Making An End Run Around Fake Media

Diane L Gruber, the author and Town Hall Master of Ceremony, is asking the first question on May 3rd for Washington State Senator Jeff Wilson on the right and State Representative Jim Walsh standing next to her.

Three & one-half years ago my husband & I escaped the Marxist hatred and lack of Law & Order in the Portland area and moved to our beach house on the Washington coast. Yes, Washington is also ruled by the America-Last Cult; but, the Democrats on our little peninsula are still sane, more or less. More importantly, we are 180 miles from Seattle where Democrats (88% registered voters) have spent the last few decades turning it into a lawless cesspool indistinguishable from Portland.

The local weekly newspaper, however, which is owned by a corporation based in Oregon’s capital, is extremely biased. Like too much of the nationwide media, they are an arm of the Democrat Party. Would you believe that they are still promoting the Russian Collusion Hoax, claiming Putin put Donald J. Trump in office? And they are so desperate to maintain the false narrative that the 2020 election “was the most secure in history” they won’t even print a Letter to the Editor which merely mentions “election irregularities.” Yes, even though Washington is not a swing state, there is election fraud which has grown more systemic ever since the state cancelled in-person voting two decades ago.

DIANE HAD AN IDEA!

Local and regional politics are filtered through the Leftist lens of this small town newspaper, so the residents are not getting all the facts. I am a founding member of the Peninsula Patriots, the local chapter of the John Birch Society, and last year I presented the idea of holding a Legislators’ Town Hall just after the end of the legislative session. I viewed this as a way around the censorship. You see, our jurisdiction’s state senator and two state representatives are all Republicans, so the newspaper either ignores the positive things they do for their constituents, or twists the facts to push every destructive Democrat idea. I emailed each one’s staff to see if they would be willing to attend a town hall and take questions from the public. All three said yes!^ The next step was to find a venue, which turned out to be the local grange building. We advertised to the public via flyers and ads in the newspaper. Yes, they sold us advertising. Over 60 attended and enjoyed a spirited give & take between the men who represent us in Olympia and their constituents.

SECOND ANNUAL LEGISLATORS’ TOWN HALL

Last year’s town hall was such a success, Peninsula Patriots decided to host another one this year, on May 3rd. A lot happened during this year’s short legislative session in Olympia, the state’s capital, to further diminish Washingtonians’ freedoms, including one which stomped all over Americans’ First Amendment Rights and one that elevated illegal aliens above Americans & permanent legal residents in the workplace. This town hall gave residents a chance to confront those their elected representatives. Below are articles about how Americanism is being destroyed in the State of Washington, which District 19 reps voted against:

YOU, TOO, CAN HOLD A LEGISLATORS’ TOWN HALL

The whole process was easier than I expected! Both times, it came off without a hitch! Indeed, you do not need to be affiliated with some type of organization. You just need three or four of your friends who believe in Freedom of Speech to organize it. First, of course, call your state legislators,^ or county commissioners, or any other elected officials, and ask them if they would like to answer questions from the public. If even one of them says “yes,” get several dates he/she is available. Since all three of our reps in Washington’s District 19 are Republicans, they were quick to say “yes.” I can’t help but wonder if a Democrat rep would attend a town hall. In my experience over the years, they don’t feel the need to communicate with constituents as much as Republicans do.

Second, guestimate how many attendees you expect. Last year and this year we chose a venue that could seat 150, but we came nowhere close to “waiting lines around the building.” Ha! We are located on a relatively isolated peninsula so only peninsula residents could easily drive to the venue.* Last year we had over 60. This year it was pouring down rain so only 50 braved the weather to find out why their freedoms were further eroded during the 2024 Legislative Session. In case you are not aware: Washington State has been run by and ruined by Democrats for decades, and has long been in a contest with California and Oregon to see which state would collapse into a Third-World dictatorship first. Sane residents in these three states refer to these states as COW, because when one comes up with a Marxist idea, the other two will eventually copy it.

Third, advertise. There are so many ways to let your fellow community members about your town hall: Facebook, local newspaper(s), flyers, email lists, word of mouth, . . . How you advertise depends upon the size and nature of your town. Our peninsula has barely 12,000 residents, so we had little fear that the 150 seat venues would be overwhelmed. If we were still living in West Linn, Oregon, a suburb of Portland with a population of 27,000, we would probably need to advertise to a target audience to 1) keep attendance at a manageable number and 2) hopefully avoid the attention of Black Lives Matter or Antifa thugs who would only come to threaten & scream at the attendees and the elected officials. Such thugs exist en masse in Portland & Seattle, but not in small towns. They are too lazy to travel miles & miles to spew their hate.

Fourth, you will need to find a Master of Ceremony. No member of the Peninsula Patriots wanted that role, so I performed this duty both last year and this year. Last year I was real nervous because I had never been an MC before, but not this year. At each town hall I gave brief introductions of the elected representatives, I asked the first question and then I chose the questioners from those who raised their hands. At the end, I thanked everyone for coming. Very simple.

Cost? This depends on how you need or want to advertise. We did not advertise on Facebook either time, and probably should have. Last year it cost $250 for the grange venue and $184 for two ads in the weekly newspaper. This year the church venue cost $50, we chose two bigger newspaper ads which cost $374 and created a sandwich board at a cost of $80 which we placed at an intersection to point cars in the right direction. It can be used for years to come. We also hung flyers all over the peninsula.

Feel free to email me should you have questions about organizing a town hall: Diane@PeninsulaPatriots.com.

^District 19 is represented by Senator Jeff Wilson (R-Longview), Representative Joel McEntire (R-Wahkiakum) and Representative Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen) who is also chair of the Washington GOP. At the last minute Walsh was unable to attend last year’s town hall due to his GOP duties. McEntire was unable to attend this year’s town hall due to his duties in the Marine Reserves.

*Residents in other parts of District 19 (a huge area on the map) who might have wanted to ask questions, would have had to drive 50-90 miles on curvy highways (no freeways) to get to the venue.