I was assassinated in 2018.
Not a real-life blood and guts kind of murder, but a full-fledged character assassination where my reputation, my career, and my livelihood were destroyed by an online hate mob. ANTIFA and the progressive left used lies, mischaracterizations, and the power of social media to descend into my personal life and blow it up. My job is gone, my ability to provide for my family is weakened, and they even managed to get me banned from coaching little league. I lost friends, family, and money. And I’m not going to lie, it hurt. I was un-personed and cast aside with a scarlet letter that Google promises to reveal to anyone who looks me up. All because I questioned two fundamental tenants of the progressive left: sanctuary cities and hardcore feminism.
If you think this is crazy, you’re right.
Our current political and cultural divides reveal a polarized environment where anyone outside of your tribe is evil and they must be destroyed. Fear, anger, attacks and retaliation have become so common that we’re less shocked and surprised each time it happens. And it keeps happening.
Our institutions and corporations channel hate and use it against us.
Advertising, music, and movies are now just extensions of tribal warfare.
Nike pushes a divisive figure to sell shoes.
Amazon and Barnes and Noble ban popular books and authors.
Twitter, Facebook, and Google manipulate algorithms and information flow. They curate narratives and attitudes and tell you who you should hate.
Together they silence the wrong-thinkers and promote the woke.
Their technology delivers you a slice of their preferred reality while silencing and darkening competing ideas.
All of which leads to hate, confusion, and violence.
We have to do something to stop it. Our society cannot withstand an ever-escalating culture war that leaves people even more isolated than they were before. We can not stand aside and let the mobs become even more powerful.
A future where our divided nation only engages in battlefield tactics is a bleak future indeed.
So…. we need to talk.
NO TALKING – NO PEACE
We can already see what happens when we don’t have the courage to talk.
The rhetoric on social media spins out of control into the real world. Lie-fueled hate mobs descend on the day’s chosen target. Lives are ruined by doxing and swatting. Careers are ended. Families are damaged.
The rush from a kill lasts a few days but the consequences for the victim last forever.
No one takes the time to consider context or perspective or a person’s real motivations.
The assault mobs just appear, destroy and depart.
And it gets worse.
Political violence is on the rise. We’ve seen open street battles, violent assaults, terrorist attacks, mass shooting threats, and even murder.
In a time where we “communicate” more than ever, our modern infrastructure forces us into self-contained information silos where anger and fear fester until they erupt into more rage and violence. The tech giants keep us stuffed into our boxes and when one of us tries to span the divide, our words are muted, filtered, and kept in the shadows.
But… we still need to talk.
The age of interconnectivity is a web enveloping us, slowly trapping us all and liberating no one. If you feel sad or dispirited, it’s ok. It means you’re paying attention and, most importantly, it means you’re still human. You can see we are in crisis mode. The crisis became real for me that night in January when I got doxed just for appearing in a picture with Chelsea Manning.
It became real when my employer suspended me due to “allegations surrounding your social media activities.”
It became real when the paychecks stopped and my income evaporated.
It became real when the cops showed up at my house in the middle of the night.
It became real when I had to tell my son I couldn’t coach him anymore.
It became real when my crying son looked up at me and asked me, “why??”
I didn’t have an answer for him.
We have to talk.
We have to connect. We have to find the humanity in all of us. We have to teach and learn and listen and understand. We have to exchange ideas and experiences and outlooks.
We have to communicate.
So that is what I’m doing to do.
In fact, I’ve already started.
WHAT I AM DOING AND HOW YOU CAN HELP
Phase one: Democrat to Deplorable, the book.
On the surface, Democrat to Deplorable explores why nine million Obama voters ditched the Democrats and embraced Donald Trump. It explains how and why a person could make what appears to be a dramatic change.
But beneath that, my book offers a chance to understand human nature.
It describes the emotional journey Democrat to Deplorable voters endured. It casts a human light upon humans doing human things. And hopefully, by telling their stories, I’ve revealed the humanity of these Americans along the way.
The book has already kicked off dialogue and brought people together.
But we need to do more. We need to talk.
Phase two: Democrat to Deplorable, the tour.
This fall, I am touring colleges and universities across the country.
I am speaking to students and teachers and members of the public. I am bringing an attitude of open dialogue and information exchange everywhere I go. I will bring stories from the other side to those who’ve not heard them. I will bring hope to people who feel hopeless. And I will bring empathy to those who need it.
We must speak to each other. We must consider the other’s perspective and we must begin to give each other the benefit of the doubt. And we have to do it now.
Time is of the essence. We can not sit back and hope. We have to take action even in the face of adversity and adversity is something we all can expect.
Not everyone is going to appreciate my message.
The arrows in my back proved that already. The lies, the defamation, and the character assassination demonstrate the power of my message.
People will want to stop us from talking.
My college talks may be protested. ANTIFA, intersectionalists, and other groups of the progressive left may try to disrupt my attempts at reconciliation and understanding.
But that’s ok.
Because maybe just maybe they’ll hear something that sticks with them. Maybe they’ll stop and talk to an attendee, maybe they’ll stop shouting long enough to hear what I have to say, maybe, just maybe, their hearts will open and a little truth will flow in. And in that moment it’ll all be worth it. Because…
We need to talk.
It’s the most powerful tool in the box.
Join me.
Here are the initial dates of the Democrat to Deplorable Fall Tour (more dates to follow):
09/25/18 – University of Maryland
10/23/18 – University of Virginia (Charlottesville)
11/05/18 – University of New Mexico (date tentative)
11/13/18 – Rutgers University
11/29/18 – Evergreen State College (yes THAT Evergreen)
The Democrat To Deplorable Fall Tour is the only one of its kind.
It is designed to bridge the gap between disparate groups, it is meant to fight the polarization and the echo chambers we find ourselves in. My talks will share views from the “other side” while engaging in a wide range of ideas.
No one else is traveling the country with the hopes of bringing us together like I am, which is why I’m headed straight to Charlottesville and Evergreen State College. What two better places to begin a dialogue than at these infamous locations. If we can be successful there, we can do this anywhere.
So stay tuned in, sign up, and follow along. The journey is just beginning!
PS: If you liked what you read here, you’re going to love my book. Everyone who has read it, and that’s lots of people, have been blown away. It exceeds everyone’s expectations. If you want to understand the world we live in, if you want answers to your questions, if you want to feel like you’re sane in a sea of crazy – buy one today- CLICK HERE:
