Punch Him in the Face

“The people who are bullying you, they’re insecure about who they are, and that’s why they’re bullying you.” — Madelaine Petsch

Only respect people that respect you and others. I have heard the refrain that you should respect someone because they are in a position of power, they are an executive, they are the president, they have a badge, they are a doctor, and the beat goes on. I say that is complete bullshit. A person needs to earn your respect. An individual that mocks, belittles, derides, and admonishes others deserves zero respect. They are a bully, and a despicable, heinous, and atrocious human being. You should respect someone that has a gun, for obvious reasons.

Take action when others are bullying you, friends, or family members. I don’t believe you should turn the other cheek. A bully’s mode of operation is to demean, dismantle, dominate, and destroy. Bullies are predatory creatures that will continue to prey on people. The more they succeed, the more emboldened they get. It is your responsibility to eradicate the sinister behavior of a bully. Bullies are typically not liked, are sheep wrapped in wolves clothing, and don’t expect to be retaliated against.

Slade, my son, was getting bullied on the bus by a known bully in third grade. I knew it was a precarious and grave situation if Slade was anxious and distraught about the harassment. My advice to Slade was to ask the individual to stop the intimidation and provocation. If it happened again, I told Slade to tell the individual to not harass and intimidate him again or Slade would punch him. The third time the harassment happened I told Slade to punch the person. Well, Slade told me three days later that he had punched the bully. I quickly received a phone call from the principal that I needed to meet with him along with Slade as Slade had punched a boy on the bus.

Slade was very apprehensive about the meeting, but I reassured him that if the principal threatened to punish, discipline, or suspend Slade I would tell the principal it was my idea. You may ask, why didn’t I go to the the bully’s parents first. Well, Slade informed this child was a known bully and other parents had gone to the school and the parents before with no changes in the child’s behavior. A week after the meeting with the principal Slade told me that the kid was not harassing him any more, and other kids were afraid of doing anything threatening to him — a double dip reward. Sometimes authority does not act, and you have to take matters into your own hands.

From top-down authoritarianism to micro-level social bullying, humans construct systems where power is wielded for domination and self-interest. Whether it’s public floggings by narcissistic leaders, weaponization of information, or social exclusion, predatory dynamics are sustained by both overt aggression and subtle coercion, all in the service of maintaining advantage or survival. Bullies seek to control.

The European Union (EU) and UK of all entities were the ones to throw the first punch after ten years of allowing a bully to bully the world. Is was not the self proclaimed tough conservatives in the US Congress. Not the tough guys in the US Supreme Court. Not the US technology CEOs. Instead they came bringing “incense and myrrh”, wearing knee pads, and paying for Trump pet projects like his new guilded ballroom. ExxonMobile did to a degree — ExxonMobile showing compassion. It was the pansy ass socialists in the EU that said enough is enough.

Trump is a bully. He is a classic bully; all tough talk and no action. He deflects, verbally assaults, threatens law suites, pays people off, sues people, and generally hides behind the law and his loyalist. He surrounds himself with people that a weak and bring nothing to the table. People like JD Vance, Pete Hegseth, Pam Bondi, Howard W. Lutnick, and Tulsi Gabbard would not have a career unless they acquiesced to a bully. He has other people to do his dirty work. First, Michael Cohen, then Rudy Giuliani, and now ICE. Not a coincidence that both Cohen and Giuliani ended up in jail and mostly bankrupt. Like a bully Trump invariably chickens out; Trump does the TACO (Trump Always Chicken Out) tango.

More institutions, Congress, Supreme court, big business needs to punch Trump in the proverbial face. He will maybe give you the finger and whisper “Fuck you”. Who gives a shit? Remember, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me.”.

Tough guys finished last — Perplexity Generated Cartoon

About the author: Tom is driven by three things: paying it forward, creating new, new things, and connecting people. Tom’s values are passion, integrity, and fun. Tom is fanatical about revolutionizing health care after suffering a LAD heart attack and cardiac arrest.

Tom is a Member of Advisor Board for Champion the Challenges. He is the Patient Advocate Ambassador for the Heart & Stroke AI Sidekick developed by Champion the Challenges and powered by the Sidekick Platform. Tom publishes content to help patients recovery from a heart incident on Tom’s Heart. His heart attack and cardiac arrest incident story and timeline are located on the Champion the Challenges website.

He is the founder and curator of the is BullShit brand. is Bullshit publishes books, podcasts, and blog posts debunking and disputing myths regarding technology, corporate culture, self-help, life advice, financial planning, leadership, business, and more. He is calling bullshit on social norms and the standard way of doing things- teaching people how to unlearn what they have learned. The inaugural book in the is Bullshit series is available on Amazon — Life Advice is Bullshit.

Tom is the founder of the Ma Pesch Foundation — paying it forward is the the only way to live. The Ma Pesch Foundation provides scholarships to young adults seeking a Science Technology Engineering and Math (#STEM) degree.

Tom occupies his time mountain biking, meditating, snowboarding, reading, water skiing and surfing, playing pickleball, writing, golfing, riding his Harley, scuba diving, hiking, and dipping into cold water.