Dear AFP Subscriber and Supporter,
As I travel around central Virginia, I repeatedly pass four particularly memorable historical markers. One marks the spot where Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson led his flank attack at Chancellorsville, a maneuver that was a decisive moment in the battle and is still studied by military tacticians today. The second indicates where Jackson was hit by three bullets in a volley of friendly fire while reconnoitering in the fading daylight of May 2, 1863. The third of the four marks the spot where Jackson had his arm amputated, and the last indicates where he succumbed to pneumonia and his injuries several days later.
These markers, in particular amongst the many I pass in history-filled Virginia—including one at the Manassas Battlefield at Bull Run where Stonewall Jackson got his famous nickname—make me think. What courage these men had; what devotion and dedication to cause; what tenacity, intelligence, morality, and sophistication. Do we still have people like that in America? Not too many in Washington, D.C., I fear.
But those markers also make me wonder how we could have ever gotten to that tragic point in our nation’s history where political disagreement led to a massive bloodletting. Certainly, this could never happen again in America, right? It appears I could be wrong, according to a recent poll conducted by the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics (IOP). The poll of 1,000 people (not a huge sample) was conducted in May by Republican pollster Neil Newhouse and Democratic pollster Joel Benenson.
According to the poll, 28% of voters said “it may be necessary at some point soon for citizens to take up arms against the government.” Approximately 45% of “strong” Republicans held this view while 20% of Democrats and 35% of Independent voters concurred. This may be because 66% of Republicans and Independents, according to the poll, believe the government is “corrupt and rigged” against them. Approximately 50% of Democrats agreed.
That’s pretty shocking, I think, and it is a condemnation of the kakistocracy that has controlled the affairs of this nation for decades. This includes aging members of both parties such as Joe Biden (hitting 80 this year), Nancy Pelosi (82), Patrick Leahy (82), Mitch McConnell (80), Steny Hoyer (83), Maxine Waters (83), Hal Rogers (84), Bill Pascrell (85), Grace Napolitano (85), “Eddie” Bernice Johnson (86), Jim Inhofe (87), Richard Shelby (87), Chuck Grassley (88), Diane Feinstein (hitting 90 this year) and more. Hoyer has been in Congress for over 40 years. Waters has been in office 31 years; Pelosi for 35 years; McConnell for 37 years; Leahy for 47 years. … A few of them have done an admirable job over their careers and are still sharp as tacks. Most of them, however, probably ought to be hauled off to the scrap heap.
Do you know anyone who has had a job for three or four decades and never gotten anything done? Of course not. Normally, they’d be fired. But, in Congress, it seems to be commonplace.
Clearly, what these people have been doing over the last half century or thereabouts has not worked. All that has happened over that time is that the American dream has gotten farther and farther away from average citizens, the purchasing power of the dollar has plummeted, and we have become more divided as a nation. That’s just for starters.
You can try to lay the blame at the feet of liberals, radicals, Democrats or whomever, but the truth is that Republicans have been there the whole way—free trade agreements, foreign wars, domestic spying, the War on Terror, etc.—and, when they have held power, they have failed to get enough done, stonewalling, in particular, some of the America-first policies Donald Trump was interested in pursuing in the early years of his presidency.
If these people do not get their act together or step aside, this country could fracture.
Why We Are Angry at These People …
Today, besides all the political backbiting, we are also dealing with a real economic crisis in America, which is also severely impacting AFP. Due to a combination of their bad policies—especially the Covid lockdowns that shuttered entire sectors of the economy—we are feeling a trickle-down squeeze at the newspaper.
We are sure you’ve felt the pinch at home, as well.
As to how this affects American Free Press, it’s funny, in a black comedy sort of way.
Every time we find a way to finally break even for a month or two, something out of our control grabs us from behind and tries to pull us backward. We are used to it, but this is a little different. The rising costs of paper and ink, in particular—mainstays of our business—have sent our printing bills skyrocketing and depleted our cash reserves. The basic building blocks of ink are, unfortunately, natural gas and crude oil. As for paper, a lot of the raw materials for paper now come from Canada (locked down forever, it seems) and much of the pulp and paper itself is from China. China, too, has seen demand for paper soar, so the market is very tight and, thus, prices have nearly doubled in the last year or so alone. Postage, as well, has risen.
It is now about twice as expensive as it was a mere
two years ago to print and mail AFP newspaper!
These are all things we have no control over. All we can tell you is that AFP’s meager reserves are getting low through no fault of our own. For the past 15 years, AFP has held steady at $59 for a yearly subscription. But, if things do not get better soon, we may be forced to raise our subscription prices to stabilize AFP. Our struggling subscribers are not going to like that—not because AFP is not worth it, but because they are scrambling for every spare dollar themselves to pay the rent and put food on the table.
We will resist that “solution” as long as possible and are hoping to raise enough from this summer fundraiser to ensure that will not happen!
We can avoid a dire financial situation and a subscription price hike later in the year if we can raise enough money in the next several months to put us in a better place, fiscally.
To put it in perspective, newspapers are dropping like flies. According to Harvard’s Nieman Foundation, two newspapers a week are shutting their doors in America right now, most of them smaller papers like AFP. For the past 22 years, however, AFP has been standing like a stone wall against the New World Order, the Police State, the Surveillance State, Big Pharma, the Mainstream Media, Big Tech, the global elite, foreign interventionists, Cultural Communists, the Thought Police and everyone who promotes censorship and threatens the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the American middle class. This is a battle well worth fighting—and it’s why we keep on struggling month after month to get you real news.
AFP has been wounded, not mortally like Stonewall Jackson at the battle of Chancellorsville, but financially, by an army of zealous activists and the bad policies of elected and un-elected bureaucrats. Despite that, we refuse to budge, and cannot retreat or surrender.
But we could really use a little assistance to get us through the summer and help us continue this fight. In return, we promise to continue to stand as your stone wall against lies and for truth. Please make a donation to AFP using the enclosed form or call 1-888-699-6397 toll free to charge a donation, Mon.-Thu. 9-4:30 ET.
Sincerely,
Paul Angel
American Free Press
P.S. If you are not in a financial position to help right now, we fully understand. If you ever come to the point where you cannot afford AFP, please let us know and we will do what we can for you in return as a member of the AFP family.
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