South Shore Press reporter Deborah Williams was on a stroll when I received what has become one of the most memorable texts I’ve ever received.
The caption in her message was four words.
“Look at the mug.”
Deborah was walking by the outside of the dingy law office of a radical progressive attorney in our community who was no fan of my right-leaning politics.
The pile of books within plain sight, right inside the window, is not what caught her eye. Although I cannot say I’ve read “Blueprint for Black Power,” “Black Feminist Thought,” or “Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy.”
It was the small mug to the right, pun fully intended, that she noticed right away.
The lettering:
“Stefan Mychajliw’s Tears.”
The first thing I noticed when I opened the photo attachment was the dead plant root protruding from a mug of my supposed tears.
Apparently, I’m so toxic that the touch of my tears leads to the end of plant life.
The next thought I had was “Dear God, someone so despises the political beliefs I stand for, that they actually made this mug from scratch, paid for it, shipped it, and proudly put it on display for people to see.”
I know this for a fact because, after a Google search, I found their custom-made mug on the website Zazzle.com. It is still on sale for the low price of $14.11. However, if you want a travel mug to carry my tears, that will set you back $20.79.
So to all of my family and friends, you now know what you’re getting for Christmas next year.
While I fundamentally disagree politically and philosophically with the likes of AOC, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren, I don’t have the time nor energy to create and buy mugs proudly proclaiming I’m drinking their tears.
I believe this left leaning vitriol stems from two things: my former position as the independently elected Erie County Comptroller, where I served for nine years. Current Suffolk County Comptroller John Kennedy and I served at the same time in our respective positions.
The other: is my strong support for President Trump and his America First agenda.
I worked closely with former Trump Administration advisor Michael Caputo in the Communications Office of the 2016 Republican National Convention. I also served as a media surrogate for President Trump with local reporters in New York and Pennsylvania.
I’m a proud America First Republican who also went on to serve as Vivek Ramaswamy’s Spokesman and Deputy Communications Director for his 2024 Presidential campaign.
While I find the mug of my tears humorous, I did receive a serious threat from what I believed to be a mentally ill inmate from our holding center.
“Daquon” wrote me an angry letter, falsely claiming I foreclosed on his multimillion-dollar mansion and stole it for myself. He specifically mentioned a Glock and what he was going to do with it.
This prisoner did sign the threatening letter “Love, Daquon,” so at least he was polite when mentioning firearms, his anger, and the infliction of harm.
I did not press charges and was put on a victim notification list any time he was released from custody. After this, other lunatics threatened me, my wife, and small children, forcing Ashley to flee our home with our young kids to the in-laws while I stayed back in the house with my Glock and shotgun.
These threats were just one reason why I became a concealed carry permit holder. It was also a big reason why I had zero interest in running for public office again.
While these issues were something I dealt with at the county-wide level, I cannot imagine the unfathomable and irrational hatred many on the left have for President Donald J. Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
The irrational political anger and animosity aimed at the 45th and 47th Commander in Chief led to multiple assassination attempts on President Trump. Just this past weekend, Pro-Ukrainian protestors swarmed VP Vance and screamed at him while he was walking his three-year-old daughter in a stroller.
Folks, good people can and should disagree without being disagreeable. We are a better nation and stronger democracy through healthy discourse and the free debate of ideals.
The deep disdain for President Trump is so severe that only one Democrat, Long Island’s Laura Gillen, acknowledged 13-year-old DJ Daniel during President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress.
The young Texan is bravely battling brain cancer and the Director of the Secret Service just deputized the boy. It was a moment that tugged at heartstrings across America. Congressional Democrats sat on their hands, refused to applaud, and ignored the boy just to avoid, in their sick and twisted minds, giving President Trump “a win.”
The political arena is so toxic that folks believe you have to pick a jersey, pick an ideology, pick a political party, and you ride or die with whichever side of the aisle you choose, all others be damned.
Our great nation would be greater and much better off if folks turned down the temperature of their rhetoric, turned down the hate, and started looking at one another as what we are: brothers and sisters borne from our shared Creator.
It will bring me to tears if you don’t heed my sound advice. At least many a mug will be filled.