Brandon Straka: #Walkaway

Chris Albert 00:00:00 (link to this point)

Warrior Soul podcast is written, produced, and edited by me, Albert. Our goal is to empower US military veterans to live their absolute best lives, and we do that by providing tools, tactics, strategies, and ideas that they can apply into their lives to become wiser, stronger, smarter, more resilient, and more capable human beings in the civilian world. If you're not a veteran, stick around because anything we talk about here can obviously apply to you. And if you like what we have to say, any information we provide, and the guests we bring on, please head over to iTunes and write us a written rating and review. It really helps to spread word about the show and to get this helpful information into the hands of more veterans so that they can in turn improve their lives and shape the future of this country.

This podcast is brought to you by the amazing, the wonderful f bomb nutrition. They make awesome, delicious packets of fats. These are portable snacks that you can carry with you anywhere. It's so hard to find a low carb snack out there, but these guys have done it. They got macadamia nut butters, they mix them up with chocolate, they mix them up with sea salt, they mix them up with pecan butter.

They've got awesome meat sticks, and they've got these delicious cheese snacks that they put out there. Plus, they're an amazing company. They send boxes of this stuff out to the troops on the front line. It's not something we ask them to do, it's something they volunteered to do. So if you wanna get some of the best low carb, high fat snacks on the planet, head over to www.dropanfbomb.com.

Use the code Warrior Soul at checkout, and you'll get 20% off your first order. This podcast is also brought to you by the amazing awesome people at Save the Brave. Save the Brave is an organization that provides camaraderie events for veterans. They do fishing events. They do golfing events.

They do other sporting events, and they also do a lot of work to help gold star families. And look, we've all heard stories about veterans charities where the executive boards are taking these giant salaries, and I don't have a problem with that at all. But here's the thing, I wanna make sure that whatever organization I'm talking about is doing amazing work. Savethebrave.org is doing absolutely outstanding work. Their board doesn't take any salary whatsoever, and they are having an amazing impact.

They're focused on getting veterans to live their absolute best lives, and that's what this podcast is about, and that's why we wanted to work with them. So if you're interested in volunteering or donating to save the brave, head over to www.savethebrave.org and make your donation or your request today. Finally, this podcast is brought to you by Warrior Soul Apparel. This is a clothing company that I actually helped to start a couple years ago as we were beginning the brand Warrior Soul. We've got some amazing t shirts.

We've got skivvy shirts with some pretty funny funny sayings on there like, I love Jesus, but I cuss sometimes. We've also got some awesome hero shirts. We have the amazing hard times breed hard people series, and these are just great shirts that I've helped create, and they support the show. So if you're interested in getting some Warrior Soul shirts, head over to www.warriorsoul.shop. And finally, if you're interested in joining a new group that we are putting together here at Warrior Soul, a group for those who are looking to live epic lives worthy of epic obituaries, stick around to the end.

We'll have some information for you to check out. With that, let's get into the episode.

This is Chris Albert, and I'm here to remind you of one thing. Someday, you're going to die. Now that's not some morbid statement or scary idea. It's solid fact. Your time here on this earth is limited.

And we need to be reminded of this as much as possible for one simple reason, to live your best life while you can. This is the Warrior Soul podcast.

What's going on ladies and gents? I have a really awesome interview for you today. It's with mister Brandon Straka of the Walk Away Movement. And I need to preface this because this is one of the few times that I brought politics onto this podcast. And the reason why I haven't is because I don't want anybody to color their opinion of the very important work we're doing, which is empowering US military veterans to live their best lives based off of whether or not they agree with me or disagree with me politically. And I also wanna see this, if you disagree with me politically, that is absolutely 100% fine. Not only fine, but encouraged.

You know, this country needs two sides. We need a right and a left. And that is what keeps us as a democracy. It would be awful if we all thought the same way. But a lot of people have a problem with the fact that people don't think like they do.

And above all, I believe in individualism, our right to choose the best path for us in life. And that's frankly what draws me to the conservative side of things. And there is a, you know, I think Dennis Prager says this best, but the conservatives pretty much leave you alone. Right? They they there is the the right to life issue.

But beside that, it's individualism, making your own way. And that's something I truly believe from the bottom of my heart. If you disagree with me, I don't hate you. I don't think you're un American unless you prove yourself otherwise. I believe that that, you know, there are multiple ways of seeing things, and I'm happy to have discussions with people about that.

I wanted to bring today's guest on, Brandon Straka, because I'm very interested in the movement that he created, and because I grew up as a democrat. I grew up in the Northeastern United States. Even when I entered the military, I had very left leaning ideologies. And one of the reasons why I I think I went deeper into those ideologies was because I heavily disagreed with the Iraq war and our reasoning for getting into it, and the fact that I don't think we were prepared for that war. But over the past, I guess you'd say, eight to twelve years, my views on things changed immensely.

And they changed not because of, you know, some radical shift. I didn't get introduced to any group or anything like that. It's because I was looking at what was going on there. I truly believe in tolerance. I truly believe in the fact that we should all live together and and honor each other as citizens.

And I truly believe that that regardless of your sexual orientation, your race, you should have equal footing with anybody else in this country. But from the left hand side, I'm I'm seeing something very different. I worry for that 22 year old, that 23 year old who's leaving the military and heading off to a university campus right now, and who's gonna get told in class or a group that he needs to sit at the back of the room and shut up because of the color of his skin. I worry for that. And so what I like about what Brandon is doing is he's coming out there.

He is a gay man, and he's saying, you know what? Just because you're gay, you're black, you know, you're you're trans, whatever you are, doesn't mean you have to think this way. And my point in bringing him on here is not to change your opinion because I don't believe that anybody's political opinions can be changed by a single podcast. It's to get you to start to think. It's to get you to start to understand that there are many opinions that make this country, and that if we are gonna move forward, we need to start understanding each other.

And Brandon's Walk Away campaign has inspired many people from the gay community, from the black community to come out and say, you know what? I'm a conservative, and that's okay, and that should be okay. So I'm bloviating right now and yapping my gums. But with that, let's get into this conversation with mister Brandon Straka of the Walk Away campaign. And please do me that favor and keep your mind open.

Brandon, welcome to the show, man.

Brandon Straka 00:09:44 (link to this point)

Hey. Thanks for having me.

Chris Albert 00:09:46 (link to this point)

Number one, I gotta say I am such a fan of what you're doing. You, I think, have brought a lot of moral clarity to a lot of the questions people are having right now about politics, and particularly the the narrative that's going out there about president Trump and about the democrat democratic party. Now I grew up as in New England. I was a liberal most of my life. Even going into the military, I was a liberal.

And I I voted for the Democratic Party because I believed in things like tolerance and and equality and and social justice and things like that. But in the time six since 2016, a lot of questions have arisen. And and I personally have made a complete transformation just just as you have. And, you know, I I wanna get into your story behind this walk away movement that you started.

Brandon Straka 00:10:46 (link to this point)

I want to get into your story.

Chris Albert 00:10:48 (link to this point)

Why you got Absolutely. Absolutely.

Brandon Straka 00:10:49 (link to this point)

What Can I interview you?

Chris Albert 00:10:51 (link to this point)

Yeah.

Brandon Straka 00:10:51 (link to this point)

You got me a treat. What happened? Tell me.

Chris Albert 00:10:55 (link to this point)

Well, let me tell you something because because I I joined the Marine Corps at 19 years old. Right? And like I said, I grew up in New England. I grew up with a lot of what you would consider liberal ideals, right? And after the Marine Corps, I went to graduate school, and I did the whole social science PhD thing.

I was in a PhD program for political science up at UC Santa Barbara for a while. And what happened to me was around two or three years ago, I started noticing a lot of a lot of people within my academic circle, within my old academic circle, where it just seemed like you put a tweet up the other day about the Salem witch trials. And growing up in New England, was a story that that was ingrained in my DNA, like hearing about people who saw things in black and white, good and evil, and things like that, that that was the wrong way to go. And I thought to myself, I never could have seen anything like that happening again. But what's going on with the left in this country right now, and and I don't even wanna say necessarily liberal ideology, but the leftist ideology that's taken over the Democratic Party, it's turned things into this completely irrational point of view in things.

And I see a lot of very fascist type behavior coming from the left. And and that is something that scares the crap out of me, and I believe it's something that scared the crap out of you as well. Right?

Brandon Straka 00:12:29 (link to this point)

Yeah. I mean, absolutely. I'm so sorry. I'm just so intrigued by your story. I wanna just keep asking you questions.

But yes, I did start to see that myself. But I think that for me, was a little more, I got pushed a little too far because I am a gay man. And, you know, after Trump was elected, or even the time leading up to to the election, the narrative that the media kept perpetuating was that Trump and his followers are all bigots and racists and homophobes and that they wanna roll people's rights back and they wanna take us back to, you know, a time of less equality, and they kind of unleash this new wave of hatred in America. And so I was really scared, like, as a gay man, especially when Trump got elected because, you know, the media kept saying all of this, but they also kept saying, well, but he has, like, a less than 3% chance of winning. Right. So even though he's so terrible and his followers are so terrible, don't worry about it because they're such you know, this is gonna be the biggest landslide we've ever seen. And well, of course, that wasn't the result whatsoever.

So that kind of threw me in this position of being like, okay. Now not only do I have to contend with the fact that we have the second coming of Hitler in office, but, like, I don't even know who voted for him. You know? I'm, like, walking down the street and going, did you vote for him? Did you vote for him? Did you vote like, where like, who are all these covert bigots amongst us who are nice to your face and, you know, smile at you and say good morning every day and then secretly are hoping you get shoveled off in a concentration camp?

And, I mean, that's literally, like, the what the media was kinda making it seem like, and so it scared the hell out of me. And that ultimately kind of led to me trying to research the truth about what was going on and because I didn't wanna be afraid. I didn't wanna spend the next four years of my life that miserable and that afraid as I was feeling immediately after the election. But I do have a question for you, which is that, you know, I look at you and you appear to be a heterosexual white man, kind of the stereotype of, the norm in this country, what was opening your eyes? What was it?

Because it doesn't really sound like you had the fear. It wasn't like, oh, we're gonna put straight white men in concentration camps if Trump gets elected. So what was it that you were like, this has gone too far, this isn't right?

Chris Albert 00:15:03 (link to this point)

Well, I have to say that as as somebody who's been in a PhD program in the social sciences, particularly in California, one of the things that in in let me preface that by saying being in the Marine Corps, almost everybody was a conservative. Right? So I one of the big things that drew me toward the Democratic Party back then was the fact that I felt like we got into a needless war in Iraq. And I saw a lot of my friends die. I saw a lot of of of guys coming home in body bags that I thought shouldn't have been doing that. I thought the whole war made no sense to me. And so that was one of the things that drove me over toward that side.

And then entering academia, that environment, if you are anything but a a political liberal, if you even if you're on the liberal line and you're not completely leftist, you get alienated. You you get intimidated. You get intimidated out of your academic freedom of thought. You get intimidated out of voicing your opinion. And back then, I was so brainwashed for a while that I thought that anybody who thought as a conservative was a a simple minded person.

And I think that's a combination of things. Number one, it's it's a bit of East Coast, West Coast snobbery, because I think those of us in the cities, we look down on those in the middle, the flyover states we call them. And then as an academic, it was a question of rationality. I said, okay, if I even think like this, then that means I'm going down a road toward toward simple minded thinking. And it was just this kind of thing that ingrained in me.

What changed for me was when I started noticing that number one, people on the left were saying some extremely irrational things. So when you talk about people sending white men off white straight men off to concentration camps, I mean, some of the things people are saying on the left right now, they add up to that. They do. And and that might just be me as a white straight male saying that, but but honestly, it's not too far off. Right? And and

Brandon Straka 00:17:27 (link to this point)

Well, I would I'm sorry. Go ahead.

Chris Albert 00:17:29 (link to this point)

Number two, I I I mean, who seemed to step out of line with the thinking like yourself as a gay man or I've seen other other black thinkers who thought conservatively, you know, what's happened to Kanye West? I mean, like, all of these different things are adding up to seeing a very intolerant portion of The United States pushing this this kind of leftist agenda that Trump is a Nazi, a bigot, a racist who's ruining the country.

Brandon Straka 00:17:58 (link to this point)

Right. Well, I I guess I was curious if the rhetoric that seems to be acceptable now surrounding straight white men was a catalyst or a concern for you because I I would certainly think that it would be. I honestly, I don't know how you guys do it because it's become so well, I mean, really though, I mean, it's just become so normalized to bash straight white guys. And and I see, you know, all you guys kinda just take it on the chin. I don't really see anyone acting out response to that, but I think it just shows, like, unbelievable restraint on behalf of, you know, a lot of you guys because I don't know that I would be so restrained.

I mean, I am a white man. Mhmm. But I do usually get a little bit of a pass because I'm gay. Although at this point, they hate gay men just as much as they hate straight men. I mean, it's I've said before, I mean, that that it's not gonna be long before they lop that letter g off the LGBT because they really only care.

I mean, they really only care about these new they're not even transgender. They say they're transgender, but it's like, you know, the nonbinary, gender fluid, genderqueer, what these, like, absurd gender classes that are kind of under the umbrella of LGBT. But if you're a gay man, you are not wanted anymore under that LGBT umbrella because we are considered to be so privileged as gay men that we might as well be straight men. But but they don't really we don't get the same kind of bashing these days that straight guys do white straight guys do.

Chris Albert 00:19:46 (link to this point)

What what is it with this notion of privilege? You know, this idea that if regardless of how you were born, regardless I mean, I grew up, I had a single mother, she worked three jobs. We were we we were on welfare for a lot of my childhood. We we worked our way out of it. But regardless, I am said to have privilege as a white straight male.

What is what is with this notion of privilege? And why is it being weaponized like this?

Brandon Straka 00:20:16 (link to this point)

Well, okay. So my opinion on that is that it probably started off, like most things, from a good and sincere place, or or I don't know if good is the right word, probably kind of like a necessary and real place. And then it's just become completely, as you say, weaponized, and it's become an obsession for a lot of people on the left, and they have misused it and mischaracterized it to a certain degree. I mean and when I say a a, you know, a necessary and kind of valid thing at one time, you know, I can remember during, you know, I I'm I'm in my forties. So I, you know, I grew up in the eighties and the nineties, and I experienced very real, very significant homophobia.

I I know exactly what that looks like. And I also can speak to the fact that it doesn't exist anymore the way that it used to. I'm not saying it doesn't exist at all, but, I mean, this homophobia today is very kind of rare and hard to find, and it's very watered down compared to what it was in the nineties or even the early two thousands. And but I you know, there was definitely a time of just this enormous hypocrisy when a lot of people who were blatantly anti gay and we'll just use the gay thing, for example. It also pertains to racism or sexism or or or whatever.

But, I mean, I can remember all too well that some of the most kind of strident voices that were anti gay were these people who were just total hypocrites. Because it's like the same people that would say, Why do you have to talk about being gay? You're just be gay and shut up about it, or why do you have to throw your lifestyle in my face? Those are always the people who are like overtly talking about their sexual feelings for women and what they were gonna do with women and all this stuff. I'm like, you're graphically and blatantly sexual all the time.

I mean, I'm literally just saying I'm a gay man and you find that so offensive, but you're allowed to say whatever you want about your sexual desires for women and what you wanna do and you wanna bang this one and it's like, and so I think that it just, there was this period of time where it was very clear that if you were a part of the majority and the accepted norm, you kind of didn't necessarily have the sense of empathy about what it felt like to be a part of the minority and your own hypocrisy and that, your own, situation where majority of people were gay and the minority of people were heterosexual, the same behavior that you engage in on a daily basis would not be accepted, but you don't realize this sort of privilege that you have because you just happen to have been born a member of the majority. And so I think that the notion of privilege started with this desire to kind of point out the hypocrisy to people that like, look, you know, get triggered by someone just simply saying that they're gay. Meanwhile, your behavior is actually so much worse in the way that you overtly talk about your sexuality and whatever.

So, you know, and I think it started out as a means to kind of point out people's hypocrisy and say, look, you know, you're there's a double standard here that you're perpetuating. But now it has gone so overcorrected and to the point of weaponized that, you know, people are just like, well, you shouldn't even have an opinion about this as a straight white man. So privileged. You know, it's we've we've over corrected. It's gone way too far.

And it's also being pointed now at people who don't even deserve it. You know, people who are like, like, look, I don't have a problem with gay people. I don't have a problem with black people. You know what saying? It doesn't matter.

You have white skin, and you're you know, so shut your mouth, you know, and stop mansplaining. You know? Well It just become a a joke.

Chris Albert 00:24:13 (link to this point)

That's a big part of my fear because as as I told you, most of this audience is is US military combat veterans. And my fear is that, you know, that that 22, 23 year old guy who's getting out of the military, been through a few combat tours, gonna head to a university campus, try to build his future, but in the process, be told in class that he's not supposed to have an opinion, he's not supposed to speak up, and he's actively supposed to just sit at the back of the room and shut up. And that's that's some of the things that are being said right now out there on the university campuses and my fear is that, you know, in in this didn't happen, you know, in the nineties either. I mean, like, if you were on a I was on a university campus, you know, in the early two thousands, and and it wasn't, you know, it wasn't like we were saying all minorities sit in the back, shut up. But now it's if you're a white straight male, and you've followed these norms, then then sit in the back of the room and shut up.

So my fear is that that there's gonna be increased alienation, increased marginalization, and, you know, all of these things that people are saying about Trump and saying about the conservative movement, I fear that more extremes are gonna come to pass because it's just right now a battle of extremes.

Brandon Straka 00:25:32 (link to this point)

Yeah. I think, you know, there's definitely potential if they don't, you know, get, I think, a sense of self awareness about themselves and their their messaging and the their the way in which they're they're talking to people and interacting with people, there's definitely a potential, I think, for them to create the various situations and atmospheres and conditions that they claim that they're most afraid of happening and that they're and some of them claim is already happening. You know, I mean, how how long can you continue to suppress and bash and mistreat a race of people or a gender people before those people end up banding together and having an uprising of sorts against that. And then bada bing bada boom, you've just created the thing that you claim you're so afraid of. I mean, if you're afraid of a white nationalist uprising or an uprising of white men, well, then maybe you wanna stop ostracizing and berating and suppressing and antagonizing white men because at a certain point, white men are gonna start looking to each other and been like, you had enough?

You had enough? Yeah. Me too. Let's do something about it.

Chris Albert 00:26:45 (link to this point)

Well, and the thing is you can you can somewhat say something like that. There is no white man that can actually say something, a white straight man that could say something like that without being labeled a potential threat or a terror threat right now. Right?

Brandon Straka 00:27:00 (link to this point)

Well, I mean and that's part of the problem too is one of the one of the greatest kind of idiocies of the left is this belief that if you can silence someone or suppress someone or make or make someone or or and I I don't just mean an individual, but a group as well. If you can take away their voice or make them disappear, then the problem is suddenly solved somehow, and that's not how life works. If in fact, for a moment now I'm gonna draw a very clear and distinct line here. I'm talking about actual neo Nazis or actual KKK, not white men, but, you know, white or neo Nazis. If neo Nazis exist and they're trying to express themselves or demonstrate or whatever, and you show up you show up with baseball bats and chains and clubs and all these things, and the police are told to stand down, So now you've got the neo Nazis, you know, clearly getting the messaging that they're they're not gonna be protected by the police.

There's gonna be this violent force against them that's allowed to happen and that no one's gonna stop it from happening. Do you you think the neo Nazis are just gonna go away? Of course not. They're gonna start organizing underground. They're gonna they're gonna grow in numbers because people are going to feel like, well, they I you know, no one wants to live in an in a country or an environment where they're not allowed to express themselves, they're not allowed to to live openly.

And so the left has this sort of ridiculous and kind of deranged notion that if they can just intimidate or threaten people enough into disappearing, the problem is solved. Well, no. What you're actually gonna do is create a much, much, much bigger problem because these people are gonna become more angry, more agitated. They're gonna start organizing underground. And then all of a sudden, one day, they're gonna go, oh my god.

What happened? There's this whole movement of of, you know, extremists that are what like, how did this happen? Well, because you drove them underground and you drove them into organization. Now that's an extreme thing that we're talking about. That's a totally different thing.

But I mean, the same thing can happen with completely rational, reasonable, common sense people who I mean, if you're targeting people based off of the color of their skin, which is to say white people or men who are nice guys who aren't doing anything wrong, who are, you know, just trying to participate in the conversation, be a part of things, you're telling them that they can't. Well, eventually, the same effect is going to happen there too. I mean, it's totally understandable. There is gonna come a time where white men say enough is enough, and there's going to be some sort of backlash. And I fear that as a gay man, because I'm like, this is why, to a certain degree, I'm almost over here trying to kind of virtue signal to, you know, straight white men on the right and say, hey, when the revolution happens, I was on your side.

Please don't come for me.

Chris Albert 00:30:20 (link to this point)

Well, let me ask you about this as well because, you know, you started this movement, the Walk Away Movement, and you you you've got a very high profile right now. How has your own community, the gay community, responded to you in expressing your opinion and and kind of string from the flock?

Brandon Straka 00:30:39 (link to this point)

Well, I mean, the majority of the community is not happy or responding very well. But to be fair, they're what they're responding to is not, you know, an accurate portrayal of my message. It is the caricature of me and my movement and my message that they're hearing about in the media. So, you know, the media is talking about WalkAway being a hate group. The media is talking about Walk Away being a right wing extremist group, a far right group, Russian propaganda campaign.

So, I mean, that's kind of what I think that they're responding to more than anything. Because if they actually understood my message and if they actually understood the point of walk away in this mission, I'm trying to offer people more freedom, more opportunity, more choice. I'm basically trying to tell minority communities, whether that be racial minorities, religious minorities, LGBT, I'm trying to tell all these various groups, you don't have to be a democrat based simply off of the color of your skin or these different kind of identify identity characteristics that you have a choice, that times have changed, the world has changed, that if you wanna be a libertarian, an independent, a Republican, if you wanna be a Trump supporter, not be a Trump supporter, that's your choice, and that you're welcome. All of these different groups or different political identities are there and available and for the taking for you regardless of these factors. Now the group, the tribal mentality and the groupthink within these different groups are telling people, you don't have a choice.

You have to be a democrat. All the other groups hate you. There is no seat at the table for you anywhere else but under the democratic party and the ideology of liberalism. So, I mean, that is a a restraint on freedom. That is a constriction on, you know, people having choice and opportunity.

And what I'm doing is actually trying to provide more choice and more opportunity. So I don't understand why that's a controversial message for people who claim to be about freedom and progress and wanting to push the boundaries of freedom and tolerance and this and that. That's what I'm actually doing, and they're actually restricting it.

Chris Albert 00:33:00 (link to this point)

It's it's interesting because everybody had this kind of apocalyptic notion when when president Trump got elected, but if you actually look at what's been done, I mean, the economy is great. Minority employment is is higher than it's ever been. He had the prison reform bill, and there's so many things going on, so many good things going on, but none of that seems to get played out by the media. And if you bring attention to those things, get called all these other horrible things that that that people tend to call Republicans. Is that is that a big piece of your movement, as far as what you saw when you started this?

Brandon Straka 00:33:43 (link to this point)

Oh, yeah. For sure. I mean, once for me, my walk away from the left began with the realization of the media that I trusted and had placed my trust in for so long was manipulating me, lying to me, deceiving me, and fear mongering to, you know, to kind of control my thoughts and my feelings and my behavior. And so that was the catalyst for me to walk away. The realization of that really infuriated me.

And that's when I wanted to try to kind of spread this message, particularly to other minorities and say like, Look, things are not as bad as they seem. We don't have to be as afraid as we're being told that we have to be by the media. And that there is actually a lot of things going very well and very right in this country, but we don't really get to talk about that that much, or that's not acknowledged that much because, you know, the media only wants to continue the scare tactics. And so, yeah, that I mean, that was definitely a huge part of why I did the same, what the message the ongoing message is of Walk Away, which is trying to get more truth out to people as well, and to get people to see that let's step out of the the the fear bubble that they've created for so many of us and and, you know, that they're constantly kinda keeping us locked into this bubble by saying that if we step outside of it, you know, there's a boogeyman outside that's, like, waiting to get us or something that is the Republican Party or conservatives.

That just simply really is not the case anymore in 2019. That's just not where we are anymore. And I've been warmly embraced by the Republican party and by Trump supporters. Every minority that I see that has walked away and made their videos and told their stories has also been embraced. It's a new dawn.

It's a new day, and I just want people to know that. You don't need to stay stuck and paralyzed in this trap of fear and misinformation that's being perpetuated by the political left.

Chris Albert 00:35:57 (link to this point)

One of the things when you started this movement, I went to your Facebook page and there were so many stories up there. There's so many people that were just so happy that you had started this. And, you know, trans people, straight people, gay people, minorities, people from all walks of life coming on to talk about how happy they were that that you had put this out. How has that affected you as as the leader of this movement?

Brandon Straka 00:36:25 (link to this point)

Well, I mean, it's I mean, there are times that I I still wake up almost every day, and my first thought is, am I dreaming this? Did this really hap you know? Or am I joining to go get my blow dryer and go because I used to work as a hairstylist before I'd start to walk away. And so on an almost daily basis, I have to kind of pinch myself that this is kind of the new reality for me. But I dwell in that space or in those feelings too much because there's so much work to do.

And what motivates me and drives me so much is this feeling that we haven't reached enough people. There's so much work still left to be done. So I don't really linger in a space of patting myself on the back or being like, I'm awesome or way to go. I'm still you know? It it it touches my heart and it makes me feel very proud anytime somebody says that this movement has changed their life, has set them free.

But, you know, I kind of I I take that in, and then I I say, okay. It's time to get back to work, and I just try to keep moving forward and keeping my eyes and my and my mind on what has yet to be done, not on all the great things that we've already done and how great we should feel about that. I mean, that's wonderful, but we have millions of people that we still have to reach, and that's where I keep my my focus.

Chris Albert 00:37:55 (link to this point)

Where where are you focused on reaching them? Is it mostly social media? Are you hitting them through videos on on YouTube, or is it are you doing events around the country and things like that as well?

Brandon Straka 00:38:05 (link to this point)

Every possible means. So we're we're doing an educational video series that we call the hard truth, which is available for people to watch for free on YouTube. We've created about 10 episodes. We've currently released three. We'll be releasing the fourth one in the next week or two.

They're, like, five minute episodes with a different speaker speaking on a different subject than each one. They're kind of cool and edgy. They're educational. So we have that where we're reaching people on the Internet. We're also you know, the testimonials are where we started, and that's kind of always been the basis and will always be the basis in the heart of what Walk Away is.

Real people telling real stories about why they're fed up, why they're walking away, why they feel pushed away or isolated and no longer part of the political left or a political party that they no longer recognize, the Democratic Party. And then we're also doing live events around the country. We're doing town hall events for all different types of people, but we kinda specialize a lot of these events for minority communities. We do the walk away black Americans Town Hall, Hispanic Americans, LGBT Americans, Jewish Americans. We'll do so many more.

And, again, we love our straight white people too and men. And so this is certainly a movement that is for white people and it's for straight people, but it's it's for all different types of people. But we recognize that minority groups in particular are being marketed to and targeted by the Democrat party and the liberal media in a way that's very specialized. And, again, it's it's that marketing of fear mongering and misinformation. And so we're going into these communities in a very customized way and delivering a counterpoint and a counter message to try to open people's hearts and minds and get them to see what's really going on.

So we do these live events, these town halls for minority communities. We're doing a college campus tour that we call the WalkAway Thought Revolution College Campus Tour, which is just what it sounds like. We're trying to get young people, millennials, college students to open their minds and think differently and to recognize a certain sense of indoctrination and and, again, kind of targeted marketing that they're receiving in their classrooms that they're probably not even recognizing because it's become second nature to have the curriculum taught to them through this filter of privilege and oppression and victimhood and, you know, that's sort of how everything information and and the lessons are being taught, I think. So we're trying to kind of undo a lot of that. And then, of course, I'm just doing speaking engagements as well for adults, anyone who wants to come and just sort of give this message, why I walked away, why I think other people should walk away.

And and we have a lot more events that we'll be doing in 2020, just unique kinda cool events, including we have a really cool women's event that we're doing on February 6 in Nashville. And right now, we have on the panel, Lara Trump, judge Jeanine, Katie Hopkins, just a slate of really incredible women with really incredible and powerful messages to kind of fight back against liberal the the liberal feminism message that, you know, that women have to be angry and and and resentful and angry at men. And, you know, there there's there is definitely a way and a space in this country to be a powerful woman and love men and love femininity and also love that there's a spectrum of choices for women, that there's just as much power and and admirable it's just as admirable to choose to raise a family or make a home as it is to be a CEO of an organization. And this is where feminism has lied to women and told women that being a mother is not enough, that being a wife or a homemaker is not enough. And so, you know, there are whole generations now of women who have been beating the hell out of themselves to try to feel like they're enough or doing enough when many of them I feel like, you know, just dreamed of raising a family. And why isn't that good enough? And if it's not, if you really want to raise a family and be a CEO, great.

That's awesome. But, you know, we respect that women have a whole variety of choices that they can make, and none are better than another. And I don't think that that's a message that women are receiving right now. And so we wanna we just wanna counteract a lot of these myths and narratives that liberalism has has hoisted upon people and and I think led a lot of people down the wrong path with.

Chris Albert 00:43:19 (link to this point)

Hey, guys. I hope you're getting a lot out of this interview. You know, the Warrior Soul podcast is built with the mission to empower its listeners to live absolutely epic lives. And that's why we recently created a group called the Warrior's Obituary Society. This group is built to empower its members to live epic lives worthy of epic obituaries.

And it starts with an eight week development program. And with this development program, what you're going to do is you're going to outline a vision for your life. You're going to get very specific about what you want. Because without that specificity, you don't know where you're going, and you don't know what you're doing. From there, we help our members to develop specific goals, objectives that they are gonna push toward, and that their fellow members of the Warrior's Obituary Society are going to hold them accountable too.

From there, we're getting down into specifics. We're going to help you to develop and customize your own personal fitness and nutrition plan to help to fuel your body and fuel your mind for the quest ahead. From there, we're going to work on your personal finances. We're going to help you to knock down debt. We're gonna help you to start saving money and to create a plan so that you can start investing in your dreams.

Then we're gonna get into your business and career. We're gonna help you to develop the skills that you need to develop yourself so that you can have a major impact in the field you choose. If you choose to go into business, we're going to help you to set up the foundations that you need to create your own company and get started on your path in life. From there, we're going to be working on your relationships. We're going to help you to develop a world class network.

And all along the way, you're going to have your fellow members of the Warrior's Obituary Society pushing you in every single area. We meet once a week over a live call, and we're constantly communicating over our own private floor forum on Slack. We don't do anything over social media, and that's because I don't want anybody feeling like anyone's looking over their shoulders, and I don't want you exposed to the crazy distracting alerts that you get on Facebook and some of the other social media platforms. Normally programs like this cost thousands of dollars. This one does not.

For the price, it is the best development program on the Internet. And that's because our mission here at Warrior Soul is to empower people to get more out of life so that they can in turn make the world a better place. We've got a great mix of active duty military, US military veterans, and civilians in this group. We wanted to keep it really eclectic so that we get a lot of different types of views up there and a lot of different people with different areas of expertise. If you think that this is something that would be of interest to you, and that this is something that could empower you to live your absolute best life, head over to www.warriorobituarysociety.com.

That's www.warriorobituarysociety.com, and you can sign up today. And if you have any questions about it, just reach out to me at chris@warriorsoulagoge.com. That's chris@warriorsoulagoge.com. I'm happy to even sit down with you for a phone call for a few minutes to see if the group is right for you. I look forward to seeing you guys in there, and let's get back to this awesome interview.

There's so much there. I mean, the idea that opportunity is only for a select few is is not true. There is so much opportunity out there and if you open your eyes to it, I mean, particularly in this day and age where there's so many opportunities to start businesses to create movements to get out there. There's so many things that people could be doing if they if they just get rid of the victim mentality. And that's what I admire the most about what you're doing is you're telling people this idea of victimhood is actually what's oppressing you.

This idea that you are somehow oppressed, that you're a victim, that that the other side's the enemy, that's what's keeping you unhappy, and that's keeping you in the same sorry spot that you're in over and over again.

Brandon Straka 00:47:43 (link to this point)

Right. I mean, that's if you're so worried about oppression, why don't you start by not oppressing yourself or subscribing to a a pattern of thought or a school of thought, which is specifically and expressly designed to keep you a victim or to keep you oppressed. I mean, that is your greatest enemy is not outside of you. It's right here. Because if you wake up every day with this mindset that I can't because external forces are preventing me from dot dot dot, well, how do you know?

Chris Albert 00:48:24 (link to this point)

Right.

Brandon Straka 00:48:25 (link to this point)

I mean, because I I would I'm willing to sit down and listen to someone saying that if they can prove to me that they have tried everything and nothing worked because of the bigotry and and, you know, suppression of others towards them. If if you can prove that to me, I I'm willing to listen to you. But if that is just your attitude because that's what you've been told your whole life, so you're kind of like, what's the point of even trying? Or every failure that I have isn't my fault. It's someone else's fault because I exist in a system that's rigged against me.

Well, then the only person who's oppressing you is you.

Chris Albert 00:49:04 (link to this point)

Exactly. Exactly. Now I know that you just had the chance to meet with president Trump for the first time. How was that experience?

Brandon Straka 00:49:13 (link to this point)

I did. It was absolutely amazing. It was unplanned. We ran into each other at a restaurant almost literally. He was walking in as I was walking out, and somebody I was with made an introduction.

He knew right away and was his eyes kinda lit up when he because we've never met before. And and then what unfolded next was just I mean, it was just a string of very heartfelt complimentary I mean, he really praised Walkaway and me and the organization, the work that we're doing, way that we're reaching people. I told him I would really like the opportunity to sit down and talk with him about it, and he said that we'll do that. He then went around to other tables at the restaurants and said, do you know this guy? Do know this guy?

What he's doing is tremendous. He's getting people to he's getting people to walk away from the democratic party. It's tremendous. It's tremendous. And and and then we kind of exchanged a few jokes, and, I mean, he was just so nice and so warm and friendly.

Took some pictures together, and it was just an incredible experience. Incredible experience. And he said several things to me that made very clear that he knew very well who I am and what I'm doing. And, I mean, one of the comments that he made to me that it was just my favorite one of my favorite things was he's retweeted me several times over the last year. He's given me, oh my god, a great number of retweets.

And, know, I mean, part of me wondered, is that really him or is that maybe, you know, an intern or an aide or, you know, something like that. But as we're talking, one of the first things that he said to me after we exchanged a few things was he leaned in and he said, how do you like those retweets? And I said, I love those retweets. Keep those retweets coming, please. And he was just like, yeah.

Yeah. He's like, oh, well, what you're doing is tremendous. Anyway, so I was just like, this is amazing. It just felt like he was talking to me like we knew each other from going way back, it was really cool.

Chris Albert 00:51:25 (link to this point)

I know we only got a couple of minutes, but I gotta ask you. Number one, what what do you think is the biggest thing that people are misunderstanding about the man?

Brandon Straka 00:51:36 (link to this point)

Well, I think his heart and his intention I mean, the liberal media narrative is that this is a a corrupt, heartless, bad guy who's a racist. He's a bigot. He he's only looking out the for the interest of himself and, you know, other white male billionaires and stuff. And this is I think his sons, as well as many other people, have described him as a blue collar billionaire. And that is very much the the vibe that I have gotten that I got from him as well is that this is a a very real, genuine, authentic man of the people.

Yes. He happens to be outrageously wealthy, but he, first of all, earned a great amount of that wealth himself. And he did it, I think, by working with working class people and being with them there at their level and doing the work with them. He knows he may not be working class himself, but he knows what it is to be working class, and he cares about these people. And he doesn't his his care and concern is not along racial lines or gender lines.

This is a guy who cares very much about black people and brown people and LGBT people. The liberal media narrative of of the racist bigoted Donald Trump is a bunch of crap, and and I just think that he's a really caring, big hearted guy who has does not need to be doing this. He doesn't need the power, the money, or the prestige of being president. He's doing this because he cares about this country. He cares about the people of this country, and that includes all people.

And I think he's doing a tremendous outstanding job. And it's disgraceful the way that he's being treated by the left, by the Democrats, by the liberal media. And, you know, he's taking this on the chin day after day after day for you, for me, and for all people in this country, And we should be eternally grateful that we have a president who cares as much about us as he does and is working so hard and getting treated so badly for you and for me.

Chris Albert 00:53:56 (link to this point)

Final question here, and and this goes back to our audience. Like I said, I've got a whole audience here of U US military combat veterans who are heading off into the university campuses. They're facing a place that is openly, at times, openly hostile to the very values they once stood for, and they are looking toward a a a four year period where if things might get very awkward for them. What is your advice for these young men and women as they head off to that new life?

Brandon Straka 00:54:29 (link to this point)

Well, number one, know that you're not alone, although sometimes it may feel like it because right now, the accepted norm is this standard that liberals have carte blanche to say what they want, whenever they want, to whomever they want, whenever they feel like it, and that no one there will be no retribution for anything that they say, and that anyone more centrist or conservatively minded does not have that same privilege as liberals do. So it becomes very easy sometimes to feel like you're alone, that no one else feels the way that you feel. One of the things I'm trying to do with walk away, and I say this all the time, it's time for the silent majority to become unsilent. We all need to speak up. We all need to band together.

We need to support one another. We need to use our voices and and stand up proudly for what we believe in. And the more of us that do that and the more of us that support each other as we do that, the more we will re reclaim the power of what is the acceptable norm of what can and cannot be expressed in the public square. And so please know that, you know, if you stand up and you use your voice and you push back against the accepted norm, you will be speaking not only on behalf of yourself, but thousands, if not millions of people from coast to coast who feel exactly the same way that you feel that what seems like common sense to you is common sense. And don't ever forget that just because you end up maybe in an environment where you're surrounded by extremists on the left who have that microphone and you begin to feel like, you know, am I the crazy one?

Is what I believe crazy? No. If it feels common sense to you, it probably is common sense, but common sense people have given up their power to the extremist left. So don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. Be stand up for what you believe in.

Know that when you do, you're setting a lot of other people free, and you can you always have a home in the WalkAway campaign, walkawaycampaign.com, and you can make your testimonials and tell your stories, and you'll be connected with a community of hundreds of thousands of people who just like you are sick and tired of being bullied and pushed away by the liberal left, who want to come together and stand together and take that power back and that voice back. Become a part of our community and reach out to me and let me know if you want me to come to your school and your university and bring my movement there. I'm happy to come and speak up and provide a platform in those areas where maybe you're feeling overwhelmed or undervalued or underrepresented, Walkaway campaign will come, will stand up for you, and and we'll provide that platform. So just know that you're not alone.

Chris Albert 00:57:36 (link to this point)

Outstanding. Finally, I I just want to acknowledge you. I know that starting something like this, number one, could not have been easy for you, given where you came from, given your background, given the fact that it took probably questioning everything you thought you believed in. And I think that that is the essence of who we need to be as a republic, in understanding that it's not about political party. It's about what's right or wrong.

And when you see wrong out there, you need to stand up and you need to say, hey, that's wrong. And it it takes people like you to be able to do that, and it takes people like you to be able to keep the health of this republic healthy. So thank you, Brandon, for everything you're doing out there.

Brandon Straka 00:58:22 (link to this point)

Thank you. I appreciate that, and thanks so much for having me on your show and giving me this platform to be able to talk to your audience, particularly so many people in the veteran community. Let me tell you right now that I am so grateful for the service that you provided to our country. I say that to both you and to your audience. And thank you so much for fighting for our freedom, for giving us the freedom that we have, and and thank you for sacrificing yourselves the way that you have for the freedom of this country.

And I say that on behalf of myself and everybody in the Walk Away campaign. So thank you all so much.

Chris Albert 00:58:59 (link to this point)

Absolutely. Brandon, thank you so much. And to everybody out there, definitely check this movement out. Like I said, there's there's a whole lot of really great people who are telling their stories on his Facebook page. Brandon is putting great stuff out there on Twitter all the time.

There are some great educational videos that Brandon mentioned, and we will get those up on the show notes for this episode. I want to wish everybody out there a great start to the holiday season. And, you know, like we always say, get out there and live. Live your best lives while you can, and we'll be back at you later on this week with some more awesome content. Alright, guys.

There you have it. That is our interview with mister Brandon Straka of the Walk Away campaign. And, you know, again, I just want to see that whether you agree with what I said or disagree with what I said, doesn't mean that I hate you if you disagree with me. It doesn't mean that we can't have a conversation. It doesn't mean that we can't still be brothers and sisters.

We all fought so that people could have the freedom of speech. We all fought so that people could vote their conscience. And at the end of the day, that's what this is about. And to those of you who are heading off to university campuses, remember that. Remember that when you come in contact somebody who has a differing opinion than you, remember that you put your life on the line so that they could have that opinion.

And you know, hopefully, they'll remember that as well, so that we have more civilized discussion out there. If you guys enjoyed this podcast, if you enjoy what the work we're doing here at Warrior Soul, biggest thing I can say is that if you wanna keep seeing guests like this, head over to iTunes and write us a written rating and review. Those reviews help so much in getting this podcast out there into the ears of more veterans and more Americans who can honestly use this information. And if you want to support the podcast in other ways, you can head over to our amazing website, warriorsoul.shop. We've got some fantastic gear up there that is designed, printed, and made by US Marine Corps veterans up in our shop in Santa Barbara, California.

Sorry. Can't talk today, guys. And then beyond that, if you wanna support yourself, head over to www.warriorobituarysociety.com. Check out this group. It's absolutely amazing.

We got a great group of veterans, active duty military, and civilians who are empowering each other to live absolutely epic lives. And the final way to support the podcast is via Patreon. We set up a Patreon. We got some great tiers up there with some awesome prizes for those of you who want to contribute. And you can do that over at www.patreon.com/warriorsoulpodcast.

It is an absolute honor to be serving this community. It is an absolute honor to be able to bring this information to The US military veterans out there who put their lives on the line for this country and to be empowering this community to live absolutely epic lives. So with that, once again, I wanna thank you so much for your support, for listening to the show, and we'll be back at you later out later on this week with some more awesome content. This is Chris Albert, and I am out.