‘Tea Party’ members offer a ground-level view

A year ago, the political hurricane known as the “Tea Party” erupted in made-for-YouTube confrontations at congressional town hall meetings on the pending health care overhaul.

This August, the movement’s supporters seem less rowdy — perhaps because they’re pounding the pavement and dialing phones, trying to alter the balance of power in Congress in the fall elections. While Tea Party-favored candidates have lost in contests including the California GOP Senate primary, they have won Republican Senate primaries in Colorado, Kentucky, Nevada and Utah.

They say it’s just the start.

“We’re not in this to make noise and to saber-rattle,” says Dan Blanchard of the Louisville Tea Party, which helped Rand Paul claim the Senate nomination in Kentucky. “We’re in this thing to win.”

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‘Tea Party’ members offer a ground-level view

I believe the more correct way to say this would be, “We’re not in this just to make noise or to rattle sabers.” Of course we must be polite, that goes without saying, but if we meet a violent challenge, we must address that challenge in like, or similar fashion.

I don’t want to go to war! I am too old, with too many health issues to take on FULL ATTACK mode anymore. But if it means the protection of my family, or the security of the USA, I still have at least one more good fight in me.

And I won’t be nice, kind, non-confrontational or politically correct in waging that fight!

The test now: Whether Paul and others can prevail under even tougher scrutiny and win over the broader electorate that votes in November. That will require a sustained commitment from a network that revels in its bottom-up nature and loose organization.

I personally feel that if anything can stop the TEA Party it will be that loose confederation of grass roots activism. A grass roots organization is a marvelous place to start, but where do you go from grass roots?

Again, in MY opinion, NO organization can survive without being properly organized and led by GREAT men and women in positions of strong leadership, be it local, grass roots or on a national scale. We do NOT need Casper Milquetoast, nor those that are afraid of their own shadows, nor those that RUN from confrontation! We must have STRONG, brave, forceful, persuasive and dedicated leaders.

We must have leaders that place the nation above their personal agenda. We must have leaders that aren’t concerned about padding their resume. We must have dedicated leaders that fall in to the same category and hold true to the beliefs held by our Founding Fathers.

We can’t allow leadership that follows the depiction in the above picture. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

We have to see ALL evil and address that evil. We must listen FOR evil that is spoken, and refute that evil for what it is. But, we must speak no evil, we must speak the truth, we must not slander. If we are to hold others to a higher standard, we must be willing to lead by example and take that higher standard to heart and live it ourselves. Truth and courage. Neither will let you down!

“That’s part of the verve and vibrancy,” says Rep. Michele Bachmann. At the first meeting of the congressional Tea Party Caucus last month, the Minnesota Republican underscored the primacy of the grass roots by having members of the public sit on the dais normally reserved for members of Congress. Lawmakers sat in the audience.

Over the last few months, especially the past 2 months, it has been my pleasure to meet and get to know quite a few men and women in my part of Texas that are running for office. There has only been one candidate so far that has addressed the fact that the elected officials in this nation work for We, The People, and then went on to say that far too many politicians see it the other way around.

Many that are candidates will pander the electorate with ANY and all reasons that they should be elected over a particular opponent. Far too many voters simply fall for the rhetoric, or, in a lot of cases, write that rhetoric off to being nothing more than political BS and the lies that so many politicians are known for.

•Keep it local. Chris Littleton, head of a Tea Party group in Cincinnati, says the activists he knows are driven by “this sense that you have to own your backyard first.”

“I can’t fix what is happening in D.C.,” Littleton says. “But I can fix what is happening in my backyard. I can affect my township, my county, my city, my congressional district and my state.”

And THAT my friends is the crux of the matter.

We have had individuals in our TEA Party group right here in Rowlett that were fired up to beat the band about how they were going to change Washington, D.C. How they were tired of what goes on in our nations Capitol. They wanted to MARCH on Washington and affect change in front of the White House.

That’s not how it works. There’s an old adage that says, “Sweep your own doorstep“. I’m sure you’ve all heard that one before.

We can’t vote in elections held in other states, we can’t vote in elections held in other counties or cities. But there are those that insist that we go here, there and yonder to help change the outcome of in area that has NO direct affect on me, my family, my town, my county or, in some instances, my state itself.

I can vote in a NATIONAL election, I can vote here in Texas, in Dallas county and in the city of Rowlett, my own back yard is where I can bring about the most change. After that, it’s up to the elected officials that We, The People choose to bring change to the state of the nation as a whole.

This is a long and detailed story from USA TODAY.com. Some of it I agree with fully, some I have my own opinion of. That’s the glory of being an Independent and a TEA Party Patriot. We have differences of opinion. Where MY biggest difference of opinion comes in is my total disgust at those who seek to USE the TEA Party to further themselves and those that don’t have the courage to stand and FIGHT for what is RIGHT.

Politics is a highly confrontational endeavor. Building, rebuilding and saving a nation is a very highly confrontational issue as well. Some people just aren’t cut out to be leaders in a WAR that will have far reaching consequences. That’s why there is a rank structure in the military and why it’s not necessarily those with the most passion that are placed in a position of leadership.

If passion would win the day, we wouldn’t need soldiers.

I am a soldier in this battle, I am not afraid of confrontation and I address matters HEAD ON! I speak loud and strong, I am, all too often, far less than politically correct. Be that as it may, the very existence of the United States of America is in the balance.

I still fight today! Damn political correctness, and cowards of ALL ilks!