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Tonight, I’d like to tell you all a short story. It’s a story about me, but it’s not just about me. There’s a much broader point I’d like to make here, and that point is this: there is way too much intolerance in this country on all sides, on both sides.
The MAGA right in this country is way too intolerant. The far-left in this country is way too intolerant. There is an utter lack of grace, an utter lack of forgiveness, and an utter lack of interest in even trying to understand people who have a different point of view. And, again, all of that exists on the MAGA right and the far-left.
Here’s my story.
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I don’t know that I’ve told anybody this, but I love to golf. Golf is my drug. Golf is my therapy. I absolutely adore going out on a golf course. I don’t play much anymore, because I haven’t had time in years, but I love to golf.
And I’ve always dreamed about belonging to a club where I could just play golf. So I could get in my car, drive over to my golf course, grab my clubs, and play. Well, it turns out that my mother-in-law belongs to a club out in California, and my wife and I thought, oh my God, what a great opportunity for us to maybe finally belong to a golf club. And because my mother-in-law already belongs, my wife would be entitled to a legacy membership, as the daughter of a member. Sweet, right? Finally, somewhere I can just play golf.
So we applied a couple weeks ago to this beautiful, old, historic golf club. As part of the application, we submitted photos and bios of my wife and me, which are then sent to all the members, so they can say, “Great, welcome,” or “No, not him or not her.” Now, let me be very clear: I believe in the concept of private clubs. Private clubs, in my mind, should be able to do whatever they want and allow whomever they want into the club. So, of course, the membership has to be privy to someone who might want to become a member. Fair enough.
So our bios and pictures were sent around to all the membership, and I’m no dummy–in the back of my mind, I thought that because I am an outspoken public person and, dare I say, a very controversial public person (both the old Tea Party Joe Walsh and the new proudly woke Joe Walsh), there might be a couple people here and there who object to my politics. I was kind of worried about that going in. But I thought that because it’s a legacy membership, and my mother-in-law is already a member there, we should be fine.
Well, wouldn’t you know it? Within two days of our information being sent around, there was an organized effort to make sure that we couldn’t belong to this club. Within two days, around 50 letters were sent to the club manager saying, “Nope. Not Joe Walsh.” It was an organized effort to keep me out of the club.
The club couldn’t tell us exactly why they objected, but we found out subsequently that there was an organized effort to keep me out of the club because of my politics. Truthfully, I didn’t know where that organized effort came from at first—the right or the left. Is it the left that’s still pissed off about some of the things the old Joe Walsh did and said? Or would it be the Trump-supporting right, who are pissed off about the last seven or eight years, when I’ve been one of the most outspoken Never Trumpers in the country?
We later found out that it was in fact from the left—specifically, a group of gay members who were opposed to my stance on gay marriage over a decade ago. Never mind that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton changed their mind on the issue only a year or two before I did. Apparently a decade of supporting the Supreme Court decision and the right of gay people to marry isn’t enough. It was an organized effort opposed to me and my old political views to keep me out.
And there is really nothing we can do. My mother-in-law and her friends made a plea to the club, even went before the board, saying this had never happened before. She even called it an “organized lynching.” A bit extreme perhaps, but that’s how devastated she was. But the board just said, “Yes, we’ve never seen anything like this. But there was a strong objection, and we can’t do anything about it.”
Here’s my point—and, again, this isn’t about me. I’ll find some other place to play golf one day when I have time. The bigger, broader point is that within two days of our application being made, an organized letter-writing campaign formed at that club to keep me out because of my politics. And I’m pissed off about it because of what it says about intolerance.
Clearly, they’re aware of who I am. So if that’s the case, are they not aware of how much I’ve changed and evolved over the last eight or nine years? But even more than that, you can’t have someone at your club whose politics may not be yours? Right away, you’re going to close the door, with no conversation, no discussion? “We don’t want him at our club.” Done. Is that really where we are? We can’t golf alongside people who don’t think like we do or agree with us politically? There isn’t even room for anyone to evolve and change their views? Damn.
This experience just made me think about how all of us—I’m gonna say all of us—believe what we believe about the people who disagree with us. And we don’t want an explanation. We don’t give those folks who disagree with us a chance to explain themselves. We don’t want to gain any understanding. We just don’t want someone whose politics we don’t like around us, at a club, in a neighborhood, at a restaurant, in our social circle, whatever. Way too many of us are like this.
This was an example of intolerance on the left. This was an example of a group of folks on the left shutting the door to anyone who may think differently than they do. It happens on the right. Lord knows it happens on the intolerant MAGA right as well. But this is why we’re so fucking divided in this country.
This is why I’m out there every two weeks with the Hope Not Fear project, putting people in a room who disagree. Not so that they find common ground and agree with each other. No. I put people in a room around the country who disagree so they can learn how to fucking listen to each other and gain a little bit of understanding. Because I believe that if we all gain a little bit of understanding, we’re less likely to hate those we disagree with.
The membership at this club would be wise to understand that. “Oh, Joe Walsh—former congressman, former Tea Party guy, former presidential candidate Joe Walsh—wants to be a member of our club. Oh my God. Did you hear what he said about Obama 15 years ago? Did you hear what he said about gender 10 years ago? Oh my God. Can’t have him in.”
The proper thing to do is to say, “Okay, Joe Walsh, public figure, politician. He’s really evolved and changed on some things, but he did have some stances back then we didn’t like. I’d love to speak with him to find out why he said what he did or did what he did, find out how his views have changed, and maybe I won’t hate him as much. And even if I don’t agree with everything he says, my God, we can golf on the same golf course.”
I’m using golf here as a metaphor for what happens to all of us. We want nothing to do in our lives—most of us—with people who disagree with us politically. And we’re all victims of this. We’re all shunned by this. We’re all targeted by this. We’re all disinvited to certain things because of this, on the right and the left. It happened to me two weeks ago. This was a very personal example of how this happened to me.
We’ve got to be a lot more tolerant of each other, and we’ve got to be a lot more willing to try to understand each other. And we’ve got to quit throwing sticks and stones at each other because we don’t like what we might have said five, six, seven, eight, nine, or 10 years ago. We’ve got to learn to get along with each other.
And, again, a private club, whatever kind of club it is, has a right, in my view, to have whomever they want in their club. Period. I’m a libertarian on this. I will always defend that. The point I’m making here is, we all in this country need to be open to gaining more understanding about people we may not understand, we may not agree with.
And I understand that I’ve been a public figure now for 12 or 13 years, and I’ve become a caricature. And a lot of people just think, “Oh, that crazy Joe Walsh back then, or that horrible Joe Walsh now who opposes Trump.” I’ve become a caricature. But, man, I’m still a human being, and I want to join your club, or I want to sit down and have a beer with you. Put the caricature shit away, and how about getting to know me first? And I get to know you first before you decide, before you organize a movement of people to basically shun me. And when I say “me,” I’m talking about all of us, because we’ve all been down this road.
There’s way too fucking much intolerance in this country, on left and right. Way too much tribalism in this country, on left and right. Way too much lack of grace on how people can grow and think and evolve and wake up, on left and right. And way too much lack of willingness to try to understand people, on left and right. And if we continue down this road, this house—this house called America—this house that is divided just cannot stand. That’s all.
And my last point is this: because of my weird political journey from Tea Party to Never Trump Republican to leaving the Republican Party to becoming an Independent to 11 months ago becoming a Democrat, and because I’m a public figure, over the course of the last eight years or so since I turned against Trump, I’ve had to publicly explain, apologize for, own everything I’ve done and said. I don’t apologize for everything; I defend certain things I said. But I explain why I said what I said. I’ve had to own it all publicly, and I’ve walked around naked for eight years owning what I’ve done and said.
And that’s fine. I’m a public figure. I should have to go through that. But I’ve done it honestly, and I’ve apologized where it’s warranted. I said “I fucked up” where it’s warranted, and I said, “You know what? This is the point I was trying to make” when it is warranted. I’ve done all of that for eight years.
We all have shit, but until we own our shit honestly and apologize for our shit honestly—own it all, explain it all—we haven’t moved or changed or evolved. That’s what makes this thing so frustrating. At the end of the day, it’s just golf, and there are plenty of other clubs. But for the past eight years, I’ve fully owned all of my mistakes. To get an organized effort against me now, eight years later, just sucks.
Be brave,
This Week on The Social Contract
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Monday with Xander Schultz [ [link removed] ] (click if you missed it!)
Thursday, 4pm ET: “Unvarnished” with Edwin Eisendrath
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APPEARANCES FROM THE PAST WEEK:
INTERVIEWS & QUOTES FROM THE PAST WEEK:
Former Trumper Warns: MAGA Did Something Permanent and Unforgivable [ [link removed] ] —RawStory
Never-Trumper Joe Walsh Goes OFF on ‘Despicable’ Dem Graham Platner: ‘He’s a Bullsh*tter’ [ [link removed] ] —Mediaite
Donald Trump Thought He Was Being Oh So Clever with This Woman Reporter and Ended Up Kicking Himself in the Face [ [link removed] ] —The Poke
From Party Chair to Party Critic: Why Michael Steele Is Still a Republican [ [link removed] ] —Deseret News
The Social Contract with Joe Walsh is a citizen-supported movement resisting authoritarianism and restoring classic American values like civic engagement, tolerance, and mutual respect. To join our community [ [link removed] ], sign up to be a free subscriber. To support our mission [ [link removed] ], please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Thank you!

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