by Travis Mateer
If you’ve been around the Montana blogosphere for awhile, the title of this post might surprise you, since I’ve butted heads with Mark over the years, going so far as to use his deceased brother to make a point, which earned me a well-deserved ban at his website, Piece of Mindful.
In December of last year I decided to reach out to Mark and the result is this 90 minute conversation between two conspiracy theorists.
For anyone interested in some Montana blogosphere context, here is one of my earlier posts from 2010 criticizing Missoulian editor, Sherry Devlin and reporter, Gwen Florio, for stirring up controversy and doing an absolutely abominable job moderating online comments at the Missoulian website. And here is a jhwygirl post from 2009 where the comments had to be closed because Mark and Rob (aka Wulfgar) were flaming each other, which was a regular occurrence for many years.
My problem with Mark was selfish. While we both had similar outlooks regarding the controlling dynamics of America’s political duopoly, I wanted to establish a level of credibility in my writing that I felt Mark undermined with his conspiratorial speculation. I wanted to avoid the guilt-by-association attacks that I knew would be directed my way if I got too honest about my own conspiratorial speculation.
The plandemic changed my calculations significantly. It transformed liberals into authoritarians, conservatives into punk rockers, and, thanks to one of the most sophisticated psyops ever deployed, conspiracy theorists are currently being transformed into domestic terrorists.
I now see Mark and the other writers at his site, like Steve Kelly and Stephers, as allies in the effort to understand what is happening to us, and I appreciate the insights I get from checking out their work.
JC
Yes, back before blogging died Rob & Mark feuded quit3 a bit and it was actually fun to read.
They were both wrong most of the time about politics in general, but they surely added to the blogosphere didn’t they?
I was not aware of your stance at that time, but was an over-energetic commenter anyway, and Wulfgar was a button pusher. I’ve settled down quite a bit since, and rarely comment on any blog anywhere. And, I’ve learned to be nicer to people. We have a rule now that if someone is banned, it is never permanent, as having suffered that indignity myself so often, I know how it stings, what power if gives other people over me. I kept you on the list far too long, just because, I suppose, I idolized by older brother. It was unfortunate from all angles.
I enjoyed our exchange, and if we do it again, I will remove the headset so I am not breathing right into the mic. I guess I am a mouth breather! Since we have not met in person, you do not realize that my hands are very hairy and my arms extend all the way down to my ankles.
I like having a conversation much better than a busy finger flame war. we’ll definitely have to do it again, and maybe even in person if you’re coming through town.
Here from pieceofmindful, pride is no joke. I’ve got some fences that need mending,,,,,
I’m pretty far out in my comprehension of the “real” world, looking forward to 8nterest8ng new perspective on th8ngs.