We just received this from Lisa James:
Dear Friend,
Senator Jon Kyl, our U.S. Senator, is under attack for doing the very job we sent him to Washington to do. We did not send him to be a placeholder until Republicans regain control of the Senate. We sent him to represent us to the best of his ability and to make sure conservatives have a seat at the table. He has done an exceptional job for us over the past 20 years just as he has with his work on the proposed immigration legislation.
Unfortunately, the Arizona Republican Party is doing nothing to stop hateful, personal attacks. In fact, the Party is actually encouraging this divisive and reprehensible behavior. Rather than promoting our Party they are busy holding press conferences displaying obscene pictures. Rather than defending someone who is attempting to make something good from something terrible, they encourage the bad behavior of those calling for a recall and accusing Senator Kyl of treason.
In fact, they have gone beyond Arizona to national television to make their point. I note, with much disappointment, that there were no AZ GOP alerts to respond to Janet Napolitano's Op Ed in the Republic--only alerts to promote Chairman Pullen and his reaction to Jon Kyl and the bill itself.
Setting aside the content of the bill - and how many of us have even read this document from cover to cover? - Jon Kyl is a fine man, a statesman. We are fortunate to have such a voice representing us in the U.S. Senate. In fact, I know that you joined me in working hard toward his landslide victory just this past November. (http://www2.nationalreview.com/dest/2007/05/19/immigrationdraft051807.pdf )
At the very least, if our Chairman doesn't support the bill, and he has every right not to do so, he should remain publicly neutral. He should demonstrate leadership by denouncing those slinging personal attacks on a Senator with 96.9 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union and publicly state his personal support for Jon Kyl.
Here is what we believe as Republicans, as articulated in our Party Platform:
"As Republicans, we know who we are and what we believe. As the Party of the open door, while steadfast in our commitment to our ideals, we respect and accept that members of our Party can have deeply held and sometimes differing views . This diversity is a source of strength, not a sign of weakness, and so we welcome into our ranks all who may hold differing positions. We commit to resolve our differences with civility, trust, and mutual respect, and to affirm the common goals and beliefs that unite us." (Republican Party Platform, 2004, page 83, emphasis added)
The most emotional debate we have had in the party within my lifetime has been the debate over abortion. As someone completely committed to life, I have worked for pro-life candidates since my time as a delegate with Phyllis Schlafly for Jack Kemp in 1988. As a Party, we have had a great history of debating issues internally in primaries and at conventions, but once we have a nominee or an office-holder, we unite to work to elect and support them.
Clearly, the immigration issue is the new inter-party challenge we face. We don't all agree on how to solve the problem, and we all have a duty to voice our opinion to elected officials. The process with the current immigration bill is far from over and there will be much discussion about all aspects of the legislation. However, personal attacks that question Senator Kyl's integrity, and call for his resignation or recall are completely contrary to the principles of our great party.
Please join me in writing letters, making phone calls and sending emails to your lists to encourage the Arizona GOP to unite, rather than divide, registered Republicans. We can have a healthy debate about the issue, but attacking Senator Kyl only hurts our Party.
Thank you for your time and your action.
Respectfully,
Lisa James
1st Vice Chair, LD-8 Precinct Committeeman, Cocopah Precinct
11 comments:
I agree completely with your letter Lisa. Senator Kyl has done an outstanding job for Arizona over his 20 year + career, first as a Congressman & now as our Junior Senator. This furor, caused by some of the 'so-called' "Leaders" of the Republicans, is disturbing. A District Chairman down protesting at Sen. Kyl's office, calling him a "traitor"? The same person (Rob Haney) who at every opportunity, trashes our other Sen. John McCain. The CRAP these 'leaders' use to gain political advantage may work with some. But they are quickly becoming a minority. Let us hope that 'they' don't lead the Party into a permanent minority position. I have called and written Sen. Kyl's office to tell him to stand firm. We are lucky to have two wonderful Senators like Jon Kyl & John McCain!
Lisa,
Special thanks for the class person's you and Gordon are and being wiling to stand up.
You and Gordon's words are right on target and would of been much different situation if you had become chair.
Sometime it is necessary to reach bottom before the re-building can start and be achieved.
But I wanted to reach out to both of you and just say "thank you" and there are a very large amount of loyal Republicans who see things as you two have presented it.
Count on our support in the future and while we may not always agree on every issue it will all be in respect and not cause us not to continue to be friends and support each other when we agree.
Have a safe and enjoy able weekend.
May God bless us all.
Clancy Jayne
That letter from Lisa James is the most self serving piece of garbage that I think I have ever read. Talk about a sore loser, she is just proving she is a loser. Regardless of how much of a Kool Aid drinking Ms. James is, Americans, including Randy Pullen, have a right to voice their opposition to this obscene legislation which is designed to solve the illegal immigration problem by allowing illegal aliens to obtain "Z" visas, which will let them work legally in the United States and their families would be allowed to live in work in the United States, but they insist that it's not amnesty. What is amnesty if it's not making people that are here illegally, legally here? Are Republicans suppose to shut up while a group of corrupt congressmen who trade their votes for campaign contributions give away the whole country?
WAKE UP, 230 years after the founders of this nation signed the Declaration of Independence and pledged their support for it with their Lives, their Fortunes, and their sacred Honor, now a group of treasonous members of congress, and yes I said treasonous, are willing to sell the country out for campaign contributions by interest profiting from cheap immigrant labor. They shouldn't just vote this filthy legislation down, they should burn it for the garbage that it is.
Have a nice Memorial day, it may be our last thanks to people like John McCain, Jon Kyl, George Bush, Ted Kennedy, Jim Kolbe , Jeff Flake, and their stooges like Lisa James.
My name is,
BOB HARAN,
American Citizen.
My Dear Friend Bob Haran,
You know that I am as much upset with our immigration problem as any three guys together and I have the right reason for that, because I had to follow every legal step of the law and bite my time for 5 long years before I could call myself and my family WHOLE like in “Equal rights of legitimate citizenship”.
You do remember I told you, I was born into the Weimar Republic, grew up during the reign of a nutty dictator, picked up the pieces of the rubble after Eisenhower and the Allies arrived and finally came to the United States by choice, rather than happenstance. I had the requisite “Green Card” in my wallet as I boarded a plane in Germany for Chicago in 1960. I am a legal immigrant not unlike any other American’s Father, Grand-father or Great-grand-father. I enjoyed the warm welcome I received and I am proud to be part of the “melting pot “, E Pluribus Unum.
Amen.
What is tearing us apart is a domestic problem called “Illegal Immigration” for lack of a better word. It should be a simple thing to fix, if it was not for the fact that it touches on so many different human emotions. Those emotions are the result of religion, ethnicity and culture, economics, politics, fear, and self-righteous appetite for personal power by irresponsible small pipsqueaks.
Lisa James is not a sore loser, she is more like a very close second, after all she was only 4 votes short. Had only one couple directed their proxy for Mrs. James, and rumor has it that that might have happened, the election would have been decided by the heads or tails of a coin. But getting back to the problem; a matter of immense consequences. A matter that will tear the GOP apart and it will play the White House into the control of the Democrats if we do not get an immediate handle on it.
Rather than throwing Brick bats against one another we should strife to fix the problem that began over 40 years ago under the watch of then President Lyndon Baines Johnson and his Great Society. An almost half century of accumulated miss deeds can't be cured with slogans like:
“Just enforce the law” and “Secure the Border”
Those are wonderful one-liners fit to be bumper stickers like “Honk if you love Santa Claus”. It’s rhetorical platitude and has different meaning for different interest groups but no specificity.
Let’s look at the problems one by one and fix them altogether at once.
Religious, ethnic and cultural differences between us and them who are almost universally Roman Catholic should not matter in a country that prides itself with separation of church vis-à-vis state. If they believe that the holy mother Mary has a slightly higher standing than her son the Lord and Savior, so be it. They do, in the end, pray to the same god albeit in a different language.
Economic consideration, the main reason they are here is that we have jobs to fill that we loath to do ourselves. It should not be that big of a problem to develop a system of worker visas for those jobs or eliminating this opportunity by filling those jobs with our own workforce. Fat Chance, EH!
Politics plain and simple will cut both ways and if the problem gets resolved in a bipartisan way it won't upset the balance of power on either side of the isle, this by the way is an important component. You know we have essentially a two-party system, the third party does not amount to much in a general election and the independents will go either way and more so towards those candidates who show strength and therefore weakening our own representatives is an unforgivable act of stupidity.
There is fear of criminality and lawlessness and border insecurity. The former can be dealt with existing criminal laws. The latter has to be controlled by the issuance of proper visa and travel documentations. The fear of Islamic Radicals coming to harm us is more appropriate by checking the first class manifests of Ships and Air-lines or Air conditioned Inter-State bus and rail travel, not the inhospitable desert border crossings.
Self-righteous hunger for personal power by irresponsible small pipsqueaks is the most difficult to cope with and goes right to the heart of the problem. There are mucky mucks on both side of the isle with big chips on their shoulder sometimes against Senators of their own party and they will use any means to lash out. They don't hesitate to dump on anyone as long as their crap spills over onto the one they wanted to dump on in the first place. They who walk irresponsibly and carry obscure pickets against duly elected representatives of their own party while at the same time bitch and piss and moan against other party members for supporting whomever they want in a non-partisan municipal election. They are the ones that need reigning in, tied to a rail and shipped out of town.
Horst Kraus
BRAVO Horst!!! Well said. Our last Memorial Day Bob? Have you lost your mind?
Lisa, Horst, "Don" GOPrano:
First to dispense with the obvious. Some very nasty and disrespectful things have been said of Jon Kyl but not by the State party leadership. Lisa, four days before you accused Randy of attacking Jon Kyl, Randy posted a very well thought letter to the base. Here is a small portion:
"I’m very concerned about the direction that some criticism has taken, most especially toward U.S. Senator Jon Kyl, who has served our state and our nation with great dedication for two decades now. I was forwarded an email today containing a letter from Congressman Trent Franks who addressed this issue so eloquently that I would like to quote directly from his letter:
“I understand that some people may disagree with Senator Kyl's position on immigration reform. However, I believe that the vitriolic rhetoric recently used by some to condemn Jon Kyl is highly inappropriate and shameful. I urge anyone who may disagree with Senator Kyl to do so respectfully and to refrain from attacking the personal integrity of this honorable man,” wrote Congressman Franks, according to the email."
You can find the entire post here: http://www.azgop.org/News/Read.aspx?ID=5077
I hope, had you taken the research time to find it before you sent your post, that it would have lead you on a different tack.
The Republican Party in Arizona has recently evolved from one dominated by the delegation to one that serves the grass roots. From everything I've heard since our party election, the grass roots are a lot happier when they learn someone is actually listening to them. The delegation not so much. The ugly rhetoric that has been going around about the immigration issue is unfortunate, unseemly, undesirable and disrespectful, particularly in the case of Jon Kyl. But it occurs because people with valid concerns are routinely ignored by the people they worked hard to send to our capitols to represent them. Respect, after all, is a two-way street.
That was one of the issues that was settled in the recent party election. When we "hire-on" by becoming precinct committeemen we don't volunteer to work for our elected representatives. We volunteer to work on behalf of a set of principles and to bring forward and elect people who will stand up for those principles. If in the process it looks like we're working "for somebody" well, that's just appearances. The people we send to represent us tend to forget that. Occasionally it is necessary to remind them, respectfully.
From WEB articles now current, it appears some of our representatives say they were taken by surprise at the heat of the debate over this issue. Is it surprising some of the folks feel the respectful reminders aren't getting through.
Lisa, you and others have resurrected the "D" word, "DIVISIVE" against Randy. Peggy Noonan among others say you've got it backwards. see: http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/
Respectfully,
George Teegarden,
Treasurer, District 11
Dear Mr. Teegarden, George.
As you have also addressed me in your post to the “Mafioso” permit to respond. Let me begin to preempt this post in addition to what I conferred in my previous post with the following remarks.
I do not have a horse running in this race known as the “Immigration Issue” simply because part of my business lies in the operation of a Clothing Optional Spa as a viable link and part of the Arizona Tourist and Hospitality Industry.
Hispanics or Latinos as we well know are true and tried Roman Catholics who sternly believe in the story of Genesis and Adam and Eve and the serpent and the apple tree from which the snake handed them the forbidden fruit dada- dada and they felt ashamed and had to don some duds afterwards.
Although no one was ever able to enlighten me as to what the metaphor of the apple meant, I myself believe Adam and Eve only forgot to turn the lights down.
May that be as it were, undocumented illegal Hispanics are not among our customers and not found among our employees. The latter is, I reckon, because of their fear of going blind.
You quote in your post the letter from Trent Franks that was then repeated by Chairman Pullen. Looking at the timeline, Randy’s realization of the gravity of the situation, may I call it “Damage Control” followed the demonstration in front of Jon Kyl’s office and after the news conference with the unveiling of the letter with the infamous finger.
For what it is worth, Trend Franks’ letter has elevated the Congressman on my scale from a two to an eight and I shall remember that favorably should he need assistance in the general election even though he is not in my district.
You end your post accusing us having resurrected the “D” word. George, you couldn’t be more off the mark. The “D” word was, like a genie, let out of the bottle during and after the A.R.A Convention in 2005 in form of a phony reprimand against Arizona’s Senior Senator John McCain, for what I presume his involvement in exposing the darlings of the Righteous Right, Messieurs Abramoff and DeLay. How else can one reconcile him [Senator McCain] being constantly vilified for the Campaign Contribution Reform Act that he co-pioneered, essentially to curtail Organized Labor’s bagging the election funds of liberal candidates.
You speak of the Republican Party in Arizona having evolved from one being dominated by the delegation to one that serves the grass roots. For whatever that means, the grass roots have lost 7 seats in Arizona, and across the Nation the Republican Grass Roots have lost two out of three branches of the Government.
In your very own district you may wish to chat with John Allen and Don Hesselbrock how they feel about “Grass Roots” although one or the other may wish to blame McCain for whatever ill conceived reason. Bottom line is, in a general election proxy slips are like confederate money, they are worth nothing.
To the real meat of the matter, the Immigration Issue. I like the comprehensive approach because it will take all talking points into consideration. While all the smaller items can be addressed one by one, the total package must be addressed as a total package. Piecemeal isn’t doing it. Deportation and Employer Sanctions are morally, statistically and logistically un-doable.
Deportation of American Citizen such as Anchor Babies, or leaving them in orphanages while deporting their parents is unthinkable.
Voluntary return of the undocumented to their homeland is hopeless wishful thinking. The Fence is a joke; it would not even pay off as a tourist attraction a thousand years from now, not even if it had the appearance of the Great Wall of China.
If nothing happens we maintain status Quo and the Democrats will push it through by themselves after the next election if not before and become the heroes of twelve million future voters. That is not a good option in my book.
So what do you suggest what our delegation should do, now that we have lost the control of the US House and Senate and lost the clout that we had 2 years ago? Shall we maintain status quo under any circumstances? Or do we need status quo as being the only talking point left to rally around?
Horst Kraus
-----------------
Dear Mr. Teegarden,
George Teegarden said, "Lisa, four days before you accused Randy of attacking Jon Kyl, Randy posted a very well thought letter to the base"
Let me set the record straight. I received the Lisa James e-mail on Monday the 28th, see the e-mail record here:
Subject: Senator Kyl
Date: 5/28/2007 5:19:50 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time
From: Lajames68
Reply To:
To: Lajames68
CC:
BCC: TonyGOPrano
I then proceeded, as is Politico Mafioso criteria, to e-mail the author back to get the OK to publish the letter. I received the OK just a few minutes later.
I then posted the letter on the Blog:
Monday, May 28, 2007
This Just In: Letter from Lisa James on Senator Jon Kyl...
Posted by Tony GOPrano at 6:18 PM
Labels: Commentary
The letter was posted exactly 1 hour & 1 minute after we received it. The original e-mail went out 3 days earlier, 5/25/07 @ 3:09:01pm (shown below).
Forwarded Message:
Subj: (no subject)
Date: 5/25/2007 3:09:01 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time
From: Lajames68
To: Lajames68
Dear Friend,
Senator Jon Kyl, our U.S. Senator, is under attack for doing the very job we sent him to Washington to do. We did not send him to be a placeholder until Republicans regain control of the Senate. We sent him to represent us to the best of his ability and to make sure conservatives have a seat at the table. He has done an exceptional job for us over the past 20 years just as he has with his work on the proposed immigration legislation.
Just wanted to set the record straight. Some don't let the truth get in the way.
On AOL, you can't just send out a huge group of mail, you get flagged for that. So James had to send out in bunches, that's why we didn't receive that until the following Monday. We were the first blog to post the letter. We hope this answers your question?
BTW sir, I have read that letter many times and I still don't see where Lisa James accuses Mr. Pullen of attacking Jon Kyl. But we do know, as a fact, your District 11 Chairman Rob Haney was at Sen. Kyl's office protesting, we posted the photo of that "event".
Maybe if your District Chairman spent more time getting 'real' PC's rather than Proxies, your Legislators might fare better in their elections. Proxies may work great in Party elections, but they are useless in Primary & General Elections...
Lisa, Horst, and Don Tony:
This was the first time I've posted to a blog. (Afraid of jeopardizing my Witness Protection Plan agreement, know what I mean, Tony?)
After I hit "Publish" and saw the post I thought of a lot I didn't say. Same as after I hit "send" on an email composed too hastily. So I touched it up a bit and, finally satisfied I'd said all I wanted, posted it on our d-11 website at http://www.trugop.org/HTM_Documents/LisaLetter.htm
From what I hear, that version is what is now making the rounds.
Sincerely, GWT
Mr. Teegarden,
Thank You for your posts. Your comments are always welcome here, as are all the comments we receive. That is the great thing about the Blogs. It gives everyone a chance to comment on the issues. Thanks again sir! Come Back anytime...
When you betray the people who elected you, you deserve to reap the results of your betrayal.
Lee
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