Become a Citizen Journalist and Take Charge of Your Future

On November 1, 2022, one week before the midterm elections, Kim Monson explores the importance of informed citizenship with Dr. Jill Vecchio, who shares powerful research techniques for uncovering truth in a sea of misinformation, and entrepreneur Susan Kochevar, who discusses election integrity concerns and the importance of civic engagement.

Research Tools for Truth Seekers

Start listening at 17:04 – Hour 1

Jill Vecchio challenges listeners to become citizen journalists by taking control of their own information gathering. Drawing on years of experience analyzing complex legislation like the Affordable Care Act, Vecchio explains that the truth is readily available for those willing to dig. She recommends clicking every link in articles, even those from mainstream outlets trying to debunk so-called conspiracy theories, because those very links often lead to primary source documents that contradict the debunking narrative.

Vecchio introduces the Wayback Machine at wayback.archive.org, a free internet archive that has saved billions of web pages since 1996. This powerful tool allows researchers to access removed or modified content, proving that nothing on the internet truly disappears. She demonstrates its power by discovering, in real-time during the broadcast, a Microsoft patent application from 2019 describing technology to monitor human body activity and tie it to cryptocurrency transactions.

The conversation also touches on True the Vote founders Catherine Engelbrecht and Greg Phillips, who were jailed for contempt after refusing to reveal sources related to their election integrity work featured in the documentary 2000 Mules. Vecchio emphasizes that freedom is not a spectator sport and urges everyone to participate in uncovering truth.

“Freedom is not a spectator sport. We have to be involved. We have to take charge of our own country’s future, not depend on somebody else to spoon-feed us stuff, because that’s what we’ve been doing, and that’s how we got in this mess that we’re in right now.”

Jill Vecchio

Election Integrity and Conservative Unity

Start listening at 69:46 – Hour 2

Susan Kochevar, entrepreneur and owner of the 88 Drive-In Theater, brings an optimistic perspective on the upcoming midterm elections. Having run for office three times herself, Kochevar experienced firsthand the challenges of election integrity, including an incident where mail trucks carrying ballots went missing for an entire week in Adams County during one of her races.

Despite these concerns, Kochevar sees unprecedented unity among conservatives. The shared experience of COVID restrictions and the World Economic Forum’s stated agenda have united previously fragmented groups. She observes that for the first time in 20 years, conservative voices across all platforms are speaking with remarkable consistency about constitutional principles and individual liberty.

The discussion turns to the importance of participating in the caucus system to influence candidate selection at the grassroots level. Kochevar explains that achieving Republican majorities enables the appointment of principled committee chairs like Jim Jordan and Lauren Boebert, who can launch investigations and cut funding to agencies implementing harmful policies. She also addresses concerns about property taxes, arguing they effectively mean citizens never truly own their homes.

“I think COVID and the things that happened surrounding that and the plans that the World Economic Forum has for us scared folks significantly, and so kind of united all of those groups, and there’s a giant push.”

Susan Kochevar, Owner of 88 Drive-In Theater