by Mark Goodwin
“Come on.” Rev motioned for Josh to follow him. “I’ll introduce you to the founder who got this all started.”
Josh saw a man in his late forties, average height, physically fit, wearing jeans, work boots, and the group’s lion emblem on his shirt and hat.
“Ethan, this is Josh,” said Rev. “He’s new to the area. He found us on Facebook and decided to come out today to show his support.”
“Thanks for coming.” The man shook Josh’s hand. “I’m Ethan Combs.”
“Pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“Everybody just calls me Ethan. We’ve got enough people in this country that think they’re somebody special. Particularly when it comes to those in public office. They think they’re better, smarter, and more capable of making decisions.”
Josh replied, “Retrospectively, maybe they were a little too far out over their skis, at least when it comes to economic decisions.”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Ethan laughed. “Unless this was a planned takedown of the system.”
“Is that what you think?” Josh asked.
“Could be,” said Combs. “But that would be giving this bunch of idiots an awful lot of credit. Either way, be it buffoonery or a sinister plot to clear a path for the New World Order, the people in charge caused it, and we’re going to be the ones reaping the consequences.”
“You don’t think they’re capable of such a complex plot?” asked Josh.
Ethan looked at the former pastor. “Rev’s theory is that spiritual forces are steering the process and that the people in power are essentially under the control of Satan himself, sort of like the invisible hand of capitalism controlling free markets, but with a much darker agenda.”
Rev added, “Think of how the Holy Spirit can guide a believer to lead a more effective life when that believer seeks His help through prayer and time in the Bible. It would seem the opposite is also true.”
“You think the people in power are holding black masses and seeking instructions from the devil?” Josh found the assertion to be bizarre.
“Some of them, yes. But it’s not necessary,” said Rev. “Simply by staying disconnected from God, our sin nature, or our flesh takes charge. Almost every evil under the sun can be boiled down to selfishness, pride, and the original sin, the desire to be our own gods. We can achieve the lowest depths of human depravity by just turning on the autopilot and doing what feels good at the moment.”
Ethan patted Josh on the back. “You didn’t know you were going to get a sermon out of this thing, did you?”
“No. I suppose not.” Josh looked at the Antifa crowd on the other side of the park. “These guys have been getting violent around the rest of the country. They’ve got you outnumbered. You folks aren’t worried about that?”
“Not a bit.” Rev raised up his shirttail, revealing the handle of a large-frame semi-automatic pistol. “A few of them might have pistols, but most only have ball bats and broom handles.”
Ethan looked at the rag-tag bunch of anarchists and communists. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but a .45 will give you a lobotomy.”
“Truer words were never spoken.” Josh figured most if not all of the Patriot Pride group were carrying pistols.
Rev looked to the Occupy assembly. “However, I don’t think it’s going to be an issue. We’re all in agreement about the fact that we’ve got a major problem on our hands. They know we didn’t cause it, and despite being misguided, neither the Occupy crowd nor Antifa had the wherewithal to trigger the end of the dollar. That blame lies squarely with the politicians and the Federal Reserve.”
Ethan stared at the black-and-red flags of Antifa, “Although, I will say, we have a very different vision about how to deal with the crisis and where we go from here.”
“We’re at the mercy of the people who caused this mess,” said Josh. “What could we possibly do to affect the outcome?”
“We can draw a line in the sand, for starters.” Ethan’s voice grew louder. “We’re not giving up our national sovereignty, we not giving up our guns, and we’re not ceding any more ground when it comes to the Constitution or the founding principles.”
The other members of Patriot Pride clapped and whistled to show their support of Ethan Comb’s statement. The leader waited for the others to calm down, then he looked Josh in the eye. “What about you, Josh? Are you with us?”
Josh pretended to consider the gravity of such a commitment. He looked around at the rest of the group who was awaiting his reply. “Yeah.” He gave a shallow nod at first, then became more adamant about his joining their ranks. “Yes, I’m with you.”
The group whistled and clapped. Some patted Josh on the back. Others shook his hand and welcomed him into the group.
Rev put his hand on Josh’s shoulder. “How’s the gas situation down in Versailles?”
“Pretty tight, considering the population is under 4,000.”
Rev nodded. “You’re only about 10 miles outside of Lexington. Lots of folks who can’t fuel in town don’t mind driving out to the country to get gas, especially when there’s none to be found around here. If you take the Bluegrass Parkway west about five miles, a little fillin’ station is right off the Lawrenceburg exit. Ain’t much of nothin’ out that way, so they most always have gas. But that’ll be our little secret. Don’t tell anyone else.”
“Thanks!”
Rev continued, “If you have an email, I’ll send you some videos which will help get you up to speed on what we think is coming.”
“Sure.” Josh took out the alias phone he’d purchased for the operation. “What’s your number? I’ll text you my email.”
Rev provided his contact info and Josh sent him the address.
Rev looked at his phone. “We don’t use Gmail. Why don’t you set up a Proton Mailbox with the same address? It’s free and it’s encrypted. Furthermore, the NSA isn’t scanning the content.”
“Sure. I’ll do that.”
“Good. Do it before you go to bed tonight, and I’ll send you the video links first thing in the morning.”
“Yeah, sure,” said Josh.
“Let me know what you think about the stuff I send you. If you like it, I’ll send you more.”
“You’ve said some pretty interesting things. I’m eager to hear more about it.” This statement was sincere and not part of the ruse to gain access to the group.
“Used to be, I could send you one video, then YouTube would recommend a whole list of other stuff that would just keep leading further and further down the rabbit hole. But not anymore.”
Poochy, who’d been listening to the conversation, pushed his glasses higher on his nose. “Now, if you watch a video about Agenda 21, YouTube conveniently provides a link to a Wikipedia article which explains how Agenda 21 is a non-binding UN initiative which is designed to make anyone who disagrees with the program look like a conspiracy theorist. But I’ll tell you what, when AOC proposed the Green New Deal, it was certainly intended to bring about binding legislation. And the Green New Deal was modeled perfectly after Agenda 21.”
“Thank God that one failed,” said Josh.
Rev replied, “Yeah, but not for lack of effort. She had over 100 cosponsors between the House and the Senate. And if you believe a bartender can just show up out of nowhere, get a seat in the US Congress, and start introducing globalist legislation without some serious backing, I’ve got some oceanfront property in Kansas that I’ll sell you real cheap.”
“Who do you think backed her?”
Poochy added, “Soros would be my first guess. But look around. All these tech billionaires are drinking the one-world Kool-Aid. Like I said, YouTube, which has a fiduciary duty to investors to maximize profits, is willing to cut off its nose to spite its face for the sake of pushing a political agenda.
“Not only have they outright banned channels with dissenting voices, but they’ve also demonetized channels which don’t support the radical left narrative or fall int
o a small window of allowable descent like Fox News. In other words, anything to the right of Fox News is considered non-authoritative, AKA fake news.
“Then, they purposely provide recommendations that lead viewers to the left, even when it causes those viewers to leave the platform altogether. It’s been a while since I’ve visited the site, but I used to watch a couple of libertarian-leaning shows from RT News. They all came with a disclaimer informing me that RT was funded by the Russian government. Do you think they ever bothered to tell me that videos from Al Jazeera were predominantly funded by Muslims? Or for that matter, do you think they bothered to mention that MSNBC, ABC, CNN, or CBS were propaganda mouthpieces for radical socialists?”
“I’m guessing they didn’t,” Josh replied.
Poochy continued, “Darn right. Because YouTube lured the public into their web under the pretense of providing an agenda-free platform where anyone could post anything without the approval of the gatekeepers. Now, they are the gatekeepers. Talk about a bait-and-switch scam. And you either toe the line of the radical left globalists or get locked outside in the dark. YouTube’s sister company, Google, does the same thing with search results. They suppress results that lean too far to the right while serving up propaganda which leads society further away from God and conservative values. Google’s motto is don’t be evil. I’d say they’ve achieved the polar opposite.”
Josh asked, “So if they’ve pulled all of this content, how is Rev still sending me links to these videos?”
Rev answered, “Some of the videos are still available on YouTube. Everything put up by Info Wars is gone, but some of those videos are available on Vimeo.”
Poochy snorted like a nerd, “However, Vimeo’s search function is like something a grade-schooler built for a science fair. But I suppose that’s better than one designed to steer society towards the global empire of the anti-Christ.”
Rev grinned. “Anyway, if you can manage to find the video on Vimeo, you can still share the link. Other videos are privately hosted by alternative media websites.”
Poochy said, “The globalists are making it harder to find, but it’s there if you keep digging. In my view, the fact that all of this stuff is being covered up legitimizes our message even more. Plus, the fact that companies like Google, Facebook, and YouTube are the ones suppressing it, the very platforms which claim to be advocates for empowering free speech, tells me that they are going to be a big part of the totalitarian system that comes next.”
Josh frowned. The two men standing before him still had no idea that Google’s CEO and the head of Facebook would each have a seat at the table for the new global order.
CHAPTER 12
For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence—on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific, and political operations.
Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed.
John F Kennedy—April 27th, 1961
Josh’s mind was far from the message being preached at church Sunday morning. He’d slept little the night before and could not stop thinking about the things Rev had told him at the rally. Josh sat in the back while Stephanie and Micah sat near the front of the sanctuary. He’d have to drive separately and sit far away until he could be sure that none of the people from Patriot Pride attended the small church Stephanie had selected.
After church, Josh shook hands with a couple of people who welcomed him and then quickly exited. He left Stephanie and Micah to meet and mingle if they so desired. The parking lot of the small church seemed about half empty. Josh guessed that it would have been more crowded if fuel prices weren’t above $10 per gallon.
He drove by other churches on the way home whose lots were completely empty, as if they’d canceled services altogether. He had planned to stop and pick up lunch on the way home, but all the restaurants were closed. Commodity prices had finally hit critical mass. No one in the food service industry was capable of selling a meal at a price that people would pay and still be able to make a profit.
Once home, Josh took out a package of ground beef for Bolognese sauce. He opened up his laptop and began watching the rest of the video he’d started earlier that morning. Josh continued preparing lunch while listening to the program.
Stephanie and Micah arrived twenty minutes later. Josh paused the video. “Hey, you guys must have met the entire church.”
“Almost.” Stephanie smiled. “The people are really friendly. I think Micah even liked it.”
“Yeah?” Josh poured the pasta into the colander.
“It was cool. More young people than I expected.”
“You made lunch!” Stephanie kissed him.
“I wanted to give you a break. I was going to stop and get something, but everything was closed.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry we can’t sit together at church.” She began setting the table. “What did you think about the message?”
“Oh, it was…great.” Josh hoped that was an accurate description.
“I really liked how it compared what America is going through with Israel’s time in the wilderness. We just have to persevere to the other side.”
Josh wished he had paid closer attention. From the sound of it, the message may have been somewhat overly optimistic. “Most of the people who crossed over from Egypt died before they got to the Promised Land.”
“It’s a spiritual lesson,” Stephanie explained.
“Oh,” said Josh. “Okay.”
“What were you watching?” Stephanie looked at the paused video on the laptop.
“It’s called EndGame. It’s research for work.”
“What’s it about?”
“It covers the creation of the UN and the League of Nations which preceded it. It talks about the people who were behind putting it all together. The film outlines the plan for a global empire.
“It also talks about Agenda 21 and how conservationism is really just a mask to push people into megacities so they can be more easily controlled through surveillance and a police state.”
“Wow! Talk about crazy. What kind of nut job actually took the time to construct that conspiracy theory?”
Josh put the plates on the table. “Considering the history behind it, the pieces actually fall together quite easily.”
Micah took a seat. “Dad, you’re not actually buying into this, are you? What’s that syndrome called? Stockholm?”
“That’s between a hostage and their captor. And no, I’m not falling for anything. But, this film was made back in 2006 and the predictions of where the producer saw everything heading is very accurate. I think the accuracy rate for people who try to guess what the future will look like is somewhere around 1%. This guy is dead on.
“Let’s pray before we eat.” Josh offered a short prayer then shook a healthy dusting of parmesan cheese over his spaghetti.
Stephanie twirled some pasta around her fork. “If there were any truth to a conspiracy that big, wouldn’t they try to shut him up?”
Josh finished chewing before answering. “Funny you should ask. Actually, he’s been banned from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t prove anything,” she said. “You’re an investigator. You of all people know circumstantial evidence doesn’t prove causality.”
Josh rebutted, “That’s correct, but Antifa groups are taking American cities hostage as we speak, yet they still have Twitter accounts, Facebook accounts, and several YouTube channels exist which promote their tactics and ideol
ogies. Whatever the guy who made this video did, it can’t be half as bad as what these kids are doing.
“I’ll send you a link to the video. Watch it when you can. Then, wait until you see the solution the government has for the crisis before you decide if the concerns expressed are legitimate.”
Once lunch was finished, Josh spent the rest of the afternoon watching videos that Rev had recommended.
***
Late that evening, Stephanie interrupted his research. “Shouldn’t Emilio and Nicole be here by now?”
Josh checked the time. “Yeah. Even with stops. I’ll give him a ring and see what’s taking so long.” He took out his phone and placed the call.
“Hey, buddy,” Emilio answered.
“Where are you guys?”
“Driving around Tennessee looking for gas.”
“You brought enough gas with you to not have to stop.”
“I brought enough for my truck. We ended up bringing her car also. I led the way until we got to Sweetwater. Then, we parked her car, loaded all the suitcases and gas cans into my truck and have been looking for the past hour.”
“Oh, man. Bad call letting her swindle you into bringing her car.”
“But she’d have been stuck with no vehicle otherwise.”
“She’s going to be stuck anyway. The idea was for her to hunker down until the storm passes, not be out running the hills of Kentucky. Have you got enough gas to get here with her car?”
“Not at this point, no. We can probably make it to the state line.”
Josh shook his head. “I suppose I can come pick you up, but I can’t bring gas. There’s no fuel cans to be had.”
“Can’t you get some water jugs and bring a funnel? You only have to haul it for a couple of hours.”
“No. The only station I know of that has gas is way out in the sticks, and I’m sure they’re closed by now. I’ll come get you and then you can take one of our vehicles back tomorrow with gas.”
“But we have two vehicles to get.”