Hartgen: We live in times of such viral hatreds- Rebuttal
July 26, 2020
We do sadly live in times of such vital hatreds and that is about the most truthful statement in Hartgen’s entire article dated July 26, 2020 and once again I am left to defend myself, I said defend myself from attacks by an angry man doing all he can to maintain the control of the “true conservative” narrative. Yet again these attacks from people that see things completely different than we do and with all these attacks it is clear we are not allowed to even think this way, and furthermore these people aren’t even interested in knowing why we feel this way and if there is any evidence to our thinking.
Let’s begin with viral hatred. I believe Hate is most clearly evident by an attacker, not one on defense, so let us look into what I know of Hartgen and others like him. When I first met him, he had an incredible scowl on his face, appearing to me like an old, angry pompous ass, resembling more of an abusive father than a peaceful spirit. It was an evening of election stump speeches where people seemed happy and told people good things about why they were running, that was until Hartgen began to speak where he so rudely belittled someone of the opposite sex that was half his size that has never disrespected anyone. In a room of more than 70 people no one stopped him from the abuse except for me. I couldn’t imagine for a moment how an entire room of “God-Fearing” People would allow such abuse.
The following times I had met him where also at those meetings, walking by in the statehouse but more so reading his smears about people he clearly hates. To my knowledge in all of these instances, people he calls out were the ones on defense and Hartgen was the hateful, spiteful attacker spewing his vile hatred for those he dislikes. Hatred- something Hartgen seems to be more familiar with than those he condemns. Hartgen even prophesies about the event and how it will go and manages to call everyone he mentions names like a hateful angry child and we are the haters. He sounds more like a liberal than what he calls himself as a “true conservative.” After all, what is a “true conservative” anyway when Idaho slides more liberal every year with people like Hartgen in elected positions!
Let’s break down his letter from an alternate perspective because if you are involved in local politics these things may be vital to consider if you want to understand both sides of an issue.
These “wide assortment of fringe-right groups” he speaks of never once attacked anyone without provocation. They were all positions of defense. In every case, we were attacked so who is the hater now? He calls them loony, rightist tyrants and a variety of other adjectives but I ask you is name calling a form of love or hatred for another? Is Hartgen just an angry old arrogant hypocrite?
He mentions Lt. Governor McGeachin, Wayne Hoffman, Ammon Bundy, Christy Zito, Chad Christensen, Tammy Nichols, and even the John Birch Society and even insults the local media as “radio trolls” and the fact that they will most likely cover the event in a derogatory way.
Let’s, talk speakers: Janice McGeachin, a SE Idaho Business owner, a sweet lady always with a smile on her face. She has an understanding of what Liberty means and what’s more she has met, and has taken time to get to know those of us that do what we do. People like Hartgen have never bothered.
Wayne Hoffman, a long time personal friend and friend of Idahoan’s cares about Liberty, fiscal responsibility, abusive government overreach and transparency and stating the truth whether they like it or not, which is why no one complains when their index numbers are up then hate him when they are down.
Ammon Bundy, a businessman and lover of Liberty and a man that was minding his own business when he was forced to defend himself when he was wrongly attacked for things he was doing that were lawful. Now after millions in court fees, after no convictions, the man has been mislabeled forever!
Christy Zito, also a close friend of mine. I met her when she decided she needed to run for public office because she was in fear for her country and our freedom in Idaho. She was provoked to run, then provoked when her character was continually assassinated by those that attack her and as sweet a she is, still takes a defensive posture against any and all attacks against her.
Chad Christensen, another SE Idaho businessman and another person I am glad to call friend. Steadfast in Liberty and let’s people know it. He ran because what he had seen of Idaho politics was troubling enough to jump in. Again, he was provoked to run and was attacked and has been for defending himself and others as a true representative would.
Tammy Nichols and I have been in a defensive battle for years with our local school board issues and we met when we both had enough of what we were dealing with. One more instance where we took a defensive position against others that was encroaching on our liberty. Tammy has been ideologically solid, a good friend and one that also continues to take a defensive posture against all attacks against her, all she did was run for office.
As for the John Birch Society, I take that verbal assault personally but as part of the job accept the fact that there are just some people that not only prefer to remain ignorant but like to stir up strife wherever they can then blame it on others using old lies that have since been rebutted for decades even after our invitation to the feds to willingly be investigated!
What is important to note is that all of these people did what they felt was necessary addressing concerns they had for their country and they were not attackers, they are defenders. If what I say is true that hate is most apparent from those that attack, who really are the haters?
Hartgen says that we are for the recall of Governor Little- He is right. But where he deviates is that we have good reason for the recall and also have the lawful right. If Hartgen could look past his support for his Establishment friends and focus on the proper representation of the people and adherence to the Principles of Liberty, our Constitution and the scope of the executive branch to represent the people and not his friends, he would realize we have more than lawful grounds for the recall, It’s not because just feel like it. Nothing we ever do is just because. We always have good reason; it’s just that there are only a few that care enough to know what those reasons are. I’ll bet Hartgen never even bothered to ask.
Hartgen states in his article that we think we have the right to tell others how they should live their lives and whom to elect but the hypocrisy is that it is the GOP that tells people how and who to vote for and has as long as I have been in office. Furthermore the GOP as long as they have been in control has done more to tell us what to do because they do things that lack the consent of the people as they maintain their control. Heck, guys like this look down upon those of us that try to demand adherence to the party platform, their oath and the Constitution and even rules in their central committee meetings they prefer to suspend at will! Is that what he means by us telling them what to do and aren’t they public officials that were representatives to do the will of the people by adhering to their oaths? Isn’t it our job to tell them what to do or are we no longer a citizen’s constitution al republic?
Hartgen says we are mad at Little and the state’s general leadership on everything from crimes to overcrowded prisons. Although there is a lot to unpack here, generally speaking he is correct, and why shouldn’t we be concerned? Idaho is way overspending becoming far more dependent upon the federal government that isn’t a bank, we have a jail overcrowding problem that’s solution is to spend even more and house more people but few consider that we also have more laws today than ever that puts the average person breaking laws every day they are unaware of not to mention that 1 in 33 males in Idaho have been incarcerated, and allegedly 80% have not even been convicted? So much for innocent until proven guilty and that’s just the tip of the argument!
As for Hartgen saying that we blame Coronavirus, on the violation on our “so- called individual rights,” he is misguided, we don’t blame a manufactured crisis, we blame the governor and his supporters for maintaining the narrative of fear even when the facts are not in their favor! And what is with his statement about “so- called” individual liberty and should the fact that Hartgen said that concern you greatly? Here we have an angry person people refer to as “representative” that was to have sworn an oath to protect that “so- called Individual liberty” and now he wants to use it as a derogatory term that allows people like him to determine what individual rights are? This is the essence of the problem- someone elected in public trust, now sees people her serves as beneath him as servants with him as master!
Hartgen says that we desire to control the Republican Party and “Idaho’s way of life in which we now think for ourselves?” Who is he kidding? First off, what are “Idaho Values?” What is Idaho’s way of life?” And how are we undermining that? If these phrases can’t be explained, how can they be undermined? All said from the mouth of a man that gets angry because we want to hold him accountable to a standard- that standard being the party platform and the oath to the Constitution for which he swore? Furthermore, he just claimed that one of Idaho’s values is the right to think for ourselves as he takes every opportunity to chastise those he disagrees with and as part of a party that relies more on the power of the collective than the individual and promotes groupthink over the very thing he says he stands for! What a Hypocrite!
Hartgen also mentions “we really want to turn Idaho into a rightist enclave taking political directives from out-of-state extremist groups on currency manipulation to dismantling our education and public employee retirement systems, legalizing drugs and reaping profit there from?”
Please don’t get too caught up in his “extreme“ use of derogatory adjectives without understanding what he is really saying or shall I say not saying. Let me explain…
First of all, how does he define rightist enclave and how would it be any different than it was decades ago and how would it comport with the Fundamental Principles of Liberty and the Founders Original Intent of the creation of this country? Don’t ask Hartgen, he isn’t concerned with those things but what he fails to understand is that is the position from where we all come from and there we prefer to stay because maintaining that understanding is what perpetuates our constitutional republic without turning it into a Socialist or Corporate democracy.
Where did Hartgen get the idea that we take political directives from out-of-state extremist groups? If I remember correctly accusations like this need to be proven with evidence and if they cannot be substantiated, it is then a lie and therefore should follow a penalty as well as noted as a blatant violation of public trust and conduct unbecoming of elected representative spreading false information! I am also interested to see where these directives come from because if what he says is true, I am certain most of us would not want to be part of that cabal if it is contrary to Americanism either but is he saying that nothing he supports has anything to do with political directives from somewhere other than Twin Falls? Would he like to answer that question? Besides, how does he define “Extreme” anyway, the same way the Communist Southern Poverty Law Center does that was exposed for its political bias and its connections to Communism and of course Fraud and just blatant disregard for truth? If you are going to make claims Mr. Hartgen you better be able to back them up!
This “so called” representative accuses us further of working with these extremist groups to manipulate currency? How and what does that actually look like? Is he talking about the desire we have of going back to a Gold standard instead of the Federal Reserve notes that have been used to destroy and manipulate the wealth of an entire country? Please! I will give him credit where credit is due, which is more than I can say he does for me if he had any weight to his comments but we will never know.
He goes on to mention our desire to dismantle the education and public employee retirement programs but he appeals to the ignorant when he makes claims like this because he expects people to believe these are extreme positions without explanation and leaves me to , once again, clean up his dirty laundry by doing the dirty work. Our position on education is that 1. It is out of the jurisdiction of the federal government constitutionally, 2. The feds are not a bank, 3. We are trillions in debt and the system continues to take money, 4. Property taxes are going sky high and although the education system is currently 70% of the state’s budget, they always cry that it isn’t enough and when it gets down to it, the money isn’t for the kids anyway, it is to get more money for the teachers and to increase benefits, 5. This system relies on compulsion, to force submission to their bonds and is unconstitutionally allowed 4 bond elections a year at a tune of 80k for each election paid for by the tax payer? Then when these bonds pass, the school is empowered to further parents and children to comply to their totalitarian administrative edicts and 6…Why would any American support Marxist brainwashing in public school unless they either are intentional in doing so or are too stupid to know it because they, themselves lack the proper understanding of Americanist principles? I think if Hartgen was honest or intelligent enough and included these tidbits in his article, he may not have written it in the first place, so yes we do actually want to not necessarily dismantle the system which was an extreme trigger word on his part to agitate his readers and he knows it, it is to take a critical look at the system and consider the few examples of many I had listed above and ask ourselves not only why we allow it but to consider the unintended consequences or if intentional, the intended consequences of the extreme measures they use to ensure the continual funding of an already failed system.
Let me ask him, if he has any knowledge of fiscal responsibility at all, would anyone continue to fund something that is failing and continues to fail and has little or no return on investment unless you are a Communist? Let me ask you something… If our nation is trillions of dollars in debt and its mostly due to the exponential growth and spending of government and it is thereby destroying the wealth of the tax payer and the government employees benefitting from retirement plans at the expense of e tax payer, what makes them more worthy of a lofty retirement when they are the liability to the system, they allowed to expansion to happen and now they are entitled to believe that even as the wealth of the tax payer is destroyed they should be immune to losing income while we not only lose income but are bound to fund theirs? Government does not create wealth, they extort money, misappropriate it, ask for more, lie about where it goes, use it to control those they claim to serve and we as American’s should be happy to allow our pathetic government to reap the benefits at our expense while providing a country that no one can even recognize anymore- Economically, politically, morally, religiously, educationally etc?
As for our support on “legalizing drugs and reaping the profit there from,” I am not sure where he gets his information from of why he takes multiples issues and puts them together unless he intentionally wants to again, agitate the public by creating smears that take hours to clear, if readers will even take the time to do the research.
First of all there are no profits reaped from anything without the government benefitting from it so he is a hypocrite. Second, show me the evidence that our position on drugs has allowed us to reap benefits but before we do, let’s point the finger back at this tyrant and ask him what he knows about Big Pharma and collusion with the government and the profits that are made in support of such a partnership? Hypocrisy! Next, this use of the word “Illegal” reminds me of his position of superiority over the people he intended to serve as a servant. He has clearly taken the position that we are only allowed drugs approved by the FDA and others he along with his cronies feels like we deserve rather than us having the freedom to choose what we consider an efficient drug for our treatment. Its funny, I Don’t see anything about drugs in either the state or federal constitution, which would mean to me, if not written, that is beyond the scope of government! It isn’t at all about legalizing drugs or creating a nation of drug attics like he would make you think, it’s a matter of law and freedom and…safety. Whenever the government benefits financially from anything, they abuse that privilege and use it to eventually turn against the tax payer. Big Pharma is a classic example. Pharma pays, and legislators and health officials listen and do what they want to push drugs and thereby making huge profits! I have seen the system work first hand and know this to be true. Additionally, we have created and accepted that the unelected federal bureaucracy has some legitimate interest in the health and well-being of people when first of all, the creation of the agency was an abuse to the people constitutionally. Then with their creation, who knows the back room deals they work with others as they try to manipulate the efficiency and hazard stats to push the drug because of the money involved in that relationship and the creation of a drug that many times the FDA approves and is later banned because the dangers become public! So, Hartgen, who the hell do you think you are talking to and what position are you taking when you were elected to “represent the people” that from just what I have shown shows you don’t represent them at all and instead you support all of the things you were not to support as a representative. I think and know if people knew the positions I am clarifying, you or your wife would never ever be allowed in politics again if the people had anything to say about it! Explain to me why legal drugs are better than illegal ones? I looked in a PDR (Physicians Desk Refernce) once and looked at the drug Prozac, then looked at many others and what did I find? Pages and pages of side effects and some effects are permanent! And you are telling us Spice, or Hemp or even Pot is illegal because why? The truth of the matter Hartgen is that you and your people don’t like people nullifying your laws- I assume it is a pride thing for you like “how dare those minions make decisions for themselves…” but in reality, you are probably upset because you can’t tax it and you can’t stand that there are people that rather than listening to your directives that people would rather live free making their own decisions that earlier you even stated you supported but in reality, you are a hypocrite because you desire to control others and saying we do is just to cover the fact that you do and of course, I say again, You are a hypocrite!
You resort to name calling, making derogatory comments like a “mixed bag of malcontents, gun nuts, tin soldiers, puffed up politicos, radio blabbers” and even manage to, in lock step with every other smear, smear the members of the John Birch Society which even proves you have bought the communist lie perpetrated against us in the early 70’s and haven’t expanded your knowledge since then!
Looking back, You have managed to undermine the character of every demographic which I can assume was all to elevate yourself at their expense, who does that? All of these people you seem to forget are even people that voted for you and now in your sick idea of humility, you beat them all down like you are Jesus Incarnate? Let me be the first to tell you, you are no Jesus and you are also no king.
You seem to perceive yourself as a mighty man that people listen to, where you think people like you for condemning others. You call others hateful and spiteful but show by example, no one is more hateful and spiteful than you are. Taking the time to sit and plan to write articles as you do only means that your anger and hatred has festered in your soul for way too long and rather than focusing on the goodness in anyone, your answer is to condemn them. There is no issue with pointing out positions people take but to do so without knowing who you are talking about and using your words to slam who they are as people is unconscionable.
Maybe you do this all because you realize your old lies aren’t working anymore and that people want to live their own lives not to be dictated by an old angry souls like yours. Perhaps you are just tired and ill and don‘t want anyone to know. The only way I can even offer you any grace without any humility on your part is that you are indeed sick but depending on the seriousness of what you may have, it would seem that one would become kinder not more angry but maybe that is a stage.
I want Hartgen to know I was furious when I read his article but to be honest, I was far more hurt than angry because it told me in a world and in our failing country, rather than focusing on solutions to our problems, overcoming division by assumption he would rather focus on being part of the problem and regardless of his political position unless he is a communist, it is unbecoming of a representative and an absolute violation of his oath to the “Public trust.”
I understand enough about this world to know that pride and division are just before the fall and those that intentionally divide especially spreading falsehoods and misinformation are a part of the problem and should indeed be weeded out.
The difference between Hartgen and me is that rather than attacking others then calling them attackers, I prefer to remain on the defense. I prefer to challenge what others know, ask why they believe the way they do and provide evidence of why. I have found it to be a good habit to consistently and frequently self-reflect on my positions, to learn more and to understand there are always people out there than know more than I do and as they help me learn, I become better as a person and wiser as it increases my ability to help and teach others. If I ever do anger other people I try with all I have not to have it be me that angers them but the truth that comes out of my mouth for one has no control of the feeling s of others when truth is spoken. One of the greatest lessons is that I am still learning is the art of maintaining self-control because the way I am perceived has a direct correlation on the success I may have in the future but When it comes to rights violations and the blatant disregard of representatives to allow people to be free, or grant them remedy, I must stand and so I have for what it’s worth.
I think another difference between he and I is that I have a genuine love for people and rather than dying winning with the most toys, or controlling the most people or condemning the most people and spreading anger in news articles because he can without the ability for them to counter his filth, I prefer to die defending the liberty for myself and my posterity and winning by knowing the most people…as people.
God help you.
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