(A GraniteGrok photo, taken by a friend of the ‘Grok)
"…having attended and spoken at many of its events around New Hampshire…"
I have a REAL big problem with this, a la Charlie Bass. yet, it seems that the GOP insiders can’t seem to understand my motivation for pursuing this – it has nothing to do with who I support in which race. It is ALL about what politician-wannabe is, from my standpoint, trying to co-opt the TEA Party movement for their own benefit.
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I know this is starting to be disjointed (when the other Grokster are saying "get ON with it", I guess it is) but have no fear, some of the blocks will start to fall into place. I hadn’t really planned on this, but when the video of Sean Mahoney was posted about his incoherent answer on immigration (really, semantically or from a themantic standpoint, Steve is right – there’s a bunch of sentences strung together that say….what? The title of the post does fit.
And now a pattern is starting to develop – he speaks, we report, you decide. Now, don’t get me wrong, Sean IS a nice guy – really! Warm personality, a ready smile, and a willing handshake – and that was before he started running. But when you run for elected office, especially Congress, words start meaning things – and quickly and seriously. And we here at the ‘Grok are known to take on those that speak "unwell", (to coin a word), even those that we have supported either in the past or presently. Our motto remains:
Thank’em when they’re right, and spank’em when they’re wrong
And we’d be hypocrites to do otherwise. So, what’s the problem here? A word, a single word. But words have meanings and so does context. So a spanking (public flogging?) is in order.
Here’s the context – GraniteGrok was a co-founding member of the NH TEA Party Coalition (we have recently pulled away; not on principle but on direction of action [er, really, the lack of inaction quickly enough for our purposes – we still agree wholeheartedly in the principles]). At the beginning, NO one wanted anything to do with politicians and the GOP which was rightly blamed for failing their principles (even as a number of us were and still active in Republican politics – ONLY in that the GOP seems to be closer in philosophy than the Dems, even with their failures). As time progressed, some of the anger dissipated as one thing emerged (at least here in NH) – it was unlikely that a third party was the way to go (even if it would have likely been "ideologically pure"). It became clear that it would be a case of "if the mountain won’t come to Mohammed…".
However, we did realize early on that there would be an effort by politicians, particularly Republicans, to try to co-opt the movement. Failing that, and on the basis of public opinion polls showing a majority of folks agreed with the TEA Party, there were going to be those that would try to use that and run on the TEA Party coattails just as many have done in the past by using the "up ticket" candidates in similar ways to simply help their political careers.
It goes without saying (but yes, I shall again!) – Charlie Bass is one of them and we have gone after him accordingly. For the record, Charlie Bass has not helped the TEA Party one iota. Even Pravda on the Merrimac, the Concord Monitor, as agreed (yikes!).
Now to the present: it comes down to the word "many". It comes down to the sentence snippet posted at the top of the post:
Asked about his participation in the Tea Party movement, Mahoney said that having attended and spoken at many of its events around New Hampshire, he understood the frustration of many of its members with government.
I have a REAL big problem with this; yet another situation a la Charlie Bass in my opinion. Yet, it seems that the GOP insiders can’t seem to understand my motivation for pursuing this – it has nothing to do with who I support in which race. Rather, it is ALL about what politician-wannabe is, from my standpoint, trying to co-opt the TEA Party movement for their own benefit.
For example, Jack Kimball (yes, we support him!) is a man that has literally come out of the TEA Party movement. He helped found the NH TEA Party Coalition, has helped out with its events and with the protests against Progressives that have been called by the NH TPC. In short, he has earned his stripes.
Sean? Not so much (even if his campaign staff starts to moan and groan, with spittle flowing from their lips on this). Why can I say that? Shortly after former RNC Committman Sean Mahoney (with such a title, how can he think he can run as an "outsider"??? One can’t be much more "inside" than that – unless one has actually won a race and become an elected official). When rumors first started to circulate JUST BEFORE he filled out the official paperwork that this tact might be used, I called and contacted every TEA Party person that I knew concerning this. There was only ONE event that came close – the April 15th Portsmouth TEA Party event. No one else could give me any evidence that Sean had helped anyone previously with their event in any capacity.
Sounds like a coattailer, in my humble opinion!
Sure, I’m not my mellow self right now. Why? I have just been accused of a crime by one of the campaign staffers – it’s now personal. Silly person who can’t read a waveform….and he should know far better than to get a blogger ticked (you know that old say "don’t pick an argument with a guy that buys ink by the barrel"?).
But this is getting long – next post will start to tie up the loose ends. But remember, I’m supposed to be on vacation at the RightOnline conference and have other things, more important things, to do.
