Let's Not "Die On That Hill" Anymore

This Week in PurpleAmerica, Labor Day Weekend Edition

Ever since the advent of Twitter, Internet Comment Boards and a whole slew of sites offering up the ability to state your opinions, cliches and memes have been around. Sometimes, they can be clever and garner a chuckle, or inspire you to show someone “hahaha…look at what Nube2939494 said!"“ Sometimes they can raise an eyebrow and you just move on. Some of them get tired really quickly. Some of them were lame from the get-go.

One of my least favorite ones ever was the line “I will die on this hill.” It’s meant to demonstrate that you are so adamant and principled in a particular position to the point nothing anyone says or does will change your mind. You know, to evoke the kind of instances in war where ACTUAL PEOPLE DEFENDING AN IMPORTANT POSITION ACTUALLY DIE ON A HILL FOR THE GOOD OF THEIR COUNTRY. It’s kind of said in a way that the person saying expects some level of blowback, and are putting something out there is a semi-controversial opinion and standing strong as some moral stance. It’s like they intend to say these things for the point of being provocative, whether they actually believe them or not; it’s a form of engagement farming, daring to bait people into senseless arguments and comments.

It’s not like these basement dwellers and ninnies say this about anything important mind you; it’s almost always said in the context of something trivial or unnecessary. Just this morning alone, I saw the “I will die on this hill” line attributed to the following pretexts:¹

• Interstellar was the best Christopher Nolan movie.

• The Last Jedi was the best of the non-OG Star Wars films.

• J.Lo is one of the most underrated female performers ever.

• Simone Biles is the GOAT.

• Rocky IV was the best Rocky film.

• MIchael Caine’s best acting performance was in The Dark Knight.

• The hobbits are the worst things about the LOTR films.

• Jenny Ortega in “Wednesday” was the best thing Netflix ever created.

• “Party Rock Anthem” is the greatest dance song ever.

• “Hardhomme” was the single best episode of Game of Thrones.

And on and on and on.

I’m not criticizing any of these opinions. I disagree with some, sure, but hey, these are the author’s opinions on these things. They’re allowed to have them and state their case. But really, dieing on a hill over whether J.Lo is underrated? Taking a moral stand on Party Rock being the greatest dance song? Sure, I get the antipathy to the hobbits in LotR but saying you would die if someone pointed out something WORSE in them (*cough* the half hour ending of RotK?). Quite frankly, stating unequivocally that “You would die on this hill!” in these instances seems to me to be setting your standards way too low on something way too valuable.

In fact, when you really sit down and think about it, there are very few things that we personally take so dearly that we would be willing to actually lay our lives down for. Our families. Our homes. But our half-cocked takes on Star Wars? Frankly, if someone stormed the hill with a gun and told me I had to like The Acolyte², I’d be belting out “Manny Jacinto” in the same vein the actor belted out “Blake Bortles” in The Good Place. That’s because The Acolyte is completely unimportant, and in contrast, my life is. These people who repeatedly say “I will die on this hill” only demonstrate that what they find precious in this world is completely f**ked up.

And to this I can attest that for as long as I have been wandering the interwebs, I have only seen one actually fitting use of the phrase ever. It was from a Ukrainian after the slaughter in Bucha, with images of people strewn dead in the streets, blood pooling up around them. The man, who may have been a soldier (I don’t remember) in praraphrasing simply said, “Russians are twats and will pay for this. I will die on that hill.” And he meant it.

To him, I say “Slava Ukraini.” To the rest of you using this tired and misused cliche, I say, please, die on that hill. Or better yet, let this ridiculous phrase just die on a hill somewhere. Don’t resurrect it. Just let others assume your standards for what you would actually die for just got better, or at a least, sensible.

PurpleAmerica’s People of the Past Week

The Good

Labor Day. I love it. Its the last hurrah of summer, the weather is starting to change and that nip in the air tells us autumn is just around the corner.

The WNBA. Caitlyn Clark continues to break records, but to me the biggest noteworthy thing that occured is that a WNBA game for the first time had a sellout when the Las Vegas Aces maxed out their stadium capacity against the Chicago Skyy. After 25 years, the WNBA is slowly inching to profitability.

The Bad

The country of Namibia is experiencing a severe drought, which is causing famine. Their solution? Kill off a slew of elephants, giraffes and zebra and distribute the meat to the hungry. The catch? None of these are meats that are considered generally good to consume as they often contain many forms of ingestible bacteria and worms that can cause harm.

An American Archaeologist drowned after her replica Viking ship capsized between Norway and the Faroe Islands in the North Sea. You know, modernity is a really great thing. When you try to live like Vikings did, you end up dying like they did too. Don’t take it for granted.

The Packers v. Eagles game next week in Brazil. The NFL has been anxious to spread American Football around the world and get other nations excited for it. This year, for the first time ever, they are playing a game in South America, next week when the Eagles take on the Packers in Sao Paulo, Brazil. You see the thing is though that there are strict travel restrictions for the teams and visitors while they are down there. Why? Glad you asked. Because the color green is closely associated with many of the gang colors in the favelas and slums. Yes, you heard that right— the NFL sent the only two teams with green in their jerseys to play a football game in a city where you shouldn’t walk around wearing green.

The Ugly

DJT Stock. I wrote awhile back about the Truth Social stock and how it was tanking. It has now dropped below $20 a share and is flirting with the range where Trump will not be able to withdraw his shares.

RFK Jr. Soon after announcing that he was bowing out of the Presidential race last Friday and endorsing Trump (who offered him a place on his transition team), a story came out that RFK Jr had taken a chainsaw and cut off the head of a dead beached whale. That doesn’t sound very sane to me.

Boeing Starliner. The Boeing answer to SpaceX has continued to see problems. They were able to get a crew to the International Space Station over a month ago but issues with the capsule prevented them from using it to return. In working to send up another capsule, Boeing has experienced one setback after another and what originally was planned to be only a 1-2 week stay at the ISS has now been extended into next year.

Let’s go back to Trump a second. Earlier this week, against the wishes of Arlington National Cemetary officials and many of the families there, Trump held a photo op at an event for the families of soldiers who died during the pullout of Afghanistan. General protocol for the National Cemetary is that NO political events occur there, as it is a sacred landmark for the fallen defending the country as a whole, not to be politicized. Trump did it anyway. Not only that, but he took a picture above one of the tombs of those fallen with a big grin and a thumbs up. What an asshole.

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PurpleAmerica Pop Culture Random Top Five

This week: The Top 5 Things About September!

September is my favorite month of the year, and not just because it’s when my birthday is. Here are five reasons why:

5. Oktoberfest Beers. This is the time of year when my favorite flavors of marzens, ambers and ales all come out, in anticipation of Oktoberfest at the end of the month. If you like beer, this is the best time of year.

4. Football starts. Yes, the weather is still nice but from here until January every Sunday many will be huddled around their TVs watching the local teams.

3. Kids are back at school. If you have kids and have had a long summer trying to keep them entertained while you work remotely, the opening of schools again make for a huge repreive.

2. Foliage. Watching the leaves change color and fall brings nothing but joy (that is until you have to rake them up).

1. Firepits and Drinks. Hanging out with the neighbors over a firepit, having your favorite drink, while the kids make smores, as the air gets a little crisper and you all get closer around the fire is one of my favorite things. Sure, you can do that during the summer, with all the bugs, and you can all hang back further from the fire, but the best times, the best conversations and the most fun can be had when you lean in to get warm.

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No mail this week. Its a holiday weekend. Go out and enjoy the last vestiges of summer that we’ll have until May, 2025.

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PurpleAmerica’s Historical Note from This Week

On this day in 1967, Thurgood Marshall became the first African American Supreme Court justice when he was confirmed by the Senate. Marshall had made a name for himself when he argued before the Supreme Court the case of Brown v. Board of Education, eliminating the doctrine of “Separate but Equal” enshrined since Plessy v. Ferguson. Marshall was one of the truly great liberal voices of the mid-20th century and left a strong legacy when he left the bench in the late 1980s.

His replacement? Clarence Thomas. Who has spent his entire career undoing everything that Marshall stood for and eradicating that legacy.

PurpleAmerica’s Dad/Uncle/Cheesy Joke of the Week

What’s the difference between a trip and a fall?

A trip is somewhere you go on vacation while a fall is what we see in September.

And with that…

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Footnotes and Fun Stuff

1. What’s particularly frustrating about these halfwit takes is that they are almost always completely off the mark in my opinion. The Dark Knight is the Best Nolan movie, Rogue One is the best non OG Star Wars Film, J.LO is incredibly overexposed, the original Rocky set the standard, Michael Caine was outstanding in The Quiet American, the LotR films are nothing but 10 hours of people walking around, Netflix created Tiger King and don’t act like you didn’t watch it, best dance song is Shout by Otis Day and the Knights, and the best episode of Game of Thrones is “The Winds of Winter.” I’ll give you Simone Biles is the GOAT. Yes, those are my opinions. No, I will not “Die on a hill” over them. Chances are if you asked me again in a week, some of them will change.

2. The Acolyte was OK, but was far from a good show.