One of the few Congressmen with a perfect 100% score from Heritage Action is facing a primary challenger who is receiving a lot of funding from a green energy PAC bankrolled by a left-wing billionaire. I thought this was an important story to cover, because many Republican and libertarian voters love to complain about how Republicans don’t vote conservative enough. Well, it happens because Democrats unseat the good ones during primaries.
A clean energy super PAC bankrolled by a left-wing billionaire is pouring millions into an effort to unseat Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., as he wages a bid for re-election in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.
The Invest in Tomorrow Coalition super PAC had spent roughly $1.3 million on opposing Ogles and supporting his Republican challenger, Charlie Hatcher, Tennessee’s former commissioner of agriculture, and recently bought another $700,000 worth of ads.
The group has raised $6.7 million this year, making Ogles a sizable portion of their spending this cycle. A Fox News Digital review of FEC filings discovered that the super PAC is bankrolled by Chris Larsen, the California-based billionaire chairman of Ripple, which is described on its website as the “leading financial technology company that offers crypto solutions for businesses.”
Charlie Hatcher is marketing himself as a “conservative Republican”, but does this Chris Larsen person who is helping him sound like a conservative Republican to you? For one thing, he supports Kamala Harris:
Larsen has donated $6 million to the super PAC since Feb. 2026. His latest $5 million donation to Invest in Tomorrow Coalition PAC is his second-largest single donation after donating $5,444,975 to Future Forward PAC in 2024 to support Kamala Harris’s failed presidential campaign.
And Nancy Pelosi:
Larsen has also donated over $1 million to the Jane Fonda Climate PAC, over $1 million between the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and over $300,000 supporting Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., among other six-figure donations to top Democratic campaigns and PACs.
So, you can make inferences from that about the politics of Ogles’ challenger, Charlie Hatcher. By the way, by “clean energy” the PAC does NOT mean fracking and nuclear power. They are backing solar power, which is dangerous to birds and bats, including protected species of birds.
We don’t have a voting record for Charlie Hatcher. But we do have one for Andy Ogles. And it’s a perfect one! 100% conservative. I hope that Tennessee voters in the 5th district are smart enough to vote for the real conservative in this primary election.
There is no point complaining about how Republicans are not voting conservative, if you don’t take the time to choose the conservative candidate during the Republican primary elections.
Well, this is the big story of the week, so I have to write something about it. Probably, no website has paid a higher price for reporting on inconvenient facts on topics like election integrity and pandemic deceptions than the Federalist. The Federalist is my first read every day. And they have a ton of articles about the revelations on pandemic handling found in Anthony Fauci’s diary. Thanks to Republican senator Rand Paul, we can all see the truth.
I’m going to pick the first one to see details. This is what the Fauci Diary says:
In an entry dated Feb. 8, 2020, Fauci described a purported phone call he had with Tom Frieden, who served as President Obama’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director. According to Fauci, the two discussed “various aspects of the [Covid] outbreak.”
The then-National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director wrote that he and Frieden “are on the same page” in their assessment that the Covid-19 virus “is acting like a bad influenza in its transmissibility and that the denominator” of total diagnosed cases “is much greater than” currently reported figures. Fauci further noted that this would make the “case fatality rate (CFR)” — the proportion of people who die from a disease among the total number infected over a certain period of time — “more like 0.2-0.3 % rather than 2.0%.”
Put another way, the risk of dying from Covid among the general population is not as great as initially feared.
And this is what Fauci said in public – including Congressional testimony under oath:
Under questioning from Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, the then-NIAID director said that “the seasonal flu that we deal with every year has a mortality of 0.1 percent,” and that “[t]he stated mortality over all of this when you look at all the data including China is about three percent. It first started off as two and now three.”
“I think if you count all the cases of minimally symptomatic or asymptomatic infection, that probably brings the mortality rate down to somewhere around one percent, which means it is 10 times more lethal than the seasonal flu. I think that is something that people can get their arms around and understand,” Fauci said.
I want to contrast the diary revelation with what was reported by FactCheck.org in 2022:
Conservative commentator Liz Wheeler made a series of false claims about Fauci in a January 2021 video titled “Fauci lied to you AGAIN.”
She claimed that he “lied” about the rate or ratio of people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 who had died, which we did not find to be the case.
Note that the author of that “fact check” has a worthless degree in journalism. Totally unqualified to report on medical or even scientific issues. But still relied upon by big tech corporations as a measuring stick for deciding who should be banned for “misinformation” in search engine results and social media. These big tech corporations routinely alter their products in order to benefit the Democrat party and hurt the Republican party.
Let’s just look at #2 on the list – the lab leak theory.
Here’s what’s in the Fauci Diary:
Fauci was notorious for pouring cold water on the theory that the Covid-19 outbreak came as the result of a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. But the newly released diary entries show Fauci himself acknowledged early on that the theory of the virus resulting from a Wuhan wet market — which he later appeared to parrot as the likely explanation, along with many others — lacked substantiation.
In a Jan. 26, 2020, entry, Fauci noted that recent “epi data and genomic data” indicated that “the first infection was in early December and was not connected to the market.” He went on to recall how the Chinese government had claimed “that there is no human to human transmission and all the original 27 cases were from the market.”
“Now we know the market was not the source, it was the amplifier. Having said that, somewhere the virus jumped from animals to humans,” Fauci wrote (emphasis added).
The latest conspiracy theories about the new coronavirus, which first led to an outbreak in Wuhan, China in late 2019, allege that the virus was man-made, rather than the natural result of people coming into contact with wild animals.
OK I have to stop there. I just want to say that I never got the peer-pressure-poke because I don’t take experimental products from manufacturers who have a “no liability” clause. That’s just common sense. But anyway, here are more articles from The Federalist. They are freaking pissed off about this. And so am I. The actions of the alarmists are undermining real science in the same way that false accusations of rape undermine the cause of real victims of rape. When these worthless degree clowns from the “fact checkers”, the corporate news media and the big tech corporations lie to the public, (for attention and coercive control), then they cause the public to distrust real science. The secular left is therefore anti-science. They undermine science for myths.
Recently, I have been meddling in the parenting plan of a friend who has a bunch of children, ages 5-12. She has been watching a lot of scholars talk about scientific evidence for a Creator and Designer, like James Tour and Stephen C. Meyer, and getting more and more concerned about whether her own children are going to keep their own faith as they go through the education system into the workplace. And make a difference for the Boss.
I reflected on how best to influence children and concluded that we need a two-pronged attack: (1) excellent books that shape their thinking and character, and (2) structured real-world experiences that build practical knowledge. Since I’m in a different state, my role is mainly shipping good books and celebrating their progress with them. Even asking the mom to ask them about their progress helps. The mom is taking care of giving them useful things to do, like taking them to see “The Story of Everything” and “Young Washington”, teaching them to cook and build rockets, etc.
My plan is to build up their strength in testable areas, which will insulate them from the emotion-based arguments of the secular left in settings where peer-approval can easily overwhelm truth, unless truth is rooted in evidence.
I chose these areas:
economic policy
evidential apologetics
military history
classics*
* not the popular ones, but the ones with heroic characters and moral lessons.
Economic policy
For economics, I sent along a bunch of Tuttle Twins books. I don’t like Connor Boyack’s religion or politics, but he does a good job of teaching economics to children. And this is only a temporary measure until we can work our way up to Thomas Sowell, which will make them bulletproof against wokeness.
In economics, we look at other times and other places in order to learn what policies have worked and what policies have failed. So, all the pressure that kids will get from the culture to accept wokeness, socialism, social justice, etc. will roll right off them like water off a duck, because of the evidence.
I also recommend “The Millionaire Next Door” by Tom Stanley and William Danko – the best book on personal finances.
Evidential apologetics
And then I got them books on evidential apologetics for kids:
The point of these books is to avoid the common and predictable fate that awaits most “church-raised” Christians when they hit university. Most Christian parents put a lot of faith in the church community and social connections, but these things do not preserve faith in hostile environments like the modern university or the corporate workplace. A much better bet is to rely on hard evidence. Evidence that they’ve seen tested in formal. Academic. Debates.
Military history
And I got them a bunch of basic books on military history:
Most of the children are girls, but military history does the job of increasing humility, patience, endurance, and gratitude for boys and girls. These are all character traits children need to counteract the victim mindset, the entitlement, and the lack of accountability that dominate social institutions. Especially the schools where teachers and administrators might be hostile to Christianity. And the big corporate workplaces, too.
Classical literature
Finally, the classics. I was able to resist the bad parenting and secular leftism I was born into by immersing myself in classical literature and classical movies as a child. The classics are basically “design patterns” (software architecture patterns) for making good decisions within the moral framework of the universe.
So, some of my favorite books and movies are laid out in my “About WK” page, but these are the books I chose for the kids so far:
The Hobbit (“Alone and unaided”): Readers learn how heroism can be found in people who don’t look like heroes, and how to seize the initiative “alone and unaided” in order to solve problems without outside help.
The Scarlet Pimpernel (“that part he played—the mask he wore… in order to throw dust in everybody’s eyes”): Readers see the power of humility and strategy when defying tyrannical regimes. As I often say in my gameplay videos: “is this shot worth revealing my position to the enemy?”
Cyrano de Bergerac (“I stand… not high it may be… but, I stand alone!”): Readers discover the nobility of personal integrity, avoiding peer pressure, and valuing excellence in everything over worldly approval or success.
A Man for All Seasons (“When a man takes an oath, Meg, he’s holding his own self in his own hands. Like water. And if he opens his fingers then — he needn’t hope to find himself again.”): Readers are reminded of the importance of personal integrity and keeping one’s oath to God and conscience, even when it costs everything.
The Screwtape Letters (“Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”): Readers gain insight into the spiritual significance of everyday experiences and the game of cosmic chess that is being played out.
She already had the Narnia series by C. S. Lewis and The Book of Virtues by William Bennett in the house.
One reviewer (Tom) also suggested that I add the Anne of Green Gables series, but I have not read those.
For the early classics, I’m not choosing “popular” classics or anything tainted by modern ideologies like secularism, leftism, feminism, etc. I’m aiming for books with heroic characters who can serve as role models.
The stories of heroes and their spectacular deeds are intended as a lesson, an exhortation, to the present. This is what the Greek word mythos (“discourse”) generally means in Homer: It is not a narrative in the abstract, but virtually always implies some sort of persuasive agenda, usually an exhortation… Indeed, the heroic story is a stand-in for the father figure.
This is what the classical is about, for Homer. It is not concerned with books as such, nor ideas in the abstract, critical thinking, or intellectual history. Great men are what is essential, not great books. The classical exists, in short, to produce people resembling the best of its characters.
Later on, I will send classics to warn them about flaws in human nature; Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, etc. Basically, I am trying to take away the modern world’s praising of narcissism, entitlement and lack of accountability with the left hand, while pushing forward heroic and self-sacrificial concern for others with the right hand. I’ll add in Shakespearean plays like Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, to get that theme of tragedy coming from the failure to distinguish appearance from reality. And Hamlet, of course, which is my favorite Shakespearean play. (By the way, Hamlet has nothing to do with “indecisiveness” – that’s just postmodern relativists trying to avoid the real theme, which is how adult selfishness destroys the lives of children).
One reviewer (Drew) asked me to add a quick summary of what lessons are to be learned from these classics, so here is that:
Anna Karenina / Madame Bovary: Readers witness the personal and familial destruction that follows when passion and self-fulfillment are elevated above relationship obligations and self-sacrificial commitment.
Mansfield Park: Readers learn the quiet strength of moral conviction and humility triumphing over charm, social pressure, and compromised principles.
Pride and Prejudice / Sense and Sensibility: Readers see the wisdom of valuing character over first impressions or fortune in mates, and the long-term blessings of self-control and prudent judgment.
Wives and Daughters / North and South: Gaskell explains the differences between the sexes and teaches best practices for relationships.
Macbeth: Readers confront the corrosive cost of unchecked ambition, the self-deception of “the ends justify the means,” and the tragedy of abandoning moral order.
King Lear: Readers learn how foolishness, vanity, and poor judgment in leaders and parents bring chaos and suffering, and the importance of choosing allies who have humility, loyalty and truth-telling ability.
Othello: Readers are warned against the destructive power of jealousy, manipulation, and trusting appearances over truth and evidence.
Antony and Cleopatra: Readers see the ruin that comes from prioritizing sensual passion and worldly glory over duty and self-mastery.
Hamlet: Readers learn how adult selfishness and moral failure create chaos for the next generation, yet personal integrity and trust in divine providence offer a path out of despair.
Movies have a place, but books are required. I have a list of some of my favorite classical movies in the About WK page. I was able to find the non-Shakespeare books at the Librivox web site, which has public domain audio books.
The goal of sending the children classics is to give them the option of not acting according to the conventions of their culture.
Conclusion
So that is my plan. That is what worked for me in my own life.
One last point. I have worked with many natural-born Americans in the IT sector who were either homeschooled or attended Christian schools for many years and then left the faith (and their conservative views) in college. They had great church communities. They had big social networks. And this approach of valuing community and social networks did not prevent them from losing their faith in college or in the workplace. They just went from doing what worked at home and at church to doing what worked at the university and at the corporate workplace. Their habit of forming many social connections actually opened them up to even more pressure to change their Christian and conservative convictions.
Related to that last point, I wanted to mention that Cyrano had a particularly big effect on me. Cyrano explicitly says that he prefers not to be friends with many different people. He only has one close friend – Le Bret. He says that he prefers to have enemies. Its not just friends that can influence a Christian in the wrong direction, though, it’s popular culture, too. Many Christians are influenced by entertainment – popular books, movies and TV shows that teach false ideas. Cyrano strives to study the best topics like poetry, literature and fencing. He values truth.
Here is an example of something memorable from Cyrano that helped me to not want to make too many social connections (church, social groups) that would influence me to compromise my core convictions:
WINTERY KNIGHT 