Welcome to the First Coast Tea Party
Dear Members: You Should Know About This
As many of you know, the First Coast Tea Party belongs to a Florida Statewide Tea Party Leaders Google Group. We have been together for nearly two years now. The group is a secured, confidential group and we discuss issues, thoughts and frustrations among tea party friends. We do this to coordinate efforts in the state of Florida and bounce off ideas.
Today I was called by the press about an email that was written by me to this private email group. The email was a part of a large discussion about the Tea Party and the 2012 election and focused on what happened here locally and how that could be applied to our future work. My email called out the GOP Lawyers who advised the Mike Hogan campaign to let it go and concede. To put it lightly, I felt they should have advised them to continue the battle and push hard to make sure … as Alvin Brown said “Count Every Vote.” I mentioned a 2 hour phone conversation I had with Jerry Holland the day after the concession where I was asking questions to understand what happened and why the concession was so quick. Jerry Holland was forthright and answered my questions with sincerity and professionalism. My email indicated how upset I was that the GOP Lawyers did not encourage a fight because I knew the “political machine” would have fought hard and would have kept this process going a lot longer.
To get to the point, either the “political machine” or a mole in our group (doubtful) stole that private email string and sent it to the media.
To say the tea party leaders were shocked and disappointed is an understatement. To say my trust level has been shattered is another understatement.
Abel Harding called me to get a statement about the email. It is circulating all over the media and of course they are running with it. This is juicy news.
I spoke to Abel this evening and told him that was a private email that was stolen and the tea party leaders in Florida were very upset about that. I stand behind the message of the email and believe the Political Machine did beat us and the GOP lawyers should have fought harder for a win. We found out the GOP does not understand who Alinsky is and Alinsky IS the Political Machine. No one organization or person is to blame for the loss of this race and ALL of us are to blame for the loss of this race.
The media loves this story and the GOP is not feeling good right now nor are we. That message was between friends as we tried to understand who the GOP is and how to fight the Political Machine so we can win in 2012.
These are all hard lessons for us. All of us who worked together to win the mayoral race were stunned with the outcome. The Political Machine beat us and that is the fact.
What we must do is figure out how to beat the Political Machine in 2012 – by either coming together with a plan; setting up our own political party; OR hunkering down and wishing it would all go away. At this point, I think we would all agree we must come together to figure thiout. The GOP is weak about the Political Machine and so are we. The Machine has massive amounts of funding and a grassroots system that surpasses all of us. Without funding, a system and boots on the ground, we are going to be fighting an uphill battle that we will not win.
The country loses, the GOP loses, the tea party loses and the people lose.
The end of this story is this:
- We are getting under someone’s skin so they want to infiltrate our emails and our websites.
- The GOP and Tea Party must figure out how they work together – if they do.
- The Political Machine is alive and well in Florida and will not be going away until December 2012.
Abel Harding will have his story about this sad state of affairs tomorrow. There is also another story brewing that the local GOP leader and the Tea Party are in a pointing fingers match with each other and the tea party is being blamed for Mike Hogan’s loss. That is an outright lie and no one in the GOP leadership or the Tea Party has said anything of the sort. We are not blaming each other nor are we blaming the Hogan camp. The blame lies within everyone who had anything to do with this PLUS the 300,000 peope who stayed home and did not vote.
We have gained one more notch in our political belt! We are new to this political game and finding how dark and difficult it is. These notches are hard to take but they are worth it all.
On another note:
- Please be aware that the Political Machine is trolling our website trying to have conversations with bloggers. We are watching these conversations closely and will remove these people from our website when we see hanky-panky.
- The day after the election a member received a phone call from someone asking about the bumper sticker she has “Take Back America.” She told them where to get it (our office) and they asked her if she was a tea party member. She said yes. A few minutes later the same person called backed believing he was calling someone else. She confronted him and he stammered with her until he hung up. It appears the Political Machine is working from a list and trying to identify tea party members. If you get a call, beware of that tactic. As for me, I’m proud to be a Tea Party Member and will gladly say “Yes” when they call.
No one said this would be easy and no one said the press would like us. No one said our friends would not rat us out. No one said we would win every race. But someone did say, “Any people that would give up liberty for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” That man was Benjamin Franklin and he understood that fighting for liberty would require a lot from each of us. There are days I wonder if I have it in me to keep it up. Then I cry my tears, wipe them away and say “Hell No – I’m not going away. I owe it to my grandchildren and to those who fought and gave their lives for my freedom."
I am willing to risk everything I have and will continue to do that no matter what the press writes or what the infiltrators do to me. The months ahead will require strong, principled people to stand up to the Political Machine, stare it down and say: “Machines don’t win, people do!”
Are you game for this? Will you go with us? Will we let the press or the Political Machine marginalize us or the GOP so Obama and his political class can win in 2012?
I planned to take the last couple of days off and that has been impossible. I will be taking next week off to recharge the batteries and prepare for the next battle. I may write a blog or two while I am away but I do not plan to entertain the media or anyone else about the mayor’s race. It is finished and there is no need to cry over spilled milk. Instead, it is time to clean it up and figure out a way to eliminate the spills in the future!
And a final note: “Be careful what you put in a private email. It may end up as a headline one day.”
Views: 133
Comment
-
Comment by Michael Simmons on May 21, 2011 at 2:10pm
-
and let me clarify, I'm not saying the Tea Party was complacent, I think conservative voters stayed home-that's the group I was referring to
-
-
I think everyone on the other side is trying to marginalize us (what else is new) into non-existence, the problem is we hold a lot more power than they will ever admit-remember November. This election I believe we as a local group got pretty much complacent and then blindsided by the out of town thugs (yes if the mole's are reading this I just called you a thug) and let their tactics pull off an upset. The pros of this are that we now know how they work. We know their M.O. They've tipped their hand to us, for which I would personally like to thank them. We'll be more than ready for you in the next election.
-
Comment by Barry Lee Phillips on May 21, 2011 at 2:05pm
-
J.R.,
I agree with most of what you say in your posts, but I think we have to be careful not to see the beginnings of a troll in someone else's otherwise innocuous post.
Everyone should be allowed freedom of expression, as long as they keep the content civil and refrain from using profanity and inflammatory language designed to elicit an emotional response.
Some people are still learning how to express themselves in writing and sometimes their ideas and opinions are not well formed and may give the impression of a troll-like comment. Eventually, the person behind the thoughts will emerge and show their true colors -- like Le'Nodd.
I love the free exchange of ideas and if someone disagrees with me, then I am challenged to learn from that and sharpen my pen. We should all be patient and give everyone else the benefit of the doubt.
-
Comment by Kelly Sisson on May 21, 2011 at 1:48pm
-
Well from what I can tell from folks all over the country, G o o g l e is not a very private scource for anything. I don't even use them for a search engine. Withdraw from that company and you might have more privacy. Maybe off topic a bit but thta little g o o gle car with its camera on a pole was running down my street thursday.
If you have gmail then change it. Remember the employee who was a tech for that company who stalked a little girl through gmail?
jus sayin.
-
-
Take your well needed rest. We are here and stand with you in this evil battle that wants to take away our country. You are right, together we stand as one nation under God! The 300,00 need to realize the battle is here and now.
God's peace
-
Comment by Patricia M. McBride on May 21, 2011 at 1:04pm
-
Billie,
I hope when you come back from your break, you will plan on getting a group together out in the middle of a field somewhere with lots of privacy and no chance of listening ears wtih an extremely carefully chosen group since there apparently is someone out there who is not what they seem to be. I also am going to get a few days away from all this as well, and hopefully, come back ready to jump back into whatever is needed!
-
-
Lee, I agree with your statement:
A better method would be a face-to-face meeting held at a secure location where notice of the date, time, and location of the meeting is given at the last possible moment.
and said it albeit more discretely.........although I guess that isn't necessary. I think Billie needs to get a group together someone and decide what the next move is. I certainly have a couple of things I would like to suggest :)
-
-
Oh Billie, I thank God for you and your courage and integrity. Truthfully, I hope everyone knows I am a Tea Party member.
Also, I am horrified that Hogan conceded without a fight. My God, we all know how Brown won. Now is not the time to roll over and let them bully us.
-
Comment by JL Gawlik on May 21, 2011 at 12:28pm
-
After having read all the posts, the answers are all there. Several people have repeated it over and over. Stand up for the Truth and Honor.
The Tea Party is having to take on the roll of the news media for obvious reasons, they are no longer the brave watch dogs of our government and society, they have perverted the Free Press and they are pushing a Socialist/Marxist agenda, period.
No one should hide or fear the truth. There is nothing the progressives can do to the truth, once it is out in the open, we as patriots must shine the light on the truth. I think people are starving for the truth and the facts, that is why so many respond to Palin, West, Cain, and others even Trump. Then you see the complete opposite from the progressives, they go ballistic and rapid! (which i just love seeing, especially when they start actually foaming from the mouth!)
Interesting to note that Thomas Jefferson was a lover of puzzles and codes and he embedded all through the founding fathers' documents, ask yourself why is WE THE PEOPLE in ALL capital letters through out the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution?
The answers are ALL there in our our documents. Ask yourself, WHAT has this communist progressive movement taken out of the public sector? Love of country, Love of God, and us being united. They have divided our country through race/class warfare, wealth envy and have created fear mongering with lies and twisted facts among the elderly and disadvantage, and have gone after the inexperience youth.
There lies the answer. It is plain as the noses on our faces. No one should ever be ashamed or fear from hiding from the truth. Someone had stated earlier, shine a light on it and they run like cock roaches back into the dark. (almost as FuN waTching as the rabid foaming at the mouth!)
TRUTH & HONOR, LOVE OF COUNTRY & GOD UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE SHALL FALL. ALL we need is to seek the truth and rally patriotism and love for our country.
Another interesting quote for Saul Alinsky's sick book, divide and conquer. We should not have to go to tactics that they use, that is deceit, lying, stealing and cheating, we are much better than that, we just stand up for the truth.
IF that had been done in this last election cycle, the outcome would of been different. Just my thoughts. Stay true to yourself.
-
Comment by J.R. on May 21, 2011 at 12:08pm
-
There are plenty of alternatives and we have plenty of choices. And you have no idea whether or not Rick Scott will stand for re-election in 3 1/2 years. Meanwhile, he's doing an excellent job. It's irrelevant how long you've been with the Tea Party and your statement that our events or meetings are full of politicians is patently false. Of course we had politicians at Speed Rating and the Town Hall meeting. We had them there to so they could inform members what they stood for, and all candidates from all political parties were invited to participate. And our group meetings are certainly not full of politicians. You must not attend many of them, if any, or you would know that.
And Marco Rubio is not running for office. He was just elected to a six year term in the U.S. Senate. And your raising that red herring here, along with unsupported comments, sends up a red flag to post a warning to all FCTP members: DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS
National Debt Clock
The First CoastTea Party is a non-profit organization. We have no deep-pocketed special interest funding our efforts.
You may contact us at:
First Coast Tea Party
1205 Salt Creek Island Dr
Ponte Vedra, FL 32082
904-392-7475
Helpful Links
Blog Posts
RYAN NICHOLS - Hardened Criminal?? Seriously??
If you're not already aware. This is what's going on in DC while dangerous criminals are allowed back out on the streets. It's horrifying that this is happening to our citizens and veterans for protesting the hijacking of our election process. This is still happening! They are STILL being tortured and treated like full on terrorists.
You may not be aware of the typical things they're forced to go through...…
ContinuePosted by Babs Jordan on August 14, 2022 at 8:44am
© 2024 Created by LeadershipCouncil.
Powered by
You need to be a member of First Coast Tea Party to add comments!
Join First Coast Tea Party