A Political Coup in Pegram TN USA?

On March 31, 2009, the duly elected mayor of Pegram TN, Terri Ray, was stripped of her duties as mayor after the Vice-Mayor Rick Roark declared her "unable to discharge (her) duties." The other alderman voted to endorse this illegitimate and illegal seizure of power. This was done after Mayor Ray "discharged her duties" by terminating the employment of the Town Recorder and a public works employee, in accordance with the town charter, state law, and after 6 months of attempting to get these employees to correctly perform their jobs.

Mayor Ray had been the Town Recorder under 3 previous mayors and elected alderman twice. She was elected mayor on a simple platform to bring fiscal accountability for the spending of taxpayer dollars, the town into adherence with applicable laws, and make town hall a pleasant place all citizens could come to for information and assistance. The terminated employees would not conform to these common-sense requirements.

What is strange is that Vice-Mayor Roark and Alderman Carol Crook were elected in the same election, on the same platform. Alderman Eugene Evans had been a voice for accountability, and Alderman Daniel DuBois was appointed to fulfill the same aims. Not only were these campaign promises; also they are the duty of the Mayor & Aldermen.

Mayor Ray had met with stiff resistance to bringing these common-sense changes to the town, much of this from the Town Recorder. "We've always done it this way" was the most often retort, followed closely by charges of "micromanaging." Some former and current town officials told her to trust the staff and not provide any oversight or control to how the taxpayer's money was spent. The other aldermen had proposed ordinances to take away the mayor's duty of oversight, in order to keep the spending of taxpayer money out of view. These aldermen, led by Vice-Mayor Roark, seem to have forgotten why they were elected and who they represent. It's evident they believe they represent the entrenched bureaucracy and the building of town hall - not the citizens. The lure of personal power appears to have been too great.

This move is a political coup, something we would expect to hear about on the news, happeing in a far-off country - not in the USA. These moves are not legal - the law regarding this is crystal clear, as is the will of the voters. For full disclosure, Mayor Ray is my wife. I am assisting her with this fight to restore good government to our small town and end this illegal coup. We have retained an attorney, not something we had budgeted. We have also been in contact with other legal and governmental entities to right this egregious wrong. By the research of our attorney and others, this has not happened in the USA in modern times. This type of political skullduggery can not and will not stand. I am including links to stories from the press regarding this situation.

Pegram Mayor Stripped of Duties
Pegram Mayor Voted Out
Pegram Mayor Ousted from Office

This is the copy of the town charter, clearly detailing the legality of her duties.

Kent Williams Turns

With a 50-49 majority, all it takes is for one to turn. For the Tennessee Republicans, the turncoat was Kent Williams. Elected in 2006, he cut a deal with the Democrats in Nashville to install him as House Speaker. It's pretty obvious to me that he will be a figurehead leader, taking his orders from Naifeh & company. I'd imagine he thinks himself pretty slick, as he did vote for himself - though the other 49 votes were all Democrats. A quick search on his name shows that he is a Democrat at heart - as seen here & here.

A similar thing happened in the State Senate, with another Williams - Mike Williams, in 2005. My advice to the Republicans is to keep on pushing for what is right, & if one of the conservative Democrats sees the writing on the wall, welcome him or her to change parties.

Aaron Shock, Generation Y Conservative Republican Success Story

Elizabeth Meinecke has a great piece in Human Events on Aaron Shock.

He’s from Illinois, young, smart and has a natural talent for relating to voters. And no, he’s not Barack Obama: he’s Aaron Schock, the newly elected U.S. representative for Illinois’ 18th district. Even Biden would like him -- he’s young, clean, and articulate, and at 27, will bring a Generation Y voice to Congress in January.

In four campaigns (school board, state legislature twice, and now U.S. representative), he’s never run a negative ad. Instead, he talks about what he wants to do. He has taken his message into an urban district, even to the pulpits of his constituents’ churches. And when the mud starts slinging in Shock’s direction, he always has a clean and clear response...

“She’s a Democrat in a Democrat district, and she’ll be there as long as she wants,” Schock said people told him. He ran against her anyway, and he won.

He’s done all this, unlike the Kennedys, without wealth or the backing of a political family.

“People look at me and my age and say, “Oh, you know, [he] must …come from this political family. Couldn’t be further from the truth,” Schock said. “Nobody had ever run for office. My parents never said, “Hey, you should run someday for office.” When I decided to run for the school board at 19, they thought I was crazy...”

He comes battle-tested from an Illinois environment where conservatives could claim protection only as an endangered species. As a state representative, the Republican Schock’s demographic was an urban district where 20,000 of the 40,000 voters were on food stamps. 25 percent of his constituents were African American. He had to overcome $980,000 worth of attack TV commercials against him in his first state house race (it was the most expensive house race in state history). His re-election race set a new record. When he got to the state legislature, the good old boy network advised him to keep quiet if he wanted re-election -- in fact, they told him he shouldn’t vote like a Republican.

“I said, you know what, I’m 23 years old, I ran because I wanted to do what I think is right…I don’t need to be here, and if I lose, so be it, ” Schock said, and ended up voting twice against increase in minimum wage. “I have one of the most conservative voting records in the state house. I’ve got a 100 percent pro-life, pro-family, 100 percent with the second amendment. “

Aaron Schock will vote his conscience, and that may be lucky for conservatives.

Aaron Shock shows that conservatism can win in districts once thought impregnable to Republicans. He shows the power of someone who walks the conservative Republican talk. I hope he is representative of many of the future leaders of our party, & we elect many more who will vote their conscience - conservative Republican conscience.

Crossposted at Rebuild The Party.

Conservatism Without "Cliques"

Crossposted at Rebuild The Party.

We need to be conservative Republicans, not segregating ourselves into little High-School type cliques. We have the winning strategy for elections & governance:

Strong National Defense

Fiscal Responsibility

Limited Government

Conservative Social Values

Standing alone, these are winning issues. Together, they are almost invincible. We have the watershed victories of 1980 & 1994 as evidence of what happens when Republicans run as total conservatives, expousing all conservative principles in bold, unafraid colors. We also have the negative watershed elections of 2006 & 2008 which show that Republicans lose when the party does not hold fast to all planks in the conservative Republican platform. Far too many of our elected leaders abandoned fiscal responsibility - they spent money & acted exactly as the Democrats they replaced. They grew government outside of what was needed for national security. Because of that they lost control of congress & the White House.

IMHO, absolutely nothing in the conservative Republican platform needs to be watered down. This country is not Puritanical, however it's not left of center by any stretch. Economic & national security issues must be in the forefront, especially given they are the major concerns of the day. Conservative social values undergird everything else. We cannot legislate morality, however we can stand for what is right. Voters usually like those who stand for what is right.

Concluding, we must communicate respectfully, politely, but also firmly with our elected leaders the critical need to reclaim fiscal responsibility & limited government conservatism without watering down or fading the colors of any other part of the conservative Republican platform. We win as a party of all bold colors.

Michael Steele

Michael Steele is "running" to be the Chairman of the Republican National Committee. To say we need new, bold, strong leadership is understating it. We have quite a fight ahead of us to keep as much of Obama's & the Democrat Congress' negative agenda from enactment, as well as position ourselves for the 2010 elections.

I have been an advocate for a strong reclamation of limited government & fiscally responsible conservatism, & from Martha Zoller's recent article in Human Events, Steele seems to get it.

Some Steele quotes from the article:

“We have over the course of the last seven or eight years ticked off a lot of people in this county. Not because we’re conservatives…but because we failed to speak to those issues -- because we failed to lead on these issues.”

He's speaking to the leaders of the Republicans in the Senate, House, & White House - & he's dead on correct.

“Over the past decade or so, conservatives seem to have lost their way. The disparity between our rhetoric and our actions has grown to the point that our credibility has snapped. People just don’t believe us.”

“We’ve become our own worst enemy,” said Steele. “We in fact as much as anyone else have become the party of big government. We lost our principles our credibility, we dishonored our nation. Frankly, we behaved like Democrats.”

Again, right on target. Republican leaders, far too many, abandoned limited government & fiscally responsible conservatism.

“Our best hope for a brighter future is in the empowerment of individuals and families; not in constraints imposed by a bloated bureaucracy. It is still morning in America because America is morning. My mother told me that. She knew that the freedoms may not reach her doorstep, but she had faith that it would reach mine…Don’t make excuses for what we believe in -- that time is over, let’s get busy.”

Very true, it's the time to get to work. Let our leaders & representatives know in polite but crystal clear terms that it's time to reclaim limited government & fiscally responsible conservatism. As I say, it not only wins elections but also allows positive policies to be put into action for OUR country.

Obama's Attack on Talk Radio - Localism

Jim Boulet, Jr.'s article in the American Thinker discusses the concept of localism as a means for attacking & watering down talk radio. It's no secret that, especially since 1994, Democrats have wanted to silence voices like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, & Laura Ingraham. Instead of blaming their own policies for the Republican takeover of the congress in 1994, they blame Limbaugh. The Fairness Doctrine is getting most of the attention, however Boulet lays out a very cogent message regarding another avenue of attack on free speech via "Alinsky jujitsu."

Needless to say, for those of us who believe the 1st amendment still means something, this is a wrong idea & non-starter. We must fight any implementation of the Fairness Doctrine, Localism, or any attempt to shut down free speech in our country.

WaPo's Top 10 Republicans - & my additions

The Washington Post came out with their top 10 Republicans to watch. They've got a pretty decent list - they, though, leave out Sarah Palin & Mike Huckabee. Here is their top 10 in ascending order:

Steve Poinzer, possible Republican candidate for California Governor
Haley Barbour, current GOP Governor of Mississippi
Jon Huntsman Jr., current congressman from Utah
Eric Cantor, current congressman from Virginia
Mark Sanford, current governor of South Carolina
Bob McDonnel, current Virginia Attorney General
Mitch Daniels, current Indiana Governor
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts governor & presidential candidate
John Thune, current South Dakota Senator
Bobby Jindal, current governor of Louisiana

Call me a "homer," however I would add Marsha Blackburn to this list. She is a solid conservative congressman & on the policy committee. I would also add Bill Frist, who may choose to run for Governor of Tennessee.

I believe the WaPo & the rest of the media hope Sarah Palin will just go back to Alaska & not be heard from again. I don't think they'll get their wish. Huckabee is a conundrum for me, he's a great social conservative however I think he's more of a "big government" guy. He may find success on his Fox News show too much to leave.