Yer right, Claire - it's downright weird. As Don puts it, we got sabotaged from within.
Or sabotaged before you started................after all, pasting some known names on the premier issue of a newspaper could serve to build a subscription list in very short order..........
Well, I can stretch to see your point, ZooT, but in all honesty the GV Patriot was not started with "subscriptions" in mind. We intended to finance the paper with advertising, not with subscriptions. And I'm comfortable in thinking that the owner was not attempting to take advantage of the staff. The owner is a good person, but one who succumbed to fear that advertisers would not support the paper if what the staff prepared for the 2nd edition managed to somehow get into print. We did design a 9/11 Truth issue - and as you know, most people (and many advertisers) can't tolerate my "conspiracy theories" about 9/11. I don't really blame the owner, but would have preferred that we be told beforehand that our articles would be subjected to censorship prior to printing. That caught us by surprise.
But as I noted already, I've forgiven that little problem and am focused on moving forward with The Montana Messenger. Joan and I are devoted to printing a quality paper which is unfettered by commercial or politically-correct reins. America is in dire peril. We know it, and we're going to print it.
I've learned something while doing the GV Patriot. I've learned that the people know they're being denied the truth. I've learned that the people want the truth. And I've learned that while anyone can find the truth online, it's a whole 'nuther matter to stand on Main Street with a copy of a published paper in one's hand and get the truth in hard-copy. It's different than reading articles on an electronic screen. Holding a paper in one's hands and reading it gives a greater sense of validity. It is a more-direct and more-powerful experience in reading. There's just something about it. It works. You'd be pleased if you saw the volume of communications I've received from that first issue. People loved it. We had a great thing going there. It's too bad we could not make good on the promises I made in my first editorial. Maybe I'll just paste part of that in right here....
~
The Gallatin Valley Patriot is pleased to offer a new venue which shall not be associated in any way with any partisan political platform. This monthly newspaper is devoted to the people. Our goal is to be a voice for the people, for our families, for our communities. We, the people, rise above, and intend to live above, the political circus brought to us by the two major political parties and an out-of-control Federal government. We intend to speak out about that. Fiercely and faithfully.
The Gallatin Valley Patriot knows that divisive tactics which mark today's political arena are being used to control our perceptions. This paper will not bow to that madness. In truth, millions of Americans and thousands here in Gallatin Valley and surrounding areas are alarmed, are informing themselves with the truth, are disgusted with the performance of today’s political idiocy, are fearful of Federal dominance over the smallest details of their daily lives, and are seeking solutions.
The Gallatin Valley Patriot is here in support of the awakening citizenry. Our readers care. Our readers are vocal. They are engaged. They are motivated. And they are educating themselves and their neighbors swiftly now. Grassroots is the wave of the future, and it begins right here in our lovely valley and surrounding areas, in Montana, and indeed all across America.
We know and assert boldly that the U.S. Federal government was created by the Constitution, and that the Constitution came before the government. It is honorable to pledge our allegiance to that Constitution, to its original wording and spirit, to the morality it embodies, and we state candidly that our allegiance to the Federal government is contingent upon the government's compliance with the limits and demands placed upon it by its founding legal charter. We are Patriots.
We welcome the awakening citizens from all political camps, Left, Right, Center, and Other, who have grown frustrated and discouraged by overwhelming Federal and State abuse and criminality. Our reader is politically aware, patriotic, loyal to traditional American values, is industrious and creative, is entrepreneurial, and appreciates our sponsors / advertisers who make this paper possible.
We are the Gallatin Valley's new watch-dog and whistle-blower. You, the reader, have every right to transparent governance, have every right to know what is shaping government policy, have every right to expect our government to honor the U.S. Constitution, and have every right to expect and demand of that Constitution the full protection of your unalienable rights as human beings and as citizens. It is your Constitution. It’s time to use it. Help us pass the word.
The Gallatin Valley Patriot intends to expose violations of our highest law wherever we find transgressions, and our promise to you the reader is that we shall work tirelessly to get unbiased information into your hands. That is our primary purpose.
- end quoted passages from my editorial in issue 1 of GV Patriot -
That's what I promised in our inaugural edition.
When I saw what happened to my work with the 2nd issue, and could not reach consensus with the paper's owner, I felt I had no choice but to resign. I think I made the right decision. But the people who got that issue loved it. Six thousand copies disappeared very quickly. People have been requesting more copies ever since. People here in Montana want a paper which would deliver just what I had promised, and Joan, Don, and I are determined to give it to them, even if we have to do it ourselves with a new paper.
We are finding, however, that support exists for The Montana Messenger. That support exists because of reasons I've just written above - there is more power in the printed word than in the electric word. (Not to diss the Internet, of course - I'm a loyal fan of the Internet and am grateful for it.) But people get more out of something they can hold in their hands. It's just that simple. It's more personal, more believable, and more sensible. And, because it's more "real" in that way, it carries with it a feeling of value. Our first issue was the sort of paper which people enjoyed sharing with friends. Lots of people called me requesting extra copies for their friends and families. The paper got mailed all over the place. Here are some names who received copies - G. Edward Griffin, Katherine Albrecht, Devvy Kidd, Edwin Viera, Vin Suprynowicz, Claire Wolfe, Lt.Cmdr.David Gillie, Stewart Rhodes, Anton Chaitkin, Lt.Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, and many more. When I went to Helena this past September 12, 2009, for an Oath Keepers ceremony, people were passing that issue around in the crowd at the Capitol's steps.
So. There is nothing left to do but launch another attempt to get the truth out there in print. We'll be using a 40 lb. "Book" paper, same as the GV Patriot uses. It will be printed in full color. It will be laid out for printing by a very good fine artist. It will have a website. Our printer is set up for direct mailing to all subscribers. Our list of writers is growing, and just yesterday I got written permissions from Katherine Albrecht (author of
Spy Chips - see her in Aaron Russo's film,
America: Freedom To Fascism). She has invited me to interview her. I'll happily do so.
The Montana Messenger is going to come out of the gates flying high, and like the Red Tailed Hawk of Native American mythology, it will carry the message of truth far and wide. I'll send copies your way as soon as it comes off the press. And ZooT, this time there will be no "sabotage" from within. Joan, Don, and self are all in total consensus about the paper's mission - and we've got a lot of very good support from very good people. Exciting!
Salute!
Elias
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Topic: A Red Tailed Hawk _ The Montana Messenger (Read 20632 times)