Category: obituary

RIP Sarah Beckstrom

Sarah Beckstrom, one of the West Virginia National Guard members shot by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, has died.

Beckstrom was twenty. I had no connection to this young woman. But as someone who has lived nearly three times that long, I have a sense of all that was taken from her. 

And for what? Blind faith in immigration policies that have proven disastrous for everyone involved.

Beckstrom’s death has led to a predictable debate about the wisdom of bringing so many Afghan refugees into the USA following the American bug-out from Afghanistan. (Which happened, incidentally, less than one year before Ukraine became “essential to our national interest”.) 

Sarah Beckstrom’s murderer was one of the 77,000 Afghan refugees brought to the USA in the wake of the Taliban takeover. 

I wrote on X:

“This goes both ways. I certainly wouldn’t recommend relocating 77,000 Americans to Afghanistan. If you did, there would be similar problems.

Islam is one of the world’s great civilizations. But it has never been compatible with Western civilization (or vice versa). The best way to keep peace between Islam and the West is to keep them apart.

As for the Afghan refugees post-Taliban, they should have been resettled in another Muslim-majority country. There were more than 50 to choose from. Why bring so many people to an alien civilization that so radically clashes with their own cultural values? It makes no sense.”

I am not a performative Quran burner. (That’s just asinine, not to mention very unoriginal, in 2025.) Nor am I in favor of turning a blind eye to the plight of refugees.

But nor do I agree that it makes sense for everyone to come here, as if the USA (or some other Western country) was the only option. 

There are in fact, many other options, many of which would better serve refugees from non-Western countries like Afghanistan.

-ET

 

Charlie Kirk: an overheard conversation at the park

Before his assassination on September 10, Charlie Kirk was barely on my radar. I was aware of him, of course. But at my age, I was far outside his target demographic. (I am also somewhat resistant to taking moral and political instruction from anyone born when I was already an adult. I was 25 years old when Charlie Kirk was born on October 14, 1993. Call that my old man’s bias, if you wish.)

That said, in the eleven days since his death, I have made some efforts to watch various clips from his many campus appearances. In all the clips I saw, Kirk was thoughtful, measured, and sincere. Continue reading “Charlie Kirk: an overheard conversation at the park”

Gen X and Merlin Olsen

The X feed Super 70s Sports has the following to say about the late Merlin Olsen (1940 – 2010):

“I miss Merlin Olsen. A true renaissance man who could kick your ass, eloquently break down exactly how he did it, then send you a thoughtful bouquet of flowers as a gesture of goodwill.”

I don’t disagree with the sentiment, but most Gen Xers don’t remember Merlin Olsen as a professional football player. Olsen played his last game in the NFL in 1976. This Gen Xer was an 8-year-old third-grader then.

Most of us do, however, remember Merlin Olsen in his post-NFL acting career. Olsen portrayed Jonathan Garvey on Little House on the Prairie from 1977 to 1981. In this secondary role, he was the “male buddy” figure for Michael Landon’s starring role.

My childhood household had one television, and my mom loved Little House. So we of course tuned in every week. I didn’t love this show quite as much as my mom did, but I didn’t exactly hate it, either. It was pleasant enough television for that pre-cable era, when most TV shows were written to the broadest audience possible. Little House on the Prairie was written and billed as wholesome family fare, with all that label implies, both for better and for worse.

I recall watching Olsen on Little House on the Prairie for several years, perhaps, before my father mentioned, apropos of nothing, that Merlin Olsen had previously been a professional football player.

My research tells me that he had quite a career in that capacity. But I, like most Gen Xers, will always think of him as Jonathan Garvey.

-ET

**Save on Amazon: Little House On The Prairie Season 1 Deluxe Remastered Edition [DVD]