As we marvel at the idiocy of school boards and administrators who openly violate state laws of their choosing (Arlington school board originally voting 3-3 over recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance) and wishing to distribute condoms to grammar school kids without parental notification, it may be instructive to re-visit “The Professors, The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America”.

The Professors by David Horowitz was first published in February, 2006 and was republished with a new preface as a paperback in June of 2007 (Regenery Publishing, Inc., Washington, DC).

The book is a compendium of 101 mostly Marxist professors who believe “that political activism SHOULD be an integral part of university curricula.” (emphasis mine) Gone are neutral professors giving both sides of an issue, requiring students to engage in critical thinking in order to develop their own views.  Gone are the tenets of the Scientific Method and the search for truth, long held to be the touchstones of a classic liberal education.

Instead we have the following two examples:

Professor Michael Vocino at the University of Rhode Island who, according to one student, introduced himself in his first lecture as, “My name is Michael Vocino and I like **** ( a part of male anatomy.” He then asked a student , “Are you queer?” and another whom he knew to be a Christian why Christians “hate fags.”

Professor Frederic Jameson of Duke University, an admirer of Mao, who wrote in his seminal work The Political Unconscious; Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Art “the political perspective (is) the absolute horizon of all reading and interpretation.” Students are urged to approach literary texts not as works of intrinsic merit but rather as “socially symbolic acts.” In another text he bewailed the “baleful” spread of global capitalism.  In a post 9/11 forum he stated “the Americans created bin Laden during the Cold War.”

The introduction alone to The Professors is worth reading.  It reviews the uproar that ensued at Hamilton College when a student took it upon himself to let the world outside the college know that Ward Churchill had been invited to speak at Hamilton.  Churchill was a professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado.  After 9/11, he had written that the victims of 9/11 were “little Eichmanns”. His visit to Hamilton would have been the fortieth campus to which he had been invited to speak in the three years after 9/11.

Since 1934, the University of California “Academic Personnel Manual” had a statement that ” the function of the university is to seek and to transmit knowledge and to train students in the processes whereby truth is to be made known. To convert, or to make converts, is alien and hostile to this dispassionate duty”.  In 2003, 69 years later, by a vote of 43-3 of the Faculty Senate, this passage was removed from the Berkeley personnel manual. In its place was inserted  ”academic freedom requires that the Academic Senate be given primary responsibility for applying academic standards.” In other words, as David Horowitz writes, academic freedom is whatever the faculty says it is.

If you’ve got kids going off to college, you might take interest in their courses and syllabi.  In any event, if you read The Professors, you’ll realize just how entrenched the Left is in academia.

In an effort to promote and spread our conservative message, we’d like to encourage Tea Party members to write Letters to The Editor to your local papers.  Don’t be intimidated by them.  Editors are looking for your opinion so you don’t have to be an expert.  They are not difficult to write and are read by a great many people.

Editors prefer for you to respond to a previous article or opinion piece.  You can refute or support the piece or address pertinent facts that were ignored.  You can also address current legislation or an issue that’s been in the news.  You can respond to a positive or negative piece written about a candidate you support.   Basically, you can take any state or local policy issue or piece of legislation and apply the Tea Party Mission Statement.  Look for ways to promote the following:

• Limited government
• Free markets
• Free speech
• Individual liberty
• Personal responsibility

It’s not necessary to identify yourself as a Tea Party member if you prefer not to although most of us are proud to announce our support of the tea party values.  You may merely wish to reference the TP such as:  “maybe the Tea Party is on to something” or something similar.  Try to avoid social issues – stick with fiscal ones.  Social issues have a way of being divisive — even among Tea Party members.  We can usually all agree on the fiscal issues.

These tips will help:

You must include your name, address and daytime phone number with your letter. Instructions for submitting a letter to the editor are usually at the bottom of the page where they appear or on the paper’s Web site.  Find out from your local paper the best way to send a letter.  Some papers like them mailed, others prefer faxes, while others favor e-mails.

Do not send attachments. Include the letter in the body of the email.  Address it “Dear Editor.”

Make one clear logical argument. The piece should be in favor of or critical of a particular position taken by the paper or described in an article.  Support your statements with statistics, anecdotes or results of studies.  Editors cut from the bottom, so make your point at the beginning.

If responding to an article, cite the article. Be sure to mention the title and date of the article you’re responding to in one of your first two sentences.  For example “Dear Editor, Your recent coverage of the issue of the uninsured (“Healthcare in America,” May 13, 2005) was a thoughtful piece…”

Be brief. Generally, four to six short paragraphs are ideal.  It’s best kept between 150- 200 words.  If you can’t contain the piece to that length, consider asking someone to help you edit it or write a 750-word op-ed instead.

Try humor, if the piece lends itself to that.

Express your opinion with conviction and passion. But do avoid vitriolic or disrespectful language.  Such letters will likely not be published and if they are will turn readers off.

If appropriate, mention your Representatives and/or Senators or a candidate. This will ensure the message will reach them.  Staffers monitor media “hits” – sometimes on a daily basis.

Proofread! If possible, have someone else look at it.  They may find a mistake you overlooked.

Consider sending a similar letter to different papers. The letters can be similar but should not be identical.  Do not cc other papers in your email.  Send them separately.

Below is a list of the larger papers in the Greater Boston area.  This is only a partial list and may not include smaller community papers.  Also consider church publications if the letter is appropriate for such a venue. Please let us know if you find a publication that is receptive to our conservative message, and we will add them to our list.

• Andover Townsman (Andover) nfater@andovertownsman.com
• Athol Daily News (Athol) adn@atholdailynews.com
• Barnstable Patriot, The (Hyannis) letters@barnstablepatriot.com
• Beacon Hill Times (Boston) editor@beaconhilltimes.com
• Bedford Standard Times (Bedford) Letters@s-t.com
• Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield) letters@berkshireeagle.com
• Boston Globe (Boston) letter@globe.com
• Boston Herald (Boston) letterstoeditor@bostonherald.com
• Cape Cod Chronicle, The (Chatham) letters@capecodchronicle.com
• Cape Cod Times (Hyannis) letters@capecodonline.com
• Christian Science Monitor (Boston) letters@csmonitor.com
• Daily Free Press (Boston University) dfpletters@gmail.com
• Dorchester Reporter, The (Boston) letters@dotnews.com
• Eagle Tribune (Haverhill, North Andover, Lawrence) awhite@eagletribune.com
• Gloucester Daily Times (Gloucester) gdt@gloucestertimes.com
• Hampshire Gazette (Northhampton) opinion@gazettenet.com
• Haverhill Gazette (Haverhill) editor@hgazette.com
• Herald News (Fall River) pluce@heraldnews.com
• Inquirer and Mirror (Nantucket Island) mstanton@inkym.com
• Jewish Advocate (Boston) Stevem@thejewishadvocate.com
• Landmark, The (Holden) editor-at-thelandmark.com
• Martha’s Vineyard Times (Vineyard Haven) lettertotheeditor@mvtimes.com
• Newburyport News (Newburyport) mbuchs@newburyportnews.com
• Patriot Ledger (Quincy) editpage@ledger.com
• Reminder, The (East Longmeadow) News@ReminderPublications.com
• Salem Evening News (Salem) nbenton@salemnews.com
• Standard Times (New Bedford) Letters@s-t.com
• Sun Chronicle, The (Attleboro) mkirby@thesunchronicle.com
• Taunton Daily Gazette (Taunton) eic@tauntongazette.com
• Telegram and Gazette Online (Worcester) letters@telegram.com
• Valley Advocate (Springfield, Hatfield) tvannah@valleyadvocate.com
• ValleyPatriot (Merrimack Valley) (monthly) ValleyPatriot@aol.com
• Vineyard Gazette, The (Edgartown) news@mvgazette.com

No, we were not up against insurmountable odds.  No, we did not change a lot of minds.  In fact, many of you reported back to me that your call was the first your legislator had even heard of the amendment!  This is big news.  We showed Beacon Hill that we are paying attention, we do care what happens at the Statehouse and we will no longer allow them to rule over us based on special interests and tyrannical agendas.

This stealth attack on our ability to petition our fellow citizenry and our legislature to bring issues to the ballot box is a most sacred right.  When our legislature fails (or refuses) to do what is in the best interest of the citizens of the Commonwealth, we can take matters into our own hands and vote!  Some in the current legislature tried to take that right away from us today but because of our persistence – and our partnership and information sharing with other Tea Party groups, liberty groups, tax reform organizations, etc, we stopped them.  Not only did we stop them, we embarrassed many of them by being better informed and better prepared to defend our rights.

Here is the play by play from Statehouse News of what happened at the Constitutional Convention today -

CONVENES: Sen. Rosenberg gaveled the Constitutional Convention to order at 12:59 p.m.

Sen. Rosenberg recognized Sen. Menard, standing in the center of the well.

Sen. Menard moved that the convention be dissolved.

By voice vote, motion adopted.

DISSOLVES: Sen. Rosenberg declared the Constitutional Convention dissolved at 12:59 p.m.

I hope you are enjoying this moment as much as I am.  I ask you all to share this story with family and friends here in MA and beyond.  Let’s share this victory with newly awakened political activists across the nation.  Sure we lose some but oh, does it feel good when we win.  And again, this was a big one!

This is a powerful lesson for us all.  When we unite behind common principles that we share – limited government, free speech and individual Liberty – we win!

There are only two days left in the legislative session (Thank goodness!) then our legislators begin their 5 month vacation – which many of them will spend campaigning for another term and/or creating new legislation.  Go find them.  Tell them you found this attempt to steal our freedoms right from under us abhorrent.  Find out where they stand on all issues.  If they are deserving, help them.  If not, go find their opponent(s) and help them.  It is all hands on deck come August 1st.  It is time to take back our state – and our country!

Bring on November!

Melt the Phones!

From our favorite political activist, Barbara Anderson of Citizens for Limited Taxation, comes this concise and direct message to our current representatives, who are considering abolishing the Citizen Initiative in MA.

Please call your legislators, both House and Senate, with a simple “I’m not going to argue with you” message: Leave the initiative petition process alone.

“I would normally assume that the Massachusetts Legislature, during the last week of the session, in a volatile election year with many angry voters, would not attack the initiative petition process beloved across the political arena. Yet, there it is, Senate 23, a constitutional amendment from Cynthia Creme and 20 co-sponsors on the Thursday constitutional convention agenda. If passed by two conventions and the voters, it would add this language to the items prohibited by the present initiative process:

This is silly; our constitution already prohibits any initiative attempting to change the Bill of Rights. This language threatens all citizens who use the petition process: certainly it could be used to argue against all tax limits and tax cuts.

The only reason I take it seriously is it comes to the ConCon with a favorable report from the Judiciary Committee, not the Election Laws committee that usually gives an ”unfavorable” to attacks on the initiative process. Clearly proponents are trying to sneak it past all the groups who have traditionally opposed assaults on the initiative, and this stealth attack could include a quick vote in the ConCon during a busy week.

Well, now that we’ve noticed, there will be a fight as petitioner allies oppose moving Senate Bill 23 to the top of the calendar for that quick vote. Give it up, petition-haters; the people will not easily give up their defense against the likes of you.”

Please call your legislators, both House and Senate, with a simple “I’m not going to argue with you” message: Leave the initiative petition process alone.

July 12, 2010 | For immediate release

Greater Boston Tea Party releases statement on Senator Scott Brown’s decision to vote YES on Financial Reform Bill.

Boston – The leadership and members of the Greater Boston Tea Party, along with tea party and conservative activists across the Commonwealth are greatly disappointed in Senator Brown’s announcement that he will vote yes on the Financial Reform Bill.  After weeks of debate and a thorough investigation of the bill and its possible effects on the economy, small businesses, community banks and consumers, we are at loss as to what redeeming qualities Senator Brown found in the bill worthy of support.

Scott Brown promised in the fall of 2009 to stand up for free markets and constitutional principles.  A yes vote on this bill  – a bill that disregards Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, greatly expands executive authority and reach, creates a perpetual and permanent bail-out system and fosters the creation of even more bureaucracy – defies the commitment he made to thousands of activists and donors across the nation who swept him in to office in January in one of the biggest political upsets of all time.

Tea party activists will continue to independently support candidates and current representatives that adhere to our constitutional principles of limited government, free markets and individual Liberty.  If Senator Brown wants our continued support, he must consider how legislation he supports upholds these principles.

###

would like to invite you to the first seminar in our Speaker Series

featuring:

Loren Spivack “The Free Market Warrior”

A free society cannot survive unless the people understand what is going on.  Loren Spivack, The Free Market Warrior, has committed himself to helping an entire generation of Americans understand how economics works.  The information is given in straightforward accessible format, with the goal of preparing a new “army” of regular Americans ready and equipped to fight for freedom, in that area where freedom is most crucial: our economic lives.

The seminar is given over two evenings and divided into four parts:

1. Intellectual and Historical Roots of Socialism: Understanding its broad appeal.
2. The Intellectual and Historical Roots of Capitalism: Why we’ll starve without it.
3. The Source of Value: Two contrasting views and their implications.
4. Applying the Principles of Freedom to the Problems of Today.

Where: Woburn, MA 01801

When: July 21^st and 22^nd

Time: 6:30 – 10:00 PM

Space is limited so RSVP by emailing:

edu@greaterbostonteaparty.com

“Time wisely spent.” -Jon Reynolds, Charlotte NC

“This seminar is worth more than most college educations!”- Drew Kelly, Mooresville, NC

Our own Christine Morabito attended the seminar when conducted in Lowell and filed the following report:

Did you know that the theory of Keynesian economics was disproven long before John Maynard Keynes was even born?  Keynes just rediscovered and repackaged the kooky theory in the 1930’s and people thought it was a new concept.  Apparently, you can do that in economics.  Seems like reverse evolution to me.

Loren A. Spivack, The Free Market Warrior, has been busy schooling folks all across the country about the miracle of the Free Market.  His brilliantly conceived, flawlessly executed seminar is coming to a Tea Party near you.  I highly recommend his 2-part Economic Literary Seminar which demystifies economics and presents clear, common sense, free market principles in a witty and entertaining way.

Spivack champions the benefits of Capitalism to the world at large and explains why Socialism, while appealing to a great many people, ignores human nature and defies all logic and common sense.  Find out why sociology professors are disproportionately liberal yet the university’s football coach is most likely a Republican.

You’ll discuss the origins of money and how we don’t need the government to distribute it any more than we need the government to provide our healthcare.  It has been proven time and time again that the free market, if allowed to operate unmolested, can solve virtually every economic problem we can think of.

Find out Loren’s common sense solutions to taxes, healthcare, entitlement programs, and why he feels the government should get out of the education system entirely.

The uber-left have been ringing the apocalyptic bells for decades about running out of natural resources.  Spivack busts the myths about these doom and gloom predictions by citing examples like the fact that in 1910–well before environmentalism– the number of trees was at its all time lowest.  While trotting out the old, tired “But what about the children?” mantra every time we threaten to cut up the government credit card, they continue to squander the fruits of our labor (human resources) on studies like the one funded with a million of our hard-earned dollars to study prostitutes in Ho Chi Minh City.

Please join us!

***ACTION ALERT***

Senator Brown, JUST VOTE NO! Rally

Tuesday, June 29th Noon

JFK Federal Building Plaza, Cambridge @ New Sudbury Street Boston

We, the People say Just Vote NO!

Join us as we rally at Senator Brown’s office. The Financial Reform bill, written by Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, is headed to the Senate. Almost everyone agrees that action is necessary to strengthen consumer protections and reform our financial system. However, the current financial services reform legislation—the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 (H.R. 4173) will not benefit consumers or small businesses.  Instead, it will restrict our personal financial choice, burden small business and create a massive new bureaucracy with too much authority and little oversight. This bill supports Wall Street, not Main Street. Step up and oppose this legislation!!

Here is your latest update from the Greater Boston Tea Party.  As the temperatures outside heat up, so does the political climate – in MA and all across the USA.  We have seen some great victories over the past week that offer us even more hope and inspiration that voters across the nation are choosing conservative candidates that adhere to the Constitution.

Speaking of the constitution, we are all aware that Senator Scott Brown voted in support of the Financial Regulation bill.  It is rumored that he voted for it because of pressure from the MA Congressional caucus, combined with thousands of calls to his office from Organizing for America in support of it.  While this may be partially true, we have heard from Senator Brown that his vote is based on promised provisions that will be beneficial to MA businesses.  I don’t know how you feel about this, but a bill that has to be amended to protect business in one state cannot be good for the other 49 states out there – which means it is bad for all of us.  Read more detailed information about this bill –

Dodd Bill is just the beginning of too big to fail

I have heard from many of you regarding your opinions of Senator Brown’s vote.  I too am disappointed and perplexed that, as a supporter of free markets and limited government, he supported this legislation.  I could have sworn he was opposed to future bailouts.  But rather than communicate with each other about regretting our votes (would Coakley have been better?), how we will not support him in 2012, how we need to recruit someone to run against him and making promises to scrape bumper stickers off our cars, let’s contact the Senator and tell him we are opposed to this Financial Regulation bill.  It is not law yet.

Legislation that creates a permanent bailout – funded through bank and credit card fees that we will pay, that allows the Feds to take over businesses and that stifles the credit market via hyper-regulation is dangerous, especially as we continue to struggle to recover from the recession.  Regulation reform is necessary – not by creating more of it but by making the regulations in place actually work to protect consumers’ investments and encourage common sense business practices that have always brought success.

Call Senator Scott Brown – tell him you are with the Tea party, you helped to get him elected and ask him to vote no on the final vote.  (202) 224-4543

From a member – Do you think a $6 cost to find out if an applicant for state public “assistance” is actually a US citizen is reasonable?  That $6 check might prevent a lifetime of benefits to an illegal alien savings us hundreds of thousands of dollars of YOUR tax money!

If you agree, then support the Perry Amendment now being stalled by the House on Beacon Hill but due to come up in the Senate budget debate this week.  Your action is needed to contact State Senators to strongly urge them to debate and pass Jeff Perry’s Amendment.

Please contact your State Senator this week to ask that they support the PERRY AMEMDMENT to stop illegal aliens from getting public benefits. Find your Senator here.

From a member – On May 26th, 2009 State Rep Jeffrey Perry (Hmmm, see a pattern here?) filed the Mass 10th Amendment Resolution.   The purpose of the resolution is to clearly affirm to Congress and the President our state’s sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution and to demand that the federal government halt the practice of assuming powers and imposing mandates upon our state for purposes which are not enumerated by the Constitution of the United States.

This Resolution is presently in the House Committee on Rules under House Docket #4701.  The 10th Amendment is significant because it enshrines the fact that individual states are unique and retain their own sovereignty.  The Constitution does not delegate to the federal government an endless supply of power.  Why is passage of this resolution a good idea now?  Because many federal mandates are directly in violation of the 10th Amendment and infringe upon the individual rights of Massachusetts’ citizens – an example is the recently passed Federal health insurance reform bill.

I urge you to call the House Committee on Rules  at 617-722-2692 and tell them that you support House Docket #4701 so they will pass this Resolution to the House floor for debate and hopefully passage.

We need a big push on this effort due to a July deadline when the resolution dies.

You should follow up your call with a letter to the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules:

Chairman John Binienda

State House  Room 166  Boston, MA 02133

From a member – New legislation has just been filed – it does not have a number yet – also seeking to reign in the effects of illegal immigration on MA.  Rep Daniel Webster is proposing legislation that establishes appropriately harsh penalties on employers of illegal aliens.

With unemployment in MA still hovering near 10%, not to mention all the teens and college kids that cannot find seasonal work, the impact of hiring illegal aliens is felt statewide.  It has to end.  Employers to need learn they cannot cut corners by hiring illegal aliens – even if state mandates on employers are prohibitive (we should work on this next!)

Contact Rep Webster’s office and they will email you a copy of the legislation.  You can read it for yourself and then, as always, contact your State Representative and Senator to ask them to support it.

From a member – Congress once again ignored what Americans need and introduced a new gasoline tax as part of a global warming bill that also contains a cap and trade energy tax on utilities. Read more here.

Introduced by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT), this bill requires American oil companies to pay a fee to the government for their global warming emissions.  Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who helped craft the gas tax, admitted the fee “will be passed on” to motorists in the form of higher gasoline prices.  But Senators Kerry and Lieberman are offended that any American would dare call it a gas tax.

Don’t be fooled. This is a government requirement that will increase the cost of gasoline. It’s a tax. So not only will we have to pay more for gas, we have the added insult of Senators insisting that what we can plainly see as a new gas tax is not actually a gas tax.  The American people know better. And according to an American Solutions poll, 71% of Americans oppose this new gas tax, even if politicians are insisting it is not a gas tax.  In addition, this bill creates a cap and trade system that will dramatically increase the cost of residential and commercial electricity prices.    Even the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says cap and trade will kill jobs and reduce American productivity.

With one bill, Congress will raise gasoline and electricity prices, raise the cost of energy, and kill jobs. This is not the way to create jobs and prosperity.

This bill is wrong for America. Will you help defeat it?  Call your Congressional Representative and Senators and ask them to defeat this bill.

All legislative bills now seem to carry magical names that obfuscate a bill’s true intent. So it goes with Washington’s latest and largest power grab, U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar’s America’s Commitment to the Clean Water Act.  Its supporters maintain that it’s a simple addendum to Nixon’s Clean Water Act of 1972, clarifying the bodies of water that fall under federal oversight and jurisdiction. Its actual intent is to circumvent recent Supreme Court rulings that have limited their oversight to bodies of “navigable waters” so that they can regulate, well, just about anything.

This tiny little bill substitutes the words “waters of the United States” for “navigable waters,” and then defines the new insert as anything from a temporary puddle to the Mississippi River. The passage of this bill would sweep every conceivable collection of water into the federal regulatory net.  But that’s not all. This bill also allows the federal government to regulate any land “that affects any body of water,” thereby creating powers of unprecedented scope. Under this additional “clarification,” all water and land would fall under federal oversight.

Care to learn more about this gem? Read more here.

And when you’re finished there, you might want to share your humble thoughts (now) with legislators that are involved in this horrendous mischief.

I hope you will take the time to read up on these Action Items and make a call or write a letter – and share with friends.  Remember – part of our mission is to inform.

Pass the Perry Amendment Rally

Friday, May 21^st 5:30 – 7:00 PM

Quincy American Legion Post 95

2 Mechanic Street, Quincy, MA

Featuring

State Rep. Jeff Perry, candidate US Congress

Todd Feinburg, 680 WRKO

Christen Varley, Greater Boston Tea Party

Join us as we rally in support of

Common Sense legislation

requiring eligibility checks on all beneficiaries of state entitlements.

This is the kind of legislation the tea party can wholeheartedly endorse.  Why on earth should our hard earned resources be going to those who are here illegally, those incarcerated or those that are already receiving benefits?  If citizens of the Commonwealth are in need of temporary assistance, they should be receiving it – not waiting in line behind those who are ineligible.  Of course the state should have procedure in place to verify eligibility.  It is this kind of blatant disregard for common sense practices that will ensure a turnover on Beacon Hill come November.

Read more about this legislation and who voted against it here – RedMassGroup

Well, our House of Representatives sent this bill back “to study”, not to a committee. “To study” is the legislative equivalent of a dog “moving to the country” – it’s dead. They did this last year when Rep. Perry submitted the same bill.

Below are the roll call votes – check to see how your Rep voted, both in 2010 and 2009. Do not be fooled by election year political pandering. If it wasn’t good enough for them in 2009, when the illegal immigration problem was just as prevalent and the economy just as bad, why did they change their vote?

Head on over to RedMassGroup to see the votes for yourself.  Then call and ask your rep about his/her vote.  If they voted for the amendment, what’s next?  Will they continue to push for the law?  Did they change?  Why?  Why not?  The find out who is running against said rep and ask their opinion.  Why?  Why not?  These are important questions that require thoughtful answers, not soundbites.