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It’s easy to locate people who can enumerate many reasons why failure is certain. Consult them about any ambitious goal you may have, and you will face a barrage of negative opinions and perhaps even ridicule. These predictors of doom and gloom are failure experts. To continue from the last column, here are some more excuses that don’t have to apply to you. You can be a success expert.

Things never work for me

Have you ever observed a child trying to prove they can’t do something? The child will make a halfhearted attempt that invariably fails. Their reaction will then be, “See, I told you I couldn’t do it.” Since they tried and failed, the results proved the child’s premise.
Adults behave in the same way. Perhaps a person has had a bad experience. They will then purport to predict their destiny: since a failure occurred in the past, nothing will work in the future.
When something doesn’t work as planned, it provides lots of knowledge on what to adjust before moving forward. Anyone who is successful has persisted despite numerous experiences with undesirable results.

My timing is never right and I have bad luck

Failure experts are big believers in chance. They feel providence provides successful people with an edge. These experts are convinced they are not destined to succeed. Therefore, there is no point for them to even try. They resign themselves to accepting their lot in life. Their energy is devoted to complaining rather than changing what they don’t like.
Although it’s always nice to be fortunate, luck occurs when preparation meets opportunity. Lucky people don’t wait for opportunity, they create it. Don’t wait for your ship to come in, swim out to find it.

I’m not success oriented

There are those who avoid success under the guise that it is evil as well as a bad influence. They will point to so called successful people who are ruthless, underhanded, or take advantage of others. They claim avoiding success allows them to avoid the cause of so much misery.
Success doesn’t change people; it simply allows them to advertise who they really are. Truly successful people are kind and considerate and derive their success from being of service to others. A successful person can do more to help others than one who lives far below their potential.

Other people will laugh at me

Fear of ridicule stops failure experts from achieving their goals. They avoid criticism by never sharing their dreams with friends or family. Instead, they suppress any aspirations. They would rather conform to what others consider the norm than risk condemnation. Acceptance is far more important to then than success.
All successful people have been criticized along their journey. Discouragement from those who are closest to you is common. People are jealous if you succeed while they don’t. You should share your goals only with people who offer encouragement. Ignore any negative sentiments. Although there is always an abundance of opinions, your life is your responsibility. Don’t be deterred by others.

Other people have failed

Examples set by other failures are more relevant to failure experts than success stories. For them, one example of failure is all they need to justify their decision to not even try. Why someone else failed is immaterial. All that matters is that it proves success is not guaranteed.
You want to follow the path of people who succeed. Those who fail, demonstrate what mistakes to avoid but are not a deterrent to success. Seek examples that encourage you, not dissuade you.
If you follow the guidance of failure experts, you will experience the same negative results they achieve. There are always reasons why you can succeed. Find them and concentrate on them.

Straight off his national tour, the legendary Swamp Pop legend, Tommy McLain, along with musicians CC Adcock and Dave Ranson, returns to the Richard Sale Barn on Saturday, May 6.
The Richard Sale Barn is located at 1307 S. Henry St, in Abbeville, La. Doors open at 6 pm and the music beginning at 7 pm.
Attendees will be treated to McLain singing new material off his newly released I Ran Down Every Dream as well as fan favorites!
On Aug. 26, 2022, Yep Roc Records released I Ran Down Every Dream, the first album in over four decades by swamp pop legend Tommy McLain. As an album, I Ran Down Every Dream is both a celebration and a requiem. It bookends a career that has seen Tommy scale the upper reaches of the Billboard charts, share the stage with the likes of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, The Yardbirds and ZZ Top, and become a global ambassador for the swamp pop sound - that singularly affecting combination of rhythm and blues, country and western, gospel, and traditional French Louisiana styles.
The album also looks back, with more than a little heartache, in tribute to some of the fellow musical travelers that McLain has lost. Two tracks on the album were written by McLain’s dear friend and Louisiana music royalty Bobby Charles, and it also marks the final sessions for two legendary musicians who died in 2021; Texas guitar slinger Denny Freeman, and Tommy’s close collaborator Warren Storm.
For McLain himself, the years-long road to I Ran Down Every Dream was beset by a heart attack, two hurricanes and a house fire. With every obstacle he overcame, McLain's resolve to complete I Ran Down Every Dream stronger.
At age 83, Tommy McLain is perhaps the last great artist from rock ‘n’ roll’s pioneering first generation awaiting rediscovery. The signature swamp pop sound that he helped create spawned multiple national hits in the 1960s and inspired artists like Creedence Clearwater Revival, Little Feat, and Tony Joe White, among others. His best known songs - “Sweet Dreams,” “Before I Grow Too Old” and “Try To Find Another Man” - are to this day considered cornerstones of the genre. He’s been inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame (twice!), earned a gold record for writing “If You Don't Love Me (Why Don't You Just Leave Me Alone)” for Freddy Fender, and even appeared - as himself - in the 1975 Paul Newman thriller The Drowning Pool.
Tommy McLain is considered a founding father of the Gulf Coast “swamp pop" Genre and is “A bonafide "Swamp-Poppa". Along the way though, Tommy has become beloved by a multi-generational regional Gulf Coast fanbase, along with developing a motley amalgam of A-list acolytes, ranging from Robert Plant, Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe to Lily Allen.
Here is what Tommy and other musicians have to say about him:
"Texas has got Willie ... In Louisiana it's Tommy McLain" - Tommy McLain
"This record is like what Rick Rubin made on Johnny Cash at the end, except we haven't needed Trent Reznor and Bono songs ... Tommy has his own!" - CC Adcock
"Never mind the "Cajun Rod Stewart" - which hugely flatters one of those singers and it ain't Tommy - he might be the "South Louisiana Solomon"" - Elvis Costello
As always, these concerts and events are smoke free and an opportunity to experience a special night of music, in a unique amphitheatre setting. A limited number of 100 tickets are sold, so get yours now.
For more information on any of these concerts or the upcoming convention, you can email Kathy at lebayousalebarn@gmail.com or call 337-893-5760
Tickets are $40 for this show and can be purchased at Champagne’s Supermarket, Piazza Office Supply or online at www.richardsalebarn.com.

A whopping 37 percent of Democrats and 76 percent of independents believe President Joe Biden, now 79-years-old, is too old to be the President of the United States, a new Harvard-Harris poll taken April 18 through April 19 shows.
The results come as Biden is expected to announce his reelection bid this week, with serious doubts mounting as to his ability to compete, both in the general election—the same poll shows Biden trailing former President Donald Trump by 5 points, 45 percent to 40 percent—and even in the Democratic Party presidential primary.
There, Harvard-Harris has Biden only leading with 37 percent for the Democratic nomination, although to be fair, it has him running against a field of “candidates” who are not even running against Biden in the primary. Still, it appears Democratic voters overwhelmingly prefer that somebody else run when given a choice, even if he still leads the pack.
When Biden is pitted against actual candidates—so far, only Robert Kennedy, Jr. and Marianne Williamson have announced—he fairs much better, although still appears to exhibit weakness against the relatively underfunded candidates garnering very little media reporting.
In a USA Today/Suffolk University poll taken April 15 to April 18, Biden garnered 67 percent, Kennedy had 14 percent and Williamson had 5 percent.
That’s actually an improvement for Kennedy, who in a Morning Consult poll on April 7 through April 9, Biden was ahead of Kennedy, 70 percent to 10 percent, with Williamson at 4 percent.
Meaning, Biden is taking on water—fast.
Either poll is rather weak for an incumbent president against relatively obscure candidates, although Kennedy appears to be overcoming that hurdle owing to his family name—his father was Robert F. Kennedy and his uncle was John Kennedy—and could be a factor in the primary, if not to beat Biden, then to expose Biden’s potential weakness in the general election.
It wouldn’t be the first time. 1912, 1932, 1952, 1968, 1976, 1980 and 1992 all saw incumbent presidents with significant primary challenges. In every single case, the incumbent president either declined to seek reelection, as with Harry Truman in 1952, who lost the New Hampshire primary, and in 1968, when Lyndon Johnson barely beat Eugene McCarthy and then decided to withdraw from the race altogether.
And so, Biden has to choose what he is doing—even after he has already said he was running again.
In October, Biden said, “it’s my intention – my intention to run again.” But he held off on making a formal announcement since, he argued, “once I make that judgment, a whole series of regulations kick in and … I treat myself as a candidate from that moment on.”
In November, after Democrats surprised in the midterm elections, although losing the House to Republicans, picked up a Senate seat, and Biden reiterated, “our intention is to run again. That’s been our intention, regardless of what the outcome of this election was. And the fact that we won — we — I didn’t run — the fact that the Democratic Party outperformed anything anyone expected and did better than any off-year presidency since John Kennedy is one that gives everybody, like, ‘Hoo’— sigh of relief — that the MAGA Republicans are not taking over the government again…”
And most recently, in February, after the ABC News-Washington Post and AP-NORC polls dropped, showing Democrats still want somebody else to run, Biden still stopped short of formally announcing his candidacy in an interview with Telemundo, stating, “I’m just not ready to make it.”
When asked about the results of the polls showing Democrats don’t want him to run, Biden said, “That’s not what I hear… Look, do you know any polling that’s accurate these days? You all told me that there was no way we were going to do well in this off-year election. I told you from the beginning we’re going to do well. Y’all told me I couldn’t win the general election. We did well. I feel good about where we are.”
Biden added, “It may be that, you know, I run, I get clobbered, and if I run, I win. I mean, that’s not my motive. That’s not the basis upon which I make the judgment.”
And yet, doubts have remained about Biden getting into the race officially, which he appears to be about to do by filing the paperwork. Would he even get a bounce in the polls after making an announcement? Would there be a crowd cheering? The optics of such an announcement would be telling.
The fact it has taken this long to make an announcement shows there could indeed be political factors weighing on the President and his team’s minds. Now, only time—and Biden—will tell if he’s changed his mind.

Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.

The 1970s movie and television show MASH’s theme song was eerily named, “Suicide is Painless.” The movie’s director Robert Altman wanted a song with the “stupidest lyrics ever” and after failing to write them, his fifteen year old son completed the job, earning massive songwriting royalties as a result.
Fox News’ decisions to not re-sign Dan Bongino and fire Tucker Carlson in a five-day period amount to corporate suicide, and for its formerly loyal viewers and those shareholders foolish enough to still own Fox stock, it will not be painless at all.
Rather than go into the 10 percent stock price decline immediately upon the announcement of Carlson leaving, the real question is why Fox brass decided to destroy the face of their franchise.
Tucker Carlson pissed off Mitch McConnell when he had the audacity to play video from January 6, 2021, which decimated the Capitol Hill establishment narrative about the “riot” by showing video of horn wearing ‘shaman’ Jacob Chansley being escorted to the Senate Chambers by Capitol Hill police.
Carlson chose to air former President Donald Trump’s entire response to the scurrilous New York City District Attorney indictment gaining massive ratings for the network, but causing discomfort for Fox’s “Never Trump” leadership.
The top-rated Fox News host then followed up the indictment response with a live interview with President Trump to huge ratings.
In the meantime, Fox News executives were busily cutting a deal with Dominion Voting Systems where they paid $787.5 million to settle a defamation case revolving around reporting on the network related to voter fraud.
The decision to settle was particularly disturbing because Dominion has been consistent in their refusal to allow skeptics to conduct a forensic analysis of their voting machines to determine if vote switching was possible. Case in point is the 2021 refusal of Maricopa County, Arizona and Dominion to comply with the Arizona State Senate election audit subpoenas.
In Colorado, the Mesa County Clerk, who is responsible for verifying election results, was indicted on several felony counts due to her attempting to do her job and ensure that the machine tabulations were correct. After releasing a report that eviscerated the verifiability of results produced by the Dominion product, FBI agent’s raider the elected official’s home armed with machine guns and dressed in combat gear.
Message sent. Apparently, there is a new unannounced amendment to the U.S. Constitution just for the 2020 presidential election has been pronounced, “thou shalt not question machine tabulated election results.”
A December 2019 letter from three Democrat U.S. Senators and one Democrat Congressman questioned the validity of the Dominion system in December 2019 writing in a letter to the company, “In 2018 alone ‘voters in South Carolina [were] reporting machines that switched their votes after they’d inputted them, scanners [were] rejecting paper ballots in Missouri, and busted machines [were] causing long lines in Indiana.’ 14 In addition, researchers recently uncovered previously undisclosed vulnerabilities in ‘nearly three dozen backend election systems in 10 states.’ 15 And, just this year, after the Democratic candidate’s electronic tally showed he received an improbable 164 votes out of 55,000 cast in a Pennsylvania state judicial election in 2019, the county’s Republican Chairwoman said, ‘[ n ]othing went right on Election Day. Everything went wrong. That’s a problem.’ 16 These problems threaten the integrity of our elections and demonstrate the importance of election systems that are strong, durable, and not vulnerable to attack.”
I chose to leave the numeric footnotes in the quote to encourage readers to check the letter out for themselves.
Yet, Fox News chose not to fight the facts of whether the Dominion Voting Systems product was vulnerable to vote switching (the exact claim that was contested) but instead accepted the premise that the votes were not only accurately counted, but that no reasonable person could assert otherwise, effectively preferring to pay three-quarters of a billion dollars rather than be accused of sounding like Trump in court.
Fox News viewers are not casual viewers. They choose to watch the network as an alternative to the establishment media complex. The past seven days culminating with the Tucker Carlson firing ends any illusion that Fox News will be an honest alternative to the government approved pablum fed to the public by the major networks and the social media giants, let alone a conservative one.
It is the prerogative of Fox News executives to take their product in any direction they choose.
But if the saying, “Get Woke, Go Broke” has any truth to it, in the next quarter they will find themselves fortunate to have more viewers than the floundering CNN.
Or here’s an idea, maybe they should just stop pretending and announce that the newly available Don Lemon has been hired to take the Tucker spot in the lineup. At least then, they would be honest about the direction they are taking the domesticated formerly conservative media alternative.
Corporate suicide is tough to watch, but the way to make it as painless as possible is for viewers to abandon the network entirely providing a master class on what not to do. Right now, the only company cheering louder than Fox’s media rivals is Anheuser-Busch which has been pushed off the front page due to an even bigger self-induced corporate implosion.

Rick Manning is the President of Americans for Limited Government.