Michael Murphy is a retired captain with United Airlines. He and his wife own and operate a B&B in south-central Kansas, along with a small farm/ranch. He enjoys writing and following politics, is the author of the novel Spare Time and is currently the Representative for Kansas 114th District

I feel compelled to respond to a couple of articles that recently appeared in an online magazine. While I will not give them the honor of mentioning their name, they cover political stories and purport to give a voice to those left out of the public debate. They receive their support from an organization that serves as an umbrella organization for state-focused news outlets with progressive editorial outlooks. I think that angle is covered quite well by the major news outlets.

Since I was present or a party to the subjects of each of these articles, I feel qualified to respond. One article was an opinion piece about political violence and terroristic threats having no place in Kansas as they shut down debate. I couldn’t agree more with that statement. The other article purports to be a news article which is entitled “A Call to Arms, Misleading Language Launch Kansas Chapter of RFK Jr Anti-Vax Group.” This title has misleading language and the article is full of misleading statements and opinions, hardly a news article…but then news reporting has evolved and not much is the way it once was.

Last Friday I received an email from our House Speaker warning of suspicious mail. Later that day I received a letter with a name I did not recognize and a local return address. The first suspicion was raised with the address. The town does not have home delivery, so everyone has a PO Box. This used a physical address, that of a local church. The KBI was involved and now there are reports of over 100 legislators receiving a letter with veiled threats and another envelope containing a white powder.

Honestly, I was not afraid of this one bit. I know the ability to secure some sort of biological substance would be next to impossible. This was an effort to strike fear and while it may have succeeded in doing that to some, it was a failure for me personally, but my wife was somewhat unsettled. It was also highly illegal. When you consider that each letter required a response by law enforcement, as well as bomb and hazmat personnel to be sure there was no danger, the cost was significant. It seems only AG Kobach and Republican legislators received these letters. Each name on the return address was a trans person who had been murdered, and each address was a church.

The opinion piece was about terroristic threats and political violence, and this letter-sending event certainly falls within those parameters. However, consider what came from “the other side”.

Cited: “At the launch Saturday of the Kansas Chapter of Children’s Health Defense, physician Jim Meehan said, ‘We are dealing with a very serious threat and it is not a time of complacency. It’s a time to start growing your own food, invest in precious metals — brass and lead is what I mean by precious metals — because you may have to defend this freedom. You may have to defend this freedom.‘”

This past March, Ellis County GOP Chair Adam Peters spoke at the Reno County GOP meeting. From his remarks, “We need to use the tools that are at our disposal. You know, if we look in scripture, there was a time when the nation of Israel had to take up arms in defense of themselves.”

Who is threatened in these statements? What violence is called for? Both men specifically spoke the word defend or defense. I wouldn’t think it would be necessary to go to the dictionary for something so simple. Israel defended themselves and their right to exist. The only violence will be in response to outside forces, exercising the right of self-defense. If either of those statements threatens you, then you must have plans to take that which rightfully belongs to another. I am not a violent man, but threaten me or my loved ones, and the response will be violent enough to repel the attack.

This used to be a free country. We were free to associate with whomever we chose and think whatever we wanted. People could agree or not and life went on. In today’s cancel culture, you must follow the official narrative or you will be destroyed. Saul Alinsky’s tactics will be used at every turn. RFK, Jr is a committed progressive Democrat, but he happens to believe what Anthony Fauci and the government have done and is doing is deplorable. I believe I’ve read that RFK, Jr has been vaccinated in the past, but you cannot google his name without the moniker “Anti-Vaxxer” showing up on every link. He disagrees with the official narrative so he must be canceled, made irrelevant and so most people will not believe him.

Statements are made that Kennedy spreads discredited information about vaccines and that professors of global health and public policy caution that claims made at the event pose a threat to children’s health as vaccines are safe and effective. Really? Which professors and policy wonks? The ones who initially said masks won’t protect you, then said they would, then said you need to wear two all while they ignored the studies on the NIH website showing masks to be ineffective with an airborne respiratory virus? The ones who said the vaccine would prevent infection, then said you could get sick, but not as sick all while ignoring the VAERS data showing more adverse reactions to mRNA vaccines than all other vaccines combined for the past 20 years? And then pushed endless boosters?

With the public/private relationship between government and the medical-pharmaceutical Industrial complex, anybody with an ounce of common sense would question the motives of those involved. There were such incredible amounts of money used as leverage through this process, questioning the experts is not only in order, it’s imperative. Eisenhower warned of the military-industrial complex and he has been proven to be 100% on target. This is no different.

So who do we believe? I think it is up to each of us to weigh the evidence and decide what is best for us and our families. I did not necessarily believe everything I heard at the event, but I can take what I heard and do some personal research and decide. I think it was great that about 200 people turned up to hear and learn. I find it equally great that so many people are interested in making the best choice for their family and not just taking the word of the government or those who have significant financial interests at stake. It’s easy, the lazy way out, to just follow. Being a leader for our own destiny is work, but we are rewarded with liberty.

Thomas Jefferson once said, “Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.” Questioning is good, but we find ourselves in a society where we must fall in line or be canceled. The terms misinformation and disinformation are thrown at doubters while often the official narrative is an outright lie.

As a society, we have evolved to expect, even require, the government to protect us. As with most things, this began in a simple and seemingly innocuous way with seatbelt and helmet laws. But once the camel’s nose was under the tent, it wasn’t long before the whole smelly beast was right where we live. Government’s job is to protect rights, not grant them. Our nation was founded on the principle we are sovereign and rule ourselves and the government is to protect our sovereignty from outside forces as well as those from within.

Government does not restrain itself, so that job falls on us as citizens. We all must be citizen activists, holding elected members of all levels of government accountable. Each person taking the oath of office in Kansas swears to support the US and State Constitutions. It is prudent we actively vet each candidate. “The government you elect is the government you deserve.”― Thomas Jefferson