In 1993 one of the biggest hits was a song called “Working Man’s Ph.D.” sung by Aaron Tippin. Aaron Tippin has the most colorful biography of all the country-western singers I know, including a commercial airline pilot, pipefitter, truck driver, welder, farmhand, and songwriter and singer. The lyrics for the song “Working Man’s Ph.D.” form the backbone to the point of this article and as a means of honoring those who have well-earned their working man’s Ph.D.
You get up every morning ‘fore the sun comes up
Toss a lunchbox into a pickup truck
A long, hard day, sure ain’t much fun
But you’ve gotta get it started if you wanna get it done
You set your mind and roll up your sleeves
You’re workin’ on a working man’s Ph.D
Consider the following line especially, “you’ve gotta get it started if you wanna get it done; You set your mind and roll up your sleeves.” How many times has grit been the only determining factor between starting and finishing a project? Starters are many, but enders are few. Those are the two elements for success, and every working man knows the recipe. Get your mindset and start by rolling up your sleeves. Preparation is key to finishing strong.
Now, cast your mind to those who have never learned how to be a working man. They have no grit, no ability to make up their minds, and cannot stand up to adversity and spit in adversity’s eyes. Yet, they talk a good line. They want you to think they know. But the lines on their brow and the lack of callouses on their hands tell another story entirely.
Take a moment and consider your first blister. Do you remember how you earned it? Do you remember what you were doing the first time you felt that sting? I do. My first blister turned into my first and most lasting callous. I was hoeing a row of peas in a garden; I was six. I was told that a blister from working is the mark of a man learning how to work. I earned that blister on a hoe handled that had been wrapped in duct tape to prevent splinters. After that row of peas, there was a row of corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and lawns to mow. By the end of the day, I was exhausted and sore, the blister was bloody, and I learned how to treat blisters so you could go to work the next day.
Let me tell you a secret; I love that blister and callous! I have burned that callous on many a stove and pan. I have cut that callous on several knives and received no injury. I have softened that callous while wrestling sheep in a shearing pen. I have milked cows and goats to the cows and goats’ misfortune with that callous. That callous has taught me many a lesson, including how to get a blister under a callous. In the middle of a cold winter, while splitting wood, that callous kept my hands sticking to the steel of the handle on the splitting maul. That maul handle had been replaced so many times that my father had taken the splitting maul to work and replaced the wood with ½” steel tubing. It heaviest splitting maul I ever used, but I never broke that handle off!
With your heart in your hands and the sweat on your brow
You build the things that really make the world go around
If it works, if it runs, if it lasts, for years
You bet your bottom dollar; it was made right here
With pride, honor, and dignity
From a man with a working man’s Ph.D
Consider something with me, think about your hardest task completed; what did you learn about “pride, honor, and dignity” about accomplishing that task? Hard work taught you a lesson that ease and prosperity could never teach. Lessons that you cannot pass along to another person except by teaching them the joys and pleasures of task accomplishment and hard work. Yet, in the world today, so many want to look down on hard work, and this is a thought process that needs reversing.
I screwed up. I admit this freely. I took some money for raking my neighbor’s lawn and did a poor job. My neighbor fired me; she was right to do so. I felt so disgusted with myself for taking money and not delivering a good job, I went over and finished that job over my neighbors’ objections. I shoveled her snow for free that year. I did everything I could to discharge the debt I owed to this woman for teaching me that there is no honor, dignity, and pride in a job not done well.
My wife the other day asked me why I don’t quit jobs I have undertaken. She doesn’t understand the lessons I have learned; I cannot do a poor job. I cannot commit to doing a job and give less than my full potential and all of my talents, skills, and abilities. Even when it means I am surrounded by enemies in a hostile environment where my life is constantly threatened. I have to give it everything I have; I owe this debt to my neighbor that must be serviced. I have earned a working man’s Ph.D. as well as a couple of master’s degrees from the school of hard knocks; I owe too much to those who have taught me to forget these lessons.
Now there ain’t no shame in a job well done
From driving a nail to driving a truck
As a matter of fact, I’d like to set things straight
A few more people should be pullin’ their weight
If you wanna cram course in reality
You get yourself a working man’s Ph.D
There is a truth in these simple words, I wish to convey in the soberest words possible, “there ain’t no shame in a job well done.” There is no end of shame to a job poorly done. Consider the current president; why does the common person, those of us carrying working man Ph.D.’s, scorn the president? Why did the common person, those carrying working man Ph.D.’s, heap praise on President Trump? The simple truth and reality in the sentiment, “there ain’t no shame in a job well done,” but there is no end of shame in a job poorly done. Use any other person you care to name, John Wayne and Kim Kardashian, who gets the stain and who gets the praise of a job well and poorly done? President Reagan and Nancy Pelosi? Michael Jackson and Mother Teresa?
The job doesn’t matter, driving nails, driving trucks, nursing babies, keeping a house, accountant, pipefitting, welder, buyer, etc., what matters is how well the job is completed. Do you take the job and do it well or poorly? For if you do it poorly, there is nothing but eternal shame, the work itself will always testify of your performance, and people will speak of your incompetence. Do it well, to the best of your abilities; even if a scoreboard might proclaim you are a loser, you have won victory and honor, pride, and dignity that can never be taken from you. How you perform the task is the deciding factor, not the job, not the task, not the scores and the statistics, your performance of the task’s duties.
When the quittin’ whistle blows and the dust settles down
There ain’t no trophies or cheering crowds
You’ll face yourself at the end of the day
And be damn proud of whatever you’ve made
Can’t hang it on the wall for the world to see
But you’ve got yourself a working man’s Ph.D
The hardest lesson I learned in the US Army was how to shave without looking at myself in the mirror. Then I had to learn how to live with my mistakes to shave and look myself in the eye. Right there and then, I learned the lesson contained in the following lines, “You’ll face yourself at the end of the day; And be damn proud of whatever you’ve made.” In junior high school, I read Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary,” and the following quote stuck in my mental craw. It comes out often to teach me more lessons.
“The soil of a man’s heart is stony ground. A man grows what he can, and he tends it. ’Cause what you buy, is what you own. And what you own… always comes home.”
Hard work teaches hard lessons, but the lessons learned are worth more than gold and diamonds, and I wouldn’t trade a single lesson learned for all the money in the world and all the fame in Hollywood. Of all the degrees and titles I have acquired in this world, or will acquire, the only one I ever want is that of “Hard worker,” for that single title says it all. When the chips and markers are counted at the end of life, I want to be found pulling my weight. I might be disabled, I might be stubborn as a Missouri Mule with a mean streak a mile wide, but I want to be found pulling my weight.
Now there ain’t no shame in a job well done
From driving a nail to driving a truck
As a matter of fact, I’d like to set things straight
A few more people should be pullin’ their weight
If you wanna cram course in reality
You get yourself a working man’s Ph.D
My deepest thanks to Aaron Tippin for his example and his incredible talent as a singer and person. I have met many military people who sing Aaron Tippin’s praises, and I am very grateful for the talent shared. May I encourage you to consider how well your studies are progressing on your “Working Man’s Ph.D.”
© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.
There comes the point where every person reaches their penultimate point. They can take no more, stand no more, and allow no more abuses to be heaped upon them by others. On 30 August 2021, when 
I love fried chicken, watermelon, BBQ ribs, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on white bread. I have been eating this way my entire life; I will not change just because some dweeb is projecting their racism onto food. Food cannot and should never be labeled as “racist.” I love grits and fried eggs, with cheese and gravy, or biscuits and hashbrowns. I am a huge fan of fried okra and pork. I enjoy a bowl of hominy and honey with a bit of butter and cornbread. Bring on the food, leave the politics on the porch!
There is no such thing as a violent protest. You are either protesting (peacefully) after having obtained the proper permits and in accordance with the laws, or you are terrorists hell-bent on destroying society. There is no middle ground, and I refuse to bend on this issue, regardless of the media’s claims! When you begin looting, burning, acting violently, this is the time to call in the military. The rules of engagement include returning violence equal to or greater than the violence shown to restore law and order: no police, military response, and open fire. Law and order is the police’s job. Terrorism is the military’s job, and those who survive receive a terrorist trial in a military tribunal.
Nancy, you sent the military to Afghanistan. You continued to send the military to Afghanistan as political decisions. You hold the blood of the slain, the sweat of the military sacrifice, and the tears of the families, and you cannot ever shake this responsibility! For you to act in such a deplorable manner is cause for removal and public shaming, at a minimum. But with your ego and arrogance, simple public shaming will not teach the lesson you need to learn. Thus, Nancy, I hope to be there in person when a judge hands down a sentence of guilty, and pronounces your punishment of community service in distinctive clothing, wearing a sandwich board declaring your crimes, and watch you pull weeds on a chain gang, scrubbing graffiti, and picking trash. Then, maybe, will the enormity of your crimes come home to you!
Top news stories across the world for the past four years generally, and the past week specifically, reflect the incredible amount of ludibrium verius malum Speaker Pelosi and her left-leaning liberal leftists show, all of whom are reflecting her incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Trump derangement syndrome (TDS) is a pejorative term usually for criticism or adverse reactions to United States President Donald Trump that are perceived to be irrational and have little regard towards Trump’s actual policy positions or actions undertaken by his administration. For more than four straight years now, we have heard nothing but invective, poison, and utter stupidity flow from these sources, all lies, innuendo, and half-truths to the damage of America and America’s duly and legally elected president. Biden/Harris, the Clinton Machine, and so many others have heaped scorn upon President Trump as if all the other American issues have been fixed magically.
Why doesn’t America have a budget; Speaker Pelosi has refused to do her job as Speaker and as minority representative of her party! Why is COVID being used as an excuse to betray America and seize freedoms; Speaker Pelosi has refused to do her job and stand for individual rights. Is Speaker Pelosi alone in her tyrannical rule; absolutely not. But, as the most prominent target and the leader of a host of liberal-leftist minion’s hell-bent on America’s destruction, she deserves the most credit and disdain! Why has America’s military suffered: Speaker Pelosi and her followers have refused to act, have promoted scum into leadership positions, and refused to do their job. Why have governors been able to interrupt interstate commerce; Speaker Pelosi has abdicated her responsibilities.
What about the governors who have spent the last 10-months stealing freedoms under the false guise of COVID as a “health emergency?” Will they begin to relent, reopen, and support America because President Trump is no longer in office? What about the freedom stealing mayors who are absconding with money and power from taxpayers who are struggling under the mandates, orders, and police state invented over a simple viral infection? Will they be held accountable and begin to act in a manner that honors their office and the electorate’s will?
The depth and breadth of the rot in America is as real as the sunrise and needs desperately to be exposed to sunshine disinfectant. Where the creatures involved are held personally responsible for creating the problems, the debt, and the abuse of constitutional law witnessed since President Clinton was inaugurated. Not that America was perfect under the first President Bush, but America was undoubtedly a lot more free, independent, and able.
Beginning with the US Constitution’s Preamble, a person will find why the government was instituted. “… in order to form a more perfect Union (government), establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” The politicians who have sworn an oath to uphold the US Constitution who deny these statements are already guilty of treason and breach of office. Domestic tranquility cannot be achieved through the rule of the mob. Domestic tranquility cannot magically appear, it must be built through law and order, through justice and mercy before the bar of justice, and must be fought for when tyranny rears its ugly head. The general welfare of the population can only be established by obedience to the just laws of the society to which a person belongs. Defunding the police tramples the welfare of society, domestic tranquility, and calls for the defense of the rule of law by every freedom-loving person in that society.
One of the clearest lessons discovered in life is that of genetic behavior, usually to the shame of the person witnessing their behavior being acted upon by others. We pass behavior onto our children, our acquaintances, and our circles of influence. The problem with genetic behavior is that of exponentialism or the exponential growth between generations. Research supports that cheating behavior in high school is found in cheating an employer later in life. Research also relates that those witnessing the cheating behavior will then steal. The third generation of people the behavior is passed onto will steal bigger items, cheat more, and commit more crimes. The cycle just keeps building until the criminal justice system is full of hard crimes committed.
Thus, freedom-loving people, who support justice, desire domestic tranquility, seek to provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and well-being of others, and work tirelessly to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, witness these politicians and want them removed, and held accountable for their crimes. Not to punish without cause, but to support the common good in America. The reason we have courts, lawyers, judges, etc. is to separate the crimes committed from the criminal committing. This is the epitome of the word justice. The US Criminal Justice System is imperfect, without doubt, but it remains the best system the world has ever seen and deserves support from law-abiding and freedom-loving people.
Make no mistake, I am not advocating for the refusal of these people to have their day in court, before an impartial judge, to be sentenced for their crimes, and held accountable before the bar of justice. I am advocating that until their trials can be arranged, they deserve to be held in prison awaiting the slow turning of the wheels of justice. When you break the peace of society, you give up your rights and liberties; thus, these mob members deserve to be held and witness their rights to habeas corpus rescinded.
COVID-19 does not represent a sufficient “imminent danger” to refuse or interfere with commerce passing between states. The “public health measures” enacted by the various state governors are a travesty of justice, unconstitutional, interferes with the rights and liberties of the people, and damaging the commerce and economy of the United States. Where are the politicians at the Federal Level to correct these abuses?
A legal dictionary provides a slightly broader definition of treason, “The offense of attempting by overt [or covert] acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign’s family. The betrayal of a trust: treachery.” Therein lies the justification for labeling the actions of politicians who breach the public trust with treason, the politician who breaks their oath of office to support and defend the US Constitution is committing treason.
Every member of the US Military swears an eternal commitment to upholding this document, to securing the rights and laws of the United States as prescribed therein, and to follow the orders of the commander in chief before God. I have had the privilege of taking that oath six times in my life.
During my military service, I read a quote, applicable to the relationship between politicians working to destroy America and freedom lovers who support the US Constitution “No truer friend; no fiercer enemy!” No truer friend can be found than I in the support of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. No fiercer enemy can be found than I to those working to suppress the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights; “So, help me, God!”.
DNC-Consulting 