Radical Self-Avowed Communist Van Jones and Color of Change Attack ALEC… Attack Free Speech

Self-Avowed Communist, Obama friend & operative, and former Green Energy Czar Van Jones and his organization Color of Change was/is now attacking the  American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC is the nation’s largest nonpartisan individual membership association of state legislators, with over 2,000 state legislators across the nation and more than 100 alumni members in Congress. ALEC’s mission is to promote free markets, limited government, and federalism throughout the states.

The following statement was released by ALEC in Response to the Outpouring of Support in Wake of the Intimidation Campaign Against Its Members:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kaitlyn Buss
Phone: 202-742-8526
Email: kbuss@alec.org

Statement by ALEC in Response to the Outpouring of Support in Wake of Intimidation Campaign Against Its Members

(Washington, D.C.) April 12, 2012—Ron Scheberle, Executive Director of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), issued the following statement today in response to the support the organization has received in response to the intimidation campaign against its members:

“Over the last 24 hours, ALEC has been inundated with letters of support from elected officials, community leaders and concerned citizens in response to the intimidation campaign launched by a coalition of extreme liberal activists committed to silencing anyone who disagrees with their agenda.

“I am thankful for the support and want to take this opportunity to remind people what we are facing:

“First, the people now attacking ALEC and its members are the same people who have always pushed for big-government solutions. Our support for free markets and limited government stands in stark contrast to their state-dependent utopia. This is not about one piece of legislation. This is an attempt to silence our organization and it has been going on for more than a year.

“Second, ALEC is one of America’s premier ideas laboratories when it comes to advocating free market reforms. We are a target because our opponents believe they have the opportunity to attack an effective, successful organization that promotes free-market, limited government policies that they disagree with. We work to promote the Freedom of Choice in Health Care initiative against ObamaCare’s individual mandate. We support fair tax policies and tort reform. This is an all-out intimidation campaign designed to promote government-based solutions rather than the free-market principles that we have seen work.

“Finally, now more than ever, America needs organizations like ALEC to foster the discussion and debate of policy differences in an open, transparent way and not fall back on bullying, intimidation and threats.”

###

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the nation’s largest nonpartisan individual membership association of state legislators, with over 2,000 state legislators across the nation and more than 100 alumni members in Congress. ALEC’s mission is to promote free markets, limited government, and federalism throughout the states.

This attack is just another Team Obama attack in their ongoing war to silence conservative and pro-Constitutional voices in government and throughout America! If there is a problem with ALEC, how about with the Congressional Progressive Caucus and other liberal and Progressive groups in Washington D.C., in and around all branches and levels of government directly or indirectly and groups like the Color of Change trying to affect them?

This is not the first time that Color of Change has launched an attack campaign that has backfired:

ColorofChange.org attacks Glenn Beck part 1  -  part 2

Ask Marion~

Government to decide its role in U.S. media

According to Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman-CA, the government needs to step in and reshape the way America gets its news.

Now that the elections are over, many news outlets are struggling to make a profit and the plethora of websites that provide news has put a dent in the traditional main stream media, many of which are now begging for a government bailout.

Waxman claims that quality journalism is an essential process for U.S. democracy and argued that it was the duty of government to step in and prop up failing newspapers. However, many disagree with Waxman’s assessment of lagging newspapers, namely Fox News and talk radio in general. If one believes in the free-market capitalism model and a product no longer wanted by the public at large - the product fails.

Nobody will argue the media leans left in overwhelming numbers and since the country is a center right crowd, perhaps news organizations should tweak their product to reflect a true American market.

“Eventually government is going to have to be responsible to help and resolve these issues,” Waxman told a U.S. Federal Trade Commission conference on the future of journalism.

Free Press, a public interest organization, said “the search for solutions to the crisis in journalism should be premised on the idea that news-gathering is a public service, not a commodity.”

Keep reading:
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political...

There will be a 2-day meeting on the governments role in media. According to the Constitution they have no role.

We need to revoke Net-Neutrality, stop localism in media, stop the Fairness Doctrine and all other legislation that gives them any kind of in to the way Americans read and receive information… radio, TV, printed news, emails, books, Internet… Government stay out!

Glenn on the government on the Media, TARP, Spending Money etc

Mainstream Media Ignores Conservatives; WH & Dems Shun Conservative Input While Conservative Media Soars… WH Answer: Ignore Them for Now & The

Americans are getting it!! Conservative Media of all types soar. The White House response… silence them!

Media Ignoring Conservatives' Return to Dominance of Political Book Market

Conservatives are resuming their historically dominant position atop the New York Times and Amazon.com bestsellers lists after a short hiatus that coincided, not coincidentally, with George W. Bush's tenure in the White House.

While the mainstream media raved about a new era of leftist intellectual supremacy during the liberal ascendance on the bestsellers lists, the return of conservative books to the tops of those lists seems to be going unnoticed.

Amazon, which, unlike the New York Times, ranks books according

to the number of actual copies sold, shows Glenn Beck's Common Sense rounding out the top, with Michelle Malkin's Culture of Corruption coming in a close second. Ron Paul's End the Fed comes in at number seven, Mark Levin's Liberty and Tyranny is at number nine, and at number 22 is Dick Morris and Eileen Mcgann's Catastrophe, which carries the blunt sub-heading, "How Obama, Congress, and the special interests are transforming... a slump into a crash, freedom into socialism, and a disaster into a catastrophe... and how to fight back."

By Lachlan Markay - September 1, 2009 - 22:44 ET

------------

Bill O'Reilly Tops 'Grey's Anatomy,' 'The Office'

Primetime Cable Rankings Aug 09: Fox #3, CNN #22, MSNBC #25

By Kevin Allocca on Sep 01, 2009 07:02 PM

In August, Fox News was again in the top three for primetime in all of cable, which is seven of eight months this year. FNC was also in the top five in total day.

Network
Total Day
Rank
Primetime
Rank

Fox News
5
3

CNN
20
22

MSNBC
28
25

• Full rankings for August.

FNC had the top 11 programs in cable news for Total Viewers in August and 9 of the top 10 in the A25-54 demo ("The O'Reilly Factor," "Hannity," and "Glenn Beck" leading the way in both, respectively). MSNBC's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" came in #12 in Total Viewers (#9 in demo) and "Rachel Maddow" came in #16 (#11 demo). CNN's "Larry King Live" ranked #13 in Total Viewers and #13 in the demo. Fox News' strong showing in the demo helped make August their best month in primetime demo for 2009.

• Cable news program rankings for August (sorted by total viewers).

• Glenn Beck Wins Wednesday's Cable News Ratings Battle

• Big Beck: Goes over 3 million viewers, beats O’Reilly in demo: Cable News Ratings for Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Source: TVNewser

Posted: Knowledge Creates Power - Posted: Daily Thought Pad

DROP EVERYTHING AND GET ON THE PHONE TO YOUR CONGRESS PERSON – “NO” ON ROCKEFELLER-SNOWE CYBERSECURITY BILL

Obama has gone too far, too fast. The rails are being laid faster and faster. The excuse is internet security, but the real reason is information blackout to silence the opposition. In addition to trying to get control of the internet, Obama has installed a revolutionary Communist radical, who is an unabashed admired of Hugo Chavez in the FCC and he has his hand on the control of broadcast content. He has the power to pull the licenses of every radio and TV station in the land on just about any or no pretext at all. We are ceasing to be a Nation of laws in so far as Obama's breathless race to concentrate all power in the White House is concerned. At some point the Obama freight train is going to come roaring down those rails and they're will be no stopping it then. The momentum will be overwhelming. Obama's track laying has to be stopped now. Call your congressperson and let them know that if they voter for ANY Obama initiative, you will not rest till you throw their Marxist behind out of office.

It has become clear the choice is between America and Obama. The two are diametrically opposed.

Politics and Law

August 28, 2009 12:34 AM PDT

Bill would give president emergency control of Internet

by Declan McCullagh

Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.

They're not much happier about a revised version that aides to Senator Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773 (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency.

The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license.

"I think the redraft, while improved, remains troubling due to its vagueness," said Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, which counts representatives of Verizon, Verisign, Nortel, and Carnegie Mellon University on its board. "It is unclear what authority Senator Rockefeller thinks is necessary over the private sector. Unless this is clarified, we cannot properly analyze, let alone support the bill."

Representatives of other large Internet and telecommunications companies expressed concerns about the bill in a teleconference with Rockefeller's aides this week, but were not immediately available for interviews on Thursday.

A spokesman for Rockefeller also declined to comment on the record Thursday, saying that many people were unavailable because of the summer recess. A Senate source familiar with the bill compared the president's power to take control of portions of the Internet to what President Bush did when grounding all aircraft on Sept. 11, 2001. The source said that one primary concern was the electrical grid, and what would happen if it were attacked from a broadband connection.

When Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Commerce committee, and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced the original bill in April, they claimed it was vital to protect national cybersecurity. "We must protect our critical infrastructure at all costs--from our water to our electricity, to banking, traffic lights and electronic health records," Rockefeller said.

The Rockefeller proposal plays out against a broader concern in Washington, D.C., about the government's role in cybersecurity. In May, President Obama acknowledged that the government is "not as prepared" as it should be to respond to disruptions and announced that a new cybersecurity coordinator position would be created inside the White House staff. Three months later, that post remains empty, one top cybersecurity aide has quit, and some wags have begun to wonder why a government that receives failing marks on cybersecurity should be trusted to instruct the private sector what to do.

Rockefeller's revised legislation seeks to reshuffle the way the federal government addresses the topic. It requires a "cybersecurity workforce plan" from every federal agency, a "dashboard" pilot project, measurements of hiring effectiveness, and the implementation of a "comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy" in six months--even though its mandatory legal review will take a year to complete.

The privacy implications of sweeping changes implemented before the legal review is finished worry Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. "As soon as you're saying that the federal government is going to be exercising this kind of power over private networks, it's going to be a really big issue," he says.

Probably the most controversial language begins in Section 201, which permits the president to "direct the national response to the cyber threat" if necessary for "the national defense and security." The White House is supposed to engage in "periodic mapping" of private networks deemed to be critical, and those companies "shall share" requested information with the federal government. ("Cyber" is defined as anything having to do with the Internet, telecommunications, computers, or computer networks.)

"The language has changed but it doesn't contain any real additional limits," EFF's Tien says. "It simply switches the more direct and obvious language they had originally to the more ambiguous (version)...The designation of what is a critical infrastructure system or network as far as I can tell has no specific process. There's no provision for any administrative process or review. That's where the problems seem to start. And then you have the amorphous powers that go along with it."

Translation: If your company is deemed "critical," a new set of regulations kick in involving who you can hire, what information you must disclose, and when the government would exercise control over your computers or network.

The Internet Security Alliance's Clinton adds that his group is "supportive of increased federal involvement to enhance cyber security, but we believe that the wrong approach, as embodied in this bill as introduced, will be counterproductive both from an national economic and national secuity perspective."

Update at 3:14 p.m. PDT: I just talked to Jena Longo, deputy communications director for the Senate Commerce committee, on the phone. She sent me e-mail with this statement:

The president of the United States has always had the constitutional authority, and duty, to protect the American people and direct the national response to any emergency that threatens the security and safety of the United States. The Rockefeller-Snowe Cybersecurity bill makes it clear that the president's authority includes securing our national cyber infrastructure from attack. The section of the bill that addresses this issue, applies specifically to the national response to a severe attack or natural disaster. This particular legislative language is based on longstanding statutory authorities for wartime use of communications networks. To be very clear, the Rockefeller-Snowe bill will not empower a "government shutdown or takeover of the Internet" and any suggestion otherwise is misleading and false. The purpose of this language is to clarify how the president directs the public-private response to a crisis, secure our economy and safeguard our financial networks, protect the American people, their privacy and civil liberties, and coordinate the government's response.

Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for an on-the-record answer to these four questions that I asked her colleague on Wednesday. I'll let you know if and when I get a response.

Source: News.cnet.com

Declan McCullagh is a contributor to CNET News and a correspondent for CBSNews.com who has covered the intersection of politics and technology for over a decade. Declan writes a regular feature called Taking Liberties, focused on individual and economic rights; you can bookmark his CBS News Taking Liberties site, or subscribe to the RSS feed. You can e-mail Declan at declan@cbsnews.com.

The ultimate goal here is to silence any opposition! Van Jones, the self avowed Communist green Jobs czar is attacking Glenn Beck and other conservative radio and ultimately TV hosts. Now this guy, Mark LLoyd the Diversity Czar is attacking all our freedom on the Internet.

Posted: Knowledge Creates Power

Backlash Against Boycott of Glenn Beck – Join the Fight For Freedom of Speech! - Updated

Glenn Beck signs copies of one of his best-selling books for a fan. The campaign to oust him began after Beck remarked that President Obama is a "racist" after the president’s chastising of the Cambridge Police Department and Sgt. James Crowley for acting "stupidly" in arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates. (AP Photo)

A left-wing group’s effort to intimidate corporate advertisers on Fox News’ Glenn Beck show appears to be backfiring as it triggers a wave of support from grass-roots fans rushing to defend the popular TV personality from the attacks.

Even before the liberal boycott of Glenn Beck began this summer, the best-selling author and TV host had became a ratings superstar, with his 5 p.m. cable news program pulling mega prime-time viewership numbers. Beck also had become a lightning rod for liberal groups who didn’t like his anti-Obama message and his staggeringly large audience.

But now Beck’s fame seems to be growing even more as a spontaneous, nationwide effort has sprung up among fans to defend their hero, including Web sites, Facebook groups, homegrown e-mail blasts, and individual telephone campaigns.

The reaction in support of Beck comes in the wake of the advertiser-boycott campaign launched by Color of Change, an African-American advocacy organization with close ties to the Obama White House.

Although the group garnered some success initially, it appears that it is making claims that don’t match reality, with several major companies claiming they never joined any boycott of Beck’s show.

Major advertisers such as Wal-Mart, CVS, ConAgra, and Sargento have directed Fox News not to air their ads during the Glenn Beck Program, according to Color of Change.

The group probably would have been dismissed as a gadfly were it not for its high-level connections to the Obama White House. Color of Change co-founder Van Jones now works in the Obama administration as the president's "green jobs czar."

Beck has been a fearless critic of both President Obama and Jones, whose association with Color of Change was said to have ended in December 2007.

Color of Change Executive Director James Rucker tells Newsmax that his organization wants Beck silenced for his July remark on Fox & Friends that Obama -s "racist" — an opinion Beck voiced in the context of the president’s chastising of the Cambridge Police Department and Sgt. James Crowley for acting "stupidly" in arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates.

"It's preposterous and absurd," Rucker tells Newsmax of Beck's utterance. "It's insulting to black Americans, and it corrupts honest debate. Anyone who uses such a platform to spew such vitriol, whether Glenn Beck or anyone else, has no place on the air, and we at Color Of Change would use every resource available to us to remove corporate sponsorship from their platform."

Conservative Backlash

Beck's enemies on the left, however, have awakened a sleeping giant in their campaign to destroy Beck.

Like the town hall protesters, Beck's supporters are rising up to declare they're fed up and not going to take it anymore. And joining in their counterattack are some of the most respected voices in conservative media.

"Glenn Beck is to be congratulated," New York Times best-selling author Peter Schweizer tells Newsmax. "They only go after you when you are being effective — he must really be causing them problems."

And Rich Noyes, research director for the conservative Media Research Council watchdog organization, says, "I think it tells us a lot about the style of politics coming from the organized left and this White House. They want to be so strenuous in going after their adversaries that they have a take-no-prisoners approach. I think it would be unthinkable if conservatives, particularly those affiliated with the Bush White House, had gone after a media figure associated with one of the other networks."

Conservative icon and direct-marketing expert Richard Viguerie tells Newsmax: "That's Chicago politics. We're seeing the Chicago-ization of politics. We hear how dangerous it is for some of these people to come in the vicinity of the president with a weapon. Then we see the chairman of a powerful committee, Henry Waxman, issuing subpoenas to 50 insurance executives for their corporate records. That's how they play the game. They will use any method they can to attain power and then hold onto that power. They tried to do the same with Rush Limbaugh, but Rush Limbaugh is too big for them to handle. This is how Democrats operate."

On Thursday, DC Examiner editorial page editor Mark Tapscott wrote: "Funny, I don't recall that the First Amendment guarantees freedom of expression to everybody except those whose opinions the four members of ColorofChange.org find ‘repulsive and divisive.’"

Tapscott called on readers to conduct a reverse boycott against the companies bowing to left-wing pressure, who are pulling their ads from Beck's program. Those companies, Tapscott says, "are aiding and abetting a vicious, political campaign to slander him by an outfit apparently created for just such a purpose."

A reverse boycott is precisely what's taking place.

On Aug. 16, Beck supporter John Hill launched a Web site, DefendGlenn.com. Five days later, the site had recorded 1.9 million visits, racked up 1,033 Twitter followers, and garnered 5,800 user comments on its "Support Wall," Hill says.

"Let your voice be heard! Fight back against the lies and the extremist boycott of Glenn Beck," the site declares.

DefendGlenn.com provides contact information for companies that have pulled their advertising. It also lists and encourages the companies who have stuck with the Beck program.

"We launched DefendGlenn basically just to counter a lot of the distortions and lies that were put out by this group Color of Change, which we saw weren't being countered at all," Hill tells Newsmax.

Among the messages fans left on the DefendGlenn "Support Wall" to show their support for Beck:

"Freedom of speech applies to all speech, even those from the right," wrote Matt Elmore of Woodbridge, Va.

"You are not alone, but like Gen. Washington, out in front of the troops," wrote Michael Lyon of Estero, Fla.

"Never give up,” Leonor Godwin of Stephenville, Texas, wrote him. “They are trying to break you. You are our inspiration and our rock."

Hill also tells Newsmax he has received 5,000 e-mails from people who tell him they are canceling their Geico insurance policy because the company has joined the boycott against Beck, and about 6,500 e-mails from consumers who say they never will buy a Sargento product again.

"I don't want to do that," Hill tells Newsmax. "I think boycotts are stupid. But if they're going to join the boycott, boycotts work two ways. Earlier in the week, the companies were saying, 'Yeah we're dropping the ads.’ But as soon as people started getting in touch with them, they started denying they were dropping anything.'"

Other Beck supporters also are getting into the act. They include an upstate New York stay-at-home mom who became alarmed when she saw the orchestrated campaign to make one of the most independent voices in American media a pariah. Already a member of the 912 organization Beck initiated to recapture the nonpartisan spirit of unity the nation experienced after the 9/11 terror attacks, she created SupportGlennBeck.com.

The site includes a petition that states: “Through his radio and television show, he promotes God, family, and country — which resonates with a majority of Americans.

“There are some people who have an ideological problem with Glenn Beck. These people will not be satisfied until voices such as Glenn’s are silenced. For the millions of us who share Glenn’s values, there is nothing more frightening than losing our forum,” the petition states.

The growing pro-Beck movement has also reached social networking sites. One example: Beck supporter Doug Edelman of St. Louis has established a new Facebook group, “Defend Glenn Beck Against Thug Inspired Boycott.” During its first week, more than 790 members joined the group, which includes a statement of support for Beck and lists contact information for companies that are said to be boycotting his show.

Exaggerated Boycotts

The anti-Beck activists claim that more than 20 advertisers have dropped the Beck program. Hill and others on the pro-Beck side dispute say Color of Change has greatly exaggerated the effect of its boycott.

Many of the companies the organization lists now deny they have anything to do with the boycott. Newsmax contacted Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, SC Johnson, and Radio Shack, all of which said they have not directed Fox News to pull their ads from the Glenn Beck Program, as Color of Change has stated.

In fact, these companies’ representatives tell Newsmax that, as a matter of corporate policy, they never did advertise on the Glenn Beck Program and ask how they could boycott a program they never placed an ad on in the first place.

Another company, State Farm, tells Newsmax that its ad was never supposed to air on the Glenn Beck Program. State Farm has a longstanding company policy against advertising on any "political or opinion programming," its spokesman says.

Having discovered the error, State Farm says, it will not be advertising on any cable talk show. And it is careful to emphasize it is not singling out Beck in this regard.

As State Farm’s response suggests, the net effect of the anti-Beck crusade probably will be fewer advertisers willing to advertise on the talk shows of any cable network.

Consider, for example, the corporate response from Clorox. On Thursday, company executives wrote Hill stating: “After a comprehensive review of political talk shows across the spectrum, at this time we have made a decision not to advertise on political talk shows.”

Assuming the pro-Beck backlash continues, that probably means the activist campaign intended to hurt Beck will, ironically, damage Beck’s progressive competitors more than it hurts him.

Lost ads will impact smaller networks such as MSNBC far more than it will affect ratings juggernaut Fox News, industry sources say.

Nearly 2.5 million viewers tuned in to Beck’s show in its 5 p.m. Eastern time slot last week, according to Mediabistro’s TV Newser. Beck’s ratings on Fox exceeded those of CNN, MSNBC, and Headline News combined.

All of which calls into question whether advertiser boycotts work anyway.

“It’s funny because I think their calculation is that by going after advertisers they are going to affect his bottom line,” Schweizer says. “But this is a common misperception of liberals. Beck isn’t in this for the money. So even if they could succeed, they won’t silence him.”

Michael Harrison has seen plenty of media campaigns come and go as publisher of Talkers Magazine. “My guess,” he says, “is he will weather this storm.”

“Beck expected to get hostile feedback, and a whole bunch of publicity, and he succeeded on both counts,” Harrison says. “People have the right to be offended and businesses have the right to spend their advertising dollars however they choose. Free speech guarantees the right of having an opinion without government censorship. It doesn’t guarantee that people won’t be angry and withhold their support. The free marketplace of ideas is not for the faint hearted!”

And for ratings giant Fox, Beck’s remarkable connection with viewers has made the free market a profitable one indeed. “The advertisers referenced have all moved their spots from Beck to other programs on the network,” a Fox spokesman recently told Ad Age, “so there is no revenue lost.”

By: David A. Patten

Below are companies listed on the DefendGlenn site as having joined the Color of Change boycott against Glenn Beck:

Ally Bank

President and CEO Mark B. Hales

(877) 247-2559

6985 Union Park Center

Midvale, Utah 84047

-------------------

Broadview Security (Brinks)

Robert B. Allen

(800) 445-0872

8880 Esters Blvd,

Irving, Texas 75063

-------------------

CVS Caremark Corp.

Thomas M. Ryan

(401) 765-1500

One CVS Drive

Woonsocket, R.I. 02895

------------------

Geico

Chairman and CEO Tony Nicely

(800) 861-8380

5260 Western Ave.

Chevy Chase, Md. 20815

-------------------

Healthy Choice Foods

A subsidiary of

ConAgra Foods Inc.

President and CEO Gary M. Rodkin

(402) 595-4000

1 ConAgra Drive

Omaha, Neb. 68102-5001

-------------------

Lawyers.com

A subsidiary of

LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell

CEO Andrew Prozes

(800) 526-4902

121 Chanlon Road

New Providence, N.J. 07974

-------------------

Men's Wearhouse

Chairman and CEO George Zimmer

(281) 776-7200

6380 Rogerdale Road

Houston, Texas 77072

-------------------

Sanofi-Aventis U.S.

President and CEO Gregory Irace

(800) 981-2491

55 Corporate Drive

Bridgewater, N.J. 08807

-------------------

Sargento Foods Inc.

Chairman and CEO Louis Gentine

(800) 243-3737

One Persnickety Place

Plymouth, Wis. 53073

-------------------

State Farm

Chairman and CEO Edward B. Rust Jr.

(877) 734-2265 (Ask for a “Representative”)

1 State Farm Plaza

Bloomington, Ill. 61710-0001

© 2009 Newsmax

Here's an idea: let's drop the companies that want to drop Beck!

------------------

Conservatives Defend Glenn Beck

Posted by: Matt Lewis at 9:23 AM

As several large corporations join the boycott of Glenn Beck, conservatives are rallying to his defense.
Institute for Liberty Senior Fellow in Law and Regulation Horace Cooper, JD, has created a FIGHT FOR GLENN BECK websiteas "a place for those of us who support him to speak out."
Conservative bloggers have are also defending Beck. For example, RedState's Erick Erickson is calling on conservatives to join a counter-boycott, writing,

This left wing campaign is being orchestrated by a group started by Obama’s Green Jobs Czar, Van Jones.

If they are successful, they will move beyond Beck to others.

Two of the companies, GEICO and Progressive, are run by liberals. But that’s not the case with all the others.

The best response is to remind all of these companies that there will be repercussions from our side if they are so willing to become pawns of the left.

My personal position on Glenn Beck -- as I discussed on CBN last night (watch here and skip to the 00:15:15 time mark) -- is a bit more nuanced than most. While I understand the need for conservatives to defend him, I also have always viewed him as being much closer to P.T. Barnum than to William F. Buckley. That doesn't mean I would support a boycott against his show -- far from it -- but it does make me wonder how much political capital is worth expending.

So the question is: Should conservatives go to the mat to defend Glenn Beck?

The answer: Absolutely!!!

This is a fight not only for Glenn Beck; it is a fight for the Freedom of Speech. Remember today it is Glenn Beck, tomorrow it will be you!!

Related Posts:

• Free Speech Under Siege
• Glenn Beck’s Show a Phenomenal Ratings Hit
• Sorry, Fox News Boycotters – Glenn Beck’s Not Going Anywhere
• Leftists Ramping Up Their Efforts to Stop Beck
• Desperate Lies and a Failing Campaign
• ‘Stand up for Freedom of Speech’ – Call and Email Beck Advertisers to Stay with Him!! – Whether You Are A Beck Fan of Not!!!!
• War Erupts over Glenn Beck TV Show: Fans Fight Back
• Glenn Beck’s Hate Speech Brought to you By…
• Radio Under Attack for Political Purposes… Obama Appoints Talk Radio Czar
• Obama-Linked Activists Targeting Glenn Beck in Boycott Campaign - (Part 2)
• CNN Bans Talk Radio Hosts… As Guests
• Randy Hemingway’s Blog » Hot Air » Blog Archive » Fairness Doctrine Raises Its Ugly Head Under New FCC “Diversity Czar”

Always remember, whether you like or agree Glenn Beck or not, whether you like or agree with Chris Wallace or not or whether the Supreme Court liked or agreed with Larry Flint, publisher of Hustler Magazine, it is the Freedom and Right, the Freedom of Speech, that we must all stand up for and defend, every time it is attacked… and especially when it is attacked by our government!!!

Posted: Knowledge Creates Power – Cross Posted – Daily Thought Pad

Companies Just Added to Boycott :

The new companies distancing themselves from Beck include:

Airware Inc. (makers of Brez anti-snoring aids)

Ancestry.com, AT&T

Blaine Labs Inc.

Campbell Soup Company

Clorox

Ditech

The Elations Company

Experian (creator of FreeCreditReport.com)

Farmers Insurance Group

Johnson & Johnson (makers of Tylenol)

Lowe's

NutriSystem

Sprin,

The UPS Store

Verizon Wireless

‘Stand up for Freedom of Speech’ – Call and Email Beck Advertisers to Stay with Him!! – Whether You Are A Beck Fan or Not!!!

Newsmax made several attempts to reach some of the companies that reportedly dropped their support for the Beck program. As of Tuesday evening, those calls had not been returned. One thing that's clear is the controversial hasn't dented the popularity of Beck's program. On Tuesday, for example, overnight Nielsen's showed The Glenn Beck Program attracted over 2.3 million viewers — more than CNN, MSNBC, and Headline News combined.

Beck supporters are distributing the contact information for officials at two companies that have stopped their advertising. They are:

Progressive Insurance

Mr. Glenn Renwick, President & CEO

440-461-5000

Ms. Linda Harris, Advertising & Sponsorships

E-mail: linda_j._harris@progressive.com

GEICO

Mr. Tony Nicely

Chairman, President & CEO, Insurance Operations

E-mail: tnicely@geico.com

301-986-2462

Chris Tasher, GEICO Media Relations

301-986-3271

E-mail: ctasher@geico.com

Some Beck supporters say they're also calling his current advertisers, encouraging them to continue supporting the program.

Related Resources:

• War Erupts over Glenn Beck TV Show: Fans Fight Back
• Glenn Beck’s Hate Speech Brought to you By…
• Radio Under Attack for Political Purposes… Obama Appoints Talk Radio Czar
• Obama-Linked Activists Targeting Glenn Beck in Boycott Campaign - (Part 2)
• CNN Bans Talk Radio Hosts… As Guests
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Posted: Knowledge Creates Power

Obama supporters shut down Atlanta tea party

A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA - Obama supporters shut down Atlanta tea party
Wait until days before event to object to 'political' nature

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President Obama may restrict his reaction to the nationwide tea party movement whereby tens of thousands of people are objecting to the spending spree on which the U.S. government has embarked under his leadership, but some of his supporters are taking more direct action: using an easement agreement to cancel a July 4th event scheduled on private property in Atlanta.

Jason Lee at the American Thinker blog describes the situation that has developed for the 20,000 people expected to meet in Atlanta on July 4.

There, organizers had been working since March with officials to set up the tea party event in a parking lot of an old Macy's building at Gwinnett Place Mall, owned by Simon Properties Group.

Then only days ago, mall officials objected, giving organizers no opportunity to find a replacement location and no choice but to cancel.

On its website, the Atlanta tea party organization said it was an "objection" from Gwinnett Place Mall that triggered the collapse of its plans.

"It is unfortunate the event had to be canceled," said Julianne Thompson, event co-organizer.

She continued, "The old Macy's building is on private property, and not owned by Simon Malls, however the mall manager asked the property owner and [me] to come in the office on Thursday of this week, and told us Simon does not want political events on its property. They were also concerned about the fact we were using the term 'protest.' Although the event was on private property, the mall was able to assert authority on the matter due to reciprocal property easement agreements."

Event co-chair Debbie Dooley stated, "Our Atlanta Tea Party team tried for the next day and a half to find an alternative location large enough for the event, and with the proper layout for our vendors, children's activities, and fireworks show, but we could not find anything suitable that would have been available on July 4th."

Added Lee, "With just a few days left until the Fourth of July Tea Parties begin, this is very unfortunate timing! One wonders why Simon Property Group waited until now to interfere."

But he also connected the dots for those who really wonder:

1. Gwinnett Place Mall shut down the Atlanta Tea Party.
2. Simon Property Group owns Gwinnett Place Mall.
3. Melvin Simon (a Forbes 400 billionaire) is co-chairman of Simon Property Group, Inc.
4. Melvin Simon has provided large political contributions to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Al Franken, John Edwards, the DNC and many other Democrats and Democrat organizations.
5. Melvin Simon was a major contributor to Barack Obama's inaugural committee and has given at least $1 million to the William J. Clinton foundation.
6. Melvin's wife, Bren, personally donated almost $100,000 to various political candidates, was a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid and contributed to President Obama's inaugural committee.

According to Bob Owens at Pajamas Media, the evidence of the motive also was clear.

"The apparent plot was uncovered when blogger and radio talk show host Andrea Shea King noticed an unusual amount of traffic coming to her site earlier this month," he wrote.

"On June 16, Andrea Shea King e-mailed me, questioning a heavy burst of Sitemeter traffic coming from Simon.com. She included screencaps of the traffic," he wrote.

One screen shot has been embedded, revealing extended visits from Simon.com:

Owens said the computer readouts showed the Simon.com visitors were looking at anywhere from 20-44 pages on King's site and remained there 22-55 minutes.

"Obviously, they were very interested," he wrote.

He said King reached out to him because one of the pages the Simon.com visitors were watching on her site was a March 1 commentary that linked to one of his own – a story about the shortage of certain firearms and ammunition in the U.S.

Among his closing comments there was, "An increasing number of people are openly expressing that the reason they are stocking up on ammunition is that they fear the actions of our federal government. These are people who have never been radicals, most could generally care less about politics, and many have never even dreamed of owning guns until now.

"And while it will no doubt come as a surprise to those who would like to perpetrate the stereotype of gun owners as rural and uneducated — the kind that bitterly cling to their guns and Bibles as someone once scornfully said — anecdotal evidence suggests many new gun owners are minorities, and all social classes are purchasing firearms and ammunition," he said.

"While we seem to have a tea party movement growing nationwide as people voice their dissatisfaction with our power-mad, spending-crazed government by calling on the symbolism of the acts of Patriots in Boston Harbor more than two hundred years ago, I suspect those protests are hiding a deeper resentment and fears about the competency and goals of our federal leaders."

After the first round of tea party events, on Tax Day April 15, Obama displayed indifference toward those concerned about spending, as shown in this YouTube video:

He referenced "folks waving tea bags around" and said, "Let's not play games and pretend the reason is because of the Recovery Act (federal spending plan)."

Kim Priestap at the Wizbangblog wasn't convinced that he was as aloof as he tried to appear.

"When you watch the video, pay close attention to the tension in his face and the tone of his voice when he talks about the tea party protesters and 'certain news channels.' This massive tea party protest really got in his craw. Don't believe it when others say he didn't know about the protests. He knew. And he didn't like it one bit," Priestap wrote.

On a blog forum page, a participant wrote: "It is again a very scary example of the lengths the left will go to silence the voices that don't agree with the people in power. Be very afraid of your government. I wouldn't be surprised if it comes to light that the owners are personal friends of someONE."

At FaultlineUSA, Jim Simpson wrote, "Please urge everyone you know to participate in this boycott. Please contact Simon Properties to express your outrage and urge those of your friends who care about freedom to do the same. Following is the contact information for Gwinnett Place Mall and a form letter you can use in whole or in part if you wish."

Les Morris, a spokesman for Gwinnett Place, released the following statement to WND about the plans for adjacent private property:

"Gwinnett Place Mall is not public property, but is privately owned. In order to preserve the shopping experience for all guests, it is our standing policy not to permit political protests or rallies on mall property. To clarify the timing of our decision, mall management was not notified of the event or contacted for approval on event plans until just last week."

Posted: June 26, 2009
12:00 am Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

WND readers have been sending information on upcoming tea parties. Tea Party Patriots lists events by state on its website. Most of more than 400 following protests are planned by national organizer Amy Kremer and her Tea Party Patriots team. Or go to World Net Daily for full listings.

Source: Fox Nation

Posted: Knowledge Creates Power