this, writing, “The counterintelligence and economic espionage efforts emanating from the government of China and the Chinese Communist Party are a grave threat to the economic well-being and democratic values of the United States.”
From the Belt and Road Initiative to forging strategic alliances with supposed U.S. allies, the CCP and its leader Xi Jinping are more emboldened today with a weaker U.S. under President Joe Biden.
Why? The Biden administration, sadly, views China as a “strategic competitor” and not a threat like Russia. The recently-unveiled National Security Strategy document claims, “(China), by contrast, is the only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to advance that objective.”
With the Biden administration downplaying the CCP’s threat, red state governors and bipartisan members of Congress appear to be charting a different course.
ICYMI
Articles/ commentary/media appearances from the past week.
MEDIA MENTIONS
I was cited in Fox News, NY Post, Newsweek, and KTLA for a tweet on Stanford deeming “American” a harmful word to avoid using. And I appeared on EWTN News to analyze the university’s initiative and harm it carries.
I also appeared several radio programs: The Andy Caldwell Show in CA’s Central Coast and WILS Morning Wake-Up in Lansing, MI.
ARTICLES/BLOGS
UPCOMING APPEARANCES
December 22nd, 2022: Radio Tour -8am-12pm ET
January 15th, 2022: Virginia Fly Fishing and Wine Festival (All-Day)
Podcasts You May Have Missed
Catch up on District of Conservation episodes below.
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—Gabriella