Not what someone on social media says Muslims believe or what political commentators tell me to believe.

But what Muslims actually believe, where those beliefs come from, and how the claims of Islam hold up when compared with Christianity and the historical record.

At the time I wrote that first article, I told you I felt like I had barely begun.

Turns out, I was right.

Since then, I’ve finished Nabeel Qureshi’s Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, and I’m now almost finished with his second book, No God but One: Allah or Jesus?

At the same time, I’m working my way through Martin Lings’ Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources and I’ve started reading the Qur’an.

The biggest surprise hasn’t necessarily been the answers I’ve found.

It’s been discovering how many questions I had never even thought to ask.

Questions about Muhammad.

Questions about the Qur’an.

Questions about the historical Jesus.

Questions about how Christianity and Islam can share certain people, stories, and even terminology—and yet arrive at radically different conclusions about who Jesus is.

And perhaps most importantly, this study has forced me to ask deeper questions about my own faith.

Why do I believe the New Testament accounts are trustworthy?

How early did Christians actually believe Jesus was God?

What evidence do we have for the crucifixion and resurrection?

How do we know Christianity wasn’t significantly altered somewhere along the way?

Those aren’t questions I’m afraid to ask.

In fact, I’m increasingly convinced that Christians should ask them.

Because “I believe it because I’ve always believed it” isn’t a particularly compelling answer when you’re sitting across the table from someone who has been taught an entirely different version of the story.

Which brings me to something I recently encountered in No God but One that genuinely made me stop and think:

Many Muslim apologists argue that the Christianity we know today isn’t actually the religion Jesus taught.

And one man frequently sits at the center of that accusation:

The Apostle Paul.

🧩 Did Paul Corrupt Christianity?

I know what many of my Christian readers are probably thinking right now.

Of course he didn’t.

That was pretty much my reaction too, but what I didn’t know is that’s the very argument most Muslims make to discredit the Christian faith.

And if we’re going to ask Muslims to examine the historical foundations of their faith, we should be willing to do exactly the same thing with ours.

So instead of dismissing the question, I decided to investigate it.

What exactly is the Muslim argument against Paul?

Where did it come from?

And what did the earliest followers of Jesus actually believe?

And perhaps most importantly:

Does the historical evidence support the idea that Paul transformed Jesus from a prophet into God?

Learn More About Revelation Gold Group

First, What Does Islam Say Happened to Christianity?

This is where we need to slow down a little, because the Muslim position is more nuanced than simply saying:

“Paul came along and ruined everything.”

Islam actually recognizes many of the same people Christians recognize.

Muslims believe in Abraham.

They believe in Moses.

They believe in Jesus.

They believe God gave revelation to His prophets.

The Qur’an refers to the Torah given to Moses and the Gospel—or Injil—given to Jesus.

But Islam also teaches that the Qur’an came as God’s final revelation, confirming what remained true from earlier revelation while correcting errors that had entered into the beliefs and traditions of Jews and Christians.

This concept is often discussed using the Arabic term tahrif, or corruption/distortion.

Exactly how that corruption happened has been understood differently within Islamic thought. Sometimes the accusation is that people misinterpreted or concealed God’s revelation. Other Muslim thinkers have understood the biblical texts themselves to have been altered or corrupted in transmission.

Either way, it creates an obvious question:

If Jesus really was a prophet of God—as Islam teaches—then how did His followers end up believing things about Him that Islam emphatically rejects?

How did Jesus go from prophet...

to Son of God?

How did His message become centered around His crucifixion and resurrection when the Qur’an denies that He was crucified?

And how did strict monotheists eventually come to worship Jesus Himself?

For some Muslim apologists, one of the answers is:

Paul.

Before going any further, there’s something really important to clarify.

The Qur’an never says Paul corrupted Christianity.

It doesn’t identify Paul as the villain responsible for changing Jesus’ message.

That explanation developed outside the Qur’an and has become an argument made by some Muslim thinkers and apologists attempting to explain the enormous gap between the Jesus of Islam and the Jesus worshipped by Christians.

And when you stop looking at this exclusively through Christian eyes for a moment, you can at least understand why Paul becomes such an obvious target.

Paul wasn’t one of Jesus’ original twelve disciples.

As far as we know, he never followed Jesus during His earthly ministry.

Paul says his encounter with the risen Jesus came later.

And yet Paul’s writings became extraordinarily influential within Christianity.

Paul talks repeatedly about Jesus’ death.

Jesus’ resurrection.

Salvation through Christ.

Faith.

Grace.

The relationship between Christians and the Jewish Law.

And the inclusion of Gentiles in God’s covenant people.

So imagine looking at the story through an Islamic framework.

Jesus was a Jewish prophet calling people to worship the one true God.

Jesus leaves the scene.

Then Paul emerges, preaching throughout the Gentile world about the crucified and risen Christ.

From that perspective, you can see how someone might ask:

Did something change?

That’s essentially the challenge.

And I think Christians should understand the argument before we attempt to answer it.

Because simply responding, “That’s ridiculous. Paul was an apostle!” isn’t going to convince someone who doesn’t already accept the New Testament as authoritative.

We have to go further.

We have to ask the historical question.

Does the Timeline Make Sense?

This is where things started getting REALLY interesting for me.

Because if Paul invented the Christianity we know today, there should theoretically have been a time before Paul when Jesus’ followers believed something significantly different.

In other words:

Jesus teaches Message A.

Paul comes along and changes it to Message B.

Message B eventually wins.

Christianity becomes Pauline Christianity.

Pretty straightforward theory.

Except there’s a problem.

Paul’s own writings contain evidence that the central Christian message existed before Paul.

And remember—Paul’s letters are among the earliest Christian writings we possess.

That makes what he says about the beliefs he inherited incredibly important.

Exhibit A: 1 Corinthians 15

This passage stopped me in my tracks.

Paul writes to the church in Corinth:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received...”

Then he summarizes the message:

Christ died for our sins.

He was buried.

He was raised on the third day.

And He appeared to His followers.

Don’t miss those two words:

“I received.”

Paul isn’t presenting this as something he just invented.

He’s telling us that this was a message given to him.

And that’s significant because many New Testament scholars believe Paul is preserving an early Christian tradition or creed here—something that existed before he wrote 1 Corinthians and quite possibly before Paul himself became a Christian.

Think about what that means.

We’re moving the belief in Jesus’ death and resurrection behind Paul.

Paul didn’t originate the basic proclamation that Jesus died, was buried, rose again and appeared to His followers.

He inherited it.

That doesn’t prove Christianity is true.

But it creates a serious problem for the claim that Paul invented Christianity’s central message.

Exhibit B: Paul Actually Met the Original Disciples

Then there’s something even more obvious that somehow I had never stopped to think about.

Paul knew the people who knew Jesus.

In Galatians, Paul tells us that after his conversion he traveled to Jerusalem and spent time with Peter.

Not some Christian living three generations later.

Peter.

One of Jesus’ closest disciples.

Paul also says he met James, the brother of Jesus.

Later he describes Peter, James and John as “pillars” of the Jerusalem church.

This matters enormously.

Because sometimes we talk about Paul as though he appeared decades later, completely disconnected from the people who actually walked with Jesus.

He wasn’t.

Paul was operating during their lifetimes.

He met them.

He talked with them.

He sometimes argued with them.

And THAT last part may actually be some of our most interesting evidence.

Paul and Peter DID Fight.

If the New Testament were trying to hide disagreements between the early Christian leaders, it didn’t do a particularly good job.

Paul tells us himself in Galatians that he confronted Peter publicly.

They had a serious disagreement.

So we know these men weren’t afraid to challenge each other.

But what were they arguing about?

Was Peter saying:

“Paul! Stop telling people Jesus is divine!”

No.

Was James accusing Paul of inventing the resurrection?

No.

Were the Jerusalem apostles trying to stop Paul from preaching that Jesus’ death had saving significance?

That’s not the dispute Paul records either.

Their arguments centered largely around Gentiles, circumcision, table fellowship and the continuing role of Jewish practices.

Those were significant disagreements.

We shouldn’t minimize them.

There really were tensions in the earliest Christian movement about what following Jesus meant for Jews and Gentiles.

But that’s precisely why the absence of a recorded fight over the central identity of Jesus is so interesting.

Paul could argue with Peter.

And apparently Peter could disagree with Paul.

Yet the surviving first-century evidence doesn’t give us a Peter saying:

“Paul has turned our human teacher into God.”

That’s not proof by itself.

But it’s a piece of evidence that has to be accounted for.

Exhibit C: An Even Earlier View of Jesus?

Then I came across Philippians 2.

And this one gets fascinating.

Paul writes about Jesus:

“Who, being in the form of God...”

and continues by describing Christ humbling Himself, taking human form, becoming obedient to death and then being exalted so that every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

This passage is sometimes called the Christ Hymn.

Scholars have debated its origin for a very long time.

Some believe Paul wrote it.

Others believe Paul was quoting or adapting an already-existing Christian hymn or confession.

That distinction matters.

Because if Paul was incorporating material Christians were already using in worship, then an extraordinarily “high” view of Jesus existed independently of—and potentially before—Paul’s letter.

And even scholars who think Paul composed the passage still have to explain how extraordinarily early this view of Jesus appears.

We aren’t talking about something Christians invented during the Middle Ages.

We aren’t even talking about something that first appeared at the Council of Nicaea three hundred years after Jesus.

We’re standing in the first generation of the Christian movement.

Whatever else we conclude, Christians were wrestling with the extraordinary identity of Jesus very, very early.

So... Did Paul Invent Christianity?

After digging into this, my answer is:

No.

Did Paul profoundly influence Christianity?

Absolutely.

It would be silly to argue otherwise.

Paul became one of the most important figures in Christian history, and scholars continue to debate exactly how his theology relates to Jesus, Judaism and other streams of the early Jesus movement.

There were also genuine disagreements among the earliest Christians.

The historical picture isn’t nearly as neat and tidy as we sometimes make it in Sunday School.

But that’s different from saying:

Paul took a purely human Jewish prophet named Jesus and invented a new religion that worshipped Him as God.

The timeline doesn’t fit that simple explanation very well, yet that’s what Muslims argue.

Belief in Jesus’ death and resurrection appears in traditions Paul says he received.

Paul personally interacted with Peter, James and John.

The Jerusalem apostles recognized Paul’s Gentile mission even while disagreeing with him about important issues.

And extraordinarily elevated claims about Jesus appear within the earliest layers of Christian history.

Why This Matters to Me

This may be my favorite part of this entire study.

I started studying Islam because I wanted to understand Muslims better.

I didn’t expect it to make me investigate Christianity more deeply.

But it has.

Over and over again.

And I think that’s a good thing.

I’ve said from the beginning that I don’t want to approach Muslims by yelling across a theological divide and telling them they’re wrong.

I want to understand what they believe.

I want to understand why they believe it.

And when they raise a legitimate question about Christianity, I don’t want my response to be:

“Well, the Bible says...”

because the person I’m talking with may not accept the Bible as authoritative in the first place.

I want to know what the historical evidence says.

I want to know what the earliest sources say.

I want to know whether the things I’ve believed for years can withstand scrutiny.

That’s what happened with this question.

I began with:

“Wait... Muslims think Paul corrupted Christianity?”

And I ended up digging into some of the earliest evidence we have for what Christians believed about Jesus.

It needs a revival.

Not merely a political revival.

Not even primarily a political revival.

A revival of courage.

A revival of truth.

A revival of conviction.

A revival that begins one heart... one family... and one community at a time.

Over the past several years, millions of Americans have awakened to what’s happening around us.

We’ve become more informed.

More engaged.

More willing to stand for liberty.

But if we’re honest, many of us are also tired.

It’s easy to spend every day chasing headlines, debating politics, and worrying about the future of our country.

Eventually you realize something.

America won’t be saved by winning the next news cycle.

It will be restored when ordinary people rediscover timeless principles.

That’s exactly why I’m so excited about what we’ve doing on Monday nights.

It Changed My Life

When I first signed up for a Patriot Academy class, I thought I was simply going to learn more about the Constitution.

I had no idea I was about to find a community that would completely change the direction of my life.

It was through Patriot Academy that I met people who became close friends.

It’s where I discovered that ordinary citizens really can make an extraordinary impact.

It’s where I found mentors who challenged me to grow—not just in my understanding of our nation’s founding, but in my faith, my leadership, and my sense of purpose.

Looking back now, it’s remarkable how many of the opportunities I’ve had over the past several years can be traced back to one simple decision:

I showed up.

I took a class.

I kept learning.

Today, I have the privilege of serving as a Regional Development Officer for Patriot Academy, helping others experience the same kind of transformation that changed my own life.

And I’m still a Constitution Coach too.

American Campfire Revival

There’s something timeless about sitting around a campfire.

People slow down.

Distractions fade.

Walls come down.

Stories get told.

Wisdom gets passed from one generation to the next.

Long before podcasts...

Before television...

Before social media...

There were campfires.

Families gathered.

Neighbors talked.

Truth was passed from one generation to the next.

American Campfire Revival captures that spirit.

This isn’t simply another online course.

It’s an invitation to gather around timeless truths, rediscover America’s biblical foundations, and encourage one another as we learn what it means to faithfully steward the freedoms we’ve inherited.

Click Here to Register

Why Community Matters

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned over the past several years is that information alone isn’t enough.

Most of us have consumed thousands of hours of podcasts, documentaries, articles, and social media.

We know what’s happening.

The question is...

Who’s walking beside us?

One of the things people tell me over and over is that they feel alone.

Maybe your family doesn’t understand why these issues matter to you.

Maybe your friends have moved on.

Maybe you’re the only one in your circle who still believes America is worth fighting for.

If that’s you...

You’re not alone.

Every Monday night we’re building something bigger than another Zoom meeting.

We’re building a community.

A place where people can ask questions.

Share ideas.

Pray together.

Laugh together.

Encourage one another.

And leave every week better equipped to make a difference where they live.

You Don’t Need to Know Everything

One of the biggest misconceptions people have is that they need to be experts before they get involved.

You don’t.

You don’t need a political science degree.

You don’t need to memorize the Constitution.

You don’t need to have every answer.

You simply need a willingness to learn.

The people changing America today aren’t the ones who know everything.

They’re the ones willing to keep learning.

More Than Politics

Yes, we’ll talk about America’s founding.

We’ll discuss biblical citizenship.

We’ll examine history.

We’ll wrestle with current events.

But this series isn’t ultimately about politics.

Politics may influence a nation.

Character sustains one.

If America is going to flourish for another 250 years, it won’t simply be because we elected better leaders.

It will be because we became better citizens.

Citizens grounded in truth.

Citizens who understand liberty.

Citizens whose faith produces courage.

That’s the kind of revival I’m praying for.

Click Here to Register

There’s Always Room Around the Fire

If you’ve been searching for more than another livestream...

If you’re looking for people who love God, love America, and believe ordinary citizens still matter...

If you’re hungry to keep learning while building meaningful friendships along the way...

I’d love to personally invite you to join us.

We’ll learn together.

We’ll encourage one another.

We’ll challenge one another.

And we’ll remind each other why this work matters.

Because preserving liberty has never been a one-person job.

It’s always been passed from one generation to the next.

One conversation.

One family.

One community.

One campfire at a time.

Patriot Academy Community Night continunes Monday evening.

I hope you’ll join us.

I’ll save you a seat around the campfire.

Click Here to Register

Click Here to Learn More

It’s an iconic image.

We’ve all seen it.

The problem with that is, it’s mostly wrong…

… Okay, maybe not “wrong”, per se’

Just historically inaccurate.

And since today is August 2nd, I thought it would be fun to share a few fascinating facts just for my paid subscribers about one of the most important documents in human history—facts that even many history buffs don’t know.

Read more

I learned it in the direct selling industry.

For twenty years before politics, my husband and I built a business that completely changed our lives, definitely in more good ways than bad. It introduced us to personal development and leadership training… entrepreneurship and the idea that ordinary people could accomplish extraordinary things.

While I’m viewing that experience through the rearview mirror these days, I’m still incredibly grateful for those years.

Many of the habits I learned there shape my life today.

But looking back, I also see all the mistakes I made that I don’t want to ever repeat.

Without realizing it, I slowly turned the powerful tool of self-help into something it was never meant to be… an idol.

Not in the sense that I worshipped motivational speakers or business leaders, but in the sense that I placed certain people on a pedestal. I assumed that because they were successful, they had somehow figured life out. Surely, they never argued with their spouse, misplaced their car keys, or ate cereal for dinner after a long day.

Looking back, I realize the problem wasn't those leaders. It was the pedestal I had built for them.

When the Pedestal Cracked

About ten years into our business, one of our favorite and most influential mentors left.

Eventually we learned why.

He had been battling a prescription drug addiction for years.

We had no idea.

Here was someone we admired deeply. Someone who had helped shape our thinking, challenged us to grow, and influenced thousands of people—including us.

Yet behind the scenes, he was fighting a battle that almost no one knew about.

I remember feeling disappointed and confused.

Even betrayed.

Not because he struggled.

But because I had convinced myself that someone I admired so much was somehow above struggling.

That realization was entirely my own doing.

He had never claimed to be perfect.

I had simply made him larger than life.

With hindsight being 2020, I realize that was my first encounter with what I now call the pedestal problem. The disappointment wasn't caused by his humanity—it was caused by my unrealistic expectations. I had built the pedestal, and when reality knocked it over, I blamed the person standing on it.

Politics Didn't Invent the Problem

When 2020 arrived and I found myself unexpectedly stepping into election integrity work, I entered another world filled with influential leaders.

Some became close friends.

Some became mentors.

Some inspired me enormously.

Others eventually disappointed me.

Over the past six years, I’ve watched people I deeply respected make wise decisions...and poor ones.

I’ve watched heroes become villains depending on who was telling the story.

In politics, today's hero is tomorrow's traitor...usually by lunchtime on X.

But because of what I had experienced years earlier, I was better prepared.

I had already learned that leaders are still human.

Dinner with a President

One experience especially reinforced that lesson.

In the summer of 2021, I was given the opportunity to sit right next to President Donald Trump during a dinner that he personally arranged for Audit The Vote PA at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf course.

Even writing those words still feels surreal.

In fact, if you'd told the engineer-turned-mom I was twenty years ago that one day she'd be having dinner with a President, I would've suggested you switch to decaf.

For years, like most Americans, I had only known him through television, speeches, debates, interviews, and social media.

When someone lives in the public eye that long, it’s easy to build an image of them that’s larger than reality.

But sitting across the table from him, I experienced something unexpected.

He wasn’t larger than life, walking around with dramatic music playing behind him. He didn’t glow. Angels didn’t sing.

He was just… a guy having dinner with us.

Friendly.

Down to earth.

Funny at times.

Thoughtful.

A husband.

A father.

A grandfather.

A man carrying responsibilities that very few people could ever imagine.

And yes...

A flawed human being.

Just like me.

Just like you.

Oddly enough, recognizing his humanity didn’t diminish my respect for him.

It actually deepened it.

Because respect built on reality is healthier than admiration built on illusion.

Trust vs. Idolatry

One of the greatest challenges facing our culture today is that we’ve forgotten the difference between trusting leaders and idolizing them.

Social media has convinced us that every public figure must either be the Messiah or the Antichrist.

Trust says:

“I believe this person is generally moving us in the right direction.”

Idolatry says:

“This person can do no wrong.”

Trust allows disagreement.

Idolatry demands unquestioning loyalty.

Trust measures decisions against principles.

Idolatry measures principles against personalities.

That’s a dangerous place to be.

Because eventually every leader will disappoint us.

Not necessarily because they’re corrupt or incompetent, but simply because they’re human.

If your favorite politician, pastor, podcaster, or pundit eventually disappoints you, congratulations.

You’ve just discovered they’re a member of the human race.

Education Is the Antidote

I’ve come to believe that one of the primary purposes of education is to protect us from idolatry.

The more history I study...

The more biographies I read...

The more I understand Scripture...

The more I realize that God has always used imperfect people.

Moses.

David.

Peter.

Paul.

Our Founding Fathers.

Every one of them accomplished remarkable things while still carrying flaws that God continued to refine.

Maybe that’s exactly the point.

Perhaps God never intended us to place our confidence in people.

Perhaps He intended leaders to point us toward timeless principles instead.

That’s what true edification does.

It builds people up.

It equips them to think.

It develops discernment rather than dependency.

A good leader doesn’t create followers who need them.

A good leader creates more leaders.

Thinkers, Not Followers

One of the greatest compliments I can receive today isn’t that someone agrees with everything I write.

It’s when someone says,

“You challenged me to think for myself.”

That’s what I hope to continue doing.

Not because I have all the answers.

I certainly don’t.

But because I’ve learned what happens when we confuse a leader with an idol.

That’s what the pedestal problem does.

It convinces us that loyalty means suspending our discernment.

We stop thinking, asking questions, and measuring ideas against truth.

The health of our Republic doesn’t depend on finding perfect leaders.

It depends on raising discerning citizens.

Citizens who can appreciate great leadership without expecting perfection.

Who can support someone without surrendering their own judgment.

Who can remain faithful to principles even when personalities inevitably fall short.

Because every leader eventually will.

They’re human.

Looking back, I realize my business mentor wasn’t the problem.

President Trump isn’t the problem.

The countless leaders I’ve met over the years aren’t the problem either.

The problem is the pedestal.

Every time we put someone on one, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment... and setting them up for failure.

The person on the pedestal can never live up to the image we’ve created.

And when reality inevitably reminds us they’re human, it isn’t just their reputation that suffers.

Our trust does too.

Maybe that’s why God has always chosen imperfect people to accomplish extraordinary things.

Not so we’d put our faith in them...

But so we’d learn to place our faith beyond them.

Leaders can inspire us.

Mentors can sharpen us.

Teachers can equip us.

But none of them were ever meant to carry the weight of our hope.

That place was reserved for only One.

Click to Learn More

My answer has largely been no.

Not because I’m against the idea, but because I’m not willing to put my name behind something I don’t whole heartedly believe in.

Many of you have been reading my work since the early days of Audit The Vote PA.

Others found me through Patriot Academy, my podcast, or through the Substack network.

Regardless of how you got here, you’ve probably noticed something about me by now.

I don’t recommend things lightly.

Whether it’s a book, a documentary, a curriculum, a ministry, or an organization, I usually spend weeks—or months—researching before I ever tell someone else they should take a look.

That’s because trust is difficult to earn and incredibly easy to lose.

I have no intention of risking yours.

A New Direction

Producing this publication has become much more than sitting down and writing an occasional article.

Every week I’m researching history, election integrity, America’s founding, current events, and my faith. I’m interviewing guests, recording Community Night, working on a book, creating graphics, answering emails, and trying to provide thoughtful content that helps all of us become better citizens, better leaders, and better stewards.

Like many independent writers, I’ve had companies approach me about sponsorship opportunities, especially in the precious metals/gold space.

I’ve declined every single one.

Some were reputable companies.

Some probably weren’t.

But almost every conversation felt the same.

It felt rushed.

Transactional.

Like someone wanted to check a marketing box instead of build a relationship.

I always walked away thinking, “If this is how they’re treating me before I’m even a customer, how are they going to treat the people who trust my recommendation?”

So, I simply said ‘no thank you’.

Then Something Different Happened

Over a month ago, a young lady reached out to me from Revelation Gold Group.

I’ll be honest—I expected it to go exactly like every other conversation I’d had with precious metals companies… ‘promote my product in X amount of your articles, and we’ll give you $$’.

I was never interested in that, and I’m still not.

But much to my surprise, this was noticeably different.

Instead of launching into a sales pitch, they asked questions about me and my journey into politics.

And then they took time to educate me about their industry. Nothing was rushed or salesy.

I got on multiple Zoom calls with them, which is something none of the other gold companies even offered to do, and they walked me through what an actual customer experience with their brand would look like.

When I wanted to understand how a Gold IRA actually worked, they took their time explaining it without making me feel pressured to make any decisions.

More than once I found myself thinking,

“This is exactly how every company should treat people.”

If you’ve followed my work for any length of time, you know that’s exactly how I try to approach difficult topics.

Education first.

Decisions second.

My Financial Revelation

Some of you already know this part of my story.

After everything that happened in 2020, but prior to the November election, I started trying to understand finances better, which led me to a brief but powerful study on our monetary system otherwise known as The Federal Reserve.

I read The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin and began digging into how our financial system was actually built.

For as long as I can remember, I heard that our dollars are merely pieces of paper with no actual value attached, apart from what the government says they’re worth, but it never really clicked until I read that book.

Then I read, The Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed… more jaw dropping financial insight about the history behind all of this.

The deeper I studied, the more convinced I became that every American should understand the difference between paper assets and tangible assets. I even did a few Facebook Live videos to try to explain what I was learning to my small audience at the time.

As a result of all of that, my husband and I ended up buying a few pieces of silver just to have in case the entire financial system collapsed, and we started to understand that tangible assets have a place in long-term financial stewardship.

What Happens When the Debt Outruns the Dollar?

I keep coming back to the same question these days, and I bet a lot of you are asking it too, even if you’re afraid to say it out loud.

We voted for change. We voted to put America first, to stop the bleeding, and to hold the people who broke this country accountable.

And in some ways, things do feel different.

But here’s the uncomfortable part nobody in Washington wants to talk about around your kitchen table:

No matter who is in charge...

The debt just keeps climbing.

This year the national debt crossed $39 trillion.

Let that sink in.

Even more concerning, debt held by the public has now grown to roughly the same size as America’s entire economy—a level we haven’t seen since World War II.

This isn’t a Republican problem.

It isn’t a Democrat problem.

It’s an American problem that has been building for decades.

Eventually every family feels the consequences.

Maybe you’ve noticed it yourself.

Groceries.

Fuel.

Insurance.

Building materials.

The purchasing power of the dollar simply doesn’t stretch as far as it once did.

That’s one reason many investors—and even central banks around the world—continue increasing their holdings of physical gold.

Not because they’re predicting the end of civilization.

Because they’re trying to diversify against uncertainty.

Enter Revelation Gold Group

If you’ve been thinking about learning more about precious metals, I can honestly recommend starting the conversation with Revelation Gold Group.

Notice I said conversation.

Not purchase.

Conversation.

Whether you’re interested in buying physical gold or silver, or simply want to understand how a Gold IRA works, they take an educational approach instead of a high-pressure sales approach.

That matters to me.

It should matter to you too.

If you decide you’d like to learn more, I’ve included my partner link here:

Revelation Gold Group

Click Here to Learn More

One Final Thought

For years I’ve encouraged you to verify what I write.

Don’t believe something simply because it came from me.

Research it.

Ask questions.

Think critically.

That same principle applies here.

I’m not recommending Revelation Gold Group because someone offered to sponsor an article.

I’m recommending them because I spent time getting to know them first, and I now believe in what they’re doing.

I trust how they treat people.

And I believe they deserve the opportunity to earn your trust as well.

Whether you decide precious metals are right for your family is entirely your decision.

But I do think every American should become a student of our nation’s financial history and think carefully about how to steward what God has entrusted to them.

As always...

Do your homework.

Ask good questions.

And never stop learning.

Disclosure: Revelation Gold Group is a paid partner of this publication. I only recommend companies, ministries, products, and organizations that I personally believe provide value to this community. Nothing in this article should be considered financial advice. Please do your own research and consult qualified professionals regarding your personal financial situation.

For many Americans, it felt like a bombshell.

For those of us who’ve been living and breathing election integrity since 2020, it was more like...

“Wait... that’s the document everyone is just discovering?”

Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t say that to diminish the significance of the announcement.

Quite the opposite.

Sometimes the biggest story isn’t that new information has emerged.

Sometimes the biggest story is that people are finally willing to look at information that has been sitting in plain sight all along.

If last Thursday night felt like groundbreaking news to you, welcome to the conversation. We’ve been saving you a seat since 2020.

The Conversation Has Changed

Whether you agree with President Trump or not, one thing is undeniable:

Election integrity is back in the national conversation.

For years, many Americans who questioned election procedures, chain of custody, voter rolls, ballot handling, or transparency were dismissed before their questions were ever seriously considered.

Today, those same topics are being discussed from the White House to kitchen tables across America.

That’s a remarkable shift.

If you’ve been following this issue for the last five years, you may have experienced an unusual feeling Thursday night.

It’s called déjà vu.

Except instead of wondering whether you’ve lived this moment before, you’re wondering why it took half a decade for the conversation to catch up.

Who Gets to Decide What Americans See?

One aspect of last Thursday night’s address struck me almost as much as the information itself.

Many of the nation’s major television networks chose not to broadcast the President’s remarks live. Meanwhile, many of the same voices that declined to air the address continue to dismiss people like me with labels such as “election denier.”

Think about that for a moment.

Americans are frequently told there is “no evidence” worth discussing, yet when the President of the United States gives an address on the subject, many citizens aren’t even given the opportunity to hear it firsthand on the networks they’ve trusted for decades.

Whether someone ultimately agrees with President Trump or completely disagrees with him isn’t really the point.

Shouldn’t Americans be trusted to hear the information and evaluate it for themselves?

I’ve been called an “election denier” so many times that I’m half expecting it to show up on my Christmas cards.

The funny thing is, I’ve never denied that elections happen.

I’ve spent the last five years asking whether every part of the process deserves public confidence.

I’ve spent those years reviewing public records, organizing volunteers, knocking on doors, documenting findings, and asking questions that any healthy constitutional republic should welcome.

Questioning government processes isn’t a threat to democracy.

It’s one of the responsibilities of citizenship.

“Where’s the Proof?”

Every time election integrity returns to the headlines, someone inevitably asks:

“Where’s the proof?”

It’s a fair question.

At this point, I almost want to respond,

“How much time do you have?”

Because after five years of investigations, public records requests, lawsuits, legislative hearings, volunteer efforts, and thousands upon thousands of doors knocked across Pennsylvania, this isn’t exactly a two-slide PowerPoint presentation anymore.

At Audit The Vote PA, we didn’t spend years chasing headlines.

We spent years collecting data.

Our statewide canvassing effort is arguably the largest investigative election canvassing project ever conducted regarding the 2020 election.

Thousands of volunteers visited homes across the Commonwealth and compared what voters told us with publicly available election records.

Contrary to popular belief, our volunteers didn’t spend months wandering Pennsylvania looking for bamboo fibers with flashlights.

They did something far less exciting—and far more valuable.

They knocked on doors.

They talked to real voters.

They documented real responses.

Turns out democracy involves a lot more comfortable shoes than conspiracy theories.

Did our canvassing answer every question?

No.

Did it raise questions worthy of further investigation?

Absolutely.

Whether someone ultimately agrees with every conclusion or not, dismissing years of documented field work without ever examining it does a disservice to the investigative process itself.

If you’ve never reviewed our findings, I encourage you to do so.

The data has always been available.

The question is whether people are finally willing to look.

Accountability Requires Participation

One lesson I’ve learned through this journey is that accountability doesn’t happen by accident.

It happens because ordinary people stay engaged.

They volunteer.

They ask questions.

They observe.

They document.

And yes...

They vote.

Ironically, one of the saddest responses I’ve heard over the past five years is, “I’m never voting again.”

I understand the frustration.

But I believe that’s exactly the wrong conclusion.

Every election creates another opportunity to collect data.

Every election allows citizens to observe the process.

Every election gives us another chance to compare procedures, identify trends, and continue strengthening transparency.

If good people stop participating, we lose one of the greatest tools we have for accountability.

The Work Continues

I don’t know what additional information may come from these recent declassification efforts.

Time will tell.

What I do know is this:

No press conference replaces years of investigative work.

No headline finishes the job.

The work of election integrity isn’t glamorous.

Nobody has ever walked up to me and said,

“I hear you spent your Saturday comparing voter records... tell me everything.”

But that’s how accountability works.

One record.

One conversation.

One volunteer.

One citizen.

One election at a time.

Stay Engaged

If last week’s events renewed your interest in election integrity, don’t let it end with watching a speech or sharing a social media post.

Read the documents.

Ask questions.

Examine the evidence.

Review our statewide canvassing results.

Volunteer in your community.

Become a poll watcher.

Learn how elections are conducted in your county.

And above all...

Keep voting.

Because every election gives us another opportunity to pursue transparency, strengthen public confidence, and preserve the integrity of our republic.

For five years, I’ve watched thousands of ordinary Americans give their evenings, weekends, and vacations to this cause—not because it was easy, and certainly not because it was popular.

They did it because they believed that truth matters.

So, if you’re just joining the conversation...

Welcome.

We’re glad you’re here.

Now let’s get to work.

As I’ve often reminded myself throughout this journey:

Duty is ours. Results are God’s.

Register Here

At the time, I was leading a brand-new grassroots movement called Audit The Vote PA. We had just crossed 100,000 signatures on our petition calling for a forensic audit of the 2020 election. The movement was growing far faster than any of us expected, and every day seemed to bring a new challenge that I had absolutely no idea how to solve.

A week earlier, I had been told to expect a phone call from President Donald Trump.

The call never came.

Or at least, I thought it wasn’t coming.

Eventually I stopped checking my phone every few minutes and went back to doing what moms do—packing towels, chasing kids, negotiating over snacks, and trying to make sure nobody drowned.

Today, as I officially announce that I have a publishing contract in hand to tell this whole story, it seemed fitting to share one of the chapters from the manuscript, The Keystone Awakening: How a Pennsylvania Mom Found Purpose During America’s Third Great Awakening.

I hope you enjoy this excerpt from the book based on my best memories from 5 years ago today.

No one on the East Coast expects the weather in the middle of the summer to be cool and breezy, but on that particular July day, the humidity was off the charts. In an effort to keep the kiddos occupied and off of screens, I decided to venture out to our local swimming pool for a few hours in hopes of cooling everyone down, including myself, and also spending some much-needed time with my three kids who had suddenly started to wonder why Mommy was ALWAYS on the phone and leaving more often than she used to.

“Just a few minutes to myself… that’s all I’m asking for.”

As the laundry list of random thoughts raced through my brain at Mach one speed, I exhaled loudly and plopped all the swimming stuff down on the soggy green grass near the kid pool area. We always camped out near the kiddie pool where a giant orange crocodile bucket dumped water every few minutes. The water only came up to about three and a half feet, which meant I could keep all three girls within eyesight. Between the bathroom, the snack bar, and the shallow end, it was as close to "manageable" as taking three young kids swimming ever gets.

“Mommy, I’m hungry!” shouts my three-year-old.

“Of course you are”, I thought.

It didn’t matter how much I fed them before we left the house or what scorched earth warnings I gave them NOT to ask for concession stand food, it was just a matter of time before one of them started wandering in that direction, and I knew the fight for healthy snacks just wasn’t worth it.

The anxiety that comes with taking three young kids to a swimming pool when only one of them can swim, one has mildly developed survival skills, and one is most certainly going to drown if left unattended where she can’t touch the bottom is a whole other matter.

“Do I have to put the puddle jumper on?” Hallie protested.

“If you want to swim, you do.”

“I just need goggles, right Mom?” Juliette asked.

“I’d prefer if you also wear a puddle jumper, but if you’re going to fight me on that, then today is your lucky day. I just don’t have the energy to argue over this right now.”

Feeling like an octopus stuck in a phone booth, I tried to set up the sunshade while simultaneously laying out the blanket so that we wouldn’t get all muddy and my youngest would keep from burning up when she decided she was done with the water, which was at least once every 5-10 minutes.

“Why did I think taking them swimming by myself was a good idea?” I mused.

Shaking my head, I finished with our usual set up and headed to the shallow end of the pool to try to get some vitamin D while still fastening the puddle jumper on three-year-old Hallie.

I had pretty much given up on getting a phone call from the President, even though it was supposed to have come a week ago, so much so, that I wasn’t checking my phone regularly anymore or hoping to see a DC number pop up on the screen.

“Or should I be expecting a Florida phone number? Or maybe New York? He has a place in New York, right?” I said to myself as I was splashing along with the kiddos and swinging them around on my legs waiting for the bucket to dump water on all three of us.

My racing thoughts got back on their usual track as I started to think about our next steps. Even though we met our goal of getting over 100,000 signatures on the petition for a forensic audit and no doubt were developing serious momentum in that direction, there were still so many obstacles in our way.

Our election integrity champion, Senator Doug Mastriano, was swimming upstream in Harrisburg, getting way more opposition than support. Sure, he had just gotten back from visiting Arizona where he toured the Maricopa County facility to get a first-hand look of how they ran things, and sure he had some allies in Pennsylvania, but they were few and far between.

“Even if we got the green light, none of us had any idea how to run a statewide forensic audit. And even if we figured that out, who was going to pay for it??”

Those self-defeating thoughts never stopped, which made it even easier to reconcile that a phone call from the President was so wildly unlikely and unprecedented that I wasn’t even disappointed that it hadn’t come yet.

“Mommy! Mommy! Look, the bucket is about to drop! 10… 9… 8… 7… 6…” and as the infamous chant from the kiddie pool bucket countdown came to a close, a refreshing splash of cold water came raining down on our heads and we all laughed and basked in the simple joy of summertime.

But in between every moment of trying to enjoy family time with the kiddos, thoughts of logistically how we were going to pull this off consumed my brain once more.

I hadn't looked at my phone in over an hour, and the moment I decided to pick it up, a (202) number flashed across the screen. I didn’t know that Washington DC had a (202) area code, so when I picked up, I was shocked to hear the voice of a female assistant, ever so kind and somewhat excited saying, “Hello, Ms. Shuppe? I’m so glad we were able to connect. I have a very special person on the other end of the phone who wants to talk to you. Is now an okay time?”

Every sound around me suddenly disappears.

The laughter.

The splashing.

The countdown from the bucket.

Everything.

“Say what?”

My jaw drops.

“Is this it?”

My eyes get wide as saucers.

“Where the heck is the (202) area code from?”

I could feel myself holding my breath.

“And how is this happening while I’m at the waterpark with my kids!?”

A rush of anxiety shoots through my entire body.

“Just shoot me!”

I managed to stammer out some sort of reply while attempting to get my other 2 friends who had joined me on this crazy adventure to join the call as I ran over to Savanna who was dancing around aimlessly in the deeper part of the kiddie pool.

“Savanna!! Savanna!! Get over here!!”

I hadn’t noticed that I was pacing back and forth on the scorching hot pavement until I saw the look on her face.

“What’s wrong, Mommy?”

“Nothing’s wrong sweetheart, but this is REALLY important. You have to keep a close eye on Hallie and Jules because this is the phone call I’ve been waiting for from President Trump! Can you please make sure their heads stay above the water?”

“Yes, Mommy, I will.”

I can’t remember if she was excited or nervous or oblivious to what was happening, but I continued to pace back and forth as I waited. Then I took one deep breath, and sure enough there came that unmistakable voice.

That’s where I’ll leave the story—for now.

The conversation that followed, the invitation that came next, and the dinner that forever changed my life will all be in The Keystone Awakening.

Thank you for taking this journey with me from the beginning. More soon.

Join the TTV Now Community

Maybe it changed yours too.

Like millions of Americans, I started asking questions I had never asked before. I began studying our Constitution, our history, our election systems, our founding principles, and what it really means to be a biblical citizen.

Over the last six years, that journey has introduced me to incredible people and incredible organizations. I’ve hosted many Patriot Academy classes, worked in election integrity, written articles, interviewed guests, and spent thousands of hours learning.

But along the way, I kept noticing something.

People would finish a class and ask me:

“What’s next?”

Some had gotten involved but eventually burned out.

Others felt isolated because no one around them shared their passion for learning.

Some simply wanted a place where they could continue asking questions, discussing ideas, and growing alongside other people who love America and love the truth.

I wanted that too.

That’s why I’m launching Patriot Academy Community Night.

FREE to Register - Click Here

Not another six-week class.

Not another webinar.

A community.

A place where lifelong learners can gather every Monday night to grow together.

Some months we’ll celebrate America’s 250th birthday by studying the remarkable story of our nation’s founding.

Some months we’ll gather around the themes of American Campfire Revival, learning how to rebuild our communities one relationship at a time.

As election season approaches, we’ll devote entire months to election integrity, civic engagement, and practical ways to make a difference where we live.

We’ll tackle difficult topics with humility and conviction.

We’ll host special guests who have been on the front lines of today’s biggest battles.

We’ll learn how to communicate better, lead better, and serve our communities more effectively.

And every week, we’ll leave with one practical challenge to put what we’ve learned into action.

Because I don’t believe America simply needs more information.

I believe America needs more informed citizens.

Politics is downstream from culture.

Culture is shaped by families, churches, neighborhoods, schools, and local communities.

That’s where renewal begins.

Community Night is my attempt to build the kind of place I wish had existed when I first woke up in 2020.

If you’ve been looking for a place to keep learning...

If you’ve been wondering what comes next...

If you want to grow alongside people who are committed to faith, freedom, and servant leadership...

Pull up a chair.

Let’s learn together.

Let’s grow together.

Let’s lead together.

And let’s save the Republic—one community at a time.

Patriot Academy Community Night

🗓️ Every Monday • 8:00 PM ET

🎙️ Recorded live and released each Saturday as The Remnant Report podcast.

I’d love to have you join us.

Click Here to Register

Get more from Toni Shuppe in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

Get the app

Election Integrity Starts with Clean Voter Rolls.

🗳️ Have you checked your voter registration lately?

True the Vote’s Scan. Check. Protect. tool makes it easy to:

✅ Confirm you’re registered in your current state.
✅ Verify your registration information.
✅ Find official state election resources.
✅ Remove outdated registrations from states where you’ve previously lived (if applicable).

It only takes a few minutes and can help you make sure your registration information is up to date before Election Day.

Scan.Check.Protect - Click Here

But what if I told you that almost everything we picture happening on July 4, 1776... didn’t actually happen that day?

The real story of America’s founding is far more fascinating—and perhaps even more inspiring—than the version most of us learned in school.

As America celebrates her 250th birthday, let's travel back through one remarkable week that forever changed the course of history.

July 2: The Day America Chose Independence

Most Americans would probably answer “July 4, 1776” if asked when America declared independence.

But that’s not actually true.

On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted to sever all political ties with Great Britain.

That vote—not July 4—was the moment the colonies formally chose independence.

In fact, John Adams was so convinced July 2 would become America’s great national holiday that he wrote to his wife Abigail:

“The Second Day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.”

History had other plans.

July 4: Not the Beginning...The Explanation

By July 4, the decision had already been made.

What Congress approved that day was the final wording of the Declaration of Independence after several days of edits and debate.

The Declaration wasn’t simply announcing America’s departure from Britain.

It was explaining why.

Think of it as America’s opening legal brief before the court of world opinion.

Before Jefferson ever wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident...” he carefully documented twenty-seven grievances against King George III.

The Founders believed freedom should never be declared casually.

It should be justified carefully.

The Paragraph That Never Made It

One of the most fascinating parts of the Declaration of Independence is something you’ll never find in the final document.

Jefferson’s original draft included a lengthy passage condemning the British Crown for perpetuating the transatlantic slave trade.

He accused King George III of violating “the most sacred rights of life and liberty” by forcing the institution of slavery upon the colonies and sustaining the trade in human beings.

That language never survived.

Delegates from South Carolina and Georgia objected strongly. Some northern delegates, whose economies also benefited from the slave trade, were unwilling to include it.

To preserve unity among all thirteen colonies, Congress removed the entire passage.

Jefferson was deeply disappointed.

He later complained that Congress had “mangled” portions of his draft.

The irony is impossible to ignore.

America declared that “all men are created equal” while simultaneously removing language condemning slavery.

History is rarely neat.

The Founders articulated one of history’s greatest statements on universal human equality while leaving unresolved one of America’s greatest moral contradictions.

That contradiction would eventually erupt into the Civil War nearly ninety years later.

Understanding that tension doesn’t diminish the Declaration.

If anything, it reminds us that the principles declared in 1776 would continue challenging future generations to live up to them.

July 5: Printing History Overnight

The Declaration still hadn’t reached the American people.

Immediately after Congress approved the final text, Philadelphia printer John Dunlap worked through the night printing the first official copies.

Known today as the Dunlap Broadsides, historians estimate roughly 200 copies were printed.

Only a few dozen are known to survive.

Those printed sheets carried America’s declaration across the colonies.

July 8: America Finally Hears the News

This may be my favorite part of the story.

By July 8, America had already voted for independence.

The Declaration had already been written.

But most Americans still had no idea.

On that day, Colonel John Nixon stood before a crowd in Philadelphia and publicly read the Declaration for the very first time.

Imagine hearing those words without knowing they would become some of the most famous ever written.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident...”

For those gathered that afternoon, these weren’t words from a history book.

They were breaking news.

And everyone listening understood the risk.

Declaring independence wasn’t symbolic.

It was treason against the British Crown.

If the Revolution failed, many of the men responsible would likely lose not only their property—but their lives.

August 2: The Signing Most of Us Picture

One of the biggest myths surrounding Independence Day comes from the paintings we’ve all seen.

The delegates did not all line up and sign the Declaration on July 4.

Most signed the beautifully engrossed parchment nearly a month later, on August 2, 1776.

A few signed even later as they returned to Philadelphia.

The iconic painting isn’t really depicting the signing.

It’s portraying the drafting committee presenting the Declaration to Congress.

The Week America Was Born

Sometimes history gets compressed into a single date.

The truth is far richer.

July 2
✅ Congress votes for independence.

July 4
✅ Congress approves the final wording of the Declaration.

July 5
🖨️ John Dunlap prints the first copies overnight.

July 8
📣 The Declaration is publicly read to the people of Philadelphia.

July 9
🗽 New York joins the cause for independence.

August 2
✍️ Most delegates sign the engrossed Declaration.

The Lesson of America’s 250th Birthday

One thing stands out to me after looking back at this remarkable week.

The Founders weren’t perfect.

They argued.

They revised one another’s work.

They compromised.

They wrestled with difficult moral questions.

Some disagreements would remain unresolved for generations.

Yet despite all of that, they united around a shared conviction that liberty was worth defending.

When the Declaration closed with the words that they pledged “our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor,” those weren’t poetic flourishes.

They were promises.

Promises backed by the very real possibility of imprisonment, execution, or financial ruin if the Revolution failed.

Two hundred and fifty years later, perhaps that’s the real lesson of Independence Day.

Not that America was founded by perfect people.

But that enduring principles can outlive imperfect people.

Each generation inherits those principles.

Each generation must decide whether they are worth preserving.

As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, may we remember not only the date on the calendar, but the extraordinary week that gave birth to a nation.

Happy Independence Day!

One Last Thought...

As I was writing this article, I couldn’t help but think back to the fall of 2020.

A good friend of mine, Karen Taylor, and I decided to take a Patriot Academy Constitution class together. We had already been friends for nearly ten years, but neither of us had any idea how much that one decision would change the course of our lives.

That class sparked a passion for America’s founding that eventually led us to co-found Audit The Vote PA. We also began hosting Constitution classes together, encouraging others to discover the same incredible history that had inspired us.

Our paths have taken us in different directions over the years, but I’ll always be grateful that we took that first class together. In fact, Karen is now part of a slate of candidates working to bring new leadership to the Westmoreland County Republican Committee. If they’re successful, she’ll serve as the committee’s Secretary.

I genuinely don’t believe either of us would be where we are today had we not made the decision to study the Constitution together back in 2020.

If this article reminded you that there’s always more to learn about America’s remarkable story, I’d love to invite you to join me. You never know where one class—or one decision to keep learning—might lead.

Patriot Academy Community Night:

Join me Monday nights as we continue learning together through history, the Constitution, faith, current events, and conversations with special guests.

Click Here to Register

We the People weren’t willing to let that happen.

Over the past several weeks, thousands of Pennsylvanians started asking questions, making phone calls, sending emails, posting on social media, and refusing to quietly accept that the Keystone State—the birthplace of American freedom—would have no presence at the Great American State Fair.

In the end, Pennsylvania will be represented after all.

Not because the Governor’s office stepped up.

But because ordinary citizens spoke up, pressure was applied, and two U.S. Senators put politics aside to find a solution.

I had a front-row seat to much of what unfolded behind the scenes, and I want to tell the story of how it happened to my paid subscribers because you are the ones that allow me to continue this work.

Read more

During a Senate hearing, the new Postmaster General confirmed that the United States Postal Service intended to reject mail-in ballots from states that failed to comply with new federal ballot tracking requirements established under President Trump’s Executive Order 14399.

For many Americans, that immediately raised questions.

1. Would USPS actually reject ballots?

2. What were these new requirements?

3. And what problem were they trying to solve?

Then today, everything changed.

A federal judge in Massachusetts blocked key portions of the Executive Order, ruling that the President does not have the constitutional authority to impose certain nationwide election administration requirements through executive action alone.

Before we talk about today’s ruling, it’s important to understand what the Executive Order was actually trying to accomplish.

What Was the USPS Rule Trying to Do?

Much of the discussion surrounding this Executive Order has centered on the phrase “rejecting mail-in ballots.” While technically accurate in describing one potential consequence for non-compliant states, that phrase doesn’t fully explain what the proposed USPS rule was designed to accomplish.

The proposal focused on the ballot envelope, not the vote itself.

Under the proposed rule, states conducting federal elections by mail would have been required to use standardized ballot envelopes that included:

• The Official Election Mail logo

• USPS-compatible envelope formatting

• Unique Intelligent Mail barcodes on both outbound and return envelopes

• USPS review of the envelope design before ballots were mailed

Election officials also would have been required to submit certain information to a USPS portal before ballots were mailed, including:

• The voter’s name and mailing address

• The barcode assigned to the outgoing ballot envelope

• The barcode assigned to the return envelope

• The originating election office

The purpose was to create a documented chain of custody for ballot envelopes moving through the postal system.

In practical terms, USPS and election officials could verify that a ballot envelope was mailed, track its movement through the mail stream, and confirm whether the corresponding return envelope was received.

The proposal also stated that USPS would not determine voter eligibility or maintain state voter rolls. Those responsibilities would remain with the states.

Separately, the Executive Order directed federal agencies—including the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration—to provide states with citizenship-related information that states could use while continuing to administer their own voter registration systems.

Supporters viewed these measures as a way to strengthen transparency, accountability, and chain of custody for mailed ballots.

Critics argued that, regardless of the proposal’s merits, the President lacked the constitutional authority to impose these requirements without authorization from Congress.

That constitutional question—not necessarily the mechanics of ballot tracking—is what the federal court addressed.

So What Happened?

Yesterday’s headline wasn’t wrong.

The USPS really did indicate that it intended to implement these requirements if the Executive Order remained in effect.

That “if” turned out to be critical.

Judge Indira Talwani issued an injunction blocking key portions of the Executive Order, concluding that the President had exceeded the authority granted to the executive branch in this area.

In other words, the court did not rule that ballot tracking is unconstitutional.

It did not rule that chain-of-custody procedures are improper.

Nor did it decide whether the proposal would have been good or bad public policy.

Instead, the court addressed a narrower constitutional question:

Who has the authority to establish these kinds of nationwide election procedures?

According to the ruling, that authority belongs to Congress—not the President acting alone through an executive order.

Is This the End of the Executive Order?

No.

A federal district court has blocked key portions of the Executive Order, but that does not end the legal dispute.

The Trump administration is expected to appeal through the federal appellate courts. If necessary, it can also ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

One common misconception is that because the Supreme Court is in its summer recess, nothing can happen until the justices return for their next regular term.

That’s not how the process works.

The Supreme Court maintains an emergency docket throughout the year. In urgent cases—including election-related disputes—the Court can consider emergency applications even while it is in recess.

Whether the Court chooses to intervene is impossible to predict, but the legal process is far from over.

For now, the Executive Order’s election-related provisions remain on hold while that process unfolds.

Where Do We Go From Here?

It’s easy to see today’s headline and conclude that the issue is settled.

It isn’t.

What we’re watching unfold is a constitutional debate over who has the authority to establish nationwide election procedures.

The courts will ultimately decide whether these provisions can move forward under existing law, whether Congress must act first, or whether some combination of both is required.

One of the biggest challenges in today’s media environment is that headlines often capture a single moment in a much longer process.

Yesterday’s headline suggested a major policy change.

Today’s headline explains why that policy has been paused.

Tomorrow’s headline may involve an appeal.

Whether you support or oppose the Executive Order, understanding how election law is made is just as important as understanding what changes are being proposed.

As always, my goal is to help you separate the headlines from the underlying legal issues and understand what these developments actually mean.

Stay curious.

Ask questions.

Follow the facts.

Because protecting election integrity starts with understanding the process.

True The Vote NOW Community:

Want to get more involved in election integrity? Join me in the True The Vote NOW Community and connect with citizens working to make our elections more transparent.

Join TTV Now Community

Patriot Academy Community Night:

Join me Monday nights as we continue learning together through history, the Constitution, faith, current events, and conversations with special guests.

Click Here to Register

Maybe your life changed in 2020 like mine did.

Maybe you started asking questions.

Maybe you realized things weren’t quite what you thought they were.

Maybe you got involved.

Maybe you attended meetings, joined groups, volunteered, made phone calls, knocked doors, or spent countless hours trying to understand what was happening in our country.

And maybe, somewhere along the way, you got discouraged.

Maybe you got burned out.

Maybe you started wondering if any of it was actually making a difference.

Because let’s be honest...

How long can we run like the house is on fire without a support system to help pick us back up when we’re bruised and bloody—emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually?

Maybe you’re frustrated.

Maybe you’re tired of waiting for someone else to fix things.

Maybe you’ve realized that no election, politician, or government agency is going to save America for us.

And perhaps you’re sitting there today wondering:

🤔 “What do I do now?”

If that’s you, I want to invite you to something new, something fresh, and something that I believe is going to be very special.

Starting July 13th, I’ll be hosting Patriot Academy Community Night every Monday at 8:00 PM ET.

This isn’t just another constitution class.

It’s a place for lifelong learners.

A place for patriots who want to keep growing.

A place for people who don’t want to spend every evening scrolling social media or flipping channels wondering what happened to America and if it’s too late to really make a difference.

We’ll learn together.

We’ll ask hard questions.

We’ll sharpen one another.

We’ll build friendships.

We’ll develop leaders.

We’ll become better communicators.

We’ll discover our purpose.

And we’ll equip one another to engage the culture with wisdom, courage, and conviction.

Some nights we’ll study the Constitution using Patriot Academy curriculum.

📖 Constitution Alive
✝️ Biblical Citizenship
🔥 Rebuilding Liberty
🏕️ American Campfire Revival
🗽 Chasing American Legends

Other nights we’ll tackle current events, election integrity, leadership, worldview, culture, and difficult topics many people are afraid to discuss.

We’ll even learn how to engage people we disagree with in ways that build bridges instead of walls.

Because politics is downstream from culture.

And if we’re going to save the Republic, we need citizens who are prepared for the front lines of the culture war.

Most importantly, you’ll find a community of people who are committed to learning, growing, and making a difference where they live.

🇺🇸 Patriot Academy Community Night
📅 Begins July 13th
⏰ Mondays at 8:00 PM ET

Saving the Republic One Community at a Time.

Register here:
https://www.patriotacademy.com/coach/register/11527

And one more thing...

Over the last six years, this journey has connected me with some incredible people—from military leaders and journalists to activists, authors, whistleblowers, and culture warriors.

Many of them have already received an invitation to join us for future Community Night conversations.

I’ll be announcing special guests as they’re confirmed, but let’s just say there are some exciting names on the list. 👀

Click Here to Register

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My dad passed away on January 26, 2010, after a three-year battle with stage 4 colorectal cancer. I was 30 years old.

For years after he died, Father’s Day felt like a reminder of what I had lost.

The missed conversations.
The milestones he would never get to see.
The grandchildren he would never get to meet.
The questions I never got the chance to ask.

But somewhere along the way, my perspective shifted.

Today, when Father’s Day rolls around, I find myself focusing less on the loss and more on the incredible man who I was blessed to call Daddy.

Because the truth is, not everyone grows up with a good father.

I did.

And the older I get, the more grateful I become for that gift.

The Daughter Who Started Father’s Day

Most Americans celebrate Father’s Day without giving much thought to where it came from.

I certainly didn’t.

As it turns out, Father’s Day exists because one daughter loved her father.

In 1909, a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd sat in church listening to a Mother’s Day sermon. As she listened, she couldn’t help but think about her own father, a Civil War veteran who raised six children by himself after his wife died.

She believed fathers deserved recognition too.

The following year, she helped organize what is widely considered the first Father’s Day celebration in Spokane, Washington. It would take decades before the holiday became nationally recognized, but her idea eventually spread across the country.

I’ve always found that story fascinating.

A national holiday was born because a daughter was grateful for her dad.

And as I think about my own father, I understand exactly how she felt.

A Father Worth Missing

One of the most difficult things about grief is that people often focus on the loss itself.

But loss is really just evidence that something valuable existed in the first place.

When people tell me they’re sorry my father passed away, I appreciate the sentiment. But what I often find myself thinking is how thankful I am that I had him at all.

My dad wasn’t famous.

He didn’t hold political office.
He wasn’t trying to change the world.
He was simply a husband, a father, and a hardworking man who loved his family.

And that’s exactly what made him extraordinary.

I still remember sitting beside his bed during those final days.
I remember trying to keep him comfortable.

I remember singing “You Are My Sunshine” to him, a song he taught me when I was four years old.

I remember telling him that Mom and I would be okay.
And I remember the peace that came when his suffering finally ended.

But those aren’t the memories that define him.

What defines him are the decades that came before.

The sacrifices.
The lessons.
The steady presence.

The countless small moments that seemed ordinary at the time but became priceless later.

Those are the things that stay with you.

The Legacy of a Father

The older I get, the more I realize that a father’s greatest gift isn’t money.

It isn’t possessions.
It isn’t even advice.
It’s example.

A good father teaches things that can never be fully measured.

How to work hard and keep your word.
How to love your family.
How to persevere when life doesn’t go according to plan.
How to do the right thing even when it’s difficult.

Many of those lessons are never spoken out loud.

They’re simply observed.

Absorbed.

Passed from one generation to the next.

I often wonder what my dad would think about the work I’m doing today.

Would he understand why I’ve spent the last several years immersed in election integrity, civic education, writing, and speaking?

Would he be proud?
Would he be confused?

Honestly, I don’t know.

But I hope he’d recognize something familiar.

I hope he’d recognize the same daughter he raised with an almost obsessive motivation to live with a purpose.

The one still trying to do what’s right.
The one still trusting God with the outcomes.
The one still believing that truth matters.

Why Fathers Matter

We live in a culture that sometimes minimizes the importance of fathers.

Yet history, common sense, and countless personal stories tell us otherwise.

Fathers matter.

Not because they’re perfect.
Not because mothers aren’t equally important.
But because fathers bring something unique to the family.

Their presence matters.
Their leadership matters.
Their example matters.
Their love matters.

Strong families build strong communities.
Strong communities build strong nations.

And long before we talk about politics, constitutions, elections, or public policy, we have to acknowledge a simple truth:

The family is where leadership begins.

Breaking the Cycle

As grateful as I am for the father I had, I know not everyone shares that experience.

For some, Father’s Day brings gratitude.
For others, it brings grief.
And for some, it brings wounds that still haven’t fully healed.

Maybe your father wasn’t there.
Maybe he left.
Maybe he struggled with addiction.
Maybe he never learned how to express love.
Maybe he did the best he could with what he had, and it still wasn’t enough.

If that’s your story, I want you to hear something important:

Your father’s failures do not have to become your future.

One of the most beautiful things about family is that every generation gets an opportunity to make different choices.

You can become the parent you wish you’d had.
You can create the home you never experienced.
You can establish new traditions.
You can model forgiveness, faithfulness, and unconditional love.
You can break cycles that may have existed in your family for generations.

The absence of a good example makes the journey harder, but it doesn’t make it impossible.

In fact, some of the strongest fathers and mothers I’ve ever met are people who looked at their own childhood and made a simple decision:

“It stops with me.”

And because of that decision, their children will inherit something better than what they received.

That is how families change and how legacies are rewritten.

And that is how hope is passed from one generation to the next.

The Legacy Remains

This Father’s Day, I know there are people celebrating around tables filled with laughter.

And I know there are others staring at empty chairs.

I’ve been there.

If your father is still with you, call him.
Ask questions.
Listen to his stories.
Thank him.

One day you’ll wish you could hear those stories again.

And if your father is no longer here, take a moment to remember him.

Remember the lessons, the sacrifices, and the love.
The chair at our family table may be empty.
But the legacy remains.

I hear it in songs I still remember.
I see it in the values he passed down.
I feel it in the conviction to keep moving forward when life gets hard.

And for that, I will always be grateful.

Happy Father’s Day, Daddy.

I miss you.

And thank you for being a father worth missing.

In political circles, I kept hearing warnings about Islam.

People I’ve grown to love and trust were describing it as a political ideology masquerading as a religion and that its ultimate goal is the destruction of Western civilization.

The more I listened, the more uncomfortable I became.

Not because I wanted those claims to be false, but because they don’t match my personal experience.

Here’s the reality—over the course of my life, I’ve known quite a few Muslims.

I had a Muslim uncle.

My mother and father, when they were alive, had doctors who were Muslim.

I grew up with and went to school with Muslims.

In all of these instances, I had conversations with Muslims that were thoughtful, respectful, and sincere.

The people I knew simply didn’t resemble the picture I was hearing described.

So, I found myself facing a choice.

I could just accept what my trusted circle was saying and try to bury the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach, or I could start asking questions and reading for myself.

I chose the second option.

And that decision launched me into what has become one of the most fascinating studies I’ve ever undertaken.

Four Dots Connected

As I’ve been reading, I’ve started documenting what I call my “Connecting Dots” moments—discoveries that made me stop and say:

“Wait... what?”

So far, I’ve connected four major dots.

Dot #1: The Crucifixion

Most Christians assume Muslims believe the same basic story about Jesus that we do.

They don’t.

Muslims do not believe Jesus died on the cross.

The moment I learned that, I realized we weren’t talking about a minor disagreement.

We’re talking about a foundational difference.

If Jesus did not die on the cross, Christianity falls apart.

If He did, then Islam’s understanding of Jesus must be questioned.

That single dot opened an entire chain of more questions and yes I’m taking A LOT of notes on this journey.

Dot #2: The Son of God

The second surprise was discovering how strongly Islam rejects the idea that God has a Son.

To Christians, “Son of God” is one of the most familiar descriptions of Jesus.

To Muslims, it is considered incompatible with God’s nature.

Suddenly I realized Christians and Muslims often use similar language while meaning very different things.

Dot #3: Who Is Jesus?

Perhaps the most surprising discovery was learning that Muslims deeply respect Jesus.

They honor Him.

They believe He performed miracles.

They believe He was born of a virgin.

Yet they do not believe He claimed to be God.

Again, another massive difference hidden beneath what initially sounds like agreement.

Dot #4: The Trinity

Most recently, I’ve been studying Islam’s rejection of the Trinity.

For Christians, the Trinity is one God revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

For Muslims, that doctrine is viewed as compromising God’s absolute oneness.

The more I study, the more I realize that many of the debates between Christians and Muslims aren’t simply disagreements.

They’re disagreements that begin with completely different assumptions about who God is.

The Question I’ve Been Wrestling With

As I’ve continued reading, another thought keeps surfacing.

The average Muslim I’ve known personally doesn’t seem anything like the extremist examples that often dominate public discussion.

In fact, many seem remarkably similar to many Christians I know.

They love their families.

They care about their communities.

They genuinely want to honor God.

Yet at the same time, I’m beginning to see that there are deeper questions within Islam that many Muslims may never have seriously examined.

Reading Nabeel Qureshi’s story has been particularly eye-opening in this regard.

Nabeel wasn’t an ignorant man.

He was intelligent, sincere, devoted, and deeply committed to his faith.

Yet there were historical, theological, and philosophical questions he had never been challenged to investigate.

When he finally did, it changed everything.

That has caused me to wonder:

How many Muslims have never been invited to ask those questions?

And perhaps just as importantly...

How many Christians haven’t asked them either?

A Better Way Forward

Years ago, one of my business mentors shared a quote that has stayed with me ever since:

“A man convinced against his will is still a man unconvinced.”

The older I get, the more wisdom I see in that statement.

People rarely change because they are pressured, shamed, or yelled at.

People change when they become curious and feel safe enough to ask questions.

People change when they encounter truth for themselves.

That’s exactly what happened to Nabeel.

And it’s why I believe education is a better approach than fear.

If Christianity is true, then we should not fear investigation.

If Jesus is who He claimed to be, then truth can withstand scrutiny.

Instead of merely talking about Muslims and their geopolitical agenda, perhaps we should spend more time talking with them, especially if they’re our neighbors, coworkers, colleagues, or friends.

Instead of assuming what they believe, perhaps we should learn what they actually believe.

Instead of trying to win arguments, perhaps we should learn how to ask better questions.

Because questions have a way of opening doors that arguments never will.

The Journey Continues

I’m currently finishing Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi. a former Muslim who converted to Christianity and as a result lost his entire family. It’s heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time.

I’ve also begun reading Muhammad, His Life Based on the Earliest Sources by Martin Lings and I plan to continue with Nabeel Qureshi’s second book, No God but One, while working my way through the Qur’an itself.

In many ways, I feel like I’ve barely begun.

Four dots connected.

Dozens more emerging.

And more “wait, what?” moments than I ever expected.

I don’t know exactly where this journey will lead.

But I know this:

A man convinced against his will is still a man unconvinced.

That’s why understanding matters.

That’s why questions matter.

And that’s why this journey is far from over.

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This time, the controversy centers around California, where Spencer Pratt’s LA mayoral campaign became an unexpected case study in election confidence.

On election night, Pratt appeared likely to advance to the general election. Days later, as additional ballots continued to be counted and reported, that lead began to evaporate.

For many Californians, the experience was confusing.

The issue isn’t simply whether Pratt will ultimately win or lose.

The issue is that most people have no idea why the numbers are changing, where the newly counted ballots are coming from, how they are being verified, or how long the counting process will continue.

And when citizens can’t explain what’s happening, confidence inevitably suffers.

That’s why the real story isn’t Spencer Pratt.

The real story is transparency.

Most Americans—including many election officials, poll watchers, candidates, journalists, and activists—cannot clearly explain how votes travel from the polling place to the election-night numbers displayed on television.

And that’s a problem.

A Simple Question

Imagine a voter walks into their precinct on Election Day.

They sign in.

They cast their ballot.

The scanner accepts it.

Now what?

Where does that vote go?

How does it get added to the county total?

How does the county total reach the state?

How does the state total reach the media?

Who transmits the data?

What software is involved?

What reports are generated?

What safeguards exist?

Who verifies the numbers?

How many Americans could answer those questions with confidence?

Not many.

Yet we’re expected to trust a process that most citizens can’t even describe.

The Pennsylvania Mystery

Back in Pennsylvania’s 2023 municipal election, Audit The Vote PA observed and documented something that perfectly illustrates the problem.

At approximately 9:46 PM, Republican Supreme Court candidate Carolyn Carluccio’s reported total suddenly dropped by more than 350,000 in-person votes.

What You're About to Watch:

Before going any further, take a look at this short video made by Audit The Vote PA’s data guru, Vico Bertogli.

WATCH THIS

At first glance, the video can be confusing, so let me explain what you're seeing.

The screen is divided into four quadrants:

Top Left: Total votes reported

Top Right: In-person Election Day votes

Bottom Left: Mail-in votes

Bottom Right: Provisional votes

In Pennsylvania, these categories are reported separately because they are counted separately.

Mail-in ballots are processed independently from Election Day ballots.

Provisional ballots are reviewed and counted after Election Day but before certification.

As a result, watching these categories separately can help observers understand how vote totals change throughout the evening.

Now watch the top-right quadrant closely.

That's the in-person vote total.

At approximately 9:46 PM, the Republican Supreme Court candidate's in-person vote total suddenly drops by more than 350,000 votes.

The impact is easy to miss because the numbers are changing so quickly and you’re not looking at total votes. You are actually looking at one specific category of votes… the in-person count.

The important point isn't simply that the number changed.

The important point is that the public has no way to independently determine why it changed.

Was it a reporting error?

A data correction?

A file replacement?

A tabulation issue?

A media reporting problem?

An aggregation issue somewhere between the county and the state?

No one—including many people deeply involved in elections—can tell you.

Therein lies the transparency problem.

Election reporting systems can contain errors. Data can be corrected. Files can be updated.

The real question was:

Why did it happen?

And perhaps more importantly:

Who could explain it?

When citizens, namely Audit The Vote PA volunteers, asked for a straightforward explanation, they encountered a maze of agencies, vendors, election officials, media organizations, and reporting systems.

Very few people seemed capable of tracing the exact path of the data from beginning to end.

That should concern everyone.

Trust Requires Understanding

One of the most frustrating realities in election administration is that Americans are constantly told to trust the process.

But trust isn’t created by demanding confidence.

Trust is earned through transparency.

When people understand a process, they are far more likely to trust it.

When they don’t understand it, suspicion naturally grows.

That principle applies everywhere.

We wouldn’t accept a bank that couldn’t explain how money moves between accounts.

We wouldn’t accept an accountant who couldn’t explain where numbers came from.

We wouldn’t accept a business that refused to show its books.

Yet when it comes to elections, citizens are often told that asking questions is itself evidence of bad intentions.

That’s backwards.

Questions are how confidence is built.

California’s Current Lesson

The controversy unfolding in California demonstrates exactly why transparency matters.

Some observers have pointed to strange-looking reporting updates and questioned whether the numbers make sense.

In at least one highly publicized case, election data displayed by media outlets appeared to show one candidate receiving no votes during a reporting update. Later explanations suggested the issue involved how vote batches were transmitted and displayed by media reporting systems rather than the votes themselves.

Whether one accepts that explanation or not isn’t really the point.

The point is that very few citizens understand the chain of custody for election reporting data.

Most people don’t know where the numbers originate.

Most people don’t know who aggregates them.

Most people don’t know how they are transmitted.

Most people don’t know who verifies them.

And because they don’t know, every unusual reporting event creates confusion.

The Reform Nobody Should Oppose

After spending years working in election integrity, people often ask me what reform I think would have the biggest impact.

My answer might surprise them.

TRANSPARENCY.

Not more talking points.

Not more press releases.

Not more demands that people simply trust experts.

TRANSPARENCY.

Show the public exactly how results move from precincts to counties.

Show the public how counties report to the state.

Show the public how media organizations receive election-night results.

Show the public the systems, reports, audits, procedures, and safeguards.

Create a process so transparent that an ordinary citizen can follow the journey of a vote from the scanner at their precinct all the way to the numbers displayed on their television.

If the process is sound, transparency will strengthen confidence.

If the process contains weaknesses, transparency will expose them so they can be fixed.

Either outcome benefits the republic.

Sunshine Builds Trust

The greatest threat to election confidence isn’t necessarily fraud.

It’s mystery.

A healthy Republic doesn’t require blind faith from its citizens.

It should provide enough transparency that ordinary Americans can understand how their elections work.

Until we can clearly explain how votes travel from the precinct to the headline, millions of Americans will continue asking questions.

And honestly?

They should.

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Think about it.

These men risked everything together.

They signed the Declaration of Independence knowing it could cost them their lives.

They endured war, political pressure, personal sacrifice, and uncertainty.

Yet somehow, after helping secure American independence, many of them became bitter rivals.

Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr ended up in a duel.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson spent years estranged from one another.

The delegates who gathered to write the Constitution argued constantly.

How could people who accomplished something so extraordinary together struggle so much to get along?

Six years ago, I didn’t understand it.

Today, I think I do.

The Grassroots Reality Nobody Talks About

When I first got involved in politics in early 2021, I thought the biggest obstacles would be election officials, politicians, bureaucrats, courts, and the media.

I assumed the difficult part would be fighting the opposition.

What I didn’t expect was how difficult it would sometimes be to work alongside people who wanted many of the same things I wanted.

Over the past six years, I’ve watched friendships form and fall apart.

I’ve seen volunteers become leaders.

I’ve seen leaders burn out.

I’ve seen people leave organizations they helped build.

I’ve seen misunderstandings turn into conflicts that lasted far longer than the original issue ever warranted.

And if I’m being honest, I’ve been part of some of those conflicts myself.

Not because anyone was evil.

Not because anyone was trying to destroy the movement.

Because people are complicated.

Strong Missions Attract Strong Personalities

The truth is that most people who step into grassroots leadership are not passive individuals.

They are driven.

Opinionated.

Independent.

Passionate.

The very qualities that make someone willing to spend their evenings attending meetings, knocking doors, studying election law, teaching Constitution classes, or organizing events are often the same qualities that create friction.

People who care deeply tend to have strong convictions.

Strong convictions can produce great accomplishments.

They can also produce conflict.

The Founders understood this firsthand.

George Washington spent much of his leadership navigating disagreements among people who were supposedly on the same side.

The American Revolution was not led by a group of people who agreed on everything.

It was led by a group of people who agreed on enough.

There is a difference.

Not Every Disagreement Needs a Winner

One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned is that not every disagreement needs to be won.

Sometimes the goal isn’t proving that you’re right.

Sometimes the goal is preserving a relationship.

Sometimes the goal is protecting the mission.

Sometimes the goal is simply avoiding unnecessary division.

That doesn’t mean abandoning principles.

It means recognizing that every conflict comes with a cost.

The older I get, the more I realize that being right and being effective are not always the same thing.

Some Relationships Can Be Healed. Some Cannot.

Another lesson I’ve learned is that reconciliation requires two willing participants.

You can apologize.

You can clarify misunderstandings.

You can extend grace.

You can leave the door open.

But you cannot force someone else to walk through it.

There are relationships in life that can be restored.

There are others that may never fully recover.

That reality used to bother me.

Now I see it differently.

My responsibility is to keep my side of the street clean.

I can choose kindness.

I can choose professionalism.

I can choose forgiveness.

What other people choose is ultimately beyond my control.

Don’t Make Someone Your Enemy Just Because They Aren’t Your Friend

This may be the most important lesson of all.

Not everyone who disagrees with you is your enemy.

Not everyone who keeps their distance is working against you.

Not every strained relationship requires a public battle.

In grassroots activism, there are often people who won’t attend the same meetings, won’t serve on the same committees, and won’t work on the same projects.

Yet they still care about many of the same principles.

They still want stronger communities.

They still want constitutional government.

They still want liberty.

They are simply taking a different path.

We’ve become too quick as a culture to categorize people as allies or enemies.

Real life is usually more complicated than that.

Focus on the Mission

Perhaps that is the lesson the Founders understood better than we do today.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson eventually reconciled after years of silence.

Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr never did.

Some relationships were restored.

Others were not.

But the work of building a nation continued.

The cause was always bigger than the personalities involved.

That doesn’t make relationships unimportant.

It simply puts them in perspective.

The mission matters.

The principles matter.

The future matters.

And sometimes that means learning to continue the work even when relationships don’t unfold the way we hoped they would.

Final Thoughts

Six years ago, I wondered how the men who founded this nation could become bitter rivals after accomplishing something so extraordinary together.

Today, I wonder how they managed not to have more conflicts than they did.

Because movements are messy.

People are imperfect.

Relationships are complicated.

And yet the work must continue.

Maybe maturity isn’t learning how to avoid conflict.

Maybe it’s learning how to pursue a worthy cause without allowing every disagreement to become a permanent division.

The Founders weren’t successful because they eliminated conflict.

They were successful because they learned how to keep moving forward despite it.

That’s a lesson I’m still learning.

And perhaps it’s one that all of us in the grassroots movement need to remember.

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Or a really frustrating one.

Across the country, voters headed to the polls, candidates won and lost, and social media quickly filled with the usual mix of celebration, outrage, analysis, and finger-pointing.

I’ve been around politics long enough now to recognize the cycle.

When our side wins, we’re tempted to think everything is finally getting fixed.

When our side loses, we’re tempted to think everything is hopeless.

The truth is a mixture of the two… because while elections absolutely matter, an election is not the end of the story.

Winning doesn’t mean our work is finished and losing doesn’t mean our work is over.

The election that matters most is not the one that just happened—it’s whether we’re still engaged when the next one arrives.

In fact, one of the reasons we find ourselves facing so many challenges today is because too many of us—including me—spent years assuming someone else was paying attention.

Before 2020, I was doing what so many moms do—raising my daughters, running a household, and trying to find a little breathing room in the middle of it all.

I wasn’t studying the Constitution or attending local meetings.

I couldn’t have explained the difference between the mayor and the county commissioner.

I certainly couldn’t have told you why the Founders structured our government the way they did.

And if I’m honest, I don’t think I was alone.

Millions of Americans gradually disengaged from the process, assuming our institutions would simply continue functioning without our involvement.

Then one day many of us woke up and realized we didn’t understand the system nearly as well as we thought we did.

That’s one reason I keep repeating a phrase that probably sounds like a broken record by now:

Education is key, and the fix is local.

That lesson showed up again in a powerful way during Week 3 of Constitution Alive.

This week we studied Article I of the Constitution and the branch our Founders expected to be the most powerful branch of government:

Congress.

Ironically, it may also be the branch Americans trust the least today.

Why Congress Comes First

The Constitution doesn’t begin with the President.

It doesn’t begin with the Supreme Court.

It begins with Congress.

That wasn’t accidental.

The Founders had just fought a revolution against concentrated power. They were deeply suspicious of kings and executives. They understood that power naturally expands unless it is restrained.

Their solution was to place lawmaking authority closest to the people.

Congress was given the power to write laws, control spending, regulate commerce, declare war, oversee the other branches, and represent the people.

In many ways, Congress was intended to be the engine of self-government.

Yet today, many Americans instinctively look to the President or the Supreme Court whenever something goes wrong.

The Founders expected us to look first to Congress.

Hamilton’s View of the Courts

One of the discussions Rick Green highlighted during class involved Alexander Hamilton and the Federalist Papers.

In Federalist No. 78, Hamilton described the judiciary as the “least dangerous” branch of government because it possessed neither the purse nor the sword.

Congress controls funding.

The Executive Branch enforces the law.

The courts simply issue judgments.

Hamilton believed this structure would prevent the judiciary from becoming too powerful.

But he also understood that judges are human beings.

Any branch of government can exceed its constitutional limits.

So what happens if judges begin exercising will instead of judgment?

What happens if courts move beyond interpreting laws and begin effectively creating them?

Hamilton pointed to several constitutional safeguards, but one of the most significant was impeachment.

The Constitutional Remedy Most Americans Don’t Know About

When most people hear the word impeachment, they immediately think of a President.

But impeachment was never intended to apply only to Presidents.

Federal judges can be impeached as well.

The Constitution grants the House of Representatives the sole power of impeachment, while the Senate has the sole power to conduct impeachment trials.

In other words, Congress was given a constitutional mechanism to address serious misconduct by federal officials, including judges.

Judges were granted independence.

They were not granted immunity from accountability.

Hamilton understood that no branch of government should exist without constitutional checks.

This is one reason the Speaker of the House occupies such an important position.

The Speaker leads the chamber that possesses the authority to initiate impeachment proceedings.

Whether that authority is used wisely is another question entirely.

The point is that the Founders did not leave us without remedies.

The Constitution Assumes Educated Citizens

One lesson keeps resurfacing throughout this class.

The Constitution assumes an informed citizenry.

It assumes citizens understand which branch does what and voters know where responsibility belongs.

It assumes the people will hold their representatives accountable.

When we don’t understand the structure, frustration naturally follows.

We blame Presidents for things Congress controls and courts for things legislators refuse to address.

We focus on Washington while ignoring what’s happening in our own communities.

And eventually many people reach the conclusion that nothing can be fixed.

Which brings me to what may be the most important lesson from this week’s class.

The Frustration Is Real

Let’s have a moment of truth.

A lot of Americans have lost faith in Congress.

Many people look at Washington and see endless spending, political theater, corruption, bureaucracy, and representatives who seem more interested in protecting their careers than serving the people.

Truthfully, I understand that feeling.

In many ways, I share it.

Today, while following election results and discussions on X, I saw that frustration on full display. Many of my friends in the J6 movement are growing weary, and I don’t blame them.

One person I know and follow closely is Derrick Evans from West Virginia. Another one is Brandon Straka from #WalkAway. Like many others, they’re becoming increasingly outspoken about what they see as a lack of accountability for those who weaponized government authority against ordinary citizens.

And honestly, I don’t blame them for being frustrated. FBI agents who hunted down innocent Americans still have their jobs. Prosecutors who pushed baseless charges still have jobs.

When President Trump returned to office, we expected that accountability would follow.

We thought the people responsible for weaponizing government would be exposed and that meaningful compensation would be provided to those whose lives were turned upside down.

And when efforts have been proposed only to run into resistance, delays, roadblocks, or outright opposition, it’s easy to understand why frustration continues to grow.

People begin asking:

“If even now nothing changes, will anything ever change?”

That’s a fair question.

In fact, history is filled with examples of people who justified bad decisions by saying:

“I’m just doing my job.”
“I’m just following orders.”
“I’m just enforcing the rules.”

My Firsthand Experience in Allegheny County

I was observing the mail-in ballot counting process and specifically watching election workers recreate ballots that had been damaged by the sorting machines.

Now, before anyone gets excited, recreating damaged ballots is a normal and legal part of the process.

That wasn’t the issue.

The issue was that I couldn’t actually see what they were doing.

Pennsylvania law allows observers to meaningfully observe the process, and from where I was standing, there was no meaningful observation taking place.

So I moved closer.

That’s when things got interesting.

Apparently, my desire to actually observe what I was there to observe created a bit of a problem.

I was told I wasn’t “allowed” in that area of the warehouse.

Security and lawyers showed up.

Suddenly voices were getting louder and a lot of attention was being directed toward a middle-aged mom who simply wanted to watch election workers do their jobs so that I could say I watched the process and it was legit.

At one point, the security made it clear that they were prepared to escort me out.

I remained calm even though my heart was racing.

I remained respectful even though I wanted to use choice language that I wouldn’t want my kids to hear.

And I declined to be intimidated, politely, when I wanted to throw a right hook instead.

But the part that has stayed with me wasn’t what happened inside the warehouse.

It was what happened afterward.

As I was leaving, a couple of the security officers who had been involved in the confrontation pulled me aside privately.

Here’s what they said:

“We agree with you.”
“We think you’re right.”
“But we’re just doing our jobs.

My jaw hit the ground and my heart started racing even faster than it had when I was in the warehouse mentally preparing to get handcuffed and escorted out.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

They AGREED with me.
They believed I had the RIGHT to be there.
They understood what I was saying.

Yet they were still willing to use their authority to prevent me from exercising a lawful right because someone higher up the chain told them to.

I remember walking away hoping they couldn’t see the fury on my face, and the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me.

Because that’s exactly how free societies slowly drift in the wrong direction.

Not usually because evil people take over.

More often because ordinary people convince themselves that their responsibility ends where someone else’s authority begins.

But successful self-government requires something more.

It requires conscience, wisdom, and moral courage.

Most of the time, the right thing to do isn’t easy. Choosing to stand on principle costs something and speaking the truth will likely make you unpopular.

Sometimes respecting authority means challenging authority when it exceeds its proper bounds.

That doesn’t mean being reckless or disrespectful.

And it certainly doesn’t mean abandoning the rule of law, but it does mean recognizing that morality matters.

Truth matters.
Character matters.
And courage matters.

That’s one reason I have so much respect for many of the J6 defendants I’ve gotten to know over the years.

Whether you agree with every decision they made or not, many paid an enormous personal price because they believed they were standing for something bigger than themselves.

Brandon and Derrick are understandably frustrated today. They’re losing hope that accountability will ever come, and I share their concern.

But I would encourage all of us not to let frustration become our identity.

The answer isn’t outrage and despair.

The answer is to educate more people, build stronger local communities, raise up citizens with courage and conviction.

And prepare the next generation to recognize the difference between lawful authority and blind obedience.

Because if history teaches us anything, it’s that free societies survive when ordinary people have the courage to stand on principle—even when it would be easier not to.

When power shifts again—and it inevitably will—we need more Americans who understand their rights, understand the Constitution, and have the courage to stand for what is right regardless of who occupies positions of authority.

When I look at Congress today, I don’t see an institution that’s going to be fixed overnight. Frankly, I think some of these problems have been building for decades.

But then I remind myself of something important.

We didn’t get here overnight and we’re not going to get out of it overnight either.

One of the mistakes many activists make is assuming that if we can’t immediately fix Washington, then nothing can be fixed at all.

The Founders would have disagreed.

The Fix Is Still Local

Maybe Congress feels too far gone and the federal bureaucracy feels impossible to reform.

But your local school board isn’t.

Your borough council and township supervisors aren’t.

Your county commissioners aren’t.

Your precinct committee and state party isn’t.

Those institutions are still accessible to ordinary citizens willing to learn, engage, and show up.

Healthy government begins closest to the people.

I’ll say it again.

Education is key, and the fix is local.

If we rebuild strong communities, informed citizens, accountable local government, and principled leadership at the local level, eventually those changes work their way upward.

Will it happen quickly?

Nope.

It may take a decade or more before we see the full impact.

But lasting change rarely happens overnight.

It happens one community at a time.
One county at a time.
One state at a time.

Why I’m Still Showing Up

In just a few weeks, I’ll attend my first meeting as a Pennsylvania State Committee member.

I’m excited, but I’m also realistic.

I have no illusions that I’m walking into a room where everyone suddenly agrees with me.

I don’t expect decades of problems to be solved in a weekend meeting.

Quite the opposite.

I expect it to be an uphill battle.

But that’s never been a good reason not to engage.

One of my favorite principles comes from John Quincy Adams:

“Duty is ours. Results are God’s.”

Our responsibility is not to guarantee success.

Our responsibility is to faithfully do the work in front of us.

That principle was echoed by another Founder whose words have become some of my favorites.

During this week’s lesson, Rick shared a quote from John Jay that stopped me in my tracks:

“The wise and the good never form the majority of any large society, and it seldom happens that their measures are uniformly adopted.”

Think about that for a moment.

John Jay understood human nature and politics.

He understood that doing the right thing would often be unpopular.

But he didn’t stop there.

He continued:

“All that wise and good men can do is to persevere in doing their duty to their country and leave the consequences to Him who made men only; neither elated by success, however great, nor discouraged by disappointments however frequent or mortifying.”

What a powerful reminder.

The work is difficult, the victories are often incomplete, and the setbacks can be discouraging.

But our duty remains the same.

Learn.
Engage.
Show up.

Serve.
Persevere.
And trust God with the results.

That’s how republics are preserved.

Not by people who are guaranteed success, but by people who continue doing their duty even when success is uncertain.

And perhaps that’s exactly the lesson America needs right now.

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For many Americans, especially those outside the election integrity movement, Tina Peters is just another name in the headlines. But for those of us who have been involved in this movement for years, she has become one of its most recognizable figures.

I first heard of Tina Peters in August of 2021 when I attended Mike Lindell’s first Cyber Symposium in South Dakota.

At the time, I was still relatively new to the election integrity world, but Audit The Vote PA was really picking up steam as we had surpassed our goal of getting over 100,000 signatures on the petition in late June, early July. Our dinner with President Trump was all set up for the following week, but by and large, we were still relatively unknown.

I remember watching Tina on stage and hearing about what had happened in Mesa County, Colorado. I didn’t fully understand all the details then, but I remember thinking it was encouraging to see an elected election official willing to ask difficult questions about voting systems and willing to take personal risks in pursuit of answers.

Whether people agreed with her or not, she wasn’t acting like someone who was simply going along with the crowd.

She was asking questions.

And in a healthy republic, asking questions should never be a crime.

Meeting Tina

I eventually met Tina in person during the summer of 2023 when we both attended an election integrity event in California. By then, I had seen the documentary Selection Code, and Tina had already spent years at the center of a national controversy.

Regardless of where someone stood on the issues, it was impossible to ignore the toll the journey must have taken. For nearly two years, she had been scrutinized by the media, criticized by political opponents, navigating legal battles, and living with the uncertainty of what might happen next. Most people would have been exhausted.

Yet what struck me about Tina wasn’t anger or bitterness.

She seemed upbeat.

Determined.

Resolved.

She understood the pressure she was under, but she also seemed committed to continuing the fight for what she believed in, regardless of the personal cost.

Later that summer, I saw her again at Mike Lindell’s third Cyber Symposium. I even had an opportunity to have Tina briefly say hello to our Constitution Coaches on Patriot Academy’s weekly Coaches Corner call.

At the time, I genuinely did not believe she would ultimately end up in prison.

I assumed the legal system would sort through the facts and that any mistakes made would be weighed against the broader context of what had occurred.

I was wrong.

For my paid subscribers, I want to share my perspective on where I think things went awry, what the Mesa County forensic reports actually found, and why I believe the media largely ignored the most important questions raised by the case.

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Education is key, and the fix is local.

At this point, my children could probably finish the sentence for me.

But the reason I keep repeating it is because over the last six years, I’ve only become more convinced that it’s true.

Lately though, I’ve been getting a different kind of question from people in the election integrity movement:

“Okay… now what?”

What do we do when major federal reform efforts stall out?
What do we do when court battles drag on for years?
What do we do when executive orders face constitutional limitations?
What do we do when people are exhausted, discouraged, or simply losing hope that anything will ever change?

Those are fair questions.

Many people were hopeful the SAVE Act would move quickly through Congress. Others were encouraged by President Trump’s executive order addressing issues like mail-in voting and voter verification.

But regardless of where people stand politically, there’s an important reality we have to understand:

Presidents don’t write laws.
Congress does.

Executive orders can direct how existing laws are enforced, but they are not meant to replace the legislative process itself. That means many of these larger national battles will likely continue playing out through Congress and the courts for quite some time.

Honestly, this is something Catherine Engelbrecht from True The Vote told me months ago when I asked her where she believed things were heading. She understood early on that waiting for one giant federal solution was probably unrealistic.

And while I absolutely understand why many people focus on Washington, D.C., I think one of the biggest mistakes grassroots movements can make is believing that national politics is the only place meaningful change happens.

Because while everyone is staring at Congress, local government continues operating every single day.

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County election offices continue functioning.
State legislatures continue meeting.
Local parties continue organizing.
Poll workers are still needed.
Judges of Elections are still elected.
County commissioners still make decisions.

Citizens can still attend meetings, ask questions, review processes, and become educated about how their own communities function.

That work still matters.

In fact, I would argue it matters more than ever.

But there’s another reality grassroots movements have to confront:

It is very difficult to stay engaged long term if you feel like you’re doing it alone.

Burnout is real.

I’ve watched so many good people become discouraged over the years because they thought change would happen quickly. And when it didn’t, many started to feel isolated or hopeless.

But lasting change rarely happens overnight.

It happens through consistent local involvement over time.

That’s one of the reasons I’ve come to appreciate the importance of community so much over the years.

Not outrage communities.
Not constant fear-based content.
Not endless doom scrolling.

Real community.

Places where people can learn, ask questions, compare notes, share ideas, and stay engaged without completely burning themselves out emotionally.

That’s part of why Audit The Vote PA has chosen to collaborate with the True The Vote NOW Community.

What I appreciate about the TTV NOW Community is that it gives people a place to stay connected, educated, and engaged with others who care about civic involvement and election transparency at both the local and national level.

One section I recently explored was the Courses area, which includes interactive quizzes and “test your knowledge” tools focused on elections, civic structure, and government processes.

Questions like:

1. Who actually has authority over elections — the states or the federal government?

2. What does a county election office do?

3. How familiar are you with your own state’s election laws and procedures?

I thought that was interesting because it encourages people to move beyond headlines and opinions and actually test their understanding of how these systems work.

You can explore that section here:

TTV NOW Community Quiz Section

For Audit The Vote PA, this collaboration allows us to continue focusing locally here in Pennsylvania while also helping connect people to broader conversations, resources, and networks of engaged citizens across the country.

Because no national organization is going to save your county for you.

That responsibility still belongs to local citizens willing to show up, learn, volunteer, communicate, build relationships, and stay involved consistently over time.

That’s not always flashy work.
It’s often slow.
Sometimes frustrating.
Sometimes exhausting.

But it matters.

And maybe now more than ever, we need communities that help people stay grounded, informed, and encouraged for the long haul.

The fix is local.

But we don’t have to work alone.

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Every year, Memorial Day arrives with cookouts, parades, pool openings, and mattress sales.

Most Americans know the basic idea behind the holiday:
We honor those who died serving our country in war.

But far fewer people know why Memorial Day exists…
or how deeply connected it is to the story of America itself.

And honestly, I think that matters.

Because one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned over the last six years is this:

If we do not understand the past, we become incredibly easy to manipulate in the present.

People who do not know history are often forced to interpret current events through emotion, headlines, slogans, or political narratives instead of through wisdom and perspective.

That’s dangerous.

Understanding history gives context.
It sharpens discernment.
It helps us recognize propaganda.
And it reminds us that freedom has never been free.

That’s part of why Memorial Day matters so much.

The Origins of Memorial Day

Memorial Day did not originally start as a federal holiday.

After the Civil War — the deadliest war in American history — communities across the country began holding tributes for fallen soldiers.

The Civil War claimed more than 600,000 American lives.
Families were shattered.
Towns were devastated.
The nation itself was deeply fractured.

People desperately needed a way to grieve.

In the years following the war, citizens began decorating the graves of soldiers with flowers, wreaths, and flags.

That’s actually where the original name came from:

Decoration Day.

One of the earliest known observances took place in Charleston, South Carolina in 1865, where formerly enslaved Americans helped properly bury Union soldiers who had died in a Confederate prison camp.

Other communities across the country held similar tributes around the same time.

There is still debate today over which town held the “first” Memorial Day observance, but what matters most is why people did it.

Americans wanted to remember those who sacrificed everything for the country.

Not theoretically.
Not politically.
Personally.

By 1868, General John A. Logan officially called for a national day of remembrance on May 30th, specifically to decorate the graves of Civil War soldiers.

Over time, the holiday expanded to honor Americans who died in all wars.

After World War I especially, Memorial Day became a broader remembrance of military sacrifice across generations.

In 1971, it officially became a federal holiday observed on the last Monday in May.

A Nation That Forgets Sacrifice Eventually Loses Perspective

One thing I’ve noticed in modern America is that we often enjoy the benefits of freedom without stopping to think about the cost.

We inherited a country built by generations willing to sacrifice their comfort, their livelihoods, their reputations, and sometimes their lives.

And the farther we get removed from hardship and sacrifice, the easier it becomes to take liberty for granted.

That’s not criticism.
It’s just human nature.

But history helps correct that.

When you study the past, you realize America has endured incredibly difficult seasons before. We’ve had war, division, and economic collapse. We’ve seen political corruption and foreign threats… internal battles and cultural upheaval.

Yet generation after generation rose to meet those moments.

Not because they were perfect.
But because ordinary people chose duty over comfort.

That perspective is incredibly grounding in today’s political climate.

Why Historical Understanding Matters Today

One of the reasons I spend so much time teaching history, civics, and the Constitution is because understanding the past helps us interpret the present more wisely.

Without historical context:

• fear becomes easier to manufacture

• propaganda becomes harder to recognize

• emotional manipulation becomes more effective

• and people become more willing to surrender freedom for the promise of safety or comfort

History gives us reference points.

It reminds us that media narratives are not new.
Political division is not new.
Corruption is not new.
Foreign conflicts are not new.
Government overreach is not new.

Neither is courage.

Neither is faith.

Neither is the power of ordinary people deciding to stand up locally and lead within their own communities.

That’s why I often say:

Education is key, and the fix is local.

Because preserving liberty requires an informed citizenry.

The Founders understood that.
And frankly, many Americans throughout history understood that better than we do today.

Memorial Day Should Challenge Us

I think Memorial Day should be more than a day off work.

It should challenge us to ask difficult questions:

• Are we being good stewards of the freedom others died to preserve?

• Are we educating the next generation well?

• Do we understand the principles that hold a constitutional republic together?

• Are we honoring sacrifice merely with words, or with responsible citizenship?

And maybe most importantly:

Will our children inherit a stronger republic because we were here?

That question matters.

Because every generation eventually faces its own defining moments.

Our grandparents faced World War II.
Our parents faced Vietnam.
We faced 9/11 and COVID.

And the next generation will face its own tests too.

When those moments come, emotional reactions alone will not be enough.

We need wisdom, discernment, and historical perspective.

We need strong local communities, faith, leadership, and courage.

Remembering the Cost of Freedom

This Memorial Day, I hope we remember the fallen.

But I also hope we remember why remembering matters.

A nation disconnected from its history becomes vulnerable.

A nation that forgets sacrifice loses gratitude.

And a people who no longer understand liberty often fail to recognize when they are losing it.

So enjoy the cookouts.
Spend time with family.
Wave the flags.

But also take a moment to learn.
Reflect.
Teach your children.
Read history.
Visit a memorial.
Ask questions.

Because understanding the past may be one of the most important tools we have for protecting the future.

And perhaps one of the best ways we can honor those who gave everything for this country…
is by becoming citizens worthy of their sacrifice.