The Elderly Presidential Debate: A View From Missouri

By my count there have been at least fifteen movie theatres that have closed in north St. Louis County since the 1980s. There have been many more theatres close throughout the region. A handful of new theaters have opened during that time period. Simply put, if you still enjoy watching movies in theatres, there are fewer options available.

The Tivoli Theatre was a favorite of mine. It showed a lot of foreign films, indies, and documentaries and played a big role in the St. Louis International Film Festival. It closed a few years back and became a church. The church announced they would still show one family-friendly film a month. This was protested by a local group to no avail who demanded the church show profane films.

The Hi-Pointe Theatre has remined open. It’s an historic theatre within walking distance of Forest Park. More importantly, the theatre is located across the street from the world’s biggest gas station sign. It’s now operated and ran by Cinema St. Louis which is a nonprofit and artsy crowd. This means the popcorn is cheap, but instead of the tasty and unhealthy seasoning available at other theatres you get some hippie seasoning with yeast and minerals (I passed).

On our recent movie night we saw Thelma, which I highly recommend. The film follows a ninety-three old woman and her accomplices as she tries to recover money she has been scammed out of. On the way she contemplates aging, the limitations of her body, and her living situation. In a nation, and in a modern culture, where the norm is aging away from family, perhaps not even having family, and spending decades wasting away in poorly staffed nursing homes, often being the victims of abuse, with a high percentage never receiving a visit, and increasing arguments in the West for euthanasia, films about aging are a little tricky. Gen X Americans don’t want to think about this, but our joints remind us that we’re old.

The day before I watched the film old age was definitely on mind. I attended a rally for the Republican Missouri Lieutenant Governor and gubernatorial candidate Mike Kehoe. I’m not sure I’ve ever attended a GOP event before other than covering Trump and Pence rallies with Sarah Kendzior in 2016. The rally was located at a farm in the western suburbs of St. Louis. I’d never heard of the place, but apparently, it’s well-known. Unseasoned. That was my crowd assessment. I could imagine them going into a Thai restaurant and when asked about their preferred level of spice requesting a level of minus-ten. Everyone dressed alike and a lot of them even looked alike. The exceptions being the firefighters who were there to endorse and baseball hall of famer Ozzie Smith.

Like many St. Louisans, I never spend any time in outstate Missouri. I forget just how rural and southern this state is. There are St. Louisans who enjoy spending time in nature and that takes them to some of the scenic areas of the state. I’m not one of those people. Like Woody Allen, I’m at two with nature. This event reminded me that Missouri is a lot bigger than St. Louis. After the pledge (which I never memorized), the anthem sang by NFL hall of famer Jackie Smith, and a series of farmers, cattleman, and contractors got up to endorse Kehoe, Missouri Governor Mike Parson came to the mic to endorse.

In his thick southwestern Missourah cadence, Gov. Parson instructed everyone to sit down and stop acting like this was a big “hootenanny”. For those unfamiliar, Parson became governor after his predecessor, Eric Greitens, had to resign due to a sex scandal. Greitens is similar to many in the modern MAGA GOP. Marjorie Taylor Greene was a swinger, Lauren Boebert is giving out hand jobs to dates in theaters, strippers and Instagram baddies are wearing MAGA hats, and the biggest growth area for Republicans is with self-identified Evangelicals who rarely, and sometimes never, go to church. You may find their favorite Bible verse posted in their Instagram bio followed by raunchy content.

Parson is an old-school Missouri conservative. A devout Christain who doesn’t wear religion on his sleeve, looks like he is uncomfortable wearing suits, folksy, ill at ease as a public speaker, not fluent in the language of social media, and a practitioner of normie GOP politics. If Missouri Republicans want a little more flavor they can vote for Valentina Gomez who is running for the GOP nomination in the Secretary of State race. Her campaign is based on guns, gay jokes, and social media antics. Gomez has the pulse of the modern, young, and diverse GOP, but perhaps a little too much seasoning for the Missouri primary voters she needs.

Kehoe is of interest to me because he’s a north St. Louis guy who came from humble origins and did well in the automotive business before making his way to politics. Republicans will win the governor’s race, and all other statewide races, so it’s better for us to have a local guy in the governor’s mansion. It would also be better to have someone who isn’t a flamethrower and is more concerned with common sense governance.

Of course, for many in the St. Louis area, the focus August 6th will be on the primary in Missouri’s First Congressional District, where Squad member Cori Bush is facing a serious challenge from St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell (as well as former State Senator and my friend Maria Chappelle-Nadal). A lot of money is being poured into that race and it has become nasty. I’ve met all three candidates and have respect for all of them and know that each of them cares for our community. However, as I strongly oppose the politics of “The Squad”/ Justice Dems/ and Democratic Socialists of America and believe they’re a threat to both the US and the world due to their deranged foreign policy visions, key role in gentrification and making cities unlivable for working-class families, and more, I would never vote for a Squad candidate. Thankfully for me, I moved to Maplewood last year so I’m not in Missouri-2, and I don’t have to pay that much attention to Missouri-1 anymore.

I’ll skip past Wednesday when my daughter and I were stuck at Lambert International Airport because the young woman working in the ticket booth was asleep and had the lights off. Thursday night is what’s on all of our minds.

There is nothing I can add or subtract from what happened last Thursday. It was awful. Donald Trump was on brand; personal attacks, zingers, comedy, half-truths, and outright fabrications. President Joe Biden was up past his bedtime, looked all of his eighty-one years, and sounded like he was at least one-hundred years old. Democrats who rightfully accused Republicans of being cult followers for the past eight-years are now telling us not to believe our lying eyes. Nothing to see here! Biden is in tip-top shape for another four years!

Sensible voices in media are calling for the obvious. Biden needs to drop out. The tricky part is in the math. Vice-President Kamala Harris isn’t a strong candidate, but she can’t be passed over without a revolt from many Black voters. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and even California Govenor Gavin Newsom may be better candidates, but they can't skip the line without a nasty convention fight. That fight is coming anyway, even if Biden is running, and the prospects of a Chicago convention going smooth are exactly zero. And this is even before we add in the Hamas Caucus and their plans to disrupt the convention. Prepare to see a lot of red hats in DC come January.

Maybe the Biden family needs to watch Thelma and learn the lessons of knowing your limitations in your final years.

The Success Sequence and Gabrial Said Reynolds Podcast

It was a real treat to talk to Notre Dame theology professor Gabriel Said Reynolds on his podcast. We covered a lot of ground discussing Muslim history in America and some political, theological, and sociological trends. Branching out a little further we even discussed my thoughts on Vatican II and combat sports.

Reynolds asked me about the influence of Saudi and Qatari funds, and if the success of Muslims in America can be attributed to that. Of course not, I answered. Saudis aren’t giving anyone money in the US anymore and Qatari money is limited to those who can further their national interest and the Ikhwani political project. Muslims are successful because families are typically together, families are often multigenerational, rates of alcohol and drugs usage are much lower, there is an American entrepreneurial spirit that is rewarded in our capitalist economy, kids are largely forsaking ridiculous and mostly harmful humanities majors for practical and lucrative majors, and the vast majority of Muslims follow the “Success Sequence” as defined by the American Enterprise Institute:

“The formula involves three steps: get at least a high school education, work full time, and marry before having children. Among Millennials who followed this sequence, 97% are not poor when they reach adulthood”

For those surrounded by family and community not following this successful sequence then there is the strong possibility they are now Soviets as outlined in this excellent essay by historian Niall Ferguson.