Alvin Brown declared the winner

[FCTP]

Here's the link to the breaking news:    http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2011-05-18/story/alvin-brown-w...

 

Lick your wounds, cry your tears, and man up.  We have work to do. 

 

And to the Tiny Union and those who said the Chicago Machine wasn't in town...explain why they were writing about it this morning if it doesn't mean anything.   http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-pn-election-tea-l... 

 

Sleep on that one Tiny Union - the Chicago Tribune even reports the news in Jacksonville.

 

We will talk more tomorrow.  Until then - get a good night's rest and know you did all you could to keep the machine out of town.  Be proud of yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alan Starcher]

Ah, temptation.  I almost took the bait again.    I will write it over and over agin, until I learn --  Do not feed the trolls.  Do not feed the trolls.  do not feed the trolls.  Do not ...

[Barry Lee Phillips]

Le'Nodd,

There is plenty of room in the Tea Party for anyone who wants to join.  But at minimum they should agree with the mission statement on the main page: 

The First Coast Tea Party’s mission is to promote the principles of our founding fathers – individual liberty and responsibility, limited government and moral leadership.

The problem is that an overwhelming number of citizens do not know what individual liberty, personal responsibility, limited government, and moral leadership actually is. 

One has no liberty if local, state and federal government are too intrusive in your personal life and your business.  

If one deliberately prefers being supported by others when they are capable of supporting themselves, then they are refusing to take personal responsibility for their life.  By extension, a person like this has given up their liberty and, as far as I am concerned, should be denied the right to vote.

There is no limited government in this country.  The term is an oxymoron.  Government, in general, has become like an octopus with its tentacles reaching into every nook and cranny.  When people grow up into this way of life, they see nothing wrong with it and are puzzled by people who do.

Moral leadership assumes that leaders should have morals.  The morality I see among politicians in particular, is one of self-aggrandizement, self-promotion, and ego gratification.  There are few politicians who serve in office because they want to unselfishly serve the people instead of themselves.

That being said, there are plenty of Democrats and Republicans who do not believe in those principles.  As such, they are my political enemies.

[Alan Starcher]

JR -- thanks for your comments.  On one hand, we want the voting process to be secure.  On the other hand, we complain about the low turnout for elections.  I feel that any method to make it easier to cast that vote, can be advantageous -- as long as we keep integrity and security in the system.  I don't believe that the answer is to make everyone vote on one day, at specified polling places.  Take my example -- I would have to reserve a day off to make a personal visit to the polls each Election Day.  (Which I would gladly do, if necessary -- but can you imagine shutting down our society to cast ballots every time?  Wouldn't we have to offer everyone the day to their voting duty?)  This week I was called out of town at the last minute to visit an ill relative-- fortunately I didn't have to give up my right to a ballot since I had already mailed mine in.  So, what can we do?   How about the elderly shut-ins?  The people in hospitals and nursing homes, confined?  Putting barriers in the way of people who want to participate (or refusing to remove those which we can), isn't the way to go, IMHO.  In this day and age, how can we expand access to voting -- again, keeping the process secure?

[JL Gawlik]

I am so glad i did not post my last post, it is what it is. Sad really. I guess ignorance is truly bliss... That is great to hear about Governor Scott, i think it was 'Steve' who stated that the Governor was trying to take away the military vote by the bill which was not introduced by the Governor but by our elected representatives. Also someone pointed out it was actually the Democrats who got rid of foreign polling stations, i just assume they had their own because they are actually putting their lives on the line for our liberties and freedoms.

[FCTP]

Le'Nodd:  I don't see a Thug in Alvin Brown because of his refusal to answer questions some thought were important. That's my opinion.....I know BOTH parties demigod each other, but at least give him time to show us he’s a thug and not just assume he is one based on his successful campaign.

 

We didn't call him a thug.  We call him unwilling to meet with us or participate in the mayoral process with us.  Not one thing did he do with us.  And, Warren Lee, a black democratic contender for Mayor did meet with us and participated in the entire process.  Why wouldn't Alvin do that?  Because he knew we had strong questions to ask him and so he decided to not make himself available to answer them.  We asked the questions BEFORE his "successful" campaign which means he could care less about us and our opinions.  That is why if anyone who supports him wants to come on here and defend him - we will not buy it.  He doesn't like the tea party message and he proved that loud and clear.  Not sure why you are here either but hang on if you want.  This site is for those who can stand up to smart, conservative, wise, people who know their stuff and don't back down.  It is interesting you decided to join our site AFTER the election.  If you wanted to know what we thought before that so you could make a well researched decision on your candidates, what took you so long?   And, is this a question that doesn't deserve an answer?

[Robert Henderson]

Le'Nodd, there are several statements you made that deserve clarification and general rebuke! The first is that obviously that you don't understand the Tea Party Movement, and you know very little about the Constitution. The second is that you are not now nor have you ever been a Conservative! The third is that the Tea Party (TP) is exactly the opposite of what you like to refer to as a 'monolith'. It is the Democrat Party that is a monolith! If you don't go along with the party leadership, you are thrown under the bus. Does the name Joe Lieberman ring a bell? How about Pelosi locking-out the Republicans as they were cramming down the healthcare bill! How about 98 and 99 percent of the votes (legal or illegal) being cast for Alvin in the so-called 'Black Community.'

The TP, however, consists of individuals with individual perspectives but with a common desire for the Federal Government to return to the confines of our Constitution and function under the carefully defined enumerated powers! I personally am a strong supporter of State Nullification of Federal laws that are considered unconstitutional! The people and the States are the final arbiters of the meaning of the Constitution, not the Courts, Congress, or the Administration! In general, I believe the essence of the TP Movement is represented in the Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —"

Final point: Conservatism has many degrees, but generally it is a belief in the 'Rule of Law' and the 'Traditional Moral and Economic Values' that have proven essential in maintaining a Civil Society.

"It is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand.…You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments: rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the Great Legislator of the universe." – John Adams

"The modern state is the transformation of the apparatus which society developed for its defense into an autonomous organism which exploits it." – Nicolas Gomez Davila

[Debbie G]

With regards to Mr. Brown, I fear the liberal ideology that government is the end all to problems and that he will perpetuate social programs with our tax dollars liken to a bear gorging for hibernation.  In addition, once many of these programs are created the sense of entitlement grows and rescinding is almost never an option. 

We have to familiarize ourselves with the ordinances, state statutes, and city charter to be able to recognize over reaching legislation and/or policies.

[J.R.]

Governor Rick Scott has now signed the elections bill, according to The Florida Independent online news source at http://floridaindependent.com/

"Many of the law’s provisions technically take effect immediately. A lawsuit is already claiming the bill would unconstitutionally disrupt the last weekend of early voting in the Miami-Dade County elections, which are Tuesday."

This is good news for Florida's counties and good news for Florida voters, for it will provide some needed safeguards to preserve the integrity of the elections process in all Florida counties.

Many thanks to Governor Scott for making such a wise decision and acting in the best interests of Florida voters.

[Barry Lee Phillips]

Le'Nodd,

There have been thugs in politics forever.  For example, there were supporters of various senators in ancient Rome that intimidated other senators during debates in the forum.  Occassionaly, the supporters on both sides resorted to violence as well as verbal abuse and character assassination.

You still see this kind of thuggish behavior today in nearly all political forums.  This should not surprise anyone because people are passionate about their political beliefs.  You said you were passionate about politics yourself in an earlier post.

Political enemies once fought duels with each other over real or imagined insults in this country before it was outlawed.

One of the reasons I like this forum is that insults and name calling are held to a minimum.  But don't expect not to be challenged on any idea or closely held belief that you express.

Here is one of mine:  When anyone resorts to insults and name calling it generally means that person does not have a logical and compelling argument to refute the opposing idea or belief. 

One can always agree to disagree agreeably.

 

[JL Gawlik]

Well, Le'Nodd, i personally think it is very odd that SEIU, Moveon.org and Organizing For America was here in our town registering and providing transportation for voters and feeding them. Just very odd, we have never had that happen before. Very odd that Brown's campaign ran ads in Craig's list for supporters to come to our city to campaign for him at $400.00 a day with meals and lodging included. This was supposed to be a election for the people in Jacksonville, not for outside interest. Perhaps this will be a wake up call for those who have local voter apathy. This election was supposed to be local, not national. Those are my thoughts. It would be great to actually know the truth of it all, wouldn't it? It is going to be interesting to see what Brown does with the $700,000.00 plus dollars remaining from his campaign contributions which were over a million dollars the last time i looked.