At 13 years old. 1975 Ford vs Carter. The media portrayed Ford as the bumbling idiot, while Carter was the down home good neighbor with the wonderful grandma Everyman would want. It was over the top obvious.

It all started in the late 1970s just before the 1980 election of President Reagan. Someone gave me a book entitled None Dare Call It Conspiracy which discussed how politicians, government officials, and business leaders worked together through The Council on Foreign Relations and The Trilateral Commission and possibly some other organizations. I took the book with a grain of salt, but the idea of a greedy, powerful, and conspiring group of people took root. Then during the Republican primary election when Governor Reagan was battling with the former CIA Director George Bush, I observed that when Reagan won a state primary, CBS radio evening news (there was no internet back then and we didn’t have cable TV either) wouldn’t report if Reagan won. This happened with such regularity that I could predict when Reagan won. This also was the time that sharpened my discernment about how biased the news had become. Unfortunately, my concerns about politicians, the media, and a corrupt cabal became more evident as time went on and were confirmed. Thank you Treehouse for making ie even clearer.

Holy cats, the number of responses: 2.1k. The early 80’s (and many times since then). I was a seasonal wildland firefighter in California in 1984. I had a crew member that didn’t look like me who didn’t like to do chore work at the station. I had no clue he was a protected class, nor had I yet lived Affirmative Action by being ignored on hiring lists in CA. I said something to my coworker (about chipping in to help), not thinking of the consequences or that I was close to getting transferred or hurting a chance at being permanent hired. Alas, I was transferred and ended up leaving California after trying to get hired after 9 new hire exams where I was told “you’re not what we’re looking for.” All this while trying to graduate college, paid for by me.

Later in the State I ended up I tested for FD and was hired right away and had a great career. I experienced the stupid “union way or no way” tactics by my executive board of my local IAFF and figured I was on the other side, whatever that meant. I wondered why in the hell weren’t some decent candidates running for President instead of career politician/government types. I knew we were cooked when I found out McStain was running against the chosen one. I had a brief flicker of hope when I saw Sarah in the VP ticket but that was short lived. What a frickin’ pile we’ve been shoveling for decades. How much more people? I’m not sitting around. I’m engaged locally. This is pissin’ me off.

I’m now a business owner trying to pay off my mortgage and get my kids off their stupid devices. Training them up the best we can. Hope this continues to be The Last Refuge, I’ve told almost everyone I know to come here for some decently reported info. In the words of Toby Mac: “lift your head, it ain’t over yet.”

Sean Hannity’s treatment of the first Ron Paul campaign and what the GOP did to neuter and sidetrack the Tea Party movement. And then Obama and McCain stopping the campaign in order to thwart the will of the people on the banking crises.

Very interesting post, Sundance; thank you.
Seems I always distrusted the government. Like your cat.
The installation of b hussein o was the kick in the teeth,
and the realization that the electorate is pretty stupid.
(Confirmed by the reaction to the chinese flu scam) God help us.

Although I knew in my gut things were heading in the wrong direction for years, many years. I did not get active and join the fight until Obama came on the scene. I knew he was a Marxist who hated America. Also, that he was not eligible to run. Obama was my huge wake up call.

For me, there wasn’t one single moment. It was a gradual shift. Some were big things, some small. September 11th was huge, but I didn’t start looking at it too closely for a few years. The attacks on people like Sarah Palin, Justice Thomas, Donald Trump, and many others. The big tell there was seeing other so called Republicans attacking them. Hillary and her emails and Comey covering for her. One small thing I remember was hearing the story of a young Syrian girl tweeting about life in her war torn country. Sad stories. Then someone pointed out the folly of believing a seven year old from a foreign country with spotty internet access could tweet out in such perfect English. The left loved her, of course. Weirdly, I think that’s when the full scale of the manipulation became clear to me, although I had a lot of suspicions before. I was embarrassed by all the lies I fell for.

It’s hard to admit when you have been duped.

Covid and the vaccine have only solidified my knowledge. The fear mongering and threats are very telling.

Born in 68. I was always Interested in the “news”. As I grew more mature I started to question what I was hearing and seeing.
Found Rush in the mid 80’s, and he opened my way of thinking.
After a stint in the military and seeing how we treated our allies in time of need (Phillipines) during a natural disaster I became even more skeptical.
Then thier was the cascading affect of Hillary and the FBI files with no consequences.
Been down hill since then except for a 4 year interlude.

Treepers,

It’s a joy to read about other people’s life journey’s and their pivot points.

It’s also helpful for us to see ( with patience and understandings )that people can learn, over time – and that it occurs at different periods in individuals, life journey and as part of their interactions with others, over time.

p.s.
the contrast in policy of the Carter and Reagon years helped many to learn.

( later on, it was found that it was not a dem or gop contrast…
it was a difference, a contrast in ideology
( which politicians seek to make the difference obscure, hard to notice, to the voters ).

More people know
Not enough

The learning curve continues for each person…

Watch out for those wooden- nickels
( shiny, tempting, empty promises )

“Prove all things,
hold fast to that which is good.”
Thessalonians 5:21

Tyrannical Saul,
whom became Christian
Paul ( St. Paul)
along the road to Damascus…part of a journey….
( in ways, replicated by many people since then…)

Imho

Love thy neighbors…

pray for the enemies
( on a journey? )…

When I started listening to Rush Limbaugh in 1989.

In 1968 – I read the original Report from Iron Mountain on the possibility and Desirability of Peace. Woke me up. How the Government thought and what they would consider doing to “We The People”. I’ve had a dual life ever since. Lost my copy during my Marine Corp vacation to VN later that year.

I was living 4 hours away from home with three little children and my husband who was working full time and attending university for his MS in Mechanical Engineering. I didn’t really have any grown ups to talk to. It was 2007 and Hillary Clinton was running for President and I was totally stoked. I know, I know. I was young and stupid. I had a degree in Sociology with a concentration in Social work so I’m sure you can imagine what I had “learned” in school. Then they cancelled my soap opera. What is a girl to do?

I started paying attention to politics. I was excited about the possibility of a girl President. And it was then that I first ran in to Obama’s supporters. Anyone who questioned him about anything was a “racist.” So that was the first thing that I noticed that was total bull from the Democrats. Once Obama won the primary I was disappointed but I was trying to get over it and on board with supporting the candidate. But then Sarah Palin came on the scene and she caught my attention probably because she was a girl but also because she just had a lot of excitement around her and I was still pissed about being constantly called a racist and told to educate myself by other Democrats.

But what changed me…what really changed me was when the Democrats attacked Palin and her 19 year old daughter Bristol. I was a true believer in feminism and never thought that Democrats and organizations like NOW would stand by or even join in picking on a 19 year old young woman who was pregnant without being married. I was absolutely shocked and disgusted and suddenly the paradigm I had been viewing my entire world through broke. I actually cried. I know its stupid but I did. And I was so mad that I have never voted for a Democrat for any high or low office ever since and likely never will.

It was at that point that I realized every single thing that I had thought about Democrats was a lie. I switched my party affiliation to Independent and voted for McCain (puke). I think the first right wing site that I visited regularly was Hot Air. And for a time that’s where I got my political education from. That’s also where I grew to hate the GOPe and eventually Hot Air itself. I floundered around for a while until I found Sundance and the Treehouse which is now my only trusted news source.

Just an aside but reading here is also what brought me back to God and Jesus Christ. My frustrations and my anger about what was going on and what God was allowing especially when Trump lost and Jan 6 totally backfired on us all caused me to really lash out at God. I just didn’t understand. But something happened to me when my heart was completely broken. The holy spirit entered my life. I’ve been on a more important path ever since reading the bible, keeping the sabbath, praying and trying to “get right with God.” Advice often given here by fellow posters. I’m still learning and searching but the peace that it brings me is priceless.

Wow just wow Sundance! Your question set off an explosion of peeps venting/ talking/ recalling- as I perceive about buried fears/concerns of where the USA is headed. Thank you again Sundance for keeping the Treehouse standing strong.

Boehner doing NOTHING about IRS targeting, especially when they learned FBI had been given tax payer info. No subpoenas, never sending Sgt. at arms to arrest lois lerner… nothing.
That… made me sus.
When he did nothing about Hillary server, blackberries, laptops, etc…
thats when i just gave up voting, knowing it literally made no difference.

Mine started in 1968 when “Uncle” Walter told us we had lost Tet. Later, I wondered why there was always only one “expert” to tell us “the rest of the story.” When I started reading foreign periodicals I realized I had been programmed to hate the Jews and support the Palestinians.

I watched for 50 years as our media got worse and more blatant. I didn’t think they could keep it up but they are very good at misinformation and the world is full of idiots.

The best part of asking this question is found in the number of responses. No shortage of people who are awake.

Back in the 80’s when I worked at a mini-computer service company in California and started seeing desktop computer boxes, with cases and power supplies, labeled MADE IN CHINA – the country I thought were our mortal enemies. Home construction sites were full of foreign workers from the south and friends in the software coding business could be replaced by three or four Indians at a cheaper price. It was becoming obvious that American workers were being sold out by greedy Corporations and by medium sized companies trying to compete.

The fall of the Twin Towers jolted me from my slumber. I had assumed we Americans were impervious to threats on our freedoms and way of life until 9/11.

I was at work when a co-worker breathless rushed into my office with the news. I joined a group in the lobby around a tv used by the organization to provide special notices and information, just in time to see the 2nd plane hit. I was sick. I went to the ladies room, and came back to see a replay along with the dust, debris, and chaos. I took the day off, went home and stayed glued to the tv the rest of the day.

It did not make sense to me. I could not reconcile the life I had been living with how people I’d never heard of could hate us enough to destroy us, and then the questions came about how did they know who did it? It made no sense to me that men trained on small, lightweight airplanes could pilot the complex passenger airliners. I trained to be a pilot on a small Cessna, and could not fathom attempting to fly a jet.

And there was the passport(s) that miraculously survived the maelstrom of the tower collapse. The appearance of a controlled demolition for the towers.

I began searching the internet for answers, and discovered Max Igan and several other “truth” expose videos. Then came Obama and Eric Holder. The Deep Water Horizon struck me as being a shake down. Then I began hearing people who were close to me, (relatives, aunts, uncles, cousins) talking about the Constitution being “outdated” and in need of a rewrite. Everything about the Obama administration and what they promoted seemed wrong; upside down and backwards.

Fast and Furious, Uranium One, Benghazi, IRS targeting citizens, Obama’s birth certificate; people surrounding him and Hillary who mysteriously died. Andrew Breitbart. I was watching Bill Whittle and discovering more and more conservatives who, like me, felt like things were wrong. I discovered Peter Schweizer, and Philip Haney helped shed light on some things.

I discovered Patriot’s Soapbox on Reddit, Discord, and followed Q (more questions), and somewhere in there discovered CTH.

Since then I have learned I was correct. Things are not what they appear to be. I am still searching for answers, but I know a LOT more than I did when I started.

It is my belief the lies began at the beginning of the 1900’s, perhaps before than, but certainly in that period the corruption began to be exposed. The Federal Reserve was a criminal act, the CIA killed Jack Kennedy and committed many treasonous and fraudulent acts against “we the people”, that our government was captured many years ago, our elections have been fraudulent for many years, and our “representatives” have been bought and paid for by the highest bidder. All branches of our government are rotted and seething with corruption. All agencies within the government are debased and do not serve the people..

Having said all that, I appreciate CTH, Sundance and the entire community. I continue digging and learning, even though it is a very ugly tale I prefer the truth over the lies and deception.

May God Bless you all!

My brother and I were raised by my father to trust nothing and question everything. He was a Canadian, who served in the US Navy in the 1960s. He also instilled the fear of not being able to do for yourself in us. I don’t mean a paycheque, but skills, land, and to out-think the rulers. We were exposed to/taught to pay attention to news, politics, etc., and DISCUSS them. We were taught to think, and to think critically. While not explicitly told, we grew up understanding it was a matter of survival.

So, from as early as I can remember, and then reinforced through life. My first sociology course in university was a further eye opener. When my prof asked why everyone stands in line at the bank, my world really blew. Who told us to stand in line? What happens if someone comes in and just walks up to the teller? That’s when I really understood the fragility of society. That’s also when I really began reading the post-apocalyptic genre, and thereafter became a prepper. Mentally and physically.

Along came the pandemic. That’s when I realized the rulers aren’t a few handfuls of people, but a huge, evil network. With a very large part of the population willing to do their bidding.

I found Rush in 1990, quite by accident while flying DC-10’s in the Pacific. And Rush is the person who brought me to the CTH.

Living in Canada, I’d say it was the middle finger that Justin Trudeau’s father Pierre gave to western Canada from his train car with little potato in tow in the early 80’s that woke me up. That’s when I really learned to dislike politicians.
It was 9/11 that shocked me to the core and made me follow the news regularly.
But the bombardment of Donald J Trump is when it became apparent how much power is in the hands of the wrong people.
Also, The Emergency Measures Act implemented by Pierre Jr. has been a real eye-opener.

Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” novel rang my bell 60 years ago in high school. Just look up and read “Directive 10-289.” If that doesn’t ring your bell try Ellsworth Toohey’s speech “How To Rule Souls” in her “The Fountainhead” novel. Both are available on the internet.

I kind of evolved over time. The Kennedy assassination was my beginning. I went through life wondering about some other things but not really knowing one way or the other. Then came 9/11. At first I really doubted the conspiracy, but eventually I ran across a report put together by an engineer who explained it so well I was pretty much convinced. Still not completely though. It wasn’t until Trump got into office before it hit me right in the face. Around that time I was doing all the research I could do on my own and then I found CTH. I read as much as I could here. I was overwhelmed at first by the information this board was putting out but I kept up as well as I could. Now I can look back over my life and see all the things I missed. I spent several years in the Navy and never had a clue what we were really doing in the world. Now, babe in the woods no more. Thanks to everyone here for my education 🙂

When John McCain said he was pausing his campaign against Barack Obama. I realized then that the Harlem Globetrotters game I’d gone to as a kid was a spoof of our whole political two-party system.

In grade school in the 50’s, when we were told to hide under our desks in case of a nuclear attack from Russia, and then showed us films of nuclear bomb tests that destroyed everything within miles. I always wondered how hiding under my desk would save me from that. Have been questioning everything since then.

It was in the early 90’s with their “safe sex” messaging, normalizing behavior that was clearly not safe at all. Abstinence was derided as being practically impossible.

At about the same time there were media narratives about letting gays out of the closet, coinciding with a great deal of pressure for Christians to be silent in public. It dawned on me one day that they wanted to get the gays out of the closet, and then put the Christians into it.

In the 80’s, Omni magazine published the first article (by 2 “research scientists”) about freon (R12) harming the ozone layer. This led me to look into this “problem” further. Something that took a bit of work pre-internet. I discovered that the 2 “research scientists” had previously worked for DuPont Chemical whose patent on freon was close to running out. This was just more corporate shilling to push .gov to demand “ozone friendly” refrigerants which, of course, DuPont had all ready to roll out. And of course they always have a better product waiting when that patent gets close to expiry. Since then I view anything done or said by big gov or big business with skepticism.

I have been “paying attention” as long as I can remember – going back to middle school days in the early 90s.

Was a huge supporter of Pat Buchanan and traveled to see him speak during his runs.

Before that was a Ross Perot supporter who believed we had to fix our deficit and debt (then approx. $4.5T) (Cite: https://www.thebalancemoney.com/national-debt-by-year-compared-to-gdp-and-major-events-3306287). “Can I finish?”

Aaron Russo’s America from Freedom to Fascism and some other sources in 2007-2008 awakened me to a whole world of data and information that I had not previously engaged in depth.

Once you see the strings of the marionettes you can’t un-see them.

Thanks to Sundance and this site for further awakenings!

I votes for Reagan in 1980 and slowly became aware of media bias in the 1990s, but still had respect for the system. Then came a sudden pivot, around 2005. My field is special education and I took a fascinating job at a state-run boarding school for abused and neglected boys. Visualize 15 years olds who were stone illiterate and had been living on the street until they were rescued by Social Services. The school had a loose affiliation with the Catholic Church. Prior to the 1970s, the teachers had all been holy nuns. (I am Catholic.) The classroom was drab and shabby. In a dusty old closet, I found a beautiful painting of Blessed Mother and hung it up, to inspire the boys and give them hope. My students liked the painting and asked many questions. A few days later, the principal saw the painting and ordered me to take it down. She said, “If the state inspector saw that, we’d lose our license to operate.” Inside me, something cracked. This was petty tyranny by the state: anything having to do with the spiritual life was censored and forbidden. I became a dissident that day and never looked back.

We lived in Atlanta, Ga. during the 1996 Centennial Olympics. In the evening of July 27, 1996 a pipe bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park . Security guard Richard Jewell helped clear the area where the bomb exploded, attempting to keep people safe.
Bill Clinton was President and Louis Freeh was the FBI director, appointed by Bill Clinton.
Louis Freeh and the FBI decided Richard Jewell fit the description of a domestic terrorist. NBC anchor Tom Brokaw was only too happy to claim The FBI got their man. The media blitz falsely defaming Mr. Jewell intensified. The FBI and the press were crucifying an innocent man.
Richard Jewell was a broken man. He sued NBC and I believe other media, and received a monetary settlement. How could he get his reputation back?
We have seen multiple repeats of FBI and media collusion through the years. They are vicious and unethical and untrustworthy.

I Really can’t pinpoint a specific date or event that caused an “awakening” there’s been many many things to happen that just didn’t add up to truth my eyes.
I haven’t trusted gubment for many years even before I found CTH and I am finding out I had every right to question everything I was being told by them.
We were told in the beginning another ice age was coming…then it was global warming…now it’s climate change! Climate change is the actual phenomenon that is happening as the climate has been changing every few years just as it has done since the earth was created by God. Only problem is there are people who believe the nonsense TPTB are spewing about climate change.
Then there’s the fact that the RNC & DNC are actually one in the same…out to destroy America! There’s just so much they’re lying and have lied about and more comes out every day!

Here in the process bucket too.
* tech bubble
* hanging chads
* Fannie & Freddie & Countrywide and the subsequent fallout
* Barry O and all the multiple scandals spawned from his tentacles of destruction
* 2016
By then I found refuge in a treehouse, among other safe homes, and many dots were connected.

October 23, 1983

It was in 1976 when I read “Atlas Shrugged” for the first time. I was 25 years old and working full time. Paid attention to current affairs but Ayn Rand opened my eyes in new ways.

Thanks so much Sundance for your website and your courage.

September 11th. When for the first time in my life I was scared in my own homeland (USA). My sense of security and world naïveté were shattered. That’s the international perspective.

Then when Donald Trump came down the escalator and announced he was running for POTUS. That’s the moment in domestic affairs that I saw the entire political establishment unify with the media to crush a single man who only wanted to make/keep America great. When I listened to him it resonated. Then I couldn’t understand how anyone would work against that. But it didn’t take long to figure it out.

In the early 90’s i shared an office with a couple of guys who were in to Rush Limbaugh. We listened to his show every afternoon. That’s when my eyes began to be opened.

Obama gave the keynote at the 2004 Democrat convention, and he swept me away. I was so excited about this guy’s new energy, with rhetoric that echoed JFK. I began to dig deeper, and read his biographical books (Audacity of Hope, et al) and was disappointed to find none it seemed authentic.

Then one day in the fall of 2007, I had lunch with some friends who traveled in very elite east coast circles. They were drooling over BHO. When I said I was skeptical and still supported Hillary, they looked at each other and in unison called me a racist. I was stunned; they insisted they were joking, but we all knew they were not sorry in the least. Never had I had such a disturbing wake-up call.

A few weeks later I attended a board meeting at a Harvard University related entity, and the whole room was abuzz about the arrival of the messiah Barack. It was the first time I was acutely aware that any dissenting voice would immediately be blackballed and professionally ruined. From that moment on nearly all my friendships and professional relationships were on a different footing.

As Sundance says, once you see the strings, you can’t unsee them. The last 15 years has been an excruciating journey for me as the scales have peeled away from my eyes to let the light of truth in. I pray this cross will be greatly redemptive one day soon, 🙏✝️

The constant harassment and denigration of Reagan was the start for me. The Patriot Act awakened me fully.

I have several awakenings if you will – A spiritual awakening during College – that was roughly the same time I had a political awakening – started off as libertarian – but then turn Conservative. I never really trusted the Media – especially when I saw the Connie Chung interview with Newt Gingrich’s mom. But it really came to light when I actually found this site during the Trayvon Martin fiasco –

But the new political awakening for me was when Trump was elected. I didn’t support Trump – I was a Cruz guy – but when he took office – I watched in horror as the administrative state start to fight him – beginning with the Travel ban and later I was then challenged by a colleague that Trump was Russian asset. As I started to research with your help (I still don’t understand fully extent of the hoax), I knew the deep state was real.

My political awakening began when I encountered election fraud in the Washington State 2000 federal election for US Senate. I was a volunteer election observer in Thurston County – the location of our state capital, Olympia. We voted on standard buff colored computer punch cards. I observed tray after tray of these cards loaded into counting machines until without warning, trays of bright pink cards appeared. When I asked the acting county auditor about the pink cards, she told me they were unverified provisional ballots*.

The acting county auditor was young, popular Republican rising star, Kim Wyman who eventually served as WA Secretary of State. The Thurston County auditor was Sam Reed who was elected Secretary of State in the 2000 election.

A man who overheard my discussion with Wyman pulled me aside an explained that the provisional ballots were from precincts associated with The Evergreen State College. A letter published in the Olympian newspaper by an election judge described the scene in precincts where unregistered voters completed their provisional ballots. The link to that letter stopped working long ago and is blocked on the Wayback Machine.

The unverified provisional ballots were probably responsible for Democrat Maria Cantwell’s victory over Republican Slade Gorton. This election might have changed the US Senate from R to D (not verified before posting). Washington State never recovered from the 2000 election. It is a corrupt, failed state ruled by Great Reset totalitarians.

I often think about the totally improbable situational space where I encountered those pink ballots and some very dark days in December 2000 when I realized that I no longer shared the same reality as everyone around me.

* Provisional ballots prevent conflicts at polling stations by allowing unregistered persons to vote. The ballot is not supposed to be counted until voter eligibility is verified. This system is designed to process a few dozen provisional ballots not hundreds or thousands. When there are too many, the verifications cannot be completed before the election certification date. Fraud occurs when large numbers of suspect provisional ballots are counted. Unverified provisional ballots provide a low-tech way to steal elections – even the in-person-paper-ballot version. 

In junior high when the Warren Report posited the single bullet theory was my initial inkling that things weren’t what they seemed with our government. The concentrated take down of Richard Nixon was the beginning of questioning and distrust of the media and government intelligence and judicial systems.

I was so fed up with the arrogance and warmongering of the bush cheney administration, I (mistakenly) voted for obama in 2008. I admired his speaking ability and the way he connected with the public. A big change from the previous administration. However, less than 6 months into to his presidency I saw him for what he was and realized what a big mistake I had made. It was then that I started researching his past, along with hillary clinton’s. Of course soros soon came into that picture, so I researched him too. What was uncovered through connecting the dots was unbelievable. Among other things, I knew then that the left’s goal was open borders, one world government, one ruling law enforcement agency, etc. So, when BLM first came about, I knew their mission wasn’t social justice but to destroy police. I was able to see through media lies, including the lies being spread by our local newspaper (the philadelphia inquirer). I had listened to the same news stations and read that newspaper for 40+ years and stopped both immediately. A few years later I dumped facebook knowing they had shadowbanned me (before I even heard there was a name for it) for my viewpoints. I turned to fox news not because they were telling me anything new, but because they were reporting what I already knew was true. Now, of course, my trust in them has dwindled with the exception of Tucker. It’s hard to trust anyone in government anymore but, I have to say, Trump is the only one who had actually earned my trust.

My first memories that changed my outlook on our government, was when I was 30.

I was raised on the farm, and then farmed for many years. It was in Ca, Monterey County, Salinas Valley. I was building my first house just 3 miles from the farm, on 2/1/2 acres that I was subdividing from 5 acres my father and I owned.

We were about 50 miles south of Salinas, Ca from where the County planning office was. When I went there to start the process, which, I wasn’t sure of how to start. I told them what I was going to do, and they sent me to the building department! I went over there, and they said, no, you start at the planning department. I told them they had sent me to this department, So, I went back to planning, but they said the same thing again. I gave up and drove back home.

When I got home, I was doing something in our small farm town, and ran into our county supervisor. He was a local farmer who I knew well, so I figured he would know how I should proceed on my project. I told him what I was doing, and what had happened when I had gone to the county offices.
When I finished, he just said in a matter of fact fashion, can you be in the Salinas Planning office at 8am in the morning? I said yes, then he said in that same fashion, you will have a meeting with Mr. EdDemars, (who was the head honcho.) I was taken aback, and said, are you sure? He said, oh, he will be there!

The next morning, I was there at 8 am. When I walked in, I was greeted by Mr. EdDemars. ( The day before it was just some flunky kid that I had talked to) He said, Hello Mr, (And called me by my last name,) come on in, what can we do for you! Then he took me into his office in the back. Never had another problem after that. I was given the royal treatment, and got, and finished my project!

I had no clue that our county supervisors were the county official’s bosses! After that, I paid more attention to politics, and found out this starts on the local level, and gets much worse in our higher government offices!

By the way, a few years latter, after this county supervisor in my case died of cancer, Leon Panetta was our new county supervisor, who was actually pretty good. But, as you can now see, he followed the pattern of so many to the dark side on his way up. When he got involved with the Clinton Crime Cartel, I knew!

Thanks for the opportunity to share, Sundance.

I’m retired and spent most my life being aware of politics. When i was a pup, i read everything with a cartoon in it, including the editorial cartoon in the sunday papers. I suppose that got me asking questions and dad said “dont believe everything you read in the paper or see on TV.” I think he went deeper than that but thats what i remember, so i watched. I observed. I saw the lying politicians, the broken promises from the late 60’s through ‘nam and recalled the moment when i saw Kronkite telling me lies about that war. I didnt trust him after that but like most people, i couldnt kick the evening news habit. Then his sidekick Rather began snidely insulting my conservative beliefs and Christianity up to the mid 80’s when i finally rejected the lies and manipulation of network news and got my news from print, including Gary North, a prepper alt news source. I tried to warn others, but would they listen? LOL, NooOOOooo. But then Rush Limbaugh happened. I was fortunate to tune into his program accidentally days after he went national and wow. He said what i was saying, but a whole lot better. Sadly my conspiracies came true.

For context, I’m a 60yr old who was raised in a conservative middle class household. My dad and grandmother were faithful Rush listeners. Both always questioned me on why I didn’t pay more attention to politics once I had a few years of work experience. Once I was married, they continued to press me on my lack of interest in politics.
It really wasn’t until 9/11 did I finally direct some attention that way. It was very hard though, given my wife and I both worked while raising a family (distraction at the ultimate level). My eyes were really opened when BO was elected President. Since then, I’ve never trusted anything our government or media was feeding us. Then came Trump, who confirmed all I suspected for almost a decade.
The big problem is, those of us who have families where both parents work, have no time to pay attention to what’s happening each day. We’re too busy making sure our children are being raised well, in order to become positive contributors to society. While all the while, our corrupt politicians are sowing the seeds that will destroy that very same society in order to gain even more power. Only He can correct all the wrongs that have been imposed on us! 🙏

August 8, 1974. I was in the USAF, stationed in the UK, and realized first that my political life was intertwined with leaders just as corrupt and duplicitous as the opposition.

My attention was further focused in 1985 when the Iran-Contra affair blew up. Now my semi-heroes were willing to do most anything in pursuit of their political goals. I was already suspicious of our nation-building everywhere. This ratified my suspicions.

The morning of November 5, 2009, I realized that the election of Barack Hussein Obama signaled a sea change for our nation. A dangerous one. My attention refocused then, even though my politics during the Clinton administrations heightened my concern, and I realized Bush the Second was not a fix.

I’ve gone from disappointment to concern to feeling betrayed, and now cold anger.

I’ve been aware of the “political scene” since I was an elementary school student. My mom, who was born and raised in Boston ( and married my dad who lived in a suburb of Boston – really a rural area at the time) subscribed to the Boston Herald. And continued to do so. By the time I was 12, I was aware that the Herald was a Republican “rag” put down by the democrats, i.e., the “elites.” Yes, I was very aware. As was my mom. My dad didn’t opine either way.

Both parents were devout Roman Catholics and i sent to a Catholic school for all 12 years.

I remember my mom, who was the “Boston Herald” devotee, was also the one who gathered us kids into the den on election night in 1960 (I was 10 years old) to say the Rosary in prayer that JFK would win the election.

Then I got caught up in the “60’s movement” against the Viet Nam war. I never did any outright protesting, but fell in line with the “anti-war movement.

Bottom line is, thanks to my mom, I was always politically aware. Unfortunately, my mom died in 1979. However, my eyes
were open wide and continue to be. As a young wife and mom in my 20s, I watched as Jimmeh destroyed our economy and then the military in the mid east.

Reagan was a breath of fresh air.

After Reagan, I turned a jaundiced eye on politics, believing that there was no hope left, once Obummer won in 2008. I knew he was the snake in the grass and I detested him. But I had no recourse; the LSM was all gushing over him, and i had no where to go, no support for my detest of him.

Then, in 2015, once Trump came down the elevator and announced his nomination as a candidate, I found out a lot. I found out that one of my daughters loathed him, decrying the Billy Bush interview. We had a major clash on FB (which I no longer utilize) and reading and watching LSM reactions, I somehow became aware that there was alternative media out there. Of note FNC gave Glenn Beck some air time, and I was listening.

I have to LOL that the first site I was aware of and went to was Glenn Beck’s BLAZE. The commenters on the site led me to other sites, thank goodness, as The Blaze fast eroded.

So, thanks to We The People, I have discovered that I and my ilk are not alone and we all are in the struggle to MAGA.

Honestly, I don’t think Sundance phrased this question how he thought he did. There’s a big difference between “paying attention” and “awakening”. Plenty of people paid attention after 9/11, doom watching MSM for hours and hours, talking politics with family, neighbors, strangers. But that’s not being awake. That’s fear. I hope you’re not asking who got scared in the last 40 years. It’s a big list.

So you ask when “the social, political, and/or media narrative was not at all what it was presented to be.” Do you understand what you’re asking? My social narrative presents a tooth fairy and she didn’t show up. My politician betrayed what I thought he’d do. Media said the war was going well, but it wasn’t. I don’t think you want the disappointments from our lives. These things do not awaken a person. They make us irritated and frustrated; change a few behaviors; that’s it. The herd is anxious and scared. But that doesn’t mean we realize things are off AND START QUESTIONING. Only when we are aware, awake, then the magic begins.

Personal example of when I awoke and started questioning. I went to DC, met Kilary, competed in a high school constitution competition. My team did perfect. But one of the judges, a “housewife from Oklahoma”, had issues with our presentation. Not on constitution questions, but racism. We did amazing in rebuttal, but still lost. Didn’t make top 10. A team from New York made it, from a minority school, who couldn’t even get basic facts right during their presentation, and didn’t complete the required time. During awards ceremony, the representative from New York (who served that school) spoke highly of this competition program. (And it seemed the competition was funded again in the next budget.)

My team was crushed. But drawn together. And some of us awoke. I wrote my representative that day asking why Congress funds a competition purportedly on the constitution, which doesn’t judge on the constitution? My teacher got back to me in a day or two, with a response from the representative, and assured me that it would be fixed. So what happened?? My school’s NEXT year’s team mysteriously won national championship, even though they sucked.

That was my moment of awakening. Once you’re aware, you have to choose how to respond. You either go along with it (collaborator or slave); stay neutral (hermit or whine on internet); or oppose it (iconoclast). I believe today’s heroes are iconoclasts. Tear down the political, social, media, religious, and other narratives that have enslaved us– based on open eyes, sound reasoning, and a good heart. Be free.

I was in about 8th grade and very interested in archaeology. My mother gave me Erich van Daniken’s book “Chariots of the Gods”. Then I proceeded to read Charles Fort “Book of the Damned” followed by Velikovsky’s “World in Collision”. By the end of high school I was on my way to questioning our past and what we have been told. The story we were told re:Kennedy’s assassination never felt right. The leap to our current times probably occurred when Ross Perot came on tv with his charts and I fully realized how we have been manipulated and lied to and that our country was being diminished. But I hadn’t put it all together until the 2008/2009 economic crises. After 9/11 and then this I realized we were at war with outside and inside forces. The two books that really summed it all up were both “The Shock Doctrine” and “The World According to Monsanto”. No one was coming to help us.

It never ends – this is no coincidence :

East Palestine switching to ‘MyID’ emergency service …
right before a hazardous waste spill