The Good Ol' Boys | Season 2 , Episode 37

 When people run out of facts, evidence, or persuasive arguments, the conversation often shifts from debating ideas to labeling people. Whether it's calling them a "Nazi," "racist," "misogynist," "fascist," or "member of the Good Ol' Boys Club," these accusations have become common shortcuts that often replace meaningful discussion. 

Watch the full video here : https://youtu.be/nY7p_IWG_Es

 In this episode of The JoCo Republican Podcast, we take a closer look at one of those labels: "The Good Ol' Boys Club." What does it actually mean? When is it a legitimate criticism, and when is it simply used to dismiss people without addressing the substance of what they're saying? 

 Joining me is Ronald Lee, Senior Investigative Editor for the U.S. Observer, who has spent more than 25 years investigating corruption, abuse of power, and injustice throughout America. Ron brings his experience and perspective to a discussion about labels, reputations, local politics, and the importance of sticking to facts rather than assumptions. 

 A special thank you to Ron Lee for taking the time to join the show and share his insights. 

 Please visit the U.S. Observer: https://usobserver.com/ 

 Thank you for watching, and if you enjoy these conversations, please like, subscribe, and share. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:22

The other day I had a couple interviews, the first of which uh VG Hoyt with that sad story about her son, the second of which was Ron Lee. And he uh I asked him to come in because he's kind of a uh local um investigative journalist. Actually, he's been that way um working on uh as the investigative journalist for 25 years. So I asked him the question because um this nice lady online um said that I was part of the good old boys' club, and I'm like, what is that? What is the good old boys club? So I was kind of looking into it, and it sort of seemed like you know, a bit of a conspiracy theory to me. Um but I decided to dig in, and so I asked uh Ron, I said, you know, what what is this thing? What is it about? So let's get into it. I'm here with Ron Lee. So uh Ron, how long have you been in the area?

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Oh shoot. So I I immigrated here in 1996. Oh like October 31st. It was like Halloween. Okay, yeah, it's a long time ago. Long time. Yeah, my daughter was like just over a month old and uh had an opportunity to move into the area. I was previously living in Seattle. Okay, and uh I was born and raised in Reno, Nevada, and so it was a great opportunity to move closer to my parents and you know, with a a new baby and and the whole bit. And um yeah. Okay, that brought me here back then.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

And so you were an investigative journalist? Yes. For and for 20, 20 years was that uh 25 years.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Twenty five years. Going on 25 years. So I still moonlight with the U.S. Observer and um entertaining the idea of going back full-time. Uh U.S. Observer is actually based here in Grants Pass. Uh it's a nationwide publication, it's freely distributed in areas that need to affect the cases. And so people would reach out to the organization um and they would say, Hey, I've been wrongly charged with a crime. Um and we would take them on as a as a client and go and investigate their case, collect all of the evidence, present that evidence to uh whatever official could be responsible in changing the prosecution, usually a district attorney or a prosecutor. Um I would say eighty plus percent of the time they would refuse the hard cold facts and truth and um choose to go after their person anyway. Oh my goodness. And so a lot of times it it turned into a fight. Uh we had one murder case in Washington that it took us five years. Uh we successfully derailed uh was it two prosecutors, two DAs. Uh the original DA, he he quit under the pressure and took a lower-paying job with the state. Uh the the guy that replaced him, um, we successfully led a campaign against his re-election um after he was appointed and got somebody new new in the department. Um so I mean we we did a lot of a lot of good, a lot of change. It was kind of interesting in that case. Uh it was a clear-cut case of of self-defense. Um uh we had a couple that was uh initially charged with murder. Um and uh we proved beyond doubt that there were a group of people that were actually um trying to kidnap them um and and harm them. Wow. Um and uh I mean m like like in many different cases, uh you have the police or sheriffs who go out and they'll they'll take somebody's word for something. You know, you've you've got two combatants, let's say, in a in an issue. One guy tells his story, one guy tells his story. Well, who do who do they believe? Whoever they choose to believe, right. Discretion, yeah. Right. And and so usually the person who talks first is who's believed. Um so if you have a group that might be in transit away from somebody who is attacking them, and police respond to that area, they get four or five parties who were involved in the altercation, and they all say one story, and then finally um this other group calls in and says, Hey, we were just attacked. Well, it's already been stated that they committed murder when that's not what happened. Wow. So and it takes a lot of time, a lot of time to kind of flush that all out, especially when you've got nepotism involved. Um, in that particular case, the lead detective was brother with the uh the DA. Oh gosh. Um there was exculpatory evidence that was hidden, disposed of. Um, you know, there was video of the incident that disappeared. Um just crazy. Yeah, just absolutely crazy. And so, yeah, I know initially when we talked, we we had talked about um coming in and discussing like the good old boy club, yeah, and that that really kind of goes right along with it. You know, what is the good old boy club?

SPEAKER_00 6:41

Is it the nepotism that exists? People talk about it online. I was just talking to a lady the other day, and she's like, Oh, you're part of the good old boy club. And I'm like, what is that? I mean, I've never even I don't even know what it is. So I said that and she's like, Yeah, right. And I'm like, Well, what is that? So that's yeah, that wasn't I'd really like to know what that is. I mean, is that a real thing? And how how does one join said club?

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Yeah, you know, I think I think at one point, definitely in in our history, there have been good old boy clubs in Josephine County. Um well in Josephine County and in most of America. Oh, so you know, okay, you know, that that you have these individuals who get involved in government, and a lot of times they are business owners or or whatever, and very influential people, and the people who don't get involved in government can point to them and say, they're running everything. A good old boys club. They're it's a good old boys club. Well, if you don't get involved in government and take that responsibility and take on your civic duty to go do something like that, then you're abdicating your authority over to individuals who do want to do that job. Right. And so if you can say, you know, hey, it's a good old boy club and that's convenient to cast stones, you know, are there are there times when there's nepotism, where you've got relatives, you've got what where they look out for each other in government? Absolutely. There are times when people are unethical and they, you know, look out for their own business interests, and um but so I've been involved in kind of the local goings-on here for a long time, kind of from behind the scenes, you know. I uh have helped different individuals get elected, uh, to you know, just being an observer. Sure. Um, and there there isn't this shadow conspiracy group that's like trying to pull the strings or trying to really better themselves. A lot of times it's just misunderstanding. It's labeling somebody who has a an alternate viewpoint or political you know belief, and and you don't like their belief, so they're they're part of yeah, they're part of the good old boys club, and it goes on both sides.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

I've seen it on both sides, yeah. It's funny that you mentioned that because I was looking into it the other day, like when this lady said that, and I'm like looking at posts and I'm doing all this research, and I'm like, I've seen the right call the left the good old boys club, and I've seen the left call the right the good old boys club, and then I've seen just general non-political people calling each other part of this club. And I'm like, is this a conspiracy theory? What is this? You know, it is, yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

You know, there there used to be those individuals who would align, you know, align themselves with their their companies and their own self-interests and everything, and they were the ones who would get involved. I mean, you think of small towns and and that one guy who's like the mayor, and you know, um, I mean, look at old the I'm gonna date myself, like Dukes a hazard, you know, and you had the the mayor and the sheriff, right, all under his control. That's just not a reality anymore.

SPEAKER_02 10:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Um especially now because of social media.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

Because there's so much going on. I would almost venture to say that the good old boy club are the people out there with the social media bats that keep thumping on on real hardworking people who want to be involved and want to do their civic duty.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Yeah, that's that's that's from very accurate. I mean, I've seen so much misinformation on social media, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

Well, they're they're great at it. They're there's our groups that are very proficient at saying an untruth that's somewhat believable, and constantly restating it, not swaying from it, and the more times that they say it, and it's it's it's honestly kind of a uh oh shoot, it's a dialectic, it's it's one of the the Hegelian dialectic, it's right out of uh um communist, the communist manifesto, basically. You know, looks like you say the same thing over and over again, and pretty soon everybody's gonna believe it.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

We've seen that multiple times recently here in Josephine County. Absolutely. And I'm not gonna name any situations, but you know, it's it happens all the time. It's crazy. I just watch it and I'm like, no, that's not real. You know, here's the data, here's the facts, and you know, sometimes people will look at that and then they'll still believe the nonsense. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Yeah, but it is it is crazy, yeah. Um, yeah, and that's on so many different levels. I mean, shoot, look look at uh COVID. Yeah. And you know, oh man, we've got scientific proof that, you know, you need to stand six feet apart. Well, now we learn how many years later that all of the people that were like, oh, that's ridiculous, who are called conspiracy theorists, were actually right. Yeah. And we knew we were right, and everybody else knew that they were right, that if you stand six feet apart, or you wear a little cotton mask, you know, that allows the micro droplets to just pass right through. Yeah. That in the Spanish flu era, there was plenty of scientific proof and and evidence back then that they wrote up a whole thing. Those masks don't work. No, yeah. So mysteriously they did for COVID.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Yeah. Um people just get afraid, and I I mean, they that would I think that's what made them feel more comfortable, more safe. Is like now is that the good old boys club that's running things?

SPEAKER_01 13:18

I mean, you know, another word for it is the swamp. The swamp.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

I've heard that term as well, like running the swamp, right? Right.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

That's that's Trump's Trump's term for it. Deep state. The deep state, yeah, you know. I think it's all it's all the same thing. Um, and there are levels of truth to it all, and there's a lot of irrationality to it all, too. Um you know, here locally, I would I would say more of that good old boys club would be more like the county employees um who are shielded behind um state law and can do and say things that literally can go against county commissioners or other public publicly elected officials and there's no repercussion. We've seen it happen. We've seen it happen.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Um, I mean they have a lot of power. So you know, is that is that what it is?

SPEAKER_00 14:28

And we're paying up 60 million a year. Maybe that's what it is for me. 60 million a year is what we're paying the county employees right now. 60 million dollars for 420 times roughly $150,000 a year.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

And look at the cost of living is shooting through the roof. Yeah, that means PERS is gonna go up. That means that you know everything will go up. How how much can we afford and how much are the commissioners going to increase or want to increase taxes to absorb the new cost for the this new level of living? I mean Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

I mean, I I know that things go up. There's like inflation and and whatever, but to uh I don't I don't know what's going on over there. I have honestly I I kind of stopped paying attention to what's currently happening with our new commissioners. Um, so I don't really know. I've heard there was some rumors about hiring like 21 different new employees. I don't know if that's true or not.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

I'm I'm not exactly certain on numbers, you know. I've heard rumor too. Um, you know, of course, there's infighting with with everyone, you know, that's not accurate or what and I don't I don't like to say anything unless I have the data myself, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 15:45

So even talking about this now, I'm like very hesitant because I don't want to you know put bad bad mouth anybody ever unless I have the real data. That's kind of my thing. I'm like, I don't want to talk bad about anybody in our community, um, unless they've made a crucial mistake, right? And then I'm like, well, I kind of have to call you out a little bit on this, but yeah, anyway, so likewise. Yeah, good. I mean, that's a good I mean that's healthy, I think.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Yeah, and that's uh everyone should strive to be that way, especially people sitting behind keyboards.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

Yeah, and that and they'll they'll just call you a Nazi instead of debating.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Have have some grace, you know, right? Have some have a little uh decorum and and I'll I'll admit when I'm wrong online.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Same here, I've done it. I've made mistakes. Yeah, I've made big mistakes, and I actually made three videos of a a gentleman uh who's Rogan Invisible's leader, and I made these horrible videos about him, Matt Spurlock, and then I deleted those videos and apologized because it was nonsense. It was what what what I was pushing was nonsense, and I saw the data and I was like, whoops, sorry, you know. I mean, and he's on the other side of me, but we're still members of the community together. Absolutely, we don't need to be treating each other like that, like social media wants us to. There, it almost seems like social media is pushing us to be at war.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

I don't know if you've seen it, but absolutely, absolutely, and you know, there are there are members in our community that like to sew division too.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

What does that mean? I'm sorry, I haven't that's a I haven't heard that one to sew division too. Oh, sew division, okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Okay, yeah. You know, I mean they they like to create the turmoil. They do, yeah, you're right. Um, you know, it's it's a spotlight on themselves that makes them whatever.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

Yeah, I don't know. It's like I see it a lot. Keyboard commandos, I like to call them, and they're you know, like you said, they're just behind a keyboard. Will they come out and talk to you in person about that? Will they stand out in front of headquarters, you know, and say, look, this is wrong? I don't think so, maybe, but a lot of times it's just behind a keyboard. So yeah. Yeah. Anyway, well, thanks for that. Yeah, absolutely. Did you have anything else to talk about? Uh no, not really. Okay, all right. Well, I appreciate you coming in. I just, you know, I want to get more people in the community out there and people's voices out there, you know. So this is I think this is a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

Yeah, it is a good thing, and uh, there are a lot of really great people in the community from all sides of the political spectrum. Sure, yeah, absolutely. I agree. Um, yeah, and and I've got a lot of really great friends on all sides of the political spectrum. Some I don't talk politics on the you know, I mean there's there are good people here. There is.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

It's yeah. I kind of just and that's my thing. I mean, I'm you know, being the social media director for the party, and I'm like, well, look, I don't want to badmouth necessarily all the Democrats because they're our neighbors. You know, maybe they're saying some stuff that we don't agree with, but what happened to agree to disagree, like it back in the day, you'd just be like, Well, I disagree with you, but you're still cool, you know, we can still meet. Um, and now it's just like an all-out war. Like there's so much hate being put out.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

Well, and let's be real, even even within our own party. Like uh I'm I'm a brand new um PCP, right? PCP, you know, I was just just elected. Um, I've yet to be in my first like official meeting. Uh and really just looking at looking at the politics over the last year it's just been infighting that's caused most of most of the strife and definitely aided in efforts to get rid of certain political figures.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

Yeah, yeah. Um I've seen it all unfold. I'm pretty new myself. I just became a PCP in um August 25. And so I've just been watching it and I'm so refreshed and relieved the current executive committee here is is such wonderful people. And it's like we started fresh and brand new, and people are still like, whoa, the Josephine County Republican Party, they're you know, we still got that black eye, this bad reputation, but people need to come down and talk to us and see what what we've done. And so I'm glad you're being a part of this. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

I really am. And in in that in that vein, I would love to see a lot more outreach to the youth. Same here. I I know that that's really that's the future.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

That's kind of what I'm doing. I'm on TikTok, believe it or not. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

I'm not, um but yeah. We we need to go do uh speeches at schools and and make it make it appealing. I mean, I uh personally, you know, uh I have a lot of libertarian leanings, um, very fiscally conservative, very conservative in some ways, but hey, uh ultimately it's the Constitution, you should be able to live your life however you want to live your life if it's not hurting other people. That's right. Um but uh Ron Paul was amazing when it came to galvanizing the youth in his movement and and really making them want to participate.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

Right.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

Um, and so I think it would be good to look at at what his campaign had done and and how to engage the the youth in that way, and I think we we could definitely do some good things here. I think it would be awesome. Yeah. So yeah. Well thank you, Ryan.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

We come from the land of the ice and store from the midnight south for the hot spring.