Bud Kennedy, an employee with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, recently posted a column entitled 'Some Tea Party, 912 Project groups look like same old political factions.'
Although Mr. Kennedy's column included certain information that was factual, the column also included certain points that were absolutely wrong. Of course, all of these inaccuracies could've easily been cleared up prior to publication had Mr. Kennedy afforded us the courtesy of contacting us for a response before going to print.
For the record, Dallas Tea Party and The Common Sense Texans Network are non-partisan, non-profit organizations. None of the people involved in either organization are being paid for their efforts, and there is no external funding for our effort. To the extent that we have raised any money, it has been from our own members. None of our leaders or key people are Republican consultants. Our members' identities and contact information are not shared with any other organization, and are certainly not shared with any political party or campaign. Those are the facts, and to the extent that anyone doubts any of the above facts, we would be more than happy to provide further information.
Unfortunately, Bud Kennedy didn't take the time to do anything even resembling research before writing his column. Kennedy remarks:
"Turns out I’m not the only person who’s leery of these fake grassroots activist groups sprouting on every block."
As a genuine bottom-up, grassroots activist group, we're also leery of fake grassroots activist groups. Of course, we suspect that Kennedy is inferring that Dallas Tea Party is some sort of fake grassroots activist group. That dog won't hunt. We're a bottom-up group of equal-opportunity offenders, as anyone who's been paying attention can tell you.
Although Kennedy's column includes a modicum of fact, he mixes it in with a fair measure of falsehood and misleading innuendo, such that a reader could easily arrive at the wrong conclusions. We thought it a good idea to set the record straight.
Robert Butler, Executive Director of the Libertarian Party of Texas, is quoted as follows:
"Republicans want to get ahead of the [Tea Party] parade and take it over...Their brand name is held in such disregard that they’ve started marketing under the Tea Party banner."
That's true. We're quite aware that many in the Republican establishment would very much like to get ahead of the tea party parade and take it over. That's why we've put in place a set of rules specifically designed to separate the legitimate grassroots 'wheat' from the astroturf 'chaff.' This, again, is something we would've been more than happy to explain to Mr. Kennedy if he had asked.
"Then, behind the scenes, their organizers are getting in there and co-opting the Tea Parties."
For the most part, that's a false statement. Despite the attempts, the people have had the wisdom to identify the astroturf. The 'co-opted' groups have mostly fallen by the wayside, while the legitimate groups have been thriving. Most importantly, the Dallas Tea Party and Common Sense Texans Network have taken active steps to prevent our resources from being co-opted by any partisan organization or campaign.
'"We have evidence that Republicans are using the Dallas Tea Party to collect names and information," [Robert] Butler said.'
To the extent that the above statement was meant to imply that the Republican Party or some other Republican organization is using the Dallas Tea Party to collect information, that is absolutely false. The above statement can be considered partly true only to the extent that 'Republicans' is interpreted to mean 'certain individuals who have supported Republican candidates.' Even then, Dallas Tea Party is not collecting names. For the most part, we don't even know our members' names. We contacted Robert Butler to ask him to explain his statement. In a follow-up message to us, Mr. Butler expressed his thoughts on Bud Kennedy's column as follows:
"I never said that you are under the employ of the party or that you are giving names to any other organization. You are reading into these quotes something that really isn't there."
So, when Butler said 'Republicans,' he apparently meant 'individuals who have supported Republican candidates,' rather than Republican Party operatives or organizations. In a message to Bud Kennedy after publication of the column, Mr. Butler wrote the following:
"I...clarified during the interview that any "evidence" we have is circumstantial and speculative, rather than a file of documents in my office. I understand that you may have cut my full answer for brevity and grammar, but I would have preferred that you explained that further."
Kennedy claims:
"[T]he Web site commonsensetexans.net, a sign-up and information site for 34 Tea Party and 912 Project groups in Texas, is registered to Dallas lawyer and Tea Party coordinator Ken Emanuelson, a Fred Thompson campaigner and veteran Republican organizer."
Most of the above is true, except that it isn't completely accurate to describe Ken Emanuelson as a 'veteran Republican organizer.' He has volunteered his time to help certain Republican candidates in certain races and has led a number of conservative organizations--facts that have never been concealed or hidden in any way. He has also supported independent and third-party candidates on occasion. Ken is a 'veteran Republican organizer' only if that means 'an individual who has sometimes volunteered to help Republican candidates.'
Kennedy's column claims the following:
"When you sign up for e-mail from the supposedly nonpartisan Common Sense Texans network of Tea Party members, you’re giving your address to a Dallas Republican lawyer and social-networking-campaign expert who has been an activist for private-school vouchers."
Here are the facts:
The Common Sense Texans Network is not merely 'supposedly nonpartisan.' The Common Sense Texans Network is non-partisan in fact and deed. As noted above, we would have been happy to demonstrate that to Mr. Kennedy had he shown any interest in finding out the facts.
When you sign up for e-mail from The Common Sense Texans Network, you're giving your email address to The Common Sense Texans Network. The addresses go into a computer database and not to any individual. Again, we'd be more than happy to explain that to Mr. Kennedy, should he care to learn.
The 'Dallas Republican lawyer' referenced in the column is Ken Emanuelson. Ken lives in Dallas. Ken is a lawyer. Ken has been an activist for private-school vouchers. He has also been an activist against tax hikes, against gun control and against illegal immigration. None of this is a secret. Whether Ken is a 'soclal-networking-campaign expert' is certainly open to debate. He's certainly not enough of an 'expert' to get paid for his expertise. Ken voted in the Republican primary for the first time in 2008, for the sole purpose of voting against John McCain.
We would've been happy to provide Mr. Kennedy with information on any and all of the above had he bothered to call us for a response.
Kennedy's article implies that the Dallas Tea Party has somehow excluded the Libertarian Party from involvement in our events:
"The Dallas Tea Party has not included Libertarians in events since July 4, Butler said."
We asked Robert Butler about this statement. He responded to Bud Kennedy as follows:
"In your article, you say that, "The Dallas Tea Party has not included Libertarians in events since July 4, Butler said." To the best of my knowledge, they haven't had any major events since July 4th that would merit our inclusion. The statement is technically true, but the article seems to imply a sinister intent."
Butler is absolutely right. We invited all local party organizations to participate in our July 4th event, but we have not had an event of that scale since. Thus, the statement, while true, is misleading.
"[Dallas Tea Party] operates the Grapevine-based NE Tarrant Tea Party, one of at least four Tea Party groups serving the Keller-Grapevine-Southlake area."
Again, this is false. For the record, Dallas Tea Party does not operate the NE Tarrant Tea Party. NE Tarrant Tea Party is its own separate organization with its own separate leadership. There is overlap in the membership between the two groups, and NE Tarrant Tea Party does use certain Dallas Tea Party resources to get its message out, but they are separate organizations. Again, we would've been more than happy to explain all of this to Mr. Kennedy had he bothered to ask.
In short, Bud Kennedy's article is long on insinuations and innuendo, and short on facts.
by MARLIN ZYGULASR 2010-01-01 18:14:49
by Donna Wilson 2010-01-05 15:58:39
by Ellen Lopez 2010-01-05 16:56:11
by Chris 2010-01-05 13:10:14
by Mike 2010-02-25 18:08:46
by Donna Starnes 2010-01-05 13:56:01
by 
Jandjluster 2010-01-05 16:41:11
by Ellen Lopez 2010-01-05 17:01:52
by Mike 2010-02-25 16:20:25
by Cindy Schumacher 2010-01-05 18:43:44
by Denise 2010-01-07 09:10:47
by Mike 2010-02-25 16:24:01
by Woody 2010-01-09 11:12:50
by charlenemckeever 2010-01-10 14:36:15
by Mike 2010-02-25 18:13:57
by Kevin Smith 2010-02-28 14:15:32