Voting and Vetting.

I wanted to take a few minutes to speak quickly to a statement posted on a previous blog post of mine by an anonymous commenter:

A vote for a Democrat or a vote for a Republican doesn't necessarily mean the voter is in support of EVERYTHING that candidate espouses.

Well, yes it is.

We live in a Democratic Republic. Our Founding Fathers knew that We the People did not have time, nor interest, in showing up at the polls every week to vote on every little law, bill, resolution or proclamation that comes up. So they set up a system of government in which We the People would choose those that we feel would best represent our positions to make those decisions on our behalf.

We choose, from a pool of candidates, those that espouse the ideals that we stand behind, believe in, feel is best, etc..... to put up for election to those offices. Just because you know what GOOD that person will do, does not mean you cannot also distance yourself from what kind of BAD that person intends to do on your behalf. If you vote for that person, you are giving them license - you are telling them that if they run on that platform - you agree with that platform - all aspects of it.

This is why getting involved in the pre-primary level is so important, regardless of party. I don't care what letter you have listed on your voter card...but if you do not get involved and look into the entire platform someone is standing on....well... it's the primary that gives you the opportunity to put forth, or prevent, them from being put forward. This is the pool of candidates that you will have to chose from, because after the primaries, it becomes all about the partisanship. D vs. R. (vs. L, G, etc...but let's not kid ourselves here).

Which brings up my second point I plan on making: In electing this person to represent you (that is why it is called the House of REPRESENTATIVES), you must take a look at the good AND the bad in their platform. Why do we have a two party system? Why do we classify ourselves into two basic categories? Because ultimately, (IMHO) there are two ways to decide who to put into office:

The One Who Will Do The Good You Want.

The One Who Will Not Do The Bad You Do Not Want.

When a voter choses to vote for the person who will do the good that the voter wants done, yet ignore the damage that person will also do - and then sit back and say they have no responsibility in the 'bad', it's is foolishness. You elected them in to represent you. You gave them your blessing, with your vote, to make the choices ALL OF THEM that they said they were going to make. To sit back and say "I am pro-life (or pick your topic du-jour) and don't agree with Rep. X on abortion, even though I voted for them" is a failure of you, as a citizen.

It is our duty, our obligation to get involved on some level in the process. It is our duty to vet the candidate of your choice. And then, if they do not pass the primary, to make the next best choice... and to look then at those candidates and ask yourself two very important questions:

"How much good will this person do?"

"How much damage will the person do?"

And then accept what they do, ON YOUR BEHALF, while they are in office, both the good and the bad. You voted for them. You put them in that seat. You gave them the power to do all that they said they were going to do. You take responsibility for your actions, namely, who you voted for. You take responsiblity for the damage those elected officials have done while in office.

This goes for both parties, before you think I am going to do the "all D's are bad and all R's are good".

I vote primarily along Republican lines because as a conservative, (you know, someone who wants to conserve the status quo...i.e. constitutionality, bill of rights, etc) my primary concern is what do I NOT agree on with this candidate. We will never find someone we agree with on 100% of the time. So I look at those items that I consider important, and ignore those that I do not - and when that candidate is elected - accept their votes AS MY OWN on those items.

Anonymous asked why Republicans put so much emphasis on abortion as a topic? Why do Christians put so much emphasis on voting Republican? Because we consider that topic to be very important. Plain and simple. If I choose to elect someone into office that has stated they plan on extending the pro-choice agenda, it means one of two things - I agree with the agenda, and hence choose this person as my representative, or I consider that item to be unimportant to me. So for a Christian to stand up and give credence to a Party that has chosen to stand on the Pro-Choice side of the argument again means one of two things: I agree with the agenda, and hence choose this person as my representative, or I consider that item to be unimportant to me. If you, as a Christian, find abortion to be unimportant - I suggest speaking to your Pastor.

So again, as we move past the local elections, and head full steam to this mid-term election - get involved now. Find your candidate now. Vote in the primaries. Once they are in elected into office, it's too late. (yes, i know you can recall them, but if you have ever looked into the process, it's damn near impossible)

P.S. since it is my blog - and I have the right to at least receive some respect due to the point of commenters - I have changed my settings. No more anonymous. Sorry, but my name goes by my posts. You should have the decency to do as well.

Salesmanship

So, time flies when you are a good little conservative, and go find yourself a second job to make ends meet...

We as Conservatives are selling (or pitching) a product. Just like everyone else in the ad game, in order to increase buy-in on your product, you have to understand your customer first. Best analogy? How do you get away with charging $5 for 4 nuggets, some fries and a soda? Put a free toy in it. How many times as parents have you bought a Happy Meal simply because Jr. wanted the toy?  Likewise, as a Conservative with a product to pitch, we need to tailor our approach to the 'demographic'.

Just to make things interesting, though... we have a Burger King that not only likes to compete for the same demographic, but likes to directly affect our pitch by making claims against our Happy Meals. (and no, I am using the companies as examples, I like both restaurants equally - which is not saying much).

In other words: they pitch their product AND attack the Right at the same time (and I am not saying the Right doesn't do the same thing, but hey...all's fair in love and war). Knowing this, we can make our sale much easier to dismiss by not playing into their hands. They try to marginalize us by calling us names: first it was the "RWE"... which instead of causing us to be discouraged, we embraced as a badge of honor. Then it was "The Mob"....again, instead of letting it hinder us, we instead tongue-in-cheek took it on, too.... 

But what most Conservatives don't understand or see yet, is that when we do that...when we dismantle their advertising campaign... it forces them into another one - deeper, more emotional, more extreme. Recently we were called "Forces of Evil". No kidding - that one is so easy to dismiss, that it literally shows the cracks in their facade.... Now they have gone to that last bastion of lilberalistic argumentation - the racism card. The irrationality of their claims highlight their struggle to maintain some grip on the customer.

But, if we on the Right, at the same time, also show any kind of weakness, show any kind of lessening of the push, any kind of reaction that plays into something they can use as fodder against us? We then become as marginalized out to the Right as the liberals do to the Left. At that point, we also have lost touch with the demographic, with the customer. Let them call us 'extremists'...and we turn around and show them we are no more extreme than a fan at a football game. Let them call us 'the Mob'...and we show them a peaceful gathering, rather than a violent, riotous group. The Left is left selling a message that doesn't ring true. However, someone calls us a 'Rabid Right-Winger'...and we then go off foaming at the mouth upset at the name calling? Played right into their hands, and the customer buys into the Left's branding of us.

We end up getting so caught up with outdoing each other, we lose sight of the primary purpose we are even out there AS activists: to increase awareness among the independent voter. Always ask yourself how does your response to the Left appear in the eye's of those that choose to be more concerned about The Office than The Oval Office? Are your actions in agreement with the claims made by the left? (or at least does it appear to be in agreement?) Does 100 tweets a day accomplish more or less than 3 or 4? Does blowing up their text mail box leave a good impression? Same with incessant posts on Facebook and MySpace? If we make them use the 'ignore' feature, then have we accomplished anything?

We complain about voter apathy...but annoying the apathetic just makes them all the more apathetic to your point of view. What happens when we are watching TV and the P90X commercial comes on? We change the channel. Why? We don't want to be yelled at for 30 minutes about something we don't care about. Same thing with us. Don't be the Sham-Wow guy of the Right...instead, work on 1 individual at a time. A friend, a neighbor, a co-worker. That one, will then go out and work on 1. Those 2 will talk to 2. Those 4...and you see the pattern. Then find a 2nd person, and start the process growing again... and again...

On that note, also accept, if you choose to go the route of the 'mass shotgun' effect of the twitter blasts, excessive facebook posts and email spam the results of your choice in advertising. People will come and go on your twitter and facebook friend lists. Accept it. And like a paid-advertising program...you may get dismissed or ignored by everyone - why watch the program if you already bought the product? Lastly, don't be surprised if people label you in the process...how many times have you pre-judged the person in the advertisements without even watching the full 30 minutes?

FW: From Event Host: Tucson Giffords Town Hall

Guessing then that signs are OK at this town hall? Can't Mrs. Pink Sweater Set of Houston keep it straight? She changes her mind on the rules of her town halls more often then a diaper on a 6 month old...

To: tucsonteaparty@yahoo.com
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 2:22:56 PM
Subject: Fw: From Event Host: Tucson Giffords Town Hall

I find it funny that I went to Gifford web site to RSVP for the town meeting and this is now what I'm getting!! Gee and we are the mob!! But they can have a sign making party!!! Just thought you might be interested. Scott   --- On Mon, 8/31/09, [deleted] wrote: From: [deleted] Subject: From Event Host: Tucson Giffords Town Hall To: [deleted] Date: Monday, August 31, 2009, 1:06 PM This message was sent to you by the host of the "Tucson: U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords hosts a Town Hall on Health Insurance Reform!" event for which you signed up to attend. You can edit your signup by going to:   http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/myevents You can see the details of this event by going to:   http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpfkqr --- Hey everyone, The day is almost here!  Please be at Sahuaro High School by 4:00pm tomorrow, for a rally in support of Congresswoman Giffords, as the opposition will be out in full force.  Showing up early is also essential to getting inside the town hall. Tonight there is a sign making party at Pima Dems HQ, 4639 E. 1st St, from 5pm - 8pm, please come by. WE NEED TO SHOW UP to the town hall, so please bring people with you. If you need anything, my cell is 520.548.9959. See you soon, [deleted]

REMINDER: August 28 Healthcare Townhall by Tucson Tea Party

Please forward this email to anyone you know who may want to attend!

The Tucson Tea Party will be hosting a
[http://www.tucsonteaparty.org/?p=317] healthcare town hall event called
"Positive Reforms for American Healthcare" on Friday, August 28th, in
the Rincon High School Auditorium located at
[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=421+N+Arcadia+Avenue,+Tucson,+AZ&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=34.313287,79.013672&ie=UTF8&ll=32.227868,-110.888507&spn=0.008949,0.01929&z=16&iwloc=A]
421 N Arcadia Avenue at 6:30 in the evening.

We have invited both Representatives Giffords and Grijalva to participate
and await their responses. This is your chance to learn all about the
alternatives[http://www.tucsonteaparty.org/?p=335] before Rep. Giffords'
townhall on Sept. 1, where you can ask her the really tough questions.
(That is, if we're allowed to!)

We will hear from panelists such as economist Byron Schlomach of the
Goldwater Institute and several Arizona doctors including Jane Orient and
Steve Knope. They will discuss the government takeover of healthcare
proposed in Congress, as well as positive solutions that are not being
discussed by our representatives. These patient-centered solutions offer an
alternative that will bring down costs and increase coverage without a
massive taxpayer subsidy.

After panelist presentations the floor will be opened to question and
answer, which will be determined by random drawing of ticket numbers that
are given at the door.

Seating capacity is 1200 and it will be on a first come first served
basis. Admission to the event is free. If you want a seat, make sure you
come early!

We are accepting donations to cover the cost of the event. You can
donate securely over the internet by using the donation widget at the top
of [http://www.tucsonteaparty.org] TucsonTeaParty.org or by going directly
to our [http://tucsonteaparty.chipin.com/healthcare-townhall-donations]
ChipIn page. We will also be selling tea shirts and accepting donations at
the event itself.

Thank you all for your continued support as the Tucson Tea Party tries to
hold our representatives accountable.

Trent Humphries & Robert Mayer

Organizers, Tucson Tea Party

This message was sent by: Tucson Tea Party, 140 W Vista Grande Dr., Tucson, AZ 85704

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Why We Have To Do It Better.

We've heard a lot about these "rules for radicals", but most of us don't know what they are, or know why it is so important to know what they are. Well, the super-quick-down-and-dirty version of them is this:

1. "Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have."

2. "Never go outside the expertise of your people. When an action or tactic is outside the experience of the people, the result is confusion, fear and retreat.... [and] the collapse of communication.

3. "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy. Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address.)

4. "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules. You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity."

5. "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counteract ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage."

6. "A good tactic is one your people enjoy."

7. "A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag. Man can sustain militant interest in any issue for only a limited time...."

8. "Keep the pressure on, with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose."

9. "The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself."

10. "The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. It is this unceasing pressure that results in the reactions from the opposition that are essential for the success of the campaign."

11. "If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside... every positive has its negative."

12. "The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative."

13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.  In conflict tactics there are certain rules that [should be regarded] as universalities. One is that the opposition must be singled out as the target and 'frozen.'...

Now, why is this so important to know these rules? Well, in football, if you can get the opposing teams playbook, you have a significant advantage. These rules are the Left's playbook. This is the "why and how" of what they do when the single out and attack people like Palin, Bush, the Tea Party...  

But by knowing these rules, and understanding how OUR actions are going to be perceived and manipulated with these rules...it gives us on the right the advantage by not playing into their hands. More on that later, for now I just want you to study these rules.

TUSD, Unions, and crying wolf.

The AZ Star is reporting today http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/305174.php that 400 of 560 teachers who were laid off at the end of last summer, have now been rehired and are back on staff... What you don't see from the headline is that there are still 100 open positions.
 
This means 500 of 560 positions are being rehired. Additionally, the headline does not tell you that another 185 staff positions were also rehired. That makes the number 695 of 745 positions that were terminated last spring.
 
Why all the hullabaloo then last spring?  Because the unions were afraid of losing funding during the budget crisis in the State Legislature. NOTE, the only monies being reduced in the budget is soft capital - books, buildings, etc. The legislature is NOT touching the teachers/staff salaries monies. The only group affecting those revenue streams is the local school boards through their budgets and bonding issues.
 
So 93% of the terminated positions are being filled. Its gets the SHORTEST and SMALLEST article it can, on a Sunday morning, when the paper is the fullest and biggest. Why? Bury the story. Don't make the Teacher's Unions look like they are crying wolf. Next year, when they pull the same CR@P, remember this! This is the game they play to squeeze every tax dollar they can out of you to further their agenda - and by the test scores that the children place? Yeah, we know the agenda is not education.

Protesting the Right Way.

It occurred to me that we on the Right have gone so long without protesting that we have forgotten how to do it better.

So a few Do's and Don't's as we head into another rally at Gabby's (21st, 4-6 pm) and Grijalva's (22nd, 12-2 pm) offices. Some of this may be tongue-in-cheek, but only to emphasize the point:

DO - wear comfortable clothing, colored to match the protest OR the fallback color of red.

DON'T - come half dressed. We want our signs to be read and message to be heard - not to have cars honking at your flat-belly.

DO - bring water and sunscreen. If you need a place to occasionally sit down, bring a chair.

DON'T - use bus stop benches. We are there to protest, not get Sun Tran upset with us. They have a job to do, so do we. Since we are all conservatives, we understand the desire to be left alone to do our work.

DO - stay on PUBLIC PROPERTY, sidewalks and easements.

DON'T - enter private property. Again, we conservatives believe in property rights of the owner. Let's prove to all that we respect that.

DO - bring your own homemade signs.

DON'T - hand out pre-printed signs. We are not MoveOn - We have the ability to think for ourselves.

DO - respect the roadways

DON'T - stand in traffic, or disrupt the flow. We want people to hear our message, not get turned off at us because there is a red shirt holding up the light.

DO - chant slogans

DON'T - chant slogans inside the counter-protest. That is ILLEGAL. No group promoting any protest (Tea Party, Code Blue, etc) condones, permits, or promotes direct confrontation. You get attacked, you are on your own...and we WILL laugh and point at you for your stupidity.

DO - spread out... preferably down the oncoming traffic side to the red, as they will be stopped waiting for the light. IN ALL DIRECTIONS, as long as we concede the right to the counter-protest to their corner/corners

DON'T - bunch up in one mass under the only tree for shade. How can anyone count how many people are there, if you just look like a blob of red? Spread out, numbers speak volumes at these rallys, come prepared to be in the sun, bring an umbrella if you need to...but please spread out! Also, you spent time handmaking your sign, right? You want somebody to appreciate it - they can't if it's in the middle of the mass of red.

And on the subject of signs, there are some good and bad's there, too:

GOOD - 7 words or less

BAD - anything over 7 words long, remember we are trying to get our message out to the drivers as they pass, they cannot read a novel during a red light.

GOOD - jokes, puns, quotes from founding fathers, quotes from talk show hosts or bloggers

BAD - racial slurs, personal attacks, curse words

GOOD - logic

BAD - nonsensical ranting

GOOD - logical linking of policy to political stances

BAD - use of the words: Nazi, Hitler, or any other form of Godwin'ing the argument

GOOD - BIG BOLD LETTERING

BAD - any lettering smaller than 2 inches tall...why do you think the Fed mandates lettering on roadsigns be 2 inches tall MINIMUM?

GOOD - pictures ex: Kool-Aid Man, Joker-bama

BAD - pictures that look like they were drawn by a two-year-old, unless it was actually drawn by your two-year-old. Then I say awesome for getting your kids involved!

GOOD - Flags

BAD - Flags waving into traffic. Again, we're not there to piss off the motorists!

UPDATE: Aug 17th: DO NOT BRING GUNS. If you have a CCW, bring your carry weapon. BUT DON'T BRING A FLIPPIN AR-15. Obamacare has NOTHING to do with the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

Ruth McClung for Congress wants to thank all of you

Ruth McClung wants to thank all of you for your hard work in opposing the Health Care Reform bills currently going through Congress.  We are being heard!  The Senate Finance Committee has dropped the so called Death Panel language from its version of the bill:

Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Committee on Finance, today made the following comment on end-of-life concerns and other concerns prompted by the House committee-passed health care legislation. 

"The bill passed by the House committees is so poorly cobbled together that it will have all kinds of unintended consequences, including making taxpayers fund health care subsidies for illegal immigrants. On the end-of-life issue, there's a big difference between a simple educational campaign, as some advocates want, and the way the House committee-passed bill pays physicians to advise patients about end of life care and rates physician quality of care based on the creation of and adherence to orders for end-of-life care, while at the same time creating a government-run program that is likely to lead to the rationing of care for everyone. On the Finance Committee, we are working very hard to avoid unintended consequences by methodically working through the complexities of all of these issues and policy options. That methodical approach continues. We dropped end-of-life provisions from consideration entirely because of the way they could be misinterpreted and implemented incorrectly. Maybe others can defend a bill like the Pelosi bill that leaves major issues open to interpretation, but I can't."

(Senator Grassley is the ranking Republican in the Senate Finance Committee: see his press release at http://finance.senate.gov/press/Gpress/2009/prg081309.pdf)

There are however about 7 versions of the Bill going through both Houses of Congress, and this is only one version.  And this is only one issue.  Keep up fighting for our rights. 

By the way, Rep. Grijalva says he will not vote for the bill unless it contains a strong inclusion of public option. The public option will lead to a single payer plan and we need to continue fighting against this socialistic provision in any of the bills.  Rep. Grijalva is having a public forum in Yuma next Wednesday.  If you live near Yuma, please go and let your wishes be known!  http://www.yumasun.com/news/forum-52109-grijalva-health.html#slComments 

I'm privileged to be fighting with all of you to save our freedoms.

Ruth

FW: First we're "extremists", now Gabrielle Giffords calls us RACISTS

Subject: First we're "extremists", now Gabrielle Giffords calls us RACISTS

As you all remember, before our July 17 protest in front of Rep. Gabrielle
Giffords' (D-AZ), the [http://www.tucsonteaparty.org/?p=184] Pima County
Democratic Party labeled the Tucson Tea Party and its supporters, "an
extremist organization whose mission is to promote the far-right wing's
agenda and to support candidates who have fallen tragically out of touch
with the values of mainstream Arizonans."

Then, on August 6, Giffords hosted a movie night at La Placita Cinema
downtown in which she was supposed to make an appearance. 200 - 300
concerned citizens
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/tucsonteaparty/sets/72157621850961903/]
showed up to let her know that they wanted a public townhall in which to
voice their concerns given that she had scheduled none during the recess.

Giffords did not show up to her own event, saying that she had never
planned to go and that she believed the Tea Partiers would disrupt the
movie. We [http://www.tucsonteaparty.org/?p=272] caught her in this lie by
exposing that she was, in fact, scheduled to attend the event and was
simply hiding from her constituents.

Now, our Representative has raised the stakes to a new, terrible height.

In an interview with Daniel Scarpinato of the Arizona Daily Star, she said
things about all of us that will make you cringe.

She said that we are using MANIPULATION and RACISM to mislead people! She
also said that shewas threatened by a protester with a gun while down in
Douglas and that she feels worried for her life! (Of course, this
revelation was only made to Mr. Scarpinato, as I didn't see that covered in
any newspaper nor was anyone put in jail for this supposed threat of
violence).

Does your Representative, Gabrielle Giffords, truly believe that her
constituents are racists because they oppose the government's takeover of
the economy? Does she truly believe that we are an unruly mob of racists
that want to end her life? Don't take my word for it.
[http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/304149.php] Just read the
article.

That is what she is actually saying about you. Now compare these lies to
reality, captured in this
[http://www.kgun9.com/global/Category.asp?c=172043&clipId=4027106&topVideoCatNo=139344&autoStart=true]
KGUN9 news report from today's protest at her office, which both the news
station as well as Tucson Police described as completely peaceful and
without incidence.

Of course it was peaceful! There is no mob! That whole meme is a complete
fabrication! Every event the Tucson Tea Party has ever done has been
peaceful. In fact, I would be hard pressed to think of a more civil,
law-abiding group of concerned citizens.

Gabrielle Giffords is running face first into uncharted territory by
hiding from her constituents, outright lying about them, and calling them
racists. The pressure is causing her to make critical mistakes and reveal
just what she thinks about her constituents. It is time to up that pressure
now more than ever.

The [http://www.tucsonteaparty.org/?p=270] Tucson Tea Party is organizing
a mass Recess Rally in front of her office on August 21st between 4 - 7
p.m. at her Pima & Swan office. We will be sending out several emails over
the next two weeks with more information about how you can participate in
this rally.The last rally had approximately 500 people attend -- this one
needs double or triple that!

In the meantime, continue to call Giffords' office at 520-881-3588 and let
her know what you think of her slanderous remarks!

Now that we've been called extremists, racists, and mobsters, what else
could they possibly come up with?

Please forward this email to anyone interested, and thank you for
continuing to be civil even as our Congresswoman demeans us publicly.

Robert Mayer

Co-Organizer, [http://www.tucsonteaparty.org] Tucson Tea Party

This message was sent by: Tucson Tea Party, 140 W Vista Grande Dr., Tucson, AZ 85704

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FW: Rep. Giffords a no-show at her own event due to Tea Partiers -- then lies and says she never meant to go!

-----Forwarded Message-----
Date: Friday, August 07, 2009 6:15:22 pm
To: pschmugge@msn.com
From: Tucson Tea Party <tucsonteaparty@yahoo.com>
Subject: Rep. Giffords a no-show at her own event due to Tea Partiers -- then lies and says she never meant to go!

On August 6 at 7 p.m., Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) hosted an outdoor
movie night at La Placita Cinema downtown. However, because she has been
hiding from her constituents and has so far refused to hold a townhall
regarding the healthcare bill, we all figured it would be a
[http://www.tucsonteaparty.org/?p=265] good idea to show up and let her
know how unhappy we are with the bill.

She was supposed to show up for the movie event -- it's her event, after
all! -- but then told a Fox 11 reporter that she was not going to attend
because she feared the protesters would "disrupt the movie". Apparently she
thinks that supporters of the Tucson Tea Party are part of an unruly mob!

All I saw were 200-300 concerned citizens!

Then, on the Fox 11 broadcast that night
([http://www.fox11az.com/video/newsvideo-index.html?nvid=387325&shu=1]
video here), she accused the Tucson Tea Party of misrepresenting the event
as a town hall and said she never intended to go to the event at all!

Nothing could be further from the truth. Gabrielle Giffords sent out a
message in her "Cactus Roots Connection" newsletter about her intended
appearance at the event, saying: "Come join me and others in watching this
classic film... Hope to see you there! Thank you again for your support!
Sincerely yours, Gabrielle Giffords."

A copy of the message is posted on the
[http://26dems.blogspot.com/2009/08/support-cong-gabrielle-giffords-come-to.html]
LD26 Democrats blog. The La Placita Cinema's
[http://twitter.com/cinemalaplacita/status/2894115631] Twitter feed also
says: "Thurs. Aug. 6 our Congressperson Gabrielle Giffords will be at CLP
to see 'Mr. Smith goes to Washington'. Come say 'hi' and see a movie!"

Gabrielle Giffords is hiding from her constituency at a time when she
needs to start listening to them. She showed true cowardice by failing to
appear at her own event in the face of public protest.

She did the exact same thing in Douglas, where she forced constituents to
wait in line to talk to her one-on-one before turning the rest away rather
than speak openly with her constituents
([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW3w9J9bH_k] video here).

The reality is that there was no unruly mob, which was apparent to
everyone who attended. There were only concerned constituents who showed up
to the only public appearance she planned to make in Tucson during the
recess. And the only reason we were there was to ask her for one public
townhall in which we could voice our concerns.

In fact, rather than disrupt the movie night, Tea Partiers helped the La
Placita Cinema set up their chairs!

By not showing up to her own event because of fears that her constituents
would "disrupt the movie", Giffords showed not only cowardice by failing to
defend her position on government-run healthcare, but disrespect and
disdain for her own constituency. Essentially, she is calling the
protesters uncivilized and not worth her time.

I also invite you all to check out the videos, pictures, and news coverage
of the event and judge for yourself if these people are part of an unruly
mob (posted below "Protest News"). I just don't see it where they get that
idea.

More Protest News:

Several groups will be protesting outside of Giffords' office on Saturday,
August 8 at 9 a.m. Her office is located on the SW corner of Pima & Swan.
While this is not a Tucson Tea Party organized protest, I know that many of
our supporters will be there and feel that it is important for other Tea
Partiers to know about it.

The Tucson Tea Party will be participating in the Nationwide Recess Rally
in front of Giffords' office. While the nationwide rally will be at noon on
Saturday, August 22, we believe there are significant disadvantages to that
time including the heat, lack of traffic, no news media on hand, and nobody
present at Giffords' office.

Therefore, The Tucson Tea Party rally will take place on Friday, August 21
between 4 - 7 p.m. at Gabrielle Giffords' office on Pima and Swan! The last
rally on July 17 had 500 people attend. Let's make this one 1000 at least!

Please check [http://www.tucsonteaparty.org/] TucsonTeaParty.org and our
[http://www.tucsonteaparty.org/?page_id=258] Event Calendar for more
information.

Videos, Pictures, and News Coverage

[http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/303987] Arizona Daily Star: Jamar Younger
did a good job providing fair coverage of the event.

[http://www.fox11az.com/video/newsvideo-index.html?nvid=387325] Fox 11:
Gabby lies and says that she never intended to be at the movie event.

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/tucsonteaparty/sets/72157621850961903/]
Flickr Pictures: Check out this Flickr set to see pictures from the
protest.

Videos: Here's a video of the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYRl2i5S6O4]
protest around 6:00 p.m. and another of
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yfYL0nNBBk] Jon Justice speaking.

This message was sent by: Tucson Tea Party, 140 W Vista Grande Dr., Tucson, AZ 85704

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FW: NW Republican Meeting- Agenda

-----Original Message-----
From: Sherese Steffens
Sent: 8/7/2009 2:20:38 PM
To: Sherese Steffens
Subject: NW Republican Meeting- Agenda

Hello Everyone!

 

Thank you for all the help and support in getting this first meeting or the Northwest Republicans accomplished!

 

Remember it is next Wednesday August 12 at The Nanini Library  @ 6:30 to 7:30 pm (see flyer)

 

Please let everyone you know about the meetings and encourage them to get informed and involved!

 

We can't change things if we don't do something!

 

Hope to see all of you at the meeting!

 

 

Sherese Steffens

 

 

 

Second Invitation regarding PC class this Saturday

If you are a new Precinct Committeeperson in Pima County, but have not attended this class yet, please sign up!

From: Mike Ebert <ebertsan@msn.com>
Subject: Second Invitation regarding PC class this Saturday

Good Morning Everyone!
We still have seats available for this Saturday's session held at El Parador Restaurant, 2744 E Broadway.
Class begins at 930 and ends at 1100
This is an interactive training session where we learn how to work our precincts, get a better understanding of pc duties and just get active for change in our city. We share ideas and get to meet others looking to do the same.
El Parador will provide the room, coffee, tea, water and danish for $5/person

Please join us by responding to this email.
Thanks, Mike Ebert

PS:Thanks to those whom have already RSVP'd

FW: 3 opportunities for conservative activists this week

Here are some opportunities to be conservatively active this week.

Wednesday, Aug 5 at 5:30 pm at City Council Chambers 255 W. Alameda -
The Tucson City Council is expected to vote Wednesday to file a legal
challenge to stop implementation of nonpartisan, ward-only elections
mandated by the Legislature... Read full story at http://
www.azstarnet.com/metro/303282

Thursday, Aug 6 at 7 pm -- Gabby Giffords sponsoring the outdoor
movie at La Placita Village, 211 S Church Ave (Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington). We heard she will be there -- working to confirm. We
are asking people to wear their Tea Party shirts, or in red if you
don't have a Tea Party shirt, to enjoy the movie and send Gabby a
message that she can't just hide from constituents who disagree with
her! This is not a protest. We just want her to know that we're
thinking of her. This is supposed to be posted on the Tucson Tea
Party facebook page. Kelly and I talked to Jennifer Humphries about
it earlier today.

Saturday, Aug 8 at 9:00 AM at the corner of Swan and Pima In front of
Gabby Gifford's office. The Arizona chapter of Americans for
Prosperity is joining allied organizations to hold protests at the
offices of members of Arizona's Congressional delegation to tell them
to keep their HANDS OFF OUR HEALTH CARE!

AFP Arizona activists will join Arizona Tea Party, 9-12 Project
Arizona, Smart Girl Politics, Tea Party Patriots, and thousands of
citizen activists in Code Blue protests around the state

Also, don't forget to call and email Gabby's office this week if you
oppose the government takeover of your healthcare - even if you've
already contacted her about it!

And please forward this to your friends who might be interested.

Thanks!

FW: History made easy and so true.........

I did not create this, it was one of many email forwards, but was so funny, had to keep it before I passed it on.

Lesson

For those that don't know about history. Here is a condensed version:

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

1. Liberals, and

2. Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can was invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement.

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided. 

Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal    on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food is standard liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most liberal women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly MGD or Sam Adams. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots, database/computer programmers and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America.  They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

Here ends today's lesson in world history.

Right Wing Extremists, EH????

Right Wing Protest:



Left Wing Protest:



Right Wing Protest:



Left Wing Protest:



And they say WE are the extremists!

Ok, Update 2

For some strange reason, I am now fascinated to see where this person is going with their videos.

They haven't posted anything new tho... I hope they didn't run out of steam, or change their mind...

Oh, well... there's lots of other fun Tucson videos like this one to watch.

Some Great Video Of "Right Wing Extremists!"

Just two quick links, as embedding them just slows down the works...

First off are my videos I took that day:  http://www.youtube.com/user/thebigshmoog

And then some great videos JonJustice took that day: http://www.youtube.com/user/1041TheTruth

Just keep asking yourself... we had this many people turn up, on a day where it was 109 degrees... how do we get this kind of enthusiasm to translate into votes on election day?

The Democrats pulled up in a rickety old bus. They DROVE in protesters. They'll do the same on election day. This is what ACORN does. Ask yourself what YOU can do to counter that kind of drive and ambition to fill the polls. Can you drive in a neighbor or 3 to ensure THEY vote on election day? Will you go door to door over the next few weeks and hand out voter registrations to those independent conservatives that haven't bothered to go to the library themselves to get a voter registration? Will you put a bumper sticker on your car? Will you post something on your facebook or twitter stream every so often so your friends get to meet the candidates  over the internet?

My Open Letter To Those That Attended The Giffords Protest

This is a response to a thread on Facebook regarding 'why bother giving time or money to the candidates? All they talk about is what is wrong with Tucson.'

...That's interesting, because I just listened to all four of the Tucson City Council candidates (or their reps) at the LD 30 picnic today. They all spoke positively about Tucson and it's future. Unfortunately you can't fix something, unless you know how it is broken. [The candidates] know that, a few of us know that, but there are A LOT of people that still do not understand just how broken of a system we have here in Tucson. What [the candidates] need now is help to get their positive message out about how they will fix the broken system. When you go to the auto mechanic and he walks in, he doesn't list everything that is right with the car, does he? No, he starts with what is wrong, THEN he tells you how he is going to FIX IT. That is what they are speaking to now. To that end, I am walking for Shaun this Saturday, so that he can get his message of 'city-repair' out to the voters. Have you committed to doing something positive for change in this city yet? Have you given your donation to them, so they can get their message out? Have you followed them around to a few public speeches to listen to them? If youhave, then great - talk to THEM and give them feedback. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. Harping on what they are doing wrong? That merely plays into the laize-faire attitude of the undecided voter, who once again says "why bother voting?"

If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem.

 ***Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.***
Peter Schmugge
http://thebigshmoog.blogspot.com

http://pimald25.blogspot.com

twitter.com/thebigshmoog

facebook.com/thebigshmoog

What the Pima Dems are Saying:

Forwarded to me, now to all of you to see!:

**********************************************

Unfortunately local Republicans get a great number of people out to their events, under the guise "Tucson Tea Party"

They pretend to be against raising taxes, but don't seem to care when their taxes are funding wars.

Let's show them that Tucsonans want their taxes to go to Clean Energy & Health Care.

Join the Pima County Democratic Party TOMORROW at 4pm

to show we appreciate her for voting in support of the Clean Energy & Security Act.

*If you want to help make posters for the event, come to Pima Dem Headquarters (4639 E. 1st St.) Thursday, July 16, 5-8pm.)

Call 326-3716 for more information or go to: http://www.pimadems.org/

To see how important it is to have many, many people there...The Tucson Tea Party is talking about the Pima Dems:

http://www.tucsonteaparty.org/?p=184

Please take time out of your busy life to join our efforts!

And send this to EVERYONE you know...You'll be glad you did....

　

Yes We Can stand for truth and justice!!!

Sarah~:)

An Open Letter To The Pima County Democratic Party

Hello.

I am a small business owner.

Last year I hired my first employee.

Last fall I had to fire my first employee, thanks to all the additional costs of hiring and retaining employees.

I made $9,700 dollars last year after expenses - not bad for a start-up company, actually. Most take a couple years to turn a profit.

I am on AHCCCS, because I cannot afford health insurance. I qualify for a lot more government welfare and handouts, but because I have a Church family and good friends to fall back on, I refuse to take anything out of the hands of someone at gunpoint (through the IRS).

In other words, I don't want to be leach on society's ass.

This country was founded on the freedom of political discourse, the freedom to peacefully assemble, and the freedom of speech. With only 2 teaparties held, both of them so peacefully held that TPD officers were sent HOME because the were not needed, (the actual quote being "just a bunch of law-abiding citizens being law-abiding") you come out and label the hardworking men and women who give up their time to re-open political discourse in America and in Tucson as "RWE's"?

Are you really THAT afraid of the Tea Party movement? You must be, to be pulling out the stops already. Thanks! We needed that boost, to know that we are being effective, to know that we are making you worried about your stranglehold on politics in Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, and the USA. This proves to us that we are not merely 'preaching to the choir' when we hand out information, hold a rally, or speak on talk radio. Thanks for giving all our fence-sitters a reason to get off the fence and join us. Thanks for making it easier to bring in the Independent Voter, who merely wants to vote for a candidate that speaks their mind, not attacks their opponent. Thank-you for making our job easier.

An Open Letter To The Pima County Democratic Party

Hello.

I am a small business owner.

Last year I hired my first employee.

Last fall I had to fire my first employee, thanks to all the additional costs of hiring and retaining employees.

I made $9,700 dollars last year after expenses - not bad for a start-up company, actually. Most take a couple years to turn a profit.

I am on AHCCCS, because I cannot afford health insurance. I qualify for a lot more government welfare and handouts, but because I have a Church family and good friends to fall back on, I refuse to take anything out of the hands of someone at gunpoint (through the IRS).

In other words, I don't want to be leach on society's ass.

This country was founded on the freedom of political discourse, the freedom to peacefully assemble, and the freedom of speech. With only 2 teaparties held, both of them so peacefully held that TPD officers were sent HOME because the were not needed, (the actual quote being "just a bunch of law-abiding citizens being law-abiding") you come out and label the hardworking men and women who give up their time to re-open political discourse in America and in Tucson as "RWE's"? 

Are you really THAT afraid of the Tea Party movement? You must be, to be pulling out the stops already. Thanks! We needed that boost, to know that we are being effective, to know that we are making you worried about your stranglehold on politics in Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, and the USA. This proves to us that we are not merely 'preaching to the choir' when we hand out information, hold a rally, or speak on talk radio. Thanks for giving all our fence-sitters a reason to get off the fence and join us. Thanks for making it easier to bring in the Independent Voter, who merely wants to vote for a candidate that speaks their mind, not attacks their opponent. Thank-you for making our job easier.

 ***Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.***
Peter Schmugge
http://thebigshmoog.blogspot.com

http://pimald25.blogspot.com

twitter.com/thebigshmoog

facebook.com/thebigshmoog

Thou Protesteth Too Much...

http://www.pimadems.org/

Yup, first on the Democrats blog is organizing the counter-protest on the 17th. 

For a bunch of 'fringe right wing extremist groups', they must be awful afraid of what we represent, to pull out all the stops and ask EVERY SINGLE DEMOCRAT in Tucson to come and counter-protest.

But lets think about this for a second.

April 15th Tea Party = 3800

July 4th Tea Party = 5000

Grijalva's pro Obamacare rally = 500

This is what they fear.

They know Obama is doing the Democratic Party no favors right now. They know Gabby is not doing much better. They know Grijalva is vulnerable, as he just votes party line, and is just as responsible for the economy as anyone else is. 

Already people are waking up to the fact that the rich are who create jobs.

That the rich are who invest in industry.

That socialized medicine is a failure wherever it is implemented.

That you can't make the poorer richer, you only make the richer poorer.

That industry will leave to find better ecomically viable places to do business.

Show up on the 17th. Grijalva's office from 12-2, Gabby "Pink Sweater Set's" office 4-6. Show them that their hold on Tucson, on Arizona, and on the American economy and way of life is slipping!

Ok... Update

Well, I went to see if the video I posted below had spawned any new videos... and it had. There are now 2 more videos... So rather than make it hard for you to open my blogspot page by having a bunch of embedded video clips, I say go check them out here.

I still don't quite understand it, not sure if it's advertising, or what, but you be the judge...

Solar Panels and The Pink Sweater Set.

So, our favorite Houstonian Represtative Gabby "Miss Pink Sweater Set" Giffords, posted this to her twitter account this morning:

"The long-term outlook for solar energy is bright in the right public policy environment http://bit.ly/aQJ55"

So, I decided to see if I could find an example of what she thinks is a good solar array or solar farm. A quick check of her flikr stream found this picture of Nellis Air Force Base:

So, with some help from another tweeter I tracked down this report on the Nellis installation. 15 Megawatts over 140 acres. That's .11 megawatts per acre. Palo Verde Nuclear can produce 3200 Megawatts on 4000 acres. Thats .8 megawatts per acre. When you break it down to megawatts / per area, it takes 7 (YES SEVEN) times the area of Palo Verde Nuclear to provide the same amount of power.

Does she REALLY want 28,000 acres (43.75 sq. miles) of our desert to look like the land above? This is what she is pushing, people, and this is what we are going to end up with! No, she just wants 16,500 acres of it to look like this.

Friday Protest at Gabby Giffords - July 17

First of all, I want to remind everyone that the Cap-N-Tr8r protest is this Friday, July 17th, 4-6PM at Rep. Giffords office at Pima and Swan.
 
Wear your Tea Party shirts if you have them, or any red or patriotic outfit!
 
Bring your signs and your American Flags!
 
**********BUT**********
 
I do want to point out a few things as we are also law abiding citizens, we need to continue to be law abiding citizens:
 
- DO NOT block or interfere in any way with the flow of traffic
 
- DO NOT block or interfere in any way with pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk.
 
- STAY on public property. DO NOT enter private property, or block access into private property.
 
If we can abide by these simple rules, we can protest all we want!

Me and My Buddy G

I finally got to meet my esteemed Representative from the Seventh Congressional District of Arizona. Enjoy my pic of me and him together!


UPDATE: Ok, so people are asking about this photo...the how, mainly. It was at his Obamacare Rally at the TCC on July 11. He was at the voter registration table, talking to the volunteers - all Democrats - when I walked up and politely tapped him in the shoulder. I shook his hand and asked him if I could get a pic with him. He said sure, and we faced Jon. Jon says "say cheese!" and up goes the bunny ears - for a full 5 seconds before the camera takes the picture. Then I thank him again, and Jon and I walk away. I guess he figured with 400 Acorn wingnuts walking around, I was just another one of them... Oh well, guess that is what happens when you don't bother to pay attention!

Auto Zone Update...

A while ago I let go a little rant about my experience at an Auto Zone here in Marana. I did want to take the time to update you, as it is only fair. I received a call from the District Manager regarding my service that I received. We had a short, but pleasant conversation about customer service... and came up with a solution to our mutual problem that happened on that day.

While I would rather not go into detail about what he did for me, I will say, he went out of his way to make sure I received the service that I did not receive from that particular store.

While it may take me a while to go back to an Auto Zone, at least I know that there is someone on the management staff that is looking out for the customer.

Ok...

First of all, I must say, I am way too 'married'. It's a Friday night. I received permission (yes permission is the operative word) to go out and have 'guy night'. And what do I do? I peruse YouTube for odd Tucson videos. Found this one....somebody obviously wants this seen, as when you look at the tags, it includes just about every single radio and tv station in Tucson... I almost posted the contrail/UFO video here or the contrail/chemtrail as my triumphant return to blogging, but I'll go with this, as this one just makes me go "huh?", whereas the contrail/chemtrail video hurts my head as I try to comprehend it, and the UFO's? Yeah, not putting on the tinfoil hat tonite.

Thoughts about Palin's decision...

I've heard a few of the MSM types saying that this is the 'nail in the coffin', that it's over for Gov. Palin.

I disagree.

And this is why: She was looking at a much tougher re-election campaign for the Governorship of Alaska. In addition, she has been attacked and attacked with frivolous lawsuits - which eat up her time, and take her out of being the Gov. of AK, and out of having time to run for future positions...she is no longer being an effective governor to the people that elected her. By Palin recognizing this, she shows that she is more concerned about the people she leads, than her own personal career. Major brownie points won with those of us that are sick of leadership that cares more about their career than their constituents. (cough, McCain, cough).

Secondly, we are in a position in this country of having a GOP with no top leadership. (which is fine, it's 2010, it's not about who's at the top, it's about who's going to take their districts in the House and the Senate). We also have a growing groundswell of independent conservatives combined with a growing grassroots swelling of conservatives coming back to the GOP. Talk radio is fourishing, and numbers are up. Tea Parties the country over are well attended. Very few people tap into all these groups, and are admired within all these groups.

Sarah is one of those people.

She is rough and needs some more studying up on international affairs, and needs to get into the lower 48, see what the rest of the country is struggling with. By resigning, she has just given herself a year to do just that. Travel. Shake hands. Study. Meet with ICons, GOP, Tea Partiers... travel and meet with foreign dignitaries and emissaries. Can she do it? We shall see, but so far, she has my vote!

Napolitano in Tucson...

Here's a quick video of our wonderful ex-governor turned DHS bungler talking about border issues...



Now, here's the skinny of what really happened yesterday:

Apparently the itinerary was to come in, make the speech above at the presser, then go in and meet many various heads of police, sherriff's, and other border LEO groups from both sides of the border, many of whom did not come for the conference that had been held all week, but just to have time to talk to her about the border issue. This was supposed to take a few hours, then back to the airport to go on her merry way.

Instead, again, and I repeat this is speculation and rumor, as there is no means of confirming (however I have no reason not to believe the source) since no one official has said anything abot yesterday's itinerary...

She blew off everyone and went instead to visit a 'friend'. I'll let you do the speculating on that one, however... my concern is this: In a time of increased violence along the border; In a time where we should be putting as much effort as possible into protecting the innocent on both sides; what does it speak to our national interest in actually fighting this border war when the head of DHS blows everyone off to go visit an old friend? More importantly, why can't she visit after meeting with everyone, even if just a quick 1/2 hour hit-n-run shake hands meet-n-greet?

Our law enforcement on both sides of the border, but mainly on the other side, is fighting a war... a brutal and savage war - one that left 11 bodies in a van recently - what does this kind of action tell those in the cartels about how important the US sees those that were brave enough to make themselves a target in this war, by openly attending such a conference? Don't you think those men and women need all the support we can give them? Over the next couple days, they will be returning back to their homes in Sonora, Chihuahua, and elsewhere... just to wonder how soon it will be before their names are listed in a story like the one above?