From our friend April Castro at the AP…she’s blown a gasket!

My two cents:

As a citizen who has been involved in the Social Studies curriculum battle in Austin, I find many of the AP’s references laughable. A new day has dawned in America. Patriotic citizens are uniting to take their country back, resulting in the left becoming unhinged. This article and many of the comments posted here are fine examples.

This stuff is a farcical view of what’s actually happening. Decent mainstream Americans are involved like never before and making their voices heard in support of the “far-right”, “Christian conservatives” and “ultraconservatives” who the AP describes in pejorative terms.

Ummm…our country IS a “constitutional republic”, rather then “democratic”…geez!  Sounds as though the AP could stand to sharpen THEIR social studies skills.

The AP story continues, “…leaving Republicans to easily push through amendments heralding “American exceptionalism” and the U.S. free enterprise system, suggesting it thrives best absent excessive government intervention.”  I happened to speak before the SBOE on American exceptionalism, a seemingly fundamental concept that not one board member was critical of. Somehow, the AP’s conventional wisdom suggests that such things are radical and controversial. I’m sure they would side with the leftist educrats on the curriculum review committee who wanted it replaced with “American imperialism”.

The left will no longer have their way unimpeded…get used to it!

Well said, April. And that’s why Michelle Malkin wrote a book named Unhinged and put this graphic of the Un-Official Seal of the Democrat Party on her blog.

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If you missed dynamic speaker, Herman Cain, during CPAC last weekend, take a listen.

Just scroll past the first 4:30 minutes of video to skip the two introductions.

Herman Cain – The Pursuit of Happiness and Healthcare “Deform”

http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2010/02/19/HP/R/29747/GOP%20political%20leaders%20headline%20second%20day%20of%20cpac.aspx

C-SPAN videos (For entire agenda, speakers and agenda, see website).

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Let’s ask her.

Donna Campbell: Plenty!

On the issues, I differ greatly with Mr. Morovich on at least three important fronts, as documented in the Liberty Institute’s voters’ guide .

Defense

I strongly believe U.S. troops should remain deployed in the theater they are engaged in until the military objective of the mission (peacekeeping, humanitarian aide, infusing the rule of law, fighting terrorists, etc.) is secured as determined by the commanders on the scene.

However, apparently regardless of the proximity to attaining the mission of enabling a stable, safe and peaceful citizenry ruled by law, Mr. Morovich indicates on the voters’ guide survey that he strongly favors the immediate withdrawal of troops in Iraq.

School Choice

I endorse empowering parents with the ability to choose the best environment for their children to learn, and I strongly favor the utilization of vouchers to shift this decision-making from government bureaucrats to mothers and fathers.

Seemingly satisfied with a “government knows what’s best” mentality, Mr. Morovich indicates on the voters’ guide survey that he strongly opposes the freedom-to-choose mechanism that vouchers enable.

Marriage as that Between a Man and a Woman

Based upon personal beliefs, fundamental thinking and biblical teachings, I strongly favor defining marriage as being between a man and a woman in the U.S. Constitution.

Apparently at peace watching courts overturn such definitions in state statutes, Mr. Morovich indicates on the voters’ guide survey that he strongly opposes placing this legislating-from-the-bench protection in our federal constitution.

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Major Texas Newspapers’ combined poll taken “Pre-Beck”, shows little change.  Speculation remains re: show’s impact on Medina and if Perry can avoid a runoff. – Poor Richard

Perry leads in Texas governor poll, has shot at avoiding GOP primary runoff

By WAYNE SLATER  wslater@dallasnews.com

AUSTIN – Rick Perry holds a comfortable lead over Kay Bailey Hutchison, and his anti-Washington message has mired his rival for the Republican primary race for governor, according to a new poll.

Perry’s advantage puts him within striking distance of winning the nomination March 2 without a runoff. Republican Debra Medina, whose campaign has wooed insurgent Tea Party voters, trails her better-known opponents by double digits in the Dallas Morning News poll.

…

The Medina factor

The survey, conducted for The Dallas Morning News and four other large Texas newspapers by Blum & Weprin Associates Inc. of New York, was taken before Medina’s appearance Thursday on the Glenn Beck radio show. In that interview, she entertained the notion that the Bush administration was involved in the 9/11 attacks, a fringe theory that could turn off voters just learning about Medina’s candidacy.

If enough of Medina’s voters abandon her, Perry could avoid a runoff. A primary triggers a runoff only if no candidate gets more than half the voters who turn out.

“He just needs her people to either stay home or vote for him, whereas Hutchison needs to take pretty much all of the voters that desert Medina,” Blum said.

“At this point, we’ve got it still going to a runoff. But because of the [Medina] implosion, it’s possible that it won’t.”

…

Poll: Perry has yet to seal deal with GOP voters – Current lead not enough to avoid a Hutchison runoff, numbers show

By R.G. RATCLIFFE, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Feb. 14, 2010, 12:35AM

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry holds a commanding lead over his two Republican opponents in a new Houston Chronicle poll, but he still hasn’t closed the deal with Republican voters to avoid a runoff with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.  However, the race could turn into a Perry victory before the March 2 primary, said pollster Mickey Blum, because of what she called last week’s “implosion” of activist candidate Debra Medina.

If a runoff is needed, it will be April 13.

Medina said she is not expecting to lose any ground because of the controversy.

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By Ken Brewer

President Obama has invited Republicans to Blair House on February 25th for a televised meeting to discuss Obamacare. I have no idea what will be suggested but I have a good idea of what I would say! The basis for all of my program proposals hearken back to Bill Clinton’s, “It’s the economy, stupid!”  That is the number one concern of the American public right now, not healthcare.

But insofar as healthcare goes, there are things that can be done to make it less of a drag on both our personal wallets and the economy as a whole.

• Make insurance available to consumers nationwide, just as other consumer items are.
• Institute true tax exempt, consumer owned health savings accounts, with no cuts for the insurance industry or the government.
• There will be no free care for illegal aliens. They will be billed and exported, with charges filed for unpaid bills.
  • If they ever return, they will be imprisoned until all bills are paid, and that includes the cost of their imprisonment!
  • There is one exception to this, that being for childbirth services. These women will be imprisoned until the bills are paid, then deported. They will not be charged expenses of imprisonment.
  • These measures would not apply to legal alien residents, or to others who are here legally, just to the criminals who have ignored and broken our immigration laws.
• Finally, allow doctors to sell pre-paid services in the form of contracts, much the same as lawyers do. This is not allowed now because it cuts both the insurance industry and the government out of sucking funds for welfare and their own pockets from patients who pay their own way.

My proposals would eliminate a major part of the drag on our economy that is due to healthcare.

Created or saved?

President Obama’s economic proposals are the continued the destruction of our economy that he began with the so-called Stimulus Bill. He claims up to 2 million jobs saved so far. This is an abject lie with no empirical data to back it up. However, let’s grant him those jobs, but most of them being either government jobs or jobs at government expense, many of which are temporary. Brilliant Harvard graduate that he is, he knows that a government job represents a net job loss! First, every cent of the employee’s dollars must be confiscated from a taxpayer. Then, it is filtered through the federal bureaucracy for an additional revenue loss.  This is not rocket science, and precise figures are not required in order to understand that any government job costs more to create and maintain than the pay of one job in the free market!

Environmental Marxism

A further nail in the economic coffin proposed by our President is his Cap and Tax bill, which he acknowledged would necessarily cause our energy prices to skyrocket. He knows that this will cause a huge inflationary spiral, which is why I must conclude that he intends to destroy our economy.

He mentioned a far saner approach in his State of the Union message when he proposed increased drilling and refining. Why isn’t he already doing this? The answer is that he is simply lying again! We need to drill off both coasts and in all areas of the gulf, eliminating all federal restrictions and encouraging the states to license the drilling and production of our resources. We need to open up federal lands and eliminate unreasonable restrictions on drilling on land, including ANWR. This does not preclude sensible environmental precautions.
As I have previously noted, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards no longer make sense and serve only to destroy our automotive industry. This is especially true since the science behind Global Warming Theory has been proven fraudulent. The classification of carbon dioxide as a toxin is beyond ridiculous, and always has been. The goal of emission standards for decades has been to eliminate toxic pollutants, leaving only carbon dioxide, and this goal has been achieved!

Therefore, the eco-socialists in the EPA have classified CO2 as a toxin, a gas that is necessary for life on this planet! The objective is not clean air. It is, again, the destruction of the American economy.

Fair Tax v. Progressive Income Tax

My last economic proposal is one that would put our economy in hyper drive and would allow us to pay off the monstrous debt with which Obama, and Bush, to a lesser degree, have immorally saddled our grandchildren:

Repeal the 16th amendment, the Progressive Income Tax, and pass the Fair Tax!

Passed in 1913 by a Progressive Republican Congress and signed into law bay a Progressive Democratic President, the purpose of the Progressive Income Tax was, and is, to subvert our Constitution and to transform us to a socialist economy. The Progressive Income Tax was one of the reforms deemed necessary in Marx’s Communist Manifesto for Communism to succeed.

Taxing production is absolute economic insanity, and it is destroying all production in this country, once the mightiest engine of productivity in the history of this planet. The removal of this penalty on innovation, hard work, and investment must be removed. Once removed and replaced with a voluntary tax on consumption, all we then need is for the government to get out of the way.

Suffice it to say that I believe strongly enough in it that I am again contributing a C-note to it for this year.  It will destroy the Progressive program, free us of a massive burden of documentation, eliminate a huge and intrusive bureaucracy which exercises unconstitutional powers, Tax everyone fairly, and bring in an estimated eleven trillion dollars from overseas banks and offshore holdings. It will immediately make the United States the world’s premiere tax haven! This, together with my previous proposals, is how we pay off this massive debt within twenty years.

Common Sense Self Preservation

None of these ideas are original to me, and I am not presenting them as such. They are ideas which have been out there. Some are proposals by Republicans, some by Libertarians, but none by Progressives, because these ideas are meant to strengthen our nation and its economy, not destroy it and bring it down to the level of a third world economy, which is Obama’s Progressive agenda.

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Texas: Muslim or ex-Muslim gubernatorial candidate demonstrates mastery of the art of claiming victim status

By Robert Spencer

Farouk Shami is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Texas. On his website, he “clarifies” his religious affiliation by making it clear as mud. The statement is notable for its sly obfuscations and detours, which will be familiar to longtime Jihad Watch readers:

“I want to clarify what has been reported in the press concerning my religion. I was born in the land of Abraham, believing in Moses, Jesus and Mohammad, and believing in one God.

While this statement may appear to the ignorant and unwary to be one of religious pluralism and open-mindedness, actually it is a straightforward statement of Islamic faith. For in the Qur’an, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad are all Muslim prophets who taught the same message, the message of Islam. Judaism and Christianity, in this understanding, arose later, out of corruptions of the teachings of Moses and Jesus. So for Farouk Shami to say that he believed in Moses, Jesus and Muhammad is simply to say that he was an ordinary, mainstream Muslim — although the statement is clearly presented here in an attempt to give readers (and Texas voters) the impression that he was some kind of “all religions are one” multiculturalist or broad-minded ecumenist.

I grew up with members of my family and friends practicing multiple faiths: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. I was also educated at a Quaker school. All of these things contributes to my relationship with God. To say simply ‘I’m a Muslim’ or ‘I’m a Quaker’ is to ignore major parts of my faith. I know it seems complicated that I do not have a pat answer to questions about what religion I am, but without my exposure to many different cultures and religious beliefs I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

All right. But here again, none of these statements involve anything that a believing Muslim could not or would not say. So his family and friends include Jews and Christians, and he went to a Quaker school — none of this necessarily involves his own belief system. And if a Muslim can say that he is a true Christian because he believes in what he believes to be the true Islamic Jesus of the Qur’an, then he can surely say that he is a Quaker — although Farouk Shami doesn’t quite say that, either.

More at JihadWatch.org

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by Tj Scott

Are we so anti establishment that we do not want a strategy to move the movement from a bunch of people making homemade signs and showing up to events without a plan, to an organized movement that can turn those rallies in to education events that get the voters to see the errors of their ways in 2008?

If a Rush Limbaugh, or a Glenn Beck starts talking about becoming a precinct chairman and getting involved does that make the idea bad, because they make money on the commercials they have opn their programs?

Are we so anti capitalistic that if someone makes a buck that we have disdain for them?

I applaud the Tea Party Nation whoever they are to put on an event that helps the grassroots learn to do better. Are the people in this meet-up group so smart they do not need any education or to exchange ideas with others that might advance our cause?

Yes the Gaylord Hotel in Nashville is charging the Tea Party Nation a ton of money, they are charging the organizers over $6.00 for a bottle of water and canned sodas. Coffee goes for $165 a gallon during a break. I work in the association field and my association puts on 2 to 3 conventions a year, and we don’t hold them in tents. Our members pay for top of the line education programs, and entertainment and they get their money’s worth.

I also attend 2 to 3 other conventions a year as well, and none of them are cheap but the ROI is worth the money. Tuesday I am going to DC for a Technology Convention that is costing $495 for two days not counting my hotel room at $219 (an Embassy Suite) and I will not have a chance to hear  Judge Roy Moore or Sarah Palin.

Even the NRA which probably has the most grass roots members I can think of, holds their conventions in convention halls that are surrounded by Hilton, Hyatt and Weston hotels and charge $200 a night for rooms (and they will be full I guarantee you). Yes the NRA convention is free to attend the show room floor but I paid $200 for last year’s dinner to hear Oliver North and John Stossel.  I did not go to other banquets at the event because they were $350. I have no idea what NRA charges the vendors on the floor of the expo but I will bet it is in the 5 figure range. That is why they can let me in the convention for free.

The two different Tea Party movements here in Austin have done great things, we have had some rallies at the capitol and we feel real good about ourselves AS WE SHOULD when we put pressure on our elected officials, but I was at one event that if I had not brought my bull horn there would not have been any way to hear the speakers. Yes the organizers learned from that but what else could we learn from others around the country?

The true test of all of our work to Dump Doggett will come in November!  I for one would sure like to have ideas from others on how to accomplish this major task.  Had I been in Nashville maybe, just maybe I could have found someone in Sarah Palin’s entourage to tell me how to get Sarah to Austin to campaign for Donna Campbell. If I could have paid the entrance fee and got to Nashville I might have been able to do just that, and do you think that would have been worth the $2,000 worth of expenses?

If you have watched the PJTV coverage of the “Tea Party Convention” did you see something evil about it?

It is OK or is it? For Dean to start a PAC but when the guy from the Memphis Tea Party started his on a grander scale that is wrong?

Again I go back to last month when I said I was sorry the Tea Party National Conservative Symposium that was supposed to be held in San Antonio was canceled, it showed a proper organization was a foot.

Grass Roots is hard and the Tea Party Movement can still be all about the people but it needs some major organization.

So go ahead and call me a neo con or whatever but I salute any group that will educate  us in how to do a better job of taking back our country.

TJ Scott

Precinct Chairman

Travis County Precinct  0358

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A few words on the new “Slander a fellow patriot today” movement.

by Sibyl West

Any fool can criticize and most fools do. Is there anything easier than standing on the sidelines, watching someone else try to do something and then taking pot shots at their efforts?

And is there anything more difficult than taking personal responsibility and doing something individually creative and original?

“Contrariness is creativity for the untalented,” sez Dennis Miller. That sounds about right. Behold two items in the onslaught of mainstream media propaganda masquerading as news today.

Hundreds of conservative activists converge for the start of National Tea Party Convention

And this one is full to the brim with bias and half truth:

Judson Phillips Threw a Tea Party, and Trouble Came

Folks, don’t let anybody – friend or foe – try to turn you against the others who are trying to make a difference. Don’t fall for the “they’re wrong but we’re right so join us” meme. In my view, what we are doing is a think-nationally-act-locally endeavor. That’s not to say don’t choose your friends wisely but if you don’t like what one group is doing, go somewhere else and keep working. Stay focused on the goal.

Here is a little reminder of what to expect as you try to ‘take back America’.

by Dr. Kent M. Keith

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
   Love them anyway.
   
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
   Do good anyway.
   
3. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
   Succeed anyway.
   
4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
   Do good anyway.
   
5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
   Be honest and frank anyway.
   
6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
   Think big anyway.
   
7. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
   Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
   
8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
   Build anyway.
   
9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
   Help people anyway.
   
10. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
    Give the world the best you have anyway.

© 1968, 2001 Kent M. Keith

“The Paradoxical Commandments” were written by Kent M. Keith in 1968 as part of a booklet for student leaders.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just saw two fantastic speakers on the Tea Party Convention live stream on PJTV.com. (Register. It’s free.)

“It’s because we’re effective that we’re being attacked.”

Amy Kremer, Director of the Tea Party Express talked about the evolution of the tea party movement since last February. She has been one of the drivers and organizers. Her demeanor is confident, decent, cooperative, appreciative and humble. She said to the audience regarding Scott Brown’s election, “We did that. And next we’re coming for Harry Reid.” The crowd went wild in the auditorium, and I can only guess what happened in homes across America where people were watching it live.

She talked about educating people to empower them, and that we don’t need the media at all. That we need unity within the movement and must “come together, stop bickering, backbiting and divisiveness. Go find the group where you fit in. Stop pointing the gun inside the boat and start pointing it at the enemy.”  And she quoted the great Ronald Reagan:

“There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

Next, Andrew Breitbart took the stage. He who refers to himself as “a C student” brought the house to its feet during his delivery. He took aim at the mainstream media and declared, “Their capacity to continue doing what they’re doing is officially over.”

He described the entire ACORN expose from the time O’Keefe brought the tapes into Andrew’s basement, where watching them he considered them “weird, weirder, weirdest”. He referred to the narrative of the leftist media: that the left is helping people. This was the main reason the leftist dominated media ignored the story and why it ignores the tea party movement.

Breitbart pointed out that the MSM has only two templates against the New Media – the racism card and Watergate – and neither of these are working anymore. And he hinted that this election cycle in 2010 will be the worst the MSM has ever known because of what Breitbart has up his sleeve.

I for one cannot wait.

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VIDEO here.

In a bid to advance the tea party movement from holding rallies to holding office, the leaders of the anti-establishment groups announced a new political organization Friday that they say will “endorse, support and elect” conservatives across the country.

Mark Skoda, chairman of The Memphis TEA Party, made the announcement at a news conference in the middle of the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville. Though he said the group — Ensuring Liberty Corporation and an affiliated political action committee — is “distinct and separate” from other parts of the tea party movement, including convention organizer Tea Party Nation, the announcement was the closest thing so far to a national organizing strategy for the upcoming 2010 midterm elections.

More at FoxNews.com

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