(DON THOMPSON / iNFOnews.ca)

OPINION

It’s complicated. If you met Bill…you would probably say, “Nice guy,” and over beers discuss whether the Kansas City Chiefs might repeat as NFL champs…or the finer points of fly fishing…or whether In-N-Out Burger or Five Guys is the best burger joint. You’d both tell stories…and both laugh.

But any common ground you thought you had would likely shift suddenly and the gulf between you and Bill might seem almost incomprehensible. Each of you would see the world…and much of what’s in it…with completely different eyes and how you interpret almost every societal issue would make you wonder if you lived on the same planet.

Bill is 63…and says he feels every bit of it. We chatted briefly on FaceTime. He’s weathered and could pass for a cowhand in a John Ford western movie. He is married to his wife, Deborah, for 40 years. He was a U.S. Marine for 20 years…seeing combat in the Persian Gulf…and still carries shrapnel from two different Purple Heart wounds.

He retired from the Marines to his home in Cleveland, OH, but it wasn’t the place he remembered…and with his parents dead and no friends there, it had no special draw. So, they left Ohio 15 years ago in search of new lives…drove west and ended up in Montana’s Big Sky country on a small ranch just outside of Billings. Today, Bill looks like he was born on a horse…always wears a cowboy hat…and any traces of Ohio are long gone.

When not tending to ranch chores and a small herd of cattle, Bill spends his spare time with his “community”…not other folks near Billings…but hundreds of folks across America tuned in to The Patriot Party News (PPN)…a social media platform that pumps disinformation and conspiracy theories 24 hours a day.

Bill participates in daily PPN audio calls - one rung up the ladder on the old ham radio network - talking with and listening to his “friends”. He pays $9 a month for daily video news feeds, as well, that are more Right Wing propaganda than news. It’s almost a full-time hobby, said Bill, who spends 35 to 40 hours a week listening, talking and watching what PPN offers.

A fellow from Tennessee - Warren Armour - started PPN in 2020 in his home. He ran a flooring business and has no previous media experience. He neither likes nor trusts mainstream media…so much so that his tagline on social media remains, “If you hate mainstream media, you are going to love us!”

Hate is a topic that comes up all too frequently on PPN. On the daily audio free-for-alls, members of the “community” talk about their hate of government, Joe Biden, Democrats and liberals, immigrants and vaccines.

Between people talking about their day and what’s going on in their lives, the community members share food recipes, rant about everyone’s anecdotal “proof of how bad things are in America, and how we ought to change things.”

Bill’s wife - he calls her Deb - rarely gets on the calls, claiming in the background of my conversation with him that “This is HIS thing…not mine!” She sounded weary, like someone who eavesdrops on conversations she’s too disinterested to join in…but too lonely not to complain as Bill’s “obsession”. Bill’s and Deb’s closest neighbour is three miles away…and besides proximity, they aren’t close in any other sense of the word.

More than anything the members of the PPN community share extreme political views. They lament that they don’t know why Hillary Clinton, Barack Hussein Obama (they always throw in the middle name), Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci - among others - aren’t in prison.

Everyone on the call I joined swore that the election was stolen from Donald Trump in 2020. The folks who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021…are patriots…and as one member of the community said to thunderous agreement, “They should be given Medals of Freedom.”

The PPN community’s hatred of Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris isn’t just palpable, it’s as though they are sub-human…some evil alien life forces. Someone who identified herself only as “Freedom Fighter” proclaimed, “Fauci killed more people than Hitler…more than were killed in all of World War II!” A chorus of “I know” and “I heard that, too,” and “Right” followed.

As I listened to proven lies - Obama’s birthplace, accusations of widespread election fraud and the hoax of climate change - and de-bunked conspiracy theories…how ivermectin cures COVID-19, I realized these folks would never accept provable truths…or facts. These and other outrageous lies and conspiracies are the DNA building blocks of The Patriot Party News.

And yet, in my conversation with Bill, he acknowledged that only maybe 20 percent of what he hears and sees on PPN is true…factual, but “that’s better than ABC.” He said he likes his friends that he talks with every day. I found little truth…and fewer facts in listening to a news feed.

“There are some weird ones, but I dunno, we’re like minds, I guess,” he explained.

The PPN website lists “partners”…basically advertisers…selling products promising largely unfounded claims of better health and welfare.

They tout anti-aging med-beds as good for what ails you…a product with absolutely no clinical proof of helping cure anything. It is another conspiracy theory run amok. Some who chat daily on PPN with hundreds on the line simultaneously claim “you can’t get the military version”…“it’s Top Secret and can regrow the limbs of combat victim amputees.”

Of course, that’s a lie, but folks listening to PPN are buying the civilian version of med-beds and sheets and pillowcases for thousands of dollars, or they’re going to med-bed spas (converted mom-and-pop motels) and sleeping in them for $160 a night for the cure.

You can buy PPN’s Patriot Mobile Phone Service with unlimited talk and text and 40 GB of data for $78 a month. But the main pitch is to get like-minded folks to realize they have a home…a community…with PPN. The pitch - to get people who self-identify as “patriots and freedom fighters” on board - isn’t subtle.

Patriot Mobile champions the First Amendment…protecting your rights to express yourself and live by your religious beliefs. The only religious beliefs mentioned, however, are Christian. They claim to have donated over $2 million to support Christian Conservative causes…in 2022. Likewise, it advocates and claims to donate to organizations that ensure the Second Amendment right to bear arms for defence and liberty. I could find no proof of donations then or now.

PPN’s Mobile Phone Service also promotes an “unwavering commitment to the sanctity of life” supporting “organizations and initiatives that advocate for the right to life from conception.” Members cheer when someone mentions overturning Roe v. Wade on calls, and insist they need to penalize abortion seekers…and outlaw gay marriage.

Missing no obvious demographic, PPN pitches to those who support the military and first responders…“providing the respect, resources, and recognition they deserve, embodying our gratitude for their service and sacrifice.” Again, no mention of financial support or lobbying for legislation supporting veterans.

PPN asks for donations to keep its efforts going throughout its website…each of its regular broadcast 13 shows asks for money. On a “Meet the Team” page there are photos of Warren, Chas, Dallas and Alex. Clicking on the names/photo that was supposed to bring up biographies…didn’t.

And to seal the deal that you really might be one of them, PPN offers this statement of purpose:

“We are a group of Citizen Journalist (sic) who watched the travesty of the 2020 election. We watched the mainstream networks censor and absolutely refuse to cover breaking news that showed the corruption and destruction of our civil liberties. We got together and decided to launch The Patriot Party News. We made a promise to each other and to you our readers to hold true to Conservative Ideals supporting our men and women in blue and in serve (sic) in our armed forces. The most dangerous thing to the government is an informed populace.”

The entire statement is Right Wing bullshit…but the last line is particularly telling. The government - the one run by Democrats and Liberals - is the enemy. PPN members seem less interested in democracy than simply getting their way…and forcing those who don’t see things as Christian Conservative MAGA folks…to knuckle under.

I asked Bill, “Where does all this lead?” He envisions a sort of Holy War.

“Well, we’re amassing troops every day…and if we don’t win in November…there’s likely going to be another revolution,” he said matter-of-factly.

Honestly, I didn’t know what to say. So, I simply thanked him for his time. Having a beer with Bill and talking about the Kansas City Chiefs, fly fishing or the best burgers in America seemed a galaxy away.

— Don Thompson, an American awaiting Canadian citizenship, lives in Vernon and in Florida. In a career that spans more than 40 years, Don has been a working journalist, a speechwriter and the CEO of an advertising and public relations firm. A passionate and compassionate man, he loves the written word as much as fine dinners with great wines.

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