Let me qualify this post and question by saying this is something I have wanted to ask and write about for quite a while. I often ask this question to people I meet in general life discussion, and I am very interested to hear every response. Today is a great day to ask this…
Think back… So, you are living your life, doing what you and everyone familiar to you are doing in the ordinary and regular way of living your specific life.
Perhaps you paid some attention to the political comings and goings of things, perhaps not.
Perhaps like most comfortably invisible people you were just putting one foot in front of the other, and generally doing the day-to-day things that most would consider ordinary.
Then one day, for some unknown and likely not that consequential reason, something caught your attention. Something piqued your curiosity; perhaps you noticed something you wouldn’t ordinarily have noticed. Perhaps you heard something, or saw something, or were just in a situational space where something itched your brain as you looked at something, heard something or noticed something that just didn’t quite fit or sit right.
Perhaps that little something, or big something, caused you to look just a little bit closer at the story, event or moment with a little more curiosity than before. Perhaps you dug into that specific moment with a little more than a side-eye glance, and you noticed something. After looking at it a little closer, you realized that construct was not at all what it appeared to be on the surface.
From that moment forward, for the first time, you really started to question the ‘thing’ that was in front of you, and from that moment forward, you woke up to recognize that things around you, things you perhaps didn’t pay attention to before, were not what you thought they were. It was from this moment when you really started to pay attention and your political awakening began.
Question: When was that moment for you?
I am always amazed at the replies I get in real life to this question of when the individual awakening began.
For some it was at an early age, for others much later in life. For some it was recently, and for others it was a long time ago. However, for everyone there was that moment when it started, and it is completely unique to the individual.
So, on this day, Sunday February 19, 2023, a generally innocuous day in the grand scheme of things, I pose this question to everyone.
Yes, even all the CTH lurkers who read here and never join the conversation. The comment section is open for all replies with the general rules of on-line decorum still standing. Us old schoolers still use the early internet standards of on-line discussion, and CTH requests polite and civil conversation that enlightens, expands thinking and uplifts the audience.
I am genuinely curious and will be reading every reply because it’s really cool to see what that “moment” was for each person. I’m pretty sure the entire CTH community will also enjoy reading the unique replies to the question.
We all travel a different path. We all come from different, likely comfortably invisible, life experiences. And we all merge into this big melting pot of curious people who are looking deeply at the issues we face. Regardless of how each of us arrived here, the larger dynamic is that we likely share a common curiosity for the reality of our situation. It’s a safe bet to say that almost everyone reading this is in the top-tier of “high information” consumers.
My question is not what arrived you at The Conservative Treehouse, but rather what the moment was when you began looking around and realizing that things just didn’t seem to add up. That’s the origin of the journey. That’s the moment I am inquiring about.
Perhaps it’s a weird way of looking at CTH, but our fellowship is always what has been the most important aspect to this little corner of the internet. It’s not the content of the Treehouse, but the conversation on the porch that matters. You, the readers, friends, people who assemble here, are the important element. Not me and not the site admins.
That’s genuinely the way I have always looked at our fellowship, and that’s also the reason for every detail I put into keeping this little corner of the internet standing.
So, with that in mind, what was that moment in your life when you realized the social, political and/or media narrative, was not at all what it was presented to be?
Love to all,
~ Sundance
Sundance: for me, it wasn’t just a moment, but two persons: Ronald Reagan and grandpa and the 1983-84 campaign for president. I was 14 then and was blessed with a politically astute conservative grandfather, may he rest in peace.
He and I stayed up all night to watch the election returns, as Reagan was running against MN’s darling, Walter “Fritz” Mondale. As we watched the returns, we talked into the morning hours about politics and the general state of things then and what he had seen/learned/observed during his life. (He was born in 1919. How I still miss that man, and it’s been 36 years….)
On the one hand, I wish he and Reagan and Rush were around now to converse with. (Losing Reagan in 2004 and Rush in 2017 was like losing grandpa all over again.) On the other hand, I’m glad they aren’t here to see the decay of the country they loved and served so well.
They embodied American greatness, from the White House to the airwaves–to a small little house on Summit Avenue in a rural MN town. I can still see the flag waving from the front porch…..
To clarify: I knew a time when things were right (or definitely more right) with our country, so it was easier to see the decline after Reagan left the scene and Bush Sr. took over. When Clinton was elected, the decline definitely picked up speed and a decidedly greater downward trajectory.
But I and many here knew greatness, lived in the midst of it–and am grateful for it.
Black Irish Rose: Your response is so similar to what I was going to say. For me, political awareness was around the time of Jimmy Carter. The feeling of craziness with the long gas lines, high costs on everything, interest rates through the roof. Became more interested when Reagan was running and during his two terms. I was also very close to my grandfather and we shared everything. Then we had to contend with awful Presidents until Trump. Took me awhile to get on the Trump bandwagon but he won me over with his love of our Country.
October 2020 I went on a solo writing retreat to work on a musical. During the weekend, instead of writing my music, I kept listening to one popular song because something in the percussion was speaking to me. I finally got it: thunderstorm. The percussion develops throughout the song like a storm. A little in the distance, then more, then BAM! All the drums. Once I got that word, it was like I was released to go home. Soon after I learned about the storm and Q and all the things. (Can I just say that discerning what’s true and what’s a lie has become virtually impossible?) Psalm 37 has been an absolute anchor to help me understand at least some of what God is doing.
Amen to Psalm 37. That is one that has resonating for me, too, these last few years.
On this innocuous day I turned 75. My awakening began when Glenn Beck was still on Fox. Sad to say, he has regressed, but he started my quest. The information he gave me created several lightbulb moments. I discovered CTH during President Trump’s first campaign and I’ve never been the same. My friends wonder how I know so many things so far in advance. I’ve tried to get them to read CTH and it’s their loss if they don’t. I still don’t know if Sundance is a blessing or a curse. Only kidding, I consider Sundance one of my greatest blessings and love the Treepers.
Lindy, I know what you mean. I’ve shared things I learned on CTH with family members and they look at me like I have two heads, lol! It is some times scary to reading here, but I keep coming back.
I remember sitting in O’Charley’s watching the Shock and Awe of Iraq 2.0 thinking “this doesn’t feel right, why in the world are we messing with them when 9/11 had zero correlation to this attack?” I was in my early 20s and have not looked at the world the same since. It was not easy to accept that things were not as they seem….
For me, 9/11. Dick Cheney asserted immediately that “without any doubt” Osama Bin Laden was the mastermind. Time magazine went to press with a full report of all essential details just 48 hours later, complete with names and photographs of all nineteen of the alleged hijackers. So Cheney and Time Magazine solved the case and set the narrative, negating the need for a public investigation of which there was none.
remember “The Commanders” on the cover of Vanity Fair in January 2002?
Bush & Co smirking glibly from the corridors of power?
The seed for the so-called Patriot Act, a license for the government to override the U.S. Constitution and inert its tentacles in ALL our orifices. Nah, they wouldn’t do that, would they?
Osama’s supposed “burial at sea” was another ridiculous narrative! The “chase” for Osama Bin Laden reminded me of OJ’s Ford bronco.. but dragged out over a decade.. Who actually believes all their bs?
Raised in a very small rural ag community, most everyone served in war and voted Democratic. Patriotism a given. Family very connected via politics, but hard working blue collar Dad, homemaker Mom. Went to same school 12 years, 42 kids in grad class. Assassination of President Kennedy announced by Principal when in 10th grade. My Mom insisted it was an inside govt. job, so that was my first time questioning my country. Wore a copper bracelet for MIA Navy soldier for years and though I questioned the war, never protested, and supported our soldiers.
really became interested during Clinton years and when 800 missing FBI files turned up in Hillary’s office, I immediately knew they were for spying/blackmail purposes. That was the first time I doubted my govt and knew I was right. I never registered with either party.
the tipping point was President Trump! The way this good, honorable patriot was treated opened my eyes to media and government corruption. I was really gobsmacked. It was very difficult to come to terms with learning my country was nothing as I believed and that my staunch loyalty and patriotism was misplaced.
I read everything Sundance writes, and he has educated this naive “country bumpkin”. I am now an informed voter, and a very disgruntled citizen, lost, totally lost, for my country has left me. My ancestors arrived before the Revolution. They built a great and honorable country. The robber barons have stolen it. I now fully understand why we are hated around the world. It has been the toughest 7 years to watch, day after day, a good man tortured for loving a country that has left both of us behind.
seeing trump in person at Richmond International Raceway in July 2016 was amazing. i knew I was going to vote for him after that. a real patriot.
It started with Al Gore and the anthropogenic climate change people.
In hindsight, it started in the 90s and came to a head during the 2000 election between Gore and Bush, where the democrats did everything they could to win the election, no matter how crooked and corrupt. I swore to myself during that election period that I would never, ever vote for another democrat, even for dogcatcher—I have kept and will keep that oath. Also during that time as I began to pay close attention to politics, I noticed that the National Rifle Association (NRA) often endorsed democrat candidates who then went to state and Washington and pushed gun control—something is really messed up! So many have come to worship the government as the god who owns you. The lust for power has so filled their minds with their own self-arrogance that it corrupts their minds to the extent they no longer have the ability to distinguish right from wrong. Since 2000, there has not been even one democrat come forward that caused me to take a second look, they have become increasingly corrupt and reprobate—even locally.
“What was that moment in your life when you realized the social, political and/or media narrative, was not at all what it was presented to be?”
During the 2000 presidential election!
I’ve always been a political junkie but it was in 1997 that I discovered the Drudge Report. I think it was Rush Limbaugh from where I heard about the Drudge Report. Of course, Rush Limbaugh was someone who I listened to every day. The man was a genius and had such a convincing way of speaking truth to power.
An early internet user (such as what the internet was back then), when Drudge reported on Bill Clinton and the ‘blue dress’, that was the event that triggered my convictions about what I had been suspecting for a very long time:
POLITICIANS NOT ONLY LIE, THEY ARE CAREER (SOMETIMES CRIMINAL) LIARS.
In 2005 Andrew Breitbart founded Breitbart.com as a news aggregator (similar to Drudge) to which Drudge frequently linked. Then in 2007 Drudge would not allow Andrew Breitbart to post criticism of Barack Hussein Obama so Breitbart expanded his site with Breitbart.tv. It was then that I abandoned Drudge on a daily basis and only went there if I could not find information from another site, including Breitbart’s.
My length of time following these stories is long, and the stories have gotten so much worse than any of us could imagine. In fact during the 2008 election cycle my family was tired of the things I was sending them so I started my own blog just to have a way to vent my frustration at what was going on and how many people weren’t paying attention. Family was grateful. They since have woken up, so my little blog is not necessary anymore. 🙂
Needless to say, finding Sundance and the host of other people that are so dedicated and are willing to share with us has been a Godsend. Our numbers have swelled and seeing how many people today that are aware of the evil that exists in this world is gratifying.
However, we all know that most of these things are out of our control.
We also know that IN THE END, GOD WINS.
When I was washing my hands during this pandemic, living by myself, washing them every hour. I live alone, and my knuckles were bleeding from washing them so much. I stopped in my kitchen and said NO MORE! Now I am 65 years old, and ashamed to admit that it took me so long. But here I am, a treeper and proud of it. Bless all of you! At least I am awakening.
It was the 2016 Presidential election. I was 62, conservative, voting Republican for years. Mitt Romney had lost to Obama in 2012. But, good grief, who is Mitt Romney anyway!!! Isn’t there a Republican politician who has risen as an actual leader across this great country! Then the 2016 race, Jeb Bush was pushed as the Republican candidate against Hillary. And again, good grief, who is Jeb Bush anyway!!! THEN, as Jeb Bush was waning to single digits in the polls, back pops up as a possible Republican candidate… none other than… Mitt Romney!!! He’s giving speeches, right before the GOP Presidential Debate, calling Trump a fraud and suggesting we shift our attention to REAL Republican candidates (Cruz/Rubio/Kasich), and of course, implicitly himself. That was when it dawned on me! This is just a big shell game. The RNC/DNC pitch these faux Presidential leaders, just puppets. We, the lowly deplorables (Republican or Democrat) vote for them; and the country is run for the next four years by quid pro quo power brokers acting through the puppet. Trump, not a politician, not saying/doing as I might, but privy to the scam, got my vote in 2016. He got a ton done as POTUS, not as much as we all hoped. But I believe it was even deeper that he realized. So it was ESSENTIAL to get back to the Puppet Of The United States. Hence the scam of 2020. Now we realize this has been perking for a LONG time.
July 5th, 2016. The James Comey statement clearing Hillary Clinton. It sounded so odd, and unlike what I expected from the FBI, that it caused me to sit up and take notice of how rigged the game is.
That should have been a nation-wide epiphany.
Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.
[snip]
To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions.
FBI Director James Comey, 5 July 2016
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/transcript-james-comey-clinton-email-225103
Admission by the Director of the FBI there is a two-tiered justice system.
2,000 comments and they’re all fascinating. Probably going to bed late tonight!
Same
When Obama was campaigning in 2007 and I heard him say, ‘Words, just words.’ My life hasn’t been the same since.
the spring of 2011 i was googling how to wean puppies. when i went to hit the next vet article it sent me to g,edward griffins page on Jekyll island and the fed reserve act. why i dont know but ive been digging ever since
Good Evening, curious who the guys in the trench coats are ?
May 1979. A mentor started explaining the NWO and gave me a Spotlight to read and None Dare Call It A Conspiracy.
Then Friday when Don Jr tweeted that we are under attack.
Being The Eagle Scout I am, I am almost prepared.
Run Forrest Run
When Obama said he would hold all (he said black) fathers accountable for their children during his first run for office. I listened up. In time I found both he and McCain lacking in truthful comments
Util then I sat on the sidelines doing my work.
Since then, “they hate you.” Has become obvious.
The gaslighting is extreme, and I see smart people parroting fake news.
God Bless America
First 9/11 and the horrific aftermath.
Then the Iraq war and WMD.
Then 2008.
Obama
The DNC convention.
I started reading everything I could on Obama and his mother, “father”, grandparents and his connections-Farrakhan, Weather Underground terrorists, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.
The way he spoke -styling himself as “the ONE you’ve been waiting for” as though he was the second coming of Christ and the Messiah.
And I live in Australia.
I foresaw that this man and his handlers would wreak havoc on the world.
And so it has come to be.
I think my epiphany happened when the high school I teach at shut down for Covid in March 2020. They were in an absolute full-blown panic as we left the building. It just seemed all out of proportion, but the fear was palpable. Then nothing really happened and time went by and there were no dead piling up in the streets like everyone had shrieked was going to happen or that a true pandemic would have wreaked. And then I began to see the mask-shamers, scolders and government officials and glimpsed the absolute raw power behind their frenzied attempts to control the “crisis” by denouncing anyone who questioned or did not ardently agree with them. It was like suddenly noticing the facade of building fronts in a Hollywood movie or the Potemkin village or the realization that the Wizard and his show was nothing but a false narrative…manufactured fear, all for show.
Always had a funny filling about our Government after I got out of the navy back in 1978. started reading some books about How Jews are on a mission to take over the world . Then when 9 11 happened and I dropped into the rabbit hole & found Mossad had there hands all over the bombing of Twin towers and Pentagon . The deeper I went I saw that the jews were in total control over all banking systems world wide and our government offices all T.V and news papers , congress and senate and POTIS and Pentagon.Reading about the Khazarian Mafia red pilled me again and the link of world domination was showing the Jews were once again behind the worlds destabilization . So its been a long road and being red pilled many times.
https://www.veteranstodayarchives.com/2015/03/08/the-hidden-history-of-the-incredibly-evil-khazarian-mafia/
If you want a picture into whats really going on in our world watch .YOU ARE AMALEK part 1 2 and 3 https://rumble.com/v1mfiva-you-are-amalek-part-one.html If you watch it you will be red pilled once again.Your view of the world will change and again . Iam 65 and I plan on doing all the things in my like that make me happy and joyous . flying paragliders , light sport aircraft and paramotors, white water rafting . traveling , side by side adventures around the west hunting meteorites and gems and cooking great BBQ . But I will always pack a big ass stick (gun) every where I go and Never again listen to a word our US government has to say. Stay away from DOCTORS . Have a big organic garden. And live way up here in the Blue Mts . But most important is help other in need. Have a great day & stay free. Freebird Johnson
When Trump announced his candicacy, June 2015. Before that I thought Trump was just your basic TV clown. The vitriol, the visceral hatred,
denigration, sheer arrogance, hypocrisy that immediately materialized from whom I thought were rational people astonished me, made me realize something was up—a fear of losing status and control. I thought “why is everyone so scared of with this guy”?
When I was 18 or 19 years old (way back in the ancient days of the late 80s) I lived on the northwest side of Chicago; near Milwaukee Ave. and Hutchinson St., to be exact. There was a Polish nightclub there called Capitol Club. Every Friday and Saturday night without fail, a patron (or patrons) of the Capitol Club would engage in some form of behavior that would involve fighting, urinating on neighborhood lawns, passing out in public, and just being loud and rowdy in general.
The most annoying thing was when drunken patrons of the Capitol Club would get into their vehicles while drunk and then hit the vehicles of those who lived in the neighborhood and then drive away. They only stopped if their vehicle was disabled from the crash. This happened approximately four to six times per month. Everyone in the neighborhood complained to the alderman and any other Chicago city officials that we thought would listen, but to no avail. Nothing happened. Then, somehow, CBS “investigative” reporter Walter Jacobson got wind of what was happening and did an expose on Capitol Club.
It was an informative piece showing a patron of Capitol Club urinating in an alley, another patron “staggering drunkenly to his vehicle,” and an especially shocking segment showing three patrons of Capitol Club. Patron one, who, upon realizing he was being filmed, covered his face with his jacket. Patron two simply smiled and waved. But patron three (here’s the shocking part) threw down his firearm, which discharged, and ran off.
But it was all a lie. The “Capitol Club patron” urinating in the alley was a friend of mine. An underage individual that had never been inside of Capitol Club. The “Capitol Club patron staggering drunkenly to his vehicle” was another friend of mine. One who wasn’t even old enough to drive, let alone drink.
And the firearm? That was myself and two friends, one of whom panicked and threw down his beer bottle (yes, it actually did sound like a gun discharging) when he realized someone was filming us while we were drinking underage.
Ever since then I’ve realized that the media is mostly spin, half truths, and outright lies.
I finally woke up after 9-11. I still can see the stupor on the face of G. W. Bush in that classroom on that day. To me, it looked like he knew more about what happened than what he should. Secondly, when no airliner could fly, he allowed planes to fly Arabs out of the country. And finally, to somehow connect this with how Sadam in Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (which he NEVER had) and start a war for the benefit of the military industrial complex. I have never trusted any thing since. I should have learned much sooner when John F. Kennedy was assasinated but I was too young and soooo naive. Looking back, that is when all of this started.
For me it was when, “Code Pink and MoveOn sat behind Kerry as he announced the Paris Climate Accords.”
We all saw that picture exactly once to never see the light day again as MSM fell in place as obedient lapdogs.
Second, is hindsight, “Involving Jeffery Epstein Little St. James and Clinton’s 90’s trial balloon period of his Presidency. “Where he claimed would not it be wonderful if an island retreat could be established where World Leaders come together to address outstanding world issues.”
Just try to find that video clip of public record.
Embarrassingly stupid thing. — 1993 Bill Clinton’s fancy haircut at the airport. It’s the little things sometimes.
in 1979 i said “i guess we’ll vote for Carter”
my father said…stop right there and start actually taking a look at things…we are done automatically voting democrat…make your own choice son.
i started watching….in 44 years the democrats have come down on the wrong side…the anti american side….of EVERY SINGLE ISSUE.
thats hard to do.
That is hard to do accidentally. It is easy to do if it is on PURPOSE.
I’d say that there isn’t one lightbulb moment, but a train of usurpations that invariably leads to an epiphany. JFK being assassinated by the alphabet agency, the Nixon removal, Ruby Ridge, Waco, Oklahoma City, THE BUSH/CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA cabal, everything the deep state has done to President Trump, including the stolen 2020 election, and Covid. That is a short list that didn’t include the Federal Reserve Act, the 16th and 17th Amendment and the PATRIOT ACT.
Stealing of the 2020 (s)election!
The Duke Lacrosse hoax. NYT jumped the shark on backing a corrupt DA and a psychotic witness in order to make white (largely parochial school grad) lacrosse players at a tier-1 university into racist/sexist demons to satisfy the fantasy life of their editorial staff. They were ready to ruin 3 lives for the fun of it.
Mine was the mistreatment & utter betrayal of VP candidate Sarah Palin by our own GOP party leadership. They savaged her! That’s when I realized the political party I had supported for my entire life did not give a damn about the core values & principles that I thought they did.
Prior to that … I became aware of the lack of conservative reforms during the first 6 years of GW Bush’s two terms. He never vetoed one damn massive spending bill until the Democrats retook the House in his final two years.
For my 74-year old husband, 10 years my senior, it happened in 1966-67. Lots of things were happening. I’m so grateful for his insight.
When Building 7 went down on live TV.
For me it was Sarah Palin. I learned how the left really feels about women, and then I learned how RINOs really feel about conservatives.
2007-2008, during the run up to the Republican primary election.
I used to listen to Limbaugh religiously, and toe the “R” party line. I had to twist myself into a pretzel to do so, especially after the Patriot Act was passed.
McCain was running in the primaries against Paul, and Rush was talking up McCain and speaking ill of Paul. He was essentially endorsing McCain, a man he used to lampoon and vilify on a routine basis, over a Constitutional purist, something Limbaugh always touted himself as being. Then the convention happened where the Paul delegates were locked out of the convention hall. That was it for me.
I flew with pilots who had known McCain before and after his Hanoi Hilton days, and none of them had anything good to say about him, especially his behavior in the POW camp. The man was a fraud and a snake. I wrote in Paul, in both 2008 and 2012 and never looked back. I never listened to Limbaugh again as I considered him controlled resistance. From that day to this I became and remain a nationalist and a populist. I will never vote for an establishment “R” again, ever. Especially since the “Tree House” has removed the emperors clothes so to speak.
I am afraid that this cycle is the last shot at retrieving the country from a very dark future, and may not succeed, but at least I can say that I tried to stay within the system as long as it was viable in order to effect change. What comes after, well, that’s why we have a certain amendment codified by the Bill of Rights.
Luckily early in 2016 , I found the CT. Sundance and his well researched articles have certainly made it easier to see all the evil nous and greed embedded in our government agencies and our so called representatives.
Never really followed politics till 2015 and did not know the difference between a D or R until then. Never voted till 2012 and I am 70 . Have been 100% on the DJT since he rode down the elevator with Melania.
Just dont understand how so many cannot see what is in front of them. So many are blinded by their hatred of DJT and the slant reporting in the major media. Can be frustrating . I owe most of my education from spending a couple of hours a day at the CT.
Live your best life, pray and help others and TY again to Sundance and crew.
“Awakened” at the first of many Ayn Rand studies (The Fountainhead) in about 1978. I eventually recognized conservatives as liberals’ right-hand next door neighbors; a little less statist, a little less collectivist, and although typically more intelligent and more rational, much more “altruistic” in their behavior. Better than nothing; it could be worse because “playing to the crowd” is necessary. However, as founder of Theistic Objectivism (which, so far as I know exists only between my ears), my observation is that God likely expects more retaliation and less cheek-turning to rescue humanity from “altruistic” leftism.
The re-election of Obama in 2012. It became clear that party was more important than country and patriots were outnumbered.
I, too, was flabbergasted considering the size of the Romney rallies v Hussein’s.
(I am NOT a Romney supporter, but that is who was forced on conservative voters),
It was a bitter pill to swallow but only reinforced the “somethings not right here” gut reaction.
twice
(1) on sepetember 12 2001 when bush went before congress
(2) the day it was revealed that jeffrey epstein died in federal custody
things notably shifted after each of these events
And Epstein’s surveillance cameras didn’t work…
Bush v Gore and all the hanging chads drama after the media announced a FL winner before the Panhandle polls had closed. Then, during Obama years, I read One Second After (about an EMP) by William R. Forstchen.
eventually we’re going to live some form of One Second After, one of the most terrifying and realistic ‘apocalypse’ novels I have ever read.
finally, a story where people do what they would have to do in real life.
• 9/11
• President Donald Trump
The first time I figured out the press was lying was after the McMartin Preschool debacle here in California many years ago. I stupidly believed the press for the last time when that case was correctly and thoroughly investigated. (The lives of the owners of that school were destroyed.) Many instances of other slimy events became clear to me after that, too many to mention here. But the big breath-taking moment, the moment when the true depth of government corruption became clear, was the Arab Spring and hearing about our state department’s “color revolutions.” The Benghazi attack clinched it. Watching H. C. standing on the tarmac with the families of those dead soldiers as their flag-draped coffins came off the cargo carrier, I thought “My God, we’re all being played.”
Amen and amen.
It was in 2012. Actually, my eyes were opened to a lot of things that year.
This is a tough question! Raised in a mostly conservative family of news junkies. I was taught to pay attention and vote in every election. I wish I could name one event or insight that led me down this path but I can’t. All I can say is I have healthy scepticism and I’m sensitive to my feelings. Big stories like Iran Contra, Clinton escapades, Waco, Ruby Ridge, OKC bombing, 911, war in Middle East Katrina, Obama, – – – it goes on and on and on.
No matter how much tv/news/talk radio/internet I absorbed I still didn’t feel like I had the whole story. Or I believed the official narrative only for it to unravel later. Or there wasn’t follow up on a topic the way my type A personality prefers. It’s hard to explain. How come I could name the 3 branches of government, name all the Supremes and take in hours of news from multiple sources but I still didn’t know what was really going on?!?! I had more knowledge than some around me who didn’t pay attention but deeper understanding came much later. The examples are endless but here’s one: the Korison (sp) terrorists that were talked about every day for 2 wks then never brought up again. Came out of nowhere then disappeared.
One other thing I’ve noticed for yrs is how an eyewitness is interviewed then never seen/heard from again. When there’s a breaking news story a reporter grabs the first person they see for a statement. If you’re not watching/listening live you’ll never get it again. They move on to another eye witness with a more acceptable account of events. If I had a dollar for every time I asked did you see the lady they interviewed at the crash or whatever. Nope, nobody saw it.
People understand corrupt politicians, we expect it. But the Clinton’s and Obama’s took it up a dozen notch’s. Eventually scandals would get smoothed out when I thought one would stick! Politicians and media harness public outrage then funnel it into a chute that benefits them. This is why I’m worried about Ohio train spill citizen energy being diverted away from the cause and into something else.
I take note of who gets talked about sarcastically. I’m not an expert on the guy but James Trafficant was always getting eye rolls from the media. Red Cross passing out donuts to LE at Waco but a female protestor claimed Red Cross didn’t offer her any. Isn’t it a neutral organization. I saw her say this on CNN. Roberts on Obamacare, Maxine wastewater still in office from the LA riots. Remember that court reporter woman who stood up and talked about Satan then walked out? I don’t need to chronicle the Trump era…. I was so happy back then…..
SD I admire your writing ability and the skillful writing of many here. I have just enough ability to get my point across (and not succinctly). I’m more effective in person 🙂 Thank you for asking this tough question and reading my disorganized answer. I know you understand. I thank God every day for my discernment and CTH.
When Bush announced the North American Union I realized he was a Globalist (read: Anti-American) and when the annointed-ones in DC applauded the implementation of the Patriot Act (read: Anti-Constitionist) I realized We The People were in big trouble.
When I totalled up all the different Taxes I paid as a successful small businessman in one year I realized “They” were at War against me.
Mine was a time, not a point in time.
I always read a lot. I was a farm kid, so reading was a frequent pastime. In the late ‘70’s my high school peers rolled their eyes when I’d begin talking about the misuse of our SSN’s. The big one for me was that everyone thought the Mideast was the biggest problem our nation faced. I’d disagree and counter with China and internal forces intentionally misleading us. You could see the ,“Oh you sweet summer child,” written all over their faces.
Voted for R. Perot twice. All they wanted to talk about were his ears and his whiteboard.
I quit talking to most people about this stuff until 2015.
Yeah, in 2014 Obama renigged on leaving Individual Medical Insurance Policies alone.
It was already up 450% (they claimed by me turning 50, funny I thought that’s why I’d been buying it since I was a young man – so that wouldn’t happen). Then it went up another 100% staring at 10grand. Now it’s staring down 13grand.
Obscene price increases continued right after they got rid of President Trump.
And I’ve never really been sick !
I liked Perot too, and noticed all sorts of financial nonsense and the border situation long ago, but the final straw for me was noticing the school girls being trafficked in the UK (Rotherham Rape crisis), as heard about it in 2013, and realized the government in the UK had to be in on it, and it had to be World Wide Child sex trafficking. This caused me to go from slightly red-pilled to heavily.
It really is “about the children.”
As I’ve mentioned before I SO appreciate your site, your insight, and your devotion to bringing the truth out into the open. Thank you Sundance!
My early realization was in the 1960s when Vietnam was being attacked and I was draft-eligible. I knew I didn’t want to go although I loved the U.S. Something didn’t seem right… and I started to become skeptical of the government’s agenda as well as the media’s. I was 2S and therefore didn’t worry about the draft and just kept working my way through college. The OPEC oil embargo was eye opening as to energy concerns. Jobs came and bills needed to be paid and then wife and kids… so I kind of checked out of the ‘news’.
I remember around the late 1990s watching the news and thinking, “This isn’t reality.” I began to search for other information than the mainstream media offerings. So, I’d have to say the late ’90s was the last turning point and it’s only been more eye-opening each year.
It was more of a process, rather than a moment. The 2007-8 financial crisis and the resulting bailout was a big kick in the teeth. Obama’s election, leading to increased racial divisions, was another. The emergence of coordinated fake news in the wake of the Trump victory in 2016 was the final straw. All that, plus getting remarried and having two more kids….along with a wife who was extremely well-read about vaccines led me to recognize the all-encompassing octopus that is our corporate-federal government was the final and irrevocable red pill. COVID-19 has just been complete confirmation, along with the Color Revolution that took place in 2020. All illusions completely shattered.
For me, it was late 90s to early 2000s. First I started noticing how every commercial seemed to have the man/husband/father be the dumb one. The wife was the smart one in the relationship. Then I noticed all of the sitcoms did the same. So many had the “dad” or “husband” be funny but a total idiot. They were all married to a much smarter woman. I felt that it was such an attack on men and fathers. God’s Word says “husbands are to love their wives and wives are to respect their husbands”,really both should do both, but God knows that women tend to desire to be loved and men tend to desire to be respected. I felt like our culture was trying to destroy the way marriage was designed to be.
Then as President G.W. Bush began his administration I started noticing how every time something good or positive was announce, the networks would say “the Pentagon announced” whatever, but when it was bad news, suddenly it was “the Bush administration” announced whatever. It happened over and over.
So I saw the beginning of destroying respect for the family unit with a father and a distortion of the news to make it fit some viewpoint.
The idiot dad in the sitcoms predated that. Big time.
Spent a long rainy summer vacation reading. One of the things I read was
Playboys, because some one had hid them under the bed at their summer place
we were staying at. Predictably, looked at the pictures first. Any 12 year old would.
But they had a long article in a Playboy from around the early 60s that talked about
how all the TV show fathers were being portrayed as bumbling idiots. So we’re talking
over 50 years of media male and father bashing.
When I was a child I watched a video of the government surrounding, killing, and burning women and little children in their own home at waco.
Then as to the news nedia. It began with reading CTH during the riots caused by selective reporting on Keith Scott.
Then reporting on TRUMP brought disbelief to a much higher level. They just lied so much about Trump.
My dad, gone many years now, drove cross country to Waco a few months after it went down and stopped along the road and filmed the area through a fence. He was asked to move along by some branch of law enforcement. He never trusted the government and he was right.