When Mao Zedong was losing his iron grip on China in 1966, after his disastrous “Great Leap Forward from 1958 to 1962, in which thirty to forty Million people, mostly Peasants, died from starvation, forced labor and executions…

To consolidate his power once again… he created the “Red Guards” as the enforcement part of his new revolution, “The Cultural Revolution,” which lasted from 1966 to his death in 1976.

“Revisionist Authorities”

Mao launched the Cultural Revolution to combat what he called “Revisionist Authorities” … Those he considered as being insufficiently revolutionary… In the Chaos and Violence created by the youthful Zealots of the Red Guard, dictating what was a “sufficiently good” communist…and what was not. One Million, Six Hundred Thousand people died, who did not meet their expectations of being “Good Enough.”

When Mao Zedong died in 1976, the reign of terror caused by his Cultural Revolution slowly wound down after fierce internal fighting between the CCP Army and the Red Guard factions, in which thousands more people were killed.

“Gang of Four”

In the smoking aftermath the “Gang of Four” emerged as the scapegoat ringleaders of the cultural revolution…all the blame for everything that went wrong was placed upon them.

These four low or middle ranking officials were charged with leveraging their good standing with Mao and using their ability and authority to manipulate the media into reporting that everyone who were opposed to the “Culture Revolution,” were what caused the failure OF, Great Leap Forward, and thus, all the death, suffering, which ensued. The Gang of Four, were later shamed as heartless people who possessed a ruthless (narcissistic) desire to eliminate (kill) all opposition to their selfish agenda.

These four were later (1980-1981) tried and convicted for their activities during the Cultural Revolution, they were all sentenced to death… But as the brutality, and dictatorial abuses of Mao’s entire reign of terror and Governmental corruption along with the absurdity of the entire Maoist tragedy, became known to the public… these sentences were later commuted to lengthy prison sentences.

Cultural Revolution of Oriental, NC

The Cultural Revolution of Oriental, NC began back in November 2023 with the election of a new town board of Commissioners, and shortly after assuming authority in early 2024… the Purity Inquisitions began with the unabashed help of the limited local media A.K.A. “CNN South.dotnet”.

The first act of Mao’s Culture Revolution was the total distortion and condemnation of a popular theater performance at the time, called “Hai Rui Dismissed from Office.”

This play was based on a Loyal Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) minister, who took it upon himself to reversed unjust land confiscations of peasant lands… which raised current controversy that reflected badly on Mao’s recently failed “Great Leap Forward” where all lands were confiscated by Mao for “The Greater Good of The People.”

Gang of Three and One Half in Oriental

Similarly, the first act of the Gang of Three and One Half in Oriental, was a  gross distortion and misrepresentation of the plight of one public works employee… that soon became the focal point of our very own Blindly Vile form of a “Maoist Purity Inquisitions”, in which our own version of the Oriental Red Guard was foaming at the mouth in our public meetings demanding the removal of three commissioners, along with personal slurs and direct attacks on their moral character. It was the ugliest thing I have ever witnessed in the Town of Oriental, in the past 30 years.

The saddest part was that it was a one-sided diatribe by the gang of 3-1/2, in which 90% has proven to be demonstratable False, 5% pure fictional and the remaining 5% purely in the realm of personal interpretation… Logic, fact, and sober reasoning played absolutely no part in it for the first few months.

Without the propaganda distributed at the town meetings by one gang member… The obfuscation of facts and intent by another gang member… Along with blatant mischaracterizations, and baseless accusations from the gang’s fraudulent, floor bully, member…And lastly the lack of civilized meeting protocols, which allowed this ugly charade to blossom and take root by the last gang member… I doubt this ugliness could have gotten far… but it did.

In the first few meetings the specifically invited citizenry, were easily transformed into a mindless mob…by these actions, which was bad enough… But when the added echoing and promotion of these Shenanigans as fact by CCN South.dotnet, was injected into the mix… It managed to turn a Peaceful, Welcoming, and Loving Town… into a Snake Pit for about six months until the delusion was lifted… it was freaking horrible to see my “neighbors” turn into the Red Guard right before my eyes.

This dark spell, directly out of Steven King’s Novel, “Needful Things” hung over the entire town until the next town meeting when people who knew the facts… and finally had enough, stood up and proved the $47.00 Pansy Extortion caper was 100% false, and the Great Pickleball court repair funding rip-off was also nothing but malicious misinformation…

“Forced from his “Forever Home”

When the plight of the Town employee was reviewed with sober hearts and clear minds, it became known that his being “Forced from his “Forever Home” … included a pay raise of between 50 and 100% due to the training, experience, and certifications he received while working the past decade for the town… And far from being homeless after being “forced” to leave his job and “Forever Home” … he has returned triumphantly to his ancestral hometown to live with his extended family… having risen from an hourly laborer… to a “Professional” in a profession that averages $186,000.00 per year in North Carolina, a sum, TWO towns of Oriental could never match…

Seems this “Horror Story” disguises a Success Story for both he and his wife… who also worked her way up from an hourly employee to a certified professional, while working for the Town of Oriental.

All this, sounds like an American success story to me… receiving training, experience, and certification with one employer and stepping UP the ladder of success with another larger employer…  not a “Snidely Whiplash” saga about widows and orphans being “Mercilessly driven from their forever Home.”

Using the same Emotionally Sober look, at the alleged callous and abusive intentions of the three slandered commissioners towards all the town employees… Started out to be a desire to establish clearly written “Best Management Practices” (BMP’s) for all the employees and move away from the poorly organized and patchwork employment policies the town developed in fits and starts, over the last 30 + years as it grew and expanded.

“Financial Review”

Furthermore, the  “financial review” which had raised so much hysteria and became the spearhead of the most vicious personal attacks… was being conducted by one of the town’s board members… who is an active and certified Accounting Professional… Was originally appointed and tasked, by the Previous Board to satisfy the requirements of rectifying an oversight by the town…which landed the town on a minor NC State “Black-List” for this oversight.

It was not a self-appointed witch hunt to “find the goods” and fire the town manager/employees on corruption or incompetence charges…

All this Vile, Venomous, and “Self-Righteousness” accusations… loudly proclaimed by the Needful Things Mob… turned out to be smoke and mirrors designed to divide us and turn us against each other… Like what happens to the town’s people in “Needful Things.”

However, I cannot assign this to a general malevolent Evil Spirt passing through town, as in the book… Whatever caused this malevolence… distilled it down to only one person towards the end…Why? Who gets the benefit, who profits from all this pain?

All this insinuated (to introduce (something, such as an idea) gradually or in a subtle, indirect, or covert way… insinuate doubts into a trusting mind) Skullduggery, hatred, and pressure eventually focused upon only one commissioner, down from the original three… In an Open/Blatant attempt to get them to resign under the weight of this vile personal slander, and erroneously ginned up “Public Outcry” worthy of the Red Guard themselves.

One must ask oneself “Why?”

I can only speculate (to take to be true on the basis of insufficient evidence : theorize : to be curious or doubtful about : wonder) That IF the Gang of Three and One Half were successful… in forcing one or more commissioners to resign, by spuing all this unfounded hate and discontent… what would happen next?

Under existing rules and protocols…the remaining board members would be required to appoint another person to fill out the vacant term(s)… And they are NOT bound by past election results… they could have appointed anyone they please, including another gang member(s), who recently chose not to seek reelection, as the replacement, commissioner, … Thus, upgrading them to the gang of “Four and One Half,” and giving them complete control of the Town Government.

Notice I said I was “Speculating” … I am not accusing… but I am wondering about the great amount of effort that went into promoting what turned out to be demonstratable false information, and the viciousness of the personal attacks. I have backed the wrong horse on too many occasions in my life… and I DO have strong colorful Opinions on every topic… I have also found that my strongest held opinions earn me a larger portion of humble pie, if they turn out to be incorrect… But I have not found it necessary to become so ugly about the whole thing as we all recently experienced in the beginning of the year.

Just Like the Drama Washington DC, just like the hateful Red Guard in China, the corruption of the Human Spirit can now also be found right here in Oriental, NC, the place We All moved to escape that crap! …

People are always going to disagree… but we need NOT become disagreeable/confrontational, as we ALL confront the issues that face OUR town. I can say what I mean, but not be mean when I say it… If I figured that out… I am optimistic the rest of us can too… But WE must Work at it…Taking the time and effort to get involved, is NOT a skill in abundance today.

Was the Gang of 3-1/2 responsible/pushing for the unrest? Or am “I” lying to you now?

If you read and only listen to me… you will only have half the story…AND you will be letting me, make up Your mind for You! ***The same is true the other way round!!***

Ideally, you would get three or five varied information sources, study them all, looking for repeatable facts/statistics and “Make Up Your Own Mind” … Do Not let yourself get carried away on Any Emotional Bender… The hangover from it is Horribly Exhausting, Extremely Divisive, and Spiritually Damaging, not to mention counterproductive for the issues AND everyone else involved.

If we do not keep eternal vigilance on discovering the WHOLE Truth about whatever “News” we hear… We become like the Lyrics of that Old Song from “The Boxer” by Simon & Garfunkel 1970

“A man hears what he wants to hear… and disregards the rest.”

Gregory Bohmert