Ode to the Republic

By Randall Richards

Happy Voting Day, Enjoy it While You Can.**

The following is a good natured exchange on Farcebook between an old friend from my hometown (New Hampshire, USA) and me. It's self explanatory but in keeping with an "Ode" theme, I'm also including some lyrics from a song I wrote some 30 years ago, which seems applicable. Happy reading.
My friend posted this meme of Farcebook recently, and here's my response:

Hi James, others
I implore you to do one thing and that's to look outside your newsfeed because you're being lied to in real time. I didn't want to believe it, who does? The power structure is scared to death of being called out on their decades of corruption and are hoping, and banking on, you won't pull back the curtain and see the truth. What I say sounds crazy, but our future depends on you and others taking off the blinders and waking up to outright lies and defamation that you're being fed. I warn you though it will take courage. Some of us have the advantage of long-term assimilation to the facts. You don't have that advantage and the ride may be rough, but I and others are here for you. Again I implore you to at least consider taking the red pill, because all I'm promising you is the truth and nothing more. Oh and by the way, it has less to do with left and right than you can imagine

Addendum:
A good place to start would be to investigate who funds the media. You can find that on Yahoo Finance.
Do you still trust the banks? Remember the Enron and too big to fail events? Do you think they have changed their behavior since then, especially regarding military industrial machine? Lastly, consider reading or listening Whitney Webb.
Best to you on your journey.
Randall

This was my friend's response:
Randall, I believe that you are sincerely reaching out to share what you believe to be important truths. It concerns me, however, that your comment was offered as a reaction to a post that decries bigotry in very general terms, and offers a pithy resolution to the "paradox of tolerance…." I would be surprised if your intent were to defend bigotry, but it's hard to understand what else prompted you to post this comment here and now.
I hope that your reference to "the red pill" is intended to encourage general skepticism toward dominant social narratives, rather than an embrace of the fantasies of QAnon, MAGA, incel culture, and the "Alt Right." Unfortunately, back here in the 'States, the "red pill" metaphor is often deployed in the service of those collective delusions.

And today's response on voting day in the U.S:
Hey James, Others,
Happy voting day there Stateside. Good luck.**
Good to hear back from you and thanks for your reply in the comments. I actually had a draft running, but FB deleted it. So I’ll give it another go. Yeah, I’m trying to reach out, which is an exception, because my knowledge usually falls on deaf ears. So generally, it’s not worth my time anymore. There are some you just can’t reach. But a fellow journalist is quoted as saying, there are many pathways to the truth, and some find their way through one issue or another, and then it hits them – “They’ve been lied to.” Then it’s a matter of prying off the bandage to see how bad it is.

I love your writing style. Top notch my friend. I could take some lessons from you. Here’s my response. I trust you’ll take it in good faith. Hopefully the days of respectful discourse are not of days gone by.

Your wrote, that my comment was “offered as a reaction to a post that decries bigotry in very general terms” is not how I see it. The post suggests that those on the “Right”, one side, hates blacks, brown, Asian, etc. and the other side, “Left” hates bigots.  Firstly, I put the left and right in quotes, because the terms are almost meaningless. I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, it left me. Having said that there is an extremist element that has co-opted the Democratic Party. You’d be mortified to know the truth. That’s why I said it would be a rough journey if you and others start doing the hard research.  The meme was not based on fact. No, I don’t defend bigotry in any form, nor even, “hate” which your post evidently advocates. Love your enemy, remember.  My response, in all due respect, was not meant to be pithy in any manner.  That you find it hard to understand what prompted me to post my comment is just the point that we’re on different planes of understanding.

 A good friend yesterday made the analogy that learning the facts of the backstory is a bit like mathematics. It starts with bath arithmetic, etc., then algebra, and if you can handle that, calculus and then delving into quantum physics. At some point, especially me, I’ll get lost at about the calculus level, (if I’m lucky!) and drop out at that point.  Learning the true history, and facts behind the current situation is similar to my analogy. People can handle the truth up to certain point, then cognitive dissonance sets in. Yeah, “the Military Industrial Complex may not have my interests in mind” or “Yeah, there were some mistakes with the vaccine rollout”, and “Yes, the media might be owned by three corporations but, it can’t be that controlled.” "Partial truth" is good enough for a lot of people. It’s not good enough.
Yes, my comment about the red pill, was not in reference to the republican party. Sorry, I wasn’t clear on that. It’s about challenging the illusion, per the Matrix movie. Author of the “Great Unraveling” Julius Ruechel has brilliantly addressed the issue of mass-formation, which I encourage you read/watch. In summary, it’s as if we’re trying in some way to get y’all, people on both sides, to snap out of it.
Your listing of  Q’Anon,  MAGA, “incel”, and Alt Right is curious and, respectfully, shows you're a bit uninformed. “Q” is a listing of clues supposedly from someone on the inside of government. Never had time for that, and frankly I think it’s a danger to the republic, (notice I didn’t say democracy). “Anon” is a movement of on-liners devoted to deciphering the clues or “drops” from “Q”. Again, a time waster in my opinion. “Alt-right” is a term like “Conspiracy Theory” that’s a powerful label created (the latter, created by the CIA, look it up) to marginalize with the sweep of a hand. And it’s effective.  Yes, you’re spot on, regarding “collective delusions” but what I find interesting is it’s playing out on both sides, more acutely on “The Left”.  Seeing a sea of “Red hatters” is a cautionary vision for me too. Of course Thiel’s backing of JD Vance is not a good sign. Have you heard of the Bilderberg Group, or CFR? He’s on their board of directors, and no, it’s not conspiracy. It’s fact. Please read up. As a side note, I’m not “anti-vax” but RJK Jr’s book shows that Big Pharma, and the agencies they’ve co-opted, don’t have your health in mind, and that’s putting it very mildly. They have a long history of money-making at all costs.

Replying to some of his commenters:
Tom wrote:
As a Trump supporter I was never a bigot. With regards to Obama…we got the first sort of mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.,
I voted for him, but I was fooled. He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I agree though, he is indeed articulate and bright though.
David, wrote:
Please read some actually reporting and scholarship, instead of conspiratorial drivel.
I wouldn’t call RFK Jr's “The Real Anthony Fauci” or “The Pfizer Papers” by Wolf, conspiratorial drivel, nor, while I’m at it, “The “Creature from Jekyll Island”. If the first book were untrue then RFK Jr. would have been sued for libel by now.   
Christian wrote: try breaking the pill in half.
Unclear, please expound.
Ted, wrote:
Ok, so I read this page on Whitney Webb. Are you going to support Trump, the good friend of Jeffrey Epstein?
Ted, Respectfully, your comment is irrelevant and incorrect.  And you say, you ‘read a page’ on Whitney Webb. The problem is, one group has done deep research and the other is fed a narrative and believes it based on a corporate media feed.
Of course Trump is not ideal, and whether he’s been convicted of rape or not, I admittedly don’t know for fact one way or the other, but have read it was a complete set-up. (As a side note, you do know, I assume, that to get a conviction, it used to require a unanimous decision on each count by a jury of your peers. The NY judge allowed each juror to come up with his own decision on individual counts, and that called those convictions. That wasn’t justice.  It makes for great pablum, unless you look into it.  Of course he should not be calling anyone stupid or other insults. I wouldn’t want to spend a weekend with Trump. But...Watch the “Art of the Surge”, The whole documentary series of a behind the scenes reporting during this campaign with an embedded team. It's a rare opportunity to see history in real time. As difficult as it might be, make the stretch and see the real person vs. the “straw man” the media has painted of him, (and Alex Jones, by the way, which should trigger a few!)
Ted wrote:
It seems like you think: Peter Thiel, Tucker Carson, RFK Jr., DJT, etc. are truth-tellers instead of just self-serving lie-peddlers. I don't think you're correct.
Your comments about truth tellers/lie peddlers is not based on fact, and, you “don’t think” I’m correct? It’s matter of knowledge from source materials. Respectfully, do some research, (happy to provide a book list for you), then get back to me.
Martha writes:
I am basing my decision to vote for Harris on information I've received directly from people who have dedicated their lives to defending democracy on the world stage (Gen. Kelly) or original documents (Project 2025).
Admittedly, I’ve not delved into Project 2025 yet, although have had a cursory look and understanding of it. I need to look at it. I trust you remember when Obama cleaned house of all the top brass generals and installed new ones. Why do you think he did that?

In conclusion, from my side perspective and experience, I’ve seen the huge amounts of censorship that has kept “the left” from seeing the facts. So I understand the slumber, and the reluctance to look outside the info bubble. I was once accused by that “crazy guy” Ed Brown*, (anyone remember him?) from Sullivan County, NH, USA. They locked him up and threw away the key. Yeah, he was inflammatory, and wasn’t good with people*.
*(All that exists online about Brown is a Wikipedia entry. While I don't argue with their record of convictions, I'm completely dubious of Wikipedia, and take what they say with a grain of salt.)
But Brown once said to me, “It’s all good that your hobby is researching the deep state and all that, but what are you actually doing to spread the truth and push back against the bullies?” At the time, I was offended at his frankness. Now, I’m a busy guy.

Randall Richards is a facilitator of the NZ Media Collective, Jam For Freedom New Zealand, a movement to connect freedom and health loving muso's both in NZ and beyond to spreading the truth through music and creating vital community, He's a co-founding member of New Zealand Rising, and currently content editor of its newsletter. NZ Rising is directory of Freedom and Health groups in New Zealand, which was based on the successful model of Canada's Freedom Rising. He's currently helping others to re-start the United Free Press, an initiative to create an ethics-based international journalism cooperative.

** Since I wrote this piece yesterday, since Trump's win, I thought I'd better clarify the meaning of "Enjoy it while you can" in the header. Since Harris's loss, it could be construed that I was gloating, which is not what I meant.
In fact, there's a fair chance that the globalists and deep state, and 3-letter agencies, CIA, etc., who have it out for Trump, will stage another assassination attempt, and/or a false flag event. Prefacing that no-one is coming to save us, Trump is better than Harris, and talks a good game at least. It's fairly clear the powers that be are scattering like rats on a ship. They don't want to held accountable for their crimes. So they'll do whatever it takes to avoid being brought to justice.
Make no mistake, these are delicate times, and let's pray, meditate, do Hawaiian affirmations - whatever it takes to hold the peace, be welcoming and open hearted and above all compassionate. There are some wonderful posts by people on both sides saying to stay calm and enjoy the ride. I suggest readers here do the same. Trump is not the monster the mainstream media has made him out to be, nor is he a savior. But after generations of entrenched power structures, he's one of our best bets (not the only one though) of making this right.
So, in short, what I meant was, buckle up. It could be an interesting ride.

Oh, yes, an Ode to The Republic,

Turning Point

Copyright 2024 Randall Richards written in 1995

HERE WE ARE…AT A TURNING POINT

HERE WE GO…..AT A TURNING POINT

THINGS AREN’T AS THEY SEEM

COME TAKE A MINDWALK WITH ME

WHERE SCIENCE, ART AND THOUGHT ARE ONE

IN A PLAY OF WORDS,

A BOOK CAPRA WROTE

WELL TO HEED HIS WORDS OF LIFE AND LOVE

WITH OPEN ARMS AND OPEN MINDS

THAT’S THE TURNING POINT

WE FIND OURSELVES IN NOW

ROME WAS GONE

IN A TWINKLING OF AN EYE

SO SHALL WE

UNLESS WE SEE THE FOLLY OF OUR TIMES

THATS THE TURNING POINT

WE FIND OURSELVES IN NOW

ANXIETIES RISE

PRESSURE’S BUILDING DAY BY DAY

THE ANSWERS WE SEEK

DEMAND NEW QUESTIONS

NOT FROM RIGHT OR LEFT

BUT FROM THE CENTER OF OUR HEARTS

GONE ARE THE DAYS

OF BLISSFULL FEAR AND HOPELESS NIGHTS

UP OR DOWN

RIGHT OR LEFT

THE CHOICE IS OURS YOU SEE

WE’RE AT A TURNING POINT