The Second Verse

A narrative song of resistance

Today, I had to write an article for the Sangre de Cristo Sentinel, a marvelous newspaper in Westcliffe, Colorado, a beautiful mountain town at the base of the Wet Mountain range. I should admit that in a previously published video I inadvertently remarked poorly on the town, but it was my way of minimizing my role in the convoy, or as a reporter and many took offense to it, as rightly they should. The explanation I offered to the publisher, George Gramlich, was that I often refer to myself as a “shitty” reporter and that I have a “shitty” little podcast. Actually, I use the term “nothing” instead of shitty most of the time and that would have been better here, but I should never have diminished the town or the paper in my attempt to diminish my role with either. This is not a solicited apology, it is heartfelt and sincere.

George forgave the incident and accepted my apologies to him enough so that he allowed me to write an article about the convoy. In hoping to renew his and the town’s faith in me, I made that my priority rather than do a video for the podcast. Having completed the article, I’ll disclose the nature of it. In essence, it was a critique of the conditions of the convoy. There are things that need to be addressed before we get very far into the hostile Northeast of the nation. Too close to Washington, D.C. and all of the nefarious characters abound.

I wrote critically of the convoy, because they don’t seem to sense the vulnerability to its members. They’ve done a lot to secure the trucks themselves, but they’ve left the rest to fend for themselves and it’s not like the cars and motorhomes are unwanted stragglers, they were invited into the convoy and this is why it’s called a People’s Convoy, rather than a Trucker’s Convoy. As for me, I know this and I’m prepared to defend myself and my property regardless of their actions.

I won’t rewrite the article here, but I did want to give a heads up for people who read the Sangre de Cristo Sentinel and point out that the convoy is leading us into battle, whether they understand it, or want to admit it, or not, but before you think I was wholly critical of it, I wasn’t. The organizers are simply inexperienced. They don’t quite grasp the security they lack or the obligation they have. The logistics probably work well for the truckers, but are abysmal for the cars and motorhomes they’ve invited along.

Yet, I want the reader to understand that in no way does it inspire me to abandon it. While they are inexperienced at a major movement like the convoy, they work hard, care and are dedicated to their mission, I just wish more of us knew what it was.

Having taken up the challenge of reporting on this convoy, I have to tell the truth of it and the truth that cannot be lost is that despite all of the shortcomings of inexperienced leadership, they are attempting to do something that has rarely, if ever been done in America. They are making history, all of us are. They are confronting one of the most powerful nations on earth with trucks, not armies, not weapons, but with sheer political clout and no one knows how much they have, especially them.

The key ingredients in this movement are the people on the overpasses, the truckers who aren’t in the convoy, but will play a role and if they understand what that role is, they will play a decisive role.

I am no fool and I am not oblivious of the dangers involved in what we’re doing. It’s the exact opposite and why I was critical of some aspects of the convoy. The question is not what the convoy will accomplish, it will accomplish nothing. The question is, when it fails, when it’s set up to take the brunt of the devious minds of Washington, D.C., what will the American people do about it? What will the other truckers do about it? Perhaps too many are obligated to woke corporations themselves and will not have the bravery to follow up the failure of the convoy with more positive results.

I’ve been hinting at the second verse in this song of resistance, so here it is: When the convoy fails, is tracked down, one by one and persecuted, the rest of the truckers and all of those people on the overpasses need to impose a general strike until all of those in the convoy (and hopefully the J6 prisoners, too) are released from whatever Gitmo they’ve devised for us. It has to be a nationwide, immediate response, or our freedom will be sacrificed in vain.