Shell Game

The following is a slightly edited article I posted to my New Mexico Newsletter in response to actions taken by some shadowy background figure who some people describe as a crook, a corrupt political figure who hates the Tea Party Movement and likes to bully people to do what he wants. Once again I was pleasantly surprised by the quick and plentiful support responding to my writing. ========================================

Shell Game

Unless you're completely bored by the posturing of the so-called "influential" you might find it sort of interesting to watch how they squirm in the face of a few facts and of a few people who don't like power plays.

I suggest you buy Moriarty's Mountain View Telegraph [a local newspaper on the east side of the mountains from Albuquerque] to follow the shell game surrounding the banning of the East Mountain Tea Party from the Lions Club and Wild Life West. The latest gyrations of this on-going saga is the sort of thing that will surely warm your blood---or give you a laugh---as you wait for that scrumptious ham & turkey Christmas dinner.

As I reported yesterday, the editor of the Mountain View Telegraph contacted me regarding my letter to him and my comments on the sudden banning of the East Mountain Tea Party from the use of a couple of facilities. The editor said he was going to write an article about the situation and present the Lions Club and Wild Life West points of view side by side. He invited me to re-submit my letter in response to his article.

Since I'm a bit snowed under right now, I asked him to go ahead and print my original letter. I said that I was certain that this situation had generated so much interest in my readers that they would reply to his article and thereby answer for me.

Okay.

This morning I heard something that caused me to speculate that the heebie-jeebies may have entered the knees of a certain individual, which would explain why it's likely that this same individual is telling his followers to switch gears. They are now contradicting themselves backwards and forwards in order to cover the backside of their---or his---lower anatomy.

Here's the latest in this sorry show of wobbly principles and authoritarian shenanigans. The Lions Club and Wild Life West told the Moriarty newspaper that the "reason" for their banning the EMTP from their facilities was that renting to the Tea Party violated their 501(c3) status. [FYI: a 501(c3) refers to the tax status of a non-profit organization.] Hmmm. Now, how come these up-standing followers of government orders did not check that sort of thing at the beginning of the year when they rented to the EMTP without a quiver of concern?

I mean it's odd, isn't it? We were originally told the Lions Club and Wild Life West feared what other people would say, that they had been "accused" of being part of the EMTP. Then we were told that donors threatened to withdraw support. Now we're told that their "decision" was motivated by the absolutely incontestable, inarguable concern for abiding by tax regulations.

Uh-huh.

And both said, and I quote: "It's nothing against the Tea Party."

!

Initially, I had given both organizations the benefit of a doubt despite their spinelessness in bowing to what I perceived was clearly the dictates of some behind-the-scenes figure calling the shots. I did so because I hold property rights absolute and I would have defended both the Lions Club and Wild Life West's right to rent to whomever they chose.

But this switching-the-pea-under-the-shell game of "explanations," this yellow-bellied fear of being "accused" of being part of an organization that seeks freedom and fiscal responsibility, this kow-towing to the dictates of others is about as zombie-like and un-American as one can get. This is not the attitude of Americans who responded to the demand for surrender with, "Nuts!" It is not the sense of life of Americans who say, "Don't Tread On Me." And it most certainly is not the sense of pride and firm dedication to the right and the good of Americans who say, "Give me Liberty or give me death."

To such Americans a different chain of actions arises from a different motivation resting quietly within. I speak of those Tea Party workers around the nation who will not rest simply because November 2 was a good step forward. I speak of those Americans who work to place more new leaders on local levels, to develop campaigns to run for school boards and city councils. I speak of patriots who give speeches and write books and articles on the importance of individual rights and the need to de-regulate business, demanding that government cease intruding upon our lives. I speak of patriots---too many to name here---some of whom you will see in Santa Fe on January 18 to celebrate the election of Susana Martinez and Dianna Duran to Governor and Secretary of State, respectively, and to remind our Legislature of some streamlining and de-regulation work to be done.

As one American said, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead." I agree. So does the East Mountain Tea Party. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.