Pastor Scott Lively stirs up the Massachusetts Governor debates with his uncensored pro-family views!

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It’s a pro-family dream: A candidate for Governor who’s not a RINO and is not afraid to tell the truth in statewide debates,  speeches, and television interviews. And it’s happening in ice-blue Massachusetts!

Candidates for governor pose before Oct. 7 debate. From left: Charlie Baker (R), Martha Coakley (D), Scott Lively (I), Evan Falchuk (I), and Jeffrey McCormick (I).

Across the state and especially on television Pastor Scott Lively is angering a lot of people and really pleasing others. We’ve never seen anything like it before.. It‘s so refreshing!

The Massachusetts governor’s race is down to five candidates: Republican Charlie Baker (a major RINO in our opinion), Democrat Martha Coakley (a far-left ideologue), and three independents: businessman Evan Falchuk, venture capitalist Jeffrey McCormickand Pastor Scott Lively. The statewide debates usually sound like a Democratic primary – except for Scott Lively.

Lively says what so many in the religious conservative movement wishes their candidates would say. And he’s well qualified to do it. Besides being a pastor with a PhD in theology, Lively is a constitutional law lawyer with Human Rights credentials from the United Nations and a former businessman.

Here are just a few recent highlights:

Gubernatorial TV debate – Sept. 30 Springfield, Mass:

Watch video of that debate HERE.

Republican Charlie Baker rebukes Scott Lively over his “sexual perversion” comment.

When Scott referenced the homosexual agenda in the schools, Republican Charlie Baker shot right back at him. There’s no question from this that a Baker administration will obviously continue to promote this horrible agenda.

Lively: When we are talking about corruption [in building contracts] we really ought to talk about the moral infrastructure of Massachusetts as well. We are killing unborn babies every single day in this state. We are promoting sexual perversion to children in the public schools.  Those kinds of things are corrupting us from the inside much worse than what’s happening with our road system and our bridges.

Baker: Just before I give up my time here I just want to say, Scott, that was kind of a veiled reference, I think, to gay people. And as the brother of a gay man who lives and is married in Massachusetts I just want you to know that I found that kind of offensive. And I would appreciate you not saying things like that from this point forward.

Lively: I believe in the Bible, Charlie. I’m sorry that you don’t.

*** Gubernatorial TV debate – Oct 7, Boston

Watch video of that debate HERE.


Moderator (left) and the five candidates.

One of the debate questions for the candidates had to do with caring for the state’s children, and how the state agencies could do a better job. They all had their plans. But Lively got to the heart of the matter:

I don’t know how any of you can be talking about caring for children when every single one of you supports the killing of unborn babies in the womb.

. . . You talk about born babies, how much you care for them. And yet they’re being slaughtered by the thousands in Massachusetts. And you all support it.

Gubernatorial TV debate – Oct. 24, Boston

The invitation to this debate even included the current governor.

This candidates debate sponsored by El Mundo Boston, a Spanish language media outlet, and Northeastern University. So a big topic was sure to be illegal immigration. Lively did not flinch. When it came up, here’s how the Boston Globe reported it:

Republican Charlie Baker answered first, saying that . . .  Massachusetts officials should pressure Congress to finally hash out a comprehensive immigration reform plan.

Lively drew groans when he said that people who “cheat their way’’ into the country should not be rewarded.

Read the Boston Globe article here. (Video not available.)

Boston Globe – Oct 25: Candidates’ answers to 55 questions

On Oct. 25 the Boston Globe published a wide range of questions and the short written answers from all five candidates. You can get a good sense of where they stand from reading it. And Lively was as honest as usual.

Read all the questions and answers HERE.

Here are a few of our favorites:

Q: What do you think is the single most important economic issue facing Massachusetts and what would you do about it?

Lively: The single most harmful influence on economics in Massachusetts has been the shift from Judeo-Christian morality to Marxism.

Q: Are there tax expenditures you would end?

Lively: I would end all taxpayer funding in support of abortion and homosexuality.

Individual media interviews with Scott Lively

Lively’s done several interesting individual interviews with the media describing his candidacy, his positions, and his worldview. Here are a few:

New England Cable News (Oct 9): “Scott Lively on His Biblical-Based Massachusetts Governor’s Campaign”.
Interviewed on “Broadside with Jim Braude”, Braude challenges Lively hard on his abortion and homosexuality views, but Scott stands firm.

WBUR/National Public Radio (Oct 20): “Scott Lively: Running To Restore Biblical Worldviews”
Bob Oakes of WBUR is pretty fair with him. Lively talks about his early years, issues, and more. It’s not a bad interview.

See more media on the Lively for Governor media page. Lively also has a fairly extensive “issues” page.

Not wanted by the usual suspects!

There’s no question that Lively’s positions have become very annoying to the left-wing media, not to mention the other candidates and the liberal establishment in general. In past years it’s been an unwritten rule to include all the candidates in media debates. But this year, it’s come to the point that some debates the hosts have decided not to have any of the independent candidates, in order to keep Lively off the stage..

Pastor Scott Lively makes a point during Oct. 7 debate.

It’s not surprising that the GOP is on the warpath to dissuade its conservative base from voting for Lively. It’s mostly about getting power, and they’re using the tried and true line that the Republican may be distasteful to conservatives, but he’s still better than the Democrat.

But what is most upsetting is that the establishment pro-family and pro-life groups are quietly in the Baker camp, despite his very vocal anti-family and pro-choice views, and are not endorsing Scott Lively, the only pro-family, pro-life candidate. From what we can see, they want the GOP to get the corner office, and pro-family principles will have to wait.

Interestingly, Lively is probably the most “true” Massachusetts resident of them all. His family line in Western Massachusetts goes back to the 1600s.

Lively supporters take to the streets!

“Land” Slide Preferable: We’ll Be Happy with a Terri Lynn Land Win!

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I had my first taste of Walleye in Michigan. Delicious. Folks up there are use to hearty meals. And man, does it get cold. I remember David and Dustin the Millennials on our Conservative Campaign Committee team walking on the snow covered frozen Lake Michigan in Petoskey. A gentlemen was way out there fishing through a hole he cut in the ice.

I met a lot of great patriots/Tea Party leaders while campaigning across the state — Norm Hughes, Candy Gillman, Steve Mobley, doctors Linda and Cal Dykstra and Trucker Dan to name just a few.

LLOYD MARCUS & Mr Roher WW II VET

Author with Mr. Roher a WWII veteran from Michigan.

I posed for a picture with Mr Roher, a WW II veteran at a tea party rally in Grand Rapids. Mr Roher was deeply concerned about the direction our country was going.

Hosts of the Joshua’s Trail black conservative radio show out of Detroit drove to our tea party in Livonia. It was truly refreshing to meet courageous Christian black men who were fighting the good fight in Detroit, the belly of the beast. These brothers were enlightening their black listeners to the virtues of Conservatism and how they do not have to continue eating the crumbs that fall from the Democrats’ table; awesome patriot brothers.

My most endearing Michigan memory happened at a tea party in Traverse City. An excited white woman in a wheelchair said she was a huge fan. Her adult daughter who brought her to the rally told a staffer that her mom was dying. She said her mom said that all she wanted to do was to meet Lloyd Marcus before she died. Folks, I was blown away. Then, I became extremely angry at the mainstream media and the Democrats for despicably branding the Tea Party a bunch of redneck racists.

I have shared my personal experiences to say that while Detroit is a liberal disaster, the rest of Michigan is pretty awesome.

There are good people, and good businesses, that deserve better treatment from their government. The socialist, big-government policies that destroyed Detroit are being inflicted on the rest of the state – whose values are sooo different from Detroit.

Many Michiganders feel that it is time for a new chapter in their state. Leading the peoples’ charge is Terri Lynn Land running for the U.S. Senate.

Terri Lynn Land is currently trailing in the polls because a bunch of liberal billionaires dumped huge amounts of money smearing her. They want the socialist, big-government policies that destroyed Detroit imposed on the rest of the state.

Folks, we see the glaring hypocrisy of the Democrats in every race in which the candidate is a conservative woman. While promoting their bogus Republican war on women, Democrats launch brutal no-holds-barred attacks on conservative women candidates who run as Republicans.

My wife Mary and I have noticed that the Democrats’ favorite buzz word is, “extreme”. Any candidate such as Terri Lynn Land who espouses common sense solutions, respects traditional values and celebrates God, family and country is branded “extreme” by liberal Democrats.

Their modus operandi is to spread lowering the bar nationally. All their liberal policies have failed miserably making a mess of Detroit; once a great city. And what does the Democrat candidate plan to do? If elected, he will implement the same proven failure politically correct liberal policies state wide, all over Michigan. Say no voters. Just say no!

Our Conservative Campaign Committee team has put together a TV ad to inform Michigan voters that they have a much better choice than the Obama clone, Gary what’s his name.

The Democrat candidate boldly touts his support for all of Obama’s tyrannical and job-killing initiatives; Obamacare, amnesty, oppressive taxes, destructive social engineering spending programs and mountains of absurd intrusive new government regulations on businesses.

Please give our TV ad a view and share it, helping us to spread the good news about Michigan’s superior choice, Terri Lynn Land.

Folks — just a quick side note I wish to share. My lifelong Democrat 86 year old black dad called me this morning from Maryland. He said he wanted to vote for the Conservative Party candidate but did not see one on his ballot. He only saw Republican, Democrat and Libertarian candidates. I explained that Conservative is not a political party. I instructed dad to research the Republican candidate to see if he is conservative.

Folks, this is huge because typically dad would, without thinking, vote for the candidate with a “D” beside their name. Dad is finally understanding that the conservative candidate is going to be more in-keeping with his Christian and mainstream principles and values.

If he lived in Michigan, Dad would really like and vote for Terri Lynn Land.

Democratic Voting Bloc-Heads

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As this is being written, Rasmussen Reports says that 48% of likely voters approve of President Obama’s performance in office while 50% disapproved. Other polls indicate far more unhappiness with Obama, but in general one must conclude that half the voters are idiots. He is an enormous failure domestically and with his foreign relations.

In early July, a Quinnipiac University national poll found that Obama was regarded as “the worst president since World War II.” The only poll that counts will be the midterm elections on November 4th.

We know that Republicans and a significant percentage of independent voters will pull the lever for the change needed to save the nation from Congressional gridlock and whatever further mischief and idiocy Obama will seek to impose, but what do we know about the Democratic Party’s voting blocs? They say a lot about America today.

A website called Debt.org, offers a look at the “Economic Demographics of Democrats.” It offered the following conclusions:

  • Generally, Democrats live closer to a coast—East or West—living more in cities than Republicans. Populated areas have a higher concentration of minorities who “overwhelmingly vote Democrat.”
  • They tend to have more women in their ranks than Republicans and this is true as well of gays and lesbians.
  • They support organized labor, unions, more.
  • They are slightly younger than Republicans and “increasingly less religious.”

After years have telling Americans that Republicans are engaged in “a war on women” it should not come as a surprise that 37% of women are Democrats while Republicans have 24%. Unmarried women vote Democrat about 62% of the time, while married women tend to split between the parties.

What may well save the nation from the split between the two political parties is the fact that 43% declare themselves to be politically independent.

Economically, people earning less than $15,000 a year represent 31% of Democrat voters. Those earning $50,000 or more vote Republican or independent. The average median household income in the U.S. is $49,777, right near the point where the Democratic advantage in numbers disappears.

While the President and the Democratic Party are forever complaining about the inequality of the wealthy while endlessly taking their money for campaigns, a review of the twenty richest Americans as listed by Forbes magazine found that 60% affiliate with the Democratic Party!

Would it surprise anyone to learn that Republicans are better educated than Democrats? Or that Democrats tend to be slightly younger, with an average age of 47. This voting bloc, 46 million, is anticipated of increase to 90 million in 2020.

Racially and ethnically, Republicans are 87% white as compared to Democratic supporters.

African Americans mindlessly vote Democratic and are literally taken for granted by the party though an Oct 18 New York Times article reported that a confidential memo from a former pollster for President Obama “contained a blunt warning for Democrats. Written this month with an eye toward Election Day, it predicted ‘crushing Democratic losses across the country’ if the party did not do more to get black voters to the polls.” He said, “In fact, over half aren’t even sure when the midterm elections are taking place.” That’s the kind of voter the Democratic Party has relied upon for years.

Jews as well give 80% of their votes to Democrats. Hispanics are the fastest growing group of voters and also tend to support Democrats, voting for them 60% to 70% of the time. They constitute 16% of the population and are expected to nearly double by 2050.

Observers of politics at this point note that Democrats are stepping up an aggressive push to woo single women, regarding of their age, level of education, or earning power, but they also note that many single women do not vote, especially in non-presidential election years like this one. The result is that older, white and more conservative women will vote more. One analyst, Jackie Calmes, notes that, according to the nonpartisan Voter Participation Center, in the 2012 presidential election, 58% of single women voted, but is predicting that will slide to 39%.

In an AmericanThinker.com September commentary, Chad Stafko, wrote that “The African-American voting block has become powerless and irrelevant due to its decades-old blind allegiance to the Democratic Party and the growing likelihood (is) that the group will soon be eclipsed in size by the Hispanic voting bloc.” The judgment of this bloc is best seen in the fact that African Americans have voted for Democrats for years to serve as mayors in “what are now some of the most economically-challenged cities in America.” Despite having voted for Obama at a rate of 93%, they have “received the brunt of the effects of the Obama-led stagnant economy.”

While there is much talk of the growing Hispanic bloc, but many are ineligible to vote and those that are often do not or are concentrated in noncompetitive districts and states. One observer, Nate Cohn, noted that “Hispanic voters will represent a tiny fraction of the electorate in the states and districts critical to the battle for control of Congress.” Currently that represent about 17% of the U.S. population and a quarter of them are under age 18 and cannot vote. Only 69% of adult Hispanics are citizens as compared with 96% of adult-non-Hispanics.

In general, Democrats may have numbers, but those voters are just as likely to skip the upcoming midterm elections. When you add in concerns about Ebola and the economy, there’s even more reason to believe they are less motivated to vote. In contrast, Republicans and a large segment of independent voters are far more motivated.

The Democratic Party depends on voting blocs of less educated, less wealthy, more knee-jerk voters than the Republican Party, and thanks to a liberal news media the GOP has problems getting out its message and responding to the lies the Democratic Party incessantly repeat.

Even so, political pundits are predicting that the midterm elections will sweep Democrats from office and defeat their candidates. That’s the good news.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

Have They Actually Done Something?

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“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln

In 1973, my journey into the world of political activism began when I organized a group of high school friends to work as volunteers in support of partisan candidates and ballot issues. We were young, naïve and full of energy, and were confident our contributions would change the world. More importantly, we blindly believed that all the candidates and elected officials were worthy of our trust.

This was during the time that Watergate exploded and little did we know that the rose-colored glasses we so boldly displayed were about to dull. Instead of taking the time to fully research candidates, their positions and the influencers around them, we just blindly plunged ahead giving them the most precious resource any citizen can give – our time, our energy and when we came of age, our vote.

We even sent a letter of support to the then-entrenched President, and when he wrote us back, we continued down our path of blind support.

Eight months later, the President resigned in disgrace and we learned an extremely painful, yet important lesson; all is not as it seems and many who seek the people’s trust are not deserving, nor worthy. We also learned it is vital that We the People look beyond a candidate’s and politician’s political rhetoric and apply a magnifying lens against what the person does versus what they say.

Our nation is approaching another election in ten days and I am again reminded of how important those early lessons learned are to the FairTax® campaign.

Are the candidates seeking your vote truly worthy of your trust? Are they individuals of impeccable integrity? Where do they spend the majority of their time – with paid lobbyists and consultants or with the people they [will] represent?

Does the candidate wanting your vote support the FairTax legislation?

This is an important question that demands a yes or no answer – not a maybe, sorta or kinda. And if the answer is yes, does the individual support it only in word or on a piece of paper or have they actually done something to try and advance the legislation?

It’s easy to put your name on a piece of paper and say you support something.  It is much more defining when one takes a leadership position to advance a piece of legislation. Washington is full of “go-alongs to get-alongs.” These people are simply fence sitters who take up space – talk a good game and do nothing.

The FairTax legislation demands bold and decisive leaders willing to buck status quo in order to remove the shackles of a tax system that is destroying jobs, the economy and the financial livelihood of the American people who contribute their hard-earned income. 

You have ten days until Election Day. It’s not too late to really get to know the candidates on your ballot. If you candidate is an incumbent Member of Congress, they are working in their district offices. Go visit them. If you can’t visit, call. Ask tough questions.

Bring this comparison chart and ask if they support the FairTax. If they do, ask what they have done to advance it – make them give you specifics. Visit with their staff. Ask them tough questions too. Ask them if they support the IRS.  They will say no and you must then explain to them that the only way to ensure that the IRS goes away is to pass the FairTax collected by the states.  And be sure to let them know that you support candidates who support the FairTax Plan.

Our nation is in the midst of an economic and jobs crisis—things the FairTax will create. We desperately need principled leaders willing to make tough decisions like eliminating the income tax and passing the FairTax. Your vote in support of candidates who support the FairTax is a major step forward to making the FairTax the law of the land.

As former Secretary Bill Simon said, “Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don’t vote.” Whatever you do, please vote. And make sure that any candidate lucky enough to get your vote is worthy of your trust. Finally, as President John Quincy Adams said, “Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”

Can Sarasota School Board candidate Ken Marsh be ‘Trusted’?

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Ken Marsh is a life long public school bureaucrat who has worked for two school districts, most recently for 25 years in Sarasota County. The corner stone of his campaign is the slogan “Trusted Education Leader”. But can Ken Marsh be trusted?

Dictionary.com defines trusted as “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.”

What if a person repeatedly violates school board policy during their campaign? Can you trust such a person?

marsh at booker middle school

Photo from the Ken Marsh for School Board Facebook page. Photo courtesy of Ken Marsh. For a larger view click on the image.

Let’s look at the facts. Sarasota School District policy 9.40 — Advertising in Schools states:

School facilities shall not be used for advertising or otherwise promoting the interests of any commercial, political, or other non-school agency; or individual organization; nor shall School Board employees or students be employed in such a manner.

Here is what we know about Ken Marsh, those supporting him and his campaign:

  1. Ken Marsh’s Campaign Facebook page shows a photo (upper right) of Marsh sitting on the steps of the Booker Middle School Amphitheater, in violation of SB Policy 9.40.
  2. A Ken Marsh for School Board campaign flyer (below) uses images of five public schools, also in violation of SB Policy 9.40
  3. A Ken Marsh for School Board absentee ballot mailer uses an image of the Marsh photo on school board property in violation of SB Policy 9.40
  4. Ken Marsh and his campaign have benefited from individual’s using the district email system for political purposes in violation of the Sarasota County Schools Information Technology Guidelines and Procedures.
  5. Ken Marsh and his campaign have benefited from individuals using the district email system to endorse him for school board.
  6. Ken Marsh and his campaign have benefited from the District Director of Communications Gary Leatherman receiving, reviewing, editing and returning a Ken Marsh campaign flyer, for which Leatherman was reprimanded by the District Superintendent Lori White.
  7. Ken Marsh and his campaign have benefited from School Board member Shirley Brown’s email inviting Austin Jambor, a financial adviser at Morgan Stanley, to a Ken Marsh “reception” she is hosting “on Oct 1 in Prestancia” using the district email system.
  8. Ms. Brown notified the Ken Marsh campaign of a homosexual marriage event hosted by Equality Florida. Brown suggests that Ken Marsh and others from his campaign attend the event.

Is this the kind of behavior that demonstrates Marsh is a man of “integrity”, a man who can be trusted?

To date Ken Marsh has not denounced any of these violations of school board policy. To our knowledge Marsh has not asked any of his supporters or campaign staff to stop violating school board policies.  Marsh should know that each of the above is a violation of multiple School Board policies. He was a director in the school district and, as he points out in his website, is a bureaucrat with “35 years of public education experience.”

Would a man of integrity stay silent? Can you trust a man who sees wrongdoing and takes no action?

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

Perhaps Mr. Marsh does not believe in his own campaign’s rhetoric?

Ken Marsh is asking people to call him directly at 941.586.9526. If you would like to call Mr. Marsh perhaps you can ask: Ken, are you aware that your campaign is violating Chapter 9.40 of School Board policy by using images of schools in your political mailers?

KEN MARSH FLYER:

Marsh Mailer 1 (1)

Ken Marsh campaign flyer. For a larger view click on the flyer.

KEN MARSH ABSENTEE BALLOT MAILER

Ken Marsh Mailer

Ken Marsh absentee ballot mailer with photo of Marsh on his campaign Facebook page. For a larger view click on the image.

The “Malaise” Has Returned

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The joke is that Jimmy Carter is happy that Barack Obama has replaced him as the worst President of the modern era. It is a supreme irony that Obama’s campaign theme was “Hope and Change” when Americans have lost a great deal of hope about their personal futures and the only change they want is to see Obama gone from office.

Elected by a narrow margin in 1976, Carter managed in his one term to see his approval ratings fall to twenty-five percent by June 1979. The lesson Americans have to learn over and over again is that liberal policies and programs don’t work.

In six years, the kind of dependence on the government to take care of people from cradle to grave has left the nation with 92 million unemployed or who have stopped looking for a job, entitled 45 million to food stamps, and there is still talk of a “minimum wage” in the interest of “fairness” that simply kills jobs, especially those that used to be filled by young people just entering the workplace. The worst part of Obama’s presidency is the lies he tells in the belief, apparently, that most Americans are so stupid they won’t see through them.

On July 15, 1979, in an effort to encourage a greater sense of confidence, Jimmy Carter delivered a speech that became known as the “malaise” speech, but which did not include that word. What it did, however, is double down on all the bad policies Carter had pursued and blamed Americans for not accepting them. By then the economy was in decline, gasoline prices and interest rates had climbed to record levels, and the voters were understandably pessimistic. Iranians had taken U.S. diplomats hostage and they would not be released until Ronald Reagan took the oath of office.

Carter’s speech began by asking “Why have we not been able to get together as a nation to resolve our serious energy problem?” Quite literally there was no need then or now for an energy problem because, as recently noted by the Energy Information Administration, the United States has enough coal to last more than 200 years! With the development of hydraulic fracturing, fracking, we now have access to more oil than exists in Saudi Arabia.

Obama literally came into office saying he intended to wage a war on coal and he has; using the Environmental Protection Agency to institute regulations that have led to the closing a mines and the shutdown of coal-fired plants that used to produce 50% of the nation’s electricity; now down to 40%. He resisted allowing the drilling for oil in the huge reserves on our east and west coasts. He has refused to permit the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. These policies have led to the loss of thousands of jobs during the time that followed the 2008 financial crisis.

In his speech, Carter said, “The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America.” We would do well to remember that we have been through periods like this before and corrected course.

In 1980 Ronald Reagan would be elected to replace Carter and America prospered through his two terms, returning to being a major superpower, economically and militarily. That’s what conservatism produces.

Carter, however, blamed Americans for the problems of his times. “Two-thirds of our people do not even vote. The productivity of American workers is actually dropping, and the willingness of Americans to save for the future has fallen below that of all other people in the Western world.”

One of Obama’s earliest acts was to visit foreign nations and blame America for many of the world’s problems. Militarily he pulled our troops out of Iraq and he intends to do the same in Afghanistan. He has cut the military budget to the bone and has now defined its mission as one to address “climate change”, not the enemies of our nation.

Obama spent his entire first term blaming George W. Bush for every problem that he did nothing to correct. Indeed, Obama has never seen himself as the real problem, finding anyone else to blame.

Those Americans watching Carter deliver his speech must surely have cringed as he announced that he intended to set import quotas on foreign energy resources. He said he wanted Congress to impose a “windfall profits” tax on the very energy firms that he wanted to get us out of the doldrums and dependency that was causing the problem. He wanted the utility companies to “cut their massive use of oil by fifty percent within a decade.” He wanted them to switch to coal and now we live in a nation whose President doesn’t want our utilities to use coal. Why? Despite massive evidence to the contrary, he has advocated “renewable” energy, wind and solar, neither of which can ever meet the nation’s needs.

“In closing, let me say this: I will do my best, but I will not do it alone. Let your voice be heard,” said Carter.

In the 1980 election the voter’s voice was heard. Carter was gone and Reagan was our President. With him came his infectious patriotism and optimism. By late 1983 his economic program had ended the recession he inherited from Carter. A similar program would have put an end to what is now routinely called Obama’s Great Recession.

We are at a point not dissimilar from the days of Jimmy Carter and with an even greater sense of dissatisfaction and distrust of Barack Obama.

I reach back in our recent history to remind you that on November 4th in our midterm elections and in the 2016 presidential election we can repeat history by ridding the nation of those members of Congress that voted for ObamaCare and have supported President Obama. We must wait to see who the GOP will offer as a presidential candidate, but we have time for that.

We have time to “hope” for a better future and we have the means to make the “change” to achieve it.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

Will Voter Frustration Lead to Republican Victory or Defeat?

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All recent polling data confirms that over 70% of the people believe that Obama and Democrats are leading the nation in the wrong direction, many of them believing that they are leading the country right off a cliff.

So, defeating Obama’s Democrats should be a walk in the park with over 70% looking to make a change in the mid-terms. However, it may not be quite that simple.

The Money in 2014

Democrats are raising and spending six-times as much as their political opponents for 2014. Take a good look at just the Top 20 super-PACs, which shouldn’t even exist according to McCain-Feingold.

pac donations

This is just the Top 20 super-PACs…. And there are hundreds of PACs today. The ratio weighted heavily on the side of Obama Democrats remains however.

United they will WIN

Actions will determine the outcome of the 2014 elections, not words, or wishes, or opinions or even money. The outcome of this election will impact the direction of our country after, in numerous critical ways.

Politics is a TEAM sport. The best trained and most unified TEAM will win.

In the past and even today, 30% of the people have been running roughshod over the other 70%… Not because they have a better plan for America, or because they are better funded, although they are much better funded.

They have been successful because they are 100% united in their efforts and they are 100% committed to forever “changing America.” Unfortunately, they are committed to making America something it never has been and never should be.

Divided, the pro-American “right” will continue to lose to the anti-American “left.”

Despite knowing that “divided we will fall,” some still fall for a plethora of initiative aimed at further dividing the political “right.”

Yet, the outcome of such advice is already well known… If every pro-American voter stays home or breaks ranks to a 3rd party candidate not actually in the running, the future of the entire nation is once again left in the hands of the anti-American “left” by default.

We simply cannot allow that to happen again in 2014.

To WIN, we MUST Unite!

American conservatives need to choose their bedfellows much more carefully. Yes, every American conservative has a right and plenty of reasons to be angry with today’s spineless Republicans and their Republican National Committee, which seems to have at least a dozen ways to lose an election and even a country.

Yes, they are right to be fed up with current Republican leadership. No point in listing all of the valid reasons for that anger. However, what to do about it is very important…

EXAMPLE:

The house is on fire and you have three options available. What do you do?

  1. Cast a vote to throw gasoline on the fire (vote Democrat)
  2. Cast a vote to get a fire hose (vote Republican)
  3. Cast a vote for an ice cream cone (sit it out, or vote 3rd party)

Most “conservatives” know that the only viable option is to vote for a fire hose and hope for the best. All who never pass up an opportunity to vote themselves gifts from your wallet will cast a vote to throw gasoline on the fire, by voting Democrat.

But those who hate both political parties equally, because they hate our two-party Constitutional Republican system of self-governance, are telling all “conservatives” to vote for an ice cream cone, either because “your vote doesn’t matter,” or because “there’s no difference between Democrats and Republicans,” or because “we need a multi-party parliamentary system,” or because “Ron Paul was not allowed to win in 2012.”

These folks do not divide the “left” vote, they only divide the “right” vote and by so doing, their opposition to their so-called “lesser evil” guarantees a victory for the greatest evil of all.

Damned if We Do, and if We Don’t?

To say that pro-American voters are between a rock and a hard place here is an understatement. But to say that it doesn’t matter what we do (or don’t do) is a lie. It’s not true…

“Evil prevails whenever good people do nothing” – which means that doing nothing, or staying home on Election Day is not an option. All good people must vote on November 4th, are they are “doing nothing” to confront evil in America.

We know from experience that we are indeed “damned if we don’t.”

But until we DO, we do not yet know if we are also “damned if we do.”

Democrats controlled both chambers of congress when Obama seized the White House in 2009. It wasn’t until the 2010 elections and the 112th Congress beginning in 2011, that Republicans had control of the House. From 2011 to today, Democrats have continued to retain control of the Senate. So, we do not yet know what might be accomplished if Republicans had control of both chambers during the remainder of the Obama administration.

What we do know is this…

Until Republicans control both chambers of congress, the Senate will continue to be a blind rubber stamp for Obama and the two chambers will remain mostly in gridlock legislatively.

Only after “we the people” place both congressional chambers in the hands of Republicans can we hold all Republicans 100% accountable for what happens next.

The 2014 elections present an opportunity for all pro-American voters to strip Obama of all congressional support. This could mean a lot of things after the election, everything from Impeachment of the most impeachable administration in U.S. history to the reversal of ObamaCare and an end to defacto or any other form of amnesty for millions of illegal invaders.

Further, there are a number of critical governor races up for grabs, and if we want the 10th Amendment to mean anything looking forward, we cannot allow any more states to fall into the hands of Democrats.

In the end, righteous voter frustration with Republicans cannot cause a national suicide in the 2014 elections. We must use every tool in the box to move this country in the right direction.

It took global leftists a hundred year sustained effort to hijack and destroy America. We will not end that threat in any one election cycle. But we can begin the process in this election, by uniting and fighting the most dangerous evil to ever grip our nation’s government.

And we MUST!

Common Core Opponents Endorse Governor Rick Scott — Blame Crist for Common Core in Florida

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Florida parents and grassroots organizations leading the opposition to the adoption of the controversial Common Core education standards have endorsed the reelection of Governor Rick Scott in a public letter.

“On November 4th an important choice will be made by Floridians that will have implications for years to come. That choice is clear. It was Charlie Crist who brought Common Core to Florida and wholeheartedly still embraces it,”said Laura Zorc, State Coordinator and Co-Founder of Florida Parents Against Common Core.

“We have fought too hard to give up now and we face very real setbacks on myriad levels if, in our fervor to rid Florida of Common Core, we inadvertently help elect Crist,“ said Zorc.

Governor Scott recently announced an education plan that calls for an independent Florida Standards Review Committee to review standards, assessments and adoption of instructional materials by local school districts. According to Zorc, this will provide an opportunity for parents, teachers and grassroots organizations to be at the table for adoption of better standards and policies.

A growing number of grassroots County leaders who have vocalized their concerns about Common Core say that the re-election of Governor Scott is the only way to ensure the continuing evaluation of education standards and testing and meaningful local control over instructional materials.

“Governor Scott has committed to this review and we will work with him and the legislature to make the changes needed to achieve the best policies for the education of our children,” said Kate Boland, Chair of the Martin County Republican Party.

Both leaders stressed the need to consider all of the critical issues facing the state and the country in this election. They cite the policies of Governor Scott that have made Florida a national leader in job creation and economic growth in sharp contrast with the damaging economic policies of President Obama and Democrats.

“The stakes are too high for this to be a one issue election. Governor Scott has done an outstanding job for Florida. The ability to finance meaningful education reform is key and for that we need a strong tax base in our state,” said Boland.

Florida will play an important role in the 2016 Presidential election. “We are committed to electing public servants committed to reaffirming the primacy of state and local control of education in our country. To accomplish our education reform goals, we must begin by reelecting Governor Scott in November,” Zorc concluded.

Black Vote is Up for Grabs

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I had separate conversations with two governors last week. Both were White, one was a Democrat and one was a Republican. We were discussing next month’s elections and what they each thought would happen. The amazing thing was their respective views on the Black community.

Democrats have convinced the Black community that they care about them and Republicans don’t. This lie has been allowed to take root because Republicans have been unwilling to refute this foolishness.

The Democratic governor thought the Democrats would retain the Senate because of the Black vote. He seemed stunned when I began asking him whether he had any Blacks in prominent powerful positions within his administration, meaning Blacks with budgetary authority, hiring authority, and the ability to get meetings on the governor’s schedule.

He replied that he had no Blacks in significant positions in his cabinet. He went onto explain that the positions I was talking about were very valuable and were very few in number. He stated that if the Blacks in his state didn’t demand certain positions, why would he give them up if he didn’t have to?

Wow, what honesty. Then, I began to push back with this governor. I asked did he have the same approach with his White supporters. He said, “Hmm, I never really thought about that. I just assume certain people [White] want or expect certain positions. It’s just expected.”

How revealing.

The Republican governor stated that, “Republicans have a better message for the Black community, but we have just been God awful at communicating that message to the Black community.” He continued, “I never thought about the issue of Blacks in powerful positions; I just wanted to make sure my government was reflective of my state’s diversity.”

Score another point for candor. How revealing. I said to the governor that this tells me he doesn’t have any serious relationships with any Black Republican operatives who could have advised him on this issue. He didn’t disagree.

So, you have a White, liberal Democrat who is portrayed as someone who cares about the Black community and gets significant support from that community; but yet, he expects Blacks to beg to participate in the spoils of victory in any significant manner. In his mind, it’s just a given that he must reward White supporters with the spoils of victory.

Conversely, you have a White Republican who is portrayed as a non-caring racist who gets a nominal number of Black votes yet this governor actively seeks Blacks for his administration, albeit not for the power positions.

The perceptions don’t match the reality. This is why I get so frustrated that Republicans don’t build proper relationships within the Black community. Democrats are wonderful at the perception game, while Republicans are better on the substance side of the ledger.

Just as the Democrats seem to be happy with the perception that they are for the Black community, though this is not backed up by the facts, the Republicans seem to be happy accepting the notion that they will never get any significant support from the Black community, though this is not backed up by the facts.

I think both sides are foolish for their respective beliefs. Blacks are not as enamored with the Democrats as their party thinks and Blacks are not as hostile to the Republican Party as the GOP thinks.

Democrats find it hard to believe that Blacks are disillusioned with them because Blacks continue to give them their support without exacting anything in return. Republicans think Blacks are just so in love with the Democratic Party and are not worth fighting for.

Both parties are equally mistaken about the Black vote. No one knows with certainty what will happen on Election Day next month, but this one thing is for certain; every political pundit and analyst will be talking about the role of the Black vote in who ends up controlling the U.S. Senate.

If Democrats lose the Senate, they will say Black turnout was lower than needed. If Republicans don’t win the Senate, they will say their base (conservatives) didn’t turn out, thus the Black vote didn’t matter. If Democrats retain the Senate, they will say they got Blacks to turnout. If Republicans takeover the Senate, they will say they got evangelicals to turn out.

Both will have walked away with the wrong message. If Republicans had invested in the Black vote in Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana and Colorado, a lot of these close Senate races would have broken early for Republicans. When will Republicans in the House and Senate come to understand that the Black vote is up for grabs?

Charlie Crist Receives $40K From Strip Clubs

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Remember that classic Motley Crue song “Girls! Girls! Girls!?”

Well, that song, which is arguably the official national anthem for all strip clubs around the U.S. and probably the world, could now become the theme song for Democrat Charlie Crist’s current gubernatorial campaign.

The one-time Republican and Independent is running against Florida’s Republican Governor Rick Scott in this year’s gubernatorial mid-term election.

According to Charlie Crist for Florida’s reported campaign finance records, a whopping $40,000 has been donated to the PAC by two companies that operate strip clubs in Florida, SB Productions and J.W. Lee Properties.

Screen Shot 2014-10-07 at 5.04.36 PM

For a larger view click on the image.

J.W. Lee Properties, which does business as the popular Scarlett’s Cabaret strip club in Hallandale Beach, Florida, and its owners Brandon Samuels, John Blanke, and William Beasley, are all named in a lawsuit spearheaded by one of the clubs former female dancers.

Unlike other South Florida strip clubs like West Miami’s “Bottom’s Up,” Scarlett’s is considered to be one of the top clubs in the entire country 😉

The lawsuit alleges that the Defendants “have a longstanding policy of misclassifying their employees, including the Plaintiff, as independent contractors and refusing to pay the employees at the applicable minimum wage and overtime rate.”

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For a larger view click on the image.

One of the owners, Brandon Samuels, actually sits on the board that represents the adult entertainment industry, the Florida Sunshine Entertainment Association.

Whoa!

Crist’s website states that “he supports equal pay for equal work,” so what gives?

He supports equal pay for equal work, and is a proud supporter of the Violence Against Women Act. – Charlie Crist for Florida website.

The Democrat Party establishment, including DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who are all supporting Crist’s campaign, must be besides themselves after learning that campaign donations have been received from donors who operate a business that is perceived to sexually exploit women, as well as allegedly refusing to pay them their fair and “applicable minimum wage,” or any wages at all.

The average lap dance at Scarlett’s will cost someone $20, which means that the proceeds of approximately 2000 lap dances contributed to Charlie Crist’s gubernatorial campaign.

Another fun fact about Scarlett’s is that they charge their exotic dancer’s a nightly mandatory fee to work there.
From what I have been told, it costs each dancer about $100 a night to work at Scarlett’s.

And the answer is ‘no,’ I did not go to Scarlett’s to ask questions and dig up information for this story.
However, for those interested parties, I do hear that the club has a great lunch buffet.

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EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on The Shark Tank. Below is the “Girls, Girls, Girls” music video by Motley Crue. Enjoy!

Republicans Will Hate This Guy More Than Wasserman Schultz [Video]

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Most, if not all Conservatives and Republicans love to hate Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) not just because of her non-apologetic, in-your-face style of punditry, but because she is the biggest cheerleader of President Obama’s dangerous political agenda.

The sheer mention of Wasserman Schultz’s name makes almost every Republican cringe, but could there be someone (besides Nancy Pelosi) else in the Democrat Part that could out-do the congresswoman from South Florida?

The answer to than question is a big fat ‘Yes’.

The Democrat National Committee Vice Chair-Wasserman Schultz’s back-up- and chair of the New Hampshire Democrat Party, Ray Buckley, has all the makings of the next most hated person to Republicans.

A video of Ray Buckley saying “Hitler should have bombed The Hague,” as well as him unzipping his pants in front of associates, has now made it to YouTube.

While you all may think Wasserman Schultz is bad, she has nothing on Buckley.

Watch and laugh. (H/T The Gateway Pundit) WARNING OBSCENE LANGUAGE!:

EDITORS NOTE: This column with video originally appeared on The Shark Tank. You may follow The Shark Tank on Facebook and Twitter.

Jon Stewart: Money is ‘the pillow smothering our democracy’ [+Video]

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As a journalist I am on the emailing list for both the Rick Scott and Charlie Crist campaigns. While I receive a few fundraising requests from the Scott campaign, I am inundated with requests for money from the Crist campaign. I have received multiple emails from: Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and the DNCC staff.

I am always amazed at how many times these fundraising emails mention the wealthy Koch brothers because they give money to causes they believe in. Never is there a mention of billionaires Michael Bloomberg and George Soros for given money to causes they believe in.

Another interesting item is that most recently I have received five emails stating that my donation will be triple-matched. So who is their big donor? For example, I received this email from Nancy Pelosi:

Since we unlocked the Triple-Match earlier this morning, over 18,OOO Democrats have stepped up and donated. And now all of those gifts have been tripled!

Keep in mind, this is the same day Boehner and his billionaire allies are launching a record breaking assault on our Democratic candidates — more than $17,OOO,OOO is being spent this week.

Perhaps John Stewart explains Democrats and the role of money best. Hat tip to LastResistance.com for alerting us to this very funny, but profound, Daily Show with Jon Stewart video titled “Demopocalypse 2014 – Funding or Die”:

STEWART: But the Democrats are outraged, and their outrage is brought to you by – money – (audience laughs) the pillow smothering our democracy in its hospital bed. (audience laughs) There’s only one problem.

CARL CAMERON (voice-over, from September 25, 2014 Fox News Channel broadcast): In the ten Senate races where the most outside money has been spent, liberal groups have outspent conservatives 97 million to 79 million dollars.

SHANNON BREAM (on-camera, from October 8, 2014 Fox News Channel broadcast): There are states where the Democrats are outspending five or ten to one.

VIVECA NOVAK, CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS (from September 25, 2014 Fox News Channel broadcast): Democrats have realized these are the rules of the game – as much as they profess not to like them.

STEWART: Here a tip: it may undercut your message when you’re condemning a thing that you have clearly mastered. (audience laughs) It’s one of those, thou shall not kill, but if you’re going to, (audience laughs) single shot, back of the head – you want a carbon steel hacksaw, then put the parts in several trash bags, spread them out over a forest. (audience laughs)

EDITORS NOTE: The featured video is courtesy of The Daily Show. Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook,Daily Show Video Archive

Obama’s Nightmare Presidency

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To many people, especially Blacks, Obama’s election as president in 2008 was a dream come true.  According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, “dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.”  Dreams tend to last longer as the night progresses.

Sigmund Freud, the Austrian neurologist who became known as the founding father of psychoanalysis, wrote extensively about dream theories and their interpretations in the early 1900s.  He described dreams as the “manifestations of our deepest desires and anxieties.”

To our parents and grandparents, having a Black president was a dream long before it was a reality.  Who could ever imagine after surviving slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights Movement, that America would ever be ready to elect a Black president?  During our sleep was the only realm in which we thought this would ever be possible. And certainly not twice.

Then along came little known Barack Hussein Obama.  He became the empty vessel in which  America could funnel all of its dreams into.  As Freud said about dreams, Obama became the “manifestation of our deepest desires and anxieties.”

America wanted to prove that ideology trumped race; that vision trumped party affiliation; and that competence trumped cynicism.  In 2008, Obama received 96 percent of the Black vote, 67 percent of the Hispanic vote, 62 percent of the Asian vote, and 43 percent of the White vote.  He was able to put together a broad based coalition to win the White House. America was beginning to prove that it could truly live out the true meaning of its creed that “all men are created equal.”

Unfortunately, this dream has turned into a nightmare.

According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), “a nightmare is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear or horror, but also despair, anxiety, and great sadness.  The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort, psychological or physical terror.  Sufferers often awaken in a state of distress and may be unable to return to sleep for a prolonged period.”

In 2008, Obama claimed he had a dream of uniting America; fixing the economy; creating additional jobs; having America become respected globally again.

Under Obama, America has become the laughingstock of the world.  Syria crossed Obama’s self-imposed “red line,” and Obama gave Syria’s president, Hafez al-Assad a terse lecture as he continued to kill his own citizens with chemical gas.  Obama continues to allow Latin leaders to berate him on U.S. soil because of American’s insistence that we enforce our immigration laws like they do in their own countries.  Russian and Israeli leaders show public disdain for Obama, with no consequence.

Obama and his administration never seem to know about anything that is going on in the very government they control. They claimed to have known nothing about the non-functioning HealthCare.gov website; they knew nothing about Benghazi; they knew nothing about all the problems within the Veterans Administration (VA); they knew nothing about the mess in the Secret Service; they knew nothing about the scandals permeating the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and they knew nothing about ISIS and all their gruesome beheadings until they read about it in the media.

Blacks went from “Hope and Change” to we hope Obama changes. Obama has turned the dreams of Blacks into a nightmare. If nothing else, at least we know they are no longer sleeping.  Now that Blacks have awakened out of their slumber, as the APA stated, they are greeted with “despair, anxiety, and great sadness.”

Obama sold Blacks folks a bill of goods. Blacks have been euphorically defending Obama at every turn.  Yet, Black unemployment is still double digits (11.6 percent).  Black students are dropping out of Black universities at alarming rates as a result of the policies of Obama.  Government contracting has all but dried up for Black businesses. He told Blacks in 2011 to “get out of bed, put on their marching shoes, and stop complaining.” And we said, “yessa massa.”

Homosexuals threaten to withhold their support and money from Obama unless he became their “water boy.”  He says, “yessem, boss.”  They are only 2 percent of the population, but Obama has bent over backwards to accommodate their demands.

Illegals have “demanded” U.S. citizenship from Obama, free education, and free healthcare; Obama signs executive orders to accommodate their demands, even though they can’t legally vote for him.

Yet, he tells Blacks that he can’t target any programs for them because he doesn’t want Whites to think he is being partial to Blacks.

Despite Blacks finally awakening from their slumber, they are now forced to deal with the resulting effects of the nightmare created by Obama. It’s time to judge Obama on his actions; no longer on his rhetoric. Everyone should want our president to be successful, but after six years in the White House, what is the evidence of positive changes with Obama?

By almost every measurable indices, Blacks are worse off today than when Obama became president. We started off with a dream that turned into a fantasy that is ending in a nightmare.

Emailgate: Two Sarasota County School Board members violate Florida Law – will they be removed from office?

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We have run a series of columns about union employees violating policy by using the Sarasota County School District official email system to promote political candidates for public office and harassing district employees while on the clock.

Our initial reports just scratched the surface of the corruption within the Sarasota County School District.

Shirley Brown WEB

Shirley Brown, Sarasota County School Board member.

We wrote that this would be a challenge to the leadership of Superintendent Lori White. Today we report that this “culture of corruption” has ensnared at least two sitting School Board members – Shirley Brown (D) and Caroline Zucker (R) and the District Communications Director Gary Leatherman, who reports directly to Superintendent White.

Florida Statutes 104.31 – Political activities of state, county, and municipal officers and employees, states:

(1) No officer or employee of the state, or of any county or municipality thereof, except as hereinafter exempted from provisions hereof, shall:

(a) Use his or her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election or a nomination of office or coercing or influencing another person’s vote or affecting the result thereof.

[ … ]

(3) Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

[Emphasis added]

In a string of emails we find both Shirley Brown and Caroline Zucker violating not only Florida Statues (FS) 104.31, but also FS 106.113.  We also find School Board member Brown, Director Leatherman and the Ken Marsh campaign violating FS 106.15, which states:

A candidate may not, in the furtherance of his or her candidacy for nomination or election to public office in any election, use the services of any state, county, municipal, or district officer or employee during working hours.

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Ken Marsh, former district bureaucrat and candidate for School Board.

In this string of emails we find Shirley Brown and the Ken Marsh campaign coordinating campaign donations. We also find the District Director of Communications and Community Relations Gary Leatherman giving advice to and editing a Ken Marsh for School Board campaign flyer. All of these actions violate district policy and state statues as the use of the district proprietary email system and the exchanges occur during working hours.

ann hankinson

Ann Hankinson, teacher Pine View.

Items forwarded to staff, other school board members, the Ken Marsh campaign, Gary Leatherman and Superintendent White include:

  • School Board member Caroline Zucker is asked by Aaron Watkins, from Carab Enterprises, for advise on who to vote for in the school Board primary election. Watkins asks Zucker who she voted for in the School Board primary. Zucker replies, “I voted for Jane Goodwin, Shirley Brown and Ken Marsh.” (NOTE: Read more about Zucker here.)
  • An email from Ann Hankinson, a AP calculus and statistics teacher at Pine View school, sends a draft invitation to a Ken Marsh for School Board event to be held on October 1, 2014 to Gary Leatherman for review and editing. Leatherman states he reviewed the invitation and made minor corrections. Leatherman goes on to reply to Hankinson, “Hi, I’m just checking to see if my email replies are being received.” Hankinson then uses the district email system to send the invitation out to her “Dear Math Colleagues.”
  • Information about the Lee County, FL School Board reversing its decision to opt-out of mandated Common Core testing sent to the Ken Marsh campaign.
  • Ken Marsh sending an election night invitation to Pat Gardner, President of the Sarasota Teachers/Classified Association (SC/TA). (NOTE: We have covered SC/TA use of the district email system here.)
  • Gary Leatherman in direct contact with Ken March and his campaign with a summery of  “the various ways and media we employ to help parents and other interested community members watch school board meetings.”
  • SC/TA President Pat Gardner in direct contact with the Ken Marsh campaign discussing strategies on how to attack his primary opponents “innovative ideas about public access to school board meetings.”
  • A political fundraising letter sent to Shirley Brown, Gary Leatherman and others from Gabriel Hament seeking donations for the Ken Marsh campaign. Leatherman replies, “Thanks, I contributed $100 last night.”
  • Shirley Brown responds to an email from Austin Jambor, a financial adviser at Morgan Stanley, stating, “…I am hosting a reception for Ken Marsh Oct. 1 in Prestancia. Hope you can join us!”
  • Kenner Brooke from North Port High School sends out a Sarasota County Democratic Party flyer.
  • Notice of a homosexual marriage event hosted by Equality Florida forwarded by Brown to the Ken Marsh campaign. Brown suggests that Marsh attend the event.

We will be publishing more about this “culture of corruption” within the Sarasota County School District. Stay tuned.

BACKGROUND

The following are some examples of the illegal use of the Sarasota County School District resources for political purposes:

September 9, 2014

Gary Leatherman, the Director of Communications and Community Relations for the Sarasota County School District uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to confirm a commitment to submit a political donation to the Ken Marsh Campaign, as well as to assist in the drafting and editing of a fundraising letter for the Ken Marsh Campaign. Email sent during school hours. (Page 294-302)

September 9, 2014

Gary Leatherman, the Director of Communications and Community Relations for the Sarasota County School District uses the Sarasota County School District Email System, during business hours, to work directly with the Ken Marsh for School Board Campaign to draft and edit a fundraising letter and suggest attacks on School Board Member Bridget Ziegler. His official title & government position appears in the email.
(Page 105-108)

September 10, 2014

Gary Leatherman, the Director of Communications and Community Relations for the Sarasota County School District uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to communicate directly with School Board Candidate Ken Marsh, Ann Hankinson (who appears to be a Ken Marsh campaign volunteer & school district employee) & Gabriel Hament (who we believe is acting as Ken Marsh’s campaign manager & has hosted a fundraising for Ken Marsh). Sent during school hours. (Page 131-133)

September 10, 2014

Gary Leatherman, the Director of Communications and Community Relations for the Sarasota County School District uses the Sarasota County School District Email System, during business hours, to work directly with the Ken Marsh Campaign to draft and edit a fundraising letter and suggest attacks on School Board Member Bridget Ziegler.In the email, he states “Good Job”. His official title & government position appears in the email. (Page 136)

September 21, 2014

Gary Leatherman, the Director of Communications and Community Relations for the Sarasota County School District uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to directly receive a campaign update from the Ken Marsh Campaign. Continues to show pattern of coordination between Gary Leatherman, in his official capacity, working with the Ken Marsh Campaign. (Page 172-173).

Additional abuses (there are numerous other examples).

August 13, 2014

Lisa Saul uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to forward endorsements and attacks on the Tea Party and various candidates. Sent during school hours. (Document 1 Page 76-78)

September 11, 2014

Shari Dembinski (looks to be Union Rep) uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to forward an attack on Bridget Ziegler and a list of contributors to Bridget Ziegler’s campaign. Recipients are encouraging to share with non-union members. (We suspect this is what caused an organized effort to threaten the boycott of businesses supporting the Bridget Ziegler for School Board campaign. Numerous businesses reported receiving countless calls threatening a boycott of their establishment if they did not stop donating and/or displaying a Bridget Ziegler campaign sign. (Document 1 Page 81-82)

September 12, 2014

Shannon Wynne, a School District Employee, uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to falsely attack Bridget Ziegler and one of her contributors. Sent during school hours. (Document 1 Page 98-99)

September 12, 2014

Joette Riggs, a school district employee, uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to attack Bridget Ziegler and a contributor to the Bridget Ziegler Campaign. Sent during school hours. (Document 1 Page 112-114)

And why not? The politics and illegal misuse of taxpayer funded public resources starts at the top.

August 27, 2014

Wilma Hamilton, former Superintendent of the Sarasota County District, uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to book a hotel room for Ken Marsh & his wife Tanice Knopp. Why is she booking them a room? Was this disclosed on his campaign finance report? (Page 47-49)

August 21, 2014

Sarasota County School Board Member Shirley Brown uses the Sarasota County School District Email System in her official capacity as a School Board Member to endorse three Sarasota County School Board Candidates. (Page 56-57)

August 23, 2014

Sarasota County School Board Member Shirley Brown uses the Sarasota County School District Email System in her official capacity as a School Board Member to notify Marie Baia, a School District Employee, about political endorsements received by Ken Marsh, School Board Member Jane Goodwin and herself. (Page 248-249)

August 21, 2014

Sarasota County School Board Member Caroline Zucker uses the Sarasota County School District Email System, in her official capacity as a School Board Member, to endorse political candidate for office.

October 3, 2014

SB Member Caroline Zucker sharing who she voted for in the SB race Goodwin-Brown-Marsh when asked for recommendations (Page 297 – Document 3)

To read the full list of emails click here, here and here.

PUBLISHERS NOTE: I, Dr. Rich Swier, regret having used the term “illegal” in this and any other article to describe actions by Ms. Pat Gardner and the SC/TA.

Four words that should ensure GOP victory in November

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We’re in the full throes of campaign season and all the political ads running for various levels of government. I am perplexed that there’s no clear philosophical delineation presented. If you are at all aware of what’s happening in America, this election should be a hands down victory for the GOP. After all, the progressive socialist-dominated Democrat party has severely failed our Republic.

The ideas of “hope and change” and “forward” have taken us completely backwards with no real hope in sight. When we have people in charge who term the beheading at work of a 54-year-old American woman by a savage with clear intent and definition as “workplace violence” – these “leaders” are clearly incapable of their most basic responsibility: protecting American citizens.

But it is in the philosophy of governance where Americans should be able to make a clear choice in these midterm elections. Forget the ads for the moment. I’d like to share a very prescient quote from an astute, impeccable American president from Illinois in 1864:

We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men’s labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name—liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names—liberty and tyranny.

Of course the president was Abraham Lincoln. Liberty is equated with the pursuit of happiness and a governing philosophy — and policies — that promote an individuals’ attainment by advancing their growth and opportunity. Tyranny on the other hand strives for a guarantee of happiness by driving the collective towards egalitarianism and predestined outcomes. It truly is the defining separation between constitutional conservatives and progressive socialists. I know, I can hear the detractors already typing away.

While Lincoln stated that true liberty is the ability of one man to do as he pleases with himself and the product of his labor, Obama of course has a completely different idea. During a speech in Roanoke, Virginia in 2012, demonstrated his perception of the rights of the individual and the indomitable entrepreneurial spirit with “you didn’t build that.” If there were ever any clearer indication of whom Barack Hussein Obama is and what he believes, it was in those four words (except for the Muslim call to prayer “is one of the prettiest sounds on Earth“). “You didn’t build that” defines Obama and his policies — which according to him are on the ballot this midterm election.

The problem with the GOP is that the party seems incapable of presenting a defined national message and drawing a philosophical difference between itself and the Democrats. The last U.S. president who did that was Ronald Reagan who stood upon the principle of advancing the growth, opportunity, and promise – in other words, liberty. Reagan won 44 of 50 states against Jimmy Carter and then 49 of 50 states against Walter Mondale — both of whom represented a far left progressive socialist agenda. Just like those two who lost to Reagan, Obama doesn’t believe in what individuals can do with the product of their labor, but believes in what others can do with the product of their labor, in other words, tyranny.

Obama’s four words are the essence of the progressive socialist psyche and its disdain for the individual and the elevation of collectivism — the guarantee of happiness – or more realistically, equal misery. Obama’s four words are a disrespectful slap in the face of hard working Americans who seek to provide for and build a better future for themselves and future generations. It’s reflective of a man and an ideology which is the antithesis of who we are in America and our Declaration of Independence.

Government doesn’t build anything. As a matter of fact, it apportions the fruits of our labor — taxes — in order to fund itself and wastefully spend. It is the individual American warrior who fights, not the government, and can we see right now how government can dork up a combat operation.

It was the intent of the Constitution to limit government’s intrusive and invasive nature and make the rights, freedoms and liberties of the individual preeminent. Sadly, progressive socialists lump everything collectively as a right simply to advance their belief that it is THEIR duty to grant — and indeed take away — those freedoms and liberties.

The simple litmus test in this midterm election cycle should be the philosophy of “You didn’t build that” — and the resulting policies. Any incumbent, regardless of party, should be asked the question, “Do you believe Americans didn’t build that?” It’s a yes or no answer — so don’t ask Kentucky Senatorial candidate Allison Lundergan Grimes — and after the politician bumbles around trying to answer, just examine the voting record.

If incumbents have voted with the policies of President Barack Hussein Obama 75 percent of the time or higher, it’s clear indicator that they don’t believe in the entrepreneurial ability of the individual. It shows they don’t really believe in your “pursuit of happiness” but rather their guarantee of happiness – dictated by them.

If you ask that question of a candidate for office make him or her declare Obama was wrong on the record in his assertion that “You didn’t build that.” When I see all the closed storefronts, it’s a direct result of what Obama believes — is that what the candidate accepts? The GOP and Mitt Romney failed to articulate the danger of Obama’s four words — and of course the leftist progressive media just did everything it could to cover, explain and even say Obama misspoke — he does that quite often, apparently.

Yes America, you did build that, and that’s why we live in the greatest nation the world has ever known. We are exceptional because of what we’ve been able to produce in 238 short years. However, we have come to a point where loud voices decry that we’re no greater than any other country. These loud voices are in the minority but are elevated by a complicit media propaganda machine, which condemns our Republic while lacking any commitment or conviction to uphold our fundamental principles and values. As a matter of fact, they are working to fundamentally transform our America.

Two years ago, Obama insulted this great nation with the statement, “You didn’t build that.” Now, two years later, we can begin correcting the mistake of believing what he said.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.