CONDEMNED!

Guilty by several degrees of separation from association

FreedomFest in Vegas was a great time! Got to share a booth with my friend Clint Russell, got to reunite with some familiar faces like Olivia Rondeau, Spike Cohen, Larry Sharpe and Nick Gillespie, and to meet friends from the podcasting sphere in person like Connor Freeman, Keith Knight and Patrick MacFarlane. Alongside the fun and educational time with other libertarians, I got condemned by the Southern Poverty Law Center and attended the screening of a film about a no-no person.

Click picture to read the article from SPLC

This joke of an article took the gloves off in full condemnation of several different people by confusing degrees of separation of association. And much to my amusement, both Clint and I got our own separate shout-outs.

Clint received criticism for simply appearing on podcasts alongside my friend Ryan Dawson. The article then went on a side trail to describe what an awful horrible person Ryan is, before centering their sights on me.

You’ll notice that the only guilt they can direct at me and Clint is for simply associating with Dawson, not necessarily agreeing with his views, and that further, when Dawson was on my show that he denied the allegations. So in other words, they’re angry that we would dare to platform someone who denies the accusations of Holocaust denial and antisemitism? Okay. I’ll have Holocaust denial deniers on my show at any time.

Here is the video they are referencing where I brought Ryan on to answer to his critics.

Dave Smith did an episode about this entire shitshow and gave me a great shoutout and I received dozens of new subscribers. Thank you SPLC!

Libertarian Party NH @LPNH

We’re proud of our boy @ReedCoverdale (now deceased from Twitter) for his mention alongside @LibertyLockPod in the latest @splcenter hit piece! Thanks to @ComicDaveSmith for the shoutout! Subscribe to Reed here: youtube.com/c/NaturalistCa…

Now for the most interesting part. A fellow libertarian by the name of Jason Rink made a documentary about Nick Fuentes and was going to premiere the film at FreedomFest. However, due to public outrage, FreedomFest canceled the film and did not allow Jason Rink on the location.

I had been messaging with Jason for a week and wanted to interview him on the whole debacle. However, Olivia’s boyfriend Patriot J got an invitation to the screening event and rumor had it Nick Fuentes himself would be there so I couldn’t resist asking if I could tag along as well.

I was approved entry and Jason came to pick us up at the Mirage and bring us to an undisclosed location for the screening of the film. Jason, who was not a supporter of Fuentes’s beliefs, had been booted from several locations to stay in a hotel room and to air the film, so we had to keep this location a secret.

We showed up to the event and I have to say, it was the gayest thing I’ve ever been to, and this is coming from someone who’s been to multiple Libertarian Party events. I felt that I was amidst a bunch of church going virgins who were uncomfortable with their sexuality, all worshipping a livestreamer in his early 20’s. I guess I should point out that Olivia’s boyfriend is black, and that when we rolled in he was greeted by a barrage of handshakes and hugs from the attendees.

Patriot J, Fuentes and me

The only time I ever got Neo Nazi vibes from the entire event was when Fuentes rolled in, and not because of anything he said but because of the fanatic enthusiasm of his supporters as he pulled up in the car. I almost felt like I was watching an episode of Hogan’s Heroes when a high ranking general or Sergeant Carter impersonating Hitler showed up to Stalag 13.

The film was very well made, and never seemed to me to promote the political positions of Fuentes but to present them without a slant and point out the shocking amount of censorship, travel banning and political danger that Fuentes has been put through. We snapped a picture together to evoke outrage and we were successful.

It should go without saying that I am not an ethno-nationalist, nor am I a supporter of Fuentes, but free speech is something I care about more than anything else. I think the best way to defeat Fuentes’s ideas is to let him talk about them. I also believe that whether or not thoughts or statements have value, that once they are censored, they are legitimized. Whether or not the 2020 election was stolen, millions of people now believe this is true because they are not allowed to ask questions about it.

I have one promise to make to you guys. I will always stand up for free speech, whether or not the speech is agreeable to me.