He didn't leave a note. He didn't say goodbye. On September 25, 2000, Kevin Hines boarded a bus to the Golden Gate Bridge with one thought in his mind: nobody would stop him, because nobody ever did.
Hundreds of people passed him that morning-tourists, joggers, commuters—but no one asked if he was okay. So he climbed over the railing and jumped.
The fall takes about four seconds.
In the first, Kevin felt the wind.
In the second, he saw the water rushing up.
In the third, his mind cracked open with devastating clarity: every problem he thought was impossible to fix was fixable-except this one.
He hit the water feet-first, shattering three vertebrae.
Paralyzed from the waist down, he fought to stay afloat. Then something moved beneath him, circling and nudging him upward. He thinks it was a sea lion. Whether real or imagined, it kept him alive until the Coast Guard arrived.
Recovery was grueling—multiple surgeries, months of rehabilitation.
Doctors doubted he would walk again. He did. And then he began speaking publicly, not just to process his trauma but to reach others in crisis. He told them about those four seconds, about the lie that pain is permanent, about the regret that comes the moment you let go.
His memoir “Cracked, Not Broken” and his speeches became lifelines for countless people who heard his story and chose to hold on.
Kevin also fought for something tangible: suicide prevention nets beneath the Golden Gate Bridge.
After decades of resistance, they were finally installed in 2023. The bridge that nearly claimed his life now catches others before they fall—a physical manifestation of hope.
Today, Kevin is in his forties, married, traveling, and alive with purpose. People write to him, saying his story stopped them in their darkest moments. He doesn't know how many lives he’s touched, but the number is not small.
Also “not small”The number of “Kevins” out there, wondering if they should jump today.
Be kind — you NEVER know what someone’s going through
"It is the Communists' intention to make people think that personal success is somehow achieved at the expense of others.
It is the Communists' aim to discourage all personal effort and to drive men into a hopeless, dispirited, gray herd of robots who have lost all personal ambition, who are easy to rule, willing to obey and willing to exist in selfless servitude to the State."
— Ayn Rand
The children of invading armies aren't considered American citizens.
The children of foreign diplomats aren't considered American citizens
So, why would we allow the children of illegal aliens to be American citizens?
“We are NOT a Christian nation!”
“Separation of church and state!”
“Benjamin Franklin was a deist!”
On this date, June 28, 1787, Benjamin Franklin delivered his famous “Prayer Speech” at the Constitutional Convention.
This is the one where Franklin, amid deadlocks and frustrations in the Convention, implored the delegates to begin sessions with prayer, acknowledging human limitations and seeking divine assistance. Here is the full transcript (from James Madison’s notes and standard historical sources, with minor spelling normalizations for readability):
Mr. President:
The small progress we have made after four or five weeks close attendance & continual reasonings with each other—our different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many noes as ays, is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the Human Understanding. We indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, since we have been running about in search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for models of government, and examined the different forms of those Republics which having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution now no longer exist. And we have viewed modern states all round Europe, but find none of their Constitutions suitable to our circumstances.
In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection.—Our prayers, Sir, were heard, & they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance?
I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that “except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and byword down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.
I therefore beg leave to move—that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that service.
Dear Sane Americans,
As we get closer to the 250th birthday of the greatest experiment in human liberty the world has ever seen, I’ve noticed something truly hilarious online. A certain subset of our fellow citizens, bless their fragile little hearts...has announced, with all the solemnity of a Victorian widow, that they will be boycotting America’s birthday party. Why? Because Donald Trump exists and breathes air. Apparently the country that survived actual wars, depressions, pandemics, and every flavor of political idiot for two and a half centuries suddenly becomes irredeemable the moment their preferred candidate loses. How noble. How principled. How utterly predictable.
These are the same people who spent four years telling us that “democracy dies in darkness” while simultaneously claiming half the country was a basket of deplorables. Now they’re ready to spit on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and every firework, hot dog, and bald eagle because....gasp, the wrong guy might be in the White House again. The Republic that outlasted King George, Hitler, and the Soviet Union can’t possibly survive another Trump term, so better to sit in the corner pouting than join the rest of us in remembering we’re still the last, best hope on Earth.
Well, here’s the good news, you delicate patriots-in-name-only: We don’t care if you celebrate or not. Really. Take your ball and go home. Spend the day doom-scrolling, stress-eating kale, and writing angry threads about how the country is “literally over.” We’ll be too busy grilling, laughing, and reminding ourselves that America was built by people with actual spines, not by fragile narcissists who treat politics like a high-school breakup. We wouldn’t expect less from you dolts.
The rest of us, sane Americans of every party, background, and region, will be celebrating anyway. Because this isn’t about one election or one man. It’s about 250 years of imperfect, rowdy, magnificent self-government. It’s about the radical idea that free people can govern themselves without asking permission from coastal elites, Twitter blue-checks, or anyone else who thinks they’re smarter than the Constitution. So go ahead. Sit this one out. History will barely notice your absence, and the fireworks will be just as loud!! Happy 250th, America! See you at the party! A Sane American who’s not letting children ruin the cookout.
IT'S GO TIME 🚨
Under (Art-II~Sec,3) Trump has the authority to call the Senate back into session
Raise your hand ✋️ if you want @realDonaldTrump to get tough on Thune & call the Senate back into session until they pass the Save America Act
IT'S TIME TO TAKE THE GLOVES OFF
@BradFromFlorida@nettermike It is a shame that instead of fighting against enemies of our country, American citizens have to fight local, state, and federal governments to keep what is constitutionally theirs. Good for you and thanks for warning others.
@nettermike property taxes is taxes on unrealized gains for the poors.
there is a huge fuss every time they even consider taxing unrealized gains for the rich.
but it's ok when they do the exact same thing to us.
The collectivist says the billionaire exploits the workers beneath him. Ayn Rand answered this completely with what she called the pyramid of ability.
In a free economy, the man of greater ability gives far more to those below him than they give to him. The physicist who discovers a principle hands a gift to every engineer who uses it. The industrialist who organizes production raises the wage and the standard of living of every worker he employs. But the reverse isn't true. The workers could never replace him, and could not produce on their own what he makes possible.
As Rand put it: "the man at the top of the intellectual pyramid contributes the most to all those below him."
So the truth is the exact opposite of the Marxist claim. The able man is not the exploiter. He is the benefactor of everyone beneath him, earning in payment only a fraction of the value he creates and spreads to all the rest.
Envy calls that theft. Reality calls it the gift of genius.
"Abolish ICE" is not a legitimate policy position.
ICE is the enforcement mechanism for our country's immigration laws.
If you support abolishing ICE, you are telling Americans that they're not allowed to have a country.
You are telling them that they must accept their nation becoming culturally unrecognizable because you see it as nothing more than the world's economic zone.
You are saying that it's perfectly okay if Americans are assaulted, r@ped or killed by an illegal alien as long as they eventually vote for Democrats.
When a Democrat tells you they want to "abolish ICE," it's an endorsement of America's destruction and an explicit invitation to an illegal to harm you next.
The fact that the Republican Party is actively fighting against a man like Scott Presler , instead of recruiting him and following his lead, tells us all that the swamp runs deeper than we all think.
Where are prominent Republicans backing him up? Why aren’t they giving him some sort of official rank within their organization to make sure he recruits more voters? Why is some random “sergeant-at-arms” so comfortable in being hostile towards one of the most genuinely nicest dudes out there?
To @ScottPresler, you’re supported more than you know. Please keep doing what you’re doing.
Dear Gen Z,
Capitalism didn’t fail you, your lazy, entitled, participation-trophy generation failed capitalism.
Stop blaming billionaires and start blaming the socialist professors who taught you that working hard is oppression.
In freedom,
Mr. Star-Spangled MAGA
TDS keeps Leftists from seeing, acknowledge, and accepting the TRuTH. . . Denial is part of TDS!
🔥🔥👇🔥🔥👇
Look around. The country is winning on almost every front you can name.
The Mideast ceasefire is holding. Inflation is cooling while markets hit new highs.
Border crossings have plunged to a record low. Fentanyl deaths are dropping for the second year in a row.
America leads the world in AI, space tech, and clean energy. The deficit is shrinking as tax revenue beats expectations. Crime in major cities just hit a 30 year low.
Every headline tells the same story. Things are getting better.
So what does the left do? They scream into a megaphone about the reflecting pool.
That is not a caricature, that is the actual posture. They cannot acknowledge a single good thing happening under this administration, so they pick the smallest cosmetic detail they can find and pretend it is the end of the world.
This is the trick. They take temporary conditions and call them permanent. They take real progress and call it an illusion. They take cosmetic disputes and treat them like constitutional crises.
The Founders warned us about exactly this kind of faction. Federalist No. 10 spoke of groups driven by passion rather than the common good, and that is what we are watching in real time.
A movement that cannot see the country winning is not equipped to lead the country. A movement that screams about a reflecting pool while border crossings collapse, while fentanyl deaths fall, while inflation cools, while crime drops, has told you everything you need to know about its priorities.
Handing power back to that mindset would be insane. Not aggressive, not bold, just insane.
The good news is real. The progress is real. The job now is to protect it from the people who cannot bring themselves to admit any of it is happening.