Keaton Jones - The Story of a Ruthless Internet

I haven’t written a single thing since January 1^st of this year.  Certainly a mistake on my part, as I have had so much that I’ve wanted to say.  So what event causes me to break the silence?  The Keaton Jones story.  I know!  I know…  You don’t want to hear about it anymore.  The American media has literally turned this relevant story into a bonafide shit show.

I am going to try to make this short.  A Union County (Tennessee) middle-school student, Keaton Jones, was bullied at school.  His mother filmed a video, which ended up going viral.  Keaton started to receive tons of support from around the globe, including celebrities.  A GoFundMe account was started for Keaton.  Then, pictures of Keaton’s mother emerged posing next to a confederate flag.  A snapshot of a Facebook post (made by Keaton’s mother) challenging black Americans who protest police brutality emerged.  This PROVES she's racist!  

When celebrities champion a cause, the media jumps right up on that bandwagon.  TMZ immediately labels the mother as a racist.  Internet backlash starts.  Fake Instagram accounts post misinformation and lead people/celebs to “give money.”  The family is accused of running a scam in order to make money off Keaton’s pain.  Instagram accounts are proven to be fake, and the GoFundMe account is shown to be set up by a stranger.  A report comes out that Keaton used the “N” word which led to the bullying.  Later disproven.  AGAIN.  Keaton and his mother allow a couple of interviews during which time she tells the interviewer that she is not racist, and answers questions regarding the confederate flag.

But it doesn’t matter.  It can't be true.  They HAVE to be lying.  They HAVE to be racists.  The rumor mill is in full effect.  The family is racist.  Keaton is racist.  The family deserves to be bullied.  Keaton deserves to be bullied.  The internet turns on the entire family.  Celebrities are thinking about withdrawing their support.  Race becomes an issue.  Why does this “white boy” get attention when a little black girl killed herself due to bullying.  Would this amount of attention be given if the child was black?  He’s receiving all this support because he’s white.  So it begins.  The entire family is bullied, mocked, demonized, and sentenced.  GUILTY, without a chance to prove innocence.

Then it is discovered that Keaton’s dad is a confirmed racist.  He is seen with white pride tattoos, and wearing white pride clothing.  All of the rumors are confirmed!  Because, if Keaton’s DAD is racist, that MUST mean that Keaton and his mother are racist to, right?  All disproven today.  Come to find out, Keaton’s father was arrested in 2007 for punching his mother in the face, and in 2008 for threatening to kill his entire family, including Keaton.  Keaton’s father was also arrested for stalking and harassing his mother in 2011.  Yeah, I am sure the family just adores that guy.

I hate the Internet.  I can’t stand it.  The American media, and every idiot with a keyboard has turned a legitimate bullying story into a scandal.  A world of true bullies, compounding and worsening what has already happened to this poor kid.  You’d figure that everyone would wait for the facts to come out.  HELL NO!  Speculation and flawed minds run rampant at the expense of the affected family.  Because everyone loves a chance to advance their own agenda. 

I couldn’t be more happy with the people who have chosen to follow through with Keaton and the invitations they have extended to him.  The videos and photos of him that have emerged since this incident have been heartwarming.  I hope that others follow through, and that change comes about in school districts around the country as a result.

Don’t listen to the haters, Keaton.  They are unable to think for themselves.

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Musicians: Shaming Your Fan Base Is So 2008-2016

Years ago, I always fielded questions about what it takes to break into the music industry.  The answer was always the same.  Write good music, play live as much as you can, and be in the right place at the right time.  A million things have changed since the early days, as has my advice for up and coming musicians.

I feel that I have discovered the secret of making it in the biz as 2017 rumbles to life.  Here it is, you ready?  BE PRO-AMERICA!  No, seriously.  BE PRO-AMERICA!  Use an American flag as a backdrop during your live show.  Write lyrics that express appreciation for your freedom, pro-God, pro-Life, pro-Law Enforcement, and on and on and on.  Watch how fast your band takes off. 

Why?  Because Americans are fed up with bands crying over how much our great country “sucks.”  Nothing is good enough.  Ever.  And if you disagree with them, as a fan, you will be berated incessantly.  Bands have literally become so annoying, that they are currently facing one of the largest backlashes since 2008.

Fans are talking back.  They aren’t putting up with the crying.  They aren’t putting up with the insults.  They aren’t falling for the propaganda.  They’re telling anti-America bands that their vote and opinions count.  Unfriending, unfollowing, standing up for themselves.  It’s a beautiful thing to see.  The proof is in the pudding.  Swing by your average America hater social media site (Fat Wreck – Anti-Flag – Death Cab for Cutie) and check out the comment sections.  

If 2017 should have taught anybody anything, it is that Americans are tired of your baseless labels: racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic.  This isn’t even about Trump winning the POTUS office.  This is about the Average Joe who voted for the opposite of your party.  A difference of opinion does not warrant your baseless labels.  And while the left accuses you of all these things, MTV releases a “self-help” video for white men so that they can better themselves in the year 2017.  You heard me right:  MTV TARGETED AN ENTIRE GROUP OF PEOPLE, BASED ON THEIR GENDER AND SKIN COLOR, TO GIVE THEM ADVICE ON HOW TO BE BETTER HUMANS IN 2017.  Fans reacted so negatively to this video, that MTV took it down.  It received a 100/1 dislike to like ratio.  It was like poetry!

Liberal satirist Tom Walker (Trump opposer) had this to say, “The left is responsible for this result. Because the left has decided that any other opinion, any other way of looking at the world is unacceptable. We don’t debate anymore because the left won the cultural war. So, if you’re on the right, you’re a freak. You’re evil. You’re racist. You’re stupid. You are a basket of deplorables.  How do you think people are going to vote if you talk to them like that??? When has anyone ever been persuaded by being insulted or labeled?”

You’re damn right.  The result is due to your inability to create a reasonable argument.

You lost the presidency.  You’ve lost over 900 state legislature seats, 12 governors, 69 House seats, and 13 Senate seats (as of November 2015).  Because, as Tom Walker observed, when you suppress the Conservative argument, or ANY opposing argument that differs from your world view, retribution comes in the form of a simple vote.  And that is a POWERFUL thing.

So let me encourage you today, Conservative friends.  Find strength and submit your arguments again!  Put some thought behind it.  Don’t fall for the name calling game.  Win people over for your issue through amicable discussion.  Don’t let artists and the media shame you for your opinion, the color of your skin, or your gender.  Present a good argument.  Stop supporting artists who shame your view.  You can make your voice heard in so many ways.

Finally, to all of my friends on the left:  Learn how to argue amicably again.  Being offended doesn’t work anymore.  Also, don’t believe everything the media tells you.  All that fake news?  “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” or polls showing a massive Trump loss on the horizon?  That was all you.   Or, don't do anything!  Keep berating people.  Call them names.  Make fun of their opinions. In the end, the right will continue to enjoy one political victory after another.

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