VP Nominee Tim Walz: The Man Who Called Weird “Weird”

The newly nominated vice-presidential candidate chosen by Vice President Kamala Harris turns out to be the folksy and midwestern straight-talker, Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota. 

He is most famous for sharing easy-to-grasp language while trying to hold up values that put people and the climate first (they do sort of go together after all).  It doesn’t hurt that he has overseen a farming state for eight years as governor, and grew up close to the earth in a Nebraska town of 400 people, and that he knows about the relation of climate and soil and food and human and other species’ interdependence.

He is best known as the man who called weird “weird.” His suggestion that lots of talk from ex-president Donald Trump and his running mate DJ Vance is just plain “weird” has caught on.   I concur:

Is it weird to be caught lying 35,000 times as president? 

Is it weird to be running for president with 34 felony convictions under your belt (and more on the way)? 

Is it weird to be running for president while dashing to and fro between the golf course, occasional political rallies and court appearances because as president you called for the overturn of the government on the day of certifying the election votes?

Is it weird to have called for invading the nations’ capitol the day election results were certified and people responded in kind resulting in seven people dead, hundreds of police officers maimed, 1000+ in prison, while saying your party is about “law and order” and loves the police? 

Is it weird to be running for president and selling Bibles that have American flags on them?  And gold running shoes with American flags on them? And baseball cards with over-the-top portraits of you in heroic fantasy roles?

Is it weird to praise the dictator and warmonger Putin when he releases American hostages instead of acknowledging the accomplishment of President Biden for bringing them home?

Is it weird to tell American voters that if elected, they will never have to vote again?

Yes, lots of weirdness going on.  Strange things.  Strange gods before us.  I think vice presidential nominee Tim Walz sort of nailed it in mid-western plain speak when he elevated the word “weird.” 

Hopefully, enough voters will choose to vote who know the difference between weird and its opposite.  What is its opposite? 

To be continued.

See Matthew Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society.

And Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic—and Beyond.

Banner Image: Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz together in March 2024, prior to the start of the Harris 2024 campaign. Photo by the Office of Governor Tim Walz & Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan on Wikimedia Commons

Queries for Contemplation

What examples of “weird” do you sense going on in our political sphere these days?  And its opposite?

Recommended Reading

Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society

Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them. 
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science.  A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics

Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic–and Beyond

Julian of Norwich lived through the dreadful bubonic plague that killed close to 50% of Europeans. Being an anchoress, she ‘sheltered in place’ and developed a deep wisdom that she shared in her book, Showings, which was the first book in English by a woman. A theologian way ahead of her time, Julian develops a feminist understanding of God as mother at the heart of nature’s goodness. Fox shares her teachings in this powerful and timely and inspiring book.
“What an utterly magnificent book. The work of Julian of Norwich, lovingly supported by the genius of Matthew Fox, is a roadmap into the heart of the eco-spiritual truth that all life breathes together.”  –Caroline Myss
Now also available as an audiobook HERE.