Feds raid state political meeting, harass attendees

In what appears to be a wild display of overkill, federal and local police forces raided a political meeting in Bryan, Texas, fingerprinting and photographing all attendees as well as confiscating their cell phones, iPads, laptops, and personal recording devices. No arrests were made.

The Republic of Texas, a separatist group, was holding one of its regular meetings at the local VFW Post with 60 attendees. There was nothing illicit taking place. Yet according to this account in My San Antonio, an armed and armored force of the Bryan Police Department, the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office, the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office, Agents of the Texas District Attorney, the Texas Rangers and the FBI disrupted the meeting.

In the end, at least 20 officers corralled, searched and fingerprinted all 60 meeting attendees, before seizing their personal electronic devices in the raid.

In this video, Gov. Rick Perry says, “Texans know best how to govern Texas” as he commended the efforts of the 2009 legislature in introducing HCR 50, affirming that Texas claims sovereignty under the 10th Amendment. 

Seeing Red AZ is not advocating in favor of secession. But it’s a good bet that many regular readers of this site have attended countless political meetings of various stripes and cringe at the thought of being subjected to such tactics for exercising their constitutional rights.

Read more about the underpinnings of the raid here.

Illegals? Word police vandalize CA newspaper office

“Worst ever” headline “dehumanizing,” “creates hostile atmosphere”

So here we are mere days from the terrorist massacre perpetrated against the French

publication, Charlie Hebdo. Twelve people were slaughtered and eleven others wounded after the satirical newspaper provoked Islamic ire for running a caricature of Muhammad.

Now, in the U.S. where the First Amendment protects free speech, we read that vandals in California have used spray painted graffiti to deface the building which houses the Santa Barbara News-Press. At issue is the word “illegals” in a headline accompanying a report about the state of California granting driving privileges to people who entered the U.S. illegally.

The News-Press’ front-page report was titled “Illegals line up for driver’s licenses.”  It was accompanied by a photo depicting waiting lines at the DMV. With the passage of Assembly Bill 60, California motorists can now obtain a driver’s license without proof of legal residence.

Kudos to Donald K. Katich, the News-Press director of news operations, who boldly states that the newspaper has used the term ”illegal” for nearly 10 years and it is appropriate.

“It is an appropriate term in describing someone as ‘illegal’ if they are in this country illegally,” he said, adding, “When breaking the law becomes the norm, America is no better than other lawless nations.”

The headline led to a protest staged in De la Guerra Plaza, a small park adjacent to the newspaper. About 100 people turned out, including members of the group People Organizing for the Defense and Equal Rights of Santa Barbara Youth. They seek to assert editorial control by demanding the paper “retract” the headline, apologize and adopt Associated Press style, which, since 2013, has sanctioned variations on the word illegal, including “living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission.”

Seeing Red AZ covered the AP imposed Newspeak in this 2013 post. Count on this site, fixated on meticulous definitions, to continue to use the clearly definitive term “illegal alien.”

Small reason Republicans must win US Senate

Puny Harry Reid’s bodyguard physically attacks reporter

Journalist Jason Mattera was recently pinned to the wall by one of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s goons.

Mattera, exercising his Constitutionally guaranteed First Amendment rights, is the author of “Crapitalism.”

Reid, 74, a far leftist from Nevada, did not respond to repeated questions from CNSNews.com about whether American citizens who try to ask him a question in the Capitol hallway should be physically barred from doing so by Capitol Police —- as happened when reporter Mattera introduced himself, shook Reid’s hand, and asked him a question about how he became a millionaire on a government salary. Reid’s been at the public trough since 1969.

Read the full report.

 

AZ GOP candidates join Dem’s feigned outrage, Pearce resigns

Conservative icon Russell Pearce, Arizona’s former Senate President, knows all too well what it’s like to be at the center of controversy. Now as a  radio talk show host he has once again energized the left with comments he made on his popular Saturday evening KKNT 960-AM radio program, The Russell Pearce Show, which provides a forum for Republican candidates and expression.

The brouhaha grew from the expected ire of state Democrat Party Executive Director DJ Quinlan to include pilers-on from within the Republican Party as they struggle to distance themselves from his comments and secure Independent votes in the upcoming General Election.

First out of the hatch to join the Dems was Mark Brnovich candidate for Attorney General. Pearce endorsed his incumbent, primary opponent. Brnovich jumped at the opportunity to issue a statement saying Pearce’s remarks “are unrepresentative of the Republican Party I know. The notion that government would force sterilization upon anyone is counter to everything I believe about individual liberty and contrary to the founding principles of a free nation,” adding, “comments that demean the plight of the poor, including women in the dual role of mother and economic provider, are not conservative; they’re cruel. And I reject them.”

So what has caused the uproar that united some statewide Republican candidates (named in this Arizona Republic article) to join with the Democrats in denouncing the conservative leader? He is reputed to have said, “You put me in charge of Medicaid, the first thing I’d do is get Norplant, birth-control implants, or tubal ligations. Then we’ll test recipients for drugs and alcohol, and if you want to [reproduce] or use drugs or alcohol, then get a job.”  He did not call for state-imposed sterilization.

Pearce was elected to a two-year term as First Vice Chair of the AZ Republican Party by a wide margin of state committeemen at their January 2012 meeting, carrying the strong endorsement of then-State Party Chairman, Tom Morrissey. 

Now the current party chairman Robert Graham has accepted Pearce’s conciliatory resignation tendered late last night in this statement:

“As an unapologetic conservative, I’ve stood up for the rule of law and our constitutional freedoms. I love this great Republic, and have loved serving Arizona and my service with the Republican party. Recently on my radio show there was a discussion about the abuses to our welfare system. I shared comments written by someone else and failed to attribute them to the author. This was a mistake. This mistake has been taken by the media and the left and used to hurt our Republican candidates. 

I do not want the progressive left and the media to try to take a misstatement from my show and use it to attack our candidates. I care about the Republican party and its conservative platform too much to let them do that. Yet I have to recognize that hosting a radio show and the nature of the debates that we have had and will continue to have are incompatible with what our Party needs from its leadership team. For that reason, I am submitting my resignation as a Vice Chairman of the Republican Party. I will never back down from standing up for what I believe in and I will continue to fight for the principles that our founding generation risked their lives for. But I have no intention of being used as a distraction by the Democrats looking to escape responsibility for their failed policies. It is time to return the focus to where it belongs, and that is the direction that our state and country should be headed towards. Let’s get back to winning in November!”

The Honorable Russell Pearce, who has endured slings and arrows before, resigns rather than allow Republican statewide candidates to fail. The rest of us should keep our eyes on the ball, as First Amendment rights ensuring freedom of speech are being curtailed. Some Republican candidates who should be upholding them are joining with the most liberal elements to misconstrue and constrain them.

Democrats vs. Free Speech

Terry Eastlake, Executive Editor of the Weekly Standard, has written an important article revealing nefarious liberal schemes to undercut U.S. Supreme Court decisions relating to elections and our fundamental First Amendment freedom of speech rights.

The article, Democrats vs. Free Speech is a must read for conservative Americans desiring insight into the seemingly endless machinations of the left.

As an example of such suppression tactics, this CNS news report provides the background to the manipulative efforts of John McCain and his then Democrat senate ally Russ Feingold (WI) in their attempt to overturn First Amendment protections and empower incumbent politicians with the clout to prohibit public criticism —- virtually an incumbent protection racket. This specific case involved their attempt to silence Wisconsin Right to Life.

In 2008 the U.S. Supreme Court soundly rejected the assault on free speech imposed by the deceptively named “Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002” —- widely known as the McCain-Feingold Act.

In November 2010, Wisconsin voters rose up and ejected Feingold in favor of conservative Ron Johnson. Arizona voters were not as successful in their senate race. The alarmed McCain, unpopular with Constitution-based voters, dumped over $30 million into his effort against conservative former U.S. Rep. JD Hayworth. McCain has since been censured by state and county GOP officers and both he and his underling Jeff Flake have staggering low poll numbers —- the worst in the nation.

1st Amendment victory in AZ ‘Bus Shelter Ads’ case

Freedom loving Arizonans can celebrate Thursday’s Free Speech victory in the state Court of Appeals. The decision allows firearms expert and author Alan Korwin to post bus signs for his gun training business —- TrainMeAz —- without censorship from local government bureaucrats. 

After Korwin signed a contract with CBS Outdoors to place advertisements on 50 city-owned bus shelters, the City of Phoenix objected, informing Korwin the posters which read “Guns Save Lives,” didn’t comply with a requirement that bus shelter advertising only be used for speech that “proposes a commercial transaction.” However, city officials were unable to provide Korwin with any standards that explained what type of messages would meet that vague requirement. Ultimately, the city allowed reworded ads stating, “Guns Stop Crime.”

The Court’s opinion can be read here.

Background on this important case, all of the legal documents and the timeline can be seen here on the Goldwater Institute’s website. Attorneys from the Goldwater Institute, Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation represented Korwin.

Seeing Red AZ previously covered this issue December 3, 2013.

GOP elites backdoor amnesty, left uses intimidation

ACLU employs strong-arm tactics, bullying, deluge of subpoenas, in attempt to silence AZ conservatives

Far leftist New York Sen. Chuck Schumer —- the fellow amnesty gangster of John McCain and his deferential underling Jeff Flake —- was quoted this week saying that he thinks Congress still has a chance to pass “immigration reform” before the end of 2014. “Most Republicans, they’re in the vote-no, pray-yes caucus, they want it to pass as long as they don’t have to vote for it. I still think we have a chance to pass it this year.”

These words send a strong signal that conservatives must remain vigilant of our own Arizona Four. Polling shows that 83% of Americans are disgusted with Congress. This arrogant back-of-the-hand is among the reasons. It’s time we face the harsh reality that what we are being told at district meetings and town halls is quite different from what they are actually hoping for, and likely will vote to pass —- after Election Day. When constituent hoodwinking is on the horizon, Schumer’s words hold relevance.

Look at the facts:  The Texas Tribune reports that onetime Republican National Committee chair and former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is colluding with Democrats on what is now cunningly called “Immigration Reform.”  We know it by its more honest moniker “Amnesty.”

Jeb Bush tells us that illegals invading the United States come out of an “act of love.” His bizarre remarks are contained in this Washington Post article.

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, reveals the  lengths to which pro-amnesty groups such as the deep-pocketed ACLU will go in order to silence conservative voices. He describes intimidation techniques in Arizona related to SB1070: “Vast arrays of individuals and organizations have been subpoenaed by the ACLU. Ordered to produce “all communications” related to immigration and other hot-button topics such as voter IDs for a nine-year period are more than 20 current and former members of the Arizona state Legislature, public-interest groups such as the Center for Immigration Studies, NumbersUSA and the American Legislative Exchange Council, nine police associations, including the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police and the Arizona Highway Patrol Association, political groups such as the Arizona state Republican Party, the Arizona African-American Republican Club, the Arizona Republican Assembly.”

Fitton also describes the efforts to end a racially biased ethnic-studies program in the Tucson Unified School District. In 2011, Tom Horne, our Arizona Attorney General, was then Superintendent of Public Instruction. Horne appropriately found the Raza (Race) Studies Program to be in violation of statutes prohibiting the promotion of ethnic resentment. In public comments during the case, a former member of the Arizona Board of Regents noted that the Race Studies textbooks were “classical showpieces of Marxist-oriented indoctrination. They are about political oppression, incessant deprecation of anything not Chicano — including the U.S. Constitution, capitalism, and anything European.” Students were taught that “they are oppressed” and “principally not American.” Horne was successful in removing the racist, anti-American program that called for the American Southwest to be reclaimed by Mexico.

Fitton discloses retaliation and harassment were the actual motive for the massive deluge of ACLU subpoenas. Simply holding views different from the leftist ACLU and its clients placed targets on the backs of Americans and their First Amendment and privacy rights.

We recently posted “Reading between the amnesty lines,” which bares the Congressional double-talk on amnesty.