A sad day.

I don't know if you have noticed, but I had not put a new post on my blog for a little bit. I have wanted to write about many, many things but I hadn't because I was still formulating what my real thoughts were. I have seen some things take place in the last two weeks that have just amazed me at what was being done. This morning after listening to the radio and realizing what has happened, it triggered me to the keyboard.

A local radio talk show host was fired yesterday by his employer. His employer has a customer that did over $600,000 in advertising last year with the company that owns the station. The company that does the advertising has an attorney that it uses that is also a candidate for the senate seat in Utah. The talk show host had endorsed the other candidate, even though he was seriously involved in questioning his past as I had pointed out in my last post. So, coincidence? I think not. The company that pays for all of that advertising is also a heavy supporter of the attorney candidate and is extensively involved in lobbying trying to get legislations passed to help its operation and profits.

In Utah we have a senate primary race between Mike Lee, a Washington DC related attorney and Tim Bridgewater, a successful businessman that has used government programs to promote his businesses over the years. These were the two winners from the state convention in May. I had been rather pleased with the way the race was going, no negatives, focusing on strengths, and good hard debates that didn't really show a lot of difference in platform issues, just differences in vocation and background. Then about two weeks ago it turned. Outside interests started focusing large amounts of resources into the race. Negative ads started running on TV, radio, internet, and mailings. Tim Bridgewater was being attacked by Mike Lee's camp and outside non-Lee groups. Other groups started coming back at the Lee camp with some ads but Tim held out of the attacks on Mike. Then the temperature really started heating up on the Bridgewater attacks and it started getting ugly. Groups that are not the Lee campaign office started really attacking Bridgewater with radio, TV, internet and print. Attacks that as I mentioned in my last post were against him using every resource available in his business. We all do it, we didn't create the programs available, we just use them. Hard to find fault with that when you really think about it.

Then on Monday of this week, some individuals started claiming with press releases that the Utah TEA Party and 9-12 Project were endorsing Mike Lee. I actually got into some extensive discussion with some of the leaders about how they could envision the right to endorse a candidate in the name of the TEA Party and 9-12 Project. They argued back that they had a majority of their members wanting Lee and so they could do this. When I questioned them about the fact that I, a TEA Party member and 9-12 Project member had never heard of this polling and that I was for the other candidate, the discussion vaporized and went away. Funny how lack of authority being questioned makes people slip away.

The TEA Party is not a political party. It is a movement that you voluntarily join and participate in to advance the rejuvenation of our country, government and political ideals that the founding fathers had. There are no TEA Party candidates in reality. There is no TEA Party nominating convention, official endorsements, requirements for membership, laws or rules for maintaining membership, and not dues, means for contributions, official leadership etc. So how could the Utah TEA Party officially endorse Mike Lee? Seriously, think about this! Maybe some splinter groups could have a large number of members that favor Lee and the leaders of those groups could claim that, but the TEA Party cannot! Leaders of discussion groups do have the right as individuals or leaders of their individual groups to claim endorsement for themselves and their own groups but that is it.

The 9-12 Project is simply an awareness project to get people to demand the following of 9 Principles and 12 Values that our elected officials and leaders in this country should adhere to and follow. Same as the TEA Party, there is no official leadership, no elected officials, no endorsements, no candidates, etc. It is a movement to get people involved in politics, to demand accountability from our elected officials, a way to make sure that the candidates running are worthy of our vote and that those that are elected are worthy of holding office. It is a way to help individuals become educated and informed about their candidates so that they can make informed decisions about who to vote for. Many candidates publicly and officially claim to live by these principles and values and use this in their campaigning. Fine. Great! They get the importance of this project!

I ask that those who are overstepping their authority and using self-imposed power to endorse for these two great groups to stop and to remember their role is not to be leaders, but to involve others so that we the people will have the say, not those who want to take power. So that we the people will have candidates in the races that we may choose from as informed individuals. So that the candidates for office know the importance of the principles, values and ideals of these two groups.

Anyone is welcome as a member of the TEA Party! Anyone can join the 9-12 Project! There are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, non affiliated members of both groups. This is what is meant to be! No political party affiliation, just the citizens of this country who are concerned about the direction it is going coming together to use the united strength in these two groups to make accountability to our Constitution, our country and the patriot citizens of the country a priority for politicians.

I still endorse Tim Bridgewater as the best candidate. If for no other reason than the fact that we have enough lawyers in Washington DC! How many 2700+ page bills can we take and survive? Have you ever known a businessman that would draw up anything longer than 25 pages? NO! We don't have time to deal with legalese; we focus on the operations and the solutions! Remember the times of Honesty, Integrity and Truthfulness? H.I.T. Yes, part of the principles and values of the 9-12 Project!

Members of the TEA Party and 9-12 Project; do not let self-imposed leaders with personal ambition take over the groups. If these self-proclaimed leaders have an agenda other than building momentum in the movement of restoring the greatness to our country, educating and informing the public about the candidates so that we as individuals can make informed, educated choices, then they need to be ignored.

The TEA Party and the 9-12 Project have awakened the patriots of this country! The movements have brought an awareness of accountability back to politics and they have brought to the races, individuals who endorse, live and promote the principles and values needed to be the foundation of the restoring the importance of our Constitution, restricted government and the ideas of the founding fathers of our country back to our government.

Register to vote. Make sure your family members, friends, neighbors and associates are registered to vote. Then, we need to make sure that we all vote in the primaries and general elections. Apathy and laziness will hand control of our country over to those with evil intent. We have allowed this to happen too much so far. Let's not allow it to happen anymore. We can still turn this around and restore our country back to the greatness we once enjoyed.

May God bless America and all those who struggle in restoring, protecting and preserving it!