Spartanburg Tea Party

Our friend Harry Kibler at RINOHUNT has passed along news of a good resolution from a meeting that took place today between Tea Party/Conservative organizations and the Chairman of the Greenville County GOP. I’ll just drop his report here. Please visit RINOHUNT, they are doing GREAT work at a very high level of watchdogging our state, and very importantly, reaching out to many conservative/Tea Party organizations in SC, coordinating communication and events, which is a GREAT service to our movement.

——-
I am pleased to announce the outcome of a meeting early this afternoon. The leadership of the upstate coalition of conservative organizations met with the Chairman of the Greenville County GOP to discuss the Greenville County and State GOP plan to implement a Tea Party Republican organization. The Chairman eloquently stated the goals of the County and State GOP to move the Party toward conservative ideology and adherence to the Party platform by incumbents and candidates. The coalition stated their position that the organization of a Tea Party Republican organization was offensive and would create unnecessary problems between the two organizations. We maintained that although our goals were the same, we desired to be independent from the GOP. Furthermore, we agreed that during the next precinct reorganization we would become involved through the precinct level.

After both sides aired their positions, it was mutually agreed that the County GOP would abandon their plan to create a Tea Party Republican organization and the website for the TPR would be taken down as soon as practical. The County Chairman has contacted the State Chairwoman and communicated our agreement with her. She has also agreed that there would be no attempt by the State GOP to start a Tea Party Republican organization in any County in South Carolina. Realizing our shared goals, they have decided to create a liaison that will work to reach our mutual goals by maintaining direct lines of communication between the State Party and our Grass Roots organizations. A representative will be selected to serve as the liaison from the State Republican Party and that person will work closely with the Leadership of our individual organizations.

A press conference will be set up at which time the grass roots organizations and the State Chairwoman will publically announce this agreement. We expect this announcement to take place within a few days.

Since the plan for the Tea Party Republicans has been withdrawn there is no need for a protest at the Executive Committee meeting on Monday February 1, 2010. The Chairman of the Greenville County GOP has invited everyone to attend the Executive Committee meeting and has assured us that we will be welcomed with open arms. Please make plans to attend this meeting, but leave your protest signs for other battlefields. The location of the meeting is Greenville Technical College TRC Building. The time of the meeting is 7:00 PM.

I am very pleased with the results of today’s efforts to work together to return our County, State and Nation to Constitutional limited government. If you have been sitting on the sidelines and waiting to get involved we need your help. Today’s results are a great example of what can happen when you get involved and are willing to work together.

Please visit www.rinohunt.net and join a truly conservative organization that is working to resist socialism, rebuild conservative government and restore our Constitution. Please send this newsletter to your friends and family to help spread the word. RINO season is here.

Sincerely,

Harry Kibler

Founder, RINO HUNT

Hat tip to Harry Kibler at RINOHUNT.net for the heads up!

This came across my desk 2 days ago:

The South Carolina Republican Party has announced the formation of the South Carolina Tea Party Republican Organization. The official announcement will be made at the Greenville County GOP Executive Committee Meeting on Monday February 1, 2010. The Executive Committee meeting will be held at Greenville Technical College TRC Auditorium Building. The meeting will start at 7:00PM. The address is 506 S. Pleasantburg Dr. Greenville, SC

I understand having done some furious research and conferring that this is not the FIRST attempt by a state GOP party to co-opt a very successful Tea Party movement in a state, and I think it is something we will have to contend with more and more. Michael Johns had a blog on Thursday about a similar situation in Florida. My preliminary investigation revealed that a few top officials in the SCGOP approached a few members and local tea party organizers in Greenville SC about helping them form Tea Party Republication Groups in exchange for “a seat at the table.” When it seemed as if the majority of Tea Partiers were not down with the plan, several sources reported the following remark made by GOP leadership; “We are going to do this with or without you.”

Here are some excerpts from correspondence sent out by Greenville County GOP leadership:

The Tea Party movement is the great awakening from the slumber we have all found ourselves in. Although the Republican Party has been led astray by some that have compromised the very principles that they were founded on, Greenville County Republicans continue to uphold those founding principles with great prejudice.

Because of this, we would like to create an endorsement of candidates for public office that designates them as “Tea Party Republicans.”

The ability to get such endorsement would come from a council made up of Tea Party Organizers, Young Republican Leadership and Greenville County Republican Party Leadership (with full authority from the SCGOP).

Now why is this SCGOP offering coming out of Greenville SC? Because on April 17, 2009 there was a Tea Party at the Bilo Center in Greenville, SC with more than 10,000 patriots in attendance, the biggest Tea Party in SC last year. So the potential is have a big impact in a county that hosted a huge event last year. Well as a member of the team who planned that very successful Tea Party at the Bilo Center, I can ASSURE the Greenville County Republican Party Leadership that they will indeed have a big impact …

… because the local/state Tea Party groups in SC intend to show the Greenville County Republican Party and the state SCGOP what a real Tea Party looks like when we have a Rebellion Tea Party against the Greenville County Republican Party. This is a declaration of war against the Real Tea Party organizations. Several conservative organizations will make our voices heard by these Tea Party Hijackers as we Rally on Monday night outside the Greenville Technical College TRC Auditorium Building (address above) with protest signs. We will start forming outside the building by 6:30 so we can watch the hijackers as they enter the building. Now is the time to take a real stand for the Tea Party principles.

I urge the Tea Party Nation to loudly quell such hijacking by your state GOP; this is not the first and it will not be the last until the Establishment GOP Leadership gets the message … we are not for sale for a “seat at the table”, we’ve seen how disastrous that has been in the past. We have not rallied and called and donated and blogged and registered voters for the past 12 months to hand it over to those VERY organizations who could not hold the line at fiscal responsibility and support of true conservative candidates before now. WE are the Tea Party Nation. You can have a seat at OUR table. If you support and run conservative candidates, we will vote for them. If you will not, we will find our own and support and donate to and vote for them.

If you are in the Upstate SC area, please plan to attend. If you are not, please blog about this situation and inform your local Tea Party leaders. It imperative that state GOPs not be successful in their attempt to take over legitimate Tea Party organizations, databases, memberships for their own purposes, and that if they try, we are ready, and let protest situations like this in Greenville, SC serve as warning for them.

RINOHUNT.net is an organization I urge all Tea Party folks to get acquainted with, from their website:

RINO Hunt 2010 is a grass roots effort to remove as many RINO politicians as possible in the 2010 elections. There are many conservative organizations throughout the State that are fed up with the good ole boy system in our State. We believe these Representatives and Senators are servants to the people of South Carolina and should listen to our concerns and desires, not the special interests groups that represent only a minority of our population. These conservative, constitutionally minded groups have joined together to “Hunt RINOs”.

Please visit their Events Page to learn about two pressing matters:

A meeting today at 4 PM: Greenville County Council special “Planning Workshop”

and

A meeting Monday Feb 1 which should be of interest to the Tea Party movement, from their website:

I also received a call this evening alerting me to the fact that the South Carolina Republican Party has in fact announced the formation of the South Carolina Tea Party Republican Organization. The official announcement will be made at the Greenville County GOP Executive Committee Meeting on Monday February 1, 2010. The Executive Committee meeting will be held at Greenville Technical College TRC Auditorium Building. The meeting will start at 7:00PM. The address is 506 S. Pleasantburg Dr. Greenville, SC. I believe we should show the Greenville County Republican Party what a real Tea Party looks like when we have a Rebellion Tea Party against the Greenville County Republican Party. I far as I am concerned this is a declaration of war against the Real Tea Party organizations. Please make plans to make your voice heard by these Tea Party Hijackers as we Rally outside the TRC Building with protest signs and pitchforks. We will need to start forming outside the building by 6:30 so we can watch the hijackers as they enter the building. Now is the time to take a real stand for the Tea Party principles and promise not to vote for any Republican Party member when they have future Party elections.

The NEW SCGOP website is streaming tonight’s gubernatorial debate live on their website. The Ustream begins at 6:00 pm, (though I don’t know what will be streaming for 2 hours, since the debate begins at 8 pm).

The debate will be co-moderated by former Congressman Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, his co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”.

The debated is a ticketed event being held at Memminger Auditorium in Charleston.

Here’s an issue by issue review of last night’s SOTU from GOP.gov.

What about it?  It’s an old song, but should it not be adopted as they theme song for the National Tea Party movement?

Here are a few sites who will be live blogging the State of the Union tonight (may be updated during the day)

United Liberty beginning around 8:30

Real Clear World beginning at 8:45

The Heritage Foundation chatting on Facebook and Twitter

and from the people who brought us Senator Scott Brown

Legal Insurrection

Joe Wilson’s Live Response to SOTU via Facebook

The ever popular SOTU Drinking Game

and here’s your Official Obama Bingo Card!

A couple of weeks ago, we found out just how much racism is still alive in the Democrat Party from their Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid.  Well, it seems sexism within the Democrat Party is alive and well also.

Just as the mainstream media covered for Harry Reid, they will likely cover for Rep. Carol Shea-Porter’s remark to send the men home so healthcare can be passed.