Thank you, thank you, yet again Mr. Rufo, for your deep insight into the nature and intent of our adversaries, and your exceptional ability to expose their battle strategies!!
I have just emerged from a beautiful Easter weekend shared with friends. As usual, the experience was intensely bittersweet. I had not seen many of these friends si…
Thank you, thank you, yet again Mr. Rufo, for your deep insight into the nature and intent of our adversaries, and your exceptional ability to expose their battle strategies!!
I have just emerged from a beautiful Easter weekend shared with friends. As usual, the experience was intensely bittersweet. I had not seen many of these friends since the spring of 2020 when the COVID lockdown was initiated. Most of them are practicing Catholics and we had started our Easter Sunday by going to Mass together. Portland has finally emerged from enforced COVID restrictions, so for some of us, it was the first time in three years that we had gathered in a large enclosed building with a couple hundred other people.
Nowadays when I reunite with friends I haven't seen in awhile, my pleasure is diluted with a felt need to steel myself against the reaction I expect to receive when I tell them what I have been up to recently. It feels like "coming out" as some kind of pariah to a disapproving family, while at the same time being unwilling to be silenced or intimidated. I of course did receive the predicted reactions, because that is pretty much all that ever happens in Portland. My friends responded with stark expressions of horror and revulsion to my disclosure that I was not as thrilled as they are by the indictment of Donald Trump, and that I am focused on a far more dangerous Enemy of Our Democracy.
They are at least as terrified of Gov. DeSantis as they are of Trump, and were aghast that I am supporting his work. We had to have a conversation about the "Don't Say Gay Bill," and when I explained that there is no such thing, I was immediately told that my friends "do not trust anything they are told by anybody anymore." I told them that I feel the same way, which is why I go to original sources, like the actual text of the Parental Rights bill.
The people at this gathering had absolutely no awareness that the Woke Cult exists. They have not been exposed to any significant media coverage of the Cult, even from a favorable perspective. They asked me, obviously perplexed, "but who are they and where are they?"
It is very difficult to answer that question when the Cult is hidden in open sight. Critical Theory is too esoteric and inaccessible for most normal people to read about, and the believers accept it as Truth, rather than one of many ideologies that can be deconstructed. This is of course typical of cults, which pretty much always have private languages and bizarre beliefs. The difference is that the previous cults that flourished in Oregon didn't mange to take over the state, so the population here didn't need to study their nonsense to protect themselves.
The takeaway from my most recent encounter with Democratic friends is that they are completely oblivious to the fact that there has been a successful takeover of our country by an authoritarian cult. The leftist media have achieved a near total lockout of any accurate information about it, and have managed to substitute the distraction of the Trump prosecution to keep their constituents entertained.
As I left the Easter dinner gathering, my primary feeling was one of gratitude to you and to the other activists on Substack for keeping me sane. A year ago I felt completely alone with my fear and anger as I live here behind enemy lines. "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers," (one of my lifetime favorite movies) often comes to mind. I make a point of calling the adversary The Woke Cult because that is precisely what they are.
I have the exact same experience with my Democrat friends and family … they simply have never been exposed to the same information you and I have. They have never even HEARD of Ivermectin!!! I live in a small blue city in SoCal. My adult children were marinated in left wing ideologies in college and grad school, and are absolutely insufferable. If I didn’t have Substack and you fellow commenters, I would have no one.
Ha! I have to laugh but I really do feel your pain. I also live in a small SoCal town that recently elected an unapologetic Marxist to be our mayor. For real. The Democrats along with a Brooklyn based bunch called the "Working Families Party" funneled about 150k to win this seat. The job pays $1,200 a month and only 3k voted out of a town with a 11k registered voters. The point is we're doomed but please don't give up on your kids yet. Even after the East coast college thing the move to Texas and marrying a straight up no-nonsense Texan my kid either had a lobotomy, just love or a dose of reality. Something wonderful happened as they don't know that I know they didn't vote for Beto. Keep the faith and gift them a year of Mr. Ruffo's substack.
I am so sorry to hear that your children are involved in this hateful movement! I know several other sets of parents that have been horribly treated by their young adult children. Usually the kids come back to the family, but they don't necessarily take responsibility for their behavior or offer any apologies.
That is one of the fundamental problems. The other one is the nervous, repetitive comment, “I don’t want to hurt anybody, I don’t want to offend anybody.”
I totally agree and have thought the same regarding “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. My own son asked me if I got my information from QAnon, along with a few other Democratic friends…sigh! I’d only heard vaguely of QAnon. But then I got to thinking, where were THEY getting information from, they all basically were chanting QAnon! QAnon! It was rather an uncanny experience and I can only think that QAnon was what the mainscream (Not a typo) media was feeding people at that time. I thank God every day for people like Rufo and Victor Davis Hanson and Thomas Sowell to name a few, who lay out the arguments against this madness so clearly. The last name in particular is inspirational since he has been a lone voice in the wilderness since the 1960’s. Thomas Sowell along with Walter Williams (another great conservative commentator) used to joke they should never fly in the same plane as the ideas they had were too valuable!
My husband and I take it as a badge of honour when we don’t get invited back to dinner parties! We are never rude but stand our ground. I have lost many old friendships of thirty years or more because I just can’t go along to get along but I have made new friends too and for that I am thankful. Stay the course people! And get involved on the local level.
My friends interrogated me about whether I favor Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is equated with QAnon in the minds of the "mainscream media." (I love that!)
Thomas Sowell is one of the most brilliant men of our times. It is a pity that so many people have not been exposed to his thinking.
Thank you, thank you, yet again Mr. Rufo, for your deep insight into the nature and intent of our adversaries, and your exceptional ability to expose their battle strategies!!
I have just emerged from a beautiful Easter weekend shared with friends. As usual, the experience was intensely bittersweet. I had not seen many of these friends since the spring of 2020 when the COVID lockdown was initiated. Most of them are practicing Catholics and we had started our Easter Sunday by going to Mass together. Portland has finally emerged from enforced COVID restrictions, so for some of us, it was the first time in three years that we had gathered in a large enclosed building with a couple hundred other people.
Nowadays when I reunite with friends I haven't seen in awhile, my pleasure is diluted with a felt need to steel myself against the reaction I expect to receive when I tell them what I have been up to recently. It feels like "coming out" as some kind of pariah to a disapproving family, while at the same time being unwilling to be silenced or intimidated. I of course did receive the predicted reactions, because that is pretty much all that ever happens in Portland. My friends responded with stark expressions of horror and revulsion to my disclosure that I was not as thrilled as they are by the indictment of Donald Trump, and that I am focused on a far more dangerous Enemy of Our Democracy.
They are at least as terrified of Gov. DeSantis as they are of Trump, and were aghast that I am supporting his work. We had to have a conversation about the "Don't Say Gay Bill," and when I explained that there is no such thing, I was immediately told that my friends "do not trust anything they are told by anybody anymore." I told them that I feel the same way, which is why I go to original sources, like the actual text of the Parental Rights bill.
The people at this gathering had absolutely no awareness that the Woke Cult exists. They have not been exposed to any significant media coverage of the Cult, even from a favorable perspective. They asked me, obviously perplexed, "but who are they and where are they?"
It is very difficult to answer that question when the Cult is hidden in open sight. Critical Theory is too esoteric and inaccessible for most normal people to read about, and the believers accept it as Truth, rather than one of many ideologies that can be deconstructed. This is of course typical of cults, which pretty much always have private languages and bizarre beliefs. The difference is that the previous cults that flourished in Oregon didn't mange to take over the state, so the population here didn't need to study their nonsense to protect themselves.
The takeaway from my most recent encounter with Democratic friends is that they are completely oblivious to the fact that there has been a successful takeover of our country by an authoritarian cult. The leftist media have achieved a near total lockout of any accurate information about it, and have managed to substitute the distraction of the Trump prosecution to keep their constituents entertained.
As I left the Easter dinner gathering, my primary feeling was one of gratitude to you and to the other activists on Substack for keeping me sane. A year ago I felt completely alone with my fear and anger as I live here behind enemy lines. "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers," (one of my lifetime favorite movies) often comes to mind. I make a point of calling the adversary The Woke Cult because that is precisely what they are.
I have the exact same experience with my Democrat friends and family … they simply have never been exposed to the same information you and I have. They have never even HEARD of Ivermectin!!! I live in a small blue city in SoCal. My adult children were marinated in left wing ideologies in college and grad school, and are absolutely insufferable. If I didn’t have Substack and you fellow commenters, I would have no one.
Ha! I have to laugh but I really do feel your pain. I also live in a small SoCal town that recently elected an unapologetic Marxist to be our mayor. For real. The Democrats along with a Brooklyn based bunch called the "Working Families Party" funneled about 150k to win this seat. The job pays $1,200 a month and only 3k voted out of a town with a 11k registered voters. The point is we're doomed but please don't give up on your kids yet. Even after the East coast college thing the move to Texas and marrying a straight up no-nonsense Texan my kid either had a lobotomy, just love or a dose of reality. Something wonderful happened as they don't know that I know they didn't vote for Beto. Keep the faith and gift them a year of Mr. Ruffo's substack.
I am so sorry to hear that your children are involved in this hateful movement! I know several other sets of parents that have been horribly treated by their young adult children. Usually the kids come back to the family, but they don't necessarily take responsibility for their behavior or offer any apologies.
I can't talk to anyone in Portland. They're so out of touch with reality it's just not possible.
same in Palm Springs! Cheers!
That is one of the fundamental problems. The other one is the nervous, repetitive comment, “I don’t want to hurt anybody, I don’t want to offend anybody.”
To Sandra Pinches - "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers," ...often comes to mind." For me, it's "On the Beach."
Mine is The Faculty” because it all happened in school.
I totally agree and have thought the same regarding “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. My own son asked me if I got my information from QAnon, along with a few other Democratic friends…sigh! I’d only heard vaguely of QAnon. But then I got to thinking, where were THEY getting information from, they all basically were chanting QAnon! QAnon! It was rather an uncanny experience and I can only think that QAnon was what the mainscream (Not a typo) media was feeding people at that time. I thank God every day for people like Rufo and Victor Davis Hanson and Thomas Sowell to name a few, who lay out the arguments against this madness so clearly. The last name in particular is inspirational since he has been a lone voice in the wilderness since the 1960’s. Thomas Sowell along with Walter Williams (another great conservative commentator) used to joke they should never fly in the same plane as the ideas they had were too valuable!
My husband and I take it as a badge of honour when we don’t get invited back to dinner parties! We are never rude but stand our ground. I have lost many old friendships of thirty years or more because I just can’t go along to get along but I have made new friends too and for that I am thankful. Stay the course people! And get involved on the local level.
My friends interrogated me about whether I favor Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is equated with QAnon in the minds of the "mainscream media." (I love that!)
Thomas Sowell is one of the most brilliant men of our times. It is a pity that so many people have not been exposed to his thinking.