Speaker 1: Honestly one of your favorites too, because she fills in
Speaker 1: for me here in addition to all of the work
Speaker 1: that she does doing all kinds of other stuff to
Speaker 1: advance freedom and liberty and those, you know, those old
Speaker 1: school values that we love so much. Deborah Flora, welcome
Speaker 1: back to the show.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
Speaker 3: Man, he's so fun to be on the show with you.
Speaker 3: Usually were like matter and antimatter. We're never in the
Speaker 3: same place at the big time.
Speaker 1: The people don't see us in the same room. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying we're the same person because we're not. But
Speaker 1: you know, anyway, So let's talk first of all, and
Speaker 1: I briefly mentioned your projects, your side hustles, the things
Speaker 1: that you work on in order to advance liberty and
Speaker 1: justice and all that good stuff. Tell me about Douglas
Speaker 1: County Citizenry, even though I already know because I'm a member, I'm.
Speaker 2: Just saying, yes you are. It is a secret handshake.
Speaker 2: Thank you for that.
Speaker 3: And I think instead of a hustle, that's a fun
Speaker 3: way to say it.
Speaker 2: It is, you know, kind of that see and need
Speaker 2: fill a need.
Speaker 3: Douglas Citizenry was born out of some things that I
Speaker 3: think a lot of us saw in this last election cycle,
Speaker 3: and many of your listeners. Now, I did run for
Speaker 3: the fourth Congressional district. That night of the primary, when
Speaker 3: we learn that only twenty five percent of voters that
Speaker 3: were eligible to vote for the Republican candidate actually voted,
Speaker 3: that was more troubling to me than not winning the nomination,
Speaker 3: because what I thought to myself is how does a
Speaker 3: republic continue if seventy five percent of the voters are
Speaker 3: so disengaged or disgusted or disenfranchised that they don't even
Speaker 3: vote in the primary. And so out of that there's
Speaker 3: a group of us. I'm just one of many of
Speaker 3: a steering committee. We decided to form a group called
Speaker 3: Douglas County Citizenry, And the title is very, very purposeful,
Speaker 3: because we want this to be a place where people
Speaker 3: of goodwill will come together, will get re engaged, will
Speaker 3: be informed, and will not lose the sense that there
Speaker 3: is a place for them.
Speaker 2: And it's kind of modeled after the Big Tent.
Speaker 3: We don't have any requirements that it's not even say
Speaker 3: says Republican, although probably the most of them are Republican,
Speaker 3: but there are unaffiliated voters. Our primary guideline is that
Speaker 3: you stamp for the Constitution, which by the way, has
Speaker 3: benefited more people in the history of mankind than any
Speaker 3: other document, to live, speak and think freely, meaning we
Speaker 3: don't all have to agree on everything, but we do
Speaker 3: have to stand for one another's rights to live free.
Speaker 3: And we're very excited because since launching it in October,
Speaker 3: we have you know, pretty much standing room only and
Speaker 3: you know, nearly one hundred people. And one last thing
Speaker 3: I'll say about it, Mandy, that's encouraging because what we
Speaker 3: didn't know is do people want to actually come together
Speaker 3: and not to scream at one another or scream at
Speaker 3: someone who's not there. Do they actually want to come
Speaker 3: together just to simply talk about issues and solutions, you know,
Speaker 3: policies and principles, not personalities.
Speaker 2: And it does seem there's a big hung and thurstare
Speaker 2: and so we're very excited about it.
Speaker 1: So of course I love it because I've been to
Speaker 1: these meetings and they're super informative and they usually include
Speaker 1: some kind of panel discussion from interesting people talking in
Speaker 1: a very civil and respectful way about big issues. It's
Speaker 1: so nerdy and simple and fantastic, and I think that
Speaker 1: everybody there feels the same way. So you guys are
Speaker 1: doing one specifically related to the Douglas County Republican parties
Speaker 1: leadership elections that are coming up. And I wanted to
Speaker 1: have you on Deborah, not because everybody who listened to
Speaker 1: the show lives in Douglas County, but what a great idea.
Speaker 1: And I'm hoping that this inspires other county groups to say,
Speaker 1: wait a minute, we want to hear from the leadership
Speaker 1: potential as well. So what is happening tomorrow night?
Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks so much, Jeoh, because this is outside of
Speaker 3: our regular meetings, and people can find out more on Facebook.
Speaker 3: Douglas County Citizenry is the public face page, and then
Speaker 3: there is a more private group where people promise not to.
Speaker 2: Bilify one another, but everyone is welcome. Tomorrow.
Speaker 3: We are having a forum tomorrow night, Wednesday, January twenty second.
Speaker 2: The doors open at six thirty pm.
Speaker 3: The forum will start at seven pm at that North
Speaker 3: Star Academy. Those details will be on Facebook. But here's
Speaker 3: the reason why even Douglas County, and by the way,
Speaker 3: we do hope this gets replicated all over the state
Speaker 3: because we believe that an active engagement, informed citizenry is
Speaker 3: the key to keeping and protecting our freedoms. But the
Speaker 3: reality is in Douglas County there's forty nine percent of our.
Speaker 2: Voters that are unaffiliated. That's interesting to me.
Speaker 3: Most people think of it as a very Republican county
Speaker 3: and most of our elected officials are Republican. But this
Speaker 3: is an opportunity to begin to persuade people. First of all,
Speaker 3: this forum in particular is to hear from people who
Speaker 3: are running for the leadership of the Douglas County Republican Party.
Speaker 2: It will be run civilly, as you probably know, Mandy.
Speaker 2: I think I have been in you know, nearly you know, twenty.
Speaker 3: Five to thirty to forty forums myself as a participant,
Speaker 3: so I know when it is fruitful and it's really
Speaker 3: reflecting the questions that people, the average citizen wants to know.
Speaker 3: But it's an opportunity for people to come in here.
Speaker 3: Not everyone can vote for these candidates, necessarily you have
Speaker 3: to be in this central committee, but everyone can hear.
Speaker 2: Everyone can listen.
Speaker 3: Everyone can submit a question on a card that they
Speaker 3: want to hear. And I believe it's the beginning to,
Speaker 3: you know, starting to kind of heal the divide in
Speaker 3: our state and in our country even and I'm letting
Speaker 3: people listen to those who are running for these offices.
Speaker 1: You know, one of the things we talk about healing
Speaker 1: the divisions in our nation, but you and I both
Speaker 1: agree we're not going to be able to heal the
Speaker 1: divisions in our nation until we can heal the dialogue
Speaker 1: and we can learn again to have the civil discourse
Speaker 1: that we've been able to have the past, because you
Speaker 1: and I have been alive when a time when people
Speaker 1: could have a spirited discussion at a dining table and
Speaker 1: get up and still be friends and relatives at the
Speaker 1: end of it. And we have to get back to that.
Speaker 1: And that's one of the things that I like about
Speaker 1: Douglas County citizenry is because everybody that I've talked to,
Speaker 1: and every time I go I see somebody else.
Speaker 2: I know.
Speaker 1: That's actually kind of funny, you know, I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: you're here too. It's like we're all discovering it at
Speaker 1: the same time. But I think that we have to
Speaker 1: fix it on our side before we can hope that
Speaker 1: anybody anywhere else can fix it. Like, we can only
Speaker 1: control what we can control, right, So that is what's
Speaker 1: so valuable here? So again, where can people find this?
Speaker 1: I did put a link on the blog today to
Speaker 1: the Facebook page with the information in it if you'd
Speaker 1: like to go. But who is going to be at
Speaker 1: the event to your knowledge?
Speaker 3: Now? Yeah, right now we have at least three of
Speaker 3: the candidates confirmed that are going to be there. There
Speaker 3: are five positions that are going to be chosen. This
Speaker 3: is going to be open to any candidate that announces
Speaker 3: prior to tomorrow Wednesday, January twenty second, and one hundred percent I.
Speaker 2: Agree if we do not, even within the.
Speaker 3: Conservative side, show those who are disenfranchised that there is
Speaker 3: a place where you will be respected intrinsically, that you
Speaker 3: do not have demanded homogeny of thought, I mean group
Speaker 3: think is out of George Orrell's nineteen eighty four. For
Speaker 3: goodness sakes, it should not be on the constitutional conservative
Speaker 3: side of things. And so we really do invite people
Speaker 3: to come and here, and once again, even if you
Speaker 3: don't know anything.
Speaker 2: About this is a great place to start.
Speaker 3: How are people chosen that end up leading one of
Speaker 3: the two parties that is predominant in our country.
Speaker 2: So people can find out.
Speaker 3: More on Facebook or through your blog, the link is
Speaker 3: there Douglas County Citizenry, and that that is where we
Speaker 3: have this posted. And yes, you know what, there are
Speaker 3: a lot of people that are looking now for a
Speaker 3: place of common sense. Let them know that it's actually
Speaker 3: on the side where the principles actually work. And that
Speaker 3: is why you know, we're for the constitutional principles and
Speaker 3: why we've got to We've got to show that we're
Speaker 3: not the mean party, the other one who has shown
Speaker 3: that their policies don't work. But time to come together
Speaker 3: and grow this movement of freedom. So we invite everyone
Speaker 3: to join us.
Speaker 1: I also would invite people who have never been involved
Speaker 1: in the party to come out to this. It's a
Speaker 1: little way to sort of understand some of the dynamics
Speaker 1: of party politics without going to a party meeting. There's
Speaker 1: nothing wrong with going to a party meeting, of course,
Speaker 1: but if you just are not ready to commit to
Speaker 1: that and you just want to maybe see what getting
Speaker 1: a little more involved looks like, I would strongly recommend this,
Speaker 1: and just a phenomenal group of people, like top to bottom,
Speaker 1: this is just a really great group of people. If
Speaker 1: you're looking to connect with people that lean right but
Speaker 1: aren't rapidly political. This may be the organization for you.
Speaker 1: I really feel that way. It's like, you know, we.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3: We have a tag phrase for Douglas County Citizeneria, which
Speaker 3: is loves company because there are so many sides of
Speaker 3: the political spectrum that our misery loves company.
Speaker 2: That is not where we are. We actually believe that.
Speaker 3: When we come together and really that big tent idea
Speaker 3: that Reagan had where you're eighty percent friend or the
Speaker 3: person you grew with eighty percent of the time is
Speaker 3: not your twenty percent enemy, Well you can't be conservative
Speaker 3: and authoritarian at the same time. That actually is an oxymoron,
Speaker 3: but it is fun because you know what, It also
Speaker 3: increases hope that there is a place for people of
Speaker 3: goodwill who understand our rights are life, liberty in the
Speaker 3: pursuit of happiness and that does not have to be
Speaker 3: the same for each person. Your idea of happiness might
Speaker 3: not be mine, and that is okay. But we stand
Speaker 3: for one another's right to live free and then we
Speaker 3: have a great time.
Speaker 1: All right, deb Flora. The event is happening tomorrow night.
Speaker 1: I wish I could be there, but I'm going to
Speaker 1: be in beautiful Puerto Rico still so we'll have to
Speaker 1: get a full update on how it went.
Speaker 3: Dev.
Speaker 1: So good to say, so good to see you as always.
Speaker 2: Yo, you two.
Speaker 3: Thanks man, you have a great time in Puerto Rico.
Speaker 3: We will miss you tomorrow and hope everyone joins us.