Special guest

Yesterday was our 'Independence Month' BBQ, and our special guest speaker was Senator John McCain. Nice to hear from someone who spends his time at the front, fighting the good fight. They're few and hard to come by!

We were also looking for more folks to become Precinct Committe men or women... hope we got some new recruits!

Good food, good turnout, and we didn't get drenched like we have the past couple of years!

Letter to the editor re: Tea Party

The following letter was published in today's Arizona Daily Sun:
Friday, July 10, 2009 To the editor:I see that the tax haters are having another "tea party" demonstration. Here's my advice to them this Fourth of July weekend. Stay off all U.S. and interstate highways. They were paid for with tax money. Stay out of all national parks, national monuments, national forests, national wilderness areas and national wildlife refuges.Call your parents or grandparents. Wish them a happy Independence Day and tell them they should give back every dime of Social Security they have received since they retired. But don't send an e-mail. Don't even use the Internet. Your tax dollars created it.Forget about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, commonly known as the CDC, developing a vaccine or an antidote for the H1N1 flu virus. You're all rugged individualists. Have a nice flu season.And how fitting that you choose to assemble and speak out on the Fourth of July. Federal tax dollars have paid for America's military for 233 years. That's the same military that gave you the right to assemble and to speak your mind. And your tax dollars pay for the Veterans Affairs health, disability and education services for those who served so you can have your little tea party. Enjoy your holiday.

In the interest of maintaing privacy, I am withholding the name of the letter writer. I know him, and do not wish to cause any problems. But I did take exception to his letter, so I have sent the following reply to the editor:

With all due respect to the gentleman who wrote about ‘Tax Haters’, what we gathered together to demonstrate about on July 4th was our grave concern for the generations to come who have been saddled with an enslaving debt by our elected representatives. We want our voice to be heard clearly by those representatives: use Common Sense and quit spending like we are a bottomless pit of wealth! Read the bill before you vote, and if you don’t have time to read it, vote it down! Instead of the taxes you collect having to go to pay the interest on the ever-growing national debt, maybe you will be able to spend some of it on the highways, securing our borders, improving our schools and caring for those who are unable to care for themselves. And above all, remember that you took a vow to protect and defend the Constitution, not shred it through mismanagement, greed and power plays. This message is for all elected representatives, regardless of party affiliation. The American citizens are fed up, and we’re watching very carefully!

We'll see if it gets published...

July 4th Flagstaff Tea Party

We attended the "Angry Grandparents' Tea Party", as my husband refers to it, on the 4th. We had a great turnout, lots of great signs, and some good speakers. And the weather held until after we were done!

Here's what it looked like:

And here is a picture of Bradley Beauchamp, who has declared his candidacy for the Congressional race in 2010:

I have heard him speak on 3 occasions, and he's got my vote! Check him out at http://www.beauchampforcongress.com/. We need more people like him running to help restore the Constitution and rid Washington of the insanity that has been gripping it for some time.

Oh! And we were told that the National Tea Party will be coming through Flagstaff on Monday, August 31st and will be at City Hall at 6pm. Hope to see you there!

Independence Day thoughts

To remind us of what we are celebrating today, here are a few thoughts from our Founding Fathers:

"The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." -George Washington

"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards." -Samuel Adams

"Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will be America's heart, her benedictions and prayers, but she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator of her own." -John Adams

"A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned -- this is the sum of good government." -Thomas Jefferson

We need to get back to basics, and remember from where we came.

Happy Independence Day!

History...

Recently, at a Conservative function, the following quotation from Abraham Lincoln was read:

" You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves. "

I was struck by the timeliness of the statement, and felt it was worth sharing, in case you haven't read or heard it before. There is another one, and I forget who originated it, and this is paraphrasing: "...those who ignore history are destined to repeat it...".
Both sentiments are so pertinent to our current situation in this country, that it makes my hair stand up on end!