Mike Lee, Photo courtesy of United Liberty
The attacks on Senator Mike Lee have been steady and well thought out. This is a tactical strategy put out by those who want to take away his seat. It all begins with Bob Bennett, Mike Leavitt and his CMV group, Thomas Wright (who is considering a run against Lee), and helped with the backing of the Romney’s, with the Mitt Romney anti-Mike Lee rants put out in his recent tour around the state. Top that off with a polling company that uses data from a focus group that wants to make YOU feel that this is all real. We will go down that rabbit hole another time. (Quinn Monson)
Mike Leavitt, Photo courtesy of Lawrence Jackson / AP
Thomas Wright, Photo courtesy of The Salt Lake Tribune
Now, those are all well-known names. You trust them, right?
Well, you shouldn’t.
What is in it for you? Nothing. What is in it for them? Power! Let’s be honest, this isn’t Republican or Democrat either. After Bob Bennett lost to Mike Lee and Tim Bridgewater, we had a primary, and Mike Lee won that.
Then Bob Bennett’s son went on the campaign for the Democrat in the race. That is funny.
So don’t think the Republican ideals really mean that much to many in the party. They don’t. But the power … that means something, and they will do anything to maintain it. The people can and should take this power back.
Here’s the deal. Mike Lee is a constitutional scholar. He isn’t playing the DC game, and all sides of the aisle are frustrated by that. He was actually elected to end The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Stop it however he could. Defund it, Repeal it. That was the message from the people in Utah. And many others in the nation really appreciate what he has done. Read this article here.
Or listen to this quote: “Scheffler, Iowa’s GOP National Committeeman, said the group was looking for someone who hadn’t been to Iowa already and who does not “wilt under political pressure and is willing to stand up” for constitutional principles.” Found in the article here.
This government shut down isn’t because of Mike Lee. It’s because the Democrats won’t even vote on the 9 compromises being offered by the House. This has happened 18 times in our history. And it usually ends with government being more responsible to it’s citizens.
Now, what is in this for Mike Lee? Think about it. He is going to have a huge fight to maintain his seat. He could sit comfortably back and do nothing, get along with all the Republicans, and have a chance at a long career in politics. Or, he could actually “Stand for Something.” That phrase should sound familiar to those who are members of his faith. They have been admonished by our past prophet Gordan B. Hinckley to stand. Mike Lee is standing on high moral ground when he stands for the Constitution and the rights of the citizens of these United States. I hope he keeps standing.
The goal of the people putting out the articles, creating the attacks, and starting an initiative known as Count My Vote, is about power. That’s it. The Republican establishment lost power in 2010 when Bob Bennett was systematically removed from power after following the Republican led TARP bailouts.
So many people should have gone to jail on Wall Street, so many people should have paid for their blatant disregard of the free markets and the backroom, government/business deals. The market was correcting. That was actually a good thing. Sometimes the markets need to correct. We need to be in balance, and that was starting to happen. However, the scary, dooms-day rhetoric of the Republicans led by Ben Bernanke at the head of the Federal Reserve, said we “HAD TO”, or our way of life would end. Well maybe for a few people at the top of the food (aristocratic) chain. Maybe for the people at Goldman Sachs. They actually had the guts to say that Main Street had to have these bailouts on Wall Street. I was trading the market when AIG received it’s $80 Billion bailout. And there were so many more to come.
That’s where is started. Then Obama was elected President. Obamacare became a huge issue. Everyone knew that Bennett had proposed a similar bill and it was distasteful for the Republicans. We had sat on the sidelines, allowing the powers that be to control our system in Utah. We stood up. We took notice. We wanted to understand how to change the system. A group known as “Club for Growth” came forward. They wanted Bob Bennett out, and so they simply taught everyday citizens the Utah system. The Caucus or the Neighborhood Election. Brilliant.
So now that the Republican Establishment couldn’t get their way, they needed to figure out how to beat the system. They flooded the caucuses with their people to elect Orrin Hatch for ANOTHER (too many to count) term. It worked. But it was SO expensive. They felt that a primary would have been so much easier. It’s easy to fool most of the people in Utah with catchy ads, big name endorsements, and lost of name recognition.
Now, the people of Utah are not fools, but we are busy. We have lives. We have soccer games, jobs, stress, grocery shopping, church responsibilities, and frankly most of the time, politics isn’t a fun topic. It can be negative and draining.
So a brilliant system was put in place. The Neighborhood elections. The neighbors get together once every two years and hold a meeting (a caucus), and they decide amongst themselves in like-minded meetings (Democrats, Republicans, Constitution Party etc, each in their own meetings) who they would like to have represent their neighborhood on the ballot.
We are busy. We trust our neighbors. So we elect them. Now, they get to really get to know all of these candidates. From National offices like Congress and Senate, to state offices like Governor, State Legislator, and State Senator. Right down to the Sheriffs office. Some people are elected as county representative’s called county “delegates” and others are elected as state “delegates.” What a beautiful thing…a Republic.
Now, you get to go on with your busy life, go to soccer games, be the Scout leader, do your job, mow your lawn, etc. And you have someone in your neighborhood that will “vet” all of these candidates. Slick ads and endorsements won’t be deciding. Someone will have a chance to meet with all of these candidates and hear them on multiple occasions. They will see through the rhetoric right to the heart of a person (most of the time.)
You see, Orrin Hatch thought he’d stacked those caucuses so well, and guess what, he did. But then, those delegates got to know him. They learned there was a lot more to the picture than what the mainstream media puts out there. They started looking at his voting record. Some of them, a lot of them, changed their minds. He had to go to a primary anyway, even after putting in over $2 million before convention.
CMV sounds good on the surface. Give the “people” the chance to have their vote heard. But that’s the amazing thing. You are heard. You are heard louder because you have elected someone to represent you from your neighborhood. You have a true Republic. Now, I know the LDS church is not getting involved either way on the CMV front, but I would like to quote the LDS church’s official statement from last year.
“Precinct caucuses are the most fundamental grassroots level of political involvement. They are best served by a broad representation of Utah citizens. Those who attend play a critical role in selecting candidates for public office.”
If you read their statement, they talk about the declining attendance of the caucuses. We’ve heard all of the rhetoric about how caucus attendance has dwindled. Funny, nobody had a problem with low caucus attendance when they had their way. The more people who show up, the more people are heard, and the harder it is to fool some of the people all of the time. I don’t know where their information came from but here are the numbers for you.
| Year | Total Attending | Up/Down % |
| 2002 | 28,207 | |
| 2004 | 22,511 | -20.19% |
| 2006 | 34,563 | 53.54% |
| 2008 | 23,550 | -31.86% |
| 2010 | 54,841 | 132.87% |
| 2012 | 111,944 | 104.12% |
Are you seeing those numbers? Look at the increase in attendance in 2010 when Lee was elected. And then again it went up over 100% in 2012. That is a huge increase since 2002. That is a 375% increase since 2008. And I believe it will continue to rise.
The Establishment wants to take the “grassroots” out of the picture. They know that most people will vote in a primary based on simple sound bites, simple name recognition, catchy slogans, or endorsements. Principles will be gone, and money will reign. YOU are the grassroots, and they want to silence that voice.
Read this article about “Big Money Backers.” That is who wants to take over. Big Money.
We have a real issue here, and it isn’t “tea party” or “radical” or anything else. Aligning yourself with our founding documents, our Constitution is not extreme. These are Republicans that are getting educated. These are Republicans that have watched their country go down the tubes under both sides of the aisle. These are regular people with jobs, and a mortgage, and kids that need braces, that are tired, and we’ve stood up to our “masters” known as the Federal government, and we’ve said, “Enough!” And these are Republicans that have begun to see the Democrats eye to eye on civil liberties issues. Amazing, not radical.
Don’t sign CMV, don’t buy into the trap of the media that are trying to eliminate Mike Lee. This is the establishment trying to fool you. Support Mike Lee, because he supports the Constitution. He isn’t perfect, but everyone who is throwing their hat into the ring has an agenda. Power. That’s it.
This is a Fourth Turning. The time to change things is now. Leaders stand against all odds. I was told by a friend that Mike would throw away his political career. Maybe he has. But he is a hero.
If you don’t like Mike, show up to caucus. The caucus system is becoming more and more inclusive all the time. The SCC (State Central Committee) is working tirelessly on efforts to make everyone feel welcome. This is your neighborhood. Make your voice heard. But do not buy into the garbage of Count My Vote and the media. They want to take your voice.
To hear how this is happening on a national scale, listen to this. Glenn Beck fan or not, please realize that the intimidation is real. We are making a difference, and the establishment is scared.
“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.” — Mahatma Gandhi
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