Restoration! 4th of July, 2009

One of the most inspiring speeches from last Saturday from Joshua Lyons of the Frederick, MD Tea Party. I wish the Kansas City Metro Groups would pull together and have more Tea Parties, invite more people, educate the young and not so young. Let us pray that we can live up to the founders dream of We the People. We live in extraordinary times!

HOT! Picnic Speakers Don't Cool Down...

I attended my first official political party picnic on Saturday, June 27th. I went to the Olathe Republican Party Picnic at the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop. It is one thing to see a politician give a speech on TV and an entirely different thing to hear them in person and see them interact with their constituents. But first a little personal history...

I have to admit that I am a political novice. Until last November I hadn't attended a meeting of any major political party unless you count the Reform Party as a major party. The only campaign I ever worked on was for Ross Perot and you know how that turned out. Yes, I was one of those people who never did anything but yell at my TV screen to voice my displeasure with the political soup dejoure. I did write to a few politicians over the years but this last Presidential campaign changed that for me. I became a blogger and now I am a proud Right Wing Terrorist!

I have become a Tea Party Activist. I stood in the 20 degree weather last winter to protest Dennis Moore's continued defiance of his constituents desires by voting yes on the Stimulus bill. I stood in a howling snow storm in front of Claire McCaskill's office for the same reason. I braved strong winds on a chilly morning in Olathe to make my voice heard. I protested for hours at JOCO at the Tax Day Tea Party. Now I have spent four hours in 100 degree heat to see and hear my political future. I believe I am beginning to become a committed activist.

I chose the Republican Party as my political home for many reasons, not the least of which is my conservatism. Now, I am acting on the pledge my husband and I made to each other last fall, to not just sit and yell at the wind but to get involved. We've gone in the deep-end.

I am at a disadvantage as a new Republican because I come from a county that, as far as I can see, is only barely tolerated by the mainstream Republican Party. I live in Wyandotte County. There aren't many Republicans in Wyandotte County. We are out numbered at least two to one by the Democrats but there were a few of us WyCo Republicans at the picnic on Saturday.

Paul Milton Hamn, the Wyandotte County Republican Chairman was there. He sat jovially under a tree and greeted longtime friends as they wandered in and out of the shade trees next to the stage. He just as cheerfully greeted the new comers to this genre. 

Daniel Gilyeat, Wyandotte County's popular local hero, was there as well as Macie Houston, another 'dot. They faced one and another in the Straw Poll for the challenge to Dennis Moore's seat in the coming elections next year, along with Olathe's Patricia Lightner. (See results of the Straw Poll at the end of this article.)

Jerry Sullivan and his wife Debbie and some of their family also attended. I saw familiar faces from the Tea Party Patriots such as Amanda Grosserode, one of the original founders of the Tea Party Movement here in the Kansas City area. I recognized many politicians I had only seen on TV. It was a very interesting and inspiring day.

I was delighted to hear a familiar voice as my husband, Joe and I made our way into the big tent in front of the stage. One of my favorite local personalities, Jack Cashill, who is a wonderful speaker, a fantastic writer, a great videographer and sometimes a talk radio host, was speaking as we sat down.

He was telling a story about the late, great, conservative, Rich Nadler, the wonderfully cherubic pit bull of local newspapers and public television fame. Rich Nadler wrote for the Kansas City Star, Mother Jones and also for many national publications.

The story went something like this. Rich always spoke, or as Jack puts it ranted, at various functions. One time the host of an event questioned if they should have someone like Nadler speak in their program, Jack told them that Rich Nadler was exactly the kind of speaker that these events needed and he was right.

Many of us remember Rich, with his "clipboard of facts", doing battle with the evil liberals on Mike Shanin's, Ruckus program, a public television show. He wrote his last article for the American Spectator. It was published on the day he died, and you can read it here.

Mr Nadler is held in high esteem in this community and he will be missed. In his honor, Jack Cashill presented the first annual Rich Nadler Freedom Fighter Award to Barbara LeClerq, Rich's widow, for her unwavering support of her husband. The entire day was dedicated to Rich, a man who made a difference for Conservatives voices in our community and around the country.

The Olathe Republican committee should be commended for their wonderful group of speakers throughout the afternoon. The Town Crier opened up the day with a reading of the Declaration of Independence. That really got the crowd fired up.

Greg Smith spoke next, to announce the signing of the Kelsey Smith Act into law. Kelsey, many of you will remember, was the young woman abducted at a Target store in Olathe about two years ago. She taken to Missouri where she was murdered. Her body was found, using cell phone pings, but only after four agonizing days of pleading with their cell phone carrier to release their data to law enforcement. It only took 45 minutes to find her body after the records were accessed.

A signed copy of the act was presented to Gregg Smith by State Representative, Rob Olsen, who sponsored the bill in the Kansas Legislature. Sprint and Verizon have voluntarily been using the practice of cooperating with law enforcement around the country,using cell phone ping data for to locate missing persons and it is already saving lives. This is truly a fitting legacy for Kelsey Smith and her family

Representative Arlen Sigfreid spoke briefly. He was still walking with a cane after his recent knee surgery but he toughed it out and came on stage. Also speaking were State Representative Lance Kinzer and Macie Houston.

One of the most rousing welcomes of the day was given when SS gt. Daniel Gilyeat came on stage. he was given a standing ovation by the crowd to thank him for his Service to his Country. If SSgt. Gilyeat can translate some of that good will into votes he could have a good chance in next year's Primarys. Dennis Moore's seat looks like it's going to be hotly contested. Daniel is still learning the ropes of political campaigning but Gilyeat is a fighter. Marines never give up.

Kris Kobach also received a rowdy welcome as well as Todd Tiahrt and Sam Brownback. They all presented solid platforms and the Kansas citizenry could be the beneficiaries if this is the outcome of next year's races for Secretary of State, the Senate and the Governors race, respectively.

Finally the moment everyone was waiting for came in the form of Darla Jaye's Keynote speech. Many of the picnickers had been wearing "Draft Darla" stickers as she participated in the straw poll for the coveted 3rd District, Dennis Moore seat. She did not disappoint her supporters. The audience cheered her rousing words and booed in the appropriate places. At the end of her well received tome the crowd gave her a standing ovation that was loud, long and rowdy. This is just a snippet of her speech.



It was getting near the end of the event and the temperature was over 100 degrees. I took one more stroll around the beautiful grounds of the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and through the booths I hadn't visited yet. That may have been a bad idea for me as I started to feel dizzy. Diabetics really shouldn't go out in this heat. We had to leave.

I went back to the tent to sit while Joe went to get the Explorer. I was just in time to see Amanda Grosserode announcing the demonstration at 4:00 pm at the Johnson County Court house to express our anger at the tone-deaf House of Representatives who passed the Cap and Tax bill Friday evening.

I had my Pork Barrel Pig in the truck, fully intending to go protest but alas my body had the final say with low blood sugars. Damn this disease. One thing I know for sure is that if they pass Health Care in the same manner they did Cap and Trade, I don't believe there will be a Democrat running next year, still standing, after the election and some Republicans need to be punished, too. I know every person who attended yesterday's event is dedicated to unraveling the mess Washington politics has twisted us in.

The time has come to take back our Country! Commonsense must win out! Every member of Congress should be made to live under the same laws, tax system and health care that all other Americans have to. These systems were made law by the selfish behavior of Our President , the House and Senate. There is a new organization that is working along these lines to make this possible. You can check it out at paylikeus.com. They also are proposing that all political contributions be taxed.

There is too much money being spent on political campaigns that is being funneled through hundreds of Foundations by community organizers and crooks. It's time to make it STOP! The more we hold Washington D.C. accountable the better off our children and grandchildren will be.

Let's send a strong message to all Congressmen, Congresswomen and Senators: the days of being sent to Washington D.C. and immediately starting to run for re-election, or spending the people's money as if there's no tomorrow, are over. They need to do what we sent them to Washington for and that's to do the people's business.
Serve us or serve hambugers. Sounds like a slogan to me.

The Straw Poll Results

US Senate
Todd Tiahrt -- 165
Jerry Moran -- 46
Others -- 8

Congress
Patricia Lightner -- 74
Macie Houston -- 33
Daniel Gilyeat -- 30
Darla Jaye (write-in) -- 24
Other Write Ins -- 21

Governor
Sam Brownback -- 197
Other Writer Ins -- 12

Secretary of State
Kris Kobach -- 192
JR Claeys -- 22

President -- 2012
Sarah Palin -- 76
Mike Huckabee -- 54
Mitt Romney -- 52
Bobby Jindal -- 19
Ron Paul -- 9
Write ins -- 6

Tea Party Patriots, Now the Hard Work Begins...

This is a message to my Tea Party friends and all those in this fight whether they participate actively or not.

I am hearing an undercurrent, out there, that is calling for a "third party" to be established. This is an idea whose time may have come, in theory. It is a definitely an idea that needs to be explored. However, I would like to add a few words of caution, we must be extremely careful.

Let me pre-qualify my statements by telling you I am currently a registered Republican. Before last November I had been registered in the Reform Party, started to support Ross Perot, so I know a little something about third parties. My husband and I worked very hard in Mr Perot's campaign here in the Kansas City area. We were very disappointed in the way things turned out but still happy that we participated.

I know many Republicans blamed the Perot movement for George Herbert Walker Bush's defeat in the 1992 elections that gave us Bill Clinton. I believed that President Bush Sr, did himself in when he scared the beejeebies out of all of his conservative support with his elitist rhetoric of a "New World Order".

I can remember, for me, the precise moment President Bush Sr. lost my support in his campaign against Bill Clinton in 1992. This video, filmed during the National Grocers Association convention, was used during the election to portray Bush as an elitist snob. Too bad it was a big lie.



I let my anger at Bush's "elitism" cloud my opinion and it determined my vote for Perot. I was fooled and so was my Husband. I don't know, if I had found out about the lie before the election, that it would have made any difference, but the point is this, the incident probably cost George H.W. Bush reelection.

According to Snopes.com the story was false. It was manufactured by the New York Times. Imagine that. Times reporter, Andrew Rosenthal, who wasn't even at the Convention, exploited a news pool report from the National Grocers Association convention by turning it into an embellished, New York Times, front page story. The rest is history. It shows how one small incident can be used to manipulate an entire electorate to win elections.
We have to be smarter than that.

I re-registered my party preference and started attending Republican Party meetings last November because I wanted some structure in my political life. The Independent Party didn't provide that and the Reform Party is dying. I knew the Libertarian Party was an option but I though I needed a bigger foundation.

I didn't like the way the Republican Party was weaseled into nominating John McCain, the closest Republican clone to Obama, by the Left Wing media. It was Sarah Palin who converted me. I am hoping to make a difference along with all the other Conservative Bloggers in the 2010 elections as well as in the next Presidential election.

We have no National Press that isn't in the pocket of the Democratic Party so it will be left with the few media outlets like Fox News and Newsmax magazine , as well as talk radio to carry our message.

Our secret weapon will be the Bloggers! We need to hold the GOP's feet to the fire so they will nominate viable candidates, who support smaller government, less spending, a strong defense, and someone who can win. We need to defend free speech and talk radio from the insidious attacks coming from the Left in the House and Senate.

As Conservatives, Libertarians and Republicans we need to be united behind a National party next year. There simply is not enough time to go through the process of getting third party people on the various state ballots and elected. We simply don't have the resources to fight the Democrats as independents without splitting the Republican Party again and guaranteeing the Democrats a victory. That is what the Democrats are counting on. Divide and Conquer.

We have to get involved in our local Republican Parties and support good candidates. We can't let the Elites back east dictate the direction of the Republican Party any longer. We have to step up and it means we have to begin now. It is going to mean a lot of hard work or as the Dems put it "Boots on the Ground".

We are going to have to use the old Media when we can and the New Media extensively. We have to be very smart and savvy with the new ways of communication. Do we need slick logos and and snappy campaign slogans. Probably, but we can't just copy Obama. We can however use his template.

I urge each and every one of you that read my Blog to reach out to your friends and neighbors and band together, become an Activist, to save this Nation that we love. This is the season of picnics and Bar B Ques. We can use these small events to get other people involved.

The people who still support Obama need to be educated. The need to be shown what the results of Obama's policies are and what they are doing to businesses, large and small. If our Small Businesses start to fail any faster there won't be jobs for anyone. If Obama keeps demonizing Big Business and grabbing control of huge parts of the Business sector there will be even fewer jobs and no tax revenue streams to exploit. Unfortunately we are next on that tax food chain.

Not everyone is reachable. Obama supporters either have an unnatural affection for the man or are just plain misinformed. All I am saying is we need to put one issue politics away for a few seasons. If we stand together we will not fail.

Obama did not, contrary to what people believe, win the last election by a landslide in the popular vote. Out of 129.5 million votes there was only a 9.5 million vote difference. The electoral vote was the landslid. Obama spent most of his money and time in high electoral vote states and received 365 electoral votes to McCain's 173 for his efforts. He campaigned smart.

Some of those states will be hard to wrestle from Obama but, with each day, the evidence mounts that his policies are eroding his support. California's Proposition 8 vote should be noted. It was a shot across Obama's bow. We need to help conservative voices in that state keep the momentum going.

Please consider my words. Lets exchange ideas and form an unbeatable team. America is worth the work. I don't believe this situation can't be changed.

We can be the change that defeats the "Change" and brings all Americans Hope!

Happy Memorial Day...

This greeting has always perplexed me. This is such a solemn Holiday. A remembrance of fallen heroes and family members that have passed away. It was always taken very seriously in our home when I was young and it had great meaning for our Family.

My family (years before I was born) was a three star family. That meant that three of my mother's brothers were in the service during the Second World War, Uncle Gene was a pilot in the Army Air Core, Uncle Chuck was in Patton's Army and died in France. My Uncle Pinkie was in the Navy and experienced the attack at Pearl Harbor. He was later killed in one of the Pacific battles near Guam in 1945.

Friends and family would arrive at our house early in the morning and we would all go to the various Cemeteries to visit our passed loved ones and then everyone would return to my Family's tiny four room house to visit and tell stories about our loved ones. That sounds like a somber day. But it wasn't...

My Aunts and Uncles and cousins would come back to the house and in no time flat we kids would run out to our orchard and plant flags under the old pear tree. It had really long, thick branches that spread out at odd angles, it was the oldest tree in the orchard and it was my climbing tree.

It was the first tree my Mother's parents planted when they purchased the five acres of gently sloping ground and built the small house where my family lived. I never knew my Grandparents but they were very alive to me because of all the stories my Parents, Aunts and Uncles told, not just on Memorial Day, but on every Holiday or visit.

My Grandparents had planted a medium sized Orchard and a Berry Patch at the back of our land. That's were all my cousins, friends and I played until it was time for "the feast".

My Dad and my Uncles would set out picnic tables and benches made out of concrete blocks for legs and planks for the tabletops and bench seats. Mom would break out all of her nicest tablecloths. I still remember helping her iron the tablecloths for days before any holiday. There were crisp white brocade ones, gingham ones that had red or blue and white checks. My favorite were the floral ones with cabbage roses and ivy.

My mother was a Caterer part-time for our Neighbors and Family. She did not disappoint the relatives with her picnic lunches. She would fry scrumptious chicken in her big cast iron skillets. We raised the Chicken's and my Uncle Jiggs, who was a Butcher, would dress them for us.

My Mom also made the worlds best potato salad. She would have molasses baked beans and pies and cakes of Devils Food and creamy white and whatever delights everyone else would bring. The Picnic tables were crowded with food, Relatives and good memories. We thanked God for the feast and the great abundance. This was America in the 1950's. We celebrated the day as a day of remembrance and a day of feast.

After the meal my Aunts and Uncles would take blankets down to the Pear Tree and get comfortably seated under it's protective branches around the flags. My Mother would bring down the family Bible as my Dad helped all the kids up into the Pear Tree.

We would sit straddle legged on the branches and listen as my Mother would read from the Bible. The front of the Bible had the Family history and as she read each name the others would start telling stories about them and so it went. The tapestry of my Family lives was laid out before us.

As kids those things seemed less important to us. The memories took second place to the pies and cakes, the playing and climbing. The climbing during the story time would bring quick reproach from the all the Moms who didn't want us to fall and break a leg or arm. We had a few of those over the years.

It seems odd to me today why my extended family doesn't hold to the traditions our Parents made for us. I don't remember when the gatherings stopped. I haven't heard from anyone in my family today or this weekend, except my husband and my sister-in-law, they live with me. In awhile I will pick up the phone and call some of them. Many won't be home. Many won't want to talk for long and I will be left...with my Memorial Day memories for another year.

Thank God for those memories. Thank God for my family. Thank God for our Nation and all the Heroes and Patriots that have died for her. I pray the the Lord keeps our Nation strong and safe but I feel like something is missing in America today.

I feel that God has called me for a higher purpose at this point in my life. I would never have become an activist if it were not for this President. He is a man who has different views and aspirations for this nation than I do. I pray for him everyday and I hope God lifts the cloud over his eyes so he can see the real damage he is doing to our country.

The Tea Parties and the 9-12 Project are a real asset to America. Maybe not to the people who were sent to represent us in Washington D.C. They aren't doing their jobs. They don't want to hear from us. But I bet they are getting our message. I, We will no longer accept the status quo. There is too much Government in too few hands with too many bureaucrats making too many decisions about how we live our lives.

I pray that these men and women in Washington D.C. won't trash the legacy of our War dead and our past Generations. We must not let the final chapter of America be written as an epitaph for another Memorial Day.

Stand Up! Remember what America was and is; a light in a very dark world, with liberty and justice for all.

God Bless all Patriots...living or dead.

Learning to Lead with American Majority

I will be attending American Majority Leadership Training this Saturday, May 9, at Johnson County Library Shawnee Branch located at 13811 Johnson Dr. in Shawnee from 10:00am to 3:00pm. This event is sold out but there is another on June 19. Use this link to register for this important event taking place at Town and Country Bank located at 4707 West 135th Street in Leawood, KS. The cost for the event is $20 per person.

This is a video that explains the vision of American Majority. Tea Parties are a great starting point but we need to move forward and take back our Country from the ground up.



It is important for all of us in the Tea Party Movement to become involved in Leadership Training. I am really excited to be taking this class because I really want to become more focused on helping to make a change in our local political system. Please, now is the time to become involved in helping turn our Communities and Country around.

When did we elect National Leaders of the Tea Party Movement?

I just posted this message on the 912Project Forum in the take action section. It is, I believe, a vitally important issue. I just want to know one thing. Who appointed, elected or choose the people who are the National Tea Party Leaders.

National Tea Party Leadership Team Accepts President Obama's Invitation,

This is the headline at the Parkbench website from an e-mail they sent me. Since when does the Tea Party Movement have National Leadership? Supposedly, President Obama invited Tea Party Leaders to Washington to meet with him when he spoke at the Arnold, MO town hall were he said

Quote:

"So, you know, when you see — those of you who are watching certain news channels on which I'm not very popular and you see folks waving tea bags around, let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over the long term, how we're going to stabilize Social Security." "But let's not play games and pretend that the reason is because of the [$787 billion stimulus bill], because that's just a fraction of the overall problem that we've got."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...arty-movement/

This was posted at: http://www.parcbench.com/article_det...00&topic=front

Quote:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NATIONWIDE TEA PARTY LEADERS ACCEPT INVITATION TO MEET WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA CONTACTS: Michael Patrick Leahy (615) 243-6869 Kellen Giuda (786) 525-6984 James Dickey (469)767-7728 New York, New York – April 29th, 2009 - The National Leadership Team of the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition (http://www.nationwideteapartycoalition.com) today accepted President Obama`s invitation "to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over the long term, how we are going to stabilize Social Security.” The invitation was extended by the President at a Town Hall Meeting held in Arnold, Missouri today (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21870.html). The National Leadership Team of the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition includes 25 of the more than 900 local organizers of the April 15, 2009 Tax Day Tea Parties held across the country, which were attended by more than 1 million Americans. Members of the National Leadership Team includes Judson Phillips, organizer of the Nashville Tea Party attended by 10,000, James Dickey, organizer of the Dallas Tea Party, attended by 5,000, and JoAnn Abbot, organizer of the Washington, DC Tea Party attended by more than 3,000. The full list of the 25 members of the National Leadership Team of the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition can be found at http://www.nationwideteapartycoalition.com/about.php

I didn't vote for these people and they don't speak for me. We need to take action before some of Obama's moles take over our movement.

Their website reads more like an environmentalist site tha a tea party site.

this is their logo:Didn't know we had a Tea Party Movement Ecosystem.

Official Song of the Tea Party at the Alamo

2 Days to Freedom of Expression about our love of this country and our American way of life!



Hope to see you all at the Corner of College Blvd.and Quivira Rd. Tea Party Event on Tax Day, Wednesday, April 15th at 6:00 pm.

Be vigilant friends. Do not let anyone disrupt the Tea Party. If someone tries to say inappropriate things, have inappropriate signs or start trouble bring it to the attention of the Tea Party organizers. Don't let the left hijack this event. We know what's right or wrong so don't fall for the tricks. Watch this video for example:



The Meeting is being hijacked by a left wing nut case wanting everyone to "Burn the Books". The person who posted this video on YouTube is listed as Cookiecache; if you go to her website she states she's a Christian, but on a list of her favorite Videos she lists Rhino Humping, a very disgusting piece of trash. She appears to be from Tronto, Canada which seems a bit odd in the first place. Take everything said by the people who seem extreme, at these meetings, with a grain of salt. Don't let them goad you into saying or doing something stupid, especially if you are being video-taped.

Keep the faith and have a good time having your constitutionally gaurenteed right to free speech and right to assemble. Lets uphold the 9 Principles and 12 Values. If you don't know what those are go to: http://theglennbeck912project.com/

An Important Message from Thomas Payne

Never forget!