UNITED WE STAND

Some months back I attended a Tea Party in Corpus Christi, TX. The main purpose of it was to motivate people to vote at the midterm elections. I admire the work of the Corpus Christi, South Texas Tea Party so much that I actually became a member, even though I cannot vote in their elections. I participate in as many of their functions as I can. Because of the tireless work of the party and its members, Nueces County which once had only one elected Republican, experienced a historic Republican takeover on Election Day. The victory was in part due to the help of a dissatisfied public as the local party purposefully widened its appeal.

The most surprising defeat of all was in the unseating of Democrats in local and state seats, and the upset of U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz Sr., who has held the 27th Congressional District seat since 1983. I've waited years for America's silent majority to find it's voice. In my 65 years I've seen many changes, the Tea Party movement really captured my heart. I have attended Tea Parties since Glenn Beck held the very first one on April 15, 2009, at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.

On that particular day at the Corpus Christi Bayfront, I had persuaded my "non activist" friend to join me. It was a chilly, blustery, overcast day. We were surprised at the number of people who had braved the elements to attend, and make a statement. As the speeches ended, we all placed a strip of blue masking tape across our lips and walked across the street to the bay side. We stood in a straight line, with Corpus Christi Bay to our backs, as a camera rolled by and filmed us.


Our statement that day was to protest the government's and the media's effort to silence us. We, the American people, who have always enjoyed freedom of speech, were being ignored by the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress. Our grassroots movement was called "astro turf". Our protests were rejected and discarded. Comedians and pundits laughed at us, calling us obscene names. When hundreds of thousands of Tea Partiers marched upon Washington, D.C. to protest Obamacare and the increased Socialist ideology spreading through the country, legislators on the left, including the President, left town and refused to meet with them.


I often hear people express their support of the Tea Party movement, and it is a movement, not a third party as many in the media have tried to report, but how many actually travel and take part in Tea Party sponsored events? My friend Janet in California has traveled twice to Washington D. C. to peacefully, yet in great numbers make themselves heard. When the Tea Party Express was scheduled to go to San Antonio, I drove two hours alone, stayed at a hotel, and was standing at the Alamo the next day, along with hundreds others who had come from near and far to show our support and wish them well.


On Super Bowl Sunday this past January my reluctant but supportive friend once again drove with me to Houston to be part of a support Rick Perry Rally, and to see and hear the guest Speaker, Sarah Palin. It was a memorable event, as we stood in line, in the cold for hours waiting to be allowed in the auditorium. I think my actions, my money, my travels, my writings and my vote speak for themselves. I am a Conservative Republican. However, I am an American first, and I am most proud and protective of our freedom to express ourselves whenever and wherever we can, which brings me to the point of this writing.


Long before we knew who the GOP candidates would be, Two Sisters From The Right had a different forum. Back then we'd purchased our own domain and our format was very different. Sister Two is fluent in html and we were able to add links and signs to our blog that we cannot do now. One of our very first was a sign that encouraged Republicans to "Draft Sarah Palin." She was not a household word then, and we were often asked who she was. After John McCain became the GOP nominee for President we endorsed him as well, with the caveat, borrowed from Pamela Geller, "Because the alternative is unthinkable." We'd done our homework and we knew that electing Barack Hussein Obama to the highest office in the land was equivalent to sounding the death knell for the USA as we had always known it.


Aesop, a Greek slave and fable author, wrote, "United we stand, divided we fall." It is a saying that has been used as a motto by nations, and orators, for years. Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln were two Americans most noted for making it a phrase often quoted. After September 11, 2001, when we were attacked by Islamic terrorists, it became a rallying cry for Americans, and  it helped bring a wounded nation together. It is also a phrase by which this writer lives, from family to country, it is applicable and followed. 

Most recently I have noted a very disturbing trend among Conservative Republicans. If someone should dare to say something considered a tad unflattering about former Governor Sarah Palin, it causes certain persons to go postal. I've seen it happen when Karl Rove, or George W. Bush, and now just yesterday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, didn't appear to be as taken and mesmerized with Sarah Palin as others are. It is then that the detestable word "RINO" is used. Personally, I intensely dislike labels, and derogatory name calling. Just as no one has yet been able to define the word "conservative" in terms with which all can agree, the word "RINO" is used too loosely, too frequently, and derogatorily.  I refuse to use it.  It is indicative of a rift among Republicans who fail to remember that "united we stand, divided we fall."

Sarah Palin might be a goddess of sorts to some, but to many of us she's just another woman politician, albeit a charismatic one.  I am very serious when I say that it is dangerous to place a mere mortal on a pedestal as some have done with her. I like Sarah Palin, she is a strong conservative, she's politically savvy, she is enthusiastic and articulate, she has governing experience and has proved that she's an intelligent and courageous woman as well. She is also not flawless. Two years is a long time, and a lot can happen in that period of time. In order for democracy to function as it was designed, we have to increase the dialogue, and put an end to this immediate censoring and name calling of those who disagree with us.

We must be open minded and willing to consider the opinions of others. We aren't all going to think alike. We aren't all going to support the same candidate. We have to put the country first -- what is best for our country now and future generations. My California friend was not happy when Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman were the Republican nominees for senator and governor of California, but she said, "Even if I have to crawl on my hand and knees, over broken glass to get to the polls, I'll vote Republican." That, my friends, is standing united.

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