Sunday, January 29, 2012

Tennessee Republican Assembly Endorses Santorum After Paul Landslide In Straw Poll



Here is the news through facebook, from Combat Veterans for Ron Paul:

Combat Veterans for Ron Paul
URGENT UPDATE:
Local news stations in Nashville tonight reported that the TRA had their straw poll (with no mention of vote tallies, percentages, or any numbers), and that THE TRA IS ENDORSING RICK SANTORUM. After the landslide victory Tennessee delivered for Ron Paul today, the TRA should refund the voters money and publicly apologize for ignoring the straw poll results and adding insult to injury by trying to use all the Ron Paul voters money to endorse Rick Santorum. The Republican establishment obviously doesn't want to embrace what could be the future of the party. Instead, they insist on pushing us out of the process and/or resorting to corrupt tactics to blackout the Ron Paul groundswell. Research this story! The Republican establishment doesn't care what the voters think!
EDIT: here is the link to TNRA contact
http://tnra.org/Contact-Us.html

My Comment: I don't blame the the Ron Paul supporters for being mad. It was duplicitous of  TRA to have a straw poll and then issue an endorsement for a candidate other than the winner of the straw poll. This is highly unusual. I don't know that I have ever seen this done before. Last year when Ron Paul won the CPAC endorsement, we knew Ron Paul may not have not been the favorite of most regular CPAC members, but the Paul supporters organized and went to the convention and paid their fees and won the straw poll. If an organization fears the outcome of a straw poll, don't have it. If you have a straw poll then don't issue an endorsement for a different candidate. Play fair. TRA just used the Paul supports.

I like that the above writer called TRA "the Republican establishment." To be against "the Republican Establishment" seems to be TRA's only reason to exist. Now, someone considers TRA "the Republican establishment." He should have also called them "RINOs."

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"Occupy" Scumbags Burn Flag

Photo credit: AP Photo | Occupy Oakland protestors burn an American flag found inside Oakland City Hall during an Occupy Oakland protest on the steps of City Hall. (Jan. 28, 2012)

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Ron Paul Wins Big at TRA Convention!

Ron Paul won the Tennessee Republican Assembly Convention straw poll by a huge, huge margin, beating out his closest rival Rick Santorum by a margin of better than 3 to 1. Here are the straw poll totals.


Ron Paul 200 votes
Rick Santorum 62 votes
Newt Gingrich 38 votes
Mitt Romney 15 votes
Jon Huntsman 1 vote

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Mark Rogers, Kicked out of Republican Circles.

I don't know the exact context of the news report to which Mark Rogers left a comment or the exact language of the comment Mark Rogers made that ticked off the female half of the Glen Hughes/Sharon Ford team know as the Tennessee Republican Assembly, but Republican political activist Mark Rogers is deemed kicked out of Republican circles by Sharon Ford. Below is a Sharon Ford Facebook post.

 Herbert Mark Rogers has cleaned up his post. It now reads "The TN Firearms Association has issued a threat to Speaker Harwell if there is no expansion of 'gun rights.' I applaud the Speaker for her performance so far and encourage her to stand up to these political terrorists. " He had another paragraph ripping not only 2nd amendment folks but also called TN Right To Life terrorists. For this he needs to be held accountable. He should no longer be welcome in Republican circles.
Mark Rogers
Glen also wanted everyone to be aware of this dastardly character known as Mark Rogers and told his followers,"You may not know his name but you have been in the same room with him on numerous occasions." I am going to give Glen a helping hand. If you look to the left you will see the no-longer-welcome-in-Republican-cirles Mark Rogers. So, followers of Glen Huges and Sharon Ford, this is the guy you are to shun if in the same room with.
 

Mark, welcome to the club of people not liked by the Huges/Ford wing feather of the Republican party. In a blog post I recently made a harmless snide comment that Ron Paul was going to win the TRA straw poll and maybe TRA should change it's name to "the libertarian wing of the republican Party" from "the conservative wing of the Republican Party." For daring to make such a comment I got purged from good standing as a Republican and got the dreaded label "RINO." Here is the Facebook post:

Once again our friend the irrelevant Rod Williams has chosen to stick his GOP establishment foot in his RINO mouth, by commenting on the post below. Mr. Williams stated “After the convention, maybe TRA needs to change its slogan to, "the libertarian wing of the Republican Party." The Straw Poll is controlled by those who buy tickets and is not an official endorsement of the Tennessee Republican A...ssembly. His implication is both uncalled for and unprofessional even for a two bit blogger. Paid members of the TRA will endorse during the business meeting of the convention. I encourage Mr. Williams if he has issues with the TRA and/or its straw poll to get off his wallet and doing something about it,
Mark, you and I are both in pretty good company. If you read Facebook post of Glen Hughes Sharon Ford and their followers, they don't like Bob Corker, Dianne Black, Beth Harwell or Ron Ramsey either.
 
I have been rethinking my comment that TRA should change its label from "the conservative wing of the Republican Party" to "the libertarian wing of the Republican Party" and think a more fitting slogan is "the stupid wing of the Republican Party."

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Report from the Tennessee Republican Assembly Convention

I just now received this report from someone who attended the convention of the Glen Hughes and Sharron Ford wing of the Republican Party that goes by the name of Tennessee Republican Assembly. (Well, not a wing of the party; more like a feather of the Party) This communication is from someone who prefers to remain anonymous and was speaking frankly. The characterizations in this communication are those of the anonymous reporter and not mine.  I was hesitant to post this because I do not think it contributes to Party unity. However, Glen Hughes calling everyone who does not march in lockstep with his views, a RINO does not contribute to Party unity either.


There were about 200 "Paulistinians," who showed up just to vote for the Ron Paul.  I estimate about 75 TRA, and an additional 50 who showed up to be seen (Marsha Blackburn included).  Why are people like Tootie, Nathan James, Duane Dominy, and William Morgan lured to this type of meeting?  Beats me.  Overall, yawn.  Speakers were boring and Angle has nothing of interest to add.  No wonder Reid beat her like a drum.  She was hawking her book, yawn again.  The Paulistinians were the most interesting.  If you think Glenn Beck is out there, then just talk to these folks.  The Lunatic Fringe calls them the Lunatic Fringe.
I used to belong to TRA and at some point just stopped paying my dues and attending meetings. I mainly stopped because I was, at the time, coordinating the Davidson County Republican Party "Egg and Bacon" summits which were weekly Saturday morning breakfast groups. At one time we had six of these groups and every Saturday of the month was taken attending these and TRA's meetings were also on Saturday mornings. I could not attend both.

When I was attending TRA, I did not feel out of place or unwelcome. I enjoyed the speakers and the good conversation and camaraderie. A couple years ago, I attended their annual convention myself.  Since then however, Glen Hughes and Sharron Ford have taken over TRA and somehow decided that I am really not a Republican but a RINO (Republican in Name Only).   I don't think I would feel comfortable attending the TRA convention. Also, when I was attending, they did not seem so fringe. They seemed pretty mainstream Republican. Even when I was active in TRA however, I was never sure why we needed the organization.

TRA calls itself the "conservative wing of the Republican Party."  Officially of course, TRA is Republican only by self identification and has no official association with the Republican Party. They state as their mission, "to work to recruit committed conservative activists to become involved in the Republican Party, earning and taking leadership positions within it and displacing RINOs ("Republicans in Name Only") who do not reflect the overwhelming majority position of Republicans across America."

Started in California in 1932, the first Republican Assembly worked to take back the California Republican Party from a liberal elitist faction that controlled the Party at that time. By 1964 the California GOP was in the hands of Goldwater Republicans. The California GOP has been in conservative hands since then.  In 1996, The Republican Assembly became a national organization.

Why is TRA necessary? There are no more Rockefeller Republicans. As far as I can tell, the Republican Party nationally, and certainly in Tennessee, is a fairly conservative party. I am not familiar with the Party in each state and maybe in some states there are Republican Parties that are controlled by liberals but not in Tennessee. Certainly there are disagreements and various factions within the Party and there are some people who care more about some issues than other issues and people who identify more with one candidate than another candidate, but I just do not see a big ideological divide in the Tennessee Republican Party.

Our own Davidson County Republican Party has as it's chairman Kathleen Starnes. Does anyone think Kathleen Starnes is a liberal?  We have on the Executive Committee people like Ken Merraro who blogs as The Blue Collar Muse and who is a TEA party activist,  Lonnie Spivak who ran for the 5th Congressional District Republican nomination and who is a leader of a conservative organization, Dan Davis and Tony Roberts organizers of Conservative Groups, David Hall who was the Party's 2010 5th Congressional District candidate,  Dave Patterson who ran on the Party ticket for a State House seat, and Brent Pierce who leads a chapter of the Ron Paul affiliated Campaign for Liberty. If you know any of these people, or became familiar with them when they were running for office, do you think they are liberals? Are they RINO's?

Who is the TRA trying to take the party from?  If they think the Davidson County GOP is liberal, what would a TRA dominated party look like?

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Metro Livery cited for refusal to engaging in price-fixing!!!

Last night, Metro Livery received a citation of $104 by Metropolitan Transportation Inspector Milton Bowling for charging $25 for a less than 10 minutes ride instead of charging the mandated $45 minimum rate. This citation was issued one week after Federal Judge Kevin Sharp ruled against Metro, denying Metro's motion to dismiss the challenge to the $45 price-fix minimum.

Metro Livery and other service providers should not abide by what is most likely an unconstitutional law. I am not sure what will happen next but Metro Livery should appeal this fine and refuse to pay it.  They should seek an injection against enforcement of the price-fix law if that is an option.

To Metro Livery and others who are resisting this illegal effort to fix prices, Please don't buckle. Fight on! This is not just about your livelihood. This is a battle for the constitution, for free enterprise, and limited government.

To read more on how Metro has used the power of government to protect established firms from competition, click here then scroll down.

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Duvall resurrects resolution calling for Arriola's resignation | Nashville City Paper

Duvall resurrects resolution calling for Arriola's resignation | Nashville City Paper

“The comptroller’s report speaks for itself,” Duvall said. “We now have specific evidence that what we suspected back in August to be correct. Now we need to move on it.”

“If you listen to the emails that we’re already starting to get from the citizens,” Duvall said, “I think there’s absolutely going to be a tremendous [number] of citizenry demanding that he go.”

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ARRIOLA HAS TO GO NOW!

Councilman Duvall's has filed a resolution in the Metro Council requesting John Arriola resign. Arriola's  malfeasance in office is a disgrace.  He needs to resign now.  A resolution overwhelming passed by the Metro Council may be the nudge he needs to realize that it is over and it is time for him to step aside.

Let your council member know how you feel. With one click, you can send an email to ALL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL:  www.nashville.gov/council .  Choose "Contact My Council Member" and select "Entire Metro Council."  Also a more personal  message to your own councilman letting him know you are his constituent and you care about this issue may carry more weight than a message to a council member who does not represent you.  So, do both; send a general message to all member and a personal message to your own council member.


Spread the word on your facebook and your email list also: ARRIOLA HAS TO GO NOW! 

Also we need to put pressure on Distict Attorney Torry Johnson to demand Criminal Charges against Ariolla.


We need to put a stop to this good ole boy political corruption that has been going on for ever. The days of Fate Thomas and Mack Smith are over. We need to demand honest government and punishment for those who abuse their office. DA Johnson office number is 862-5500.  Call. Pass it on. Pick up the phone...

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TN NORML Marijuana Education Day

Featuring NORML founder Keith Stroup, Esq.Saturday, January 28th, 2012, Sunset Grill, 2001 Belcourt Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee
Luncheon Seminar
Medical, Recreational and Legislative Updates
10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
$30 a person. Cash Bar.
For more information click here

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Greenhills GOP Breakfast: Double-Header this Saturday!



WELCOME TO ELECTION YEAR 2012!


AND SO IT BEGINS….



JOB #1 FOR REPUBLICANS IS TO CHOOSE THE CANDIDATE
BEST POSITIONED TO UNDO THE HARM AND PUT OUR COUNTRY
BACK ON THE RIGHT COURSE.

SUPER TUESDAY IS COMING RIGHT UP---WITH EARLY VOTING STARTING
EVEN SOONER!

AS ACTIVE AND ENGAGED VOTERS, WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT:
  • TENNESSEE’S DELEGATE PROCESS AND APPORTIONMENT LA
  • THE DELEGATE PROCESS IN THE GOP NOMINATION AS A WHOLE;
  • RECENT CHANGES;---AND---WHILE WE'RE AT IT---
  • THE FUTURE OF THE NOMINATION PROCESS.


OUR GUIDE TO ALL OF THIS WILL BE OUR GUEST





  MICHAEL SULLIVAN

 POLITICAL DIRECTOR

 TENNESSEE REPUBLICAN PARTY.




JOINING MICHAEL WILL BE OUR GREEN HILLS GOP MEMBER 

 
BETH CAMPBELL 
STATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEEWOMAN  



BETH WILL BRIEF US ON CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS AT THE STATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE  AND THE STATE OF THE TENNESSEE REPUBLICAN PARTY.



BE SURE TO JOIN US FOR THIS TIMELY DOUBLE-HEADER WITH MICHAEL AND BETH!!




Saturday Morning At Swett's--Green Hills
Breakfast Served Starting At 8:15 a.m.
Program Starts Promptly At 9:00 a.m.
Bring $8.75 cash to cover everything.



PLEASE RSVP BY REPLYING TO THIS EMAIL. 

See you Saturday!



Peter & Gail Voysey

Event Chairmen
DCRP Green Hills Breakfast Summit

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