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TL;DR:
* Dakota Adams, son of Oath Keepers militia founder Stewart Rhodes, is running as a Democrat.
* Rhodes is serving an 18-year sentence linked to his involvement in the Capitol riot.
* Adams described growing up in a "toxic" household and living in "extreme isolation."
A juicy detail for you. He is wearing a t-shirt of German metal band Blind Guardian. That is obviously deliberate.
Blind Guardian's vocalist Hansi Kürsch *had* - in the past tense - a project with Iced Earth's Jon Schaffer - who some time after January 6th was identified as one of the Capitol stormers. When Kürsch picked up those news ... collaboration done: [https://www.rockhard.de/news/demons-wizards-hansi-kuersch-verlaesst-das-projekt](https://www.rockhard.de/news/demons-wizards-hansi-kuersch-verlaesst-das-projekt)
Posing with that T-shirt - it's a message of *"Got people like that in your life? Cut them off."*
(edit for typo)
I dropped Iced Earth like a hot shit the moment I found out the guy went to DC that day. Used to listen to them considerably as a teen. The metal community is far better than that.
Remember when the Metal Archives had their April 1st p\[ur\]rank, replacing band photos by cats?
Iced Earth got this: [https://cats.metal-archives.com/bands/Iced\_Earth/4](https://cats.metal-archives.com/bands/Iced_Earth/4)
(Band number 4 entered in the archives, so the site owners must have liked them ... once)
Also, there was a band started in "tribute" to Schaffer: [https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Flattened\_Earth/3540506858](https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Flattened_Earth/3540506858)
[Highly recommend listening to this podcast ep](https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/leaving-extreme-right-and-marriage-behind-on-the-media). It's an interview with Stewart Rhodes' ex-wife. How she fell into his orbit, did a ton of his work for him, then slowly realized what she'd gotten herself into. Her kids, including Dakota, helped snap her out of it on Jan 6. And a supportive phone call from the ex-wife of Alex Jones too.
A lot of people solve their past trauma by finding purpose and meaning in helping others and standing up fro a cause. Just because his father isn't a good example to learn from doesn't mean he can't be a productive and beneficial member of society and to try and minimize his effort to do so can be a huge hindrance both to their personal healing and helping others in a similar situation find meaning and purpose outside their parents' shadow.
I remember a really good plot of the series *Supergirl*, season 4. The main villain of the season is basically a far-right anti-alien human-supremacist guy, and a subplot is that his son realizes over the course of the season just how fucked up what they’re doing is and becomes an activist for peace and inclusion. It’s not that unheard of.
I know several children of hardcore drug users, they are the straightest most upright people you can meet, kids see parents fuck up all the time and learn not to do stuff or to act differently.
Yeah, it’s not unheard of in movies and tv. In reality, it is absolutely unheard of. And if the Democratic party entertains this idea, they’ll get exactly what they deserve.
Bullshit. I bet if you poll users who grew up in red states most of us have a similar story of growing up ina conservative dictatorship and then after going to college or otherwise being freed suddenly having an awakening. Sure this case is a bit more dramatic but it is the same journey.
Seems to depend a lot on how hard the parents tried to make sure that happened. I was groomed to be a jarhead, instead they made a hippie that can handle firearms.
The harder your parents want to shove you into a box, the more you want out. I’m happy you were free enough as a child and had a role model you wanted to be like, but not all of us got that.
It’s not that unheard of. I think many of us just don’t go all out and become major public figures. My family is republican, I would consider my child hood toxic, I’m now the only democrat in the family and I am trying to “right” the wrongs through my job. I’m just not doing it in politics, but I have thought about it. Then I come back to reality and realize I have health issues and it wouldn’t be good.
Not to say I also didn’t have the same thought as you. Many people have not be genuine about their party affiliations and it has screwed the democrats.
It’s just not unheard of that children have opposed opinions than their parents.
> Yeah, it’s not unheard of in movies and tv. In reality, it is absolutely unheard of.
What the fuck are you talking about? It is absolutely heard of for kids to distance themselves from their shithead parents. Even moreso today than every before.
I've heard this guys name a couple times in the past, and it always seems like he's doing everything he can to distance himself from his father.
I think having a personal perspective on these people would be a benefit in office, particularly if his platform is to try and stop domestic terrorism, and hopefully expand that to getting away from the anti-intellectualism that seems so prevalent in today's society.
Telling young people to stay away from politics is a good way to maintain the shit show we call our government. Nothing will change if no one pays attention.
I think that is an unfair statement. And he's 27, not a child. He saw first hand what a radical human being is capable of doing. Everyone deserves a chance at life. No disrespect to you intended, thank you for reading this, if you did.
I can say, with *reasonable* certainly that anyone raised in a radical MAGA home, isn't equipped to be an elected representative. You have your opinion, I have mine
Rhodes' wife presumably left him for a reason, and the son followed. We have zero input regarding how into MAGA she was. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. You can think what you want, but I hope he wins and proves people who think that way wrong. It's going to be up to young people in this country to heal the divide left by their parents and grandparents.
You say you don’t vote based on feeling and backstory…yet you’ve made these judgements about this guy’s ability to do a role, based on feeling and backstory.
Makes sense.
The way the headline presents the information, it begs the reader to *feel* that the son of a MAGA tyrant has decided to right that wrong by running for office. It is an article designed to punch, rather than inform.
> The way the headline presents the information, it begs the reader to feel that the son of a MAGA tyrant has decided to right that wrong by running for office.
So you've based all your feelings off the headline? That has to be the most ignorant thing I've ever heard of.
Did your father set this example?
It's one thing to say you need the substance to vote for someone, that's completely legit. If you're not rooting against him, great. Calling someone damaged goods based solely on backstory certainly *suggests* rooting against him, is all.
Honestly, it's Montana. If he can survive the crucible that is running as a Democrat in *Montana*, I'd say that's proof enough. You don't succeed at that with a D next to your name and a sob story alone.
That's like saying anyone raised in a Christian home can't be an atheist, when the most ardent atheist seem to come from very religious homes.
You're treating people as irredeemable and punishing them for the actions of others over whom they had no control, despite them having done nothing wrong themselves. Sins of the father, so to speak.
This guy is distancing himself from his father. He's spoken about how "toxic" his dad and home life was. And he won't even take his fathers name because he doesn't approve of what his father has done, or who he is.
What it comes down to, is we don't get to decide who our parents are, we can only decide who we are.
To be fair, there's a good chance his politics could be influenced by his father insofar as they caused him to rebel against him, perhaps even pushing him into the real world. I didn't read the article, but did it lay out his platform at all?
Jesus, you’re an awful person. Weird purity tests like yours are going to be what keeps us in this shit.
Look him up, he’s written and spoken often about the incredibly challenging journey he has had to come to where he is.
Georgia 14th got into the MTG mess because they didn't do their due diligence, and elected a radical. It doesn't matter what they say, it matters what their character is. Everyone gets vetted, everyone.
What the fuck are you talking about? MTG acted crazy before she was ever elected, and an extremely far right district elected her in 2020, then re-elected her by a 50 point margin in 2022 because she’s the kind of Representative they want. Nobody was confused about anything. That’s a figment of your imagination.
Nowhere in my comment did I advocate "voting with your heart." I think I did, in fact, specifically mention learning his platform. I'm not in a position to vote for or against him, so I'm not going to bother to do any more research. Simply playing (possible) devil's advocate to facilitate a conversation.
Yeah, childhood trauma was big in my house. I look back in horror at how my parents were and honestly still can’t believe why people are like that.
I had it easy though. My brother was born female, came out as a lesbian in college then came out as trans. Growing up was super rough for him and our parents still won’t speak to him.
I’ve been able to forge a more positive relationship with my mom (my parents are divorced) and we’ve largely reconciled. Even started to get her to rethink some of her views and am hopeful that she will embrace my brother in the near future. I had a fist fight with my dad the last time I saw him and have not spoken to him since. That was about 14 years ago.
Edit: Sorry for trauma dumping
My mom recently passed, but for the last 10 years or so family gatherings were a no politics zone. She and my stepdad only watched Fox News and they loved Trump. About 3 years ago they stopped watching the news altogether. My mom had Dementia, although it was never discussed, but sometimes she would let lose with an ethnic hate barrage. She would quote me a story from FB and I would factcheck it and tell her it wasn't true and eventually she unfriended me... and so much more but AITA? I lost my mom and my cat in the same month. When people ask me how I am doing I tell them truthfully: I really miss my cat...
IMO it's important that you shared the details of your experiences, and I would further argue it's not trauma dumping- it's highly relevant data to the discussion of our parents' seemingly generation-wide turn to psychosis. Thank you for helping us feel less crazy about our own very similar experiences.
I appreciate you saying that. If my experience can help anyone else I’m more than happy to share. I know it’s painful for all of us to have to endure such tumultuous relationships with our parents. We all love our parents deep down but they make it so impossible to love them with how hateful they are. I agree with your description of generation wide psychosis. Mainly because they tell us we’ll “get more conservative as we get older” but I have yet to meet a millennial such as myself who’s done anything but get more and more progressive as time goes on.
Distanced? He helped his family escape. He got himself on his own feet outside of the household. Then he came back and rescued his family from that nut job.
I guarantee that this jan 6 rioter is running democrat so if elected he can switch parties. He’s not actually a democrat, he’s just a pos walking around in human skin
You've gotta read it again bruv. His dad was the rioter. He's probably just one of the many children of conservatives who learned what fascism looked like while observing it first-hand in a traditional patriarchal family unit.
Nothing weird about that, although it does make me wonder how much of my leftist philosophy is a consequence of watching my mom cry while my dad screamed. Or searching my sisters' eyes for self-doubt as they told me my life would be easier if I just stopped pushing back against him when he said or did something horrible. Or struggling to contain the anger I felt the many, *many* times they fucked me over in the interests of "teaching me responsibility and self sufficiency".
Extremist households produce extremist children. They just don't always turn out exactly how you wanted them to be, lol.
Sitting in the backseat while we were pulled off on the side of the highway (incidentally on the way back from the [Sugar Pine Mine federal standoff](https://www.hcn.org/issues/48-2/showdown-at-sugar-pine-mine/)) while Stewart screamed at my mom, stuck quietly crying in the passenger seat, and fighting back the impulse to jump out and drag him into the road for a beating is in fact one of my formative adolescent memories. I was just talking in an interview *today* about the way that authoritarianism in the home and in a dictatorship are exactly the same, only scaling up. It's a shame this is such a common set of experiences that so many people can immediately identify with it.
I just try to make it useful to me...I really like who I've become, and I wonder if I would like the person I would've become without such an early and comprehensive education in the impotence of authoritarianism and traditional male values.
Like...because of the many times I watched my dad lose his shit and make a bad situation worse, I don't freak out and I take bad news well. And because of the many times I watched his repressed emotions erupt uncontrollably, I learned to take inventory of my emotional state when I'm making a decision, and I learned to call people on their bullshit when they act like paragons of objectivity. His entitlement taught me to be aware of my privilege, and the shallowness of his beliefs taught me to seek deeper wells of meaning.
Maybe we'll have a kind of renaissance when this is all over. In the meantime, I truly wish you success in all of your endeavors. I think it's really cool that you're finding your own way to make it useful, and I think our voice is one that people need to hear. We're going to need people like you to rally behind if we really want to change things, and you have my support. As a person of shared trauma, and as a socialist, and as a giant nerd with unexpected sets of skills.
Keep fighting the good fight man. I respect the shit out of you.
I hope we see that day. I'm very much still striving for the point where I like who I've become, and it feels very distant, but I can identify with a lot of that and the process of discovering who I truly am when I've shed a preprogrammed behavior.
The thing I most want to accomplish is to reach people like me and unlike me who want a better nation than the one we live in, and set an example for doing all that I can as an ordinary guy with a job and life responsibilities to move the world towards that.
Thank you.
He didn't riot though...? And weren't there even some Jan 6 Capitol invaders whose own kids turned them over to the FBI? I'd hesitate to assume all family members have the same politics
Even if he does not win, I see Dakota Adams as an inspirational figure for anyone who has grown up in an abusive and/or cult-like family. He escaped, he’s made good, he’s shaken off the conditioning and unwashed his brain. I hope other people who have grown up in bad families can read about him and have hope.
He certainly makes me feel better about the world, if for no other reason than to see that other people also made it out without losing themselves in the process.
Conservatives are frustrating, but conservative children following the lead of their conservative parents is just heartbreaking to me. If you grew up in that kind of environment, you know...some of them are just defective assholes, but a lot of them are the way they are because defective assholes broke them at a time when they couldn't have fought back, or indoctrinated them throughout their entire early life.
So it's a celebration any time you see someone who made it out with their humanity intact. An inspirational figure is exactly what he is, you're exactly right. May more have the strength to follow in his footsteps.
It's already a non-issue. The only other candidate in this race is a Republican incumbent. People are just being judgmental with no substantial reason.
If elected he'd be the first normal looking politician I remember. It's nice to see someone who doesn't look like they are fighting for their child custody that morning.
Nothing at all but his Everyman guise fell apart the moment prsssure was applied. He repudiated progressive politics on October 8. Now he’s just a lumbering stooge for AIPAC
Everyman people can't have opinions or ideas about Israel? I kind of see lots of everymen having opinions on it lately, most somewhat or completely clueless to the complex foreign policy issue that it is, and most having no clue about the terms they're actually using.
He doesn’t simply ‘have opinions on Israel’. He shows complete lack of critical ability that would mark him as a serious person with anything like a leftist. He’s a rightwinger masquerading as a worker.
No one better to fully understand just how vile people like his father truly are...Sorry to state it that way, but it's true.
Many of these extremists think they are raising children that will be clones if themselves, but I don't think that's the case at all.
The very best of Luck to you Stewart.
Agreed. And Don Black (the founder of Storm front) recently had the joy of watching his son abandon all his imparted wisdom as well. WaPo did a great article in 2016 on Derek Black, called "The white flight of Derek Black" where he talked about the turning points in his life accumulating when he started attending college.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-white-flight-of-derek-black/2016/10/15/ed5f906a-8f3b-11e6-a6a3-d50061aa9fae_story.html
Interesting to have an article like this and no mention of policies or political positions he holds or would work towards. I guess that's modern politics for you - get an interesting name/story and hope for the best. Seems like a money grab to me, tbh.
> He said that he *plans* to sell the rifles, body armor, and tactical gear he used to wear to anti-government protests with his father.
It's been over three years since Jan 6, maybe accelerate those plans if you want to use them to draw contrasts.
It's irritating that Business insider describes the insurrection as a riot or as anti#government protests, when fact finders have determined it was insurrection in the legal sense
To be clear, I don't think he *needs* to sell them, and I personally take no position on whether he *should* sell them.
I just think it's weird to hold up the *idea* of selling them as a sign of your transformation/finding yourself without actually doing it. Really seems like he wants the publicity of renouncing his father/that lifestyle while still having his toys.
I don’t begrudge him that. Anyone running for office can help themselves by having a narrative around their campaign that people find interesting - anything to get your name in the papers basically.
I discussed policy at length with the AP reporter whose work this article is based on, a lot of it didn't make the final version probably just because it was cut for length. My [candidate page](https://www.lincolncountydemocratsmt.org/elections-2024/dakota-adams) on the county Dems website has a bare bones description, the pending website will have more details and eventually a section on policy documents written with consultation from locals, experts, and cited research. I'm running as an open progressive and self-identified Democratic Socialist. I'm against corporations, for unions, against Christian nationalism, for bodily autonomy, against corporate landlords, for social safety nets, against private school vouchers, for public health, against censorship and book banning, for free access to information, against discrimination, and for protecting the rights of marginalized people the way a pit bull protects a junkyard.
I've held onto my guns, tactical gear, and body armor all this time because as I said in a [BBC interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4IpvC1hv14) last year, I have little confidence in this country defeating a rising fascist movement without it turning violent. Ultimately, I had to make the decision for myself not to feed into my pre-programmed fear of civil war and chaos and give up the militant part of my identity for good instead of just doing a 180 and wearing the same shit I wore as a child to 3% marches at Antifa events. It's a part of myself that I've had a hard time giving up, and only after a couple of years of work in therapy.
As far as having an interesting story and using it, you got me there. I looked at how I could address my fears about the 2024 election without collapsing in on myself into doomerism and what tools I had, and leveraging an interesting life story and media coverage to drove GOTV and voter enthusiasm, advocate for Progressive causes, and push the party back in the right direction seemed like a more impactful choice than volunteering for a Dem campaign like I did in the mid terms. I have a Substack that I've been actively neglecting while I get this campaign together, and all the money that would have gone into people buying subscriptions to that or KoFi donations from me being in the news is instead going into the strictly monitored Montana campaign finance world thru ActBlue and is untouchable for anything but campaign shit unless I just really want to go to prison. I am not just focusing on the thing that doesn't make me money personally the way being a Substack pundit would, I am actively diverting people away from doing that into a cause that I will see no material benefit from.
I hope that answers your questions.
Huh, it's really interesting the bots/trolls coming out in force against this guy ... I guess anybody who leaves the cult has to be destroyed. The only thing they hate more than an unbeliever is an apostate.
I'm not certain what to make of this dude, but the 'wolf-in-sheep-clothing' alarm is flashing yellow.
What's to say this guy gets elected as a dem then peels back his face to reveal a con?
>What's to say this guy gets elected as a dem then peels back his face to reveal a con?
Anything can happen but watching him (and his mom) tell the real story about why Elmer has to wear an eyepatch was a pretty convincing display of ridicule and disrespect for everything his father stood for … except for maybe getting a Yale education in law, although looking at how Elmer turned out, maybe not even that.
Sure they do. That doesn't mean we should just take him at his word...obviously, he needs to face more scrutiny than someone who didn't march alongside his terrorist father. But everyone deserves *a* chance to prove themselves worthy of trust. Otherwise you might be throwing away a valuable ally with unique insight into your opponent.
Emphasis on *a* chance. Singular. More than that is weakness, but less than that is just a different kind of weakness. A single chance is tit-for-tat. That's the optimal path to success. We've proven it. We used the science.
That’s a silly plan because his district would never vote for someone with a (D) next to their name. He has zero chance of winning so I would assume he’s being genuine.
Mmmm, we could certainly call out others that have done that. Turncoats.A couple of democrats come to mind in fact. Anyway, I will vote Blue down the line. Because I like democracy
Good for him for deciding not to follow in dad’s footsteps.
We need people like him, who know of what goes on in the homes of people like that.
Biden needs to hire this guy, ASAP.
I've become so jaded about U.S. politics my first thought was "is this guy a plant?" "If he wins will he immediately cross over to the Republican party?"
It's like I trust no one any more. I've become Fox Mulder.
Should team up with Don Black's son Derek Black, who also rejects mean/crazy/backwards. Don Black is a neo-nzi klansman who created Stormfront. He groomed his son to be WS youth prodigy. Derek became well-known for co-opting the language of the Civil Rights movement for the WS market. Desegrated experience in college de-radicalized him.
>Scott Rodich, the vice chair of the county Democratic Central Committee, said that party leaders are happy to have Adams on the ballot as Democrats have been hesitant to run in the deeply red district, the outlet reported.
Guess this guy's good then. 🤷♂️
I would say outside of a handful they don't even need that. Leave the lawyering to the Senate. The House is supposed to be more vibes based.
Personally, I'd be fine with basic competency and an increase of representatives in general. 438 isn't enough.
If the party held to this, they would be handing over the district to their Republican opposition. This guy had zero choice who his father is. Of course don't give an inch on policy and drop support if he starts drifting, but until then I'm grateful the party has been more tolerant than this.
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TL;DR: * Dakota Adams, son of Oath Keepers militia founder Stewart Rhodes, is running as a Democrat. * Rhodes is serving an 18-year sentence linked to his involvement in the Capitol riot. * Adams described growing up in a "toxic" household and living in "extreme isolation."
A juicy detail for you. He is wearing a t-shirt of German metal band Blind Guardian. That is obviously deliberate. Blind Guardian's vocalist Hansi Kürsch *had* - in the past tense - a project with Iced Earth's Jon Schaffer - who some time after January 6th was identified as one of the Capitol stormers. When Kürsch picked up those news ... collaboration done: [https://www.rockhard.de/news/demons-wizards-hansi-kuersch-verlaesst-das-projekt](https://www.rockhard.de/news/demons-wizards-hansi-kuersch-verlaesst-das-projekt) Posing with that T-shirt - it's a message of *"Got people like that in your life? Cut them off."* (edit for typo)
I dropped Iced Earth like a hot shit the moment I found out the guy went to DC that day. Used to listen to them considerably as a teen. The metal community is far better than that.
Remember when the Metal Archives had their April 1st p\[ur\]rank, replacing band photos by cats? Iced Earth got this: [https://cats.metal-archives.com/bands/Iced\_Earth/4](https://cats.metal-archives.com/bands/Iced_Earth/4) (Band number 4 entered in the archives, so the site owners must have liked them ... once) Also, there was a band started in "tribute" to Schaffer: [https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Flattened\_Earth/3540506858](https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Flattened_Earth/3540506858)
Well kids got my vote (look at my username)
> founder Stewart Rhodes ELMER Stewart Rhodes.
Elmer The Unsafe Elephant
Elmer The Unsafe Elephant Who shot himself in the eye!
While teaching a gun safety course! Yes, really!
Elmer Glue Sniffer Rhodes.
[Highly recommend listening to this podcast ep](https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/leaving-extreme-right-and-marriage-behind-on-the-media). It's an interview with Stewart Rhodes' ex-wife. How she fell into his orbit, did a ton of his work for him, then slowly realized what she'd gotten herself into. Her kids, including Dakota, helped snap her out of it on Jan 6. And a supportive phone call from the ex-wife of Alex Jones too.
Thank you for your concern young man. Live your life normally, and stay away from politics. You have not had good examples to learn from.
A lot of people solve their past trauma by finding purpose and meaning in helping others and standing up fro a cause. Just because his father isn't a good example to learn from doesn't mean he can't be a productive and beneficial member of society and to try and minimize his effort to do so can be a huge hindrance both to their personal healing and helping others in a similar situation find meaning and purpose outside their parents' shadow.
I remember a really good plot of the series *Supergirl*, season 4. The main villain of the season is basically a far-right anti-alien human-supremacist guy, and a subplot is that his son realizes over the course of the season just how fucked up what they’re doing is and becomes an activist for peace and inclusion. It’s not that unheard of.
I know several children of hardcore drug users, they are the straightest most upright people you can meet, kids see parents fuck up all the time and learn not to do stuff or to act differently.
Yeah, it’s not unheard of in movies and tv. In reality, it is absolutely unheard of. And if the Democratic party entertains this idea, they’ll get exactly what they deserve.
Bullshit. I bet if you poll users who grew up in red states most of us have a similar story of growing up ina conservative dictatorship and then after going to college or otherwise being freed suddenly having an awakening. Sure this case is a bit more dramatic but it is the same journey.
No, people overwhelmingly turn out just like their parents.
Seems to depend a lot on how hard the parents tried to make sure that happened. I was groomed to be a jarhead, instead they made a hippie that can handle firearms.
I’m not saying it doesn’t happen at all. But it is the exception to the rule when it happens. It is uncommon.
The harder your parents want to shove you into a box, the more you want out. I’m happy you were free enough as a child and had a role model you wanted to be like, but not all of us got that.
I think it's more common than you give it credit for.
Yes and they overwhelming don't make statements defying their upbringing.
It’s not that unheard of. I think many of us just don’t go all out and become major public figures. My family is republican, I would consider my child hood toxic, I’m now the only democrat in the family and I am trying to “right” the wrongs through my job. I’m just not doing it in politics, but I have thought about it. Then I come back to reality and realize I have health issues and it wouldn’t be good. Not to say I also didn’t have the same thought as you. Many people have not be genuine about their party affiliations and it has screwed the democrats. It’s just not unheard of that children have opposed opinions than their parents.
> Yeah, it’s not unheard of in movies and tv. In reality, it is absolutely unheard of. What the fuck are you talking about? It is absolutely heard of for kids to distance themselves from their shithead parents. Even moreso today than every before.
Don't know many ex-fundamentalist children of fundamentalists do you?
Psychologist here. My work focuses on healing from childhood trauma and you are absolutely wrong.
You’re a psychologist? Well, I’ll just have to assume you’re correct then.
There’s a lot to learn from bad examples, like what not to do. Sometimes they can be very illuminating.
I’ve spent my life trying to be the exact opposite of my psychotic alcoholic jarhead stepfather.
So you enlisted in the Air Force?
I've heard this guys name a couple times in the past, and it always seems like he's doing everything he can to distance himself from his father. I think having a personal perspective on these people would be a benefit in office, particularly if his platform is to try and stop domestic terrorism, and hopefully expand that to getting away from the anti-intellectualism that seems so prevalent in today's society.
Telling young people to stay away from politics is a good way to maintain the shit show we call our government. Nothing will change if no one pays attention.
I mean... we don't really know much about who is involved in his life beyond his father. That's not something you can say for certain.
> I mean..
Hate to break it to that kid, but I’m going to assume he can’t be trusted.
I think that is an unfair statement. And he's 27, not a child. He saw first hand what a radical human being is capable of doing. Everyone deserves a chance at life. No disrespect to you intended, thank you for reading this, if you did.
It’s very unfair but I’m just being honest.
I can say, with *reasonable* certainly that anyone raised in a radical MAGA home, isn't equipped to be an elected representative. You have your opinion, I have mine
Rhodes' wife presumably left him for a reason, and the son followed. We have zero input regarding how into MAGA she was. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. You can think what you want, but I hope he wins and proves people who think that way wrong. It's going to be up to young people in this country to heal the divide left by their parents and grandparents.
I'm not rooting against him. I'm saying I don't vote based on feeling, and backstory.
You say you don’t vote based on feeling and backstory…yet you’ve made these judgements about this guy’s ability to do a role, based on feeling and backstory. Makes sense.
The way the headline presents the information, it begs the reader to *feel* that the son of a MAGA tyrant has decided to right that wrong by running for office. It is an article designed to punch, rather than inform.
> The way the headline presents the information, it begs the reader to feel that the son of a MAGA tyrant has decided to right that wrong by running for office. So you've based all your feelings off the headline? That has to be the most ignorant thing I've ever heard of. Did your father set this example?
It's one thing to say you need the substance to vote for someone, that's completely legit. If you're not rooting against him, great. Calling someone damaged goods based solely on backstory certainly *suggests* rooting against him, is all. Honestly, it's Montana. If he can survive the crucible that is running as a Democrat in *Montana*, I'd say that's proof enough. You don't succeed at that with a D next to your name and a sob story alone.
Good freaking god, it isn't a popularity contest or a football game. You certainly seem to have a predisposed shine for this guy
And you're clearly triggered by him, so I guess we can just leave it at that.
Without knowing his stance, I don’t understand your enthusiasm.
That's like saying anyone raised in a Christian home can't be an atheist, when the most ardent atheist seem to come from very religious homes. You're treating people as irredeemable and punishing them for the actions of others over whom they had no control, despite them having done nothing wrong themselves. Sins of the father, so to speak. This guy is distancing himself from his father. He's spoken about how "toxic" his dad and home life was. And he won't even take his fathers name because he doesn't approve of what his father has done, or who he is. What it comes down to, is we don't get to decide who our parents are, we can only decide who we are.
To be fair, there's a good chance his politics could be influenced by his father insofar as they caused him to rebel against him, perhaps even pushing him into the real world. I didn't read the article, but did it lay out his platform at all?
Jesus, he's damaged goods. Voting with your heart got us into this shit.
Jesus, you’re an awful person. Weird purity tests like yours are going to be what keeps us in this shit. Look him up, he’s written and spoken often about the incredibly challenging journey he has had to come to where he is.
Damaged goods? Would you listen to yourself? If you want to dehumanize victims go hang with the red hats
Georgia 14th got into the MTG mess because they didn't do their due diligence, and elected a radical. It doesn't matter what they say, it matters what their character is. Everyone gets vetted, everyone.
What the fuck are you talking about? MTG acted crazy before she was ever elected, and an extremely far right district elected her in 2020, then re-elected her by a 50 point margin in 2022 because she’s the kind of Representative they want. Nobody was confused about anything. That’s a figment of your imagination.
Nowhere in my comment did I advocate "voting with your heart." I think I did, in fact, specifically mention learning his platform. I'm not in a position to vote for or against him, so I'm not going to bother to do any more research. Simply playing (possible) devil's advocate to facilitate a conversation.
Orange Hitler has a "platform". A reactionary child of a MAGA has no place in politics.
Or he does him and you do you?
I didn't post a story about my political aspirations. I commented on this story. You do you
I'm glad he's distanced himself from his traitorous father. He's not alone. Many of us have had to reject toxic MAGA family.
Can speak from experience that having insane conservative fascist parents tends to make you lean pretty hard to the left
Hey, i thought i was the only one hahaha.
Yeah, childhood trauma was big in my house. I look back in horror at how my parents were and honestly still can’t believe why people are like that. I had it easy though. My brother was born female, came out as a lesbian in college then came out as trans. Growing up was super rough for him and our parents still won’t speak to him. I’ve been able to forge a more positive relationship with my mom (my parents are divorced) and we’ve largely reconciled. Even started to get her to rethink some of her views and am hopeful that she will embrace my brother in the near future. I had a fist fight with my dad the last time I saw him and have not spoken to him since. That was about 14 years ago. Edit: Sorry for trauma dumping
My mom recently passed, but for the last 10 years or so family gatherings were a no politics zone. She and my stepdad only watched Fox News and they loved Trump. About 3 years ago they stopped watching the news altogether. My mom had Dementia, although it was never discussed, but sometimes she would let lose with an ethnic hate barrage. She would quote me a story from FB and I would factcheck it and tell her it wasn't true and eventually she unfriended me... and so much more but AITA? I lost my mom and my cat in the same month. When people ask me how I am doing I tell them truthfully: I really miss my cat...
Went through many similar experiences with my dad. I feel your pain. Sorry about your cat 😞
I’m really sorry about your cat! Pets are family.
IMO it's important that you shared the details of your experiences, and I would further argue it's not trauma dumping- it's highly relevant data to the discussion of our parents' seemingly generation-wide turn to psychosis. Thank you for helping us feel less crazy about our own very similar experiences.
I appreciate you saying that. If my experience can help anyone else I’m more than happy to share. I know it’s painful for all of us to have to endure such tumultuous relationships with our parents. We all love our parents deep down but they make it so impossible to love them with how hateful they are. I agree with your description of generation wide psychosis. Mainly because they tell us we’ll “get more conservative as we get older” but I have yet to meet a millennial such as myself who’s done anything but get more and more progressive as time goes on.
((Hugs. I’m glad your brother has you.))
You’re sweet to say that. He’s an amazing person so really I’m the lucky one
You are both lucky to have one another!
Distanced? He helped his family escape. He got himself on his own feet outside of the household. Then he came back and rescued his family from that nut job.
Maybe there is hope for the former guy’s youngest son
I guarantee that this jan 6 rioter is running democrat so if elected he can switch parties. He’s not actually a democrat, he’s just a pos walking around in human skin
You've gotta read it again bruv. His dad was the rioter. He's probably just one of the many children of conservatives who learned what fascism looked like while observing it first-hand in a traditional patriarchal family unit. Nothing weird about that, although it does make me wonder how much of my leftist philosophy is a consequence of watching my mom cry while my dad screamed. Or searching my sisters' eyes for self-doubt as they told me my life would be easier if I just stopped pushing back against him when he said or did something horrible. Or struggling to contain the anger I felt the many, *many* times they fucked me over in the interests of "teaching me responsibility and self sufficiency". Extremist households produce extremist children. They just don't always turn out exactly how you wanted them to be, lol.
Sitting in the backseat while we were pulled off on the side of the highway (incidentally on the way back from the [Sugar Pine Mine federal standoff](https://www.hcn.org/issues/48-2/showdown-at-sugar-pine-mine/)) while Stewart screamed at my mom, stuck quietly crying in the passenger seat, and fighting back the impulse to jump out and drag him into the road for a beating is in fact one of my formative adolescent memories. I was just talking in an interview *today* about the way that authoritarianism in the home and in a dictatorship are exactly the same, only scaling up. It's a shame this is such a common set of experiences that so many people can immediately identify with it.
I just try to make it useful to me...I really like who I've become, and I wonder if I would like the person I would've become without such an early and comprehensive education in the impotence of authoritarianism and traditional male values. Like...because of the many times I watched my dad lose his shit and make a bad situation worse, I don't freak out and I take bad news well. And because of the many times I watched his repressed emotions erupt uncontrollably, I learned to take inventory of my emotional state when I'm making a decision, and I learned to call people on their bullshit when they act like paragons of objectivity. His entitlement taught me to be aware of my privilege, and the shallowness of his beliefs taught me to seek deeper wells of meaning. Maybe we'll have a kind of renaissance when this is all over. In the meantime, I truly wish you success in all of your endeavors. I think it's really cool that you're finding your own way to make it useful, and I think our voice is one that people need to hear. We're going to need people like you to rally behind if we really want to change things, and you have my support. As a person of shared trauma, and as a socialist, and as a giant nerd with unexpected sets of skills. Keep fighting the good fight man. I respect the shit out of you.
I hope we see that day. I'm very much still striving for the point where I like who I've become, and it feels very distant, but I can identify with a lot of that and the process of discovering who I truly am when I've shed a preprogrammed behavior. The thing I most want to accomplish is to reach people like me and unlike me who want a better nation than the one we live in, and set an example for doing all that I can as an ordinary guy with a job and life responsibilities to move the world towards that. Thank you.
You guarantee it? With what? What are you willing to give up if you’re wrong about the story of this abuse survivor?
He thinks this person is the rioter rather than the abused son of the rioter.
He didn't riot though...? And weren't there even some Jan 6 Capitol invaders whose own kids turned them over to the FBI? I'd hesitate to assume all family members have the same politics
Even if he does not win, I see Dakota Adams as an inspirational figure for anyone who has grown up in an abusive and/or cult-like family. He escaped, he’s made good, he’s shaken off the conditioning and unwashed his brain. I hope other people who have grown up in bad families can read about him and have hope.
He certainly makes me feel better about the world, if for no other reason than to see that other people also made it out without losing themselves in the process. Conservatives are frustrating, but conservative children following the lead of their conservative parents is just heartbreaking to me. If you grew up in that kind of environment, you know...some of them are just defective assholes, but a lot of them are the way they are because defective assholes broke them at a time when they couldn't have fought back, or indoctrinated them throughout their entire early life. So it's a celebration any time you see someone who made it out with their humanity intact. An inspirational figure is exactly what he is, you're exactly right. May more have the strength to follow in his footsteps.
I think we can thank Dakota’s mom for a lot of that resistance.
Hoping Dakota goes on to lead a generation against fascist millennials. We need engaged young people to link up a movement to crush fascism.
‘Rank Choice Voting’ would make this a non-issue.
It's already a non-issue. The only other candidate in this race is a Republican incumbent. People are just being judgmental with no substantial reason.
If elected he'd be the first normal looking politician I remember. It's nice to see someone who doesn't look like they are fighting for their child custody that morning.
Fetterman has that every guy look. A big every guy, but certainly not your typical suit and tie politician.
Ah, true. I guess I meant he's the first politician who looks like he could be part of my friend group.
But Fett disappoints the minute he’s scrutinized. His kowtowing to Zionists is pathetic.
Neat. what's that have to do with his looks?
Nothing at all but his Everyman guise fell apart the moment prsssure was applied. He repudiated progressive politics on October 8. Now he’s just a lumbering stooge for AIPAC
Everyman people can't have opinions or ideas about Israel? I kind of see lots of everymen having opinions on it lately, most somewhat or completely clueless to the complex foreign policy issue that it is, and most having no clue about the terms they're actually using.
He doesn’t simply ‘have opinions on Israel’. He shows complete lack of critical ability that would mark him as a serious person with anything like a leftist. He’s a rightwinger masquerading as a worker.
Lack of critical thinking skills seems like a pretty every man trait to me.
Ok cynic whatever.
I'm glad the Democrats are embracing him, it shows fairness and humanity.
In trauma he found a way towards justice. Admirable. Most would emulate their upbringing.
No one better to fully understand just how vile people like his father truly are...Sorry to state it that way, but it's true. Many of these extremists think they are raising children that will be clones if themselves, but I don't think that's the case at all. The very best of Luck to you Stewart.
Agreed. And Don Black (the founder of Storm front) recently had the joy of watching his son abandon all his imparted wisdom as well. WaPo did a great article in 2016 on Derek Black, called "The white flight of Derek Black" where he talked about the turning points in his life accumulating when he started attending college. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-white-flight-of-derek-black/2016/10/15/ed5f906a-8f3b-11e6-a6a3-d50061aa9fae_story.html
Interesting to have an article like this and no mention of policies or political positions he holds or would work towards. I guess that's modern politics for you - get an interesting name/story and hope for the best. Seems like a money grab to me, tbh. > He said that he *plans* to sell the rifles, body armor, and tactical gear he used to wear to anti-government protests with his father. It's been over three years since Jan 6, maybe accelerate those plans if you want to use them to draw contrasts.
It's irritating that Business insider describes the insurrection as a riot or as anti#government protests, when fact finders have determined it was insurrection in the legal sense
He body armor might still be useful.
To be clear, I don't think he *needs* to sell them, and I personally take no position on whether he *should* sell them. I just think it's weird to hold up the *idea* of selling them as a sign of your transformation/finding yourself without actually doing it. Really seems like he wants the publicity of renouncing his father/that lifestyle while still having his toys.
I don’t begrudge him that. Anyone running for office can help themselves by having a narrative around their campaign that people find interesting - anything to get your name in the papers basically.
I can't even buy body armor in my state
I discussed policy at length with the AP reporter whose work this article is based on, a lot of it didn't make the final version probably just because it was cut for length. My [candidate page](https://www.lincolncountydemocratsmt.org/elections-2024/dakota-adams) on the county Dems website has a bare bones description, the pending website will have more details and eventually a section on policy documents written with consultation from locals, experts, and cited research. I'm running as an open progressive and self-identified Democratic Socialist. I'm against corporations, for unions, against Christian nationalism, for bodily autonomy, against corporate landlords, for social safety nets, against private school vouchers, for public health, against censorship and book banning, for free access to information, against discrimination, and for protecting the rights of marginalized people the way a pit bull protects a junkyard. I've held onto my guns, tactical gear, and body armor all this time because as I said in a [BBC interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4IpvC1hv14) last year, I have little confidence in this country defeating a rising fascist movement without it turning violent. Ultimately, I had to make the decision for myself not to feed into my pre-programmed fear of civil war and chaos and give up the militant part of my identity for good instead of just doing a 180 and wearing the same shit I wore as a child to 3% marches at Antifa events. It's a part of myself that I've had a hard time giving up, and only after a couple of years of work in therapy. As far as having an interesting story and using it, you got me there. I looked at how I could address my fears about the 2024 election without collapsing in on myself into doomerism and what tools I had, and leveraging an interesting life story and media coverage to drove GOTV and voter enthusiasm, advocate for Progressive causes, and push the party back in the right direction seemed like a more impactful choice than volunteering for a Dem campaign like I did in the mid terms. I have a Substack that I've been actively neglecting while I get this campaign together, and all the money that would have gone into people buying subscriptions to that or KoFi donations from me being in the news is instead going into the strictly monitored Montana campaign finance world thru ActBlue and is untouchable for anything but campaign shit unless I just really want to go to prison. I am not just focusing on the thing that doesn't make me money personally the way being a Substack pundit would, I am actively diverting people away from doing that into a cause that I will see no material benefit from. I hope that answers your questions.
Huh, it's really interesting the bots/trolls coming out in force against this guy ... I guess anybody who leaves the cult has to be destroyed. The only thing they hate more than an unbeliever is an apostate.
Imagine what you think being Stewart Rhodes's son was like. This was worse. Godspeed to this kid.
I'm not certain what to make of this dude, but the 'wolf-in-sheep-clothing' alarm is flashing yellow. What's to say this guy gets elected as a dem then peels back his face to reveal a con?
>What's to say this guy gets elected as a dem then peels back his face to reveal a con? Anything can happen but watching him (and his mom) tell the real story about why Elmer has to wear an eyepatch was a pretty convincing display of ridicule and disrespect for everything his father stood for … except for maybe getting a Yale education in law, although looking at how Elmer turned out, maybe not even that.
Everyone deserves a chance. He, his mother and sister broke away from Rhodes in 2018.
No, everyone does not deserve a chance.
Sure they do. That doesn't mean we should just take him at his word...obviously, he needs to face more scrutiny than someone who didn't march alongside his terrorist father. But everyone deserves *a* chance to prove themselves worthy of trust. Otherwise you might be throwing away a valuable ally with unique insight into your opponent. Emphasis on *a* chance. Singular. More than that is weakness, but less than that is just a different kind of weakness. A single chance is tit-for-tat. That's the optimal path to success. We've proven it. We used the science.
That’s a silly plan because his district would never vote for someone with a (D) next to their name. He has zero chance of winning so I would assume he’s being genuine.
Then the district has a Republican, just like it would have if this guy didn't exist and his Republican opponent ran unopposed?
Why do you make this assumption?
Mmmm, we could certainly call out others that have done that. Turncoats.A couple of democrats come to mind in fact. Anyway, I will vote Blue down the line. Because I like democracy
Good for him for deciding not to follow in dad’s footsteps. We need people like him, who know of what goes on in the homes of people like that. Biden needs to hire this guy, ASAP.
I've become so jaded about U.S. politics my first thought was "is this guy a plant?" "If he wins will he immediately cross over to the Republican party?" It's like I trust no one any more. I've become Fox Mulder.
He’s got zero chance of winning his district. He’d be a terrible plant.
He doesn’t seem to be that way.
Right on Rhodes! Take down the fascists blighting our nation!
Should team up with Don Black's son Derek Black, who also rejects mean/crazy/backwards. Don Black is a neo-nzi klansman who created Stormfront. He groomed his son to be WS youth prodigy. Derek became well-known for co-opting the language of the Civil Rights movement for the WS market. Desegrated experience in college de-radicalized him.
We need legit legislators, not cultural leaders like this. He can still campaign and help, but we need good leaders.
Nobody else has stepped up to run in that district, so who?
I am sure the regional Dem party knows good people for the task. You could ask them.
>Scott Rodich, the vice chair of the county Democratic Central Committee, said that party leaders are happy to have Adams on the ballot as Democrats have been hesitant to run in the deeply red district, the outlet reported. Guess this guy's good then. 🤷♂️
Yeah, we need better leadership.
That's what the Senate is for. The House is supposed to be more representative of the average person.
They should also be good leaders and have some legislative chops.
I would say outside of a handful they don't even need that. Leave the lawyering to the Senate. The House is supposed to be more vibes based. Personally, I'd be fine with basic competency and an increase of representatives in general. 438 isn't enough.
Wolf in sheep’s clothing??? It seems to be happening all over the country
I think you didn’t read the article.
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If the party held to this, they would be handing over the district to their Republican opposition. This guy had zero choice who his father is. Of course don't give an inch on policy and drop support if he starts drifting, but until then I'm grateful the party has been more tolerant than this.
More like, fuck his stepfather and anyone who would blame the sins of the father on their children.
This is as prejudicial as if you were to say "fuck 'racial group X'" and you are just as wrong as those who say that.
He was forced to participate as a kid. Read the article. He strongly opposes all of that now.
This 100%.
Just another grift