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Activists look to call candidates to action ahead of Nov. 3 election
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Rally staged to send message to officials to protect constitutional rights of citizens
By Ben Orcutt -- borcutt@nvdaily.com
FRONT ROYAL -- Tea time is over, says community activist Tim Ratigan.
Ratigan, 44, who calls himself a conservative American with traditional family beliefs, is the founder of Front Royal-based Call for Action America. The group has scheduled a rally for Saturday in front of the Warren County Government Center.
"One of the reasons why we're holding this rally, a lot of people have mistaken this for another tea party," Ratigan said, referring to nationwide protests against Obama administration policies that call for a greater role for the federal government in American life.
"This is not a tea party," Ratigan said. "The time for tea parties is over with. We've got the message out. The federal government knows that we're angry and we have requested that they listen to us in the tea parties. That hasn't happened. So what the Call For Action rally is all about is to begin to lay the groundwork for 2010. This is a call for action, literally."
Ratigan says the group's primary mission is to find political candidates who will be constitutional leaders.
"Meaning of course that when a representative or senator takes an oath to protect the Constitution, we expect them to do that," Ratigan said. "When they are presenting legislation and when they are voting on legislation, the primary thing they need to consider is, is this constitutional or not?"
Ratigan's group sponsored a July 4 rally at the government center that attracted about 300 people, he said. Ratigan added that his concern with what he believes is encroachment by the federal government did not begin with the Obama administration, but actually during the George W. Bush years when the Patriot Act was adopted.
"The military is responsible for protecting the Constitution and protecting our national interests," Ratigan said. "There have been instances during the Bush administration where houses were searched and people detained without proper warrants."
Ratigan said the Halloween rally was planned just ahead of the Nov. 3 election, which pits Republican Bob McDonnell against Democrat Creigh Deeds for governor of Virginia. Some national political pundits have characterized the election as an early referendum on the Obama administration.
"We want to send a message, not only to the commonwealth, but we want to send a message to the White House, the House of Representatives and the Senate that the 2009 Virginia gubernatorial election is going to be a very loud reminder to all of our elected officials who really holds the power and that power is in the hands of the people," Ratigan said.
The Call for Action America Rally is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Ratigan is set to make some opening remarks, followed by Kim Bishop of Strasburg, a speaker from the NRA, and constitutional activist Suzanne Curran.
For more information, visit the Web site www.frontroyalfreedomdayrally.com.
The picture caption says: "Tim Ratigan talks about a Freedom Day Rally Event held on July 4 in Front Royal in June."
If the rally was held on July 4, how could that be in June?
Doesn't anybody read what they type? If you read it like it's typed, it's not very clear.
It should say something like: to be held July 4 or back in June.
Writers for newspapers these days!!!
Is this the same Tim Ratigan who is the Warren County Republican Party chairman for the North River District? That's what it says on the Warren County Republican Committee website.
Is this the same Tim Ratigan who was the cheerleader for the phony "grassroots inspired" Front Royal Tea Party? That's what it said in the newspapers.
Is this the same Kim Bishop who organized the phony "grassroots" Strasburg Tea Party? Will she offer Ratigan one of her Tin Foil Hats to wear or will Ratigan bring his own?
Are these folks still dragging around all that bogus Tea Party baggage, still begging the Tin Foil Hats to support their agenda? That's what it says on the Tea Party website amidst generous and numerous displays of the American Flag. Wrapping oneself in the flag is far removed from being patriotic.
On a good day, the far right or the far left might inspire 20 per cent of the population to jump up and down, waving their arms in the air, but always remember, to enjoy power in a democracy, you need 50 per cent plus one.
Historically, lunatic fringes never seem to reach 20 per cent of the population. Paraphrasing the declining rock group Spinal Tap, their volume goes all the way to eleven.
The point of public relations slogans like "Call To Action" is that they don't mean anything... That's the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that nobody's going to be against, and everybody's going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, because it doesn't mean anything. Its crucial value is that it diverts your attention from a question that does mean something: Do you support our policy? That's the one you're not allowed to talk about.
No, Mr. Ratigan, I do not support your phony baloney "Call To Action" any more than I supported your phony baloney grass roots Tea Party. You want a grass roots reaction, look to the residents of Shenandoah County who protest real estate assessments.
Tess, why do you think your protest is more grass roots than the TEA party?
Whooppee, sticks and stones. It's about time you grew up and learned to play nicely. After all, what have we ever done to you?
Ms. Bishop,
Your question to Ms. Stickels is an easy one to answer; You and Ratigan are seeking publicity by performing an organized P.R. stunt to promote Republican Party principles. The citizens of Shenandoah assembled before their locally elected supervisors and made their presentation for redress. They did not seek publicity; it found them. It was spontaneous self-recruitment for a common cause.
Ratigan and you are best characterized as a carnival sideshow intending to generate attention for national political purposes. In short, it is a wacky GOP recruitment drive to replace lost membership.
In Woodstock, everyday citizens came together, motivated by a spontaneous empathy towards one of their own to accomplish a common goal shared by each who will then return to their lives free of political encumbrances. They did it for themselves.
Your efforts to do good for the benefit of the community are becoming lost in a masquerade of deception, misdirection, and outright distortion. A core tactic of any wing-nut brigade is misrepresentation.
What do I mean by misrepresentation? Well, if I gave you a thumbs up signal you would mischaracterize it as a one finger salute.
Hmmm, not a bad idea given the circumstances.
It's amazing to me to be called a GOP recruiter, when I actually had Republican candidates refuse to come to the Strasburg TEA party because I wouldn't let them speak, because it wasn't meant to be a partisan event. Think what you will, but you are so blinded by hatred of anyone who disagrees with you, you simply don't look at the facts. My speech that is planned for tomorrow will be encouraging people to leave the two parties and vote for people who actually stand for Constitutional principles. You will never believe it, because you will refuse to do your homework. Shame on you for propogating lies. What Mr. Ratigan does is his business, but I am NOT in league with Republicans. Once again, you need to grow up learn to play nice with others. Good day.
Polls suggest the events promoted as tea parties have had little or no effect on changing public opinion to favor Republican positions on any issue, whether it be taxes, economy, health care, or foreign policy. Replace civility with acrimony and your supporter base shrinks to the hard core true believers, the ones wearing the tin foil hats and the far away gaze.
The tactics of aggrandizement of flawed minority ideologies using obstructionism, coupled with obfuscation by lying and misrepresentation, has proven to be a poorly planned, infantile strategy. Rejection of these tactics is widespread. Acceptance is limited when the proponents preach to the choir. By default, these like-minded supporters have become the only audience enjoying the spoon fed, vitriolic, fact free propaganda.
Tin foil hat folks will not embrace any idea, including their own, if it seems politically more attractive to scream ‘socialist’ at their adversaries. Considering what Republicans have to offer, people have left the party, (myself included) leaving behind not a pragmatic coalition but a group of ideological naysayers who are against universal health care, immigration reform, and renewable energy. When your side of the ideological debate lacks substance, you can not regain lost ground by obnoxiously yelling louder.
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