The End of the Beginning (A Real Man)
Dec 24, 2015 5:44:01 GMT -5
Gemini Battle and ragemaxx like this
Post by Headmaster Bernard Core on Dec 24, 2015 5:44:01 GMT -5
From: John.Hildebrand@newsday.com
To: BernardCore@wcfwrestling.com
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2015, 6:30 PM
Subject: Zeldin Amendment
Dr. Core,
Congressman Zeldin’s office has just issued this press release regarding his amendment to the “Every Student Succeeds Act.”
Rep. Zeldin’s Common Core Amendment Now Law
December 17, 2015
Press Release
Washington, DC – Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, C – NY-1) today announced that the Zeldin Amendment regarding Common Core was signed into law.
The Zeldin Amendment would allow states to opt out of Common Core without fear that there will be any loss of federal funding as a result.
Congressman Zeldin said, “The Zeldin Amendment, which has been identified as the single most effective way for the federal government to permit New York and other states to withdraw from Common Core without fear that there will be any loss of federal funding as a result, is a huge legislative victory for states seeking to withdraw from Common Core. One of the biggest arguments against the repeal of Common Core in New York State has been that New York would lose out on several hundred million, if not billions, of federal dollars. Under this new law, my amendment clarifies that any state, including New York State, would now be able to withdraw from Common Core without losing any federal funding.”
Congressman Zeldin’s amendment was included in the final conference report of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which passed both the U.S. House and Senate, and was signed into law by the President on December 10, 2015.
Would you like to comment?
John
From: BernardCore@wcfwrestling.com
To: John.Hildebrand@newsday.com
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2015, 6:40 PM
Subject: RE: Zeldin Amendment
John,
It’s depressingly predictable. Americans are given something that is meant to benefit their children and the country and what do they do? They reject it. I bet they didn’t react this way when the $15 minimum wage for burger flippers was introduced. I bet they didn’t fly off the handle when they realized they could get food stamps and not have to work a day in their life.
At this point, I don’t have any emotional reaction to it. The weakness of the American people telegraphed this day. I should have known better than to think that Americans could toughen up and try to improve their children and their country.
In short, Common Core is dead.
Bernard
He’s telling the truth. He doesn’t have any emotional reaction to the news about the Zeldin Amendment. He knew it was going to happen. Besides, since he was prepares, he had already moved on. His time in an elementary school a month ago convinced him that there was no way that people were going to accept Common Core. The unions had been fighting it. The parents had been fighting it. Even the kids, especially the 200,000 that opted out of taking state tests, had been fighting it (mostly due to the pugnacious attitudes of their parents and, in some cases, teachers). What Bernard Core deduced was that he needed to have total control in order for education to be practiced the way he wanted. He was the New York State Education Commissioner up until two months ago, but there were too many checks and balances that got in his way. He had to play politics. It was frustrating. It was stifling. He couldn’t carry out his vision.
None of that matters anymore. I’m past it. I’m moving forward. I have a plan, and the death of the Common Core Learning Standards isn’t going to change that plan.
At this moment, though, part of his plan is retching in the guest room down the hall. It sounded like he was being stabbed in the gut over and over and over again. He was in a way. The contents of his gut were spilling out, hopefully in a pot or a garbage can.
I’m not worried. This was expected. The important thing is that he’s in my possession now, and once he’s done going through the withdrawal, I can custom make him to fit my needs. I still want to keep the violence, the edge that made him so captivating in the first place. What I need to do is instill in him a sense of authority- my authority. He’s a loner. He’s needs to know what it’s like to be part of a group that’s bigger than himself and recognize who the leader of that group is. He needs to be trained to take orders unquestioningly. And most importantly, he must understand my vision for this country and accept it. He must learn to love it. He must love it so much that he fights for it; not because I tell him to fight for it, but because he WANTS to fight for it. He’ll see it as his duty to fight for it. Hell, he has to be taught what duty is. He’s lived a duty free life. His life must be devoted to me and my vision. He must be a warrior. He must be MY warrior.
The retching stops.
I should probably go check on him.
Bernard Core walks down the hall and into the guest room. He finds Wolf lying on his side, his eyes closed, sweating like he’s in a sauna. Watching over him is Bernard’s wife, Claudette . She is dabbing Wolf’s head with a damp towel. The smell of vomit hits Bernard’s nasal passages like smelling salts.
Bernard Core: He’s doing that well, huh?
Claudette: He’s in rough shape. I thought you were only supposed to vomit if you drank too much. Now he hasn’t had a drink in the last few days and he’s still vomiting.
Bernard Core: Well, that’s what happens when you go cold turkey on alcohol and whatever other drugs he was taking. He’ll be fine. We just have to keeping monitoring him. Phew. Could you go dump that vomit, please, Claudette?
Claudette: No, I thought I would leave it here so I can smell it, too.
Core stares at his wife, annoyed by her sarcasm. She rolls his eyes back at him.
Claudette: I’ll be right back. I’ll bring him some Gatorade as well, just in case you thought I should let him be dehydrated, too.
Claudette leaves. Core sits on the edge of the bed.
Core: Fucking bitch.
He looks at Wolf.
Core: I don’t know if I’d rather be in your position or mine.
Wolf mumbles a few incoherent words and opens his eyes halfway before shutting them and going quiet.
The television in the room is playing in the background. The news is on. Core isn’t paying much attention to it until he hears the words “Zeldin Amendment.” He turns his head around.
“The Zeldin Amendment to the ‘Every Student Succeeds Act’ was passed by Congress today. According to a press release by the first term congressman, the amendment ‘would allow states to opt out of Common Core without fear that there will be any loss of federal funding as a result.’ People have taken to Twitter to comment on the new piece of legislation. @anticommoncore wrote ‘Thank God for the Zeldin Amendment. Today’s piece of legislation is akin to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.’”
Jesus Christ.
Core finds the remote up turns off the TV when Claudette walks in.
Claudette: What’s the matter? You can’t handle the news?
Core squeezes the remote to try to restrain himself from losing his temper.
Core: I’m glad you find joy in the fact that America will continue to be dumb.
Claudette: Oh, please. You think Common Core is the only thing that’s ever been tried to improve education in this country.
She pours some Gatorade into a glass and rubs Wolf’s shoulder.
Claudette: Here, sip some of this.
Wolf mumbles again but doesn’t wake up. She sets the glass aside on the night stand.
Core: No, it’s not the only thing, but it’s the best thing.
Claudette: You don’t actually believe that, do you?
Core: What are you implying?
Claudette: Bernard, we’ve been married for a very long time. As much as I hate you, I probably know you better than anyone else. Everything you think, say, and do is calculated.
Core: So you think I support Common Core for some ulterior reason.
Claudette: Of course I do. I also think you brought this man into our home- the week before Christmas, I might add- for an ulterior reason. I know it wasn’t out of the goodness of your nonexistent heart or some need to feel the Christmas spirit.
Core: Well, you’re wrong about one thing. I believed in the Common Core Learning Standards. Do you think I would have gone through all of the criticism I faced on a daily basis when I was education commissioner if I didn’t actually believe that Common Core was a good thing for America?
Claudette: You were the top education official in the state. What were you going to do, speak out against it? I mean, you don’t like me but you don’t go out to parties telling people that you wish I was dead.
Core: The difference between you and Common Core is that Common Core gave me a reason to wake up every day.
Claudette shakes her head, pursing her lips and pressing her tongue up against her cheek.
You fucking son of a bitch.
Core smiles satisfied that his zinger affected her.
Core: As for Wolf, yes, I have an ulterior motive. I only interact with people that have a use for me. You would have been useless to me if you hadn’t bore me a son and as it turns out, he’s an imbecile; so really, what good are you to me?
Claudette: Trust me, Bernard. I know my place in this marriage. I’ve known it since before you even proposed to me. I am to be the one by your side to project an image of success.
Core: Yes, and in exchange, you haven’t had to work a day in your life.
Claudette stares down, acknowledging that everything he’s saying is correct.
Core: I like when we have these talks and remind each other just what this is all about. I’m going to be in the gym if you need me.
Claudette stops him as he goes to walk out of the room.
Claudette: You’ll get yours one day, Bernard. One day, it’ll all just come crashing down on you.
He stops in the doorway and turns around.
Core: Things like that don’t happen to men like me, Claudette.
They stare at each other for a few more seconds.
Don’t ever try to threaten me, bitch. It doesn’t work on me.
He walks out into the hallway and makes his way to his personal gym in the basement.
Crashing down, huh? I suppose that danger is always prevalent for men like me who are responsible for so much yet have forces working against them. I’m trying to start my own school, rehabilitate an addict, and succeed in the WCF, all while the politicians play games with the education of this country and the boys in the locker room try to eliminate me; not to mention the fact that my wife actively roots against my success and my son is in rebellion against me. I suppose someone with as much on their plate as I do would fold. The difference with me, though, is that I can handle it.
Men like me, GREAT men like me, don’t crash and burn. We survive and advance. We know how to handle pressure. We know how to juggle multiple problems and fight on all fronts at one time. That’s how we get things done.
He enters the gym. It’s adjacent to his wrestling gym. Inside are free weights, universal weights, and cardio machines. A mirror covers the back wall of the entire room. Core hops on the elliptical and starts going to work on it.
My match at One is going to test my ability to handle multiple problems at one time. A torneo cibernetico. I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of a wrestling match quite like this one before. First, my team and I have to fight against another team. Then, when we’ve eliminated all of them, we have to fight each other until only one man is left. Not only do I have to be aware of the men on the other side, but I have to be aware of the men on my side as well. Talk about swimming with the sharks.
But again, I can handle it. I’ve had plenty of enemies in my fight to fix education. I’ve also had people who were my allies that patted me on the back with one hand and had a knife in the other. If I didn’t know how to handle and neutralize these forces, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
I’ve been studying my opponents with the same focus that students would be studying for their standardized tests if they weren’t given that lame ADHD diagnosis. Can you believe that’s even a real medical condition? “My kid can’t pay attention. They need drugs.” No. What your kid needs is for someone to tell them to sit down and shut up.
That’s probably what Punkin could have used growing up. Instead, his parents, or whoever took responsibility for the little ingrate, were permissive. They just let things happen without any intervention or consequence. It’s like the liberal parents of the country who are okay with their kids drinking and smoking drugs and turn a blind eye to the unprotected, promiscuous sex that they’re having. Has an unstructured upbringing ever helped any child? Has that ever made a child into a successful adult?
It certainly hasn’t worked out that way for Punkin. He’s 2-2 in singles competition. That’s hardly an overwhelming success. He was unable to work with his partner two weeks ago in the three way tag match and didn’t pick up the victory. I don’t see how his team can have any confidence that he can pull his weight. He’ll probably be too distracted by the “deepest recesses” of his “broken” mind to even tag in and contribute. My team didn’t win that match either, but the difference is that I didn’t assault my partner and cost us the match. In fact, my loser partner, who, might I add isn’t even around anymore, assaulted me. He ate the pinfall. Serves him right.
I do regret that Punkin and I didn’t have the chance to tangle in that three way match. Maybe my dominance over him could have been the rehabilitation that he needed to become a normal, functioning member of the human race. Maybe the Christmas season will give Punkin the honor of grappling with me in the ring. Perhaps he’ll learn a thing or two about focus and attention to detail. My example could be the one shining grace in his life. All the years of neglect by the people that were supposed to turn him into a responsible young man will be eradicated when he sees that the structured way of life that I live leads to great success. Of course, I will have to do that through causing him unknown amounts of pain, most likely by using The Common Crab. No man, no matter how frantically he may be in the ring, can slip out of the most devastating submission hold there is. He will have to tap out, and when he does, he won’t just be tapping out to me or my move; he’ll be tapping out to order. He’ll be tapping out to regulations. He’ll be tapping out of that unsettled lifestyle that he lives and tapping into a system that requires organization in order to survive. Yes, it will be painful, but it must be done in order to lead him to the promised land of normality. It will be hard for him to accept. His homeland is one of no order, a no man’s land of sectarian violence for years. If he submits to my world and recognizes my dominance, he will be welcomed to a homeland of peace and civility.
Lucious Starr could benefit from my hands on instruction as well. This man is an enigma to me. He was born into a bad situation, with a prostitute mother and a father who wanted nothing to do with him. He was placed into foster care. Kids who go into foster care enter a human crap shoot. They could end up being with really loving parents or end up with low life scumbags. Fortunately for him, he ended up with the former, a man named Albert Dunkwest, who took the time to train his new foster son in the art of boxing. Now, whereas Punkin didn’t have the right people in his life to guide him towards success, Lucious Starr ended up with someone who could make him a success. And how did Lucious Starr repay the kindness of his foster father? By refusing to comply with his standards. When Albert demanded that Lucious stay within the strictures of the sport of boxing, Lucious rebelled and dropped out of school, and went off on his own to go fight in some underground, D-league sort of promotions where “anything goes” was the norm and the competition was mediocre. The rest of his education was provided by a tutor outside of the confines of a school. Therefore, the tutor had no standards that HE had to comply with. I doubt the education Lucious received, in and out of the ring, was of much value to him.
I don’t know how this garbage wrestler has been allowed to mix with the elite of WCF, but he’s here and I’m making it my mission to show him that he’s out of place.
Nothing bothers me more than someone who is given a gift and then just squanders it. Lucious Starr was born to two parents who could have cared less for him and ended up with a man who took the utmost interest in him. He was trained in a highly skilled fighting sport where he could have made a lot of money and been at the top of his profession. Hell, he might have been able to make boxing something worth watching again, like the days of Frazier and Ali. He was on his way up, but then he decided to have a mind of his own and deny the instruction that he was given by a man who only wanted what was best for his child.
He’s like the ungrateful imps that walk through the halls of America’s schools every day. Do the children of this country not understand that at one point in time most of them would not have been afforded the opportunity to get an education? They live in a country where, free of charge, they get to come to school. They get a taxpayer supported education from the time they’re four until they reach the age of 18. The education they’re getting these days might not be any good, but at least they are being given, nay, HANDED an education. They are given all the tools necessary to be triumphant in life, but do they take advantage of it? No! They complain about it. They squander it. Some refuse to go. The ones who show up disrupt classes. They disrespect the providers of their education. Somewhere along the line, they get the mistaken idea in their head that they are allowed to do whatever they want whenever they want, and if they don’t want to follow the rules, they don’t have to. You know what happens to these children? They become criminals, drug addicts, moochers who eternally have their mouths on the teat of the federal government, collecting welfare checks and food stamps and healthcare that they don’t deserve and haven’t earned! They could have been something, and they’re all nothing!
Lucious Starr is nothing to me. I don’t care how many promotions he’s been in, I don’t care how many fighting styles he thinks he’s mastered; he is a nobody who’s never done anything. I hope Albert Dunkwest watches One on December 27, because I’m going to avenge him. I want him to see that I appreciate him trying to improve the life of a little bastard that nobody wanted. Lucious Starr is going to get an education from me, not some tutor who couldn’t find a real job in a school. I am a former NCAA D-III heavyweight wrestling champion. That’s a legitimate title that I won against men who were my genetic and physical equals, not some trash title that I won after hitting some guy named “Stayned” with a baseball bat. I’m not going to need a baseball bat to eliminate Lucious. I’m going to use my mind, my skills, and my strength; and at the end of the night, I hope Lucious gets on the phone, calls Albert, and apologizes for being an indolent little snot!
Core realizes he’s holding the hand of the elliptical a little too tight.
Jesus, just the thought of the guy is getting me angry.
He loosens up his grip and keeps going.
It just bothers me that the men of the WCF, much like the rest of the men in America, are not… real men. Real men take steps to improve themselves.
Punkin hasn’t done that. He’s allowed himself to be frenzied his whole life.
Starr hasn’t done that. He’s didn’t listen to the advice of his wise elder.
I wish I could say Andre Holmes has done that. I wish I could say that I respect him. I have been watching him in the ring since he debuted at the beginning of the month. I think he’s a capable wrestler. He’s already beaten the big guy on my team, Rage Maxx. Then I hear things about his personal life, and all the admiration I have for him just washes away.
His wife wants a divorce. A divorce is the ultimate failure of a man. A divorce means that he could not get control of his marriage. Men are the heads of society. Men are the head of their family. And when it comes to the union of a man and woman, the man is superior to the woman. A woman shouldn’t sneeze without making sure her husband approves of it first.
Samantha Holmes wanted more than to just sneeze out of turn. She wanted to booze out of turn, too. And Andre let her! He allowed his wife to open bottle after bottle after bottle of whiskey and consume every last drop so that she could satisfy her simple, base desires.
Andre Holmes left a sport that he loved, professional wrestling, to marry the woman and have children with her. It was a noble reason to retire at such a young age. However, she repaid his sacrifice by drinking all day and all night. If I had sacrificed what I loved for my wife and that’s how she showed her appreciation to me, I would have had her committed right there and then. Hell, I don’t even let Claudette get the better of me in a verbal exchange. I remind her what her place is and that’s the end of it. I wouldn’t let her take advantage of me and make me look like I wasn’t born with the a pair of testicles.
The real shame is that he’s got children who are now witnesses to the dissolution of his marriage. What are their names, Serenity and Athena? Yeah, he might have to change those after the divorce makes his kids go off the deep end. Serenity won’t be so calm and peaceful when she’s being bounced around from parent to parent on alternating weekends. Athena won’t be able to have the courage or wisdom to function in the world after a few years of living in a fatherless household with a mother who drinks herself to death to forget about her problems. They’ll probably both end up being drunk hookers who do lewd acts on disgusting men to get some cash so they score meth.
And Andre’s to blame for that! He’s the one that is in charge of that family. First, he lets his wife get out of hand, which will lead to his daughters getting out of hand. Then those young girls will get pregnant at young ages and have more children that will be as messed up or more messed up than them. Soon enough, there will be just generation after generation of messed up Holmes children infiltrating American society and turning the country into an even bigger pile of trash than it is now. The problems of the family, the problems of the country, all start from the top down. If the people at the top don’t have control, the people at the bottom suffer.
Andre Holmes may need my personal mediation more than Punkin or Starr. Those guys are at the bottom of society. They are far past gone at this point. The only beneficial thing to do for them is euthanasia. Holmes is a family man. He needs to be shown what men do when they take charge. Perhaps I need to show him some moves that he can use the next time his wife goes to reach for that bottle of Jim Beam. “What’s that dear, you need a drink? How about a hammer lock instead? Say that again, honey? Hand you that rock glass? How about I hand you a chickenwing of the crossface variety instead?” It’s sad that out of my many duties as a leader in American society, one of them has to be to teach men how to be MEN.
It has to be me because Doc Henry certainly can’t be the one to teach these men. Doc is one of these unfortunate cases of the male gender who thinks that being a man is all about drinking, smoking, gambling, and bedding random women twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Oh, and he’s given himself the creative nickname of- ready?- Doc the Cock! It rhymes! Wow, that’s clever. He certainly doesn’t need Common Core! I suppose if his name was Richard, he’d be Rick the Dick. Maybe with a different name he could have been Bronson the Johnson, Enos the Penis, or even Cliffy the Stiffy! But since I don’t believe he’s a real man, I’ll just refer to him by his real name and call him Mervin the Merkin.
You know what kind of men nickname themselves “The Cock?” Men with small penises who have to compensate by doing all the roguish things that Mervin the Merkin loves to do on a daily basis. Boasting about his penis size and being an all around degenerate will not help his team win at One. It’s a shame, because out of all the men in the match, he’s been in WCF the longest. He should be a leader in the locker room, an example, someone that his teammates can look up to.
How is Punkin supposed to learn to sit still and pay attention for one second when he sees Mervin the Merkin bouncing around from one immoral act to another with no break in between?
How is Lucious Starr supposed to learn to stay within the confines of rules and regulations when the most veteran member of his team says “It's only illegal if you get caught?”
How is Andre Holmes supposed to learn how to be the man in his family if he is being led by a man who probably has fathered more illegitimate children in this country than Clint Eastwood? Children, I might add, that will probably grow up fatherless and end up impregnating Serenity and Athena Holmes.
Mervin the Merkin is probably the least manly out of all of the men on his team. Real men don’t need to be “rogues” all day to prove themselves or boast about their overstated penis sizes. Real men actually accomplish things that help society. My school will help society because it will produce hard working American citizens. Wolf will be better off once I get him off of alcohol and pills and whatever else he was doing. Just my mere presence on WCF programming every week does more of a service for this country than anything Mervin the Merkin could ever do.
And I know what Mervin the Merkin would say if he knew what I was thinking.
“You’re just criticizing me because you have a small dick.”
“You’re judging me because you wouldn’t be able to handle my lifestyle.”
I’m secure enough to know that I don’t need to constantly, obsessively talk about my penis to have this pretended notion that I’m some kind of tough guy. I don’t need to get drop dead drunk, get high out of my mind, piss my money away, get lung cancer, get mouth cancer, contract psoriasis of the liver, and perform intercourse with women who have STDs in order to prove that I’m a superior male. I’ve accomplished so many positive contributions to humanity that my status as a man does not need to be called into question. The grace and skill by which I execute my moves in the ring is a product of hard work and going up against the best amateur athletes in the nation.
You know what disqualifies Mervin the Merkin from being a man the most? The fact that he lost to a WOMAN in a number one contender’s match for the U.S. Title. That’s worse than Andre Holmes letting his wife become an alcoholic. He let a woman beat him! Now, that woman might win the U.S. Title at One! It’s bad enough that she’s fighting for it, but if she actually won it, it would be an embarrassment to the WCF, America, and real men collectively!
The timer beeps on the elliptical. Core slows the machine down and hops off. He grabs his towel and wipes his face with it. When he’s done, he throws his towel to the ground, faces the mirrored wall, and starts doing barbell curls.
I’m not just fighting this match for myself. I’m fighting it to set an example. I need to show that if you live your life by my standards, you can handle as many problems as are thrown at you. When the going gets tough, you don’t just cower like a scared puppy, you step up to the challenge and thrive. I need to show that to my opponents and my teammates. I need to show that to my son. I need to show that to Wolf as he makes his way toward becoming the kind of person I need him to be. And most importantly, I need to show that to America, especially now that Common Core is dead. I have to show that I can get back up after the cause that I've been advocating has been defeated.
This is most certainly not the end. This is only the end of the beginning.
To: BernardCore@wcfwrestling.com
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2015, 6:30 PM
Subject: Zeldin Amendment
Dr. Core,
Congressman Zeldin’s office has just issued this press release regarding his amendment to the “Every Student Succeeds Act.”
Rep. Zeldin’s Common Core Amendment Now Law
December 17, 2015
Press Release
Washington, DC – Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, C – NY-1) today announced that the Zeldin Amendment regarding Common Core was signed into law.
The Zeldin Amendment would allow states to opt out of Common Core without fear that there will be any loss of federal funding as a result.
Congressman Zeldin said, “The Zeldin Amendment, which has been identified as the single most effective way for the federal government to permit New York and other states to withdraw from Common Core without fear that there will be any loss of federal funding as a result, is a huge legislative victory for states seeking to withdraw from Common Core. One of the biggest arguments against the repeal of Common Core in New York State has been that New York would lose out on several hundred million, if not billions, of federal dollars. Under this new law, my amendment clarifies that any state, including New York State, would now be able to withdraw from Common Core without losing any federal funding.”
Congressman Zeldin’s amendment was included in the final conference report of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which passed both the U.S. House and Senate, and was signed into law by the President on December 10, 2015.
Would you like to comment?
John
From: BernardCore@wcfwrestling.com
To: John.Hildebrand@newsday.com
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2015, 6:40 PM
Subject: RE: Zeldin Amendment
John,
It’s depressingly predictable. Americans are given something that is meant to benefit their children and the country and what do they do? They reject it. I bet they didn’t react this way when the $15 minimum wage for burger flippers was introduced. I bet they didn’t fly off the handle when they realized they could get food stamps and not have to work a day in their life.
At this point, I don’t have any emotional reaction to it. The weakness of the American people telegraphed this day. I should have known better than to think that Americans could toughen up and try to improve their children and their country.
In short, Common Core is dead.
Bernard
He’s telling the truth. He doesn’t have any emotional reaction to the news about the Zeldin Amendment. He knew it was going to happen. Besides, since he was prepares, he had already moved on. His time in an elementary school a month ago convinced him that there was no way that people were going to accept Common Core. The unions had been fighting it. The parents had been fighting it. Even the kids, especially the 200,000 that opted out of taking state tests, had been fighting it (mostly due to the pugnacious attitudes of their parents and, in some cases, teachers). What Bernard Core deduced was that he needed to have total control in order for education to be practiced the way he wanted. He was the New York State Education Commissioner up until two months ago, but there were too many checks and balances that got in his way. He had to play politics. It was frustrating. It was stifling. He couldn’t carry out his vision.
None of that matters anymore. I’m past it. I’m moving forward. I have a plan, and the death of the Common Core Learning Standards isn’t going to change that plan.
At this moment, though, part of his plan is retching in the guest room down the hall. It sounded like he was being stabbed in the gut over and over and over again. He was in a way. The contents of his gut were spilling out, hopefully in a pot or a garbage can.
I’m not worried. This was expected. The important thing is that he’s in my possession now, and once he’s done going through the withdrawal, I can custom make him to fit my needs. I still want to keep the violence, the edge that made him so captivating in the first place. What I need to do is instill in him a sense of authority- my authority. He’s a loner. He’s needs to know what it’s like to be part of a group that’s bigger than himself and recognize who the leader of that group is. He needs to be trained to take orders unquestioningly. And most importantly, he must understand my vision for this country and accept it. He must learn to love it. He must love it so much that he fights for it; not because I tell him to fight for it, but because he WANTS to fight for it. He’ll see it as his duty to fight for it. Hell, he has to be taught what duty is. He’s lived a duty free life. His life must be devoted to me and my vision. He must be a warrior. He must be MY warrior.
The retching stops.
I should probably go check on him.
Bernard Core walks down the hall and into the guest room. He finds Wolf lying on his side, his eyes closed, sweating like he’s in a sauna. Watching over him is Bernard’s wife, Claudette . She is dabbing Wolf’s head with a damp towel. The smell of vomit hits Bernard’s nasal passages like smelling salts.
Bernard Core: He’s doing that well, huh?
Claudette: He’s in rough shape. I thought you were only supposed to vomit if you drank too much. Now he hasn’t had a drink in the last few days and he’s still vomiting.
Bernard Core: Well, that’s what happens when you go cold turkey on alcohol and whatever other drugs he was taking. He’ll be fine. We just have to keeping monitoring him. Phew. Could you go dump that vomit, please, Claudette?
Claudette: No, I thought I would leave it here so I can smell it, too.
Core stares at his wife, annoyed by her sarcasm. She rolls his eyes back at him.
Claudette: I’ll be right back. I’ll bring him some Gatorade as well, just in case you thought I should let him be dehydrated, too.
Claudette leaves. Core sits on the edge of the bed.
Core: Fucking bitch.
He looks at Wolf.
Core: I don’t know if I’d rather be in your position or mine.
Wolf mumbles a few incoherent words and opens his eyes halfway before shutting them and going quiet.
The television in the room is playing in the background. The news is on. Core isn’t paying much attention to it until he hears the words “Zeldin Amendment.” He turns his head around.
“The Zeldin Amendment to the ‘Every Student Succeeds Act’ was passed by Congress today. According to a press release by the first term congressman, the amendment ‘would allow states to opt out of Common Core without fear that there will be any loss of federal funding as a result.’ People have taken to Twitter to comment on the new piece of legislation. @anticommoncore wrote ‘Thank God for the Zeldin Amendment. Today’s piece of legislation is akin to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.’”
Jesus Christ.
Core finds the remote up turns off the TV when Claudette walks in.
Claudette: What’s the matter? You can’t handle the news?
Core squeezes the remote to try to restrain himself from losing his temper.
Core: I’m glad you find joy in the fact that America will continue to be dumb.
Claudette: Oh, please. You think Common Core is the only thing that’s ever been tried to improve education in this country.
She pours some Gatorade into a glass and rubs Wolf’s shoulder.
Claudette: Here, sip some of this.
Wolf mumbles again but doesn’t wake up. She sets the glass aside on the night stand.
Core: No, it’s not the only thing, but it’s the best thing.
Claudette: You don’t actually believe that, do you?
Core: What are you implying?
Claudette: Bernard, we’ve been married for a very long time. As much as I hate you, I probably know you better than anyone else. Everything you think, say, and do is calculated.
Core: So you think I support Common Core for some ulterior reason.
Claudette: Of course I do. I also think you brought this man into our home- the week before Christmas, I might add- for an ulterior reason. I know it wasn’t out of the goodness of your nonexistent heart or some need to feel the Christmas spirit.
Core: Well, you’re wrong about one thing. I believed in the Common Core Learning Standards. Do you think I would have gone through all of the criticism I faced on a daily basis when I was education commissioner if I didn’t actually believe that Common Core was a good thing for America?
Claudette: You were the top education official in the state. What were you going to do, speak out against it? I mean, you don’t like me but you don’t go out to parties telling people that you wish I was dead.
Core: The difference between you and Common Core is that Common Core gave me a reason to wake up every day.
Claudette shakes her head, pursing her lips and pressing her tongue up against her cheek.
You fucking son of a bitch.
Core smiles satisfied that his zinger affected her.
Core: As for Wolf, yes, I have an ulterior motive. I only interact with people that have a use for me. You would have been useless to me if you hadn’t bore me a son and as it turns out, he’s an imbecile; so really, what good are you to me?
Claudette: Trust me, Bernard. I know my place in this marriage. I’ve known it since before you even proposed to me. I am to be the one by your side to project an image of success.
Core: Yes, and in exchange, you haven’t had to work a day in your life.
Claudette stares down, acknowledging that everything he’s saying is correct.
Core: I like when we have these talks and remind each other just what this is all about. I’m going to be in the gym if you need me.
Claudette stops him as he goes to walk out of the room.
Claudette: You’ll get yours one day, Bernard. One day, it’ll all just come crashing down on you.
He stops in the doorway and turns around.
Core: Things like that don’t happen to men like me, Claudette.
They stare at each other for a few more seconds.
Don’t ever try to threaten me, bitch. It doesn’t work on me.
He walks out into the hallway and makes his way to his personal gym in the basement.
Crashing down, huh? I suppose that danger is always prevalent for men like me who are responsible for so much yet have forces working against them. I’m trying to start my own school, rehabilitate an addict, and succeed in the WCF, all while the politicians play games with the education of this country and the boys in the locker room try to eliminate me; not to mention the fact that my wife actively roots against my success and my son is in rebellion against me. I suppose someone with as much on their plate as I do would fold. The difference with me, though, is that I can handle it.
Men like me, GREAT men like me, don’t crash and burn. We survive and advance. We know how to handle pressure. We know how to juggle multiple problems and fight on all fronts at one time. That’s how we get things done.
He enters the gym. It’s adjacent to his wrestling gym. Inside are free weights, universal weights, and cardio machines. A mirror covers the back wall of the entire room. Core hops on the elliptical and starts going to work on it.
My match at One is going to test my ability to handle multiple problems at one time. A torneo cibernetico. I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of a wrestling match quite like this one before. First, my team and I have to fight against another team. Then, when we’ve eliminated all of them, we have to fight each other until only one man is left. Not only do I have to be aware of the men on the other side, but I have to be aware of the men on my side as well. Talk about swimming with the sharks.
But again, I can handle it. I’ve had plenty of enemies in my fight to fix education. I’ve also had people who were my allies that patted me on the back with one hand and had a knife in the other. If I didn’t know how to handle and neutralize these forces, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
I’ve been studying my opponents with the same focus that students would be studying for their standardized tests if they weren’t given that lame ADHD diagnosis. Can you believe that’s even a real medical condition? “My kid can’t pay attention. They need drugs.” No. What your kid needs is for someone to tell them to sit down and shut up.
That’s probably what Punkin could have used growing up. Instead, his parents, or whoever took responsibility for the little ingrate, were permissive. They just let things happen without any intervention or consequence. It’s like the liberal parents of the country who are okay with their kids drinking and smoking drugs and turn a blind eye to the unprotected, promiscuous sex that they’re having. Has an unstructured upbringing ever helped any child? Has that ever made a child into a successful adult?
It certainly hasn’t worked out that way for Punkin. He’s 2-2 in singles competition. That’s hardly an overwhelming success. He was unable to work with his partner two weeks ago in the three way tag match and didn’t pick up the victory. I don’t see how his team can have any confidence that he can pull his weight. He’ll probably be too distracted by the “deepest recesses” of his “broken” mind to even tag in and contribute. My team didn’t win that match either, but the difference is that I didn’t assault my partner and cost us the match. In fact, my loser partner, who, might I add isn’t even around anymore, assaulted me. He ate the pinfall. Serves him right.
I do regret that Punkin and I didn’t have the chance to tangle in that three way match. Maybe my dominance over him could have been the rehabilitation that he needed to become a normal, functioning member of the human race. Maybe the Christmas season will give Punkin the honor of grappling with me in the ring. Perhaps he’ll learn a thing or two about focus and attention to detail. My example could be the one shining grace in his life. All the years of neglect by the people that were supposed to turn him into a responsible young man will be eradicated when he sees that the structured way of life that I live leads to great success. Of course, I will have to do that through causing him unknown amounts of pain, most likely by using The Common Crab. No man, no matter how frantically he may be in the ring, can slip out of the most devastating submission hold there is. He will have to tap out, and when he does, he won’t just be tapping out to me or my move; he’ll be tapping out to order. He’ll be tapping out to regulations. He’ll be tapping out of that unsettled lifestyle that he lives and tapping into a system that requires organization in order to survive. Yes, it will be painful, but it must be done in order to lead him to the promised land of normality. It will be hard for him to accept. His homeland is one of no order, a no man’s land of sectarian violence for years. If he submits to my world and recognizes my dominance, he will be welcomed to a homeland of peace and civility.
Lucious Starr could benefit from my hands on instruction as well. This man is an enigma to me. He was born into a bad situation, with a prostitute mother and a father who wanted nothing to do with him. He was placed into foster care. Kids who go into foster care enter a human crap shoot. They could end up being with really loving parents or end up with low life scumbags. Fortunately for him, he ended up with the former, a man named Albert Dunkwest, who took the time to train his new foster son in the art of boxing. Now, whereas Punkin didn’t have the right people in his life to guide him towards success, Lucious Starr ended up with someone who could make him a success. And how did Lucious Starr repay the kindness of his foster father? By refusing to comply with his standards. When Albert demanded that Lucious stay within the strictures of the sport of boxing, Lucious rebelled and dropped out of school, and went off on his own to go fight in some underground, D-league sort of promotions where “anything goes” was the norm and the competition was mediocre. The rest of his education was provided by a tutor outside of the confines of a school. Therefore, the tutor had no standards that HE had to comply with. I doubt the education Lucious received, in and out of the ring, was of much value to him.
I don’t know how this garbage wrestler has been allowed to mix with the elite of WCF, but he’s here and I’m making it my mission to show him that he’s out of place.
Nothing bothers me more than someone who is given a gift and then just squanders it. Lucious Starr was born to two parents who could have cared less for him and ended up with a man who took the utmost interest in him. He was trained in a highly skilled fighting sport where he could have made a lot of money and been at the top of his profession. Hell, he might have been able to make boxing something worth watching again, like the days of Frazier and Ali. He was on his way up, but then he decided to have a mind of his own and deny the instruction that he was given by a man who only wanted what was best for his child.
He’s like the ungrateful imps that walk through the halls of America’s schools every day. Do the children of this country not understand that at one point in time most of them would not have been afforded the opportunity to get an education? They live in a country where, free of charge, they get to come to school. They get a taxpayer supported education from the time they’re four until they reach the age of 18. The education they’re getting these days might not be any good, but at least they are being given, nay, HANDED an education. They are given all the tools necessary to be triumphant in life, but do they take advantage of it? No! They complain about it. They squander it. Some refuse to go. The ones who show up disrupt classes. They disrespect the providers of their education. Somewhere along the line, they get the mistaken idea in their head that they are allowed to do whatever they want whenever they want, and if they don’t want to follow the rules, they don’t have to. You know what happens to these children? They become criminals, drug addicts, moochers who eternally have their mouths on the teat of the federal government, collecting welfare checks and food stamps and healthcare that they don’t deserve and haven’t earned! They could have been something, and they’re all nothing!
Lucious Starr is nothing to me. I don’t care how many promotions he’s been in, I don’t care how many fighting styles he thinks he’s mastered; he is a nobody who’s never done anything. I hope Albert Dunkwest watches One on December 27, because I’m going to avenge him. I want him to see that I appreciate him trying to improve the life of a little bastard that nobody wanted. Lucious Starr is going to get an education from me, not some tutor who couldn’t find a real job in a school. I am a former NCAA D-III heavyweight wrestling champion. That’s a legitimate title that I won against men who were my genetic and physical equals, not some trash title that I won after hitting some guy named “Stayned” with a baseball bat. I’m not going to need a baseball bat to eliminate Lucious. I’m going to use my mind, my skills, and my strength; and at the end of the night, I hope Lucious gets on the phone, calls Albert, and apologizes for being an indolent little snot!
Core realizes he’s holding the hand of the elliptical a little too tight.
Jesus, just the thought of the guy is getting me angry.
He loosens up his grip and keeps going.
It just bothers me that the men of the WCF, much like the rest of the men in America, are not… real men. Real men take steps to improve themselves.
Punkin hasn’t done that. He’s allowed himself to be frenzied his whole life.
Starr hasn’t done that. He’s didn’t listen to the advice of his wise elder.
I wish I could say Andre Holmes has done that. I wish I could say that I respect him. I have been watching him in the ring since he debuted at the beginning of the month. I think he’s a capable wrestler. He’s already beaten the big guy on my team, Rage Maxx. Then I hear things about his personal life, and all the admiration I have for him just washes away.
His wife wants a divorce. A divorce is the ultimate failure of a man. A divorce means that he could not get control of his marriage. Men are the heads of society. Men are the head of their family. And when it comes to the union of a man and woman, the man is superior to the woman. A woman shouldn’t sneeze without making sure her husband approves of it first.
Samantha Holmes wanted more than to just sneeze out of turn. She wanted to booze out of turn, too. And Andre let her! He allowed his wife to open bottle after bottle after bottle of whiskey and consume every last drop so that she could satisfy her simple, base desires.
Andre Holmes left a sport that he loved, professional wrestling, to marry the woman and have children with her. It was a noble reason to retire at such a young age. However, she repaid his sacrifice by drinking all day and all night. If I had sacrificed what I loved for my wife and that’s how she showed her appreciation to me, I would have had her committed right there and then. Hell, I don’t even let Claudette get the better of me in a verbal exchange. I remind her what her place is and that’s the end of it. I wouldn’t let her take advantage of me and make me look like I wasn’t born with the a pair of testicles.
The real shame is that he’s got children who are now witnesses to the dissolution of his marriage. What are their names, Serenity and Athena? Yeah, he might have to change those after the divorce makes his kids go off the deep end. Serenity won’t be so calm and peaceful when she’s being bounced around from parent to parent on alternating weekends. Athena won’t be able to have the courage or wisdom to function in the world after a few years of living in a fatherless household with a mother who drinks herself to death to forget about her problems. They’ll probably both end up being drunk hookers who do lewd acts on disgusting men to get some cash so they score meth.
And Andre’s to blame for that! He’s the one that is in charge of that family. First, he lets his wife get out of hand, which will lead to his daughters getting out of hand. Then those young girls will get pregnant at young ages and have more children that will be as messed up or more messed up than them. Soon enough, there will be just generation after generation of messed up Holmes children infiltrating American society and turning the country into an even bigger pile of trash than it is now. The problems of the family, the problems of the country, all start from the top down. If the people at the top don’t have control, the people at the bottom suffer.
Andre Holmes may need my personal mediation more than Punkin or Starr. Those guys are at the bottom of society. They are far past gone at this point. The only beneficial thing to do for them is euthanasia. Holmes is a family man. He needs to be shown what men do when they take charge. Perhaps I need to show him some moves that he can use the next time his wife goes to reach for that bottle of Jim Beam. “What’s that dear, you need a drink? How about a hammer lock instead? Say that again, honey? Hand you that rock glass? How about I hand you a chickenwing of the crossface variety instead?” It’s sad that out of my many duties as a leader in American society, one of them has to be to teach men how to be MEN.
It has to be me because Doc Henry certainly can’t be the one to teach these men. Doc is one of these unfortunate cases of the male gender who thinks that being a man is all about drinking, smoking, gambling, and bedding random women twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Oh, and he’s given himself the creative nickname of- ready?- Doc the Cock! It rhymes! Wow, that’s clever. He certainly doesn’t need Common Core! I suppose if his name was Richard, he’d be Rick the Dick. Maybe with a different name he could have been Bronson the Johnson, Enos the Penis, or even Cliffy the Stiffy! But since I don’t believe he’s a real man, I’ll just refer to him by his real name and call him Mervin the Merkin.
You know what kind of men nickname themselves “The Cock?” Men with small penises who have to compensate by doing all the roguish things that Mervin the Merkin loves to do on a daily basis. Boasting about his penis size and being an all around degenerate will not help his team win at One. It’s a shame, because out of all the men in the match, he’s been in WCF the longest. He should be a leader in the locker room, an example, someone that his teammates can look up to.
How is Punkin supposed to learn to sit still and pay attention for one second when he sees Mervin the Merkin bouncing around from one immoral act to another with no break in between?
How is Lucious Starr supposed to learn to stay within the confines of rules and regulations when the most veteran member of his team says “It's only illegal if you get caught?”
How is Andre Holmes supposed to learn how to be the man in his family if he is being led by a man who probably has fathered more illegitimate children in this country than Clint Eastwood? Children, I might add, that will probably grow up fatherless and end up impregnating Serenity and Athena Holmes.
Mervin the Merkin is probably the least manly out of all of the men on his team. Real men don’t need to be “rogues” all day to prove themselves or boast about their overstated penis sizes. Real men actually accomplish things that help society. My school will help society because it will produce hard working American citizens. Wolf will be better off once I get him off of alcohol and pills and whatever else he was doing. Just my mere presence on WCF programming every week does more of a service for this country than anything Mervin the Merkin could ever do.
And I know what Mervin the Merkin would say if he knew what I was thinking.
“You’re just criticizing me because you have a small dick.”
“You’re judging me because you wouldn’t be able to handle my lifestyle.”
I’m secure enough to know that I don’t need to constantly, obsessively talk about my penis to have this pretended notion that I’m some kind of tough guy. I don’t need to get drop dead drunk, get high out of my mind, piss my money away, get lung cancer, get mouth cancer, contract psoriasis of the liver, and perform intercourse with women who have STDs in order to prove that I’m a superior male. I’ve accomplished so many positive contributions to humanity that my status as a man does not need to be called into question. The grace and skill by which I execute my moves in the ring is a product of hard work and going up against the best amateur athletes in the nation.
You know what disqualifies Mervin the Merkin from being a man the most? The fact that he lost to a WOMAN in a number one contender’s match for the U.S. Title. That’s worse than Andre Holmes letting his wife become an alcoholic. He let a woman beat him! Now, that woman might win the U.S. Title at One! It’s bad enough that she’s fighting for it, but if she actually won it, it would be an embarrassment to the WCF, America, and real men collectively!
The timer beeps on the elliptical. Core slows the machine down and hops off. He grabs his towel and wipes his face with it. When he’s done, he throws his towel to the ground, faces the mirrored wall, and starts doing barbell curls.
I’m not just fighting this match for myself. I’m fighting it to set an example. I need to show that if you live your life by my standards, you can handle as many problems as are thrown at you. When the going gets tough, you don’t just cower like a scared puppy, you step up to the challenge and thrive. I need to show that to my opponents and my teammates. I need to show that to my son. I need to show that to Wolf as he makes his way toward becoming the kind of person I need him to be. And most importantly, I need to show that to America, especially now that Common Core is dead. I have to show that I can get back up after the cause that I've been advocating has been defeated.
This is most certainly not the end. This is only the end of the beginning.
