The Cry of Dereliction - from the Psalms

Nevada Stand-Off with Government Shows Power of New Media

Read and weep, Thrivent thralls.
Jeske is the ELCA-LCMS-WELS Synod President.

The stand-off in Nevada, with the federal government failing to grab land and cattle, illustrates the power of the new media.

The feds will try again, perhaps in another place, but the lesson has been learned. When the conflict began, individuals started using social media to send video and messages around about the outrages. Long before the official news media could set up their trucks and news readers (blow-dried journalists) the story was out and being updated hourly.

When I was in journalism school, the big papers were starting to fail and the professors began discussions about citizen reporting. In those few years broadband increased and the news camera changed from the bulkier cam corder to the mobile device. That made the difference. Video showed the feds tasering the son of the cattle rancher, multiple times. Talking and writing are effective, but video is most powerful in getting people's attention.

The Ichabod Effect
I have witnessed the Ichabod effect for years now. As soon as I mentioned an eye-opening page of information, the page disappeared from the Net. That taught me to copy the page and post it with the commentary.

Another effect was the hate-campaign led by Mark Schroeder, Paul McCain, Kudu Don Patterson, Tim Glende, and other basket-cases.

SP Mark the Bookkeeper tried to spin the news by writing me, phoning me, and sending his minion Jon-Boy Buchholz. When that failed, he concentrated on eliminating my sources. I also saw three different editors of Bailing Water (a blog about WELS) go silent. Issues in WELS faded, too. Several other blogs shut down too; crimes - daring to question WELS infallibility.

When I identified the odious Don Patterson network, one odious pastor after another contacted me to insist that nothing like that existed. I was almost persuaded, until the sixth or seventh contact, one from Tiefel's son.

Was I shocked that the most hateful comments came anonymously from Garland, Texas - the scene of Patterson's nativity? When I showed how easily I could tell the source, the comments stopped altogether. He who promotes a rabbit petting zoo for Easter could not stand having that broadcast for free by Ichabod - The Glory Has Departed. No one exemplifies the title of the blog better than Kudu Don.

I could mention being banned by blogs so disreputable that they posted Paul McCain's commands, edicts, and plagiarism. But why fight for 20 page-views per day from their scrofulous efforts when I get 2500 per day on mine?

But he didn't go to Ft. Wayne, St. Louis, Mequon, or Mankato!

Positive Effects
I have been pleased to see the erosion of UOJ in Lutherdom, which has come from two kinds of information posted. The most damaging are the verbatim quotations taken from WELS-LCMS-ELS UOJ sources. One can only shake his head in wonder at the stupidity of such nonsense, especially since they damn Brett Meyer and me to Hell for advocating justification by faith.

More subtle in damaging UOJ - I have supplied a vast number of Luther, Chemnitz, and Book of Concord quotations. No one has touched my Robert Preus Photoshops. Why not copy and paste them, rejecting what he said in his last book? Instead we get, "No, he never believed what he wrote in his final book."

The most popular posts, all-time, are doctrinal quotations with the sources given? Oh no! How evil of me. I have people reading orthodox Lutherans instead of listening to candidates for de-tox therapy.

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If people start the day reading Luther or the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Mr. Synod-Minder, the day will not turn out well for you.

Most bloggers run dry, but God created me with an infinite well of writing ideas. I did not choose that. I really cannot stop writing for long. It does not make me better or smarter than anyone else - just more persistent and energetic.

A number of books are in the making now and will appear in the coming weeks and months.