13 Comments
Feb 1·edited Feb 1

where can you watch/buy/stream this? there's a documentary by the same name about law enforcement being trained in Texas in anti-federal ideology by ex Proud Boys which is also interesting but it isn't this

Expand full comment

Can it be streamed anywhere?

Expand full comment

I watch sociological documentaries and I listen to the bulwark Sonny. Really coupd care less about an in depth analysis of Top Gun 2 and its the only movie I watched twice in theatres, lol. I'm going to need you to find the directors of Winter of Fire next.

Expand full comment

I am of the age appropriate for the Vietnam War. I drew a high number and avoided the draft legally. Up until the last few years, I put a flag out on holidays. I am married, pay my taxes and raised a son to adulthood.

I will never fly the flag again.

If I meet someone and it turns out he is a vet, I am on my guard about his mindset. Same with cops (who don't mistreat me).

So what do we do? This was not my creation, it was the creation of right wingers with a platform.

To be frank, I even fear those who did not graduate from college - I assume they are Trumpers and so are beyond hope.

Oh,and though I sing in a Catholic Church choir, I despair of Christians.

Expand full comment
founding

Keep the faith and push through… look for the good in people, instead of the bad. We will all get past this time if we work together.

Expand full comment

At my age, my circle is getting smaller. So I give up. I ran into a woman in a park while walking my dogs - I made a joke about Trump (it was news related) - she went into a rant about the pipeline and inflation. I give up. There is not talking to these people.

Expand full comment

Great episode and I really look forward to this doc debuting on streaming services. I've seen vets I served with get sucked into this movement as far back as 2012.

Expand full comment

Full disclosure, I only read the headline. I'm a 23 year USMC veteran, you can't be sucked into any bs vortex unless you're predisposed to such bs. We tend to put the military/ police on some higher intellectual/ moral high ground. We shouldn't they put their pants on same as everyone else.

Expand full comment

Given what I know about Dominionist Christian Nationalist infiltration of the Air Force Academy, I will definitely watch this documentary. Ironically, Putin is finding out what happens when you overly rely on a 'glorified militia' as part of your national footprint. More ironically, Prigozhin argued for the existence of Wagner as an adjunct to the Russian military by explaining to Putin how the US used Black Water in Iraq and Afghanistan. Eric Prince, like his sister Betsy Devos, is another Christian Nationalist.

Expand full comment

Right, the monetized soldier came from the Bush playbook.

Expand full comment
Jun 24, 2023Liked by Sonny Bunch

So glad to learn about this. Much appreciated.

Expand full comment
Jun 24, 2023Liked by Sonny Bunch

My brother was sucked into the conspiracy vortex in the US Air Force. He became convinced that the moon landing was faked, that 9-11 was done by the US government and other conspiracies. I tried over and over to reason with him, but I couldn't shake him back into sanity. Sadly he died of alcoholism as so many vets have.

Expand full comment
Jun 24, 2023Liked by Sonny Bunch

I suspect the true believers' urge to tell their stories is the urge to drown out the cognitive dissonance.

Expand full comment