I would consider myself to be somewhat patriotic but not all that political.
I’m repulsed by 2 people, bullies and liars. I’m talking completely visceral, deep in your body type anger that I find very difficult to control.
I would bet there’s not more than a handful of politicians who have enough integrity to say, “no comment” when asked something they don’t know or know that the answer will not be liked.
Most would rather lie than be unliked or be perceived as outside the system.
I spent my 20s and 30s in the Idaho Army National Guard and was able to largely ignore the political scene entirely. I realize politics ruled my existence but I was too busy to pay any attention nor care.
To this day, I’ve never watched a presidential debate or listened to a single speech on the national level. I would bet I haven’t watched more than 10 to 15 minutes of highlights of the same over the last 20 years.
I seemed to be one of the few liberty minded I know who completely missed the Ron Paul revolution. I learned of Ron after I was introduced to The Tom Woods Show back in 2015
Now the National Guard sent me all over the world for training and various missions. In 2006, our Apache helicopter battalion joined with a couple of other states’ National Guard assets to create a task force in Afghanistan.
I met a number of great people on that deployment.
Folks I’m still friends with almost 20 years later. If I walk out my front door, right now, I can see the houses of 2 guys I deployed with. In about 3 minutes, I can walk around the corner to the house of a third. These are just a handful of the great men and women I served with.
One in particular stands out to me today. He has managed to accomplish a great deal politically that I wish I had the desire to help him with. I can’t stomach being around the people he’s able to, I really admire that about him.
Dan McKnight and I met towards the end of our deployment in 2007. Our friendship grew into more than just fellow Guardsmen. Eventually he and I would invest in a video game startup, he was my first mortgage broker.
He and I would also produce a short documentary where we interviewed Lester Earls. Lester was an Idaho native who rode a horse from his house to the capital for the Governor’s inauguration. Years later he’d learn to fly in the Army Air Corps. At the time we interviewed him, Lester was one of the last “Droop Snoot,” P-38 bomber pilots still alive. Unfortunately, Lester passed away in 2011. His story is amazing and you can read an abbreviated obituary at https://kevin-stokes.com/lester-earls
As cool as that was, none of it makes me as proud of Dan than what he just accomplished in politics.
Dan has labored tirelessly over the years on the “Defend the Guard” bills he’s helped get sponsored around the country. After multiple attempts, he’s been unable to get the bill passed in our home state of Idaho.
But now there are signs that’s about to change!
This past weekend the Idaho Republican Party held their convention. On Saturday, Dan announced that “Defend The Guard” has officially become a plank in the Idaho Republican Party platform!
What a miraculous accomplishment!
I wasn’t there and I’ve only seen a copy of the proposed addition but it’s hard not to feel that the hope I share for the future is spreading. I’ve come to believe that state and local levels are where the change is going to come from.
If you’re as excited about this development as I am, then I’ll bet Dan won’t mind if you find a way to send him some financial support through my link https://kevin-stokes.com/troops
I don’t get a penny if you do. I wouldn’t take it anyway even if Dan tried to give it to me.
Cheers,
Kevin Stokes
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