A family member recently left a comment on my Facebook page shocked to find out that I am a staunch conservative and a Tea Party supporter. The hostility was undeniable. His comment demanded to know if I was equally vocal when Bush as he claimed “ran our country into the ground.” He went on to add the usual liberal talking points claiming that Bush left a huge deficit and where was my outrage then. I calmly had to set him straight on the deficit and how Obama has spent half in one year what Bush did his entire eight years in office.

His response quickly got down to the heart of the matter.  He stated that Americans just won’t accept change. Adding….”What I mean by change is a black man as president.” He went on to say that we should be celebrating the fact that a black man was elected president in such a “racist” country instead of protesting.

I was dumbfounded but not surprised. Why does it always come down to race? My intent in writing about this is not to ridicule him but rather to inform those of the same mindset being fueled by the liberal main stream media, why the racism argument is unsound. Out of respect for him I will not share his actual letter but I feel compelled to share my response.

Hi Cousin,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences and your concerns. Racism and White Supremacist groups have been around for years and unfortunately ignorance and hate fuel these groups. However, to associate The Tea Party Movement with these groups is completely unwarranted, dishonest and there is a calculate agenda behind injecting the “race card” to try to marginalize, demean and vilify the movement. Furthermore, the Tea Party Movement has not been hijacked by right wing racists. Additionally the fact that a Black man was elected president proves that America is not a racist country.

You mention that in your local protest you observed signs depicting Obama as a monkey, Nazi signs and people chanting racist remarks. I can assure you that this is not representative of tea party members. I am sure that you are aware that there have been left wing sites popping up encouraging people to infiltrate tea parties with misspelled, racist and other equally vile signs to support their ridiculous stereotypes and bias of the tea parties. They came and they failed as tea party members smoked them out and tagged them immediately with signs such as ” I’m not with stupid.”

I have been to tea parties across the nation, California, Nevada, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida. I was at the DC 912 March where over 1 million people gathered and have been to subsequent protests in DC in October and December and not once did I observe what you have cited and what the left leaning media tries to depict. These people are everyday folk who are genuinely concerned about the direction this country is going in. They are mothers and fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, young and old, independents, moderates, conservatives, Democrats with buyers remorse, Republicans, Atheists and Christians, (yes, you can be an Atheist and a conservative), Blacks, Whites, Asians, Hispanics. This is not a color issue. I was blessed to have attended my local Tax Day Tea Party with a black conservative woman whose sign summed it up beautifully “THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE COLOR OF YOUR SKIN BUT THE CONTENT OF YOUR POLICIES.”

People are not angry because Obama is a Black man. They would be equally outraged if a White mas was trying to fundamentally change our country from the principles in which it was founded on. Are people racist when we appose Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid? Absolutely not! It is their radical agenda that we oppose. There is a war going on not based on race but on radical liberal progressive ideology versus the principles that this country was founded on based on The Constitution. The left leaning media interjects race into the argument as a red herring. It is quite clear from their extreme biased journalism where they stand on the issues.

It was the Liberal Main Stream Media who viciously attacked Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. before each was  appointed as Secretary Of State, He served as the first Black Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff , she as the first, not only female, but first black National Security Advisor. No one accused opponents of Powell and Rice of being racist then. They went after these public servants with a vengeance because of their political ideologies pure and simple.

Also Republicans were much vilified for opposing Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor. Again the left quickly pulled the race card. It’s a pattern. When they are losing the argument….pull the race card. Of course it could have had nothing to do with her history of legislating from the bench. Yet the media has a short memory. Have we forgotten when Bush nominated Honduran born Miguel Estrada for the Supreme Court? The left went after him with a vengeance. Where they screaming racism then? Of course not. So what is the moral of this story? It’s acceptable to oppose conservative minorities but God forbid you appose a liberal minority because you will quickly be attacked, maligned and labeled a racist. The bias and hypocrisy is disgusting.

Where was the outrage when left wing nuts were protesting Bush calling him Hitler, a monkey, a murderer and carrying signs calling for his death? This is not a race issue. The real war is against political ideologies. Here are links to pics of the hate that was unleashed on Bush and the Main Stream Media ignored. I can’t imagine the outrage that would unleash if such hate was found in a tea party protest.

http://www.binscorner.com/pages/d/death-threats-against-bush-at-protests-i.html

http://michellemalkin.com/2006/08/31/assassination-chic/

This Administration is the main instigator in perpetuating the racism fallacy. They were effective in using it to demonize the Clintons during the primaries and I think that we can both agree that the Clintons are not racists. Yet Obama and his ilk continue pulling the race card on anyone who is a threat to their agenda. It is shameful how Liberal pundits continue attacking Black  and other minority conservatives who dare to challenge their policies. These people are called sell outs, sambos, house “Negroes”, Uncle Toms, etc. Donny Deutsch of MSNBC was recently suspended for daring to critique Keith Olbermann‘s hateful rhetoric against conservative hosts, but did nothing when Deutsch referred to Marc Rubio, a Cuban American Conservative running for Senator in Florida, as  a “coconut.” You know…brown on the outside white on the inside. This racist term was ignored. Again I cannot imagine the outrage if a conservative anchor had made such a comment.

This is just a sample of the hypocrisy that conservatives endure and quite frankly it’s getting old. My best friends are Black and staunch conservatives who oppose Obama on his policies. It would be hard to apply the racist label on them.  Is racism still alive and well? Absolutely. There will always be hateful, ignorant people that don’t even subscribe to any political ideologies but simply hate because of the color of a person’s skin. You and I as Hispanics have dealt with it all our lives, but I can assure you that I have not witnessed it or experienced it in The Tea Party Movement. I would not associate or support a cause that spews racism. As far as these hateful white supremacist blogs who call themselves Christians, yes they are out there but they are in no way connected to the Tea Party Movement. There are nut balls in every facet of society and my heart is grieved that they would call themselves Christians because I can assure you that a true follower of Jesus Christ would not advocate hate. These people have and will always be around spewing their ignorance.

Just in case you may be thinking that I am merely regurgitating conservative talking points I assure you that  I am speaking from experience. My local eyewitness news ran a hit piece demonizing the Tax Day Tea Parties in Orange County as a bunch of racists. They claimed that one of the black speakers was the only person of color in attendance at the Santa Ana rally. My husband led the attendees in reciting the Pledge Of Allegiance. They completely ignored the fact that, I, his Hispanic wife stood proudly next to him waving the American Flag or the other Blacks and Hispanics in attendance. I was even interviewed by a local Spanish TV station on the reasons that I support the Tea Party Movement. All this was lost by ABC because the truth would not have supported their grotesque biased hit piece.

In response to your comment about why as you stated ” there was no protests when Bush ran the country into the ground in 8 years.” That my cousin is a matter of opinion. I have already explained to you in my comment on Facebook why your statement is not sound as Obama has already spent half in his first year what Bush spent in his entire 8 years in office. However, I will agree with you that he started spending like a liberal his last years in office and his support of TARP paved the way for massive government take over of our financial system. And yes, the apathy from conservatives across the nation allowed this to take root. But no more. The American people have awakened and we will hold our leaders accountable. As conservatives we are demanding that the Republican party go back to it’s conservative roots that Ronald Reagan believed in. We will settle for nothing less. The spending, deficits, bailouts, government takeover of institutions, and weakening of our national defense needs to stop. That’s what the Tea Party Movement is all about. We will no longer vote for someone simple because they have an R after their name. This is about conservative values and ideals and will support candidates who stay true to their conservative roots and will support and defend our Constitution.

I hope that you have a better understanding of where I stand and why I support Tea Party Movement. My hope is that both sides will take the time to get educated on the issues and do their homework on the leaders that are running our country. Knowledge is power and we are blessed to have the Internet at our fingertips so that we no longer have to be brainwashed by either the left or the right. We can arrive at our own conclusions by simply taking the time to educate ourselves with the truth.

Blessings to you and yours.

http://proudconservativegal.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-response-to-family-member-shocked.html

A MESSAGE TO MEMBERS OF TEA PARTY NATION

Friends, over the last 36 hours, our site has been attacked by liberals. They have joined en masse, coming on the site to offend, disrupt and interfere as much as they can. They have uploaded inappropriate content, sent us obscene messages and even uploaded pornographic images.

We are taking steps to correct these problems.

We want to take this opportunity to thank those who have become members of Tea Party Nation in the last few days. Before our site was assaulted, our growth had been phenomenal. Our precautions are going to slow our growth, but ultimately will keep TPN the site that you want it to be.

The liberal website Newsvine had a short article this morning basically blasting the site for banning liberals. They claim that Rachel Maddow was banned from the site merely because she is a liberal. It is mind boggling how they can turn this attack into conservatives discriminating against liberals. The article completely ignored the the obscene messages and pornographic images that the trolls were posting on the site. Leave it to the warped liberal mind to resort to their usual tactics when faced with the truth…..create a distraction, ignore the facts, name calling.

This is not the first time that these subhuman liberal trolls have gone after Sarah Palin support sites. In October 2008, a group of sock puppets from such liberal sites as Democratic Underground and Something Awful invaded the Team Sarah support site and began posting racists remarks about Barack Obama. They took screen shots and sent them to the Huffington Post and the ultra liberal hate site ran with it publishing articles about the purported “racists” at Team Sarah. However, their plot was exposed by administrators and several conservative bloggers including Michelle Malkin wrote about it and the Huffington Post ended up with egg on their face.

The worst attack on the site came on January 8, 2009. The liberal hate exploded when the trolls hijacked the site and bombarded it with graphic pictures of naked mutilated bodies of adults and children, obscene heterosexual and gay sex and other vile images all the while posting profanity and hateful attacks of Sarah Palin and her down syndrome son, Trig.

This is the type of irrational hatred that Sarah Palin brings out of those on the left who want to demonize and attack this woman whose only crime is that she is a conservative woman who stands for God, Life, Family and Country.

So in response to Newsvine and those liberal haters who are whining about being banned from Tea Party Nation, spare us your outrage! The administrators have the right and a responsibility to uphold the integrity of the site by protecting its members from hate mongers who wish to join their site for the sole person of disrupting the site by spewing their hate and sowing discord.

You know that you are making a difference for our conservative cause when you have the crazies on the left orchestrating troll invasions on your site. They are running scared and lashing out at anyone that they deem as a threat to their crumbling agenda. Keep up the great work Tea Party Nation.

To recap:

I was walking on my way to the weight room this evening when I stopped dead in my tracks after taking a few steps past the library. I backed up and took in the display in the window, which includes various books, quotes, and poetry about reading and book banning. Only one person’s picture is a part of the display–and that person is Governor Palin. It was included in an old article called “Sarah Palin, aspiring book banner?” which was published in the LA Times a year ago. That article makes up a homemade poster that says, “Sarah Palin + Banned Books = Censorship.”

Listen, I’m not talking about a local area library. I’m talking about a public school library, where they use this week to demonize Palin as the enemy of free thought, reading, and exploration. Nevermind the plethora of information out there that she never sought to ban books but had asked a general question of a librarian to discover how she would deal with censorship. Nevermind the numerous times Governor Palin has herself stated she never sought to ban books. And nevermind the fact that some of the books on the list, like Harry Potter, hadn’t even been published yet! No, facts aren’t important.

[...]

On the left and right of the display in the library window is the poem “Manifesto” by author, Ellen Hopkins. In the poem, Hopkins blasts “zealots, biggots, and false patriots,” for their desire to censor. This poem is the official poem of this year’s Banned Books Week–and Governor Palin’s picture is the centerpiece!

What gives them the right to place this attack in the library window? Who approved the display–or who overlooked it? Am I the only person who walked by and saw it? What impression does it give our children? What impact will this have on their vote in a few years? I am livid, as I should be. This is absolutely unacceptable behavior.

[...]

My approach tomorrow? I will go into the library with the facts and present them respectfully. I will ask that Governor Palin’s picture and the article be removed. If that is denied, I will request they hang another article next to it–which I will graciously provide–that refutes the falsehoods. If I do not get anywhere with the librarian, well, I’ll go to the next level. It is my hope that my talk with the librarian will suffice, but we’ll see what happens.

So what has happened? Many of you have contacted me to find out what became of the situation. Time has transpired, but please know that I haven’t been sitting around for the last couple weeks. I have actually been very much in the thick of things, battling this situation and standing up for the truth–the truth about Governor Palin, yes, but more importantly, truth for our kids who deserve as much in an educational setting.

So let me take you step by step through this situation.

Tuesday evening, September 29th:
I notice the display.

Wednesday morning, September 30th:
First thing in the morning, I enter the school library with articles that state the truth about the book banning accusation that surfaced during the 2008 campaign. I respectfully address the falsehood. The librarian acknowledges that Governor Palin never banned books, but states that she believes Palin wanted to ban books. Therefore, she feels justified in hanging a poster, which she admits she personally made, that links Governor Palin to banning books. She, too, is respectful, but she refuses to remove Governor Palin from the display. Even after over 20 minutes of conversation, she will not budge–only says she’ll do more research. During the conversation I suggest putting up, alongside her display, the articles that I have that state the facts.

Wednesday afternoon:
A co-worker comes to see me because the librarian emailed her a link to the blog I wrote about the display. (Apparently the librarian came upon it in her research.) We engage in conversation regarding the issue.

Wednesday, later in the afternoon:
I haven’t heard more from the librarian, and I seek out the principal. I ask him if we can have a meeting about the issue, and I fill him in briefly. I explain that Governor Palin’s picture was in the midst of a display with a poem calling out “bigots, zealots, and false patriots.” I also tell him the banned books lie was dealt with a year ago. He cuts me off, says a meeting isn’t necessary, and that he will take the display down “right now.” He tells me he has not seen the display. At this point, I think the falsehood is dealt with and all will be well–responsible action taken.

Wednesday, before the end of the day:
I receive an email from the principal stating he has seen the display, has talked to the librarian, and if I need to talk to him further, give him a call. At this point I realize he has not directed the librarian to remove Governor Palin from the display. I call his office, but he is in a meeting. I stop in to see him before I leave work, but he has left. I go by the library–and there the dishonest display remains. (How many students have been lied to by now?)

Thursday morning:
I drop by the principal’s office to talk to him. I spend about a half hour discussing the issue with him. I explain that I didn’t want to have to come to him, that I was hoping the librarian and I could have resolved it. He has a copy of the article that she posted and says she told him that because Governor Palin is “provocative,” she wanted to use her to draw the kids in. I explain that as an educational institution, it is absolutely necessary that we draw kids in with the truth, not lies that amount to defamation. I also say that the librarian has admitted that Governor Palin never banned books, yet is insisting on keeping the display up. I use the example that President Obama is also provocative and that there are many opinions of him, for example the birth certificate issue, but that to put up a display that said, “President Obama + No Birth Certificate = Illegal Alien” or something like that would not only be unfair to him, but it would be unfair to our students. I point out that this is clearly an attempt to demonize Governor Palin and to indoctrinate our students–and neither has a place in a school. He doesn’t say much throughout our conversation, just looks at me and allows me to speak. I reiterate that Governor Palin never, ever asked for books to be banned, and that it is on record that no books were ever banned from the Wasilla Library. I have the evidence with me. I mention also that at this point the display has been up too long, hundreds of students have seen it, and the responsible thing would now be to take down the display and post the truth. If we are going to be in the business of educating, it’s important to use facts–and when we mess up, just correct it. It’s that simple. As the meeting is winding down, he eventually says, “I will speak to her.” When I ask if he will ask her to remove the misinformation about Governor Palin from the display, he simply repeats, “I will speak to her.” When I ask, “Will you let me know the decision about the display?” he answers, “I will speak to her.” I then say, “Well then, I’ll follow up,” and I leave his office.

Thursday, after school ended and most staff had left:
I walk by the library to see if the display is as it has been. It is unchanged.

Friday morning:
I email the principal to state that the display was still up as of Thursday evening, and that since this is the last day of Banned Books Week, the responsible thing to do in our quest for teaching young adults the truth is to put up a display that states the fact that Governor Palin never banned books. I write that our children deserve as much and that it is our responsibility not to cause even one of them to be misled. I receive no response.

Friday, well after school had ended:
I walk by the library and see that the display is down. I pretty much expected this since Banned Books Week is over. Another display for Day of the Dead is up. I then decide to go to the Administrative Suite to see if the superintendent is still there. He is. I explain the situation to him–and he appears very supportive. He had not been aware of the situation and seems concerned that something of this nature would be displayed in our school. I express that it is not only flat out dishonest, but it is unfair to the students we are committed to educating. He is especially interested in the fact that the librarian has acknowledged that she knows Governor Palin never banned books. I state that the responsible thing to do now is to put the truth up, as we have displayed a lie to hundreds of students in the past week in an attempt to demonize one person and advance a political agenda. My point to him is this: if that wasn’t the motivation, why wouldn’t she put up someone’s picture who actually had banned books? I tell him that I want the truth to be displayed where the lie was for all our students to see, that this is the only responsible action. I state that the only thing that would keep someone from doing so is pride. He suggests that what I’m asking is reasonable but that he wants himself, the principal, librarian, and me to meet. I leave his office feeling good about the meeting and believing we will do the educationally responsible–and moral–thing.

Monday, October 5th:
At the end of the day, I email the superintendent about where things stand in terms of setting up a meeting about displaying the facts. I state that I would really like to get this out of the way.

Tuesday:
I pass the superintendent in the hall in the morning. He states that we will have a meeting and thanks me for the reminder email.

Wednesday and Thursday:
I receive emails from the principal and his secretary about meeting with him. These emails amount to: I state that we have already met privately and that I would like to have the meeting the superintendent and I discussed–with everyone present. I send emails to all involved stating again that I’d like to do the responsible thing and correct the wrong by displaying the truth for our students. I email my times of availability to meet during the day or after school. I receive an email from the principal’s secretary stating he can meet eight days later. I respond by stating that date is too far away and perhaps something will open up sooner. The principal emails that it is very difficult to arrange a meeting that fits everyone’s schedule and would let me know when something opens up. I send him a “thank you” email.

Friday:
At the end of the day, as I am co-teaching a class, I receive a phone call from the principal’s secretary stating the superintendent, principal, and librarian are waiting for me to attend the meeting. Apparently there was some miscommunication because I had never been notified that the meeting was arranged. I leave the class in the hands of the co-teacher and go to the meeting.

Meeting:
I am asked to share my concern again. The superintendent expresses his viewpoint, which is that this should have been taken care of when I first went to the librarian. In other words, the display should have simply been taken down, as I came respectfully and directly to the librarian. The librarian states that she wanted to draw the kids’ attention to Banned Books Week and Governor Palin could do that. When asked if it worked, she says that it did work, that many students came in to ask questions and to borrow books. There is a lot of discussion, which boils down to my stating that it is dangerous to use people and lies to shape the thinking of children. The superintendent voices his concern about the display and states that it should have come down, but says that he isn’t sure he wants to become like a newspaper and retract what was up. I maintain that as educators this is the right thing to do. After all, the librarian herself said that many students took note of the display and discussed it. I express again that using only one person’s picture–and someone who never banned even one book–to be the poster child of a display about “bigots, zealots, and false patriots” is unacceptable. I say that the librarian is entitled to think Governor Palin wanted to ban books, but she is not entitled to take that thought to the next level and present it as fact, which is exactly what a poster that says “Sarah Palin + Banned Books = Censorship” and an article about it does. I also state that if she thinks the governor wanted to ban books, then maybe she should wait until “People I Think Wanted to Ban Books Week” to put her in the midst of a display! When the superintendent asks the principal what he feels about the retraction display I am requesting, the principal doesn’t commit one way or the other, just states that he understands both sides. The superintendent hears from the librarian, who asks if I am requesting displaying the truth in my classroom. I say, “No, in the same place the misinformation was.” (Why would I put it in my classroom? I have nothing to retract, and the affected students aren’t in my classes, as I teach in the connected junior high school, not the high school.) She goes on to say that my addressing it to “the whole world” on my blog and Twitter page should suffice, and the library is her classroom. The superintendent states that what I write or do outside of school is not his concern but the school is. She says in no uncertain terms she doesn’t want the display I am proposing and that something else is already displayed in that space. I tell her that I understand that teachers like things in their rooms that represent them to a certain extent; however, this cannot come at the expense of providing our students with the truth. The meeting winds down and I am told that after I leave, the three of them will discuss the issue further and a decision will be made.

Monday, October 12th:
Columbus Day–no school.

Tuesday:
I email the superintendent and ask what decision he reached. I thank him for his attention to the matter. I don’t get a response.

Wednesday:
No response

Thursday, end of the day:
I email the superintendent again and state that, having not heard back from him, I will assume he has decided not to approve a display that will provide our students with the truth to correct the falsehood they have been given.

Friday, today:
No response

Surely it is clear that I went above and beyond to do things properly in this situation. I never wanted to go to anyone in the district but the librarian. I never wanted to go over her head. That is simply not my heart. However, I do believe that it is becoming more and more important for people to stand up for what’s right. In too many situations, like in New Jersey, students are being indoctrinated to almost reverence the president. The reverse of that seems to have taken place here, with a door being opened for students to despise Governor Palin. Neither is appropriate.

Even more upsetting than the demonization during Banned Books Week of one person who never banned books is the failure to act to correct it. It’s easy to take the back door approach, to say, “What can we learn from this?” and never re-educate those who were miseducated. It’s much more difficult–albeit responsible–to correct the misinformation. I have been teaching for fourteen years. I cannot say that I have done everything right all the time. No way. But I have at times had to humble myself before my students and apologize when I have done them wrong–and our students were done wrong here, as was Governor Palin.

To be clear, I wasn’t asking for a display that stated, “I lied! Sarah Palin never banned books. I made that up, purposely misinformed kids, and demonized someone to promote a political agenda.” I could have asked that because I believe the facts show that this is exactly what took place. However, all I was going to display was a poster that stated the fact that Sarah Palin never banned a book and an article with a few quotes. I told them I have the official word from the Town of Wasilla written on their own letterhead.

If we had simply done the right thing, the display would have been up and down by now. I believe that a person without an agenda would not have objected to correcting the display–for the sake of the students, if nothing else. But we’re not stupid. This was no honest mistake. And who pays the price for something like this? Our children do, of course. They get lied to, and their impression of a public figure gets tainted. Wasn’t that the point, though?

I have personally done all I can on my end to hold people accountable in this situation and to ask for assistance from those who have the power to provide it. As I told you when this first happened, I will let you–the concerned public–know how it turned out. I asked you to be patient and not to react before the wrong had a chance to be righted. You obliged, and I thank you. I wish I could tell you now that your patience amounted to the defamation and misinformation being corrected. All this time later, it has not.

I place no further demands on your patience.

Below is an interview I did on the Eddie Burke Radio Show. At 2:19 in, you will see pictures that show the display.

For You Tube Video Go To
http://ceciliatrentopines.blogspot.com/2009/10/update-to-school-officials-propagade.html

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September 15^th, 2009

Senator Feinstein,

I am writing in regards to the proposed Health Care Reform that is at hand in Washington DC. It is apparent that health care is a definite concern for the American people. Many Americans are stuck between a rock and a hard place because of the lack of health care available to them. Some may be in between jobs and cannot afford health care and others may be unable to find someone to insure them because of their existing medical conditions. Especially in this time of uncertainty in our economy, something must be done about our health care system. I am here to express my genuine concern by asking you to please vote against the new Health Care Reform.

Change is definitely something that needs to happen, but it does not mean more government handouts. We have seen the change that has already happened in the White House. We have seen the failed government bailouts and stimulus packages. Why are we then persuaded that government health care will work when it has failed us time and time again, especially most recently under this administration? What should be done? Lowering costs of Medicare and the like and giving the people options to choose health care providers will drastically improve the state that we are in. Why can’t we enhance the options being offered in the health care market and let the companies battle it out to see who can compete to bring in the most customers to their programs?

President Obama says that national health care will open the doors for competition between the health care providers. Unfortunately, this does polar opposite. This government program shuts down other health care providers. Big companies will not bother spending money on providing their employees with health care when they can save that money and let the government pay for it, thus driving the health care industry to nothing leaving the citizens with no choice but government health care.

My father was an immigrant from El Salvador. When he and my mother wed, he did not have medical insurance. Nobody gave him any insurance for free so he did what needed to be done. My father worked three different jobs while simultaneously attending a community college full time in order to receive his associate’s degree. He then was able to land a job that gave him amazing health benefits. What would have happened if the government gave him health insurance for no cost? There would be absolutely no incentive to work hard, receive an education and provide for his family in order to achieve this goal of health coverage. Government handouts do not make productive citizens; it only makes citizens dependent on the government. Nothing in this world is free, nor should it be. This is the American way. This is the American dream of working hard as my father did and many others in this great nation to achieve a goal; this long and hard pursuit of happiness that our Constitution is based on.

Senator Feinstein, please consider the options laid out clearly at http://www.cprights.org. There are other options besides Obama’s proposition to make health care available to everyone. Be my voice and the voice of other citizens of California and vote against the Health Care Reform.

Thank you for your time and your service,

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Robert M Hernandez
Student At California State University, Long Beach Ca

The time and place remains the same: 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm on the
sidewalks outside of the Ed Sullivan Theater, which is located at
1697 Broadway in New York City.

If you live within a 4 hour drive of New York City, please make
an effort to attend this event. You can RSVP on our Facebook Event,
located at:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?sid=fd6d71fa207c952b5bcc233e1bb63…
7311092&ref=search

Please bring your own signs (be creative but PG rated!) to the event.

Also, for the technologically oriented please bring:

1. Video cameras
2. Laptops equipped with Wi-Fi and Webcams

We are going to try and send out some live Video Skype of the
Tuesday event. If you are Video Skype capable, please
email your skype id to me at michaelpatrickleahy@gmail.com .
We want to see if we can your live feed of the event
to selected new media outlets.

You are one of more than 3,500 people who have signed the letter
we will be sending to CBS, telling them we won’t
be purchasing products sold by sponsors of David Letterman’s
Late Show until he is fired. Your help over the next
few days is critical to the success of this project.

Please take some time on Sunday to email all your friends and
invite those who live near New York City to attend
the Tuesday FIRE DAVID LETTERMAN RALLY. Also, please promote our
site http://www.firedavidletterman.com by tweets
on Twitter, phone calls to local talk radio hosts,
postings on your blogs, and comments on other websites and
blogs.

In addition, Monday should be a great day to call the talk radio
programs to promote the Tuesday rally. Wonder who will be the
first one on this list to make it on Rush Limbaugh, Sean
Hannity, or Glenn Beck?

I will personally be promoting the Tuesday event on Tammy Bruce’s
radio program Monday at 12:30 pm EDT, and don’t forget that
our own project colleague John Ziegler will be talking about the rally and other
breaking issues on Monday during his 11 am to 1 pm PDT radio program on
1260 AM, KGIL in Los Angeles.

Details of the Tuesday rally, including names of speakers,
will be announced at a press conference to be held in
New York City at 1 pm EDT on Monday. Laureen Cummings and
Gwendolyn Lindsey-Jackson will be speaking at the press
conference. In addition, we currently anticipate that a representative
of a New York City based women’s rights organization will also be
speaking at the press conference.

We have a great team to field press inquiries.

Gwendolyn Lindsey-Jackson, attorney, John Ziegler, radio talk show
host and producer of the documentary Media Malpractice, and
New York State Assemblyman Brian Kolb have all agreed
to be the “point people” to field press inquiries, effective immediately.
You can find their contact e-mails at our website,
http://www.firedavidletterman.com.

Gwendolyn Lindsey-Jackson, Laureen Cummings, and Anna Barone will serve
as our on-site leadership team during the rally itself on Tuesday.

Thanks for all your help ! If you have any ideas or suggestions,
please feel free to send me an email with your thoughts.

Best Regards,

Michael Patrick Leahy

From Michael Leahy:

I am pleased to report that we have received enough volunteer
leader commitments from the now 2,253 people on this mailing list
to make a FIRM DECISION to go forward with a planned
FIRE DAVID LETTERMAN RALLY, currently scheduled to be held
from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm this Monday June 15 outside the
Ed Sullivan Theater, located at 1697 Broadway in New York City. 

If you live anywhere within a 4 hour driving distance of
New York City, please plan on attending this event. Bring your
own signs (be creative but PG rated!). We will be announcing
more details over the weekend so stay tuned. 

We need more volunteers to help our "Project Servant-Leaders", so
please email me at michaelpatrickleahy@gmail.com if you can
provide some time. 

Laureen Cummings has agreed to serve as our "Project Servant-
Leader" responsible for our Media Relations. 

Marie Wilkinson and others have agreed to share "Project
Servant-Leader" responsibilities in the Social Media arena. 

We have volunteers for our logistics and volunteer coordination
areas as well, and will be announcing the names of that
leadership group over the weekend. 

Keep telling your friends on the internet and in person to
sign the letter to CBS asking them to fire David Letterman
at our website, http://www.firedavidletterman.com . 

Two additional pieces of news to show that we and others are
already making some progress: 

1. CBS has received so many negative comments about Letterman
they have shut down the comments section of their website. 

2. A leading New York State Legislator, Brian Kolb, publicly
called today for CBS to fire Letterman. 

Thanks for all your help. 

Stay tuned for news over the weekend about how you can help
make this coming Monday's "FIRE DAVID LETTERMAN RALLY"
a success ! 

Best Regards, 

Michael Patrick Leahy

http://www.firedavidletterman.com/

I would like to assure you again, that we have no affiliation with Mr. Letterman’s show.]
Bowflex
Mars Candy
Capitol One
LasikPlus
Embassy Suites
EBay
ancestry.com

On The Border Restaurants
Brinker International
6820 LBJ Freeway
Dallas, TX 75240
(972) 980-9917
Contact at:
http://www.ontheborder.com/contact/contact.asp
Phone:1-800-983-4637

Best Western
Best Western International, Inc.
Customer Relations Department
Telephone: 1-800-528-1238
Fax: 623-780-6199
Email: customerservice@bestwestern.com
Regular Mail: PO Box 10203
Phoenix, AZ 85064
Attn: Customer Service

Intel – Website contact page:
http://www.intel.com/feedback.htm?iid=ftr+contact
Corporate Mailing Address
2200 Mission College Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA 95054-1549
USA
(408) 765-8080

CBSports.com – Contact page:
http://www.cbssports.com/help/contactus/usersspeak
Headquarters
2200 West Cypress Creek Road
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309
Phone: (954) 351-2120

JohnFreida.com – Contact page:
http://www.johnfrieda.com/event.asp?action=entry&EventCode=jfco…
Consumer Relations Dept
Kao Brands Company
2535 Spring Grove Ave
Cincinnati, OH 45214
Phone – 1-800-521-3189

DiTech – Not sure if this is Ditech financial , or Ditech networks and don’t know if they are one and the same.

Lexus – Contact info page This has their corporate address, their phone number and a link to email them -

http://www.lexus.com/contact/

Earn My Degree
WCS
157 Yesler Way Suite 200
Seattle WA
United States 98121
206-812-4653
information@worldclassstrategy.com

Lifelock
60 E Rio Salado Pkwy
Ste 400
Tempe, AZ 85281
480-682-5100
Contact page has names and email addresses of executives.
http://www.lifelock.com/about-us/about-lifelock/contact-us

Bowflex -
Nautilus, Inc.
Global Headquarters
16400 SE Nautilus Drive
Vancouver, WA 98683
1 360 859 2900
PublicRelations@nautilus.com

Mars Candy
Mars North America
100 International Drive
Mount Olive, NJ 07828
Tel:
1 973 691 3536 [Media],
1 800 627 7852 [Consumers]
Fax:1 973 691 3829

email form:
http://www.mars.com/global/Contact+us/Media+contacts+North+America.htm

Capitol One
Capital One Financial Corporation 1
680 Capital One Drive McLean, VA 22102
1/703-720-1000

LasikPlus
7840 Montgomery Road
Cincinnati OH 45236
Telephone: 513-792-9292
Toll-Free: 800-688-4550
Fax: 513-792-5620
Email: bkise@lca.com
Contact page:
http://www.lasikplus.com/ir/contacts.html

Embassy Suites
Dawn Ray/Nancy Gearin
Embassy Suites Hotels
901-374-5954/ 901-374-6423
dawn.ray@hilton.com
nancy.gearin@hilton.com
Contact page:
http://embassysuites1.hilton.com/en_US/es/customersupport/index.do

EBay
eBay Inc.
2145 Hamilton Avenue
San Jose, CA 95125
Media relations – (408) 376-7458
Contact page:
http://news.ebay.com/about.cfm

ancestry.com
The Generations Network, Inc.
Attn: Customer Solutions,
360 W 4800 N Provo, UT 84604
Phone: 801-705-7000
FAX: 801-705-7001
mediarelations@ancestry.com
Contact page:
http://www.myfamilyinc.com/default.aspx?html=contact

True Credit
TrueCredit
100 Cross Street, Suite 202
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
866-212-2170 (only contact number found)

Posted By Cecilia Trent

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers on Tuesday delayed a vote to confirm the Obama administration’s nominee for a key housing post to review lawsuits alleging his real estate company broke federal anti-kickback laws.

The Senate Banking Committee had been scheduled to vote to confirm David Stevens, president and chief operating officer of Long & Foster, as an assistant secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Stevens, who was nominated in March, had a confirmation hearing last week. But lawmakers decided to hold off on a final vote after being told this week of new information concerning a legal case involving Long & Foster, a Virginia real estate brokerage, banking committee spokeswoman Justine Sessions said.

The committee confirmed six other Obama administration officials on Tuesday, including four from HUD.

Chantilly, Va.-based Long & Foster is facing several class action lawsuits, filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, alleging that it broke the law governing the relationships between real estate agents, title companies and mortgage lenders. The suits allege Long & Foster agents steered homebuyers to affiliated mortgage and title companies, which then shared the profits with the real estate brokerage.

Such affiliated relationships are common in the real estate industry and by themselves are not illegal. HUD enforces the laws designed to protect consumers from any abuses from these close business relationships.

In October 2007, six big homebuilders agreed to pay $1.4 million to resolve federal allegations that they illegally established title insurance companies that took payments amounting to kickbacks. The builders agreed to halt the practices.

Long and Foster has a 50-50 joint venture with Wells Fargo & Co, known as Prosperity Mortgage. It says the relationship is a legitimate because Prosperity is run as a separate business entity with its own employees.

“It’s like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse,” said Richard Gordon, a Baltimore-area lawyer who has filed four class action cases against Long & Foster. “Here’s a guy who’s a president of the company against which their are significant allegations … He just doesn’t have a good track record on this.”

HUD, however, said it investigated the claims underlying the litigation 18 months ago and found no violation of the law. Stevens also wasn’t named as a defendant in the lawsuits.

“We continue to believe that David Stevens is an excellent choice to lead the FHA through the current housing crisis,” said Melanie Roussell, HUD spokeswoman. Stevens declined to comment.

Long & Foster’s mortgage joint-venture is a “legitimate and substantial player in the mortgage business,” said Jay Varon, a lawyer for the company. “The notion that it’s not a genuine entity is without any shred of merit.”

Stevens helped draft a 2007 memo to Long & Foster employees that raised eyebrows because it encouraged real estate agents to use Prosperity Mortgage.

Varon defended that memo, saying that “it’s permissible to encourage people to use their joint venture as long as you don’t pay them or require them to do it.”

Posted by Cecilia Trent