The best story of the day comes from the deep snows of Buffalo, New York, where 50 inches of snow buried the city in blizzard conditions, leaving cars on the road stranded and 40 people dead.

Except that there would have been a lot more of them had this man not stepped up.

According to ABC News:

Police in the town of Cheektowaga, just outside of Buffalo, credit 27-year-old Jay Withey with saving the lives of two dozen people during the deadly storm by rescuing strangers from cars trapped in the snow and bringing them into a school for shelter.

"I feel 100% that Jay's actions were heroic and 100% saved lives," Cheektowaga Police Chief Brian Gould said.

It all began when Withey went to pick up a friend who was stranded. But with only a quarter of a tank of gas left, his car quickly became stuck in the whiteout conditions.

"The wind blowing, the snow falling — you couldn't see if you stuck your hand out. You couldn't see the tap of your fingers of your own hand," he said.

Soaking wet and freezing, Withey decided to seek shelter inside a local school and broke a window to get inside. But instead of hunkering down and resting, he ventured back out into the dangerous conditions to help others who were stranded.

"I can see there's a couple other vehicles stuck in the vicinity of the school. So I go to them and tell them I've broken into the school and that there's heat in there," Withey said.

"It was a matter of survival. It was just a very scary situation to be in," he said.

Withey not only brought in 24 people stranded in cars on the snowy roads (and based on the pictures, a couple of pets), but busted open the school's kitchen door and got them provisions.  Then he made his way to the nurse's office for blankets.

After the 24 lives were saved, Withey and his 24 new friends for life cleaned up after themselves, and Withey left a note on the door, apologizing for breaking into the school. 

The police identified the man by putting out a notice — to praise him for his quick-thinking courage, resourcefulness, and risk-taking to save others in danger of dying in the snow.

Do you recognize “Merry Christmas Jay”? He pulled people from cars & sheltered them in a near by school.He left a note apologizing for the damage & use of the snow blower he used to make a path to the school.We want to thank “Jay” for his heroic actions that saved people’s lives. pic.twitter.com/iqdKitwEHa

— Cheektowaga Police (@CPDNYInfo) December 29, 2022

Most commentators on Twitter were full of praise, but the jackasses showed up, too — not just the toxic masculinity crowd, but the racial grievance-mongers, too, despite the fact that the man rescued, based on the photos, several black people:

I've seen videos of black people securing food and essential items and in all of them, they are considered looters. This guy does the same and is hailed a hero. There is a strong duality happening here. There will always be opportunists in disasters regardless of race.

— CantStopPoppin (@CantStopPoppin) December 30, 2022

Would the rescued people be thinking that grievance-mongering whataboutist thought?

Nope, they said "thank you" and vowed with the others to have a summer reunion with the man.

It was a stunning rescue that saved two dozen human lives that otherwise would have likely frozen to death — there have been some bad news stories about people freezing in their cars or dying of carbon monoxide poisoning — based on the initiative of one man who had the courage, the selflessness, and the willingness to sacrifice to save others, all very masculine virtues that aren't often seen in plummy affluent settings full of whiny people drinking Starbucks, playing videogames, and complaining about President Trump.

When it's a matter of life or death, the masculine virtues become lifesavers.

So much for toxic masculinity.  New Year's Day more or less is a day of many stunning masculine rescues in recent years — from the Subway Superman, Wesley Autrey, a humble construction worker who rescued a distressed man who fell into New York's subway tracks by diving into them as an oncoming train approached and covering the man with his body to keep him from being torn apart by the train, to the Miracle on the Hudson, where Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger saved a planeload of people on a jetliner with two disabled engines by using his glider-pilot skills, landing a gigantic airplane in a perfect flat float onto the Hudson River in New York, saving hundreds with his calm skill and quick thinking in the most terrifying of conditions — and like a true ship captain, after all the passengers were rescued, he was the last to walk off the plane.

They were heroes, and Withey joins them in that pantheon.

Maybe January 1 should be called Men's Day to celebrate these masculine virtues and the men who have them.  They should be celebrated, if for nothing else, then to teach the wokesters something new.  Many wouldn't be alive without them.

Image: Twitter screen shot.