Wapiti

Husband / Father / Veteran / Elk Bum / Healthy mind, body and spirit / Like to follow politics

[Wapiti @Elkbum69]

You can find meaning in ordinary days if you approach routine with intention and gratitude.

[Wapiti @Elkbum69]

Yup 🍻

[Austin Capps @AustinCappsMO]

True! ❤️

[Wapiti @Elkbum69]

They’re just treating sheep like sheep.

[Cattleman🪓 @cattleguy92]

TWC- “if you go outside make sure you wear that mask”
Me- 🖕that

Does anyone else get tired of this bullshit? Listen I get it, there’s smoke in the air. I’ve spent hours in smoke btw when doing controlled burns. I’ve never been sick from wood smoke! So WTF is actually going on?
Fear factor initiated!🪓

[The Figen @TheFigen_]

Somewhere in this world right now, someone is letting the gentle song of birds replace the chaos of breaking news.

And in that simple moment, the world feels a little more hopeful again.

[🇺🇸 Donna @250_Revolution]

Good morning 🇺🇸

I made my famous biscuits & gravy

[Cowboy Gospeler ✞ @CowboyGospeler]

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might
⏤ Ecclesiastes 9:10

[Kristin Mae Photography @Kristin_Mae]

Moose momma and her calf. 💛

[Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation @RMEF]

By mid-summer, bulls maintain high food intake to support rapid antler growth and mineralization. #ElkFactFriday

Presented by @STIHLUSA

[Sportsman Channel @SPORTSMANchnl]

When the locals try to prevent you from scouting, 😂

📸@goodbullguided

#ITSINOURBLOOD

[Wapiti Jack @wapitidude]

Good morning frens. It be hot, but it’s a dry heat.

[🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 @mrddmia]

Tonight is one of those nights we must thank @elonmusk for saving and restoring free speech for everyone.

The major media outlets are doing everything they can to hide the truth.

[Peter St Onge, Ph.D. @profstonge]

Trump Accounts are coming for the grown-ups.

Trump floats turning Social Security from a Washington slush fund into real assets you own.

The difference could be $60 trillion -- more than the national debt.

[Wapiti @Elkbum69]

Well said. 🇺🇸

[John Ʌ Konrad V @johnkonrad]

This is one of the most brilliant moves Hegseth has made. Here’s why:

Experienced pilots are freaking out in my DMs about these close flybys. Even some based people I follow and love, like @MCCCANM, are questioning them while my son’s class of young student aviators can’t stop talking about how cool it is but also everything that could go wrong.

The truth is, we don’t want every flyboy buzzing beaches and towers like Maverick.

What made that scene in Top Gun cool was that Maverick truly was the best of the best.

That scene would not be funny if some shaky pilot who just got his wings ripped past the tower in a T-6B.

The irony is in the contrast between the best of the best and some desk jockey who out ranks him worried about spilling his coffee.

This scene is so important to the plot the directors included it twice! It’s more important to understanding Top Gun than the combat scene with migs because it’s more relatable.

Every Blue Angel is as good as Maverick.

But what is the purpose of the Blue Angels? It’s not combat. It’s to show the American people, and our adversaries, how good we really are.

Go back and read my post from the 4th of July at how difficult it was to see the blue angels and navy ships which Mamdani requested, and the admirals foolishly agreed, to stay at a “safe distance” from Manhattan.

You can’t boost recruitment, get voters to support spending & send a message to our enemies at anchor 10 miles from the tip of Manhattan or 1,000’ above them.

Proximity matters.

I write books. Every mentor I’ve ever had says the same thing: “Show, don’t tell.”

That’s what @PeteHegseth just did with the Blue Angels.

By having BA do flybys, he did not write a long memo explaining his intent, he showed them that it’s time to stop blowing safety out of proportion and start taking risk again.

And better still he trusts they are smart enough to understand the broader implications. And our pilots are smart.

Pete is pushing the Overton window back toward the center on safetyism.

Now every Army SGT who’s told to make his guys wear stupid reflective belts on PT & every Navy Chief who’s told he can’t send a man over the side in a harness to paint the ship has a new tool:

“The flyboys can buzz the beach but I can’t paint the hull because a sailor might fall 25 feet into the water & get wet? Make it make sense Lieutenant.”

But he’s also giving the officers of flying squadrons a way out:

“Colonel, Hegseth has authorized flybys so can I buzz the Empire State Building?” asks some brand-new F-35 pilot.

Now his colonel has an answer: “Sure can sport. Right after you get your invite to the Blue Angels.”

And this Blu Angles flyby gives that CO some extra room to maneuver.

“Ok colonel, but can we at least stop flying 20 miles around that bogus safety exclusion zone near the theme park?”

“Yes, let’s try 5 miles for now.”

And this solves a real conundrum.

Those helicopters flying down the beach got monumental amounts of public support.

Why?

Did those clips really get shared because Joe Public wants helicopters roaring over his kid’s head? Not really.

They resonated because they’re cool as heck, and because absolutely everyone is sick and tired of creeping safety regulations.

Punishing them harshly would have killed morale and resulted in public outrage and would have accelerated the creep of safetyism.

Having the Blue Angels buzz the beach in response to that helicopter flyby does many things at once:

It gives the public cool AF photos.

It gives squadron commanders flexibility and a way out.

It shows our adversaries how talented our pilots really are.

It’s relatively low risk, because the Blue Angels really are that good.

It moves the Overton window on safetyism.

And it pisses off every low T troll on Bluesky and Reddit.

And it tells admirals the days of kowtowing to pinko mayors like Mamdani are over.

That’s not a win-win. That’s a long string of wins for the price of half a tank of jet fuel.

[Wapiti @Elkbum69]

@catturd2 That’s what me and my family go to air shows for. There are a lot of weak people in this country.

[G-PA @IndianaGPA]

You never know when it's the last time you'll laugh with your friends, run through a creek like kids again, or say goodbye without meaning it. Life doesn't send warnings for those final moments. Looking back, I wish I'd lingered longer, listened closer, and held onto those ordinary days a little tighter.
Turns out, the moments we rush through are the ones we miss the most when they're gone. ✌️

[Wapiti @Elkbum69]

😋😋😋

[Wapiti @Elkbum69]

@bryanrbeal Yup. Our Inspectors General are useless.

[Spider Tracks @Spider70S]

‘Folsom Prison Blues’
~ Justin Johnson

Fingerpicking on the Martin DX Johnny
Cash Guitar

[Wapiti @Elkbum69]

@cattleguy92 Best comment I’ve seen on this incident.