Ah, the primaries are behind us. Now onto the general election.
Primaries are always ugly affairs. The inexperienced always take them too seriously. It’s like a family battle royale at Thanksgiving. Most of the time, fences are mended. Sometimes they aren’t. Rarely do general elections, outside of the presidency, reach the climax of insanity you see in primary elections. Especially in smaller local races.
Well, that’s about to change.
St. Joseph County Council District I is the hotbed of attention in Michiana. The primary was ugly for Republicans. For such a small race, it was all a bitout of proportion. However, what if I told you the general election race for District I was even MORE interesting?
Tami Springer has worked for the University of Notre Dame for 42 years. She’s raised 7 children and “coordinated our annual college food drive for 19 years in a row for the St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry. I served on the Board of the South Bend League of Women Voters and I was President of the Staff Advisory Council at Notre Dame.”
Pretty vanilla political stuff. But …
She’s also the power of attorney for Joe Freakin Exotic, the Tiger King!
Yes, this guy:
The ‘that B!tc# Carole Baskin!’ guy.
Yeah, and you thought the District I primary was spicy.
In July, 2022, she went on the I Helped Make That podcast (#19) to talk about her journey getting to know the Tiger King and becoming his power of attorney.
In the podcast, she tells you how she became prison pen pals with Joe Exotic after watching the show. She thought he was innocent, was set up, and was mad he was in prison. After the fourth letter, Joe Exotic started emailing her. A few months later they started speaking on the phone. Eventually, Joe Exotic wanted an online store to cash in on his new fame. He also wanted to change his power of attorney to someone ‘he could trust.’ That person was Tami Springer. On the podcast, she says they talk on the phone every day. She became his power of attorney after season 2 of Tiger King.
An Indiana University journalism professor said that Indiana will work its way into every story. Happy, sad, good, bad. There is a Hoosier connection. Probably not all the time, but it does seem to come up that way.
Here’s the next one: “Tiger King.” Yes, that one. Tami Springer, of Osceola, manages the website store for Joe Exotic and is his executive assistant and power or attorney. “No one believes me. They think I’m crazy,” she said. It all started when she began to write to him.
South Bend Tribune
Just last year she helped Joe Exotic in a public feud with Florida Seminoles quarterback Jordan Travis.
She doesn’t seem to mention this on her campaign site. I guess taking over as power of attorney for an ‘innocent’ man to help get him out of prison isn’t campaign-worthy in St. Joseph County.
Tiger King was good fun and very entertaining. I still use the memes from that show regularly. Many might think it’s a far cry from engaging in the lore of the show to actually becoming pen pals and taking over as power of attorney for a guy sitting in prison. Especially considering what his convictions are for. Let alone his other accusations of grooming young boys.
Also, Joe Exotic is accused of being pretty racist.
Accusations have been made that Tami Springer my be defrauding Tiger King fans.
Please keep in mind, I have no way of knowing if this is true or not. The whole realm of Joe Exotic stuff is shady as hell.
There are several more accusations online about Tami Springer and potential fraud. I’m looking into it further. There’s even reports that Joe Exotic himself isn’t happy with how Tami Springer always seems to be looking for media attention.
Stay tuned to this one folks. Make sure you sign up for my free newsletter.
The Common Veterans are all United States Military Veterans. Pride in the country is pride in their service because they were willing to write a blank check to include up to their lives. The life of a Veteran often revolves around their service and how much they love their country. The Common Veterans discuss their love for God and country and the transition back into a noncombatant once back home…
I) Correlation Often Relates to Causation
a. Being an American
i. Being proud to be an American often stems from upbringing and family members loving their country
b. Becoming a Veteran
i. Marketing or family heritage… Maybe something else
1. The Few… The Proud… The Marines
2. An Army of One
3. Aim High
4. Family Heritage – Dad, Grandpa, Uncle, etcetera were Veterans
5. College tuition
6. The recruiter saw you coming
II) Service = Citizenship – Love of Country
a. Becoming a soldier promotes love of country
i. Have to love the country to be willing to die for it
ii. Path to citizenship through the Green Card Program
b. Any stories of war that can be told to
III) American’s Take Veteran’s for Granted… or do they?
a. Soldiers go to war and often come back loving their country more…
i. Notwithstanding bad pullouts of combat areas
ii. Provides love of Country because they don’t know what they have till they don’t have it anymore.
iii. Americans love our soldiers, but don’t understand what Veterans did for this great country
IV) Pride is Pride Not Your Knees or Flags
i. There is one American flag
1. Flag code
ii. Don’t take a knee over the National Anthem – that is a military anthem about the soldiers who died
V) Next Podcast: Episode 6: Daddy’s Mad, or is He?
a. The Common Veterans figure out and discuss having kids and how they teach their kids to cope with “Daddy’s Mad,” even though Daddy may not be mad, just dealing with PTSD.
The Common Veteran’s Season 2
Episode 4: Let’s Talk About War
“War, huh, yeah… What is it good for?” The Common Veterans take on war – the amount of Veterans that have fought in combat – or been to a combat zone, and why it is so hard to transition back into a noncombatant once back home…
I) Defining War and Combat Experiences
a. What is war?
i. Is it just a state of mind or an actual state of being?
b. What is considered a combat experience?
i. Combat arms vs. Support
1. Define POG
2. Define Combatant
II) What does war do to Veterans?
a. Is it an all-one-size-fits-all situation?
i. How much does one’s mindset play a role in combat?
ii. Does being physically fit change the mental aspect of things?
b. Any stories of war that can be told to emphasize what it means to be a warrior?
i. Combat explosions
ii. Door kicking
iii. Medical aspects
iv. Support for…
III) Transitioning back to civilians… Uh what?!
a. Support systems that… well.. support!
i. Family doesn’t always understand
ii. Vet organizations such as VFW, DAV, American Legion
iii. Nonprofits: FSO, Team RWB, Get Wet for a Vet. Etc…
b. Linking PTSD to TBI to survivor’s guilt to readjusting to civilian life
i. Mental health is not often right away
IV) Continuing on, what’s next?
a. Figure out your triggers are:
i. What is a trigger?
ii. How do we become the next level combatant?
V) Next Podcast: Episode 5: Proud to be an American
a. The Common Veterans are all United States Military Veterans. Pride in the country is pride in their service because they were willing to write a blank check to include up to their lives. The life of a Veteran often revolves around their service and how much they love their country. The Common Veterans discuss their love for God and country.