{"id":7979,"date":"2025-07-10T09:27:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T13:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=7979"},"modified":"2025-07-10T09:27:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T13:27:08","slug":"sir-may-i-have-another","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/sir-may-i-have-another\/","title":{"rendered":"Sir, May I Have Another"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Talk<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

President Trump had a \u201cconversation\u201d with President Putin of Russia on Saturday.\u00a0\u00a0From what we can gather, Trump tried to persuade Putin to join Ukraine in a ceasefire.\u00a0\u00a0Putin didn\u2019t give Trump a definitive answer on the phone, other than saying Russia hadn\u2019t achieved their war goals yet.\u00a0\u00a0After they hung up the call, Putin launched one of the largest drone and missile attacks of the war on Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.\u00a0\u00a0Those attacks haven\u2019t let up.\u00a0\u00a0Last night, Kyiv was attacked again:\u00a0\u00a0700 drones and missiles tried to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump voiced his frustration with Putin\u2019s actions, but his response to continuing mass attacks on Ukraine is just words.\u00a0\u00a0And when asked why his Defense Secretary held up weapons shipments to Ukraine, he feigned ignorance.\u00a0\u00a0At least, let\u2019s hope he \u201cfeigned\u201d it.\u00a0\u00a0Because if the President of the United States really didn\u2019t know that his own military was holding up weapons to the beleaguered nation, that\u2019s a whole different issue.\u00a0\u00a0Trump\u2019s foreign policies are difficult enough to follow, without the inexperienced Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, going \u201crogue\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bully<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For a number of years I was the Dean of Students of a high school.\u00a0\u00a0One of the most difficult parts of the job was dealing with \u201cbullies\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0It sounds like it should be easy:\u00a0\u00a0find the bully, and remove him or her (yes, her, sometimes the hardest cases).\u00a0\u00a0But it was often not that clear cut, with blame enough to go around.\u00a0\u00a0And, the normal \u201cfirst punch\u201d rule didn\u2019t necessarily apply, since the victim was often the one who finally responded with force.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents expected that their complaints would be immediately resolved. We tried.\u00a0\u00a0We used \u201cprogressive discipline\u201d: each offense earned a more serious penalty, until a crisis was reached.\u00a0\u00a0To frustrated adults, all \u201cthe talk\u201d was a waste of time. It enabled their child to be bullied even more.\u00a0\u00a0They wanted action.\u00a0\u00a0And they blamed the school if something wasn\u2019t done, right now.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes \u201cthe talk\u201d really did work, and bullying ended at the lowest level.\u00a0\u00a0But when it didn\u2019t, things often got ugly.\u00a0\u00a0My toughest phone conversations were with parents convinced we weren\u2019t doing enough.\u00a0\u00a0They thought we were \u201cbeing played\u201d by the bully, or his parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a Stand<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the \u201cprogression\u201d, I had to take a stand.\u00a0\u00a0The \u201cbully\u201d was removed from the scene.\u00a0\u00a0And if it was beyond the school, especially as social media bullying became more prevalent, then the local police and Courts were included in the solution.\u00a0\u00a0When we ended up in Court, it was important to be able to show all the steps we tried, everything we did before we finally removed the bully from school.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because for some \u201cbullies\u201d, words were useless.\u00a0 \u00a0Whatever made them want to harass another student was so much more important to them than anything the school administration could do. They wouldn\u2019t stop.\u00a0\u00a0And, from the Dean of Student\u2019s office, nothing was more frustrating than \u201cjust talk\u201d, talk that didn\u2019t work.\u00a0\u00a0It felt helpless, like the poor fraternity pledge in the old movie \u201cAnimal House\u201d, bending over in his underwear, waiting for the paddle, then saying \u201cThank You Sir, may I have another<\/a>\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0(An historic note: it was Kevin Bacon\u2019s first movie role).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leader of the Free World<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a vision:\u00a0\u00a0Putin with the paddle, and Donald Trump asking for another.\u00a0\u00a0Every phone call where Trump asks for \u201cpeace\u201d, Putin returns with an increased attack on Ukraine.\u00a0\u00a0The only problem is, it\u2019s not Trump that taking the \u201cblow\u201d. It\u2019s the good people of Ukraine.\u00a0\u00a0And instead of the United States, at least, providing more defensive weapons to stop the attacks, our \u201cDefense Bro\u201d Secretary is holding up the shipments.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And maybe that\u2019s the real Trump strategy.\u00a0\u00a0Let Russia attack and let Ukraine suffer so that their President Zelenskyy will \u201cgive up\u201d, and accept both the Russian incursions and US demands for \u201crare earth\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 I think that\u2019s a terrible plan. It’s likely to give Russia \u201cpermission\u201d to bully the other nations that once were part of the Soviet Union. But at least it would be \u201ca plan\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because right now it looks like the Trump Administration is just bending over in its collective underwear, waiting for\u00a0\u00a0\u201cPledge Master\u201d Putin to give Ukraine another.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s an incredibly weak look, for the \u201cleader of the free world\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Talk President Trump had a \u201cconversation\u201d with President Putin of Russia on Saturday.\u00a0\u00a0From what we can gather, Trump tried to persuade Putin to join Ukraine in a ceasefire.\u00a0\u00a0Putin didn\u2019t give Trump a definitive answer on the phone, other than saying Russia hadn\u2019t achieved their war goals yet.\u00a0\u00a0After they hung up the call, Putin launched one … Continue reading “Sir, May I Have Another”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSir, May I Have Another : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/sir-may-i-have-another\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sir, May I Have Another : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Talk President Trump had a \u201cconversation\u201d with President Putin of Russia on Saturday.\u00a0\u00a0From what we can gather, Trump tried to persuade Putin to join Ukraine in a ceasefire.\u00a0\u00a0Putin didn\u2019t give Trump a definitive answer on the phone, other than saying Russia hadn\u2019t achieved their war goals yet.\u00a0\u00a0After they hung up the call, Putin launched one … Continue reading "Sir, May I Have Another"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/sir-may-i-have-another\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-10T13:27:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-10T13:27:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marty Dahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@martydahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@martydahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marty Dahlman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/10\\\/sir-may-i-have-another\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/10\\\/sir-may-i-have-another\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Marty Dahlman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"headline\":\"Sir, May I Have Another\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-10T13:27:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-10T13:27:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/10\\\/sir-may-i-have-another\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":749,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/10\\\/sir-may-i-have-another\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/10\\\/sir-may-i-have-another\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/10\\\/sir-may-i-have-another\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sir, May I Have Another : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-10T13:27:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-10T13:27:08+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/10\\\/sir-may-i-have-another\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/10\\\/sir-may-i-have-another\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/10\\\/sir-may-i-have-another\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sir, May I Have Another\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/\",\"name\":\"Trump World - Essays on Politics and the Trump Administration\",\"description\":\"Essays on Politics and Life in Our America\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\",\"name\":\"Marty Dahlman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"width\":480,\"height\":640,\"caption\":\"Marty Dahlman\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\"},\"description\":\"I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dahlman.online\",\"https:\\\/\\\/m.facebook.com\\\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/martydahlman\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sir, May I Have Another : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/sir-may-i-have-another\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sir, May I Have Another : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","og_description":"Talk President Trump had a \u201cconversation\u201d with President Putin of Russia on Saturday.\u00a0\u00a0From what we can gather, Trump tried to persuade Putin to join Ukraine in a ceasefire.\u00a0\u00a0Putin didn\u2019t give Trump a definitive answer on the phone, other than saying Russia hadn\u2019t achieved their war goals yet.\u00a0\u00a0After they hung up the call, Putin launched one … Continue reading \"Sir, May I Have Another\"","og_url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/sir-may-i-have-another\/","og_site_name":"Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","article_publisher":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","article_author":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","article_published_time":"2025-07-10T13:27:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-10T13:27:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Marty Dahlman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@martydahlman","twitter_site":"@martydahlman","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marty Dahlman","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/sir-may-i-have-another\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/sir-may-i-have-another\/"},"author":{"name":"Marty Dahlman","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"headline":"Sir, May I Have Another","datePublished":"2025-07-10T13:27:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-10T13:27:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/sir-may-i-have-another\/"},"wordCount":749,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/sir-may-i-have-another\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/sir-may-i-have-another\/","url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/sir-may-i-have-another\/","name":"Sir, May I Have Another : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-07-10T13:27:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-10T13:27:08+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/sir-may-i-have-another\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/sir-may-i-have-another\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/sir-may-i-have-another\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sir, May I Have Another"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/","name":"Trump World - Essays on Politics and the Trump Administration","description":"Essays on Politics and Life in Our America","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c","name":"Marty Dahlman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","width":480,"height":640,"caption":"Marty Dahlman"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1"},"description":"I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.dahlman.online","https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","https:\/\/x.com\/martydahlman"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7980,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7979\/revisions\/7980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}