War Under the Waves-The Struggle for Political Control of Forsyth County

Chapter 4-Cyber-Warfare to Go With Bullying? Well, Would You Expect? This is War

Comments on Trump Assassination Attempt

The article you will read below these introductory comments I wrote prior to yesterday’s assassination attempt during the Trump rally in Butler Pennsylvania. Given that at least one innocent rally attendee was brutally murdered, and others apparently seriously injured, I questioned myself whether this would be the appropriate time to publish the following chapter in the series of articles I have been writing on the subject entitled above. And in view of those tragic events, before I go any further I want to send prayers for the victims and families of those who were either killed or injured. There is no excuse that the US Secret Service and local law enforcement could have allowed that attack to occur. That is all I will say in that regard at this time.

And I expect we all express gratitude to Providence for the wisp of air which may have influenced the assassin’s bullet to veer a quarter inch to the left of its intended target. Having lived through the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, even at the tender age of 8, I can tell you that those few seconds in Dallas changed the world, in a horrific way. Those moments became what I generally refer as a “hinge-point in history.” Had the bullets of November 1963 missed their mark, the world in which we live would likely be much different than it is today, in a much better way. Although yesterday’s bullets missed their intended mark, we can expect historians will look back at those few seconds in Butler, and recognize them as a similar historical moment. The nature of any new direction for America or the world, however, we will have to leave as a project for future scholars as the impact of yesterday’s events cannot be known with clarity at this time.

My decision to proceed publishing today’s article arises from the fact that, moments after the failed attempt on his life, the difference between Trump’s survival and an unspeakable tragedy being as slight as one centimeter, and certainly knowledgeable of the prospect that additional assassins may have remained lurking among the crowd, the world witnessed Donald Trump’s iconic behavior, the irrepressible 45th President of the United States, fist in the air, face stained by his own blood, defiantly urging all freedom-loving Americans to continue to, “FIGHT! FIGHT FIGHT!” The image I describe is one I expect few alive today will ever forget.

In November, 1863, while expressing a set of remarks at Gettysburg, President Lincoln expressed his sentiments, similar in certain ways to Trump’s, choosing the following words to capture the moment:

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Of course, Lincoln had the benefit of time to consider his remarks, using several quiet hours aboard the Presidential railroad car bound for his Pennsylvania destination the day before, and also during a period of contemplation within the stillness of his quarters the night before offering his famous speech. Trump, in his defense, had just been grazed with a high-velocity projectile, buzzing through the tissue of his right outer ear, triggered by an unknown assailant or possibly a team of the same, finding himself surrounded by Secret Service agents hopeful of limiting him from further danger as they escorted him down the stairs and to the safety of his vehicle.

In the end, however, both American presidents used different words to encourage Americans to accomplish the same goal. During his circumstances, to continue to fight for America and the American way of life is the message President Trump urged us all to pursue. Comparably, to take increase devotion to the cause of freedom, and to preserve government of, by, and for the people is what Lincoln, the eventual victim of a successful assassination himself, urged us to do. Ultimately, I see very little difference in those assignments. Thus, to honor Trump’s exhortation, and obey Lincoln’s instruction in recognition of his personal sacrifice, and to honor those throughout American history, including those who yesterday sacrificed for the sake of liberty, that is the task I am purposed to undertake in deciding to publish today’s article.

To set the stage for what you are about to read, I first want to strike a parallel between our local circumstances in Forsyth County, and those President Trump thankfully lives to deal with on a national, and even international level. I do so by bringing forward two paragraphs written yesterday morning before the events in Butler transpired, conveying a message I believe is germane to both sets of circumstances. Most of my readers recognize that there is an “established political order” in this country at the level of the American federal government. Donald Trump is the “outsider” whom the establishment, or “Club” at that level seeks to defeat and deny political power. The reason they do that is that they have their own purposes, other than the will of the people they represent, which they hope to accomplish as elected or appointed government officials. Trump is in the way of them accomplishing those purposes. Therefore, the difference between the circumstances President Trump deals with, at his level, and those we deal with, at ours, is only a matter of scale and intensity. The principles causing conflict are the same. The potential for escalating conflict at both levels, as we witnessed yesterday, is very real. That said, yesterday morning I wrote the following:

…if you do not live in my home county of Forsyth in Georgia, rest assured, you likely have your own Club hard at work in whatever county or town you may live. In any jurisdiction, regardless of size, there is generally an established political order. Once established, each member works to surround him or herself with like-minded individuals, both as notable and vocal private supporters, but also as elected or appointed public officials. All of that is fine up to a point.

But at some point, an established political order begins to act as a machine, a sort of “Boss Hog” operation. And that political machine turns into a “grinder” of sorts, designed to carry out political operations to pulverize and subvert any and all opposition, especially elected officials or candidates who choose against swearing allegiance to the machine, rather than the people they are elected to serve. And very unfortunately, what I describe is the state of affairs in Forsyth County politics today.

As I close today’s introductory comments, I implore everyone involved in Forsyth County politics, to put down your figurative weapons. Stop the nonsense. If you are an elected official, or seek election to become one, turn your attention to your true source of authority, the people you represent. Leave any personal agenda at the door. Representative government is not about you. It is about those you represent. Let yesterday’s events become a hinge-point in the history of Forsyth County. Do the work of the people, even those with whom you disagree. Seek their counsel, not the counsel of special interests hoping to accrue benefit from your policy making. You represent your people. Let others represent theirs. Representing the public interest, and not your own, is the only job of elected office. Respect that purpose.

I wrote the following article prior to the events in Butler, Pennsylvania yesterday afternoon:

Touché

Perhaps you will find this interesting, as do I, that within thirty minutes of posting a link to Chapter One of this series of Substack articles, the post was removed by the social media giant Facebook, as if they have nothing better to do than check Hank’s latest post, offering me the explanation that my link contained a cyber-security threat. Of course, the link contained no such thing. Thirty minutes was all it took. And every time anyone would attempt to re-post that article, or any of the two subsequent published chapters, each post was also removed, immediately, Facebook offering no explanation, just disappearing those posts without a word. Apparently, someone in the Club knows the right people at Facebook.

Subsequently, two weeks ago I published the 3rd chapter in this series, the introduction of which I wrote after discovering that a member of the Forsyth County “Re-Club-licans” had undertaken a campaign of intimidation against certain mutual acquaintances, demanding the innocent bystanders publicly condemn both me and the truth I had written, and label me a liar. You see, that is how the Club operates. Apparently that it what it is for, to grow and maintain political power, even by bullying and intimidating individuals to cooperate in their bidding. Rather than confronting the truth by coming directly to me, and making a case against the evidence I submitted, we see Club members consistently working behind the scenes to influence individuals, many times by badgering or bullying, hoping that those they seek to influence will kneel to pressure and do whatever they are told, in the process implying a threat to use whatever leverage the “Clubster” believes necessary should his or her subjects fail to comply. For that reason, in my Chapter 3 introduction I warned Club members not to test the extent of all I am willing to to reveal. I do not like making that kind of statement. But, damn, a community of free citizens cannot allow their elected officials to threaten them into submission. Individuals who succumb to that kind of bullying will become as slaves to their elected overseers. That is not the America I know.

A free people should heed Jefferson’s wisdom, “When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” Anytime members of elected government effectively unionize to accomplish their common personal purposes, and use their collective political powers to form a mutual support network, as we see members of the Club doing, a very real danger to public liberty is an inevitable consequence. And that is what is presently happening in Forsyth County.

Club Undertaking Cyber-Warfare for Protection

But the Club wasn’t done messing with my Facebook page. After publishing Chapter 3, a week ago last Monday I awakened to discover that the same Facebook account on which I originally posted this series of articles, an account which I maintained through thick-and-thin for 14 years, had been suspended, apparently permanently, the Facebook powers-that-be claiming that I had violated rules on my Instagram account and that my Facebook account was being suspended as a result. One problem…I don’t have an Instagram account. And the account referenced on the notification seemingly does not exist. According to Facebook, I would have 180 days to appeal, however, to do so I would have to login to my non-existent Instagram account and appeal the action there. So, apparently, as a result of publishing this series of articles, articles which BTW concern only LOCAL issues in my home county, Facebook has dropped my page into a cyber black hole, leaving me no options to regain access to my old account, and its over 8000 subscribers.

But, all that I describe is simply politics, as it is practiced by unscrupulous politicians and professional political operators. It is the political world I consistently warn about. I am not surprised in becoming the object of this brand of cyber-warfare because this is what unscrupulous political operators do. They make moves, anonymously, “under the waves,” as I have described, such that they expect to maintain a degree of plausible deniability in whatever underhanded political operations they undertake. And that is what I have been revealing about the Club since publishing Chapter 1 several weeks ago. Someone, seemingly within the Club’s midst (and it really should not take much thought to recognize who that is), possesses enough reach into the nether regions of the corporate social media universe, to initiate the kind of cyber-sabotage I describe.

“Oh but, Hank, it’s just a Facebook page.”

Yes, perhaps. But, viewed as a weapon formed to counter a Club of political actors struggling to control my home of Forsyth County, Georgia, that Facebook page was one primary means to spread knowledge of their works IN THEIR OWN BACK YARD. Without that outlet, at least for the time, I am limited to communicating with a few thousand organic subscribers here on Substack. Those subscribers are centered in Georgia, however spread far and wide. So, you see why it was important for them to cut off at least partial access to my local audience, to whatever extent my former Facebook account provided. To the Club, severing my access to the Forsyth County casual reader is like cutting a vital supply line delivering enemy ammunition to the front lines of the war they initiated, supplies which could be used against them in their struggle to politically control Forsyth County.

In that regard, all I can say is…well…Touché. Well done, Club. I told readers from the outset, the Club has begun a war of aggression to control the fastest growing county in the United States, and that is what they mean to do. Why? Well, for one thing, the demand for diminishing, developable land in Forsyth County, along with the resulting rising prices, and the control of how that land can and will be used, as well as who will use it, is a potential "pot-of-gold for whoever has that power. Personal enrichment is therefore likely a major factor motivating the kinds of aggressive behaviors we see from certain ego-centric, even megalomaniacal Club members. There are other reasons as well. But to accomplish those purposes, the Club must maintain a united front, each Club member coming to the defense of others, in the process providing evidence of a virtual, tacit, mutual defense operation, a Forsyth County “NATO” of sorts, purposed to repel all who oppose its members, while operating under an assumed, but very real understanding, that those members should cooperate as a unit, promoting each other’s political interests, while watching each other’s backs.

More Club Dirty Tricks

Last week, we saw evidence of the Club carrying out what one might call a “dirty tricks,” campaign, while retaining the ability to plausibly deny their handiwork, even though Club “fingerprints” can be found all over the figurative crime scene. This past week, apparently the Club, or certain operatives within the Club, decided to broadcast a well-circulated, well-publicized mass-text poll, ostensibly purposed at soliciting public input on the future candidacy of District 24 State Representative Carter Barrett. The Club would do that because Forsyth County’s overseers want Barrett gone from his seat in western Forsyth County, and desire to replace him with a candidate whose purposes gel with the purposes of the Club.

Shortly after its release, the Club spread word through its social media volunteer network, alleging that the poll was designed and conducted by fellow non-club member Brent Cox, the state representative from Georgia’s 28th District on the North side of Forsyth County. That allegation was quite a stretch, the “Clubsters” purposes obviously resting on the belief that most voters know very little about the matters about which you are reading.

So, understand what is going on here. The Club’s text poll was a clumsy, psychological operation designed to create confusion, but also to, in effect, “soften the beaches” prior to the Club mounting a political operation to unseat Barrett in 2026. In so doing, the poll was also designed to create separation between Barrett and Barrett’s perceived ally, Cox, while also creating space between Barrett and a notable private, political figure in Forsyth County, a charismatic individual the Club apparently hopes to ingratiate into its ranks, and whose name, therefore, also appeared in the poll.

Furthermore, that psy-op was designed to convey to those receiving the text that the representative for Georgia’s 24th District has meaningful opposition within his own party, while tacitly inviting the private individual appearing in the poll to join Club ranks and seek office against Barrett. That kind of operation is known in political circles as, “Balkanization,” or maybe, “divide and conquer.” The Club wants to recruit a local, alluring, political figure under their influence, and in the process charter a campaign to muster the political power necessary to unseat the popular District 24 representative, Carter Barrett, in 2026. That is what Clubsters do. That is how they operate. Recipients of the referenced text poll were subjects of political manipulation. It is not only good for people to recognize when they are being manipulated, but also to recognize who is doing it. So, there you go.

In a similar fashion, as I wrote in Chapter 1 of this series, the “Mark Morris letter,” published as an op-ed in the Forsyth County News, among other purposes, was designed to politically weaken the Georgia representative from the 28th District, Brent Cox, and also weaken the representative from the 25th, Lauren McDonald, softening the beaches for a full-out political assault against both in 2026, Mr. Morris, himself, being one of the likely candidates to attempt to unseat McDonald in the district Morris formerly represented.

On the surface, those receiving the text poll to which I refer likely took it on face value. On the surface, that poll is just like many other solicitations we receive daily since our cell numbers were all captured and distributed across the great social media database in the sky. But on the surface is not where we find the activity in the Club’s struggle to control Forsyth County. That war is fought “under the waves,” below the surface. And last week we witnessed one more way in which the Club endeavors to achieve and maintain unassailable political control over Forsyth County, effectively telegraphing their purposes to remove and replace three Forsyth County state, representatives in 2026, Carter Barrett, Brent Cox and Lauren McDonald. What I report here is how successful political operations are carried out, first by softening the beaches, preparing the public mind for a primary political assault. Apparently, that is what last week’s text poll campaign was all about.

No Complaints Here

I am not going to complain about anything the Club tries against me. This is politics. I know that. I knew what I was in for when I made the decision to reveal what is actually fairly well-known about the Club. Certainly, they are not without wherewithal. Good for them.

And if you do not live in my home county of Forsyth in Georgia, rest assured, you likely have your own Club hard at work in whatever county or town you may live. In any jurisdiction, regardless of size, there is generally an established political order. Once established, each member works to surround him or herself with like-minded individuals, both as notable and vocal private supporters, but also as elected or appointed public officials. All of that is fine up to a point.

But at some point, an established political order begins to act as a machine, a sort of “Boss Hog” operation. And that political machine turns into a “grinder” of sorts, designed to carry out political operations to pulverize and subvert any and all opposition, especially elected officials or candidates who choose against swearing allegiance to the machine, rather than the people they are elected to serve. And very unfortunately, what I describe is the state of affair in Forsyth County politics today.

New Social Media Links

Before I leave you today, should my Substack subscribers be interested, I have two social media links for you to consider subscribing. First is my brand new Facebook page, which I would be glad for you to follow. Here is the link…

…and here is my X page, which I pledge to use in increasing frequency…

Next up…Chapter 5.