By Dr. Steve Nagel, ND National Committeeman-elect for the RNC
I have a comment from Kirsten Baesler that I believe needs to be addressed, cutting down the efforts of the NDGOP and the significance of those in attendance. Her comments are completely inexcusable. However, I WILL highlight a glaring indication of government waste and inefficient spending.
Directly quoted in an April 5 statement following Bartlett's endorsement:
“Our convention process is flawed — it disenfranchises the tens of thousands of Republican voters who can’t afford to take a Friday off from work or school so they can spend a couple thousand dollars to vote in these contests.”
1. I spent around $800 for the weekend, including all dues, and could have gotten it down to $650 if I didn't need to be in Fargo Thursday night to make sure our sound was set up correctly. See below for details if you care. If our Superintendent of Schools spent over $2000 to go, where did she spend that money? And is responsible spending even on her radar? We have seen school spending SKYROCKET over the last decade, and have only seen student scores falter to an unacceptable rate. Throwing money at a failing system will not fix it. I hope that message can go far beyond the current state of our schools and into most of government in general. Taxing more for failing policies and crony capitalism is FAILING.
2. Yes it was a sacrifice for MANY, especially those on in the western side of the state. Don't kid yourself. It is completely insulting to the grassroots people that DID sacrifice in a big way to be there. Most of them ARE the working class. Those who found someone to check their cattle in the middle of calving season and feed for them for a couple of days. Those who got up at 3 am to drive, stay one night, and return home after the event. Those that DID take a day off, BECAUSE THEY VALUED THEIR COUNTRY enough to become involved and show up.
4. I know people who couldn't afford to go but wanted to. I also know how knowledgeable these same people are, about the failures of our current school system. WHAT IF knowledge about the travesty of our current school systems were the only factor in attending or not attending? If cost was taken off the table? This is speculation, however, I would wager that the current "status quo" would have performed much WORSE than it did. Which should be a tough pill to swallow for our current incumbent.
5. It is, from my experience, the "low information voters" that don't bother with a convention, or even know it exists- also know very little about HOW their politicians are showing up day-to-day, decision-to-decision. OR about who schools are taking their direction from. Don't flatter yourself about disenfranchised people not being there to vote for you.
Many parents I've spoken to, the ones that are yearning for new leadership, recognize this:
Parents ARE the primary stakeholders in their children's education. Period. REGARDLESS of what the NSBA and Joe Biden cooperatively say. When they stated that concerned parents are akin to domestic terrorists, and sent the FBI after them, that should have been an IMMEDIATE separation between our school and the NSBA, but it took a lot of time and public pressure, and for other states to set an example, to divest from this evil thinktank. Why did North Dakota wait so long to take a stance against this outright overreach? It mattered then, and it STILL MATTERS. WILL WE LEARN from our past mistakes?
What other think tanks do we need to divest from? Who decides which think tanks indoctrinate teachers, administration, and school boards? What does the NDSBA think? The National Secondary Principal Association, the National Education Association? The American School Administrators Association? Do these entities have "unspoken agendas" just as the NSBA CLEARY does? It’s worth a conversation. (More on that here.)
Although the NSBA admits they went "Too far", they also essentially admit to their true intentions and where their true north is- complete control of your children. They just got caught pushing the agenda too quickly.
Thankfully, the idea that parents ARE the primary stakeholders for their own children, is NOT a partisan issue. At least it shouldn’t be. It is a government vs the people issue, with special interests and crony businesses sprinkled in, willing to sell out our children’s future.
More and more are waking up to the after-effects of the Bill Gates created common-core agenda infiltrating our school systems, moving education away from the "3 R's" to a marbleized, confusing curriculum that muddies the water between truth and fiction, right and wrong, right-side-up and upside-down, xx/xy chromosomes, 2+2 doesn't "have" to =4, and so on.
We don't teach Civics. Or Patriotism. My nephew got sent home for wearing a US Flag suit on election day. Too traumatic for some students I guess. It was "picking sides" in the election- which "side" does the flag represent and which doesn't it? The fact that we all know the answer should be a warning sign. Maybe he should have worn Ukraine colors instead or a Black Lives Matter suit to appease his authorities.
If we can't give children certainty in basic math or keep the process logical, how do we expect these children to have a framework around "reality"? How do we expect them to think critically about things that matter? Confusion and exceptions are now the norm. We allow mental disorders to rule the conversation, instead of getting them the help they need. Schools hide mental problems from parents. We force compelled speech instead of instilling morals and free speech ideas. CRT, DEI, how many more "think tanks" are influencing our curriculum outside of the one that "got caught"?
Confusion creates easily manipulated, compliant slaves.
Add to it forced medical procedures. NONE of which serve our future children, but instead served Big Pharma, and forever altered the brains of learning children negatively. Will their learning scores ever recover? Will the authorities within our state and schools be FOOLED by the CDC "experts" again next time this happens? Will we say things like "We don't want to do it but we will lose federal funding"? What IS your price?
In our office, we speak of "resilience" and building our health resilience, making the people we work with less prone to breaking down in the future. It takes work. Our profession is based on strengthening the human body to better adapt to the environment around us. Most other healthcare professions are focused on changing the environment to suit a weakened body.
I see a major parallel with managing emotions. If we bend all language and activities around protecting every emotion as a child, what happens when they have to step into the real world and realize that it is HOW WE ADAPT to the world around us that matters, not whether we can force everyone else around us to change their behavior to fit what should be a mental diagnosis. Eating healthy is seen as a mental health disorder while identifying as having multiple personalities is just being "fluid".
For decades we've seen more and more emphasis on drugging kids into submission than teaching diet, nutrition, movement, confidence, and lifestyle supportive of optimizing learning and protecting/developing brain function. No, ketchup and french fries are NOT vegetables, even if the potato industry says so. Yes, inoculation HAS neurologic and immunologic risks that are NOT black-and-white (e.g. encephalitis and autoimmune problems). Processed grains like pasta and bread have significant health implications, ESPECIALLY in a mostly sedentary culture, in which we live. Yes, cardiovascular and strength training is a REQUIREMENT for normal genetic expression. Yes, a quality source of meat historically IS needed to sustain health (See historical texts of Westin A Price- Nutrition and Physical Degeneration). Yes, processed sugar consumption DOES affect learning abilities. The government is WRONG when they fund studies suggesting fruit loops are more nutritious than steak and eggs. I could go on but you get my point.
All serve to create willing, chronically ill slaves in mind, body, and spirit, dependent on government for survival instead of ourselves and our neighbors, family, and friends. This makes for great taxpayers who never look at how much of their paycheck is taken by our government.
THIS is why people are not voting for the status quo. THIS is why there is an uprising of our parents and concerned people. We SEE where the puck is going and we are not ok with it. ARE YOU?
So, where do we start?
For those who care- my expenditures for the State GOP convention.
$50 for dues, (which is yearly, not for the convention itself but required).
$150 for the convention - Yes, this could have been perhaps less costly if it were in Bismarck, however, there are costs involved with a venue to seat 1500-2000 people for 2 days, which is needed to actually discuss and vote on candidates and proposed resolutions, instead of "rubber stamping" them as happened in 2022.
$357 for room, of which, if I hadn't needed to be in Fargo the evening prior for a commitment I had, could have been achieved for around $180.
$100 for food (pack a lunch with healthy snacks and avoid splurging)
$150 for gas (if I DON'T cut it in half for carpooling, which I did)
