A Gander at the Grok

An appeal for the Granite Grok news platform

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Granite Grok is a conservative New Hampshire news and commentary platform. GG often reprints my writing efforts, for which I am grateful. The Grok takes its name from the fictitious language of the classic Robert Heinlein sci-fi novel Stranger in a Strange Land, melded with the hard rock of the namesake of the White Mountains and New Hampshire.

Managing editor and owner Steve MacDonald wrote to me last week with the following inquiry:

“I am running a fundraising effort to raise 20K by the 4th of July.

“Can you advocate for GraniteGrok to help us raise the funds? Do you know people who support free speech and independent media who would write a check or donate online? We need a few generous sponsors and a lot of smaller donations to reach the goal, and we need to do that to stay funded. Inflation has impacted everything, including operating costs and additional growth will require more expensive hosting fees.

“I hate asking for money, and you probably do, too, but every donor you find and every donation we raise helps us keep the lights on. If we can hit this goal, we can glide through 2025.”

Readers of this Substack have likely noticed that I’m not very good at asking for money for myself. I am deeply grateful for my readership, especially my paying subscribers who make my work possible, but I’m not very good at the “ask” part. I’m better at asking for others, and so I make an occasional appeal here, as with a recent fundraiser for a Vermont farm family who lost their barn and any animals in a horrible fire.

And so I ask you to consider supporting Granite Grok if you are in a position to do so. They support me, and I like reaching into the “Live Free or Die” state that neighbors my Green Mountains, where I have climbed many mountains over the years and feel a kindred spirit. We must find our allies where we can, and even if you are unable to support Granite Grok, perhaps you will sign up for their content — then you can read many of my articles twice! Perhaps you might even submit a freedom-loving article for them to publish….

I like their catchy “about” page:

We ARE your feared:

Fire-breathing, right-wing, hard-charging, gun-toting, opinionated, outspoken, rabble-rousing, letter-writing, radio microphone stomping, Conservatives and Rational Libertarians!

We take on all Progressives, Liberals, Moderates, and Squishy Republicans and fly to the aid of rock-ribbed freedom-loving and liberty-seeking/leaning folk anywhere!

What this all means in plain language is that we are Constitutional Conservatives, Libertarians, and Conservatarians. We want to conserve the limitations placed on government by the Constitution. If you line up to defend those limitations, we might applaud that if it catches our eye. If you attack or undermine those principles, you might get a trip to the rhetorical woodshed. It’s just that simple.

That’s my kind of platform!!

(We welded this truck frame up three times before I retired it. Believe it or not, it kept driving like this for quite some time. “Live free or die (trying)!”)