October 27, 2025 • 31 mins
Freemasonry teaches its members to be good men and active citizens, yet it famously prohibits the discussion of partisan politics within the Lodge to preserve harmony among its Brethren. So, what happens when a Mason steps out of the Lodge and onto the campaign trail? We sit down with Bro. Matt Brockbank for Town Supervisor, who is currently running for Town Supervisor of North Greenbush. We’ll explore his family connection in public service, and how he lives our Masonic values in local politics.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Commons. Opinions and views shared during this program are
of those individual Freemasons and do not reflect the official
position of a Grand Launch, Concordant Body, a Pendant Body,
Masonic authority, or Craftsman Online dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Hey, welcome back to the Craftsman Online Podcast, the only
Masonic podcast endorsed by the Grand Lodge in New York.
I'm your host, right worship o, Brother Michael Arse, and
you've joined us for a topic on the level we're
going to get into freemasonry and public service. First couple
housekeeping notes, We are looking to get twenty new Patreon
subscribers before the end of the year, and a big
(00:48):
thank you this week to our latest Patreon subscriber, Dwight Lewis,
gave us a five dollars holler every month. Thank you,
Dwight for supporting the Craftsman Online podcast and our mission
to connect men just like you with an in freemasonry
to our ancient and gentle craft. What do you get
as a Patreon subscriber, Well, no more of the ads
I know you're gonna miss him. You get our episodes
(01:09):
a week early and access to all of our subscriber
extra episodes, which will feature this week's guest on Thursday,
So it's like two for the price of one. It's
amazing and it's only five dollars a month, and we
love you for helping us out on Patreon. Also a
reminder to save the date our third annual Black Friday
holiday shopping episode sponsored by Bricksmasons dot com and it
(01:32):
returns on Monday November twenty fourth, or Monday November seventeenth
if you are a Patreon listener. Brother Matthew Brockbank will
be joining us as we continue our holiday tradition of
finding gifts for those hard to find brothers and Freemasons
this holiday season. Well, he just happens to be our
(01:54):
guest this week, and I could go on and gush
about how much he is one of my favorite brothers
as he joins us to talk about a topic that
is hitting home. Running for Town supervisor of North Greenbush,
New York. Brother Matthew Brockbank, Welcome back to the Craftsman
Online podcast.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Oh thank you, thank you.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
I funny thing and we'll get into it later about
you know, my politics, my father's politics. But I always
like to tell the story how I exist physically in
this world. Because of politics. My parents met at a
Young Republicans meeting, and if it wasn't for politics, I
(02:35):
wouldn't be here. I tell people, you know, it's not
destiny or anything. It's just that, yes, like I you know,
I've been around it so long that I was born
because of it.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I thought for sure your parents met at the Enchantment
under the Sea dance in nineteen fifty five.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Yes, yes, Back to the Future was based on them.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
So growing up in your house, politics conversations about law, citizenship,
freemasonry was just just common dinner table entertainment. Or did
your dad never really bring work home so to speak?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (03:16):
No, it was politics all the time. And it's not
that he didn't bring it home. I'm sure you remember,
you know, the office which you visited to, you know,
learn about preemasonry from you know, Black Bank University. The
office was attached to the house, so literally, work at
law masonry was always at home.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
It's you know, I grew up with it, just around it.
You know.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
It's like someone whose father or mother might be in
the trades of some kind and they just grow up
around it and they take to it like a fish
to water.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I'm excited because I know that I'm going to have
a conversation about something that people are going to start
flipping out about, like they're talking about politics on a
Masonic podcast.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Oh oh gosh.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
It is one of the forbidden fruits right of freemasonry.
You're not supposed to talk about politics in the lodge room.
But it happens. It happens. It always does because people ask, oh,
how you do it? Well, you know, most people when
they are asked how are they doing? They you know,
it sometimes gets back to politics. So it's hard to
(04:21):
avoid it, even though it's not supposed to.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Happen, right, And I think that that's the I'd like
that we breach this topic like right quick early here
in at the beginning. So I like to say that
a lot of the conversations about religion and politics that
aren't supposed to happen inside of a lodge during a meeting,
As you point out, those usually take place they call
them parking lot conversations. Or if your lodge has a
(04:43):
bar or a dinner or some sort of meal, that's
where guys will just kind of have a conversation. And
why can they have this conversation even if it's with
people who don't share the same viewpoints that they have
because we know this other person, we trust this other person,
we can this other person. We know that this brother
that we're having a conversation with isn't like even our
(05:05):
neighbor or family member that may have a different viewpoint
than us. That if we start having this conversation, you're
going to have to go get the hose out of
the front yard to bray people down so that the
fight doesn't break out. Because it just doesn't happen in
our lodges. I've seen guys disagree, but then i've seen
one walk away or them just say hey, let's just
stop having this conversation and move on to something else.
(05:25):
I've never seen it escalate to that. Next point also
to that is that we don't talk about politics during
our meetings. But here's the thing we kind of do,
as you point out, because if we're doing something in
the community, supporting another nonprofit or community organization or a
strategic community partnership that maybe the lodge has formed, it's
(05:47):
all going to be based on them sharing the same
values or mission that we have in freemasonry or as
men who make up that lodge. So there is that
political connection there as well, not always about what letters
come after your name if you're running for office, or
who you voted for for president when we talk about politics.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
No, very true, And I think that Masonry has always
done a good job at not you know, endorsing a
specific candidate or denouncing another candidate, even one who is
a brother.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
You know, I don't think I've.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Ever seen Freemasonry in any regard, you know, blatantly come
out in support of go canvas for or or you know,
do some kind of mailing or phone calling for a
specific candidate as a lodge. Now, don't get me wrong,
I'm sure it has happened before. I'm sure it will
happen in the future, and I'm sure it's happening now somewhere.
(06:43):
I'm sure that there is somebody running for some office
in some lodge in America, and I'm very sure that
those brothers are like, yeah, let's help, and they're all
getting together and they're all doing that work.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Hopefully it's not on the.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Lodge's dime or on lodge time, because I think that
would be a blat misuse of you know, the powers
of freemasonry. If you will, like what you said earlier.
You know, when it comes down to what we want
to do about charity, what are our policies? You know,
what kind of things do we value as brothers. It's
(07:20):
it's going to cross over into politics. It almost has to,
because politics in and of itself is a value driven entity.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And it becomes a challenge to you in the world
that we live in because you try to work for
or work with a charity let's just say toys for
Tots for a toy drive, or you want to be
the bell ringing. I know a lot of brothers that
do that with the Salvation Army.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
My dad does. Yes, it does that exact thing.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yes, And then you hear from one brother, oh, I
really can't do that because you know they also support
and then that's when the ugly side of politics come out.
You're like, yeah, but that's those people from that organization
decided to make We're not talking about the wonderful people
and the impact and the difference that we make in
the life lives of people who benefit from the work
that we do. Like let's try to So that's where
(08:04):
things can get a little sticky. I want to get
back to you and running for office because you shared
your campaign website from it with me. We're going to
get that in the notes for this episode, the link
so that people can go out and support Matthew Brockbank,
who was running for town supervisor of North green Bush. So,
first of all, paint the picture of what the wonderful
(08:26):
hamlet of North Greenbush, New York, is like, and what
would your job be if you get elected as town supervisor.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
Obviously, upstate New York is home to Albany, the capital,
and across the Hudson River from Albany is a town
called Troy. Some know it as the birthplace of Uncle Sam.
Outside of Troy is a town called North green Bush.
North green Bush, being a town doesn't get a mayor.
Cities get mayors and towns get supervisors. The current board
(08:57):
is doing good. The current supervisor is a good and
he's doing good. There's nothing bad about this. I'm not
running because oh my god, it's a five alarm emergency
and I need to get in there and fix it.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
You know, everything was messed up. We got to get
in there and clean it out. That's not that at all.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
I think that North Greenbush could be even better. I
have a vision for North green Bush beyond where it
is right now, and I think a lot of the
townsfolk also agree and want to see more from North Greenbush.
I want North Greenbish to be not a tourist destination
per se, but I want people to come to North Greenbush.
(09:35):
I want it to be a destination. I want people
in the country, not just the state, the country to
point to North Greenbush and say that is a place
where government still works for the people.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
We're talking with the brother Matthew Brockbank, whose website is
Matt Brockbank, so that's b roc k ba NK dot com.
Matt Brockbank dot com is if you'd like to learn
more about him and his campaign for North green Bush
Town Supervisor. Looking at your website, besides the attractive, you know,
thirty somethingter guy there on the homepage, I thought it
(10:13):
was interesting. Is this scrolling down? You have some images
on your website, and for those that can't see it,
it's John Lewis, Abraham Lincoln Fdr. And Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration
that you're pulling from these figures, one or two of
which are are Masons but also known as being public servants.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Right there, you took the words out of my mouth
public servants. These four individuals they inspire me more than
most others because at the end of the day, I
think their fealty was always to the people they instituted,
and they pushed for laws that really really benefited folks
(11:02):
with FDR. You know, you're talking about the New Deal,
right John Lewis was God. I mean, he marched with
partin Luther King, you know there there. I don't think
we have a stronger voice in civil rights, you know,
uh than John Lewis. And of course you know he
lived to a ripe old age and never once, never once,
you know, put down his quote unquote you know, working
(11:23):
tools because he.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Got in good trouble.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Even after passing posthumously, he released a small essay I'll
put it, which is you can find it on YouTube,
voiced by Morgan Freeman. And by god, I mean the
man never stopped fighting. If that's not an inspiration, geez.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
I don't. I don't know, come on, I don't know what.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Obviously, I think one of the
one of the greatest civil rights justices of our time.
She just respected other people, even though she had other
justices who were on the complete opposite side of the
spectrum from her. You know, she was larger than life,
even when some of the men around her were already tightened.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
And physically they were mostly like twice as big as her.
These men.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Yes, she was. She was badass. And of course Abraham
Lincoln I think he is.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
While obviously you know, accredited uh with the Civil War
and bringing about an end to slavery. Uh, I think
that he is also one of the most misunderstood presidents.
Abraham Lincoln, in my opinion, is always credited as being
(12:39):
a Republican when in fact he was a liberal. So
back then, uh, the the parties were a little topsy turvy.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
The Democrats were the conservatives during Lincoln's time, and the
Republicans were the liberals. His idea is what he wanted
to do. He was much more of a liberal thinker
than a conservative.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
This is a conversation I kind of had with your father,
who's no longer the city attorney, but still serving the
city as an attorney in Schenectady. He had long since
put away his political working tools, so to speak, but
he was still a lawyer, and it was always interesting
because Masonry is known for values and principles, and that
(13:52):
doesn't apply to all lawyers. That's why there's so many
good lawyer jokes. I'm sure it's even even more slippery
because the world we live in now, we don't see
political candidates as as leaders anymore. We see them as
quote unquote politicians. How do you navigate through this? You know,
(14:13):
Matthew Brockbank, the candidate, Matthew Brockbank, that the husband, the
local guy, the Masonic brother, and also Matthew Matthew Brockbank,
the guy who's running for town supervisor.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
I am pretty unapologetic about who I am, you know,
besides running for politics here and besides being a Masonic brother,
besides being all those things.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
You know, I'm a.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Political activist as well. And I was that before you know,
any of something. Actually I was. I was a political
activist before some of these other things that you mentioned,
all these other titles. And I don't just mean, you know,
a political activist in terms of uh, you know, being
in the streets and protesting. I mean I when I
was uh well, obviously, when I was a kid, I
(14:57):
did help my dad with his campaigns, right, But when
I was in college, you know, I would go canvassing.
I I you know, I worked to help get a
couple of governors elected. You know, I did work. You know,
I got my hands dirty. And then, of course, uh,
you know, in the recent you know, a couple of
years here, since twenty twenty, I've been a major political
activist and I have been a proud member of our
(15:21):
local Indivisible chapter. So you know, politics is not just
the kind of quote unquote business of operating the town.
But to me, it's about civics at a very basic level.
I believe that everybody, literally, I believe everybody should take
(15:42):
some interest or be involved in civics in some way,
shape or form. And I when I say that, I
also pair that with putting a huge restraint upon people
who run for office, myself included. I would love to
see term limits, age limits, and ranked choice voting, or
(16:03):
just a complete overhaul of the American voting system, because
I think it's kind of busted, honestly, and it doesn't
make a lot of sense. There's but we could get into.
We could do ten podcasts on what's wrong with American politics.
And I don't mean that it's bad or evil. I
just mean that, you know, it's kind of outdated. You know,
it needs some updating, it needs it needs some common
sense fixes, because I don't think it's doing the best
(16:27):
job of democracy right now. I think if you were
to give it a democracy score, I think giving it
a C would be general.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
You hit a word that I've been just doing on
for a long time with just civics, and I remember
taking that class in eighth grade, and they really don't
teach it in our schools anymore. And I think that's
such a central part of what the American story was
was being a citizen, and that's what the whole democracy
in the republic that we have was kind of established
and followed off of with what was going on in
the Roman times. But here we are in freemasonry, and
(16:58):
we also have a really strong set of values and
symbolic lessons that are steeped immorality. And we're also armed
with these wonderful things called the working tools. And for
our listener, they're like, oh, yes, I know all those
things that you're talking about, and this is fantastic. Instead
of it being a challenge to be a politician and
a Freemason because of maybe some issue with morality, which
(17:20):
I can tell is not a problem for Matt at all,
Like that's not anything to worry about. But do you
find yourself talking to constituents or just folks on the
street and reaching into your Masonic bag of working tool
themes and ideas and sharing them with John Q public dude.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
All the time?
Speaker 4 (17:44):
And I as much as I have taken steps away
from masonry because I'm simply too busy unfortunately, or you know,
it's been because I don't agree with where masonry has gone,
whether it be a certain lodge or you know, grand
life in general. That isn't to say that the lessons
of freemasonry have been lost on me. I think about
(18:05):
them quite often, you know, I talk when I do
my historical lecture.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
As you've pointed out.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Charity being so important and that really does you know,
it just it lingers in my brain all the time.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
How could we be more charitable? Right?
Speaker 4 (18:23):
We're taught that, you know, not to be concerned about
the material, and yet we look around this life that
we're living, this the culture that we're in right now,
the time period that we're living. You know, it's all
about wealth, entertainment. It's it's we have lost a lot
(18:43):
of what I think makes us good stewards of our
brothers and sisters. How can we be those stewards outside
of the lodge room. I think that really does guide
by kind of political barometer in terms of what I
think I should or shouldn't champion.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
You know, what I should vote for, what I shouldn't
vote for? What?
Speaker 4 (19:05):
You know, what's interesting, what's not interesting? You know, I
don't care for the drama of politics. I don't care
for the drama of Hollywood. If you will, we have
a country that isn't working for the people.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Clearly. Look around.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
People are pissed off all the time about everything because
a system is broken. That is everybody, and I'm not
just you know, this isn't a this isn't a party thing,
This isn't everybody thing. I would love it if if
Premasonry was simply more out there, right, if more people knew,
you know, the teachings of freemasonry, I think that they
(19:40):
would be better people. As we all say, if premasonry
exists to make good men better. Maybe that's the big
takeaway that we're all realizing right now, is that back
in the day, right, there were a lot of Masons
and a lot of them were involved in politics, or
maybe it was vice versa, but either way, you know
that the hands were more closely clasped, and now they
(20:02):
have drifted further apart.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Well, I like you brought up the virtues of broadly love, relief,
and truth, and instead of those being seen as you know, drawbacks,
the thing I could see it being tough though, is
we talk a lot about servant leadership and freemasonry, especially
in our lodges as like an example, and you talked
about this just right now with the idea of your
(20:23):
four term limits and being able to hand over the
baton to the next person and let them have regardless
of party and affiliation, but just you know that peaceful
transfer of power in your mind, could you see where
it could be a hindrance to have those passionate views
of our Masonic virtues broadly the love, relief, and truth
(20:44):
when it's those moments where you're making the big decisions
for the community, where it's like, hey, we need to
give this money or we need to set this aside
for these people, to where you're like, oh, my heart
is saying this, but my mind is saying.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
That's that's always.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
That is the hardest part about being any kind of
decision maker. Whether you're a small business owner, a big
business owner, a teacher, a parent, right, or a politician.
The hardest thing is making a decision that the people
don't agree with, but you believe in your heart is
the right thing to do. This comes back to my
(21:23):
point about communication, right. I think a good leader is
able to communicate to people why an idea is either
good or bad.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Right.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
And I'm not saying being a go out there and
be a salesman. That's not what I mean at all.
I think if you have the best interests of the
people at heart, right, then you should be able to
convey to them why you know policy X y Z
is actually good for them.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
For instance, again, taxes. No one wants to pay more
in taxes, right, we get it, But taxes go towards
guess what schools? Education?
Speaker 4 (22:05):
We know right that if we put money into education, right,
that creates a better population of children and a better
population of adults. The problem is that we don't see
it for about twenty years, right. It takes time for
that to mature, and we have a short term memory
right now. A lot of the news cycles like three weeks, right,
(22:28):
So if you put money into education, what it does
is that really is the tie that raises all ships.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
This is the hot take, controversial question for the podcast here.
You're a freemason running for office. Do you feel that,
regardless of political or party affiliation, if you knew that
someone was running and said, I am a freemason, would
you be more apt to vote for that man?
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Ooh dang, that's a good question. Oh boy, Well, I
wouldn't immediately say no. I would because when it comes
to politics and it comes to you know, really it does,
it boils down.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
To values, right, like like core values.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
Basically, I'll just get right into it, right because I'm
sure all your listeners like tell us, my father, as
you may well know, is a die hard conservative. This man,
I swear to God, you know, gone to his head,
will just vote you know, conservative every time.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
If nothing else.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
He is.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
He is true to himself and he is true to others.
And you know that's that is That is admirable, right,
that's respectable. However, him and I disagree vehemently about policy,
and I am a staunch liberal, so I am the
quote unquote blue sheep of the family, which makes Christmas
(24:19):
and Thanksgiving very very delicate.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
To put it.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Lightly, you're the one that has to sit at another table.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
Yeah, exactly, I'm not. I'm not at the I don't
even get put at the kid's table. I get put
like outside. So it sometimes can be tricky. But my
father and I we still love each other, and you know,
we always, you know, hug each other and embrace each other.
And and nothing will will make me hate him. You know,
we have we have pretty furious debates, don't get me wrong.
(24:52):
And at the end of the day when it when
it boils right down to it, him and I just
disagree at a very like fundamental level. I now know
that you know, okay, you know, I know where this
is going to go with him or I know how
this is going to turn out, because I know what
his values are at the core. You know, I know
where this is going to stop, and I know where
he might not agree on this. But again, it comes
(25:14):
down to can you still respect each other? So Masons
who are different political who have different political beliefs, should
still respect each other. And I have seen that happen
because I know that you know, my father, being as
conservative as he is, he is a Masonic brother, and
there are Masonic brothers in Saint George's who are actually
quite liberal. And yeah, they kind of you know, they
rip each other a lot, but they still respect each other.
(25:37):
So you know, at the end of the day, I
think they probably they probably fight and I think, you know, people,
I should say, Mason's probably bicker in fight over you know,
Masonic you know, votes and choices more than more than
they probably do over you know, American politics.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Well, also having that unique dynamic between you and your
dad and that relationship that you have that is also
now a special bond thanks for Freemasonry. It's also a
great way is like they say, steals sharp and steel.
Right now, when you're across from somebody that's holding a
different viewpoint that you don't know, you can easily just
you know, see your dad and go okay, instead of
getting enraged in my head wanting to explode, I can
(26:14):
I understand where this person is coming from a lot
better and I can speak to them with like some
respect to where they go. They must have a family
member who's just like me.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
I wonder I'm not wondering how many of these listeners
are thinking about their family right now, because I, you know,
I get it.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
I'm thinking about Thanksgiving dinner right now, dude. And the
other thought of it too was like for me personally,
like I like the scenario, and I asked the question about,
you know, would you vote for a Mason even if
he was not a member of your political party, and I,
you know, you went right to the if I knew,
if I didn't know what party they were a member.
(26:52):
If there was just two guys that were talking and
I was on the fence with both just didn't really
have and one of them said I'm a Freemason, I
would lean in more to the things that he was saying,
mainly because I have a higher expectation bar for him,
and I feel like my bullshit detector would also be
(27:15):
tuned up about one hundred percent because as soon as
I hear him not speaking as a Mason out of
respect to other people and listening and like, then I'd
be like, oh, okay, he's just saying he's a Freemasons.
Maybe some sort of advantage. Now, Unfortunately, we don't have
a lot of Freemasons that are actively out on the
national political scene. And I think all of us in
(27:38):
the craft would agree we would be better if we did.
But to your point, and this is where I wanted
to let you go, because it has been such a joy,
as you said, to see you growing from activists to candidate.
And I was out, you know, sitting there watching you
over the wintertime at the New York State Capitol in
(27:58):
all but he just reason your you know what's off
out there, and just you know, standing up and supporting
the workers and the conditions and everything that's happening in
d C. But letting your voice be heard in Albany.
You know the point that you made earlier where you're like,
I want the rest of the country to look to
North Green Bush as an example of this is what
happens when government works. I think everybody in our country,
(28:21):
regardless of their affiliation, wants America to be seen as
the example of this is what happens when democracy and
people work.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
Oh sure, have real discussions with people, not like oh hey,
do you see what you know that person was wearing
to that thing, or do you see this outrage? Don't
don't just fall for the outrage. Politics get And this
is again what happened with my father and I.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
You know, we boiled it down.
Speaker 4 (28:50):
Have those kind of conversations with your friends, with your family,
with people you trust. What I mean by that is
people who you will respect at the end of the day,
you know, regardless of what happens.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
But get your core values. Find out who you are,
what your core values are, because I will tell you
right now I have. I think I have figured out
firmly who I am. So my news diet pretty much
consists of, you know, a lot of right wing news
right now, because I want to listen to what they
have to say, because I already know what I'm saying.
(29:23):
I already know what my feelings are, so I'm simply
out there listening to the other side at this point,
you know, either bracing for a debate, or hey, maybe
I miss something, Maybe I need to examine something because
there's political bias here on the left and I need
to pick up what's on the right. If you only
stay inside of your echo chamber, fortunately you know a
couple of people, you know, my family included, I know
(29:45):
a lot of people who do that.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
They stay inside their echo chamber because it's comfortable, because
it reinforces you. You have to have those talks with
people who disagree with you or who walk a different
lifestyle than you. Right, that old saying walk them mile
on some of those's shoes, Right, those are the four
is that if I could get those things tattooed on
me or put on my gravestone, it would be yeah,
read travel, uh, you know, understand yourself and listen.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Thanks again to my guest this week, brother Matthew Brockbank,
who is currently running for Town Supervisor of North green Bush.
If you want to support Brother Matt, you can visit
Brockbank for North green Bush. The website is Matt Brockbank
dot com. Also be listening for Matt to return next
month as we get ready for our Black Friday holiday
shopping episode thanks to Brooksmasons dot com. I'm right worshipful,
(30:33):
Brother Michael Larsay. I always look forward to our time together.
Here's to seeing you on Monday, or if you're a
Patreon subscriber, we got part two of our conversation with
Matt coming up on Thursday. Until next time, let peace
at harmony prevail
The Commons. Opinions and views shared during this program are
of those individual Freemasons and do not reflect the official
position of a Grand Launch, Concordant Body, a Pendant Body,
Masonic authority, or Craftsman Online dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Hey, welcome back to the Craftsman Online Podcast, the only
Masonic podcast endorsed by the Grand Lodge in New York.
I'm your host, right worship o, Brother Michael Arse, and
you've joined us for a topic on the level we're
going to get into freemasonry and public service. First couple
housekeeping notes, We are looking to get twenty new Patreon
subscribers before the end of the year, and a big
(00:48):
thank you this week to our latest Patreon subscriber, Dwight Lewis,
gave us a five dollars holler every month. Thank you,
Dwight for supporting the Craftsman Online podcast and our mission
to connect men just like you with an in freemasonry
to our ancient and gentle craft. What do you get
as a Patreon subscriber, Well, no more of the ads
I know you're gonna miss him. You get our episodes
(01:09):
a week early and access to all of our subscriber
extra episodes, which will feature this week's guest on Thursday,
So it's like two for the price of one. It's
amazing and it's only five dollars a month, and we
love you for helping us out on Patreon. Also a
reminder to save the date our third annual Black Friday
holiday shopping episode sponsored by Bricksmasons dot com and it
(01:32):
returns on Monday November twenty fourth, or Monday November seventeenth
if you are a Patreon listener. Brother Matthew Brockbank will
be joining us as we continue our holiday tradition of
finding gifts for those hard to find brothers and Freemasons
this holiday season. Well, he just happens to be our
(01:54):
guest this week, and I could go on and gush
about how much he is one of my favorite brothers
as he joins us to talk about a topic that
is hitting home. Running for Town supervisor of North Greenbush,
New York. Brother Matthew Brockbank, Welcome back to the Craftsman
Online podcast.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Oh thank you, thank you.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
I funny thing and we'll get into it later about
you know, my politics, my father's politics. But I always
like to tell the story how I exist physically in
this world. Because of politics. My parents met at a
Young Republicans meeting, and if it wasn't for politics, I
(02:35):
wouldn't be here. I tell people, you know, it's not
destiny or anything. It's just that, yes, like I you know,
I've been around it so long that I was born
because of it.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I thought for sure your parents met at the Enchantment
under the Sea dance in nineteen fifty five.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Yes, yes, Back to the Future was based on them.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
So growing up in your house, politics conversations about law, citizenship,
freemasonry was just just common dinner table entertainment. Or did
your dad never really bring work home so to speak?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (03:16):
No, it was politics all the time. And it's not
that he didn't bring it home. I'm sure you remember,
you know, the office which you visited to, you know,
learn about preemasonry from you know, Black Bank University. The
office was attached to the house, so literally, work at
law masonry was always at home.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
It's you know, I grew up with it, just around it.
You know.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
It's like someone whose father or mother might be in
the trades of some kind and they just grow up
around it and they take to it like a fish
to water.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I'm excited because I know that I'm going to have
a conversation about something that people are going to start
flipping out about, like they're talking about politics on a
Masonic podcast.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Oh oh gosh.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
It is one of the forbidden fruits right of freemasonry.
You're not supposed to talk about politics in the lodge room.
But it happens. It happens. It always does because people ask, oh,
how you do it? Well, you know, most people when
they are asked how are they doing? They you know,
it sometimes gets back to politics. So it's hard to
(04:21):
avoid it, even though it's not supposed to.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Happen, right, And I think that that's the I'd like
that we breach this topic like right quick early here
in at the beginning. So I like to say that
a lot of the conversations about religion and politics that
aren't supposed to happen inside of a lodge during a meeting,
As you point out, those usually take place they call
them parking lot conversations. Or if your lodge has a
(04:43):
bar or a dinner or some sort of meal, that's
where guys will just kind of have a conversation. And
why can they have this conversation even if it's with
people who don't share the same viewpoints that they have
because we know this other person, we trust this other person,
we can this other person. We know that this brother
that we're having a conversation with isn't like even our
(05:05):
neighbor or family member that may have a different viewpoint
than us. That if we start having this conversation, you're
going to have to go get the hose out of
the front yard to bray people down so that the
fight doesn't break out. Because it just doesn't happen in
our lodges. I've seen guys disagree, but then i've seen
one walk away or them just say hey, let's just
stop having this conversation and move on to something else.
(05:25):
I've never seen it escalate to that. Next point also
to that is that we don't talk about politics during
our meetings. But here's the thing we kind of do,
as you point out, because if we're doing something in
the community, supporting another nonprofit or community organization or a
strategic community partnership that maybe the lodge has formed, it's
(05:47):
all going to be based on them sharing the same
values or mission that we have in freemasonry or as
men who make up that lodge. So there is that
political connection there as well, not always about what letters
come after your name if you're running for office, or
who you voted for for president when we talk about politics.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
No, very true, And I think that Masonry has always
done a good job at not you know, endorsing a
specific candidate or denouncing another candidate, even one who is
a brother.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
You know, I don't think I've.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Ever seen Freemasonry in any regard, you know, blatantly come
out in support of go canvas for or or you know,
do some kind of mailing or phone calling for a
specific candidate as a lodge. Now, don't get me wrong,
I'm sure it has happened before. I'm sure it will
happen in the future, and I'm sure it's happening now somewhere.
(06:43):
I'm sure that there is somebody running for some office
in some lodge in America, and I'm very sure that
those brothers are like, yeah, let's help, and they're all
getting together and they're all doing that work.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Hopefully it's not on the.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Lodge's dime or on lodge time, because I think that
would be a blat misuse of you know, the powers
of freemasonry. If you will, like what you said earlier.
You know, when it comes down to what we want
to do about charity, what are our policies? You know,
what kind of things do we value as brothers. It's
(07:20):
it's going to cross over into politics. It almost has to,
because politics in and of itself is a value driven entity.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And it becomes a challenge to you in the world
that we live in because you try to work for
or work with a charity let's just say toys for
Tots for a toy drive, or you want to be
the bell ringing. I know a lot of brothers that
do that with the Salvation Army.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
My dad does. Yes, it does that exact thing.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yes, And then you hear from one brother, oh, I
really can't do that because you know they also support
and then that's when the ugly side of politics come out.
You're like, yeah, but that's those people from that organization
decided to make We're not talking about the wonderful people
and the impact and the difference that we make in
the life lives of people who benefit from the work
that we do. Like let's try to So that's where
(08:04):
things can get a little sticky. I want to get
back to you and running for office because you shared
your campaign website from it with me. We're going to
get that in the notes for this episode, the link
so that people can go out and support Matthew Brockbank,
who was running for town supervisor of North green Bush. So,
first of all, paint the picture of what the wonderful
(08:26):
hamlet of North Greenbush, New York, is like, and what
would your job be if you get elected as town supervisor.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
Obviously, upstate New York is home to Albany, the capital,
and across the Hudson River from Albany is a town
called Troy. Some know it as the birthplace of Uncle Sam.
Outside of Troy is a town called North green Bush.
North green Bush, being a town doesn't get a mayor.
Cities get mayors and towns get supervisors. The current board
(08:57):
is doing good. The current supervisor is a good and
he's doing good. There's nothing bad about this. I'm not
running because oh my god, it's a five alarm emergency
and I need to get in there and fix it.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
You know, everything was messed up. We got to get
in there and clean it out. That's not that at all.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
I think that North Greenbush could be even better. I
have a vision for North green Bush beyond where it
is right now, and I think a lot of the
townsfolk also agree and want to see more from North Greenbush.
I want North Greenbish to be not a tourist destination
per se, but I want people to come to North Greenbush.
(09:35):
I want it to be a destination. I want people
in the country, not just the state, the country to
point to North Greenbush and say that is a place
where government still works for the people.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
We're talking with the brother Matthew Brockbank, whose website is
Matt Brockbank, so that's b roc k ba NK dot com.
Matt Brockbank dot com is if you'd like to learn
more about him and his campaign for North green Bush
Town Supervisor. Looking at your website, besides the attractive, you know,
thirty somethingter guy there on the homepage, I thought it
(10:13):
was interesting. Is this scrolling down? You have some images
on your website, and for those that can't see it,
it's John Lewis, Abraham Lincoln Fdr. And Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration
that you're pulling from these figures, one or two of
which are are Masons but also known as being public servants.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Right there, you took the words out of my mouth
public servants. These four individuals they inspire me more than
most others because at the end of the day, I
think their fealty was always to the people they instituted,
and they pushed for laws that really really benefited folks
(11:02):
with FDR. You know, you're talking about the New Deal,
right John Lewis was God. I mean, he marched with
partin Luther King, you know there there. I don't think
we have a stronger voice in civil rights, you know,
uh than John Lewis. And of course you know he
lived to a ripe old age and never once, never once,
you know, put down his quote unquote you know, working
(11:23):
tools because he.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Got in good trouble.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Even after passing posthumously, he released a small essay I'll
put it, which is you can find it on YouTube,
voiced by Morgan Freeman. And by god, I mean the
man never stopped fighting. If that's not an inspiration, geez.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
I don't. I don't know, come on, I don't know what.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Obviously, I think one of the
one of the greatest civil rights justices of our time.
She just respected other people, even though she had other
justices who were on the complete opposite side of the
spectrum from her. You know, she was larger than life,
even when some of the men around her were already tightened.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
And physically they were mostly like twice as big as her.
These men.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Yes, she was. She was badass. And of course Abraham
Lincoln I think he is.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
While obviously you know, accredited uh with the Civil War
and bringing about an end to slavery. Uh, I think
that he is also one of the most misunderstood presidents.
Abraham Lincoln, in my opinion, is always credited as being
(12:39):
a Republican when in fact he was a liberal. So
back then, uh, the the parties were a little topsy turvy.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (12:52):
The Democrats were the conservatives during Lincoln's time, and the
Republicans were the liberals. His idea is what he wanted
to do. He was much more of a liberal thinker
than a conservative.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
This is a conversation I kind of had with your father,
who's no longer the city attorney, but still serving the
city as an attorney in Schenectady. He had long since
put away his political working tools, so to speak, but
he was still a lawyer, and it was always interesting
because Masonry is known for values and principles, and that
(13:52):
doesn't apply to all lawyers. That's why there's so many
good lawyer jokes. I'm sure it's even even more slippery
because the world we live in now, we don't see
political candidates as as leaders anymore. We see them as
quote unquote politicians. How do you navigate through this? You know,
(14:13):
Matthew Brockbank, the candidate, Matthew Brockbank, that the husband, the
local guy, the Masonic brother, and also Matthew Matthew Brockbank,
the guy who's running for town supervisor.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
I am pretty unapologetic about who I am, you know,
besides running for politics here and besides being a Masonic brother,
besides being all those things.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
You know, I'm a.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Political activist as well. And I was that before you know,
any of something. Actually I was. I was a political
activist before some of these other things that you mentioned,
all these other titles. And I don't just mean, you know,
a political activist in terms of uh, you know, being
in the streets and protesting. I mean I when I
was uh well, obviously, when I was a kid, I
(14:57):
did help my dad with his campaigns, right, But when
I was in college, you know, I would go canvassing.
I I you know, I worked to help get a
couple of governors elected. You know, I did work. You know,
I got my hands dirty. And then, of course, uh,
you know, in the recent you know, a couple of
years here, since twenty twenty, I've been a major political
activist and I have been a proud member of our
(15:21):
local Indivisible chapter. So you know, politics is not just
the kind of quote unquote business of operating the town.
But to me, it's about civics at a very basic level.
I believe that everybody, literally, I believe everybody should take
(15:42):
some interest or be involved in civics in some way,
shape or form. And I when I say that, I
also pair that with putting a huge restraint upon people
who run for office, myself included. I would love to
see term limits, age limits, and ranked choice voting, or
(16:03):
just a complete overhaul of the American voting system, because
I think it's kind of busted, honestly, and it doesn't
make a lot of sense. There's but we could get into.
We could do ten podcasts on what's wrong with American politics.
And I don't mean that it's bad or evil. I
just mean that, you know, it's kind of outdated. You know,
it needs some updating, it needs it needs some common
sense fixes, because I don't think it's doing the best
(16:27):
job of democracy right now. I think if you were
to give it a democracy score, I think giving it
a C would be general.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
You hit a word that I've been just doing on
for a long time with just civics, and I remember
taking that class in eighth grade, and they really don't
teach it in our schools anymore. And I think that's
such a central part of what the American story was
was being a citizen, and that's what the whole democracy
in the republic that we have was kind of established
and followed off of with what was going on in
the Roman times. But here we are in freemasonry, and
(16:58):
we also have a really strong set of values and
symbolic lessons that are steeped immorality. And we're also armed
with these wonderful things called the working tools. And for
our listener, they're like, oh, yes, I know all those
things that you're talking about, and this is fantastic. Instead
of it being a challenge to be a politician and
a Freemason because of maybe some issue with morality, which
(17:20):
I can tell is not a problem for Matt at all,
Like that's not anything to worry about. But do you
find yourself talking to constituents or just folks on the
street and reaching into your Masonic bag of working tool
themes and ideas and sharing them with John Q public dude.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
All the time?
Speaker 4 (17:44):
And I as much as I have taken steps away
from masonry because I'm simply too busy unfortunately, or you know,
it's been because I don't agree with where masonry has gone,
whether it be a certain lodge or you know, grand
life in general. That isn't to say that the lessons
of freemasonry have been lost on me. I think about
(18:05):
them quite often, you know, I talk when I do
my historical lecture.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
As you've pointed out.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Charity being so important and that really does you know,
it just it lingers in my brain all the time.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
How could we be more charitable? Right?
Speaker 4 (18:23):
We're taught that, you know, not to be concerned about
the material, and yet we look around this life that
we're living, this the culture that we're in right now,
the time period that we're living. You know, it's all
about wealth, entertainment. It's it's we have lost a lot
(18:43):
of what I think makes us good stewards of our
brothers and sisters. How can we be those stewards outside
of the lodge room. I think that really does guide
by kind of political barometer in terms of what I
think I should or shouldn't champion.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
You know, what I should vote for, what I shouldn't
vote for? What?
Speaker 4 (19:05):
You know, what's interesting, what's not interesting? You know, I
don't care for the drama of politics. I don't care
for the drama of Hollywood. If you will, we have
a country that isn't working for the people.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Clearly. Look around.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
People are pissed off all the time about everything because
a system is broken. That is everybody, and I'm not
just you know, this isn't a this isn't a party thing,
This isn't everybody thing. I would love it if if
Premasonry was simply more out there, right, if more people knew,
you know, the teachings of freemasonry, I think that they
(19:40):
would be better people. As we all say, if premasonry
exists to make good men better. Maybe that's the big
takeaway that we're all realizing right now, is that back
in the day, right, there were a lot of Masons
and a lot of them were involved in politics, or
maybe it was vice versa, but either way, you know
that the hands were more closely clasped, and now they
(20:02):
have drifted further apart.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Well, I like you brought up the virtues of broadly love, relief,
and truth, and instead of those being seen as you know, drawbacks,
the thing I could see it being tough though, is
we talk a lot about servant leadership and freemasonry, especially
in our lodges as like an example, and you talked
about this just right now with the idea of your
(20:23):
four term limits and being able to hand over the
baton to the next person and let them have regardless
of party and affiliation, but just you know that peaceful
transfer of power in your mind, could you see where
it could be a hindrance to have those passionate views
of our Masonic virtues broadly the love, relief, and truth
(20:44):
when it's those moments where you're making the big decisions
for the community, where it's like, hey, we need to
give this money or we need to set this aside
for these people, to where you're like, oh, my heart
is saying this, but my mind is saying.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
That's that's always.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
That is the hardest part about being any kind of
decision maker. Whether you're a small business owner, a big
business owner, a teacher, a parent, right, or a politician.
The hardest thing is making a decision that the people
don't agree with, but you believe in your heart is
the right thing to do. This comes back to my
(21:23):
point about communication, right. I think a good leader is
able to communicate to people why an idea is either
good or bad.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Right.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
And I'm not saying being a go out there and
be a salesman. That's not what I mean at all.
I think if you have the best interests of the
people at heart, right, then you should be able to
convey to them why you know policy X y Z
is actually good for them.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
For instance, again, taxes. No one wants to pay more
in taxes, right, we get it, But taxes go towards
guess what schools? Education?
Speaker 4 (22:05):
We know right that if we put money into education, right,
that creates a better population of children and a better
population of adults. The problem is that we don't see
it for about twenty years, right. It takes time for
that to mature, and we have a short term memory
right now. A lot of the news cycles like three weeks, right,
(22:28):
So if you put money into education, what it does
is that really is the tie that raises all ships.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
This is the hot take, controversial question for the podcast here.
You're a freemason running for office. Do you feel that,
regardless of political or party affiliation, if you knew that
someone was running and said, I am a freemason, would
you be more apt to vote for that man?
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Ooh dang, that's a good question. Oh boy, Well, I
wouldn't immediately say no. I would because when it comes
to politics and it comes to you know, really it does,
it boils down.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
To values, right, like like core values.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
Basically, I'll just get right into it, right because I'm
sure all your listeners like tell us, my father, as
you may well know, is a die hard conservative. This man,
I swear to God, you know, gone to his head,
will just vote you know, conservative every time.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
If nothing else.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
He is.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
He is true to himself and he is true to others.
And you know that's that is That is admirable, right,
that's respectable. However, him and I disagree vehemently about policy,
and I am a staunch liberal, so I am the
quote unquote blue sheep of the family, which makes Christmas
(24:19):
and Thanksgiving very very delicate.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
To put it.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Lightly, you're the one that has to sit at another table.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
Yeah, exactly, I'm not. I'm not at the I don't
even get put at the kid's table. I get put
like outside. So it sometimes can be tricky. But my
father and I we still love each other, and you know,
we always, you know, hug each other and embrace each other.
And and nothing will will make me hate him. You know,
we have we have pretty furious debates, don't get me wrong.
(24:52):
And at the end of the day when it when
it boils right down to it, him and I just
disagree at a very like fundamental level. I now know
that you know, okay, you know, I know where this
is going to go with him or I know how
this is going to turn out, because I know what
his values are at the core. You know, I know
where this is going to stop, and I know where
he might not agree on this. But again, it comes
(25:14):
down to can you still respect each other? So Masons
who are different political who have different political beliefs, should
still respect each other. And I have seen that happen
because I know that you know, my father, being as
conservative as he is, he is a Masonic brother, and
there are Masonic brothers in Saint George's who are actually
quite liberal. And yeah, they kind of you know, they
rip each other a lot, but they still respect each other.
(25:37):
So you know, at the end of the day, I
think they probably they probably fight and I think, you know, people,
I should say, Mason's probably bicker in fight over you know,
Masonic you know, votes and choices more than more than
they probably do over you know, American politics.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Well, also having that unique dynamic between you and your
dad and that relationship that you have that is also
now a special bond thanks for Freemasonry. It's also a
great way is like they say, steals sharp and steel.
Right now, when you're across from somebody that's holding a
different viewpoint that you don't know, you can easily just
you know, see your dad and go okay, instead of
getting enraged in my head wanting to explode, I can
(26:14):
I understand where this person is coming from a lot
better and I can speak to them with like some
respect to where they go. They must have a family
member who's just like me.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
I wonder I'm not wondering how many of these listeners
are thinking about their family right now, because I, you know,
I get it.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
I'm thinking about Thanksgiving dinner right now, dude. And the
other thought of it too was like for me personally,
like I like the scenario, and I asked the question about,
you know, would you vote for a Mason even if
he was not a member of your political party, and I,
you know, you went right to the if I knew,
if I didn't know what party they were a member.
(26:52):
If there was just two guys that were talking and
I was on the fence with both just didn't really
have and one of them said I'm a Freemason, I
would lean in more to the things that he was saying,
mainly because I have a higher expectation bar for him,
and I feel like my bullshit detector would also be
(27:15):
tuned up about one hundred percent because as soon as
I hear him not speaking as a Mason out of
respect to other people and listening and like, then I'd
be like, oh, okay, he's just saying he's a Freemasons.
Maybe some sort of advantage. Now, Unfortunately, we don't have
a lot of Freemasons that are actively out on the
national political scene. And I think all of us in
(27:38):
the craft would agree we would be better if we did.
But to your point, and this is where I wanted
to let you go, because it has been such a joy,
as you said, to see you growing from activists to candidate.
And I was out, you know, sitting there watching you
over the wintertime at the New York State Capitol in
(27:58):
all but he just reason your you know what's off
out there, and just you know, standing up and supporting
the workers and the conditions and everything that's happening in
d C. But letting your voice be heard in Albany.
You know the point that you made earlier where you're like,
I want the rest of the country to look to
North Green Bush as an example of this is what
happens when government works. I think everybody in our country,
(28:21):
regardless of their affiliation, wants America to be seen as
the example of this is what happens when democracy and
people work.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
Oh sure, have real discussions with people, not like oh hey,
do you see what you know that person was wearing
to that thing, or do you see this outrage? Don't
don't just fall for the outrage. Politics get And this
is again what happened with my father and I.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
You know, we boiled it down.
Speaker 4 (28:50):
Have those kind of conversations with your friends, with your family,
with people you trust. What I mean by that is
people who you will respect at the end of the day,
you know, regardless of what happens.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
But get your core values. Find out who you are,
what your core values are, because I will tell you
right now I have. I think I have figured out
firmly who I am. So my news diet pretty much
consists of, you know, a lot of right wing news
right now, because I want to listen to what they
have to say, because I already know what I'm saying.
(29:23):
I already know what my feelings are, so I'm simply
out there listening to the other side at this point,
you know, either bracing for a debate, or hey, maybe
I miss something, Maybe I need to examine something because
there's political bias here on the left and I need
to pick up what's on the right. If you only
stay inside of your echo chamber, fortunately you know a
couple of people, you know, my family included, I know
(29:45):
a lot of people who do that.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
They stay inside their echo chamber because it's comfortable, because
it reinforces you. You have to have those talks with
people who disagree with you or who walk a different
lifestyle than you. Right, that old saying walk them mile
on some of those's shoes, Right, those are the four
is that if I could get those things tattooed on
me or put on my gravestone, it would be yeah,
read travel, uh, you know, understand yourself and listen.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Thanks again to my guest this week, brother Matthew Brockbank,
who is currently running for Town Supervisor of North green Bush.
If you want to support Brother Matt, you can visit
Brockbank for North green Bush. The website is Matt Brockbank
dot com. Also be listening for Matt to return next
month as we get ready for our Black Friday holiday
shopping episode thanks to Brooksmasons dot com. I'm right worshipful,
(30:33):
Brother Michael Larsay. I always look forward to our time together.
Here's to seeing you on Monday, or if you're a
Patreon subscriber, we got part two of our conversation with
Matt coming up on Thursday. Until next time, let peace
at harmony prevail
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