Living Behind Enemy Lines, Tale #34: "Silent" Censorship

Four of us were at a comedy club one evening in May 2018 enjoying the comedian, Rob Schneider, when he said something like this: “I haven’t been to Portland for a long time. Glad to be back. The gig I was booked for in 2016 was canceled because the venue was afraid rioters would damage the building after Democrats labeled me a ‘conservative’ comedian.” Being half Filipino did not spare Rob from becoming an object of hatred from the “tolerant” Liberals.

One form of censorship which Democrats use is to threaten the owners and managers of venues to make them afraid to rent to anyone Democrats have labeled “right wing” or “conservative” or “Trump supporter.” Since Democrat policies are so illogical and destructive, the only way they can get Americans to vote for them is to censor everyone with a contrary thought. This type of censorship has been going on for decades, more so on college campuses. However, the arrival of Donald J. Trump on the political stage drove Democrats out of their minds, as you have no doubt noticed.

BLM, ANTIFA CONTROL SPEECH VIA FEAR

Yep! Every political, Christian or “conservative” event we attended in the Portland Area from 2016 to the end of 2020 (when we escaped), had crazed lunatics, acting like mental patients, screaming as attendees entered. Even events that a sane person would deem non-partisan were targeted by these haters. In September 2020 we had tickets for the Washington County GOP’s annual Reagan Dinner. The keynote speaker was South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. Three days before the event we received an email advising us that the venue was being moved and they would send us the new address two hours before the event.

When that email arrived we learned the address was in a town 15 miles west (and further away from Portland where BLM & Antifa owned the streets — the Democrat riots were still raging) of the original venue. We were told not to share the address with anyone. The building was a nondescript warehouse in a big industrial park. It was so well hidden, had I not had a friend who was familiar with the area in my car, I would never have found it, even with GPS.

We learned later that Governor Noem had become a target of death threats because of her support for President Trump. No longer able to fly commercial, she always took a private jet accompanied by bodyguards. Indeed, she did not dare to walk through the Portland International Airport which was staked out by Portland-grown domestic terrorists 24/7. The new venue was close to the small Hillsboro Airport so she could fly in and fly out quickly. BLM and Antifa thugs never showed up.

PRIVATE VENUES ARE WISE TO AVOID POLITICS

When a private organization, charity, club, etc. has a rule against “anything political,” everyone understands why. Members and donors on one side of the aisle or the other would surely be offended if they held political events at the club’s facilities, passed out campaign literature or in any way promoted a political cause. In addition, if they held a conservative, pro-life, Republican or pro Trump event they would be worried that domestic terrorists or just ordinary lunatics would show up, disrupting the event and damaging property.

Shortly after we escaped the hatred & violence that is still brewing in Portland and moved to a little beach community in Blue Washington, we joined a very active club. For over a year I attended their monthly board meetings to get to know everyone and understand the club’s priorities. My husband and I enjoy their many events, especially the breakfasts and dinners. In 2022 we paid for a five-year membership for both of us.

The club owns a desirable venue which groups and individuals covet. The club rents to people holding birthday parties, weddings, memorial services, family reunions and the like. Continually, I heard board members state something like “we don’t rent to any kind of political group or to anyone who would use our venue for political events.” For fear that Antifa thugs would come from out of town to cause trouble, they refused to rent to a man who wanted to hold classes teaching the US Constitution. “This will attract protesters,” according to one board member. I thought nothing of it. Given the divisive political atmosphere in 2021, if the club rented their space for anything perceived to be a political event they might lose members AND the lunatics might show up.

AIDING & ABETTING LAWBREAKING?

Then, in September 2023, though the club’s board of directors tried to hide it, they rented a room to a pro-illegal immigrant group to teach foreign nationals how to access taxpayer benefits and how to avoid being deported. The club does a lot of outreach work for low-income residents, especially around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. We always chipped in until I learned they had broken their own rule. We had intended to donate a significant sum during the 2023 holidays until we learned they held this political event in their building. Would our donation go to the needy, or to this or another Leftist group?

If one stands on one’s head, one could come up with the notion that this pro-illegal immigration group was not a political group, and they were not holding a political meeting. They were merely a community group helping others. Others might view them as a gang or cartel of sorts using the venue to plan the best ways to help lawbreakers break the law in a more efficient manner. Either way, why would the board of directors want to invite such controversy and piss off some of their members?

WILL OUR CLUB LOSE MEMBERS?

On Saturday, January 11th, our club’s board of directors rented the main room to the “Women’s March,” wherein the ladies in the pink porno hats made various signs to carry while they marched around the streets advertising both their ignorance and their disdain of our voting rights. Were they charged the regular rate or was it free? There is no way the board can pretend that they did not rent to a political group for a political event. Other than inviting a candidate to give a campaign speech on the premises, the board could not get more political than renting to a group who hates the president which many of their members voted for.

Apparently, the board of directors was so proud of their hypocrisy they wanted all to know that they had broken their own rule: They put a photo of the 20 or so “Women’s March” ladies in February’s newsletter, holding up their very outdated signs, which brought me right back to the 70s: “Hear Me Roar,” “Resist,” “Against Abortion, Don’t Have One,” “Mine Your Own Uterus,” “It’s Up To Us,” “Resist” and “We Won’t Go Back.” [All these ladies appeared too old to need the services of an abortion clinic.] “Hear Our Voice” was my favorite sign. Your voice was heard, madam, when you voted. You were outvoted by a wide margin and are merely too jealous to accept it.

It hurt to learn that the board members, whom I had gotten to know and like, were hypocrites. Or, maybe the Board of Directors have changed their rules and us members will now be able to rent the space for our political events. I am a founding member of Peninsula Patriots, a chapter of the John Birch Society. Will they rent to us? How about the county GOP recently taken over by MAGA patriots? What about letting the Recall Rangers use the main room? This is a newly formed, non-partisan group which has come together to recall one or two of our county commissioners because they defunded the sheriff We The People elected.

I wonder how many members this wonderful club will lose after they read the February newsletter.