The Finish Line February Edition
COS Indiana's Newsletter published monthly for the growth of the grassroots army and the march towards a convention.
COS Indiana's Newsletter published monthly for the growth of the grassroots army and the march towards a convention.
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Subscribe Past Issues View this email in your browser<br />
Translate RSS<br />
T H E F I N I S H L I N E<br />
62,735 INDIANA STRONG!<br />
COS Indiana Vision: To build a strong, engaged army of self-governing activists.<br />
COS INDIANA EVENTS CALENDAR<br />
Click on the Calendar below – it links directly to the COS Team Up Calendar!<br />
LOVE GOD – LOVE FAMILY – LOVE COUNTRY – LOVE ONE ANOTHER
CHOOSE AN EVENT FROM THE CALENDAR LINKED BELOW<br />
AND PLAN TO HOST A COS BOOTH!<br />
THINGS TO DO | VISIT INDIANA | FEBRUARY 2023<br />
VIDEO RECAP OF SURGE DAY IN 2022
WE CONTROL OUR FATE<br />
DESTINY AWAITS!<br />
2023 COS INDIANA "SURGE DAY"<br />
MEET AT THE STATE CAPITOL<br />
IMPORTANT: WE NEED YOU AT SURGE DAY!<br />
Date: March 8, 2023<br />
Location: Indiana Statehouse, North Atrium – 2nd Floor<br />
200 W. Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204<br />
Time: 9:00 am – 3:00 pm (EST)<br />
We need more than 100 COS supporters at this year's COS Surge Day. We ask that you<br />
contact your House and Senate representatives – get on their calendar NOW. Meet with<br />
them and ask them to visit our booth on March 8th. Please wear your COS gear and be<br />
prepared to discuss our Article V progress (19 States and growing) and bills or issues your<br />
representatives are involved in or have authored.<br />
You can find your representatives at https://iga.in.gov/legislative/find-legislators/<br />
You can search for the bills they have authored at<br />
https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/bylegislator<br />
Search standing committees at https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/committees/standing<br />
ACCESS and ACCESSIBILITY<br />
Enter through security on the Capitol Avenue side at the top of the main stairway.<br />
Enter through security on the west, N. Senate Avenue side lower level.<br />
Be prepared for hard surface walking, but seating areas available inside as needed<br />
and elevator access is available once past security.<br />
Statehouse floor maps and other information can be found at:<br />
https://iga.in.gov/information/location_maps/<br />
PARKING OPTIONS $5-$25<br />
Parking Garage on N. Capitol Avenue directly across from the Statehouse.<br />
Parking at the Circle Centre Mail, enter off Washington Street east of Illinois Street.<br />
Street Metered Parking – meters take a credit card and parking space number can be<br />
paid at any pay station. Add your phone number at the end of pay process to receive<br />
a receipt and a reminder that your time is about to expire. Time can then be<br />
extended using your phone if necessary. First 4 hours is about $7.00.<br />
FOOD OPTIONS – $10-$20 per person<br />
Lower level of the Statehouse – basic grilled items and drinks.<br />
Indiana Government Center west of the Statehouse – cafeteria options.<br />
Local dining options within two blocks of the Statehouse.<br />
PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND. <strong>The</strong> more folks that come, the more positive impact COS can<br />
make as a force to be reckoned with. MAKE THIS A CALENDAR PRIORITY!<br />
STATE NEWS
COS State Director Dale Parrish gives a quick rundown on Indiana news!<br />
COS INDIANA LIVE BROADCAST<br />
Hosted by Dale Parrish / Co-Hosted by Ken Kashuba<br />
<strong>The</strong> weekly broadcast is live-streamed on Facebook and Youtube<br />
Each Monday at 7:00 PM Eastern Time<br />
COS ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION<br />
4TH MONDAY EACH MONTH<br />
NEXT ROUNDTABLE: FEBRUARY 27, 2023<br />
PATRIOT VOLUNTEERS<br />
"SHARE THE PETITION" MONTHLY CHALLENGE<br />
<strong>The</strong>se are critical times!<br />
Forward this newsletter to your family and friends!
THE 2023 CHALLENGE<br />
GOAL: 70,000 PETITION SIGNERS<br />
Share the COS Project with at least one person!<br />
Help them sign the petition!<br />
WE NEED PETITION SIGNERS<br />
AND MORE VOLUNTEERS!<br />
Signing the petition is the least we can do to save our republic.<br />
www.conventionofstates.com<br />
WAYS TO SERVE – HELP NEEDED<br />
If we are to fulfill our mission, we need more than petition signers – we need Hoosiers to<br />
engage in their community. We can no longer trust our lives, our rights, and our country to<br />
others. Convention of States Action offers many ways to be involved, so whether it be<br />
visiting the statehouse for Surge Day, writing letters to your representatives, working the<br />
phones for the TelePatriot missions, or getting a friend to sign the petition this month –<br />
there is a way for each person to make a difference. Together, we can accomplish great<br />
things! Do something to serve! Get started making a difference today!<br />
That is why we are introducing the STEP UP program. Click on the link to review the<br />
opportunities, or you can contact the team directly if you would like to volunteer or need<br />
further information about any open positions at email: RaiseYourVoiceCOS@gmail.com.<br />
STEP UP!<br />
Founding Father Thomas Jefferson said:<br />
“We in America do not have government by the majority—we have<br />
government by the majority who participate... All tyranny needs to gain a<br />
foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”<br />
You can help bring change by being engaged. Do not remain silent. Get involved!<br />
Many of us sat on the sidelines, hoping that someone else would step up. If we are going to<br />
restore America, it will require every patriotic American.<br />
If we are going to stop the taking of our rights, we must stand together, and we are<br />
standing together nationally 5 million strong. You are not alone.<br />
Doing nothing gives us more of what we are getting right now!<br />
I am asking for citizens of Indiana to take a stand. I am asking you to raise your Hoosier<br />
voice to be heard across every county in this state.<br />
We need District Captains to grow our grassroots army here in Indiana. Will you join us?<br />
Take action NOW!
MARENGO MIKE<br />
Created by COS Indiana Comms Director Ken Kashuba<br />
VIEW VIDEO<br />
ONE NATION UNDER GOD<br />
Aspirational Goal: To bring a Political and Spiritual Awakening to America.<br />
An Answer To Prayer<br />
by Tim Heidenreich | <strong>February</strong> 14, 2023<br />
I received a wonderful update from Robert Suarez this week. We started praying for<br />
last July, because he was being treated for Lymphoma. It is so heart warming to hear<br />
stories like this so I am sharing some excerpts from his email with all of you:
“Hello Tim, a few months ago you placed me on your prayer list. Perhaps you<br />
remember me. As I finished my prayers tonight the spirit moved me to contact you. So I<br />
got out of bed and began texting you.<br />
"I want, first, to thank you for your prayers and those of your prayer warriors. I had so<br />
many people in COS praying for me. Several contacted me asking if they could put me<br />
on their church prayer lists...<br />
"Thank you to all my prayerful Christian brothers and sisters who have been praying<br />
for me. Rest assured that your prayers provided me with much comfort and strength.<br />
So much so that I often felt guilty and undeserving to see others suffer so much more<br />
than I did. <strong>The</strong> Lord also blessed me Spiritually in ways that I cannot communicate<br />
properly in a text.<br />
"I have begun doing my morning prayer walks again, but it will be a while before I get<br />
back up to 5 mile walks again. But I have already reached the 2.5 mile mark. It takes me<br />
an hour to complete a walk now, but I pray unceasingly in that hour for the church,<br />
our nation, and I never forget all my brothers and sisters in Christ. I pray for you all as<br />
I walk, just as you all prayed for me, while the Lord held my hand as He walked with<br />
me over the last few months.<br />
"I said many in this text except the most important ones: Thank you, I love you, and<br />
glory to God in the highest, for the great gift of our lives which He shares with us<br />
through our Lord Jesus Christ.”<br />
If you would like to join our COS Indiana Prayer Warriors team, please let me know.<br />
I'd be very happy to add you to the distribution list for prayer requests that I receive.<br />
* * *<br />
COS Indiana State Prayer Contact Tim Heidenreich invites your prayer requests and we<br />
sincerely ask your prayers for the COS team, their families, and for the success of our<br />
mission. Prayers for upcoming events, legislative issues, for critical roles to be filled,<br />
personal needs, surgery or illness, comfort in time of grief, items for thanksgiving. Phone<br />
Tim at: 317-910-2992 or email: Tim.Heidenreich@cosaction.com.<br />
* * *<br />
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct<br />
my prayer unto thee, and will look up. Psalm 5:3<br />
All true love is from God, and man receives the divine affection as he himself bestows<br />
this love upon his fellows. Love is dynamic. It can never be captured; it is alive, free,<br />
thrilling, and always moving. Man can never take the love of the Father and imprison it<br />
within his heart. <strong>The</strong> Father’s love can become real to mortal man only by passing<br />
through that man’s personality as he in turn bestows this love upon his fellows. <strong>The</strong><br />
great circuit of love is from the Father. <strong>The</strong> love of the Father appears in the mortal<br />
personality by the ministry of the indwelling spirit and through the ministry of<br />
Jesus. <strong>The</strong>n such a God-knowing faith-son reveals this love to his universe brethren. –<br />
Philosophy from <strong>The</strong> Urantia Book<br />
IDEALS OF SELF–GOVERNANCE<br />
Self-Governance is the essence of the true American spirit.
IDEALISM, ILLUSION, AND REALITY<br />
Success may generate courage and promote confidence, but wisdom comes only from the<br />
experiences of adjustment to the results of one's failures. Men who prefer optimistic illusions<br />
to reality can never become wise. Only those who face facts and adjust them to ideals can<br />
achieve wisdom. Wisdom embraces both the fact and the ideal and therefore saves its devotees<br />
from both of those barren extremes of philosophy — the man whose idealism excludes facts<br />
and the materialist who is devoid of spiritual outlook. Those timid souls who can only keep<br />
up the struggle of life by the aid of continuous false illusions of success are doomed to suffer<br />
failure and experience defeat as they ultimately awaken from the dream world of their own<br />
imaginations.<br />
Any civilization is in jeopardy when three quarters of its youth enter materialistic professions<br />
and devote themselves to the pursuit of the sensory activities of the outer world. Civilization is<br />
in danger when youth neglect to interest themselves in ethics, sociology, philosophy, the fine<br />
arts, religion, and cosmology.<br />
Unbridled self-will and unregulated self-expression equal unmitigated selfishness, the acme<br />
of ungodliness. Liberty without the associated and ever-increasing conquest of self is a<br />
figment of egoistic mortal imagination. Self-motivated liberty is a conceptual illusion, a cruel<br />
deception. License masquerading in the garments of liberty is the forerunner of abject<br />
bondage. Secular social and political optimism is an illusion. Without God, neither freedom<br />
and liberty, nor property and wealth will lead to peace. – <strong>The</strong> Urantia Book<br />
As we dance a tango with the possibility of world war, will America continue to "doubledown"<br />
on creating the illusion of success, or face the reality that certain policies are not<br />
working? Take current politics out of the equation and ask yourself: what kind of world are<br />
we creating? Is the world a more peaceful place than 10 years ago? Is there food security for<br />
more people? Do people enjoy a better sense of health and well-being? Are we better off<br />
financially? Are less people needing assistance? Are less people homeless? Has education<br />
improved? Are we energy independent? Are our citizens safer? Are we winning the battle<br />
against illegal drugs? Do our children have a sense of hope for the future? If not, action is<br />
required. To repeat the same governing mistakes and expect a different outcome is<br />
insanity. We must begin to evaluate what works and what doesn't. It will take courage to
admit mistakes, but by doing that we can learn and move forward for all mankind, for<br />
example: How Ancient Wisdom Can Help Us Tackle Today's Crises. (as Samatha Aschieris<br />
wrote earlier this week in <strong>The</strong> Daily Signal) continue reading...<br />
Courage–John's Journal ~ by John Aukermann<br />
OPINION / EDITORIALS<br />
Opinions expressed in the following articles are solely the expressed views of the authors.<br />
SHALL NOT PERISH<br />
By An Ordinary Citizen | <strong>February</strong>, 2023
We are often a nation of whiners. When we should be grateful for what we seem<br />
determined to throw away, we get together with our friends and play “ain’t it awful.” But,<br />
to give us our due, there’s no denying that this country is in a very serious and precarious<br />
position. That said, our national reality can be viewed, indeed, as awful.<br />
As Stanford fellow and historian Victor Davis Hanson pointed out in <strong>The</strong> Daily Signal, there<br />
are 10 things that could destroy the US. <strong>The</strong>se are happening now. <strong>The</strong>y are done with<br />
intention and impose a long-lasting impact on the country as a whole that may take years<br />
(if not a generation or two) to reverse.<br />
However, considering the overarching impact on the country as a whole is somewhat<br />
disingenuous because it allows us to divorce ourselves from the urgency of the situation.<br />
We can rely on venting our fears over the back fence, in the coffee shop, or in the<br />
breakroom at work. (Again, “ain’t it awful?”) This venting removes the pressure and<br />
slithering fear we might feel but it does not change reality – because big things like these<br />
trickle down.<br />
First, here’s Hanson’s list – 10 steps to destruction – in a nutshell (with my paraphrasing).<br />
Step 1. Destroy America’s energy independence.<br />
Step 2. Promote a manipulative monetary policy.<br />
Step 3. Devalue America’s physical boundaries.<br />
Step 4. Create balloting systems that are impossible to verify.<br />
Step 5. Subvert the criminal justice system by refusing to prosecute.<br />
Step 6. Create and support the proliferation of identity politics.<br />
Step 7. Present an international image of weakness.<br />
Step 8. Render the First Amendment impotent.<br />
Step 9. Demonize your opponents in order to divide the country.<br />
Step 10. Perpetuate the various lies and cover-ups related to the COVID virus.<br />
To take this further, let’s consider some ways that these items in Hanson’s list influence<br />
our lives.<br />
Energy Independence (Dependence)<br />
<strong>The</strong> rapid destruction of our energy independence cannot be over-vilified. This was<br />
accomplished in record time by blocking or shutting off pipelines, cancelling production,<br />
demonizing coal and nuclear power, and depleting our strategic reserves. We saw the<br />
impact right away in 2021…gas prices were up 59%. This increase hits us at the pump,<br />
raises the cost of all goods and services, and increases utility costs. Everything is connected<br />
and we pay the freight.<br />
Manipulative Monetary Policy<br />
<strong>The</strong> government continued to send COVID-19 subsidies. It kept interest rates low while<br />
prices were climbing, and publicly demonized the rich. <strong>The</strong> lowered interest rates means<br />
little return on savings accounts and less money available for investment. <strong>The</strong> continued<br />
flow of COVID subsidies helped to generate a reduced incentive to work. ‘Quiet Quitting,’ the<br />
practice of doing just enough on the job to get by, has the impact of lowering productivity,<br />
reducing revenues, and ultimately increasing layoffs. While demonizing the rich is a great<br />
way to create and fuel class envy and division, it also creates a distrust of individual and<br />
business success.<br />
As a country we are built on the foundation of hard work and upward mobility. Everyone<br />
has a chance to create their future. Do we want our children to shy away from being as<br />
successful as they can because they fear the distrust of others? We have to encourage them
to ignore the negative and keep working.<br />
Devaluing Physical Boundaries<br />
A country without a border is not a country because it has no line to protect, no way to<br />
refuse entry, no way to evaluate who or what comes in. Such an entity rapidly loses its<br />
reason for being.<br />
<strong>The</strong> United States daily faces illegal incursions on both the northern and southern borders,<br />
the sheer numbers of which can overwhelm border security. As a result, drugs and human<br />
trafficking are up substantially, Fentanyl deaths are up, crime is up, schools and welfare<br />
programs in some areas are swamped, and US citizenship itself has been devalued. <strong>The</strong><br />
dream of belonging to a larger idea that is America is rapidly fading away. We need<br />
protected and enforceable borders.<br />
Fallacious Balloting Systems<br />
State governments have allowed the proliferation of balloting systems that are virtually<br />
impossible to certify, and label anyone who questions this practice as an election denier.<br />
Never mind that almost every election, regardless of who wins, is challenged by the<br />
opposing party. But the vicious vilifying of those who challenge goes a step beyond.<br />
Such vilification accompanied by ballots that cannot be authentically certified erodes the<br />
trust in our elections, and makes it easy for monied forces to impact the outcome. It also<br />
creates election disinterest because these changes in balloting can be made without<br />
legislation being passed by Congress or by state legislatures. If these changes can be made<br />
without citizen input through our elected officials, why bother to vote? <strong>The</strong> ability to have a<br />
voice in one’s government through the voting process is one hallmark of a free democratic<br />
republic or democracy. We must protect it.<br />
Subversion of the Law<br />
While crime is up, especially in major cities, prosecution is down. Partly this is the result of<br />
the movement to redefine crime when committed by someone in poverty as a person<br />
taking what is needed, therefore it is not really a crime. If a person of means were to do the<br />
same thing it would be a crime. So apparently whether or not something is a crime<br />
depends on the size of your bank account.<br />
We all feel the impact of this misguided policy – increased crime, decreased enforcement<br />
of and respect for criminal laws, prosecutors who release repeat offenders, and lower<br />
morale among those charged with enforcing the law. Any one of us could be the victim of a<br />
crime which law enforcement could ultimately decide not to pursue because there’s no<br />
point. When this becomes reality everywhere, no one is safe and “to protect and serve” has<br />
definitely lost its meaning.<br />
Promoting Identity Politics<br />
One term that has often been used to describe America is that of a melting pot. No matter<br />
the color of our skin, our religion, our ethnic ancestry, or country of origin we are<br />
Americans. But that picture of America does not help the politicians. When we are all<br />
joined by shared values and ideals, we are not vulnerable to the encouragement to be a<br />
victim and thus have no value to those who need class envy and division for control.<br />
Unfortunately the position of victim is seductive. As a victim we have a tribe…all of whom<br />
are victims. Victims need help and preferential treatment…and tribes compete for those<br />
things with each other in various ways…often on YouTube or TikTok. Whatever the basis<br />
for the victim identity, the result is a lack of cohesive national identity, and an increase in<br />
envy and division. When these attitudes prevail it is nearly impossible to do anything
positive on a local, state, or national level and our governments devolve into impotency.<br />
We should all examine our thoughts for “victim” tendencies. <strong>The</strong>y are sneaky.<br />
A Weak International Image<br />
Beginning January 1, 2021, the new administration began to systematically remold our<br />
international image from one of strength to one of weakness. <strong>The</strong> method of withdrawal<br />
from Afghanistan, the begging of Saudi Arabia (as well as our enemies) to sell us oil, and<br />
the attempted appeasement of the theocracy of Iran to reenter the nuclear discussion all<br />
combine to make us vulnerable. This is without considering the impact of electing a<br />
president who is clearly not up to the challenge of the job. We all need remember this<br />
when we vote in 2024.<br />
Rendering the First Amendment Impotent<br />
<strong>The</strong> collusion between the DOJ, the FBI, Big Tech, large corporations, and the media to<br />
silence those who report in a way that goes against the narrative belies our claim to free<br />
speech. Any criticism or question of perceived authority is reviled as hate speech, and those<br />
who dare to participate are denigrated and cancelled. How is this any different from the<br />
initial treatment (at least) of dissidents in Russia or China? Apparently our speech is free,<br />
as long as those in power like it…other than that, all bets are off and we’d better shut up.<br />
We owe it to ourselves, our children, and their children to continue to speak freely and to<br />
insist on our right to do so respectfully but boldly.<br />
Demonizing Opponents<br />
It is one thing to oppose, it is another to demonize the opposition. Just because someone<br />
disagrees with us does not make them fascists, insurrectionists or (in the case of parents<br />
of many school age children) domestic terrorists. All they are doing is questioning and<br />
disagreeing. <strong>The</strong> Declaration of Independence says that governments derive their powers<br />
from the consent of the governed. This does not refer only to that portion of the governed<br />
populace that agrees with the government. We owe it to ourselves, and to our posterity to<br />
speak up, with reasoned authority on a foundation of fact.<br />
Thank Goodness for COVID<br />
<strong>The</strong> lies and coverups that accompanied the COVID narrative are worthy of a champion<br />
author, because otherwise who would believe it? <strong>The</strong>re were so many terms and phrases<br />
we’d never heard before. Here are a few.<br />
Gain of function. Why is it suspect?<br />
Why is a ventilator bad for you? We thought it saved your life.<br />
Where is Wuhan?<br />
What does mRNA stand for and why is it in the vaccine?<br />
Why does the vaccine not really prevent future illness? Isn’t that what vaccines do? Most of<br />
us have had the polio vaccine, and we have basically wiped out polio.<br />
But the response to COVID of the average citizen was really just a symptom of a society that<br />
has grown used to following the lead of its elected officials. That’s why the backlash from a<br />
few entrepreneurs made the news. It was different. People fought back after a while. But<br />
not enough. We were in lockdown of some sort or another for nearly 2 years.<br />
<strong>The</strong> governance of COVID (or manufactured pandemic) was designed for control, to get the<br />
populace used to being locked down, under threat of spreading a horrible virus. Never mind<br />
that the virus was most harmful to a specific demographic. Schools and businesses were<br />
closed. Many of those businesses were closed forever.<br />
But government overreach in the form of forced lockdown finally met its match from an<br />
unusual corner. Parents. Both parents and children were locked down, mostly using Zoom<br />
to connect to work and school. And, since the computers were in the home, and school
lessons were visible on Zoom, parents began to watch too. Initially, they probably watched<br />
in order to help their kids complete their lessons. But boy, did they get a surprise. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
soon learned that the schools were pushing a sexual and racial narrative that (at the very<br />
least) did not belong in elementary school.<br />
<strong>The</strong> parent revolt across the nation resulted in changes in school board membership, as<br />
well as the election of some governors, lieutenant governors, and attorneys general. Once<br />
aroused, parents as a group and individually are powerful, and there are a lot of them!<br />
What’s the Upshot?<br />
Victor Davis Hanson is extremely well-informed. He has a long list of credentials, and his<br />
analysis of things political is always enlightening because it’s analysis combined with<br />
common sense.<br />
But while I was trolling the internet and thinking over what he wrote in <strong>The</strong> Daily Signal I<br />
bumped into Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. That 2-minute speech given on November 19,<br />
1863 has surely stood the test of time. All of it was powerful and right on point, but the end<br />
of it, again, caught my eye…and my spirit.<br />
“…that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation,<br />
under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the<br />
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”<br />
It is time for that new birth of freedom. For our children, and their children, we cannot be<br />
the ones that allow this concept of government to perish.<br />
An Ordinary Citizen is a concerned activist and a regular content writer for COS Indiana <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Finish</strong> <strong>Line</strong>.<br />
Resources – Victor Davis Hanson | <strong>The</strong> Daily Signal | Click here to read<br />
TWITTER FILES REVEAL AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT<br />
By John Daniel Davidson | January 2023 | <strong>The</strong> Federalist<br />
<strong>The</strong> following is adapted from a talk delivered at Hillsdale College on <strong>February</strong> 7, 2023.
ELON MUSK’S takeover of Twitter last October and the subsequent reporting on the Twitter<br />
Files by journalists Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, and a handful of others beginning in early<br />
December is one of the most important news stories of our time. <strong>The</strong> Twitter Files story<br />
encompasses, and to a large extent connects, every major political scandal of the Trump-<br />
Biden era. Put simply, the Twitter Files reveal an unholy alliance between Big Tech and the<br />
deep state designed to throttle free speech and maintain an official narrative through<br />
censorship and propaganda. This should not just disturb us, it should also prod us to action<br />
in defense of the First Amendment, free and fair elections, and indeed our country.<br />
Continue Reading...<br />
John Daniel Davidson is a senior editor at <strong>The</strong> Federalist, where he covers politics,<br />
immigration, culture, and religion. He is a graduate of Hillsdale College, a former Lincoln<br />
Fellow at the Claremont Institute, and a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.<br />
His writings have appeared in numerous publications, including <strong>The</strong> Wall Street Journal, the<br />
Claremont Review of Books, the New York Post, and <strong>The</strong> Guardian. He is the author of the<br />
forthcoming book, Pagan America: <strong>The</strong> Decline of Christianity and the Coming Dark Age.<br />
SILENCE!<br />
'Conspiracy <strong>The</strong>orist' is a Slur Meant to Silence Us<br />
By Stella Morabito | <strong>The</strong> Federalist | <strong>February</strong> 6, 2023<br />
<strong>The</strong> term ‘conspiracy theorist’ is used to halt thoughtfulness and conversation, often under<br />
the guise of protecting you from ‘disinformation.’<br />
Back in the 1980s, when Bill Casey was director of Central Intelligence, I asked him a direct<br />
question related to analysis. In response, he pointed to his temple and said, “Well, you just<br />
gotta use your noodle.”
Whatever you may think of Casey, his pithiness here is instructive. It’s good advice for<br />
everyone these days, especially as the term “conspiracy theory” continues to mushroom<br />
throughout Big Media, here, there, and everywhere. Team Biden seems to have pushed the<br />
term into absolute hyperdrive since he took office.<br />
It’s used even when grand plans are out in the open. For example, participants at the recent<br />
World Economic Forum congregation in Davos publicly discussed how we should all be<br />
censored and surveilled and tracked. <strong>The</strong> Orwellian life they’d like to shove on us has been<br />
preached for decades by WEF founder Klaus Schwab, prior to his 2020 publication of “<strong>The</strong><br />
Great Reset.”<br />
But if you point this out you’re likely to be smeared as a “conspiracy theorist.” As Sen. Rand<br />
Paul, R-Ky., and many respected pundits have noted, the WEF goal for an unelected elite to<br />
rein in the hoi polloi is no theory. <strong>The</strong>ir activists talk about it constantly.<br />
Sure, there are some people who conjure up far-fetched notions of why and how this or<br />
that may have happened. But the term “conspiracy theorist” has become a knee-jerk label<br />
intended to discredit thoughtful investigation — or just plain observation — by describing<br />
investigators as wacky conjurers. This is one of many ways power elites exploit the natural<br />
human fear of ostracism in order to induce us to self-silence.<br />
Defining Terms<br />
So let’s use our noodle and explore the term itself and how it is used. First off, “conspiracy”<br />
simply means a secret plan. You can’t be a conspiracy theorist if you’re quoting elaborate<br />
plans that are public. And unless you’ve been living in a cave, you also know that secret<br />
plans exist. We often think of conspiracies in terms of mafia hit lists, embezzlements, or<br />
fraud. Such things do happen, you know.<br />
Next, consider the term “theory” or “theorist” as applied to conspiracy. This would be<br />
relevant to the person who wonders if there’s a nefarious plan in the works and is<br />
investigating. <strong>The</strong>re are legitimate careers dedicated to such things. Actuaries dabble in<br />
them, though probably not consciously. Detectives in law enforcement search for a motive<br />
in murder cases because it’s their job to speculate in order to solve the case.<br />
Of course, none of the above is what first comes to mind when people hear the term<br />
“conspiracy theorist.” Rather, it’s meant to invoke the image of a psychotic who is obsessed<br />
with an idea concocted out of whole cloth. For example, “the guy at the corner hardware<br />
store has channeled Napoleon to send little men to live in our brains and program us into<br />
zombies!” You can surely think of many more examples. <strong>The</strong> common denominator is<br />
detachment from reality — or from what we generally know as common experience of the<br />
world.<br />
‘Conspiracy <strong>The</strong>orist’ Is a Slur<br />
Casual use of the term “conspiracy theorist” is a smear to halt thoughtfulness and<br />
conversation, often under the guise of protecting you from “disinformation.” It’s a staple in<br />
any Wikipedia article about anyone targeted for cancellation by Big Tech. Big Media<br />
constantly uses the term to discredit anyone who might threaten its narrative. It’s also<br />
used constantly in woke academia and by government officials.<br />
<strong>The</strong> cherry on top is how the FBI has used it to divert public criticism, as with its December<br />
statement in reaction to “<strong>The</strong> Twitter Files.” <strong>The</strong> FBI statement reads in part: “It is<br />
unfortunate that conspiracy theorists and others are feeding the American public
misinformation with the sole purpose of attempting to discredit the agency.” (Interesting<br />
the FBI referred to itself as “the agency” — a CIA moniker — rather than the standard selfreference<br />
of “the bureau.” Hmm.)<br />
“Conspiracy theorist” is now used constantly by just about anyone who wishes to shut<br />
someone up by instilling in them the fear of being labeled a kook. In fact, that’s what<br />
gaslighting is: psychological abuse that instills the belief that you must be crazy if you<br />
simply want to understand why things are the way they are.<br />
Origin of the Term<br />
Pundits often point to a 1967 CIA memo as the origin of the term “conspiracy theory.” <strong>The</strong><br />
New York Times publicized that memo after obtaining it through a 1976 Freedom of<br />
Information Act request. <strong>The</strong> memo states that the public should be actively dissuaded<br />
from straying from the Warren Commission’s conclusion that the John F. Kennedy<br />
assassination was the act of a lone gunman. Any other ideas, according to the memo, were<br />
conspiracy theories that should be discredited as such in the media.<br />
But some folks take issue with the claim that the CIA memo is the origin of the term.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re’s an argument that that very claim is in itself a conspiracy theory. <strong>The</strong> author of a<br />
2013 article in the Skeptical Inquirer even scoured the internet for sources of the term and<br />
found it used in a medical journal dated 1870.<br />
But whether the term “conspiracy theory” predates the CIA memo — even by a century — is<br />
irrelevant. It has always been used as a derogatory term. And its pejorative usage in public<br />
discourse exploded after <strong>The</strong> New York Times published the CIA memo in the 1970s. <strong>The</strong><br />
unprecedented reach of the internet then allowed for the exponential proliferation of the<br />
term to denigrate anyone who has a different opinion from the propagandistic narrative.<br />
In short, the CIA memo was the clear turning point in usage, no matter who first may have<br />
coined the term. Ever since <strong>The</strong> New York Times article (clearly not since the 19th century)<br />
we have been bombarded with the term to shut us up about any legitimate concerns we<br />
may have. Constantly. In Big Media. In Wikipedia. In social media. In politics. In academia.<br />
In medicine. In filmmaking. Indeed, wherever big propaganda is propagated, which is<br />
pretty much everywhere.<br />
That’s not to say that far-fetched theories don’t exist. Obviously, they do. But the usage of<br />
“conspiracy theorist” as a constant slur and effective gag order got its start with the<br />
publication of the CIA memo.<br />
And, yes, it can be used on both the left and the right. So when you come across the term,<br />
forget about politics. Ask yourself if it’s being used with evidence to back up the claim. For<br />
example, we now have plenty of proof that the Russia-collusion hoax boiled down to the<br />
dissemination of a conspiracy theory on the part of Democrats in Congress.<br />
On the other hand, if no real argument is offered to back up the use of the term, then you<br />
know that “conspiracy theory” is nothing more than an ad hominem silencing device.<br />
But you should decide which is which and speak up about it. You just gotta use your noodle.<br />
Stella Morabito is a senior contributor at <strong>The</strong> Federalist. She is author of "<strong>The</strong> Weaponization<br />
of Loneliness: How Tyrants Stoke Our Fear of Isolation to Silence, Divide, and Conquer." Her<br />
essays have appeared in various publications, including the Washington Examiner, American<br />
Greatness, Townhall, Public Discourse, and <strong>The</strong> Human Life Review. In her previous work as
an intelligence analyst, Morabito focused on various aspects of Russian and Soviet politics,<br />
including communist media and propaganda. Follow Stella Morabito on Twitter<br />
@Stella_Morabito<br />
Government Overreach.<br />
Irresponsible Spending.<br />
Career Politicians.<br />
Political Corruption.<br />
WASHINGTON IS BROKEN!<br />
We <strong>The</strong> People Have a Constitutional Solution!<br />
(It will be an epic event!)<br />
ARTICLE V – CONVENTION OF STATES<br />
www.conventionofstates.org<br />
DONATE HERE<br />
Rick Santorum speaking for Convention of States Action
WHICH STATE WILL BECOME #20?<br />
WILL IT BE WYOMING?<br />
We anticipate good news to report very soon!<br />
Good ideas?<br />
Submit articles for review to:<br />
EDITOR at COS INDIANA NEWSLETTER<br />
Dale Parrish – COS Indiana State Director<br />
Ken Kashuba – COS Indiana Communications Director<br />
Copyright © 2023 Convention of States Action, All rights reserved.<br />
Want to change how you receive these emails?<br />
Update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.