I have absolutely no sympathy or empathy for Jon Schaffer. I know this teeters on the political section of the board, but it's unavoidable when talking about Jon and Iced Earth. What Jon did was wrong. Deep down, he knew it was wrong. Sure, opinions about the state of the country and what is going on is one thing. Acting on it in the manner in which he did is inexcusable. I'm not here to argue political ideologies. But if Jon truly believed there was/is a conspiracy to take freedom and liberty away from the American people, and that Trump was being unfairly handled, there are other ways to go about it. He's not some Civil War hero. (Not saying anyone said that at all, just making a point.)
The fact is, yes, there are big problems in the country at EVERY governmental level. But there's no over-arching conspiracy, despite "research" done by certain groups. America isn't lily-white any longer. It really never was. America isn't conservative any longer, except at the Supreme Court level. The country is based on absorbing other cultures and their ways of thinking. We've assimilated a lot of more liberal-centric ideologies over the years. That creates issues - that should be obvious to anyone. Not just partisan issues, but cultural and societal obstacles. Particularly in this era of how connected the world is now, compared to say 75 years ago. The world has changed. America has changed. And you can run to the hills of West Virginia, Montana, or wherever (trailer parks in Florida) and try to ignore it, and spout off conspiracies about how so and so wants to take away freedoms, but at the end of the day, the melting pot that is America is deeply flawed. But the "answer" isn't insurrection based on conspiracy theories. Jon Schaffer got sucked in, still believes it all (at least from the last thing I read a while back), and frankly, he's lucky to be alive. However his sentencing turns out will be how it is. He's part of the problem and I wouldn't be surprised if the guy is not long for this world because of his actions.
Frankly, I hope Matt Barlow and his wife are doing okay. Obviously, he can't and shouldn't talk about Jon. But I am sure it weighs on them. It has to. Matt seems like a genuinely level-headed guy, and I absolutely respect his work in law enforcement (I'm determined to get pulled over by him one day). It's really nice to see the Iced Earth music live on through Ashes of Ares. I really hope Matt and Freddie embrace that catalog and use it as a springboard to make Ashes of Ares a more significant act moving forward in terms of live shows. If I saw a set that had a half dozen IE songs, and 10 or 11 AoA songs, I'd be all over that.