Washington Post: The Justice Department Has ALLOWED us to Say AG Holder Supports Press Freedom

     The headline, above, points out the utter hypocrisy of an administration that claims to be the "Most Transparent Administration in History," but goes to any length to control and manage the press. The devotion to obama and the fear of reprisals that drives members of the media to simply lay down and be rolled over, rather than openly, honestly and with integrity, publish the facts, politics be damned, endangers the rest of our constitutional rights.


Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. pledged Thursday to take concrete steps to address concerns that the Justice Department has overreached in its leak investigations and said officials would seek procedural and possibly legislative changes to protect journalists’ First Amendment rights.
Holder’s commitment came at a private meeting with news executives after criticism that the Justice Department had infringed on the news media in several high-profile leak investigations. Participants said he told them officials would revise guidelines for issuing subpoenas to obtain reporters’ phone records.
The 90-minute meeting was attended by a small group of journalists after several news organizations objected to the Justice Department’s insistence that it be held off the record. The participants, however, reached an agreement with the Justice Department under which they could describe what occurred during the meeting in general terms. The Justice Department is expected to meet with other news organizations and media lawyers in coming days.
Holder and aides “completely endorsed the president’s statement that reporters should not be at legal risk for doing their job,” said Martin Baron, The Washington Post’s executive editor, who was among the participants. “They acknowledged the need for changes in their own guidelines and the need to have a more rigorous internal review.”
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.

More of that transparency, I guess...

http://washingtonexaminer.com/washington-post-the-justice-department-has-allowed-us-to-say-ag-holder-supports-press-freedom/article/2530898

TEA Party of Florida Articles and News

Just What Kind of DEAL Did Obama Make to Support Hilary in 2016?                                        by Gerrick Reed Busl

President Obama made a secret deal to support Hillary Clinton when she runs for president in 2016, campaign sources say, payback for the support her husband gave him in 2012.

Bill Clinton’s animosity toward Obama is legendary. A year before the last election, he was urging Hillary to challenge the sitting president for the nomination — a move she rejected.

According to two people who attended that meeting in Chappaqua, Bill Clinton then went on a rant against Obama.

“I’ve heard more from Bush, asking for my advice, than I’ve heard from Obama,” my sources quoted Clinton as saying. “I have no relationship with the president — none whatsoever. Obama doesn’t know how to be president. He doesn’t know how the world works. He’s incompetent. He’s an amateur!”

 

Op-ed:

The Obama/Holder Theater of the Absurd

By: Diane Sori

Barack HUSSEIN Obama must really think that the American people are stupid...I mean sure the 50.5% who voted (and voted over and over) for him are...but the other 48% who didn't vote for him sure aren't. And for Obama to even try to pull his latest stunt is sure to have even some of those 50.5% saying he's gone a bit too far this time.

And this time translates into Obama appointing Attorney General Eric 'Fast & Furious' Holder to investigate his own Justice Department in regards to the FOX News reporter scandal. I mean come on, even Obama can't believe that 48% of America will just sit back and allow this to happen without a fight...NO way...NO how.

Last week during a major speech on national security (where he still could NOT say the words 'muslim terrorists'), Obama announced that Holder had 'agreed' (ain't that so nice of him) to investigate how the Justice Department conducted investigations involving journalists, most specifically the case involving FOX News reporter James Rosen, who was named as a potential 'criminal co-conspirator' in a leaks investigation...that being the only way the Justice Department could justify gaining access to his records.

And there's more that's just come to light including that Holder received approval from a federal judge to keep the Rosen surveillance secret by arguing that secrecy was needed because he or the Justice Department might need to return to the tapped e-mail account in the future.

In other words, even with all this, Holder has graciously (gag) agreed to investigate himself even though he was the very one who, in his capacity as Attorney General of the United States, personally signed off on and OK-ed the investigation into Rosen's activities, helped secure the search warrant for Rosen's personal e-mail and five different phone lines used by Fox News, and discussed the entire investigation with his staff, which is in direct contradiction to his under oath previously made statements.

Perjury has a nice ring to it right now doesn't it.

Oh yeah, that investigation will really be investigated fairly and impartially now won't it...so fairly that I can give you the final report before the investigation even starts...on July 12th, when Holder's report is due to be placed into Obama's hands, NO unethical behavior will have been found...all will be kosher as they say, and all will have been done within the parameters of the law. And if anyone says that won't be the outcome then Barack HUSSEIN Obama isn't the enemy within...which all know he is.

And while all this is happening, Obama sits back untouched and unscathed, for now at least, as all his little minions are circling the wagons to protect him. But you know what, I'm just sick and tired of hearing Obama's lie that he knows NOTHING and has NOTHING to do with how his own administration is run. Remember, he is Holder's boss yet he claims he knows NOTHING about what Holder does...yeah right (sarcastically said) as Eric Holder is Obama's flunky, and there's NO way he did any of this without Obama's knowledge and go-ahead.

But for the media all this is lights, camera, action and ratings as Obama play acts the role of a 'troubled and outraged' president who is stunned over what his own appointees and employees are doing yet refusing to hold anyone accountable for anything. Instead he bloviates with a straight face that he has full faith and confidence in Eric Holder to conduct a full and fair investigation into himself and his department.

Oh really...just how can you fairly and without prejudice investigate yourself without it being a total conflict of interest....you can't...so full well knowing this what does Holder do...he recuses himself from investigation...oh the absurdity of it all.

But what Obama so calculatingly and deliberately hides is that Holder and his people are doing exactly what he's orchestrated them to do, for all department personnel ultimately answer to him and him alone, and all will be protected by him if need be. And like with Benghai, where I believe Obama gave the order to 'stand down' as that order could have only come from the top, Obama has in place those who are willing to sacrifice themselves for him...and God only knows why someone would put themselves and their careers on the line for this miserable, traitorous excuse of a president.

I wonder what Obama either has on them or what he is paying them to take the fall for his dirty work.

But NO matter as I think that very shortly Eric Holder will willingly take the ultimate fall and will sacrifice himself by announcing his resignation as Attorney General, just as Obama will pretend to throw Holder under the bus to appease the media so they will go back and revel in their blissful ignorance and stop asking questions about the IRS, the AP, and most importantly about Benghazi.

And while investigations about reporters is fodder for media headlines and airtime, and helps keep the media busy so there's NO time to try and find out the truth about what was going on before the embassy attack (gun and weapons running I have always said), this Justice Department investigation, along with the theater of the absurd that comes with it, helps to keep "We the People' diverted from and takes the focus off the scandal to end all scandals...the MURDER of four Americans on this president's watch...MURDER carried out on (what I believe are) the orders of this president...MURDER as a side bar to aiding and abetting the enemy...a treasonable offense...that must be covered-up at all costs, and the press and IRS scandals are Obama's hoped for solutions for getting Benghazi to just go away.

And the 48% must NOT allow that to happen for the word 'treason' said in the same breath as the name Obama has a ring of truth to it if I say so myself.

 http://thepatriotfactor.blogspot.com/2013/05/op-ed-obamaholder-theater-of-absurd-by.html

Statement From The TEA Party Of Florida

The First Amendment - Religion and Expression

Congress shall make no law

respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting

 the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,

or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,

and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

            The text of the First Amendment is not ambiguous. As constitutional scholars often remind us, "Words mean things." The health care law, commonly referred to as, Obamacare, clearly and insidiously violates the first amendment. There is no alternative, if you believe that the text of the First Amendment, of the US Constitution, is the law of the land.

            President Obama with help from HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, has raised the specter of the establishment of a state religion, by ordering people of faith to violate one of our most precious convictions. The government cannot legally order people to violate their religious convictions to pursue a secular agenda. It is unconstitutional.

            When the founding fathers created the documents that resulted in our constitution, they had this exact circumstance in mind. The British Crown had established a state religion and aggressively protected and pursued it. The Crown directed that Scripture could only be translated into the King's English, and printed only on the King's presses, to restrict free expression. Our first settlers came to flee this type of religious oppression and our founders acknowledged that by protecting American citizens from such egregious interference in the new world.

            By promoting such a clear violation of our most basic rights and liberties, President Obama is ignorant of how his action drives a stake through the heart of his signature bill, the health care reform act, or he is of such sheer and blind arrogance that he believes himself to be above the law. To add insult to this unprecedented and historic violation of basic American rights, the president has suggested a "grace period," giving people of conviction one year to surrender their religious freedom and comply. Such arrogance is unforgivable in America and must be answered in an appropriate manner.

            The TEA Party of Florida urges all faith based organizations to refuse to comply with this assault on our rights and liberty. The president has declared war against faith. It is not the first attack on freedom of expression by this administration, just the latest and most obscene.

            President Obama must be forced to retreat, by the coordinated refusal to allow the federal government to define religious expression, as only being a freedom when exercised within specified boundaries. It is outrageous that the president is so poorly educated in the law, as to believe he has the power to redefine any inconvenient parts of the US Constitution. That is the path of totalitarianism and destruction.

            The TEA Party of Florida invites all persons to register in our party and help reverse the direction President Obama has chosen to move America. People are invited to help defend liberty and preserve our national soul. Together we can make this president reverse course, and refrain from further attacks on personal liberty, until his inevitable defeat come November.

Direct inquiries to:

John A. Long, Chairman

TEA Party of Florida

1420 Celebration Ave

Suite 200

Celebration, Florida 34747

Info@TEAPartyofFlorida.US

www.TEAPartyofFlorida.US

The Gettysburg Address - America's First Memorial Day

The Gettysburg Address

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom— and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.


     The TEA Party of Florida thanks all veterans, all military personnel and all our fallen soldiers for the gift of freedom...

Multi Culturalism Gone Wrong

Swedish Multiculturalism Goes Awry

by Soeren Kern,

GATESTONE INSTITUTE

“Sweden is the best Islamic State.”
Adly Abu Hajar, Imam based in Malmö

Hundreds of Muslim immigrants have rampaged through parts of the Swedish capital of Stockholm, torching cars and buses, setting fires, and hurling rocks at police.

The unrest — a predictable consequence of Sweden’s failed model of multiculturalism, which does not encourage Muslim immigrants to assimilate or integrate into Swedish society — is an ominous sign of things to come.

The trouble began after police fatally shot an elderly man brandishing a machete in a Muslim-majority neighborhood. Although the exact circumstances of the May 13 incident remain unclear, police say they shot the 69-year-old man (his nationality has not been disclosed) in self-defense after he allegedly threatened them with the weapon.

Two days later, on May 15, a Muslim youth organization called Megafonen arranged a protest against alleged police brutality and demanded an independent investigation and a public apology.

On May 19, Muslim youths initiated a riot in Husby, a heavily Muslim suburb in the western part of Stockholm where more than 80% of the residents originate from Africa and the Middle East.

At least 100 masked Muslim youths set fire to cars and buildings, smashed windows, vandalized property and hurled rocks and bottles at police and rescue services in Husby. The riots quickly spread to at least 15 other parts of Stockholm, including the districts of Fittja, Hagsätra, Kista, Jakobsberg, Norsborg, Skaerholmen, Skogås and Vaarberg.

After two nights of spiraling violence, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt appealed for calm, condemning the riots as hooliganism. But his plea (“Everyone must pitch in to restore calm — parents, adults”) failed to prevent more nights of unrest, during which Muslim youth set fire to two schools, a police station, a restaurant, and a cultural center, and burned more than 50 cars and buses.

The unrest — which has many parallels to the Muslim riots that occurred in France in 2005 — has shocked Swedes who have long turned a blind eye to immigration policies that have encouraged the establishment of a parallel Muslim society in Sweden.

Although there are no official statistics of Muslims in Sweden, the US State Departmentreported in 2011 that there are now between 450,000 and 500,000 Muslims in the country, or about 5% of the total population of 9.5 million.

Muslim immigration to Sweden has been fostered by open-door asylum policies that are among the most generous in the world.

During the early 1990s, for example, Sweden granted asylum to nearly 100,000 refugees fleeing the wars in the Balkans. Sweden has also been a magnet for refugees from Iraq; as a result of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), the Gulf War (1990-1991) and the Iraq War (2003-2011), there are now more than 120,000 Iraqis living in Sweden. In fact, Iraqis (both Christians and Muslims) now make up the second-largest ethnic minority group in Sweden, second only to ethnic Finns.

More recently, Sweden has granted asylum to thousands of refugees from Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria, as well as from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

Sweden is forecast to receive some 54,000 asylum seekers in 2013, according to the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket), the highest level since the 1990s. In 2012, Sweden accepted 44,000 asylum seekers, up by nearly a half from 2011.

Sweden is expected to receive at least 18,000 Syrians in 2013 alone. Since September 2012, asylum seekers have arrived in Sweden at the rate of 1,250 per week, far more than the Migration Board’s capacity of between 500 and 700.

Sweden is a prime destination for asylum seekers because the country offers new immigrants free housing and social welfare benefits upon arrival. But many immigrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East are poorly educated and have great difficulty finding a job in Sweden.

As a result, many immigrants are segregated from Swedish society and often live in areas where much of the population comes from countries other than Sweden. This in turn has encouraged the creation of parallel societies and the establishment of so-called no-go zones, parts of Sweden that are off limits to non-Muslims.

In some areas, no-go zones function as microstates governed by Islamic Sharia law where Swedish authorities have effectively lost control and are unable to provide even basic public aid such as police, fire fighting and ambulance services.

In the southern city of Malmö — where Muslims make up more than 25% of the population — fire and emergency workers refuse to enter Malmö’s mostly Muslim Rosengaard district without police escorts. The male unemployment rate in Rosengaard is estimated to be above 80%. When fire fighters attempted to put out a fire at Malmö’s main mosque, they were attacked by stone throwers.

In the Swedish city of Gothenburg, Muslim youth have hurled petrol bombs at police cars. In the city’s Angered district, where more than 15 police cars were recently destroyed, teenagers have been pointing green lasers at the eyes of police officers, some of whom have been temporarily blinded.

In Gothenburg’s Backa district, youth have been throwing stones at patrolling officers. Gothenburg police have also been struggling to deal with the problem of Muslim teenagers burning cars and attacking emergency services in several areas of the city.

At the same time, Muslim immigrants are becoming increasing assertive in demanding special rights and privileges for Islam in Sweden.

In February, for example, a mosque in Stockholm received final approval from the mayor’s office to begin sounding public prayer calls from its minaret, the first time such permission has ever been granted in Sweden.

A majority of the members of the city planning committee in the southern Stockholm suburb of Botkyrka voted to repeal a 1994 prohibition on such prayer calls, thereby opening the way for amuezzin to begin calling Muslims to prayer from the top of a 32-meter (104-foot) minaret at a Turkish mosque in the Fittja district of the city.

The issue was put to a vote after Ismail Okur, the chairman of the Botkyrka Islamic Association (Islamiska föreningen i Botkyrka), filed a petition with the city in January 2012 demanding permission to allow public prayer calls at the mosque.

In an interview with the Swedish newspaper Dagen, Okur said earlier generations of Muslim immigrants “did not dare” to press the issue, but that he represents the “new guys” who are determined to “exercise their right to religious freedom” in Sweden.

When told that Sweden has historically been a Christian country, Okur responded: “So it was perhaps before, during the 1930s and 1940s. Now it is a new era. We are more than 100,000 [sic] Muslims in Sweden. Should we not have our religion as well, especially here in Botkyrka, where we are so many?”

Swedish multiculturalists agree. The Multicultural Center (Mångkulturellt centrum) in Botkyrka recently called on Swedes to “separate whiteness from Swedishness in order to be a socially sustainable future Swedishness.”

On the other hand, a growing number of Swedes are beginning to have second thoughts about the long-term sustainability of multiculturalism and mass immigration.

Immigration Minister Tobias Billström recently marked a turning point in the debate when he told the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter that Sweden needs to tighten rules for asylum seekers and other would-be immigrants to reduce the number of people coming into the country.

“Today Sweden is one of the countries that receives the most immigrants in the EU. That’s not sustainable,” Billström said. “Today, people are coming to households where the only income is support from the municipality. Is that reasonable?” he added.

Reflecting the unease about immigrants among many voters, an anti-immigrant party, the conservative Sweden Democrats, have risen to third-place in the polls ahead of a general election set to take place in September 2014.

But the riots in Stockholm imply that the damage has already been done. The fatal flaw of Swedish multiculturalism has been to grant asylum to hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have no prospect of ever finding a job or making a meaningful contribution to Swedish society. Many immigrants are, and will remain, wards of the state.

The Malmö-based Imam Adly Abu Hajar, in an interview with the newspaper Skånska Dagbladet, recently summed it up this way: “Sweden is the best Islamic state.”

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook.

Organs of State Security

by James Fallows  JamesFallows@theatlantic.com

 

Over the weekend I related the story of Gabriel Silverstein, a businessman and pilot who for no apparent reason was subjected to a two-hour detention and invasive search by Homeland Security officials as he traveled across the country in his small plane. The picture above is not from that episode; it's an official DHS photo of its emergency-response agents being trained.

Below and after the jump are two additional stories of the same sort. The first is a long account from Larry Gaines, a small-plane pilot from California who had a similar episode last year. The story is long and detailed, and will be riveting for those in the aviation world. The summary for general readers is this.

• A private pilot set out from an airport in the Sierra foothills of California, headed to Oklahoma; 
• He made the trip "VFR" -- under visual flight rules, choosing his own path and knowing that he did not need to check in with air-traffic controllers as long as he stayed out of certain kinds of airspace (around big airports, in military zones, or subject to other restrictions).
• He eventually landed at a tiny little airport in rural Oklahoma, where a friend met him and took him home for dinner. 
• The pilot realized that he had dropped his eyeglass case at the airport and went back to retrieve it.
• At which point all hell broke loose, as he describes in detail. In short, local, county, and federal enforcement agents were there to inspect him and his plane -- and when he asked why, they said that his "suspicious" profile was "flight west to east, from California."

Again to put this in perspective for people outside the airplane world, a person who was doing absolutely nothing illegal and was embarked on a perfectly normal trip from place to place, became the object of an extensive and costly manhunt -- on grounds of general "suspicion." As he says at the end of his account (taken from an email to a friend):

The whole episode lasted about 2 hours.  While the officers who questioned me were not overtly or personally threatening, the situation was intimidating and threatening.  I was never told details of the "profile", so I don't know how to prevent this from happening again, aside from talking to federal employees at all times while flying.  I am concerned that DEA and DHS now have files on me.  This distresses me GREATLY.  I am equally concerned that my plane's tail number is now suspicious in the eyes of law enforcement....

[He adds this caveat in a follow up note:] Although my adrenaline gets going when I think about this whole mess, and I can read the US Constitution, I have ENORMOUS respect for the rule of law and for the men and women who put their asses in harm's way to help assure my safety.  That includes local, state, & federal law enforcement agents, as well as our military.  The people who should answer for this crap are the cowardly bureaucrats who sent all those men, vehicles, airplanes, dogs, and guns out there - not the men dispatched to the scene.

His full account after the jump. After that is the second case, from Clay Phillips, a retired Navy officer who had a similar experience.
To say it again: I am not contending that the aviation world is being inordinately picked-upon. Overall it is a privileged part of society -- and demographically it skews toward older white males who are politically conservative, have money, and often have military experience. Ie, these are people who are not generally the object of police profiling for terrorist or other criminal tendencies. So if the security state is leaning heavily on them, you can extrapolate to other groups. The stories begin below.

____
Here is the first story. Explanations of aviation terms provided in brackets, [like this]:

I'm Larry Gaines; my airplane is a J35 Bonanza [a popular single-engine plane].

 

I took off from KCPU, Calaveras County airport in San Andreas, CA about 9:00 AM local (1600 Z) Tuesday, July 17, 2012.  1200 squawk.  [1200 is the code put in the transponder, as a "squawk," to indicate to air-traffic controllers following the flight on radar that the pilot is flying under Visual Flight Rules. This requires clear visibility, and it puts the obligation on the pilot to avoid hitting other planes or running into obstacles. A VFR pilot does not have to talk with controllers, as long as the plane stays out of certain controlled air space. Z is "Zulu time," aka Universal Time or Greenwich time.] Route was direct TPH VOR (Tonopah, NV), to stay north of Tonopah Test Range restricted airspace, then direct F36 (Cordell Municipal Airport, Cordell, OK).  [The pilot plotted the course by certain navigation waypoints, and was careful to stay out of a military-airspace zone.] Landed F36 about 6:30 PM local (2330 Z).  Total flight duration, engine start to engine shut down was 7:24.

 

My friend XX met me at the airport and we drove to his home.

 

I dropped my eyeglasses case on the ramp, so we returned to the airport a little before 7:00 PM local.  As we drove onto the airport access road, there were 3 local law enforcement vehicles - 2 turned in ahead of us, 1 behind.  All three surrounded my airplane as we drove up.  I retrieved my glasses, then a Washita county sheriff began asking questions.  

 

"Is this your airplane?"  "Yes."

 

"Where did you fly in from?"  "Calaveras, California."

 

"California?"  "Yes"

 

Then I asked why he and the other officers and deputies were there.  At first he ignored my question, but eventually said my flight met "a certain profile", and that the Department of Homeland Security asked his office to send a deputy out to see if an airplane was on the ramp.  He said DHS wanted to talk to me.  I was afraid they thought I had violated a TFR. [A "Temporary Flight Restriction," which often includes the no-fly zones that surround a president as he moves around the country.] I knew I had NOT.  Unless the president had somehow had dinner in Amarillo.

 

I asked for the DHS telephone number.  He said I had to wait because they were flying in.  While we waited, the deputy said he was supposed to "check my documents."  I showed him how to conduct a proper ramp check, and produced pilot and aircraft documents.  I then respectfully let him know that he really did not have authority to conduct ramp checks, as that is within the sole purview of the FAA (which I believe is correct - I do realize pilots must produce pilot certificates when requested by local law enforcement officers, but I do not believe we are required to produce any other documents.)

 

I asked about the "profile".  After asking again, he said the profile was a flight "from west to east, from California."

 

I called my mother on my cell phone to let her know I had made it to Cordell and landed safely.  When I got out my phone, the deputy moved toward me and made it VERY CLEAR I was not to make any phone calls.  I told him who I was calling and why.  He let me call, but listened in to make sure I was, indeed, talking to my Mom and that I was not talking about this detention.

 

We waited for the DHS aircraft.  2 black Suburbans drove up at some point during this time, plus more Cordell Police and Washita County Sheriffs.  All told, there were 3 police cars, 3 sheriff's cars, and 2 Suburbans with black windows from what I was later told was DEA.  The officers/agents in the Suburbans were dressed in what appeared to be riot gear - body armor and helmets, I believe.  They had shotguns and at least one German Shepherd dog.  One of the local sheriffs was definitely in full SWAT regalia.  It was over 100 degrees F.  I counted 20 officers, deputies, and agents.  Seven were dressed & equipped, literally, for armed conflict.  The entire scene was very intimidating, ominous, and foreboding to me.  I really was not in immediate fear of physical harm, but I was definitely scared that they thought I was some sort of horrible criminal, and that I would be treated as such.

 

A large business jet arrived and circled overhead for the next 60-90 minutes.  A King Air 200 [a sizable twin-engine turboprop plane] arrived and landed.  2 Border Patrol agents got out.  I was "interviewed" again.  I was lied to about a couple things.  The BP agent who appeared to be senior, or in charge, said I had been tracked on radar "from Stockton".

That's not true.  My flight took off from Calaveras County Airport.  My airplane is based at Stockton Metropolitan Airport, but that's not where I took off.  He asked, "Why don't you file flight plans?"  I answered, "Sir, with all respect, I DID file a flight plan this morning.  I did not activate it, but I did file."  I offered to show him the confirmation e-mail from the DUATS provider (Foreflight). [DUATS is an online system for filing and accepting flight plans.]  He asked why I had not opened the flight plan.  I said, "Flight plans are about Search & Rescue.  This flight was mostly over major highways; if I crashed, the news people would be there before the flight plan expired." [If you are flying VFR, you are not required either to file or to follow an official "flight plan." People sometimes do them to provide guidance to rescuers if the plane does not arrive on time. Under Instrument Flight Rules -- which in effect apply to nearly all commercial flights and to any flight in bad weather -- pilots must file specific routes and follow detailed instructions on altitude and heading from controllers.]

 

He asked why I didn't use Flight Following.  I said I don't ask for services when I don't need them. ["Flight following" is a courtesy that pilots on a VFR flight can ask of controllers. The pilots can still choose and follow their own routes, but the controller watches out for them on radar and alerts them to other planes nearby, for collision avoidance.]

 

The lead BP agent asked about my home town, "They grow a lot of drugs in Stockton, don't they?"  I told him Stockton was famous for its imminent bankruptcy and for growing asparagus, but that I had never seen anyone growing drugs.  I asked how he got the impression my home town was a drug capital.  He didn't answer.  I very politely (meekly, actually) asked why he was there.  What had I done wrong?  He said I didn't do anything wrong.  I asked about TFRs.  He said it had nothing to do with TFRs or any kind of airspace 'bust'.  I repeated my question, "What triggered all of this?"  He said the same thing the Deputy Sheriff said.  My flight fit a "profile".  "What profile?"  "You started in California and flew from west to east."  He later hinted that squawking 1200 might be part of the "profile".  I chose not to mention that if I was trying to hide anything, I would have turned the transponder off. [In that case a flight would show up on radar as a little blip, without any identifying information. If it flew low enough it might not show up on radar at all.] I did not want to suggest any "druggie" strategies, no matter how obvious.

 

At this point, the senior BP agent conferred with the head DEA guy.  He may have gotten back in the King Air to consult with someone in the Citation, which continued to circle at about 3000-5000 feet AGL [Above Ground Level].  While he was away, the junior BP agent conducted another ramp check.  I showed him my pilot and aircraft documentation, but he asked for a Weight & Balance calculation for that day's flight.  [A calculation to ensure that a plane is not overloaded, and that its nose-to-tail weight balance is appropriate for safe flight.] I noted that I am responsible for assuring my airplane is loaded properly, but that I am not required to put it down on paper and carry it aboard the plane.  He said I was wrong and that a W&B for each flight was required to be on board the aircraft.  I asked if he was going to issue a citation and he said, no.  He off-handedly noted that this requirement was little known by most pilots, and said, "We keep this in our back pocket for non-compliant suspects."  That evening I looked it up and confirmed he was wrong.  Part 91 flight operations rules do NOT require that a written W&B for each flight be carried on board. [Part 91 is the section of the FAA rules that governs most small-plane, non-commercial flights. Part 131 mainly governs the airlines.]

 

The senior BP agent returned and asked if I would consent to a search of my airplane.  I teared up and my voice broke.  I told him, "My Dad fought a war so this can never happen in America.  I will not dishonor my father's memory by giving up what he fought for.  No, sir.  With all due respect, I will not consent to a search without a proper warrant."

 

All the federal agents huddled up and then the lead BP agent asked if the DEA's drug-sniffing dog could sniff my airplane.  I replied, yes, but on the condition that this would be the last request I would take.  On reflection, I should not have allowed that, either, without a warrant.

 

A DEA agent led the dog around the plane. The dog sniffed the wheel wells and around the baggage compartment door.  When he ordered the dog up onto the wing, I told him to keep the dog's feet on the black painted wing walk.  He said he could not guarantee that and the dog had "soft paws".  I told them that I would not allow anyone, including the dog, to damage my airplane in ANY WAY WHATSOEVER.  I said he could put the dog on the wing, but only after signing written affirmation that he, personally, would pay for a new paint job if his dog scratched the paint, and only after the other 19 law enforcement people there witnessed and signed it, too. 

 

I was shaking from having challenged the guy.  He was NOT happy.  Then I offered to allow the dog on the wing if there was a blanket or mat to protect the airplane's painted surfaces.  The handler had the dog sniff the baggage door once more, and the dog gave me a "clean bill of health".

 

The senior Border Patrol agent stood there for a few seconds, apparently thinking.  I asked if he was satisfied.  He said, "Yeah.  You're free to go."  I said, "I assume that, until right now, I have NOT been free to go.  Is that correct?"  He did not answer, but repeated that I could leave.  I told him that we were leaving to get dinner, and that nobody was to go near my airplane again.  He nodded and we left.

 

The whole episode lasted about 2 hours.  While the officers who questioned me were not overtly or personally threatening, the situation was intimidating and threatening.  I was never told details of the "profile", so I don't know how to prevent this from happening again, aside from talking to federal employees at all times while flying.  I am concerned that DEA and DHS now have files on me.  This distresses me GREATLY.  I am equally concerned that my plane's tail number is now suspicious in the eyes of law enforcement.

Here is the account from Clay Phillips:

I just read your article regarding Gabriel Silverstein and the treatment he experienced.  A month or so ago I was flying my Cessna 180 [small single-engine plane] home from Salt Lake City.  Other than the fact that it was a very windy day it was a normal VFR flight. 

I filed a flight plan and activated it, and shortly after takeoff I also requested and received VFR flight following from Salt Lake Departure, but was dropped shortly after flying over the mountains because I couldn't fly high enough for the radar to "see" me.  Center ["Center" controllers are part of the air-traffic control system, along with "approach" and "departure" controllers near larger airports and "tower" controllers at those airports] suggested that I could pick up flight following again once I was closer to Moab, UT.  I elected not to pick up flight following again for the remainder of the flight (perfectly legal). 

When I landed at my home base in Moriarty, NM I was met by the owner/operator of the local FBO [Fixed Base Operator, essentially the managers of small airports] who said that about 15 minutes before I touched down he received a call from Homeland Security and that they wanted him to go find me and ask whether my plane was properly registered.  This is Homeland Security, mind you, not the FAA. 

I was bewildered why Homeland Security would have any interest in me.  I avoided restricted airspace and did not violate any temporary flight restrictions.  I did absolutely nothing wrong, plus my plane is legal in every respect including current registration.  Clearly, the FAA brought me and my flight to the attention of Homeland security.  I called AOPA legal services [Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association] the next day to ask what I should do.  They said I shouldn't do anything and that they had never heard of such a thing.

I'm a retired US Navy officer, have held security clearances during my entire time in the Navy, and now into my second career as an engineer for a defense contractor, and am one of the most law-abiding citizens in this country and yet something I did, or didn't do attracted this jack-boot fascist attention from our out-of-control government.  I hope others like me can tell their story to show that Mr. Silverstein was not an "outlier data point".  This is now the new-normal unless the public forces our representatives to do something about it.

Obamacare and America

The TEA Party of Florida Oklahoma Relief Drive

Drop Off Locations:  


REGIONS BANK in Champions Gate and Celebration, Florida 
TAILWHEELS, Etc. Flight School, located at Lakeland – Linder Airport, in Lakeland

What is most needed:
Bottled water 
Baby, Child and Adult clothing

Diapers and baby care items
Blankets and Linens
Toiletries and Personal Care Items
Non Perishable Foods
Stuffed Toys 

If you wish to make a cash donation, please put:

OKLAHOMA Tornado Relief Fund 

in your check’s memo line

Regions Bank has a Depository Account set up for tornado relief 

Please help us help those in need.

John A. Long, Chairman
TEA Party of Florida
1420 Celebration Ave
Suite 200
Celebration, Florida 34747

Info@TEAPartyofFlorida.US
www.TEAPartyofFlorida.US

Implementation of Obamacare

 

The admitted misconduct begs the question: Do we want the IRS to be in control of our medical histories? -

BOHEMIA, NY, May17 – The IRS already has the power to intrude into the personal lives of every American, and its ability to do so going forward will be significantly enhanced by the implementation of Obamacare this year and next, according to Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens.
“The law gives the Internal Revenue Service new, unfettered access to sensitive medical records.  It’s a pretty scary thought considering the revelations of misconduct.  You’ve got to ask yourself this question: Do we want the IRS to be in control of our medical histories?”
The IRS plays a key role in the operations of Obamacare.  It is responsible for managing the law’s financial provisions, including tax credits and tax increases, and for making sure that employers, employees and all Americans are in compliance with the law’s provisions by collecting specific data regarding medical coverage.
“But, if the Affordable Care Act was a train-wreck in the making, as Democratic Senator Max Baucus called it before the IRS scandal broke this week, it is now revealed that the  legislation, in fact, may contain the seeds of its self-destruction,” Weber said.
“The scandal,” he added, “has fired up lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.  Perhaps they will get mad enough to do something to thwart the agency’s ability to provide oversight and enforcement of Obamacare.”
There is agreement among some observers that the IRS does not have enough of a budget to take on what they call “the gargantuan task” of administering Obamacare and, they say, the latest discovery of misconduct is not likely to win them any new friends in Congress.  Thus, the Internal Revenue Service’s budget deficiencies will hamper, if not prevent the IRS from adequately fulfilling its critical role under Obamacare, particularly if the agency cannot get the levels of funding it needs.
Floyd Williams, a former legislative affairs director for the IRS who is now with a private Washington public policy strategies firm told the online news service, The Fiscal Times, that “when people look at funding the IRS they’re going to take into account everything that’s out there.”  He added that “it’s no secret some in Congress have been trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, let alone limit IRS funding for enforcement.”  And, he pointed out, that the “IRS has already suffered the past three years with a status quo budget, which basically is a reduction, especially if you look at people who retired and haven’t been able to be replaced. Now, you have sequestration coming up. All of that added together spells trouble for the IRS and tax law enforcement.”
In other words, the scandal could derail the Affordable Care Act, Weber noted, adding that it has “enhanced” mistrust of the agency among lawmakers who feel it should not be the sole repository of an individual’s most important information—one’s financial condition and one’s medical condition.
“The IRS admittedly used its authority to target Conservative organizations.  It was a blatantly partisan breach of faith and, hopefully, upcoming Congressional hearings will uncover just how high up in the hierarchies of the agency and the Obama administration the conspiracy originated,” Weber said.  “If we were skeptical about the ability of government bureaucrats to keep the faith with the tax-paying public before the IRS confessed to its corruption, how much more distrustful are we now as the agency gets ready to administer the rules and regulations of Obamacare.”
Weber concluded: “To paraphrase Ben Franklin, nothing in this life is certain except death and taxes.  The Internal Revenue Service has always controlled how and when we pay taxes and now, under Obamacare, it would have the power to oversee the ways and means we deal with the task of avoiding death.”

NOTE TO EDITORS: Dan Weber is available for telephone interviews on this issue.  Editors/reporters may contact John Grimaldi at 917-846-8485 or jpgrimaldi@verizon.net to set up a call.

ABOUT AMAC
The Association of Mature American Citizens [http://www.amac.us] is a vibrant, vital and conservative alternative to those organizations, such as AARP, that dominate the choices for mature Americans who want a say in the future of the nation.  Where those other organizations may boast of their power to set the agendas for their memberships, AMAC takes its marching orders from its members.  We act and speak on their behalf, protecting their interests, and offering a conservative insight on how to best solve the problems they face today.

On Rand Paul’s Diversity Comments

Via Jedediah Bila at Breitbart News

Senator Rand Paul recently said something at the New Hampshire GOP’s “Liberty Dinner” that has stirred some debate.
The New Hampshire Union Leader reports:

He also said the GOP needs to improve from within if it hopes to reclaim the White House. “We need to grow bigger. If you want to be the party of white people, we’re winning all the white votes,” he said. “We’re a diverse nation. We’re going to win when we look like America.”

In a sense, he makes a valid point. If the GOP wants to be successful in election seasons, it needs to win votes from women, men, Hispanic-Americans, Caucasians, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, young people, senior citizens–you name it. A successful party appeals to people of diverse groups, whether we’re talking about gender, ethnicity, age, or otherwise.
It’s not divisive to point that out; it’s honest. Much like it’s honest to acknowledge–as I have many times–that the GOP hasn’t done proper outreach or marketing of issues for many years and has suffered as a result.
However, the more important point to be made has nothing to do with race. It has to do with ideas. The GOP is going to win when a) it consistently stands for ideas b) promotes those ideas via smart marketing and proper outreach and c) supports candidates who articulate those ideas well and have the “It” factor that, whether you like it or not, gets many people to listen to what they’re saying in the first place.
When it comes to conservatism in particular, its biggest challenge is that, for many, the ideals of personal responsibility, self-sufficiency, and limited government simply aren’t appealing these days. That’s the truth. It’s not about race; many people (of all races) have simply come to prefer big government with all its promises.
So, if you want to win elections, it’s not just about articulating your vision; it’s about changing hearts and minds. That’s very hard work. It means stepping away from preach-to-the-choir techniques. It means a willingness to hear people’s concerns, rather than shout about how you’re right and they’re wrong. And it means talking to people who disagree with you without name-calling or other childish nonsense that may win you points with your “team,” but will inspire absolutely no one on the other “team” (or in the middle) to hop on over to your side.
So, if the conversation is about winning, let’s have it. But let’s be honest. For me, that conversation shouldn’t be about race. Rand Paul, do you agree with me?
Follow Jedediah on Twitter @JedediahBila  

The Tax Reform Moment?

by John Hayward – Rupert Murdoch took some heat for observing on Twitter, “Growing IRS scandal makes perfect case for flat tax and abolition all deductions.  Nothing could be fairer and abuse free.”

Several responses took Murdoch to task because the abusive treatment of certain groups applying for tax-exempt status, based on their politics, doesn’t have any direct relationship with the progressive income tax system, or plans to replace it.
But if I might be a bit more charitable to Murdoch, I think he was trying to make the broader case that a Flat Tax system would greatly reduce the size and power of the IRS.  If his suggestion is taken literally, and all deductions are abolished, it follows that no one would be applying for any sort of tax-exempt status at all.  One of the complaints raised by the groups targeted in the IRS scandal is that it put them at a competitive disadvantage against liberal groups, which sailed right through the Tax Exempt Organizations unit and secured approval in a matter of weeks – even when they were actually violating tax law at the time, as in the case of the Barack H. Obama Foundation, run by the President’s half-brother.  This isn’t just a scandal about those who were given a hard time; it’s also about those who weren’t.

Take all of this power and discretion away from the IRS, reduce it to processing a massive pile of postcard-sized tax returns every quarter, and you won’t have any more scandals like the one currently gripping Washington.  You also won’t have as many opportunities for politicians to control our behavior or reward favored constituencies by modifying the tax code in countless non-scandalous, but nonetheless corrupt ways.
The tax system really should be the fairest, flattest, most efficient method of funding the government, dispersing the burden as evenly and widely as possible.  It shouldn’t provide new, surreptitious methods for the government to exercise power over us.  And the tax burden should be clearly understood by every American, not hidden with quick-and-painless paycheck deductions everyone forgets about, or concealed behind impenetrable layers of pass-through corporate taxation.  No citizen of the United States fully understands his tax burden at the moment, and of course the government feels no compulsion to limit its spending to anywhere near the amount of revenue it takes in.
If we don’t understand these vital attributes of government, how can we truly exercise our electoral freedom by casting fully informed votes?  Our political rhetoric is filled with talk of “choice.”  Choice is only meaningful in the presence of accurate information about costs, benefits, and consequences.  That’s why business entities can be sued for fraud – when they lie to attract customers, those customers are not freely choosing to engage in commerce with them.  There are no more thoroughly defrauded “customers” on Earth than U.S. taxpayers, who actually were referred to as customers by Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller during House Ways and Means Committee  hearings last Friday.
The Fair Tax, which would shift the burden of taxation to a national sales tax, would also strip Washington of powers that invite political abuse.  Politicians love to play a little game where they introduce new taxes by claiming they’ll only apply to a few ultra-rich people, but they end up affecting nearly everyone.  The Alternative Minimum Tax was sold this way – it was only supposed to hit one hundred and fifty-five super-wealthy individuals when it was introduced in the late 1960s, but now it slams into more than 30 million people per year.  The income tax itself was originally presented as a very modest surtax on the richest Americans.
Once a new tax is firmly in place, the rules change, and suddenly everyone is getting soaked… and then a growing constituency at the bottom is inexorably removed from the tax rolls, becoming a reliable constituency for Big Government benefits they don’t see themselves having to pay for.  They’re not entirely correct in that belief, because they still end up paying a lot of hidden taxes, but they see themselves as “free riders.”
There would be no way to play such a game with the Fair Tax, or the kind of simple Flat Tax Rupert Murdoch endorsed, because cranking up the tax rates would affect just about everyone.  A standard deduction would leave a fairly small group without skin in the Flat Tax game, but the resistance to rate increases from the far larger population that did pay them – by writing a check to the IRS every quarter – would be formidable.  Almost the entire populace would be very skeptical of Fair Tax rate increases, which they would pay every time they made a purchase.
Both Flat and Fair Tax systems could be corrupted, much as the relatively simple income tax imposed on our great-grandparents was twisted into the smoke-filled labyrinth of shadows and pitfalls we currently navigate.  Special exemptions could be introduced, a flat system with only one or two rates could be made more “progressive,” special Fair Tax rates could be created for certain goods favored or disdained by the political class… there are lots of ways any system could go wrong.
But maybe the current atmosphere of scandal and abuse surrounding the IRS will help Americans realize they’re currently living in just about the worst of all possible worlds, short of collectivist horror shows like communism.  Almost everyone reading this is technically a “tax criminal,” in violation of some obscure requirement.  Expensive professional assistance is necessary for even the most well-meaning business owner to comply with the law, and even the IRS itself gets tax questions wrong with frightening regularity.  A great deal of our behavior is conducted – or abandoned – in fear of the tax code.  Bad investments are made to take advantage of its loopholes, while good money is sheltered instead of finding productive opportunities.
And now we’re facing the ugly realization that our political discourse – held in reverence by most Americans, at every point on the political spectrum – has been corrupted by the IRS.  We should not hesitate to bring the miscreants to justice, no matter what office they hold, but we should also do some hard thinking about the offices themselves.

What was learned from the 

           Boston Marathon bombing and followup?

Civil Rights? 

       Forget about them. From the gov't ordering citizens off the streets and threatening arrest if anyone left their home, to REFUSING to read the suspect his miranda rights, this was a trial run for martial law.

      What did we get for all that money spent on "security?"
Apparently nothing. If the homeowner did not call 911 and clearly state that someone had tampered with her boat and/or detached garage door, the police, with all their EXPENSIVE toys, would not have discovered him.

      Just like the Christmas Day underwear bomber, if citizens didn't do the work for them, law enforcement would have failed to find and arrest, anyone.

      However, the marxism ball was moved ahead, as the government steamrolled over people, freedom, civil rights and any semblance of real security, in their obsession to justify their obscene budgets and disgusting lack of respect for citizens and their rights.

TEA Party of Florida News Release Archive

 

 

SERIOUS Question Emerge About Police Actions in Arrest of Boston Terror Suspect

As officials release more information about the Boston bombings — and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s capture, in particular – key details previously advanced by authorities are changing. Among them, some police sources are now claiming that the 19-year-old suspect was not armed while hiding in a boat last Friday. But that’s only a sliver of the new information that seems to contradict previous reports about the chaotic manhunt.
The New York Times published an article on Thursday morning, highlighting some of these issues and corrections. To begin, not only did Dzhokar reportedly not have a gun in the boat, but it appears that police may have only found one other weapon that is traceable back to his brother, Tamerlan. This means that the brothers didn’t necessarily have an arsenal, as was previously assumed.
Plus, there’s the issue of how the brothers first came to the attention of officers — one that also deserves a second look. It was the murder of Officer Sean A. Collier that apparently set the chaotic evening’s event’s in motion last Thursday.
According to authorities, the Tsarnaev brothers were purportedly trying to get Collier’s gun when they allegedly killed him. Evidence at the scene apparently corroborates this theory, as the two were, according to sources, unable to get the weapon out of its holster.
The Times continues:
Police officials initially announced that officers had “exchanged gunfire” Friday evening with the surviving suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, as he hid in a boat in the backyard of a house in Watertown, Mass. Now several law enforcement officials say no gun was found in the boat, and officials say they are exploring what prompted officers to fire at Mr. Tsarnaev, who some feared was armed with explosives.
Law enforcement officials now say they have recovered only one gun elsewhere, which they believe was used by Mr. Tsarnaev’s older brother, Tamerlan — not the three previously reported. And initial reports that the brothers first came to the attention of the police after robbing a 7-Eleven were wrong. The police were called to a gas station convenience store early Friday after a man who said he had been carjacked by the marathon bombers escaped and sought help.
The gun issue is particularly intriguing, as the Daily Mail notes, because media coverage to date has essentially advanced the notion that Dzhokhar was engaged in a firefight with police from inside of the boat before he was apprehended. Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis had also apparently said that a firefight unfolded — and a previous Times piece noted that an M4 rifle was found on the board, Daily Mail reports.
Most notably, if no gun was on the boat, then it’s impossible for Dzhokhar to have shot himself; his injuries, in this case, were potentially sustained before he went into hiding (possibly during the gunfight that killed his brother).
If the latest information from authorities is true, the previous gun claims have now been debunked. Again, this paints a very different picture from accounts that previously circulated. Take, for instance, NBC News’ coverage from a few days ago about the purportedly showdown that unfolded between Dzhokar and authorities:
Over the course of two hours, several bursts of gunfire could be heard. The police exchanged fire with Tsarnaev, threw flash-bang grenades designed to disorient him and brought a negotiator to the scene as night fell, officials said.
 
Just before 9 p.m., the wounded Tsarnaev was taken into custody. “He sustained significant blood loss,” a law enforcement official at the scene said.
And, as the AP and TheBlaze previously reported, U.S. officials also said Wednesday that physical evidence, including a 9 mm handgun and pieces of a remote-control device commonly used in toys, was recovered from the bombing scene. This showcases that the bombs were potentially controlled by the two suspects from a reasonable distance. The Atlantic adds more details:
Aside from the new details about the shootout, it was also revealed on Wednesday night that the Tsarnaev brothers used a remote control to detonate the bombs on Marathon Monday.  According to Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, a Maryland Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, it was the same kind of remote control used for remote control cars. And according to CBS News, it was bought with drug money. We already knew that Dzhokhar was a pothead and potential dealer, but the latest reports suggest that Tamerlan got in on the action, too. This leads to the natural conclusion that the bombing, somehow, was funded by their drug money. But honestly, it’s very tough to tell how they got the money they spent on the bombs.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/25/authorities-clarify-key-details-in-chaotic-shootout-and-capture-of-boston-bombing-suspect/

 

Rubio Facing Another Florida protest

She was one of his loudest converts, selling underdog U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio across the conservative airwaves of South Florida.
Today radio host Joyce Kaufman calls Rubio a "fraud" and "Sen. Amnestyman."
It was never going to be easy for Rubio to step into the immigration debate, but the release of the 844-page bill he helped write is doing little to counter the opposition.
Kaufman is promoting a protest against Rubio Wednesday when he speaks at the St. Lucie County Lincoln Day Dinner. It's the second one against Rubio, and it comes as conservatives outside Florida are finding fault with their hero and his signature legislative effort.
"Marco Rubio, you need to run -- but not in 2016. Run now. Today. Quickly," Kurt Schlichter wrote Monday on Townhall.com. "Run away, Marco, run as fast as you can. Run away from the electoral Hiroshima that is this immigration reform bill. It is a fraud and a scam, and we know it's a fraud and a scam, and you telling us from every mic and every camera you can get in front of that it's not a fraud and a scam is making us wonder just what the hell is going on with you."
The feeling is growing. The New York Times this morning has a front-page story about the divide between Jim DeMint amd his "protégé" Rubio. In Florida, Sarasota GOP Chairman Joe Gruters dismissed the Senate bill as "amnesty first." Conservative blogs are full of criticism.
In a floor speech last week, Rubio flashed with irritation and challenged critics to offer ways to improve the legislation. He has allies in Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, Grover Norquist and other bold-face names who argue the immigration problem needs to be addressed for the GOP to appeal to a wider audience.
But Rubio, 41, is being tested like never before.
Kaufman on her website has posted interviews with Rubio before he was elected, suggesting he has changed his tune. In a June 23, 2009, show Kaufman put him on defensive for the failure of several crackdown bills that failed to advance the House while Rubio was speaker.
"It's important to point out that those bills that people said that didn't pass when I was speaker, they didn't pass didn't pass this year either, and I wasn't the speaker this year," Rubio said.
"I assure you that people have scoured the public records to find a single comment from me that shows that at any time have I have been in favor of amnesty. It's not because I'm against 13 million human beings that are in this country illegally. It's because I believe that to give people blanket amnesty when they enter in this country illegally would discourage and undermine legal immigration, which I think properly managed is a great asset for America."
Nearly four years later, Rubio argues that he's still against "blanket" amnesty. People in the country illegally will have to pay fines, pass a criminal background check and wait at least 13 years to become citizens.
UPDATE: Not everyone would have to wait 13 years; Dreamers and agricultural workers would be on a faster pathway.
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/with-another-florida-protest-planned-over-immigration-bill-rubio-facing/2118231

 

 

This retired USMC Sergeant. Major has his Stuff together.

"Jimmy Carter, you are the father of the Islamic Nazi movement. You threw the Shah under the bus, welcomed the Ayatollah home, and then lacked the spine to confront the terrorists when they took our embassy and our people hostage. You're the "runner-in-chief."
"Bill Clinton, you played ring around the Lewinsky while the terrorists were at war with us. You got us into a fight with them in Somalia and then you ran from it. Your weak-willed responses to the USS Cole and the First Trade Center Bombing and Our Embassy Bombings emboldened the killers. Each time you failed to respond adequately, they grew bolder, until 9/11/2001".
"John Kerry, dishonesty is your most prominent attribute. You lied about American Soldiers in Vietnam ... Your military service, like your life, is more fiction than fact. You've accused our military of terrorizing women and children in Iraq .. You called Iraq the wrong war, wrong place, wrong time, and the same words you used to describe Vietnam . You're a fake! You want to run from Iraq and abandon the Iraqis to murderers just as you did to the Vietnamese. Iraq , like Vietnam, is another war that you were for, before you were against it."
"The late John Murtha, said our military was broken. He said we can't win militarily in Iraq. He accused United States Marines of cold-blooded murder without proof and said we should redeploy to Okinawa. Okinawa? And the Democrats called him their military expert! Maybe he suffered a traumatic brain injury while he was off building his war hero resume? He was a sad, pitiable, corrupt, and washed up old fool, not a true Marine. He wouldn't amount to a good pimple on a real Marine's ass, a phony and a disgrace".
"Dick Durbin, you accused our Soldiers at Guantanamo of being Nazis, tenders of Soviet style gulags and as bad as the regime of Pol Pot, who murdered two million of his own people after your party abandoned Southeast Asia to the Communists. Then you wanted to abandon the Iraqis to the same fate. History was not a good teacher for you, was it? Lord help us! See Dick run!"

"Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Carl Levine, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Russ Feingold, Pat Leahy, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, the Hollywood Leftist morons, et al, to name a few ad nauseam: Every time you stand in front of television cameras and broadcast to the Islamic Nazis that we went to war because our former President lied, that the war is wrong and our Soldiers are torturers, that we should leave Iraq, you give the Islamic butchers - the same ones that tortured and mutilated American Soldiers - cause to think that we'll run away again, and all they have to do is hang on a little longer. It is inevitable that we, the infidels, will have to defeat the Islamic jihadists. Better to do it on their turf, than later on ours after they may gain both strength and momentum."
"American news media, the New York Times particularly: Each time you publish stories about national defense secrets and our intelligence gathering methods, you become one united with the sub-human pieces of camel dung that torture and mutilate the bodies of American Soldiers. You can't strike up the courage to publish cartoons, but you can help Al Qaeda destroy my country. Actually, you are more dangerous to us than Al Qaeda is. Think about that each time you face Mecca to admire your Pulitzer."
"You are America 's 'AXIS OF IDIOTS.' Your Collective Stupidity will destroy us.. Self-serving politics and terrorist-abetting news scoops are more important to you than our national security or the lives of innocent civilians and Soldiers It bothers you that defending ourselves gets in the way of your elitist sport of politics and your ignorant editorializing. There is as much blood on your hands as is on the hands of murdering terrorists. Don't ever doubt that. Your frolics will only serve to extend this war as they extended Vietnam . If you want our Soldiers home as you claim, knock off the crap and try supporting your country ahead of supporting your silly political aims and aiding our enemies".
"Yes, I'm questioning your patriotism. Your loyalty ends with self. I'm also questioning why you're stealing air that decent Americans could be breathing. You don't deserve the protection of our men and women in uniform. You need to run away from this war, this country. Leave the war to the people who have the will to see it through and the country to people who are willing to defend it."
"Our country has two enemies: Those who want to destroy us from the outside and those who attempt it from within.
Semper Fi".

J. D. Pendry - Sergeant Major, USMC, Retired

Statement From The TEA Party Of Florida

For Immediate Release:

March 13, 2013

Vatican College of Cardinals Select Francis I

            The TEA Party of Florida congratulates Pope Francis I on his selection as the Pope. We join many millions of others in wishing the new Pontiff well and praying that he lead with wisdom, honor and truth. 

            We pray that the new Pontiff succeeds in bringing people together and heals division among the faithful.

Direct inquiries to:

John A. Long, Chairman

TEA Party of Florida

 

 Statement from the TEA Party of Florida

     for immediate release

November 7, 2012

            The evening of Election Day 2012, I spent pacing the makeshift studio, located at the Marshall Student Center, on the campus of University of South Florida, in Tampa, as a panelist for BBC. They put together a sort of morphing round table, representing a mix of politicians, students, activists and “personalities,” for the broadcast, which lasted 8 hours.

            BBC was bringing the feel of an American election to their audience all over the world and the experience in our studio was repeated in a number of American cities to give listeners a “real feel,” of things here in their old colonies. Students were invited representing campus Democrats, Republicans, both campaigns and a smattering of single issue clubs.

            Early on the host asked me to do a one on one interview and introduce the TEA Party to an audience that had only heard the horror stories of “old, angry, white, racists,” and I expect he thought he would paint me with that brush. When I led off reminding the listeners that the TEA Party of Florida was all in for Herman Cain and very saddened when he dropped out, the racist tag was retired. As I explained our concern that our country could reach the end of our borrowing capacity, become suddenly unable to fund the federal branch and simply go out of business, exactly like the old USSR, he scoffed but soldiered on to talk about our position on the 2012 election.

            He asked why the TEA Party of Florida reluctantly gave our endorsement to Mitt Romney. I answered, "Governor Romney is not our cup of tea, but he is the cup of tea we have been served." When the host stopped laughing, he wanted to know what that meant. Remember, they were British and a Tea joke goes far with them. I told him that the TEA Party desperately hoped for a serious fiscal hawk willing to ignore politics and do what's right.

We know how determined the GOP was to force America accept their choice to go up against Barrack Obama, at any cost. We also know EXACTLY how that turned out.

After two failed presidential elections and a House takeover largely fashioned by TEA Party candidates, we are free to enact a new set of rules and no longer allow ourselves to be hemmed in by the duopoly that is the political landscape in the USA.

            America has finally reached a place where it is possible that a third party can be effective and achieve serious support from those who have been failed by the self-centered policies that are enacted to preserve power, instead of promote the general welfare of all citizens.

            The never ending rush to divide, label and dismiss any and all opposition brought the GOP another stinging rebuke from an electorate that expected better and got less. When an election costs billions, not millions and the end result leaves people more partisan that when it started, something is seriously broken and it is this two party system that exists to take in money and put out influence.

            We invite all Americans to investigate the TEA Party, for themselves and decide if we are worth taking a chance and joining. It costs nothing and just might change the tone of American politics by taking partisanship out and putting common sense, fiscal sanity in.

Direct inquiries to:

John A. Long, Chairman

TEA Party of Florida

 Statement From The TEA Party Of Florida

     for immediate release

September 12, 2012

            Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the senseless, murderous acts of Muslim terrorists, in Libya and Egypt and the families of the dead and wounded.

            The TEA Party of Florida condemns the Muslim terrorists responsible for the murderous attacks on US Embassies in Libya and Cairo yesterday, September 11, 2012. The actions of these terrorists amount to an act of war, especially since the Libyan Government refused to properly defend the embassy and should be treated as such.  Pretending that the government of Libya is not responsible for this outrage is tantamount to surrender, which seems the intentions of Mr. Obama.

            Mr. Obama has failed to lead, again, in the interest of America. His lack of swift and strong action endangers every American on foreign soil and here, at home. The United States cannot afford another weak, directionless leader, like Mr. Carter, who is just as unable to stand up to thugs, terrorists and state sponsored assassins, as Mr. Carter.

            Mr. Obama has pursued a policy of “leading from behind,” or simply, appeasement, as described by his press secretary. Such a policy leads to this type of aggression by despotic regimes and murderous Muslim terrorists. By refusing to lead, Obama allows US interests to be hijacked whenever violent thugs wish. Giving the Muslim Brotherhood well over a billion dollars, as a taxpayer funded “gift” looks as ill-advised today, as it did when Mr. Obama made “gave” it.

            The TEA Party of Florida calls upon Mr. Obama to turn away from his policies of weakness and fear embrace a policy of resolute strength and never again allow Muslim terrorists to murder American citizens without swift and decisive response. Americans deserve a leader who understands that backing up, bowing down and bending over are not the American way.

Direct inquiries to:

John A. Long, Chairman

TEA Party of Florida

1420 Celebration Ave

Suite 200

Celebration, Florida 34747

Info@TEAPartyofFlorida.US

www.TEAPartyofFlorida.US

Statement From The TEA Party Of Florida

2012 promises to have enormous challenges, in America. At this time it is important to remember the advice of Abraham Lincoln...

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.

                                                                                                  

                                                                                                                   Abraham Lincoln

 

Direct inquiries to:

John A. Long, Chairman

TEA Party of Florida

Statement From The TEA Party Of Florida

For Immediate Release:

April 3, 2012

President Obama's Abuse of Power           

            In one day Barrack Obama and his administration have managed to remind America why elections matter. The display of arrogance, petulance, and a cynical disregard for the law, have delivered a virtual cafeteria of reasons why Americans must remain vigilant, engaged and interested in the affairs of our government.

            Many observers of our government suggest the President has moved beyond politics and into the arena of propaganda, with his latest actions and it is hard to disagree. It is becoming clear that the President constantly fails to distinguish the difference between campaigning and leading.

            President Obama's incomprehensible statements with regard to the U.S. Supreme Court, coming from a man that claims to have been a constitutional law professor, border on delusional. The manner in which the President instructed the media to ignore any opposing viewpoints and paint his as the only worthwhile position, call his judgment into question, along with his integrity and stability.

            If that were not enough, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that DHS will be issuing something ridiculously called, "Unlawful Presence Waivers," to illegal aliens, at a time when increased oversight of the likelihood the coming election will be impacted by fraudulently cast ballots and a partisan battle over voter ID laws. The new waivers call into question the intentions of the government to obey even the simplest laws, if they appear get in the way of reelection.

            All this in the span of twenty-four hours. Almost too much for a person to comprehend, all at once, which may well be the intent.

            The TEA Party of Florida cautions President Obama against all actions that, once taken, can only be interpreted as being related to his reelection campaign, at the expense of our Constitution, our laws, and our sensibilities. None of the actions mentioned here pass the reasonableness test and call out for a special, independent prosecutor to sort through the.

Direct inquiries to:

John A. Long, Chairman

TEA Party of Florida