Walter Rhein Podcast

Meet Maine Democratic Senate Candidate David Costello

Hello Everyone!It was my absolute pleasure to sit down with A. Eevie Bateman and talk with David Costello. In this one hour interview, he gives detailed answers to some of the most critical problems facing us today. Costello has many years of government service on his resume, and it could be argued he’s the only serious candidate on the Democratic ballot.So my question is, why are all the big media journalists wringing their hands about Platner? If they are concerned about Platner, why aren’t they covering his opponent?We discussed this in our conversation. Our current media model is corrupt. They only look for sensational stories and they fail to do their job. When the people of Maine go to vote on June 9th, they will be able to choose between a compassionate, educated and overqualified man, or the mystery candidate that the corrupt media keeps shoving down our throats.At this point, everyone has to recognize that if you’re paying attention to media that presents the Maine election as a race between Platner and Collins, you need to put your support elsewhere. Our media has the power to elevate serious candidates like David Costello, and they make the deliberate choice to abdicate their responsibilities.Please like and share this interview everywhere you can. This is the kind of serious conversation we need to have about the issues we are facing. The people have a right to learn about the candidates on the ballot. We need to stop with the sensationalism and focus instead on solutions. There’s still time for enough people to get to know David Costello so that the Platner crisis can be averted. It’s a ranked choice voting state. Put Costello on the top. Maybe something grand will happen!You can find out more about David Costello here:Costello For SenateThank you Tom Joad, Jed, Denise Palesch, PaulM, DarBid 🇨🇦, and many others for tuning into my live video with David Costello and A. Eevie Bateman! Join me for my next live video in the app.Thanks for being here! Your support makes this possible! I appreciate the faith you’ve shown in me!Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe

Transcribe →

Cruelty and Obedience Conditioning In Rural Schools

3d ago00:57:29Tap to summarize

Hello Everyone,One of my ongoing efforts is to expose the reality of child abuse in conservative rural areas. Let’s call it for what it is. I know that I experienced things growing up that people simply can’t believe are true. It’s been validating to have conversations with Liz Pfeiffer who is currently teaching in a conservative area that’s not much different than where I grew up.If you want to know how white supremacy conditioning takes root in our society, Liz and I know. We were joined by Deidre Keller who also has experience living and teaching in a rural area. Her brilliant and compassionate perspective always inspires me.Liz wrote this story about how one of her students is always exhausted and bruised because of cage fighting:Simply put, we have to protect our children. We have to ensure kids have the opportunity to learn and that the love they receive shouldn’t be conditional on how much pain they can take. This isn’t optional. We have to take this on.Thank you LeftieProf, Miss Myra, PaulM, Kim Meldahl, Marnie Farnam, and many others for tuning into my live video with Deidre Keller and Liz Pfeiffer! Join me for my next live video in the app.You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe

Transcribe →

You Want to Shut Down Airports? Then Try It, Cowards!

3d ago00:04:47Tap to summarize

Thanks for being here! Your support makes this possible! I appreciate the faith you’ve shown in me!Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI’m so f*****g done.This is supposed to be a country of laws. It’s getting so tiresome to watch rich, entitled people repeatedly break the law, and then come on television to rub it in our faces.Republicans are a bunch of a******s. All they ever do is insult people. They are disrespectful to women, children, and minority groups. They do nothing but punch down.Then they have the nerve to act all entitled.We have a president who threatened to annihilate an entire population only a few weeks ago. But every chance they get, the Republicans complain that good, decent, hardworking people need to tone down their rhetoric.“We’re tired!”“Tone down your hate rhetoric!”“We’re poor!”“Tone down your hate rhetoric!”“We are yearning to be free!”“Shut up!”Meanwhile the Republicans claim they’re the party of traditional values. Yeah, if by “traditional values” they mean white supremacy.Their latest little round of saber rattling is to claim they’re going to shut down airports. Whatever. Shut them down then. Go on do it. I’m so f*****g tired of your yapping. Whenever I want a laugh, I do a YouTube search for a video of Pete Kegsbreath trying to do something athletic.The way these Republican a******s have emboldened mediocre white men is completely unbearable. They are the “won’t say it to your face” political movement. I’m so tired of them.Every day I get some new twit leaving a 1,500 world tirade where he insults my masculinity. The profile picture, if there is one, is of a guy with a nazi youth buzz cut. He can probably only aspire to fail as hard as Kegsbreath at a pull-up.Newsflash weaklings, I can do a pull up. I’m just not one of those guys who has to record every rep and post it to the delight of every ketamine junky trash-talking gamer throughout the known universe.Honestly, I only care about what my wife and daughters think of me. I’m over the opinions of worthless men.These are people with only bots to call friends.So sick of these jerks.They just love to float their “or else” b******t and wait for us to quake. They love to sit in their ivory towers and giggle as the rest of us scurry around in desperation.“Oh no! How are we going to get back in? Oh, exhalted ruler, please be kind to us.”F**k that.How about if we started dusting off the rule book and arresting these jerks. Remember the insurrectionist clause? Yeah, that’s in the Constitution.The most frustrating thing about these last 10 years is that we literally have rules to stop every single thing that’s been done to us in this time. You’re not supposed to traffic children. You’re not supposed to rape people. You’re not supposed to murder people. You’re not supposed to cover it up.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offIt was a damn LAW that they release the Epstein files. They haven’t. Arrest somebody.And the democrats are still sitting around with their thumbs up their collective asses saying, “Gee… we really thought they learned their lesson.”At this point, we have to assume they are complicit because nobody can be that ignorant.They all have to be legally and lawfully removed. I want to emphasize that. I advocate peace and lawfulness because it’s something WE HAVEN’T YET TRIED!As mad as I am at all our represenatives, I’m equally mad at all the poser journalists claiming to be on our side. There are all these dark money funded a******s with hundreds of thousands of followers and subscribers. They claim to hate AIPAC candidates, but they do NOTHING to elevate grassroots candidates of integrity.Start paying attention people. If these precious creators you follow don’t elevate decent people then they’re phonies. They’re posers. They’re only here to obstruct our chance at justice. Do not support them.If they complain but they don’t elevate, then all they’re doing is performative b******t. Yes, that applies to the ones you admire.So frankly, if they shut down the airports, I do not give a s**t. That just means me and my family will have an adventure. I’m not going to sit around and waste my life in terror at the whims of a lawless con artist who shouldn’t have ever been elevated to a position of power. I’ll travel. I’ll go someplace that still cares about humanity. I’ll start again with nothing.That will put me a long way ahead of what American citizens have to put up with in this shithole country rapidly being made even worse by corrupt and lawless conservatives.Start doing your jobs. Start obeying the laws. Stop enabling crimes against humanity.This is b******t.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe

Transcribe →

All Our Suffering in Support of Conservative Ideals Has Meant Nothing

4d ago00:06:41Tap to summarize

If you like human writing, please consider sponsoring me. There is ZERO AI s**t in my work (I spent too many years learning how to do this).Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offImagine never paying premiums for healthcare. Imagine raising small children with the support of a community. Imagine never having to endure the abuses of a terrible boss because you were the target of economic terrorism.People in America will listen to that and think, “Hey! Don’t start talking to me about socialism! It’s a pipe dream. It sounds good but we all know that terrible things happen if you go that route!”But what if it’s not about “socialism?” What if it’s about common sense? What if it’s about basic humanity?What if all the things you’ve been told as the basis of your “noble suffering” are nothing but propagandized lies designed to make you submit to a lifetime of torture?“Nah! It can’t be that!”But what if it is?I’m serious. Just stop with everything you’ve been told to think and clear out a little space in your brain to examine the question of whether life really has to be this hard.What if it doesn’t?Conservatives have always browbeaten us with contradictory beliefs. “We’re going broke! Things cost too much! We have to cut back on social benefit programs!”If you say, “Well, we could raise taxes on the rich,” they start to laugh at you.“Oh come on now, the revenue of the government is plenty high enough. There’s sufficient revenue, it’s the expenses that are the problem. We have to cut expenses!”“Okay, how about if we cut subsidies to the businesses of the rich?”They laugh again, “Well, obviously we can’t do that! You want jobs don’t you? Those are critical businesses that can’t fail. No, we can’t do that!”This just goes on and on and on. The end result is that any taxpayer funds that might have benefitted you are taken and diverted to the rich.That’s all conservatives do. Every time. That’s their only scheme. They browbeat you. They insist the world can’t be better. They insist that it’s all your fault. They insist that all your suffering is necessary.Today, a huge percentage of the population has been beaten into submission.That’s the best word to describe the citizens of the United States. They are submissive. They have been indoctrinated to submit to a cruel authority.I’ve been around way too many people who falsely believe there’s some nobility in suffering. They’re willing to trade away all the good things in their grasp for the promise of some greater reward that will never come.“Here,” say the rich and the privileged, “give me what you have today, and tomorrow I will return it to you a thousandfold.”But you never get that reward because tomorrow never comes.“Where’s that thousand you promised me?”“I said tomorrow, it’s still today. Is there something wrong with you?”And the submissive American people fall for it over and over and over again.It’s pathetic.I’ve seen conservative men submit to beatings from their own patriarchal fathers. They intensely believed that their ability to endure pain would one day grant them the right to be loved.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offFriends, you’re born with that right. Conservatives only try to deprive it from you in service of their own selfish desires. By their own admission they are sinful. Theirs is a completely rotten and corrupt philosophy that offers absolutely no benefits to humankind.They make you suffer for nothing. All the rewards go to them, none of it will ever come to you. What they mean by “trickle down” is that they will throw you face first into the mud and urinate on your back. “Thank you daddy,” say the loyalists who save their scorn for the people who try to tell them not to take it anymore.Do not let conservatives abuse you. Do not listen to their lies. They are false actors. Everything they say is meant to deceive. They want only to enrich themselves at your expense. It’s been that way all my life. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up!Today, the people are listening though not yet with their conscious minds. They have the sense that something is wrong. They’re like people standing in a field who have caught the sound of a distant noise and they are standing still, straining, listening to attempt to make out the message.The message is this, “Conservatives have cheated you!”Everything conservatives have always said is a lie. Many of the things that Americans have been conditioned to believe without question are nothing but malicious forms of manipulation.The truth is that the government can work. It is possible to pay for healthcare. All human beings have the right to dignity. We should all be able to enjoy the benefits of our labors.The conservatives have lied, they have lied, they have lied.It’s an astonishing thing. It’s as simple as flipping a switch. Once you see the truth it cannot be unseen. The cracks are forming in the veil of deceit, and the abusers are desperate.Even they know they’ve already lost, that’s why they’re starting to flee. Because when realization descends, it will be like a thunderclap. The lighting flash will illuminate the desolation that’s surrounded us all our lives. But for the first time, we’ll see it for what it is and be empowered.Our world does not have to be like this. We don’t have to inflict agony on one another. We don’t have to submit to the torture of our children. We can do better. We can have education, healthcare, prosperity, happiness, and dignity.All it takes is a collective realization about the sins of the father. We’ve been betrayed. The conservatives have betrayed us. They’ve taken their authority and twisted it for their own gain. They’ve subjected us to unnecessary pain.No more.The lie is cracking. We’ll do better. All the people who already see need only push a little harder.Everything conservatives believe is a malicious lie designed to trick us into becoming the authors of our own misery. Stop assuming there’s any other explanation. Stop giving them credibility. Conservatives only offer torture. When they win, we all lose. It’s time for a new day. It’s time to show conservatives the door.We have to stop submitting to the pain. Stand up and scream you aren’t going to take it anymore.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe

Transcribe →

We Will Respond to Their Hate With Love, We'll Answer Their Despair With Hope

4d ago00:06:37Tap to summarize

You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe

Transcribe →

A Boy Spit in My Daughter's Face in Spanish Class and This Is What Happened

5d ago00:09:54Tap to summarize

This was originally published in May of 2023, but it came up in a live the other day so I thought I’d repost it. I want all the conservative apologists out there to read this. We need to have a better society. Incidents like this are too commonplace, and the blatant disrespect that comes from conservative ideology is responsible.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI. Am. Livid.For those of you about to tell me that I need to move, I realize your heart is in the right place. But answer me this: Move where? Where can I go where the cancer of disrespect and aggression that has infected the United States will not reach me?Abroad?Do you really think the United States doesn’t have influence on what happens abroad? Do you really think that there is anywhere you can go, anywhere in the world, where some entitled American won’t come up and spit in your child’s face? They don’t like you because of the color of your skin or the person that you love or the language that you speak, and they always feel they have the right to unprovoked aggression because they know there will never be consequences for the aggressors.This is America.No, fleeing is not the answer. Besides many people lack the resources to flee. But I’m not going to sit on my hands, harbor my strength, and allow entitled bigots to spit in the faces of innocent children.It may not be in the news so much anymore, but we’re still in a pandemic. Under normal circumstances, spitting in somebody’s face would be considered an unacceptable physical aggression. In an era of potentially lethal communicable diseases, spitting in somebody’s face should be considered criminal.What happened?Are we at the point now where something as simple as Spanish class is enough to trigger the entitled people in our society? Does a brainwashed boy who has been listening to his heroes chant, “Build the wall!” become enraged at the simple idea that a language besides English should be a topic of study in public school?Radical groups are already banning history in the form of legislation directed at critical race theory (CRT). Are boys who sit in Spanish class fuming at the suggestion that non-English speakers deserve the same respect and dignity as any other human being? Is that what’s going on?My family is an immigrant family. We speak Spanish in our home. Everybody in my family is fluent in Spanish.Of course, there’s no special consideration for my daughter at the local school district when it comes to her advanced abilities. We have IEPs for kids who are struggling. That is as it should be since education is a human right. However, why don’t we have IEPs for exceptional children?Why does my daughter, who probably has a better grasp of Spanish than the teacher, have to sit through basic lessons? Why can’t she be considered an assistant? Why can’t her skills be utilized to help the other kids? Why does she essentially have to sit there being bored and have her time wasted?Yesterday my daughter received a perfect score on her test. Her reward was that some boy in the class, whom she had never talked to before, marched over and spit in her face.That’s America for you. This is the result of all the hatred that’s been directed at immigrants for the last decade (and more). I warned you this was going to happen. Sooner or later, somebody’s going to spit in the face of your child too.I know the name of the boy who did it, but I’m guessing I’d face stiffer consequences for revealing it than he’s going to face for spitting in my daughter’s face.It’s my impression that America always offers more protections for aggressors than the innocent people they attack. I’m not the only one who has this impression.How I found outI found out this happened because my daughter told me. Actually, she told my wife and my wife told me. She said she knew it was going to make me upset.Imagine that, my daughter was trying to protect me from this. What’s the social programming responsible for that response? Already she knows that when she’s the target of aggression she’s expected to remain quiet? This is the lesson our society teaches!Do you know what should have happened? I should have been informed by the teacher. I should have received a written report with signatures from the principal, teacher, and school resource officer. They should have informed me that the aggressor had been removed from the classroom, and they should be asking if I want to file criminal charges.Instead, this got swept under the rug.“Boys will be boys.”BS.Now take a step back and consider this. What if it had been a student that spit in the face of a teacher, or the principal, or the school resource officer? I’m guessing that if that had happened, I’d have received a phone call within minutes. I’m guessing I would have been called in for a sit down.But when it’s my daughter getting spit on, there’s nothing. This is the selective perception that allows evil to flourish. Unless something happens directly to a person in power, nobody cares.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offCars in the parking lotEvery day when I drop off my kids at school, I’m confronted with images of blatant aggression.There’s this guy who thinks it’s “cute” to put a decal of a hand grenade on his window. Every single day when I turn on the television, I have to watch a news report about another group of students that was slaughtered at a school. In that context, this guy thinks it’s okay to drive up to a school with a picture of a grenade on the back of his car?Then there’s this vehicle with the racist “Joe and the Hoe” sticker. These are common in my community. Hoe in this context, referring to a woman of color, is appallingly racist. The word refers to the Jezebel stereotype that plantation owners used to “justify” raping their slaves. However, people will claim ignorance about this historical fact because they’ve managed to keep the harsh realities of the American slave era out of schools.Then there’s this guy who uses weapons of war to spell out a profanity, and also adds the racist phrase just for an additional kick in the teeth. Again, this is the kind of window decal you see in a country where children are routinely slaughtered. The profanity is written using the very images of the weapons of war that are used to murder children.Our society is okay with this? Our society is okay with this kind of image on display a few blocks from a school?You act like you’re surprised that kids get spit on. It seems to me that there are a lot of messages laying around that encourage people to spit on kids.My children have been harassed since 2016For years, ignorant men wearing red hats have been getting in the face of my wife and kids and screaming, “Build the wall!” However, our society fails to recognize that represents hate speech.In 2021, an armed mob was allowed to attack the Capitol. The consequences have been slow in coming. We’re all told that we should “forget about it” and “move on.”I’ve been the target of physical attacks in the past. In the heat of the moment, somebody punches you in the face and gives you a bloody nose. You’re the one who bleeds. You’re the one who is humiliated. You’re the one who is laughed at.But then, when the time for consequences come, people start saying, “Oh, that’s in the past. Why can’t you let it go? Why do you have to insist on ruining somebody’s life?”The result is that the innocent party is attacked twice. You suffer the initial attack, then you have to suffer the smear campaign when you try to take action to ensure the same abuse doesn’t happen again.But you’ve got to understand that the type of person that would spit in your face isn’t sincere about his remorse. He’s not sorry he spat on you, he’s sorry he might get in trouble for it. The second the heat is turned down, he’s going to go and spit on somebody else.The answer to aggressive people isn’t to sit back and endure their behavior. The answer is ...

Transcribe →

We're Living in an Era of Republican Domestic Terrorism

5d ago00:09:08Tap to summarize

You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe

Transcribe →

Please Don't Try to Correct Me By Regurgitating Culturally Indoctrinated Toxic Conditioning

6d ago00:08:16Tap to summarize

You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe

Transcribe →

Shut Up About Graham Platner and Start Elevating Good Candidates

6d ago00:07:30Tap to summarize

Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offThere are 435 house seats and 35 senate seats up for election. All of these races have primaries. Sometimes these primaries have multiple candidates. But to listen to the grifter media, you’d think the only race currently going on in the US is happening in Maine.Both big media and independent journalists are clutching their pearls over Graham Platner. The one fact that they conveniently overlook is that if they’d done their job a year ago, they might have published these stories in time to elevate a good candidate. Now they’re committed to hand-wringing over Platner to cover up their complicity and to trick you into supporting their worthless publications.Fool me twice, shame on you.Unlike these other “journalists,” I actually was interviewing primary challengers a year ago. My first interview was with Laura Benjamin who was running for Wisconsin 3. It’s a seat currently occupied by Derrick Van Orden. Benjamin eventually ended her campaign, and I’ve gone on to interview Emily Berge five times. She is a wonderful candidate. She deserves all the press that Platner doesn’t. Start supporting the publications that do the right thing and talk about the right people.I was one of the first people on Substack to interview Francesca Hong. She’s an excellent, Mamdani style candidate who is currently the frontrunner for Wisconsin governor. She could use the support of Substack journalists too. Every word wasted on Platner takes us farther from the society that would be well within our reach if people would just wake up.A few weeks ago, I interviewed Ericka Kopp for VA-01 and Melat Kiros. These two brilliant women made my heart soar. If you watch even five minutes of that interview, you’ll see a realistic and achievable vision for a prosperous and humanitarian future. At the end, Melat gives some thoughts on appealing to MAGA that is probably the most insightful assessment I’ve heard since this whole nightmare began.But again, the grifter journalists only want to talk about Graham Platner.For almost a year, I’ve been screaming into the void. I’ve been interviewing every single candidate that reaches out to me. I’ve been doing a lot of work with Citizens' Impeachment. They’ve put together a community of around 150 candidates that are working on a plan to restore our country when they win their elections.But grifter journalists only want to talk about Graham Platner.And don’t think that the journalists of Substack can claim ignorance. I’ve been appealing to them for years. I’ve reached out dozens of times to millionaire funded publications pleading with them to pay attention to these candidates.They haven’t so much as shared or cross posted my big list of interviews:They have unlimited time to write article after article about Graham Platner, but they don’t have time to hit restack?At some point, we have to recognize that the majority of our precious “independent” media personalities are a bunch of phonies. They aren’t really out there on the front lines working to educate the population. Instead, they’re just chasing “open rates” and grabbing liberal money.They know that hysteria about Graham Platner will get them paid, and they’re indifferent about the fact that journalists have the power to get a new generation of quality candidates elected.It’s up to readers to hold publications to that standard. Stop submitting to MAGA conditioning.It’s ridiculous that so called “activists” won’t so much as restack any of the articles I produce. This frustrated me for a long time until I realized that I expected these big publications to be something they’re not.The change needed to defeat authoritarianism happens in every individual heart. We have to put aside our competitive indoctrination, and find our commitment to helping each other.I’ve always aspired to model that. I don’t hesitate to promote the work of good journalists. I do my best to platform writers who are out there giving visibility to quality people. I’ve found that I get a lot more support from writers with small platforms than the “post and ghost” representatives of old school celebrity journalism.Are you honestly trying to tell me that these “brilliant” writers who were fired from major publications can’t see the value of elevating good politicians?They’re grifters.They don’t really care about fighting authoritarianism or reforming our government, there out there making a buck.Now, to be clear, I don’t have any problem with people who have written a few notes or articles about Graham Platner. There are people out there who have assisted me with interviewing independent candidates who have strong opinions on Platner. You’re allowed to express your opinions. My issue is when massive platforms with massive reach pull out their hair about Platner and completely disregard all the brilliant people who are running.Every time they write about Platner, they miss an opportunity to elevate somebody better. That’s an abdication of their responsibility.Over the last few days, I’ve felt a shift. I’m seeing a lot more pressure directed at major media personalities that aren’t doing the work. This article is an excellent example. The reality is that even so-called “left-wing” journalism often follows the MAGA model. Their engine is hysteria, rage, and reaction rather than any productive strategy. They operate on division. They create drama and anger.Take a second to scroll through the supporters of some of those big money publications capitalism has indoctrinated you to admire. Check and see how many of their supporters are nameless profiles without a picture who only sponsor one publication. It’s suspicious.At some point, readers have to be more discerning about being turned into a product. These publications that spend all their time spewing rage content about Platner are only there to distract you from learning about good candidates like Francesca Hong, Emily Berge, Melat Kiros, Ruth Fortune, or any of the dozens of other candidates I’ve interviewed.Notice that all the ones I’ve mentioned are women.Now, stop and ask yourself why you’re supporting major publications that refuse to platform women?It’s time to stop allowing yourself to be the unwitting tool of the tech bro robber barons. They know that our minds have largely been captured by toxic scrolling algorithms. They want to continue to command your attention so you feel powerless and you never realize how easy it would be to win back our country.Graham Platner doesn’t deserve this level of media attention. The second a publication dedicates an article to him, you should revoke your support.Be deliberate in the information you consume. Get out there and learn about the valiant women and men of integrity who are actually fighting hard to save our country. Stop giving all your money and time to the grifters.To date I’ve interviewed 28 excellent candidates (imagine if all the big publications did that):Abel Chavez, Chris Bennett, Joel Lava, Melat Kiros, Ruth Fortune, Andrew Rice, Joseph Perez-Caputo, Robert People for Congress, John Liccione, Nick Alex for Congress GA, Joey Ruz, Elldwnia English, Alex Rikleen, Whalen for Congress, Shelby Campbell, Doug Chapin for Congress, Eri...

Transcribe →

“The Government Can’t Be Trusted” Was the Motto of the Confederacy

1w ago00:08:03Tap to summarize

Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offMy cousins grew up in Kentucky. It was through them that I learned the phrase, “You can’t ever trust the government.”Even when I was little, I had problems with this concept. After all, weren’t we supposed to respect and revere the military? Wasn’t the military part of the government?When I asked these questions I was met with mockery at best and hostility at worst. “Are you trying to be smart? Obviously we’re not talking about the military.”“But...”“I’ve heard enough out of you. You’re being disrespectful.” Then came the ableist insults that have regrettably become so commonplace in our modern political dialogue. Conservatives are always more inclined to respond to questions with insults rather than answers.Throughout my life, conservatives have always attacked social benefit programs as if they’ve found them personally offensive. They’ve always referred to social security as an “entitlement” even though it’s funded through a tax on our earnings. For some reason, any plan that allows millions of Americans to escape poverty is somehow considered unacceptable to conservatives.But rather than say they want to hurt people, they insist they simply “want small government.”Unfortunately, over time, conservative ideology has become the status quo. The general population is so indoctrinated to defend conservative ideals that they think nothing of appointing a lying, cheating, con artist to the highest office in the land. As long as he claims to stand by “conservative values,” all the gatekeepers step aside to let him pass. Even laws that were written to prevent insurrectionists from taking office are ignored in deference to the conservative ideal.“We can’t create a welfare state,” they claim. “Any time you allow the government to take care of the people, you clear the way for abuse.”Again I ask, “But don’t we depend on our military to take care of us? Isn’t that why we pay for the military?”I never get an answer. Lately the responses are more hostile and more abusive.One of the things that’s become appallingly clear is the lack of understanding the general population has when it comes to history. We’ve all turned over our brains to digital oligarchs. Our children have been programmed by malicious devices. Little by little, we’ve allowed nefarious forces to erode our right to choice. Algorithms select what we see on streaming services and on social media platforms. Soon, AI will dominate search engines as well.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offThere are ongoing efforts to defund public schools and libraries. Book stores and record stores are already a thing of the past. The text books which are used to teach history are printed in the Confederate south. They’ve swapped the truth for the Lost Cause narrative, and we’ve all been conditioned not to ask questions.When people say, “the government can’t be trusted,” we nod along in agreement and never think to consider the origin of that phrase. I first heard it from my cousins who grew up in Kentucky. They referred to the Civil War as the War of Northern Aggression.“You can’t submit to doing what the government tells you,” they’d say. They repeated this with pride, as if they were rebels. Did they know that these words were first spoken by plantation owners? Did they know that these plantation owners were aggrieved because the government dared to strip them of the human beings they felt entitled to claim as property?In modern America, we don’t have universal healthcare. Conservatives will come forth and insist that it’s not the government’s responsibility to protect the people. They say the same thing about fair wages and education and worker protections.The root of this ideology was born from the rage when the government stepped in to say rich people were no longer allowed to own human slaves.That behavior was recognized as a crime against humanity, but the rage has never gone away.Modern conservatives are the descendants of the confederacy.For years, conservatives have operated on the assumption that government cannot work. They leverage the inherent difficulty of survival, and use it as an opportunity to place false blame on anyone who is honestly trying to offer aid.“If they were sincere, why didn’t they solve every problem in the world already?”Then the people cheer. The conservatives get appointed to positions of power, and they deliberately sabotage any mechanism that was put in place to help humanity.“See?” they cry as they dismantle every humanitarian program, “That never worked anyway!”Today, we are all looking upon the wreckage of a dismantled nation. Conservatives have defunded the pandemic response team even as an Ebola outbreak threatens the world population. Women have been deprived of their right to bodily autonomy. Children are regarded as the property of their parents. An entire elite class of billionaire child traffickers is enjoying the protection of multiple branches of government.Even now, the American public thinks there is some merit in being mistrustful of the government. At some point it should be obvious that government is a tool. We shouldn’t fear the levers of power, we should fear the ambitions of corrupt men.Conservatives always claim they stand for limited government. Another thing the general population seems to overlook is that when conservatives gain control, the government always expands. They run up the debt. They spend a fortune on war and concentration camps and secret police.They don’t want a smaller government. The only thing that makes them mad is a government that protects human rights. Conservative ideology has been infected with a grievance mentality left over from angry, entitled men who felt they were robbed of their right to torment human beings. We have a rape class today. They allow wages to stagnate. They’ve take our healthcare and education away. Conservatives did this.The population of the United States of America is due for a rude awakening. At the heart of everything is the need for a critical change of perspective. For too long, malicious forces have blamed the concept of government for everything that’s wrong in society. It’s time that we taught our children that government can be good as long as we ensure it’s entrusted to women and men of integrity.The government isn’t the problem. We’re still beholden to the sins of the Confederacy. They’ve taken possession of our whole society, and it’s long past time that they faced accountability.When all this is over, we have to put to rest the fundamental deceit that government can’t be trusted. In fact, we must demand that our government stands as a beacon to defend the unalienable rights due to all of humanity. Those that attack social justice programs are actually waging war against common decency. This is the legacy of the Confederacy. We’ve allowed them to erase their crimes from the pages of history, and that’s condemned us all to endure their tortures once more.We have to tell our children that government can be trusted provided we never allow conservatives, Confederates, or the enablers of cruelty near the levers of power ever again. They must be peacefully, legally, and lawfully removed. Then we can start to rebuild.This is a lesson that must endure. The next time somebody says, “We can’t trust the government,” understand that it’s the person who says those words who likely can’t be trusted. People are the weak link, not the ideals we hold most dear.Thanks for your support: 30% off 💙 40% off 💙 50% off 💙 60% offI'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe

Transcribe →

All episodes

Meet Maine Democratic Senate Candidate David Costello

Cruelty and Obedience Conditioning In Rural Schools

You Want to Shut Down Airports? Then Try It, Cowards!

All Our Suffering in Support of Conservative Ideals Has Meant Nothing

We Will Respond to Their Hate With Love, We'll Answer Their Despair With Hope

A Boy Spit in My Daughter's Face in Spanish Class and This Is What Happened

We're Living in an Era of Republican Domestic Terrorism

Please Don't Try to Correct Me By Regurgitating Culturally Indoctrinated Toxic Conditioning

Shut Up About Graham Platner and Start Elevating Good Candidates

“The Government Can’t Be Trusted” Was the Motto of the Confederacy