Liberal attacks on conservatives aim to stifle free speech

Tulsa Beacon

by Charles Biggs

Conservative, people who believe in the U.S. Constitution and those who organize and attend tea parties across the nation are being blasted by liberals whose goal is to shut them up.

These liberals (they prefer to be called progressives because voters don’t like liberals and people don’t listen to liberals on the radio or watch them on TV).

One of the attack vehicles is the ultra-liberal Southern Poverty Law Center. The name itself is devious.

The Southern Poverty Law Center was founded on the promise of universal civil rights. Sounds noble but what organizers discovered was that seemingly well-intentioned liberal causes make for
great fundraisers.

Here’s some perspective. On one side you have white supremacists and on the other side SPLC. One the extreme right you have the KKK and on the extreme left you have SPLC.

Now is seems the strategy of the SPLC is to paint mainstream conservative movements – such as the tea parties – as the extreme right, alongside the KKK. Anyone who has been to a tea party
knows that is untrue and probably libelous but the center is playing on
the fears of liberal politicians who understand they are not going to
be re-elected as they watch thousands gather at tea parties to protest
our country’s swing toward socialism.

On its website, the center states, “In the last year and a half, militias and the larger antigovernment ‘Patriot’ movement have exploded, accompanied by the rapid expansion of other
sectors of the radical right. This spectacular growth (see timeline) is
the result of several factors, including anger over major political,
demographic and economic changes in America, along with the
popularization of radical ideas and conspiracy theories by ostensibly
mainstream politicians and media commentators.

“Although the resurgence of the so-called Patriots - people who generally believe that the federal government is an evil entity that is engaged in a secret conspiracy to impose martial law,
herd those who resist into concentration camps, and force the United
States into a socialistic “New World Order” - also has been propelled
by people who were key players in the first wave of the Patriot
movement in the mid-1990s, there are also a large number of new
players.”

Bruce DeLay, a local pastor and radio host, personally knows many of the people on the SPLC “hit list.” I know some and have interviewed others.

Everyone I have talked to is a God-fearing, conservative America.

“Please look at who they have included on their list,” Delay asked in an e-mail to me. “Several of these people are people I know personally and believe in - and would Stand with in any
circumstance. This list attempts to link these fine people to every
wacko who ever made a pipe bomb, got arrested by the ATF or evaded
taxes in - the last 20 years. This is libel and needs to be retracted.

“If you are a Christian - it is time to stop playing church. It is time to pray. It is time to speak up. It is time to stand up to these worthless bullies in any way we can think
of. It is time to shine light onto their agenda of darkness.

“The SPLC must be exposed to America for what it truly is. They have a lot of influence in this current federal administration. Let’s allow their hateful aggression toward us - to
move us closer to Christ, and then bind us together even more firmly to
one another.”

Some of the people on the hit list are well known, such as U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann; radio and TV talk show host Glenn Beck and talk show host and former New Jersey judge Andrew Napolitano.

Former Constitution Party presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin, a Baptist minister in Pensacola, Florida is on the list.

The SPLC mocks Baldwin for believing in the literal return to Earth of Jesus Christ, who is coming for believers. It tries to paint Baldwin as a racist (untrue) by saying the columns on
his website have been picked up on another website (www.vdare.com) that
the center calls “racist” because it “bashes” immigrants. Translation:
anyone who opposes illegal immigration or amnesty must be a racist.

They hate Baldwin because he calls Islam a false religion and he thinks the federal government is too big and too powerful.

What do you think?

John McManus is the president of the John Birch Society. That group was formed in the late 1950s to battle Communism and promote loyalty to America.

The John Birch Society was vilified beyond belief for opposing communism and yet, with a basis of conservatism and Christianity, it is still very much alive today.

The SPLC attacks McManus for being against a world government, against the surrender of America’s sovereignty and against the shrinking of freedoms for every American.

Again, anyone who opposes illegal immigration is “anti-immigrant,” according to the SPLC. It says he is an anti-semite, too.

McManus criticizes the Federal Reserve for wrecking our economy and pushing for a worldwide currency (you know, like the one they have in Europe).

Again, it’s easy to know which side to come down on in a debate between McManus and the SPLC.

Larry Pratt and the Gun Owners of America (GOA) understand that the Second Amendment applies to gun ownership, not just for hunters for souvenir collectors but for citizens.

The SPLC can’t stand the fact that Pratt is adept at pointing out legislation that seeks to whittle away at gun ownership. It infuriates them when Pratt warns politicians that he will
let their voters know when they turn their backs on constitutional
rights.

It’s no secret that Obama’s long-term plan is to get rid of guns and Pratt stands in his way. The SPLC also implies that Pratt has inspired a gun-toting militia movement that wants to engage
federal forces and take over the government. That is just not true and
it’s unfair to even suggest that.

And the SPLC tries to paint Pratt as a white supremacist through association with nebulous groups that favor gun rights.

Right here in Tulsa, the SPLC takes a blast at Amanda Teegarden, executive director of Oklahomans for Sovereignty and Free Enterprise (OK-SAFE).

I have known Amanda for several years. She has been a guest on my radio show and was a favorite with Michael DelGiorno, the former drive time host on KFAQ.

Amanda is a wonderful Christian lady who got involved in conservative politics and is making a real difference, particularly in influencing the Oklahoma Legislature.

The SPLC calls Amanda “Tulsa’s leading lady of the radical right.” That’s really high praise because they label anyone to the right of Nancy Pelosi part of the “radical right.”

It tries to link OK-SAFE to the “antigovernment Patriot movement.” I know many members of OK-SAFE. They are not anti-government. They are anti-big government, anti-Big Brother and
against secular humanism.

The SPLC calls Teegarden a “radical” and yet it is forced to admit that she joined with the American Civil Liberties Union – an ultraliberal group - at an event at the National Press Club in
Washington, D.C., in 2008 to oppose the gathering of data on U.S.
citizens, including collection and use of DNA and biometric samples,
and to any federal ID legislation.

Sometimes even liberals know bad policy when they see it (even a broken clock is right twice a day).

The SPLC doesn’t like the fact that Amanda “has backed local conservative candidates in Tulsa.” The report claims she filed to run for “county school board in 2004.” Of course,
Tulsa doesn’t have a county school board – never let facts get in the
way of a good smear job.

The SPLC thinks that this is the worst condemnation of Amanda Teegarden: She also co-founded an organization called Oklahomans for School Accountability, which promotes teaching a
“biblical world view.”

Anyone who believes in a “biblical worldview” must be a gun-toting, anti-intellectual who wants to start blasting federal troops.

Maybe if someone from the Southern Poverty Law Center ever read the Bible, they would understand how these people care deeply for our future, our children and our nation.

• With all the new fertility technology , a 66 year old woman was recently able to give birth to a baby. When she was discharged from the hospital and went home, her relatives came to visit.

“May we see the new baby?” one asked.

“Not yet,” said the mother, who decided to have a little of her own fun with the relatives. “I’ll make coffee and we can visit for awhile first.”

Thirty minutes had passed, and another relative asked, “May we see the new baby now?”

“No, not yet,” said the mother.

After a few minutes had elapsed, they asked again, “May we see the baby now?”

“No, not yet,” replied the mother.

Growing very impatient, they asked, “Well, when can we see the baby?”

“When it cries!” she told them.

“When it cries??” they demanded. “Why do we have to wait until it CRIES?”

“Because I forgot where I put it…”

• A mother was away all weekend at a business conference.

During a break, she decided to call home collect.

Her six-year-old son picked up the phone and heard a stranger’s voice say, “We have a Betty on the line. Will you accept the charges?”

Frantic, he dropped the receiver and came charging outside screaming, “Dad! They’ve got Mom! And they want money!”

• Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Officer asked a young Engineer fresh out of MIT, “And what starting salary were you looking for?”

The Engineer replies, “In the region of $125,000 a year, depending on the benefits package.”

The interviewer enquires, “Well, what would you say to a package of 5-weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50 percent of salary,
and a company car leased every 2 years say, a red Corvette?”

The Engineer sits up straight and says, “Wow! Are you kidding?”

And the interviewer replies, “Yeah, but you started it.”

.