As my three readers will know, I have for some time been accused, and especially recently, of being aggressive in my Internet activity. Tony Carr, and a long time admirer of mine posting anonymously, have called into question my brutal honesty (they don't characterize it as honesty of course). Tony wrote in the comments section the other day:
But as Anonymous points out, your vibe isn't debate or disagreement. Your vibe is hate. You are loose with serious words, which undercuts your whole shtick as a guy who is all about the seriousness of words. You slap labels on people cheaply, you reason inductively, and you disrespect and trash others by default.
What my "anonymous" follower certainly knows (he used the name "John Richards" back in the day and even contacted my mother-in-law at one point in his online tomfoolery), and as perhaps Tony knows as well, is that one of my "targets" was a fellow from Bainbridge Island where I had a run in with a politician and his leftist mob of Antifa nut jobs. Like my recent two-ship of critics, the bone of contention back then was, drum roll please, my speech and saying things that somebody else didn't like. Now, oddly enough, in those days I was running an experiment on civility given the critiques of my style in the military. I used to call it "Ben Franklin'ing" in discussions with the wife. Since these were our neighbors on a small island and I was no longer speaking to military folks, I tried to be as civil as I could be while still explaining to my neighbors my view that Clarence Moriwaki was unfit for a certain public position. My civil post explaining this was well received in the Bainbridge Island Open Community Facebook group, garnered many likes and a good conversation. It appeared to be local democracy in action.
And then a friend of Moriwaki's and an admin of the group, Houston Wade, deleted the thread in its entirety and banned me. Turns out, what a shocker, that it doesn't actually matter how you state your opinion when your opinion is not allowed by those in power.
I was then banned from all the local groups. Most would simply shrug it off and go about their day, especially if they aren't passionate about the subject. Democracy requires a vibrant bunch, and such vibrancy is tough to find these days. But I wanted to not be silenced, so I had to create alternative means of joining the conversation. Doing so, however, putting in all that extra effort to have your voice heard, opens you up to all the crazy claims of "obsession" and being a "stalker" and such when it comes to criticizing public folks with power. But at the heart, it's really about wanting to be able to express your view in a nation that requires spirited debate and holding power accountable to be healthy. But our digital age has made fascism and controlling conversation all too easy and it takes a great deal of work to make alternative inroads in such a situation. And our nation is far from healthy.
The end result is the appearance of the free speech required for an informed citizenry. After all, people are talking. But it's only some people. You don't see the people who are not allowed to talk. Some of the truly crazy people will be allowed from the "other side" because their participation actually helps those in power. But civil and yet accurate conversation is a threat and will not be tolerated. Given that most people increasingly don't operate in that manner, it's easy for them to not realize how curated and controlled the discussion truly is because they don't face censorship in the same way.
So as I sought to do an end around against the machine that controlled speech about public matters in my neighborhood, I had to be far more persistent and more creative. While I remained civil, I flooded all avenues in my attempt to be heard. Civility isn't required, but I was doing a test. Given the results, I actually think trying to be polite isn't helpful, it's too easily mistaken for weakness and timidity and only encourages bad actors. I have also discovered a link between those who critique my communication "style" and those who attempt to silence me. But perhaps I'm wrong about my communication style? Maybe my attempts are "ineffective" not because of the fascism that grows every day in our nation but rather because of how I say things? That's what my critics have precisely told me recently.
Tony Carr and Mr. Anonymous think I am the reason for my "ineffective" rhetoric, and I only ran that one experiment, so perhaps I'm still wrong about the value of my communications? Maybe there is a more effective way to speak truth to power, or to expose people in government doing wrong? Maybe, as Tony says, it's not about what I say but how I say it?
Then again, as Charlie Kirk demonstrates, perhaps it's truly dangerous to be effective with words Perhaps so many courageous men and women from the Civil Rights era who peacefully demonstrated and spoke and who ended up dead might disagree about communication style? Maybe when dealing with power-hungry people of low character who will stop at nothing to silence others, could it be there is no way to be polite enough to keep them from vilification and demonization and violence against you?
Let's consider it an open question as I continue to reflect on the criticism of my communication style.
My anonymous follower was sure to like posts from Clarence Moriwaki (as did Dan Tarleton who even gave him money in his effort to silence my speech) and I spent tens of thousands of dollars of my own money on social media getting the word out about this vile politician (who was a public relations guy and media manipulator for his political masters) and the digital mob he had assembled. Moriwaki's close friend, and right hand man in this effort against me, was the guy I previously mentioned, Houston Wade. Houston Wade was truly despicable in a crowd of the truly despicable. He showed up to court to support his politician friend against me and was very active online spreading the most awful lies about your humble blogger. Their lies included the words of Tony Carr and his words even made it into court documents used against me. Imagine that. Houston Wade was central in the digital campaign to demonize me in my own community and to the broader audience online.
I have spent more time on Houston Wade than anybody else since those days. It's not even close. Sorry Brandon.
I have been active online and off trying to address the threat Houston Wade posed to the local community, and to his marks online, by using my harsh words and my inability to build consensus. StopClarenceMoriwaki.Com was one such avenue that my anonymous follower is very familiar with. I was so active, so extraordinarily dedicated to exposing Wade, that of course I have been routinely charged with being cRaZy and all the rest. Who makes multiple videos about an individual like that? Who makes all those memes? Holy God, who makes an online video game about his subject?! Beyond how abnormal such efforts are, who has the time? Who makes a website like HoustonWadeLies.Com? Why are you so obsessed with pointing out so-called character deficiencies and dangers with some guy you got in a spat with years ago???
I have persistently accused Houston Wade of intense projection, staggering dishonesty, a willingness to lie, advocating violence, warned of his obsession with mixing sexuality and violence in his imagery, using homosexuality as an insult despite claiming to be ultra "woke," and documented his frequent celebrations of death for anybody he disagreed with politically who met their demise. Houston Wade regularly mocked me online when his politician friend was using the courts against me, telling me how I was going to go to prison and there receive the unwanted male attention that so many prison movies have made infamous. I was also attacked by his supporters and mob members mercilessly. Death threats, multiple false police reports claiming I had broken into homes, and the most vile defamatory comments were made about me online. My mother's online obituary featured a comment, falsely asserting it was from me, which described incredible indecency between a mother and son. On her obituary just after she passed away. I was alerted to that post by my grieving father. Houston Wade regularly made false comments online about her death.
As in any contest for a worthy cause, there will be wounds and scars, even in digital combat and the contest of words. At least if you pick up a worthy cause. If you pick your battles, which is to say you actually pick battles. Nothing worth doing is easy. Or popular. Except criticizing the man who is in the ring taking the blows, that's easy enough and popular.
After I beat Clarence Moriwaki (a current Bainbridge Island City Council member) in court, badly, I was involved in efforts concerning Houston Wade behind the scenes as well as online. I was quick to report on his loss in court for defaming a neighbor in the absolute worst way, and broadcasting his bankruptcy that resulted, to his audience of potential victims. Wade brought me up in his court proceedings regularly in his many irrelevancies. He blamed me for some of his woes in court documents and testimony. I won't say that he was incorrect, but it didn't convince any of his judges. Be that as it may or may not be, I tried to reach any of his potential victims to let them know the character of the person they were dealing with and I enjoyed a large amount of success much to his dismay. Houston spent considerable time banning and censoring me from any community, starting with the "Bainbridge Island Open Community" Facebook group, and then reporting my posts in other areas, doing the thing that all frauds and liars do who smart from my accurate words. He was unsuccessful, however, and soon I no longer had to inform folks about him as there was an army of people doing it who had seen the information I provided. In his podcast, he made it very clear how my ceaseless efforts caused him real torment.
In the video above, in addition to demonstrating the real pain I caused him, Houston Wade also makes the false claim that I am friends with child molesters (a claim that has him nearly one million dollars in debt after a court ruling and led to him declaring bankruptcy) and talks about my obsession with him and begs his audience to block me. I would recommend readers watch this video before continuing to read below to really understand the full force of agony my words have caused some individuals. The video shows the real, purposeful, pain on Wade's face as a result of my efforts. At 13:27 Wade discusses his stalker (referring to me) and says:
It is exhausting, the thing is I know I'm not alone, because I know he has dozens of victims, so we all talk with each other and share and treasure each other's support because this guy is unending, he'll make websites about you, he'll make videos about you...
He's right. So many of my critics, excuse me, my "victims" who have suffered the "harassment" and the brunt of my harsh words, have communicated with Houston Wade in their shared effort to retaliate against me. It goes well beyond an Internet slap fight. But we'll leave that for another day.
As far as words go, it's really extreme stuff. I admit it. My words have been issued not just harshly, and truthfully, but also with the hope of causing pain by exposing the character of my subject. Does that make me a monster? Is there a difference between wanting to cause pain with the truth, rather than through lies, or am I the asshole and curmudgeon and prick that Tony Carr says I am because of how I conduct myself with words online regardless of the accuracy he credits me with? Who spends so much time "attacking" another person online, anyway? Trolls do from what I'm told. And "stalkers" of course. Houston Wade refers to me regularly as his "stalker" for expressing views about him he doesn't approve of, and doing it so frequently. His Twitter account lists his location as "in Rick Rynearson's head" yet his podcast's "winged rhino" flying animation makes it very clear that I am front and center inside his. And that was purposeful, the OODA Loop applied to our new digital landscape. But the question remains, who does that? Is there something wrong with me spending this much time "obsessing" over somebody online? Is this the vibe of hate that Tony Carr referenced? Am I the "serial stalker" who moves from target to target that Houston claims that I am? So many people take issue with my aggressive speech...
So, I chose to do some reflection, to ponder the recent criticism of my online activity... and I have decided that I will likely cease my intense online activity against Houston Wade. It's a start, after all, right?
I won't be ceasing because there is any real merit to these criticisms of my speech, of course, but rather because Houston Wade has just been arrested and charged for trying to do things to an eleven year old that shouldn't be imagined let alone attempted. Be forewarned when reading the details of the charging document I just linked, it's not a pleasant read. And we all know some folks who really don't like words when they're not pleasant. Six years ago I tried to warn people about Houston Wade's mental/sexual state, but given the censorship and control of information, not many likely saw that explicit warning. Censors hate the truth. And some, really really hate it...
Cheers.


































