Jack of Harts

Obama mocked Republicans for clinging to their guns and religion. Hillary called Republicans a basket of deplorables. Now Biden says Republicans are a threat to democracy. Democrat leaders have called on their supporters to drive Republicans out of restaurants and other public spaces. They’ve said there will be a reckoning. They’ve called parents that protest at school meetings domestic terrorists. And people have listened and responded to these charges. A Supreme Court Justice was recently targeted in an assassination attempt. Republican congressmen have been beaten or shot. Hundreds of everyday Republicans have been attacked on the streets. Some have been killed. The last few years have been dangerous times for everyday Americans, and they will get more dangerous. Because there will be more of this…

I was 17 going on 18 when everything changed for me. I was young and naive. I thought the media would tell us the truth back then. Or at least the best truth they knew. They might be wrong, but they wouldn’t LIE to me. Right? But studying the facts of both Ruby Ridge and Waco forced me to set aside that naivety. The media absolutely does have an agenda. Different networks have different agendas. Some are good for us, some are bad for us. I was 18 when I first began to understand that “distrust but verify” had to be the test I gave to every media and government outlet. And that is why, to this day, I distrust the media and the government as my default setting. Evidence may come to light that they are telling the truth in certain cases, but “distrust but verify” will generally put you on the right side of the truth in most cases. Realizing that at 18 changed my worldview in every way that mattered.

The Ruby Ridge affair was an example of what the government can do if they decide to target someone. An ATF informant solicited Randy Weaver to make illegal sawed-off shotguns for him, and then the ATF arrested him for it. The Marshals put out a warrant for his arrest for not showing up to court six days before he was told to show up for court. The Marshals then killed his son. The FBI killed his wife and shot him. They shot his friend. Then they put him on trial, and a jury sentenced him to 18 months in jail for not showing up to court. Yes, the Weaver family later won a 3 million dollar settlement from the government, but the government never admitted any wrongdoing. Only one of the hundreds of government individuals involved was charged with a crime, and the charges were dismissed on grounds of sovereign immunity. The Ruby Ridge affair nearly destroyed the Weaver family, but the government agents who escalated it at every opportunity walked away without consequences.