Jimbo called me while en route back to Memphis from the event and has a good behind-the-scenes report to share after he gets some sleep. Looking forward to it.
Donn Janes Statement about Liberal Bias in U of M Text Book:
“It appears that maybe Karl Marx has replaced God in our education system.
The book titled “A Concise Introduction to Logic” by Patrick J. Hurley is required reading for the “Elementary Logic” Class at the University of Memphis. The Subtitle for the book is “For Elementary Logic / PHILL 1611”.
It is common knowledge that progressive liberalism has found a subtle foothold in the curriculum of our high schools and college campuses. Nevertheless, I find it disturbing to see it first hand in such a blatant manner.
The book takes aim at conservative values even to the point of marginalizing a major news outlet. Page 34 alone tries to make logical arguments on more than one political issue. One of these ideological issues quietly embraces the Third Plank of Karl Marx’ “Communist Manifesto” as in regards to the federal government confiscating inheritances to preserve a democracy. Then the farce of global warming projections is portrayed as logical. Finally, the text implies that the conservative cable outlet FOX News is a propaganda Machine that is misleading its viewers. (To view the actual text from the text book [click here] then click on the “Link to Image Text”.)
The very same people who would propose that this is proper are the same ones who would condemn such logical ideas as espoused in the Biblical teachings found in the Ten Commandments. They would attest that there should be no place for the Ten Commandments in our school systems, yet make room for the Ten Planks of the Communist Manifesto.
The University of Memphis should refrain from utilizing textbooks with blatant liberal biases such as this one.
This book surfacing comes on the heels of the University of Memphis Administration allowing ACORN founder, Wade Rathke, to hold an on campus forum last November. A local TEA Party group alerted the community to Rathke’s forum. This allowed concerned parents such as myself to be able to address Rathke in person.
Maybe we concerned parents need to address the U of M Administration in person as well.
Donn”
Donn Janes is a candidate for the United States House of Representatives for Tennessee’s 8th Congressional District. A Navy veteran and businessman, Janes is an outspoken critic of how both the Republican and Democrat Parties have continued to ignore any calls for fiscal responsibility, causing the United States to plunge deeper into debt.
I was waiting on Jimbo to post this, but I reckon I am going to have to do it. Bartholomew Sullivan called me last week in reference to this Monday Commercial Appeal article which was going to be a much longer piece in the Sunday edition. The reason he called me is because the NRCC spokesperson told him I was NOT a Republican candidate but an idependent and he wanted my response. I told him that they must have confused me with Donn Janes, but he said no, they were talking about me. Oh well, I don’t like the NRCC much either.
Lynn Moss (left) was there at the very beginning for the Mid-South TEA Party and has been one of the power-houses in that group (she is kinda cute too). BCR’s own Jimbo in his role as spokesman was quoted perhaps more than anyone.
A steel fabricator on President’s Island and a former Democratic candidate for Congress, Tomasik says the rival Memphis TEA Party group is “all about saving the Republican Party.”
“A lot of us TEA Party people aren’t so much worrying about saving the Republican Party as we are about saving what we feel like our country was founded on — get up and go to work every morning, earn your way through life, that sort of stuff,” he says.
Jim is right, the Republican Party is trying to exploit the TEA party movement for political gain this year. What they seem to be missing is that the public is angry not just with Democrats, but Republicans as well for abandoning the Reagan Coalition and its principles. So a lot of politicians are talking TEA this election cycle (especially Republicans), but we are finding a lot of their tea cups empty.
Just to be clear, I am NOT part of any organized TEA party group. I am especially not associated with the Republican version of it locally. However, I feel that the Mid-South TEA Party has remained true to what started it all back in February of last year. For them, it is about saving the Republic, not the Republican Party.
Well, yours truly who happens to be a candidate for Congress in the Tennessee Congressional was on the campaign trail yesterday, but since I also wear my BCR hat to these things, I figure a little ‘reporting’ is in order. I started the day driving up to Jackson for the Mike Slater Show and talking with the Slater Raiders at 7:30. I had listened to the recordings of four other candidates who were on the program last week, so I kinda knew what the format would be. As I made the hour-and-a-half drive I started rehearsing in my mind what the ‘right’ answer to certain questions should be and then realized that I was starting to think like a politician, which is something I never want to become. So I decided instead of giving answers that people wanted to hear, to just be myself and give my best honest answer (what a novel concept). So the interview started off with this question.
You want to be our congressman next year? – Slater
I wish listeners could have been in the studio to see his reaction to my answer. He got this shocked look on his face and actually ‘recoiled’ back in his seat.
Honestly no. Washington is too cold, I’m a southern boy.
I took a call after we went off the air and listened to the call-in’s on the radio. I figured people would appreciate honesty or throw me under the bus. From what I could tell, the calls were 100% positive, so I guess people really do want to hear the truth from a candidate. Go figure that one out.
I came home and took a nap (we night shift workers do that) and then got up to get ready for the Tipton County Republican Party meeting where I was a scheduled speaker. I had already had my suit ready, but when it came time to dress, I could not find my black dress shoes (working folk don’t pretty up that often), so I just grabbed my jeans, white dress shirt and slipped on my best pair of cowboy boots and off I went.
When I arrived, Stephen Fincher was already there with his entourage and the first thing I did was to make a bee-line over to him. I gave him a good manly handshake (the man sure has some soft hands for a farmer) and introduced myself. He remarked that he had heard my interview with the Slater Raiders, so I came right to the point. I asked him if he had gotten with Jim Tomasik to clear up the numbers on the subsidies issue. He said he had not, but that the information he put out was wrong. I told him that I went to the public record myself and verified that he had received millions in subsidy money, so was he saying that the USDA numbers were wrong too? He replied that yes they were. Now those of us who know a little something about reading body language got this message loud and clear, “I don’t have to answer to those tea party bozo’s!” I walked away stunned with the impression that this guy was one of the most pompous a*!-holes I have met in a long time. I had wanted to ask him about the report from Dyer County that he said God had spoke to him on his tractor and told him to run for Congress, but I figured to continue the conversation further would have resulted in me calling him a pompous a*! to his face and two country boys rolling on the floor in a restaurant, so I held my piece.
Just after this conversation, Shelby County Commissioner George Flinn arrived. Dr. Flinn had been suggesting he might be getting in the race, so I took him aside to ask his intentions. I gave him the same handshake and looked the man in the eye. I asked him if I could have his personal assurance and word that he would not abandon the principles of the tea party movement. He gave me his word and I believe him. Since I was scheduled to speak and he was not, I offered to step aside and let him take my spot on the agenda, but he said no, that he wanted to hear what I had to say. As it turned out, they changed the format and gave each of us five minutes to speak and the three of us stood in the Q&A firing line afterwards.
I got to go first, and I wanted to talk about the Jefferson Revolution of 1800, so I condensed a history lesson into five minutes. I think they were shocked to learn that George Washington (along with others) believed in an American aristocracy and had even gone to the extent of arresting people who spoke out against the federal government. Or maybe they just thought I was an idiot because all they did was kinda stare at me. The other two candidates just pretty much gave a canned ‘vote for me’ speech. The most notable one was Fincher. On the Mike Slater show last week he said his favorite founding father was Thomas Jefferson. He noted that in his speech and said he wanted to change his mind, and replace Jefferson with George Washington as his favorite! Keep in mind that is after I just told everyone that Jefferson saved us from the aristocracy that Washington had tried to establish! What a loon….but at least he was honest, I guess.
I knew the jeans and cowboy boots were a mistake when during the Q&A some lady asked me if I was a ‘truck driver’. Oh well, guess I need to find those dress shoes.
Some observers have regarded Jefferson’s election in 1800 as revolutionary. This may be true in a restrained sense of the word, since the change from Federalist leadership to Republican was entirely legal and bloodless. Nevertheless, the changes were profound. The Federalists lost control of both the presidency and the Congress.
By 1800, the American people were ready for a change. Under Washington and Adams, the Federalists had established a strong government. They sometimes failed, however, to honor the principle that the American government must be responsive to the will of the people. They had followed policies that alienated large groups. For example, in 1798 they enacted a tax on houses, land and slaves, affecting every property owner in the country. Jefferson had steadily gathered behind him a great mass of small farmers, shopkeepers and other workers; they asserted themselves in the election of 1800. Jefferson enjoyed extraordinary favor because of his appeal to American idealism. – Revolution of 1800
Now I know that the Democratic Party claims Jefferson, but that is only because his Republican Party split into various factions after this, but the ideals of his revolution in 1800 were Republican ideals. Today we are facing a similar crisis, with a strong Federal government that has encroached into every aspect of our lives. The past few years, many States (including Tennessee) have passed Resolutions equivalent to the Kentucky Resolutions authored by Jefferson in 1798 and 1799, and a similar one in Virginia authored by James Madison in 1798.
Resolved, That the construction applied by the general government (as is evident by sundry of their proceedings) to those parts of the Constitution of the United States which delegate to Congress power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, excises; to pay the debts, and provide for the common defence and general welfare, of the United States, and to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested by the Constitution in the government of the United States, or any department thereof, goes to the destruction of all limits prescribed to their powers by the Constitution; that words meant by the instrument to be subsidiary only to the execution of the limited powers, ought not to be so construed as themselves to give unlimited powers, nor a part to be taken as to destroy the whole residue of the instrument; that the proceedings of the general government, under color of those articles, will be a fit and necessary subject for revisal and correction at a time of greater tranquillity, while those specified in the preceding resolutions call for immediate redress. - Kentucky Resolution
This was followed by the election of Jefferson as President in 1800 and a sweep of Congress by those loyal to his ideals of limited government, a major event often overlooked in school history classes and known as the Jeffersonian Revolution. Now, just as then, a popular revolt is in play with “a great mass of small farmers, shopkeepers and other workers” which has fondly called itself the tea party movement. The Revolution of 2010 is underway.
“Ah, you know, people are quick to judge, just like the tea party blog that … uh … is … is … there’s a lot of false information there … and there is a lot … is, is … not a lot of truth in that.” Stephen Fincher interview on January 19 with Mike Slater
The “tea party blog” that Mr. Fincher was referring to is a summary of Mr. Fincher’s campaign contributions done by BCR’s own Jim Tomasik for the Mid-South Tea Party. Essentially, Mr. Fincher was calling Jim and the Mid-South Tea Party liars. This of course concerns me greatly because Jim represents BCR with the Mid-South Tea Party and if he is spreading false information about a candidate, then I don’t want him posting here or acting as our liaison with other groups. The disputed claims are that Mr. Fincher’s campaign is funded primarily by individuals and families which profit significantly from government subsidies, including him. So I decided to do a little fact checking of my own.
According to the EWG database, from 1999-2006 Mr. Fincher collected $2,449,591 in government subsidies from 4 different Tennessee USDA county offices under the business name of Stephen & Lynn Fincher Farms.
From 1995 – 1998, Mr. Fincher collected an additional $114,519 under his own name. So just for him personally, and ONLY through 2006, two-and-a-half million in taxpayer dollars! And of course this does not include money from 2007 – 2009.
I just got back in from a road trip to look at his farm. His home is a very nice one built between one owned by his father, Jackie and brother Austin. Farming is obviously a family affair for them and his campaign has contributions from them as well. A lot of other money has been funneled into his campaign by other relatives and farming friends contributing the maximum amount. He has alone collected more than enough in taxpayer money to cover his campaign expenses.
In the same interview Mr. Fincher bragged about how much money his campaign has raised and how all of it has come from inside the District. No sir, from where I sit most of it came from fleecing the taxpayers and Washington, D.C. I won’t take the time to itemize for the remainder of his family, but based on this I don’t see where anything Jim or the Tea Party has said is ‘false’. Quite the contrary, I see “a lot of truth in that”.
Update 1/26/2010:
In the interest of fairness, I also pulled the data for Roy Herron, the leading Democratic nominee, also a District 8 farmer.
For the same period, Mr. Herron only collected $26,430 from one USDA County, Weakley. That is 1/100th of what Mr. Fincher collected for the same period!
I want to make something perfectly clear so that there are no misunderstandings. I became involvedwith the local tea party movement in earnest on February 19, 2009. As things progressed, I passed the baton to Jim (BCR author) to represent BCR in the Memphis area and Mickey (another BCR author) in the Fayette County area. Quite frankly, I had become quite involved in a research project which has evolved into a book which has had my time pretty much occupied for the past year and I felt Jim and Mickey could devote the time that the oraganizational effort deserved. However, I have remained an active supporter of the tea party movement locally. I would ask everyone to recall who devoted their day to working security for the tea party supporters vehicles during the Steve Cohen town hall meeting when the threat of SEIU thugs was very real (not to mention did live blogging).
So now we have Tea Party folks knee-jerking because the NRCC ‘endorsed’ Fincher in the District 8 race even before the horses were all at the gate, and his finance ties to agri-business. I happen to agree with their concerns about the NRCC and Fincher, so I decided to do what any good patriot would, I pulled a petition and jumped into the race to oppose him. I even communicated why I was getting into the race with Jim and Mr. Janes. Unfortunately, Mr. Janes decided that he would rather switch than fight and instead of working with other conservative republicans to secure the nomination, he has gone solo as the ‘tea party candidate’.
Now anyone who has been around politics any length of time knows that all a strong 3rd party vote will do is split the conservative vote and insure a Democratic victory, especially in a District that has voted Democrat for almost a century (they still remember what Herbert Hoover did to them). The situation is even more critical when the leading democrat contender has been groomed by the party to take over behind Tanner for a number of years now. He also happens to be VERY popular and known in the District. So at a time when we need all-hands-on-deck, Mr. Janes and some tea party folks want to throw a temper tantrum and insure a conservative defeat in November.
I was going to hold my peace, but it is becoming ever more evident that Jim’s statement, “at least the Paris TEA Party has the sense to not endorse any candidate this early in the election” is nothing but a load of crap. I’m dealing with messages on Facebook telling me how the ‘tea party’ is going to upset things and urging me “get out of the way of any Tea Party candidate that comes along.”
It just seems to me that the tea party has lost its way. Instead of correcting the wrongs in both dominant party’s, they instead are becoming them. The NRCC ‘annointed’ Fincher, the Democrats ‘annointed’ Herron, and the TEA Party ‘annointed’ Janes, so now everyone is even. So what about the citizens of District 8? Do they not have a choice in the matter? Shouldn’t Democrats and Republicans be able to pick their own nominees?
I’ve been fighting this fight within the Republican Party since 2006 and although I have seriously considered it, I’d rather fight than switch.
If Republicans are going to kick the Dems for redistribution of wealth, maybe they should get a taste of their own medicine. I’ve gotten many positive responses to the release and a couple negative ones. None have been rude. That’s what I miss!
This is my response to a polite but negative one.
Hello Martha,
Thank you for responding to the press release. It is of great concern to me and some others with whom I associate.
Honestly, I cannot place the time where I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you at a conference in Union. To the best of my memory, I have not stopped in Union in many years. Are you sure it was me? Your email address does seem familiar.
Anyway,
Having issues with me because I am having an issue with Fincher’s campaign will at least bring this all out into the open for debate. Sometimes written messages may not “sound” as congenial as the writer intends. Please know that I harbor no malice towards you, Mr. Fincher, farmers in general or any other individuals connected to this debate. We merely have opposing viewpoints.
Maybe you have a point in your concerns. Let’s look and see.
You said about farmers:
“These are the people that take risk every day. will the weather be right. how will the market hold, the dangers for working on a farm. who will help get out the crops,…”
My response to that is as follows:
Yes, farming is a business. In business, one takes risks. Are “the dangers for working on a farm” any more grave than any other hands on trade? Are you talking about physical dangers? If so, maybe we should compare workers comp payments required by different trades before we assume that farmers are the ones taking risks every day.
You said:
“Many of farmers lost a lot of money with the rain this year.”
My response to that is as follows:
You have probably seen bumper stickers that say something like “Farmers feed America”. I like that bumper sticker.
Here’s another one that I like: “Union Iron Workers! Building America Since 19??!” Even though I am not in the union and I’m not sure of the exact year it started, I like the sentiment of a craftsmen who is proud of his trade, just like the sentiment of the farmer shown in his bumper sticker.
Over the past year or so, China has been booming in construction and has been buying up a lot of steel on the world market. Subsequently, the price of steel went through the roof and that has caused huge problems for iron workers. The crashing economy has devastated the construction business. As usual in times like these, investors slowed or stopped investing in new buildings. Contractors stopped buying steel for buildings because they are not building them. The steel fabricating shop for which I work was forced to put almost half of it’s employees in the unemployment line. The rest of us fear that we might be headed there ourselves.
So after following your line of thinking thus far, I have to ask the following question.
Can we get the farmers to share some of that tax money with the iron workers? If not, who will bail the hard working, America loving, struggling iron workers out? Come to think about it, I bet there are more iron workers in dire situations right now than there are farmers.
You then stated:
“If the government can give out tons of money to countries that hate the US. what is given to the farms is pocket change.”
Your argument is absolutely lost on me.
I do not approve of my tax dollars going to countries that hate us either. The government should stop that as well, right? Furthermore, I hope that you do not want us to give tax dollars to those countries so that we can maintain a great excuse to give even more money to wealthy farmers. Also, that money given to farmers is NOT pocket change at all. It is a huge fortune in OUR tax dollars. If I remember correctly, the last Farm Bill passed through Congress at a mind boggling 309 billion dollars! A THIRD of a Trillion dollars! That brings me to the next thing you said.
You offered an idea for my next research project:
“Look at the welfare handouts. at least the farmers work. no work no crop.”
My Response to that is as follows:
I just mentioned the 309 billion dollar Farm Bill that recently passed through Congress. Do you know how much of that goes to farmers? According to a Fayette County farmer who was defending the huge number to me last year, only about 7.5% actually goes to farmers. He told me that the rest of those tax dollars go to things that have nothing at all to do with farming. It goes to those welfare handouts that you’ve asked me to look at! I’m sure this farmer is a good man and I took what he told me for the truth. (If I am in error with any of these assertions, please forgive me while you adjust my thinking.)
Just so people will begin to pay attention, maybe we should rename the “Farm Bill” the “Welfare Bill”. Or better yet, how about we rename it the “Great Redistribution of Wealth Bill” because that is what it really is!
What is the best way for me to fight those welfare handouts?
For me to fight against the welfare handouts, I have no choice but to fight against the newly dubbed tax payer funded 309 billion dollar Great Redistribution of Wealth Bill.
The bill is protected by voter’s lack of knowledge of the following facts.
Less than one in ten dollars of the “Great Redistribution of Wealth Bill” is handed to a special interest group that holds sway over the romantic “American as Apple Pie” notions of small town farmers being given a helping hand. That insures that the other 9 dollars goes straight to those welfare handouts! Isn’t liberalism great? One dollar works while the other nine do not.
Now, I question myself: “How does this keep happenings over and over?” Simple! Get the people who received the tenth dollars to contribute about 4 cents on each those particular dollars to a candidate that will go to the US Congress and vote for an even bigger “Great Redistribution of Wealth Bill” next time!
Its pretty cheap investment once you think about it. That is less than one half of one percent of the total 309 billion that is required to get the next 309 billion coming down the Federal Government money pipe.
Then you said:
“I know that you are a supporter of Mr Janes. and I like him also. but bashing the farmers, you have gone too far.”
You’re possibly correct. At this time, it is fair to say that I am seriously looking at Janes. That is because I see him as the best person claiming to be a candidate in the race thus far. The fact in the matter is that we do not know who all will be running so I reserve the right to support whomever I please once those people step forward. Did you notice that I did not even mention Janes as an alternative to Fincher in the press release?
If I were to find Janes or any other candidate in a similar situation, I would let the light shine on him as well.
As far as bashing farmers? My family was in farming for generations. Have I gone to far? I don’t think so. I will continue to expose problems like this Farm Subsidies issue no matter if it is against my own flesh-and-blood running for office.
No, actually, I think it is the Federal Government that has gone to far.
On February 19, 2009 in response to Rick Santelli’s “Rant of the Year” calling for a nationwide tea party on July 4th, BCR acquired the domain memphisteaparty.com and called for an orgainzational meeting to get a local effort started. On March 9th, 2009, myself and others (Mickey White, Paul Jones, Brenda Hardin and Lynn Moss among them) met at Range USA to discuss formalizing the group. At that time, Paul Jones volunteered to operate the Facebook presence of the group and the writing of a charter was tasked. Brenda Hardin accepted the task of writing the group’s charter and by March 11, 2009, she had a draft of the charter completed which was approved by the initial leadership (Myself, Jones and Hardin).
However, due to the growing popularity of the tea party concept, many others were starting similar efforts, and Reform Politix was working with a local radio show (Mike Fleming) to get an April 15th non-partisan Tea Party done. BCR author Jimbo(a Democrat) was tasked to investigate that effort (a joint effort with TCOT) and determine if it was non-partisan or was being infiltrated by outside Republican Party operatives. After Jimbo gave the effort a “clean bill”, I suggested that the Memphis Tea Party effort join forces with that effort. The April 15th event was a huge success by all accounts and I deferred to Mickey and Jimbo to represent BCR in all future efforts.
A few months ago, I attended what was billed as a joint-effort by the Memphis Tea Party and the Mississippi Tea Party in Southaven. Mark Skoda was a featured speaker. Imagine my shock and dismay when he introduced himself as the FOUNDER of the Memphis Tea Party effort! That was quite frankly the first time I had met the man and he was NOT there in the beginning.
I did a little checking and learned that Skoda had started another group after the Memphis Tea Party merged with the Mid-South Tea Party effort. He calls it “The Memphis Tea Party”, but all it really amounts to is a merchandising effort selling one product, Mark Skoda. He has started a little radio show around it and sells quite a few t-shirts with a special tea party logo he came up with. I understand also that he is trying to capitalize on the effort to run for local office next year.
So just so the record is clear, Mark Skoda is NOT the founder of the Memphis Tea Party effort. He was nowhere to be seen when local patriots rallied to make the effort happen. He is just someone who saw the thousands show up on April 15th and then saw dollar signs and fame to be had. The Memphis Tea Party is NOT about individual ambitions. I stepped aside when I saw that the effort was in capable hands with Reform Politix and Jimbo. I show up and take pictures, wear Obama joker t-shirts, and when needed work security for our folks.
This is not a hit on Obama and his “Change” during the 2008 Presidential Campaign, but a slap to the face of people in general. I am watching a documentary on the General Motors EV1 and how it was squashed. I am not here to write about the EV1 or that fiasco, but it does fit in with “change.”
While watching the EV1 documentary I see the NAFTA, 2nd Amendment, illegal immigration and every other beast we fight in operation. I know this happens and has happened for decades, but knowing and then really seeing are way different. People place the blame on Democrats, Republicans, big business, big oil and whoever else they can name when they are not the ones to place the ownership of these problems.
The American public owns 100% of the blame for the problems of this nation. The left and right are too busy fighting each other and do not see what the real problems are and who orchestrates them. I am as guilty as anyone. Just read some of my posts. I get as lost in the tangents as everybody else, but I do see my faults. We have hate crimes, racism, religious intolerance and unemployment to draw our attention away from the real problem. The real problem is as simple as those we have elected to public office.
We are duped, as voters, into thinking there is a difference in those we have elected. Why is it the same problems persist from our Republican House and Senate now that we have a Democrat controlled House and Senate? We elected a President just because he was not associated with Bush and yet Bush policies remain in place. Bush was elected because we were tired of Clinton and his policies yet Bush kept the Clinton policies throughout his reign. The circumstances around Bush’s election play into this as well. How much uproar was there from Clinton’s NAFTA and then Bush pushed through CAFTA? Why did they perpetuate these trade agreements with 90% or greater of the voting public being against them? They are all the same and that is why!
Anyone could draw the same conclusions as I do if you just take a few minutes to look into it. Our elected officials no longer represent those that elected them to office. We continue to put the same ones in office each election day and we expect change. Even if the names change their stance remains the same. Look at the “new” names that are being elected to office today.“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”The Who said “we won’t get fooled again” and yet we continue to fooled time and time again.
Filed under: 9/11, Congress, Jim, Tea Party—
Jim Tomasik at
6:13 am on
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
I think they can but they are ignoring us.
At about the three minute mark, the guy filming this pans from the left to the right across the crowd. The crowd extends towards the Washington Monument on each side of the Mall. There are two streets not seen in this because they are behind and under the trees. The streets are Madison and Jefferson. You can see the crowd flows under those trees. The crowd reaches back to around 10th street along those two streets.
If anyone has pics looking at those streets I’ve mentioned, send them to me and I will update this information.
I have no problem with those who estimate the crowd to be over a million people.
I know its true.
More importantly, President Obama and Congress know it’s true.
