(Thread) this may be a long one as I need to vent, and this is my venting place. Life in small town #SouthDakota can be wonderful. God knows that in my lifetime I have benefited greatly from the friendships and relationships made growing up here 1/

When my job brought me back to the #SiouxFalls metro area 4.5 years ago we only looked at small towns, wanting to raise Derek in a smaller school district. We chose #DellRapids and love it here. We love our home, our neighborhood and the people 2/

We have received so much support through my wife and Derek's cancer journey, support I can never repay. Support I am eternally grateful for. We aren't "native" #Quarriers, but my mom is. I grew up coming here at least 1 time a month to see family 3/

We chose this town and are happy we did. Last night on #Facebook messenger I got my second ever "warning" message since living here. The first time I received one I had dared to question the pricing on drinks from the local bar during a street dance. 4/

I was shocked at the price-which is significantly more than I would pay for the same drink in #Yankton or #SiouxFalls and said so on the local #DellRapids Facebook page. Holy shit. You'd have thought I had burnt the school mascot on main street 5/

I was informed pretty quickly to know my role, know my place, drink someplace else. Watch myself because they know where I live. Was told that my drink-Patron-was "TOP SHELF", etc etc Then came the first warning DM. It came from a life time well respected resident of the town 6/

He very gently let me know that I needed to be careful as there were some very violent and unstable adults that hung out at the local watering hole and they were quite protective of their bar. I thanked him for the warning 7/

Last night a concerned citizen let me know that the public posts I make on the public forums of Twitter and Facebook are being seen by the public.
Ya' think?
She informed me that I am disrespectful to the town that has supported me. 8/

What spurned this message. I posted a picture of our new Public servant in Pierre in which she was exposed to a person with COVID and in which not one single person was wearing a mask. By doing this, by pointing out fact, I was "biting the hand that feeds me". 9/

People from my church and others in town see what I posted and think it's "trash" I am probably "sexist" because all the legislators were women. At this point I knew they weren't watching too closely 10/

If they were they would see all the times that I tell @SenJohnThune @RepDustyJohnson and @SenatorRounds to fuck off or called out @paultenhaken for his weak leadership.They also missed the flag in front of my house pushing for #WomensRights, but I digress 11/

She did notice that I wasn't wearing a mask while standing outside supporting a #localbusiness this summer that brought in a #FoodTruck-this made me a hypocrite. I should have been wearing a mask in line there even though I was outside. She is right. My bad. 12/

She also let me know that when I came on here angry & hurt ranting because my son was crying due to his best friend telling him he couldn't come to our house because of my politics-people knew who I was talking about even though I didn't use names 13/

Yup. It's a small town. I purposely didn't use names. This is a place where I have been able to vent and process some pain over the last 3 years. My therapy so to speak. That was a cathartic post not a post to hurt others. I didn't name the other family intentionally. 14/

They aren't on twitter. They never would have seen it, until some well meaning Small Town do-gooder took it to them. Do-gooders rarely do good IMO. She ended with a good luck getting help for your son anymore threat. 15/

So, 2 DM's of a threatening nature. I have also received multiple private DM's on Facebook & Twitter thanking me for saying what they "can't" say because they own a business here, are active in the church here, or they don't want friends to know how they really feel & think 16/

This is one of the many problems with the state I love and the small towns I cherish. They are so polarizing that people are afraid to speak their minds, afraid to be themselves, afraid to voice their opinion due to what their "neighbors" may think. 17/

Fear like that is what stagnates political and cultural progress in these small towns. It's sad. As for me, I am who I am. I'm not going to change. In Yankton the man I founded a very successful Church youth group with was voted into office. 18/

When he voted against a pay raise for teachers I called him out by name in the local paper & on facebook. I was attacked by his family-called ungrateful & accused of betraying our friendship. I wasn't calling out my friend-I was calling out a politician. 19/

I can separate the two. When you chose to run for public office, the public are now your bosses and part of public office is public criticism for the job you do as a politician of the people. Not personal attacks, no need for that. 20/

I get who I am, at 52 I'm not going to change. I debated for Carter in 1980 in my Social Studies class, I sent money to #FarmAid and #Greenpeace as a high school kid, I went to rallies to save local farms. It's how I was raised. 21/

I volunteer for church, helped found a non-profit that has raised over 50K for local charities, I coach, the kids I mentored in Yankton still reach out to me as now 30 plus year old adults, I have volunteer coached for 9 years, I work in the helping field...22/

My point is I'm okay with me. I sleep fine. I'm a #ProChoice #BLM supporting, #LGBTQ ally, #mentalhealth & #recovery advocate, #PrisonReform supporting, #NativeRights supporting, #WomensRights supporting, left-leaning #liberal #Democrat in small town #SouthDakota 23/

Probably not going to see eye to eye politically with most neighbors. That doesn't mean I'm not a good neighbor. So despite being asked to tone down my rhetoric by "concerned" citizens, I'll stay the same, not just for me, but for those who aren't ready to speak up yet 24/24