Jim Stares At Water

The only thing that matters is what they feel, and how much they feel, for each other. And if it's half of what we felt– that's everything. 

“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐈 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡. 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨.” -𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟓 Remembering acclaimed lgbtq+ artist David Hockney who passed away on June 11th, 2026 in London, England at the age of 88. Hockney's sun-drenched paintings regularly featured positive aspects of queer life during an era when the lgbtq+ community was encouraged to dwell in the shadows by an intolerant and unaccepting status-quo. The 1972 painting featured in this post entitled Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold during a 2018 Christie's auction of Hockney's works for $90.3 million in November 2018, establishing the painting as the most valuable work of art created by a living artist at the time.

Michael Jochum is in Arvada, CO.

As if this White House UFC circus had not already thoroughly embarrassed the presidency, the institution, and the country, it somehow managed to descend even further into the gutter.

Fresh off his fight, Josh Hokit grabbed a microphone at an event being staged on the grounds of the White House and shouted, “Michelle Obama is a man.”

That was it. That was the contribution. Not a thought about America. Not a reflection on the nation’s 250th anniversary. Not a word about service, sacrifice, citizenship, or unity. Just a juvenile insult aimed at a former First Lady in front of a cheering crowd that has increasingly confused cruelty with courage and ignorance with authenticity.

Let’s be clear about what happened here. A man was handed a microphone at the White House, the White House, and chose to use it to hurl a playground taunt at a former First Lady. If you had written this scene into a political satire ten years ago, an editor would have rejected it for being too absurd and too on-the-nose.

This is the same White House where presidents have hosted world leaders, negotiated peace agreements, comforted grieving families, honored military heroes, welcomed civil rights icons, and attempted to project the best version of America to the rest of the world. On this particular evening, however, it served as the backdrop for a multimillion-dollar spectacle where one of the featured attractions was a fighter shouting insults about Michelle Obama.

And perhaps the most predictable part of all was what came immediately before it. Hokit thanked Jesus.

Of course he did.

Nothing captures the contradiction at the heart of modern performative outrage culture quite like invoking faith and humility moments before publicly humiliating someone for applause. Somewhere between the Beatitudes and the microphone, the message appears to have gotten lost.

What makes the entire episode so revealing is that it strips away all the patriotic wrapping paper surrounding this event. The giant flags. The military flyovers. The endless speeches about America. The declarations of strength. The choreographed displays of toughness. Beneath all of it lies something much smaller, much pettier, and much more juvenile. Strip away the fireworks and sponsorship logos and what remains is often little more than grievance, mockery, and the desperate need to own perceived enemies.

Michelle Obama has spent years encouraging education, public service, healthy living, and civic engagement. Whether one agrees with her politics is irrelevant. She conducted herself as First Lady with a level of discipline, composure, and dignity that stands in stark contrast to the carnival atmosphere that unfolded on the South Lawn. The fact that a former First Lady became the target of a cheap insult at an event supposedly celebrating America tells you everything you need to know about the priorities of the people involved.

The entire evening increasingly felt like a metaphor for the age we are living through. A giant steel structure towering over the White House. Billionaires congratulating billionaires. Corporate sponsors plastered everywhere. Politicians, influencers, and celebrities mingling beneath patriotic branding. Fighters emerging through rooms historically reserved for diplomacy. And now, apparently, insults directed at former First Ladies serving as entertainment.

This wasn’t strength. It wasn’t patriotism. It wasn’t even rebellion.

It was trashy. White Trashy.

Not because of the sport. Not because of the athletes. Not because Americans enjoy competition. It was trashy because a building that is supposed to symbolize the highest aspirations of a democratic republic was treated like the set of a reality television food fight.

For years, defenders of Trump have insisted that critics were overreacting. That every new outrage was being exaggerated. That every breach of decorum was insignificant. Yet nights like this reveal the cumulative effect. Standards matter. Institutions matter. Symbols matter. Once you stop caring about them, eventually you find yourself applauding insults where statesmanship once lived.

And that is precisely what happened at the White House tonight. And Trump fell asleep. Again.

Many, many people celebrated Pulse. We were told we deserved it. That it was God’s punishment for our sin of loving the same sex. We are sent messages like these I received in 2018:

We in the community often call the victim count 49+ to include the survivors who couldn’t live with the pain.

The event was never officially declared a hate crime or targeted homophobic attack and is rarely listed as one in databases.

At our vigils for those slaughtered, Extremist Christian groups showed up to protest, holding signs like this:

ID: Me kissing a woman I was casually seeing in front of an angry looking man with a “Sodomy is Sin” sign.

Please understand how much more than just a mass shooting this was. We are still to this day harassed and told we deserved it by some.