Tag Archives 2020

It Was All True

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In October 2020, from this desk, in front of this camera, I said:

“look at how the big tech companies have formed battalions
with the mainstream media
you’ve seen the double standards
the silencing, the shadowbanning
the Orwelian finaggling of language
the skewing of search results
the censorship
the false narratives
the mass manipulation of reality
you’ve seen the madness of the mobs
the captains of corporations with their smoke grenades
flanked by Hollywood and SJWs and their woke brigades”

I was told that this was a right-wing conspiracy theory. I was just being paranoid. None of that stuff is really happening. Nobody is being censored for their political beliefs. They only get censored for hate speech. The mainstream media isn’t part of some big ruse. They just honestly and objectively report the news. Our internet overlords would never contort and control the flow of information.

On February 4th, 2021, TIME Magazine published an article called “The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election”. Perhaps a more apt title would have been “The Wizard Pulls Back His Own Curtain”. Turns out there really was “an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans”. There really was a “well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information.”

It was confirmed that there were at least 400 planned “demonstrations” for the night of the election, and this network of street mobs was ready to be deployed on American cities at the push of a button, in case not enough people tapped the “correct” button at the ballot box.

It was confirmed that George Floyd, BLM, and other Social Justice organizations were coopted to push the agenda. It’s not that the cabal cared more about the marginalized as one might hope, it’s just that they saw more opportunity in the margins to siphon votes.

It was confirmed that the heads of Facebook and Twitter held private dinners where activists convinced them of what they needed to do, which is why you saw so much censorship and control of what you could share and see, and what you were allowed to believe was true.

It was confirmed that racial justice firebrands brokered a deal with corporations – because burning more businesses is bad for profits. That’s why you saw every big company fall in line, and repeat the same rhetoric time after time.

Everything I’ve stated here is straight from the article. This is their own attestation, and this is not some so-called right-wing conspiracy publication. In their own words, there was literally a conspiracy. A secret combination.

But you might say, “they only did this to ensure the election would be free and fair.” They were simply “saving our democracy”.

But they failed to hide the hypocrisy.

The Kingpin admitted that victory to him
would not be a free and fair election, but a Biden win.

So how safe do you feel about your democracy? How safe do you feel knowing that a well-funded cabal of left-wing activists, business titans, mainstream media moguls, and big technocrats will now decide every election?

How safe do you feel about your freedom of speech? Your freedom of anything?

I finally realized that this was never about Trump being a racist or a homophobe or any other “ist” or “phobe”. It was about him being a fly in the ointment. A glitch in the matrix. A threat to all those that sit upon thrones.

After the civil war, Abraham Lincoln said that the task before this nation was to have a new birth of freedom, under God. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people that shall not perish from the earth.

Has anybody seen it? All I see is a people governed by the elite for the elite, under the god of what they say is good for us to believe. Whatever keeps us from seeing the forest for the trees.

I will not live on my knees.
I will not live by lies.
I will speak for freedom.

because to put in bluntly
it’s not Trump that I want back,
it’s my country

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2020 Christmas Video Poem – Coming Soon

I wasn’t planning on making a Christmas video this year but felt prompted over the past few weeks given how difficult this year has been. I’m working with friend and several-time collaborator Kimberly StarKey aka The Rogue Pianist (and others) on a new piece in the vein of our previous Christmas videos Little Drummer Boy and Mary Did You Know.

This year’s video will look a little different, but we’re hoping to capture the same spirit within the crazy constraints of 2020. Watch for the premiere December 20th.

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The Garden Where Good Things Grew

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There was a garden where good things grew
carrots and lettuce and sunflowers to name a few
the sun would shine and the breeze would blow
the best thing was, they were free to grow

at the head of each row stood a cactus
those were good for keeping invaders away
as long they keep their distance
and kept their thorns at bay

about the same time every year
the garden was afflicted
pestilence would pervade
and many of the gardenites became sickened

one year the bugs brought a new virus
that was particularly petulant
and even more noxious
was the onslaught of the many conflicting messages

they must go to great lengths to stop the spread
most all of the gardenites agreed
yet some wondered about the cost
of the freedoms that they would cede

the cactuses took charge
and ordered a tarp to be pulled over the garden
to some, this was reassuring
to some, this was alarming

it kept out some of the bugs
but also blocked all the sunshine
they were told it was temporary
they could survive until… sometime

a few weeks turned into a few months
curves and flowers were flattened
while the gardenites quarreled about graphs and statistics
their stalks and their stems became blackened

strife and suspicion grew wild
branches of truth became twisted
they lost track of time and dignity
until one day the tarp was finally lifted

the garden looked quite different
it was not a pretty sight
countenances were darkened
without nutrients, without light

many were found infected and many had died
some from the bugs that still got in
but many more from the thorns
that were found in their sides

they were shriveled and gaunt
sure signs of famine
wilted and wanting and wishing
that ramifications had been fully examined

was it always for their own good
or more for the good of the whole
was the whole thing good
if it robbed so many of their soul

those that were left
might well have perished too
because growth was no longer a value
under the new form of garden rule

they would no longer debate
the graphs and best practices
because all that was left
were the commands of the cactuses

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A final message from Biden/Harris – Communism

Kamala Harris released an animated campaign video yesterday that starts with two men at the bottom of a mountain. One of them is able to reach a rope to start the climb. The other can’t reach it. If you vote for her (through Joe Biden), the ground below the 2nd man will rise up until he can reach the rope. The video ends with the two men sharing the same view of a sunset at the top of the mountain. Thus, the video purports, “equitable treatment means we all end up at the same place”.

Tomorrow, approximately half of the country is going to vote for a ticket that openly endorses this communistic ideal.

I’ve seen some argue semantics and say that she just means equal opportunity. More on that below, but listen – you can fit a thousand random people with custom hiking shoes, offer them all months of training, give them all the same backpack full of supplies, give them all the same motivational speech, and proclaim to them all the splendor of the view at the summit. They’re not all going to end up there. That’s not how humanity works.

Some will try, but just won’t have the strength or stamina to make it. Some won’t try, because others have told them that the odds are stacked too highly against them. Some will stop along the way to write poetry about the journey and become lost in their thoughts. Some will have eschewed the training for something they deemed more important. Some will say that climbing mountains just isn’t for them. They’re not an expert. They’ll say the reward can’t possibly justify the effort.

If Harris really meant equal opportunity, the video would have ended with the two men equally equipped in the foothills. But since it didn’t we should take a moment to think about what her tagline “There’s a big difference between equality and equity” really means.

Because what this kind of propaganda never shows is the human cost of forced outcomes. History has taught that communist governments never take the shape of benevolent social workers exalting exhausted climbers from below, but rather, they act as vengeful axe murderers wreaking havoc on those leading the way through the forested ascent. Despite its lofty intentions, Communism is not glory at the top – it’s bodies at the bottom.

This life isn’t about equity. It’s about sweetening our strengths and working on our weaknesses. It’s about finding fortitude in our faults and gratitude in our gifts. By doing so we will inevitably lift others around us
and that’s where the catch is –
only fellow climbers can offer a hand
that isn’t a hatchet.

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Trump or Biden? The Future of Freedom in America

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I’m a single issue voter.

That issue isn’t the economy, healthcare, climate change, immigration, education, or gun control. It’s not even abortion.

I’m a registered non-partisan. I never liked the idea of identifying as a member of either party because I’m generally averse to any sort of group identity.

But I do have values. I value individual worth, the equal and full protection of inalienable rights, natural law, free speech, and freedom of worship.

I believe we need voices on both what we call the “left” and the “right”. We’ve got problems. We need creative problem solving, and we need people to fully analyze any proposed solutions before making widespread policy changes that could have unexpected but devastating effects.

We need compassion. We need conversation.
We need progress. We need preservation.

All of these are important.

Now, the far left and the far right – I view these with equal abhorrence. Both are morally bankrupt and supremely dangerous. They claim to be opposites, but the bloodstains they’ve left on human history are indistinguishable.
The corruption, the destruction, the death…
the real question is, which of these two is more of a threat to present day America?

Well, the far right is small in number, power, and influence. White supremacy is not taught in schools or propped up on cable news or pontificated on in our prevailing publications. The far left on the other hand has almost ubiquitous power and is increasing its numbers and influence by the day. By the hour.
on the front lines of the (culture) war
look at the weapons being wielded in all of our universities, our high schools, even our elementary schools, even more
look at how the big tech companies have formed battalions
with the mainstream media
you’ve seen the double standards
the silencing, the shadowbanning
the Orwelian finaggling of language
the skewing of search results
the censorship
the false narratives
the mass manipulation of reality
you’ve seen the madness of the mobs
the captains of corporations with their smoke grenades
flanked by Hollywood and SJWs and their woke brigades

now take all of this power
and add to it control of the White House
the legislature, and the Supreme Court after they pack it
according to the plan
after the last bastions of conservatism and liberalism are slaughtered
what’s left?
what’s right?

“But Joe Biden is not far left” you might say. That may be true in the same way a cocoon is not a moth. We all know what’s waiting to emerge. Even if he weren’t near the end of his career we all understand, he would of course capitulate to every one of their demands.

That brings us to the incumbent.
Do I think that Trump could speak more presidentially and use more unifying rhetoric? Yes. Do I think any of the people that have spent the past 4 years screaming about him would change their mind if he did so? No.

Do I think he’s narcissistic and gets the ultimate ego boost from being President? Yes. Do I think he wants to be a dictator and make everyone handmaids and slaves? No.

Do I see both sides making the argument that the other side wants to take away their rights? Yes. Do I see the powers that be in the mainstream press and big social media companies treating these arguments with equal discretion? No.

So, despite his moral missteps, misguided tweets, and off-putting mannerisms
the fact of the matter is
that Trump is the only one defending all of us in the exhausted middle
the only one defending America as we know it
maybe the vitriol that he elicits from all those that wish to control us should tell us something

it’s a dark place we’ve all been in
like you
I’m just trying to find the light in it
in this life
I just want the opportunity to thrive
I just want liberty
I just want the enlightenment to survive

the single issue that I’m voting on is freedom
because without it, none of the others matter
and when this is over
I just hope it still stands
I know, we may disagree
I just want to live in a country where we still can

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#Not My President-ial Debate

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a “hot mess inside a dumpster fire inside a train wreck”
bemoaned CNN after the latest election campaign debacle
they couldn’t believe the disrespect and incivility
so much misinformation
so much hate

#notmypresident-ial debate

but was it really so bizarre?

does the fabrication of facts, the talking over each other
and past each other, trying to miscast each other
really only happen on the national debate stage?
or did it all look eerily familiar to your facebook page?

are Donald Trump and Joe Biden
the only two characters in this comedy of caricatures?
are we appalled by our choices for this election
or are we appalled because our choices look like our reflection?

it’s like we’ve gathered to repair a beloved but battered
and broken-down house
one side’s got the hammers
the other’s got the nails
but we’re too busy arguing over which is better suited for the job
or pointing out that hammers were once used incorrectly
or that nails are appalling because they could possibly be stepped on
cable news steps in and says
“wait a minute – you know
those hammers, those nails
those could really do some damage
you could use them to impale…
each other”

The New York Times steps in and says you know…
that old house isn’t worth saving anyway

Twitter and YouTube step in
and show the people with the hammers more stories about the nastiness of nails
and shows those with the nails the ghastliness of hammers

and now both sides stammer
and doubt what they’re made for
and made of
they hesitate to not only to build
but to denounce the carnage that they’re capable of

and we just stand here face to face
with our blunt and pointy weapons
that were supposed to be tools
threatening each other’s destruction
neglecting the construction that we came here for
in the first place

we the people are an eagle
navigating the fragile flight of humanity
with a noble and distinguished head of freedom
and a body of inalienable rights

the problem is not which wing you’re on
it’s how far out there you are
the further we go from the body
is the further we get from empathy
and peace and equality
as the feathers get thinner we become more and more tribal
the solutions we see become more and more genocidal

the far left is no less dangerous than the far right
too much chaos is no better than too much order
too much night is no more bearable than too much day
if you cut off one wing
you veer straight into a mountain of tyranny
either way

for every Hitler there’s a Stalin
that’s why every picture from where freedom has fallen
looks exactly the same

I know we have different ideas about what this house should look like
but without an agreed upon foundation and people willing work on it
it’s just a mansion in our imagination
unattached to a body, the wings of an eagle are just hollow bones in a free fall
and the sky is just a hopeless hallucination
without compromise
we are broken birds
hapless hammers
and good for nothing nails

I know I’ve mixed my metaphors here
what I’m trying to make clear
is that all supposedly invincible
civilizations have fallen for a lot less
I hope this train wreck lights a dumpster fire under us
that scorches all the pre-programmed proclivities
that’ve been stuck in our underbrush
and we can finally see clearly enough
to find our way out
of this hot mess

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The Eye of the Thunderstorms

I need three hands to count how many years I lived in California. I only need one to count how many thunderstorms I experienced while I was there.

The other night I was out for a walk on an empty Texas road. In every direction there were dark skies and frantic streaks of lightning. Thunder grumbled ominously off in the distance.

But where I was walking, it was calm. I could see stars above me. There was no commotion, no wind, no rain.

If we named the storms of 2020 like they do hurricanes, we’d have exhausted the alphabet many times over. I don’t need to list them. They’re stamped into our skin like a reckless night at a tattoo parlor.

Sometimes, the smoke from the fires is so thick that it’s as if the sun slept through its morning alarm and just said “forget it”. And we go whole days
with no light.

But on that quiet road I remembered.

About two thousand years ago there was a whole night
with no darkness.

That stuck with me, because I’ve been searching for light
in what seems to be only darkness.

I’ve been searching for truce
in what feels like a war of the worlds.

I’ve been searching for truth
in a raucous cacophony of ideologies, so many to choose from.

I’ve been searching for a way, like an x-ray
to see through the confusion.

But on that quiet road I remembered.

What better way to find the truth
than through God’s spoken word?

What better way to find light
than by He who created it?

I can’t always find the why of the storms
but I’m thankful
that I can always find the eye.

The calm. The comfort.
The correctness.

Even with the all hardship, harshness,
and thunder in all directions
if we follow Him
we will not walk in darkness.

He didn’t say when, or even if
these tempests would cease
but that He would walk with us
and in Him, we could still find peace.

On that quiet road
He remembered me.

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