Grange Kicks Republicans Out

Living Behind Enemy Lines: Not So Subtle Censorship

Last summer our local John Birch Society chapter, Peninsula Patriots, rented a large room at the local grange to hold a Legislators’ Town Hall. The 2023 Washington State Legislative Session had just adjourned and we wanted the public to be able to ask questions of our three representatives about why & how they voted on various bills. I am an active member of the chapter and arranged this entire event, including performing the duties of Master of Ceremony.

Our chapter began in November 2020 and this was our “coming out of the patriot closet” event. I was surprised the grange would rent the space to us because two other venues turned us down. Our state senator and both state representatives are Republicans so they did not want to give them a forum in which to speak. Had they been Democrats, these venues would likely have rented the space to us, and Peninsula Patriots still would have arranged this event. The public has the right to interact with their representatives.

If a group of citizens wants to put on an event anywhere these last eight years that is deemed “right-wing” by those in charge of the facility, venues are limited. If they bother to return the call or email they have lame excuses like “we don’t rent to political events” or, this excuse is priceless given the Leftist riots in 2020: “your event will attract violent people.” I struggled to contain my laughter when I heard that one.^ That same venue claims they do not rent to “political events” yet had no problem holding classes for illegals, to teach them how to apply for welfare and how to stay in the United States, et al. One can’t get much more “political” than that, given the wide open southern border.

The Legislators’ Town Hall was a smashing success, well attended, with many free flowing discussions between citizens and their representatives. Two of the grange’s active members, both Democrats, attended the town hall and told us they wanted Peninsula Patriots to rent their facility again.* The state legislature is currently holding its 2024 session, and we are preparing to repeat last year’s success with another Legislators’ Town Hall soon after the session ends. One state representative has already signed on.

REPUBLICANS ARE 86’d

We were just advised that the grange won’t rent to Peninsula Patriots again because our event was not “balanced:” We did not have any Democrat politicians on the stage. Say what? Our legislative district voted in three Republicans. At this point, our community does not have any Democrats representing us at the state capitol. Should we have invited the sewer commissioner? I heard he is a Democrat.^^

We don’t know how many, but I was told grange members complained. Likely, they had not bothered to attend the town hall. The new board chair 86’d us after he had attended two of our Peninsula Patriots meetings and discovered we are merely open-minded Americans wanting to maintain freedom for ourselves and future generations. We even invited him to give a short presentation about homelessness at November’s meeting, which he did. Apparently, he is just another American who is unable to carry a debate with a Conservative, and “fights back” by closing the venue. Sad. We have found another venue for our 2024 Legislators’ Town Hall and he is welcome to come and pose his questions to our state senator and state representatives.

Legislators’ Town Hall, July 5, 2023. The man standing, in a pink shirt, is Senator Jeff Wilson. To the extreme right you will see Sheriff Daniel Garcia, wearing a cowboy hat. Undersheriff Mike Ray sits to his left.  I can be seen at the far left, standing up, checking my MC notes.

The grange’s behavior is just one small example revealing that everyday Democrats, much like the politicians they vote for, want to censor Republican and/or Conservative voices. This hate is reflected in a Pew Research survey taken last year.

CENSORSHIP AT THE GROUND LEVEL

Last August I wrote an article about a Pew Research survey that revealed everyday Democrat/Liberal voters were far more likely to want their Republican/Conservative neighbors censored than the other way round. No surprise there. After all, they know they are superior. Americans have long recognized we are suffering under censorship Writ Large with Social Media, Big Media and others partnering with the DC Swamp to oppress & suppress certain voices. But, how does this desire to shut up and shut out Republican & Conservative voices manifest itself at the ground level, among everyday Democrat voters, I wondered? I now have the answer: Democrats whine, threaten** or worse, and others cave to their censorship demands. Apparently, that is what happened at the local grange.

When we moved from a Democrat-controlled metro area to a small, isolated beach community in 2020 (we call ourselves “riot refugees”), one of the first things we noticed was the fact that people here are nicer, more friendly, more cheerful, more respectful toward strangers & acquaintances. This was quite a change from the sour faces and nasty remarks we had grown used to. The quickest way to get your car vandalized in a Blue jurisdiction is to put a GOP sticker on it.

We have concluded that this apparent difference in attitudes is due to the fact that the percentage of Democrat voters is about 50% in our little coastal community of 12,000 compared to 80-90% in the metro area from which we escaped. This rural, rather isolated county voted for Trump twice. The Democrats in metro areas know they are the majority and treat political minorities like second class citizens which they feel free to abuse. They are superior, you know. Democrats here are not so overt in their disdain for Republicans & Conservatives, so it took us awhile to notice they are no less hateful, just more subtle about it. In other words, they smile when they shut you down and shut you out.

“Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist.  That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants.  It is the right which they first of all strike down.  They know its power.” Frederick Douglass, Republican, abolitionist, author, orator, statesman (1818-1895).

^Without mentioning that he was with the John Birch Society, two years ago our chapter leader called to inquire about renting the space for public showings of a six-video series on the US Constitution. We were told this event might bring in thugs from out of town, and that this topic was ridiculous.

*Myself and the leader of the other JBS chapter in our small county rented the same grange facility in October. This was not an official John Birch Society event, but we worked with the same grange volunteers I worked with for July’s town hall. Again, they were pleased to have us. We put on a Meet & Greet for Joe Kent, a Republican candidate for congress, who lost by a handful of votes in 2022.

^^Just a little levity here. We don’t have a sewer commission.

**An anti-free speech hater twice threatened our sweet post office clerk (the woman works all alone at the very small PO annex down the road from us) because there was a poster in the lobby which invited the public to a Peninsula Patriots’ open house. He went whining to the postmaster and now NO ONE can put up posters on ANY TOPIC at the two post offices in our community. This one Liberal hater ruined it for everyone. Putting up posters is one way we communicate in this community. Your dog is lost? Put up posters immediately! Want to sell your old lawnmower? Put up posters! Your group is holding a Christmas event? Put up posters!