Remember when low energy Jeb was governor?
One night.
On a debate stage.
Something happened.
With an adjective, the Bush family dynasty was dismantled.
Jeb Bush assumed the posture of a bullied child.
Though he was a grown man, and a seasoned politician, he seemed to have been so coddled as to have no defenses against the name calling.
It looked like the name calling really hurt him.
There are some Americans who would give anything to have been able to stand on a stage with the heir of such an awful regime and to say words that would dismantle that regime. That is not a skill that I know myself to have. I honor what I saw with the wielding of such words.
Donald Trump did exactly that, as he coined the nickname “Low Energy Jeb,” on that debate stage. Bush had been the presumed nominee. The Bush dynasty and the neo-con movement has yet to recover from what took place that night some six years ago.
There are some Americans who would give anything to have been able to stand against an awful regime and to dismantle them with mean tweets. That is also not a skill I know myself to have.
There could have been more of that bad dynasty leading Florida. There could have been more of that bad dynasty leading the United States. And instead, we ended up with a legacy dismantled, an American people enlivened, and we ended up with DeSantis as the governor of Florida.
Am I going to fanboy DeSantis now? No. He’s simply a man.
Am I going to fanboy Trump now? No. He’s simply a man.
To give credit where credit is due: They are not the Clintons, the Bushes, or the Obamas that came before in the White House. They are not the Bushes who came before in Florida. There is something a little different about them. That thing that is different deserves praise.
And it has helped that place to thrive.
There is an energy to Florida.
There is a hope to Florida.
There is a certainty that no matter where else things go wrong, there is always Florida.
However, It is not a fall back option for me. It is not a promised land for me.
In the place where my feet are, is the place where I am going to continue to stand and fight the tyranny in my midst.
Because if you leave, you may live another day to prosper.
But if you leave, you are likely to bring your bad habits with you.
When I say bad habits, I don’t mean to say “voting the wrong way.”
When I say bad habits, I don’t mean to say “supporting the wrong things.”
You have probably been a model citizen in those regards.
But your bad habit just might be your silence.
When the fight was there, in your face, in your community, did you rise to the challenge, or were you too busy?
And I get it.
Life is worth living.
But eventually, with that attitude, you run out of places to run to.
Do I fault anyone for running to a more free place? Absolutely not.
Do I fault anyone for running to a more free place and acting with the same behavior that helped bring about the downfall of the place they once called home? Yes.
It is not the socialists who vote for socialists that are so awful.
It is not the rioters who riot who are so awful.
It is not the ill-bred fellows who behave accordingly that are so awful.
Those are all constants throughout history.
The real loss is when a lion is awake, sees what is happening around him, and chooses to go back to sleep, to say “Wake me up when it’s all over,” who chooses to say “I’ve got better things to do.”
There are plenty of rascals in a community. There are plenty of obedient followers in a community.
But there are only a few lions in any given community. And when just one falls asleep on the job, that impact can be felt.
If you are reading this, you are unlikely to be the sheep-like folks just looking for the best leader to obediently follow. If you are reading this, you are unlikely to be the hyena-like folks just looking for the next person to take advantage of.
You are likely to be a lion.
The question then is: Are you awake or asleep?
This moment needs you to demand more of yourself and more of the world around you. It needs you to hold all to a higher standard.
Because let me tell you…
If you don’t hold the world around you to a higher standard…
Well…
There is no one else.
Do you hear me?
This is up to you.
You are the only John Wayne left.
You are the last hope.
There is no other guy who will show up.
They have all moved out of town. They have all told themselves they are too busy. They have all come up with a million other excuses to fall back asleep.
This is on you.
This is up to you.
So I am raising up an army of lions.
We are going to demand accountability.
We are going to take authority over the space around us.
Together we are going to fight that like we have never before done. Together we are going to succeed.
I am going to walk next to you every step of the way.
My founding members will get in the door for less than anyone else. No one will ever get that price again. They will be the ones who stuck with me early, and they will be the ones who are welcome in this for the life of this training, the life of this project, the life of this community that is focussed on taking back our physical communities around us.
A $500 unlimited membership is the best one I am offering. You will get it all, unlimited.
And it may not be cheap, but it will be good.
I do not have all the steps laid out yet. But I know where we are going. And I know how to get us there. And there will be a time in which you can say: “I was a founding member of that.”
“I was one of the first. I saw the vision. I understood the vision. I believed in the vision. I helped give strength to the vision that pulled us back from the edge of the abyss at our darkest hours and brought us to a freedom and prosperity that we had never thought possible.”
That is what you will be able to look back and say.
Tap here to accept that opportunity.
Tonight, 11:59 p.m., Pacific Time, Tuesday, May 10 is the deadline.
No late comers will be welcome.
Allan Stevo