Meckler was interviewed by KVMR after all
“Our featured speaker will be Jeff Ackerman, Publisher of The Union,” it reads. “As always, get there early for a good seat. The doors open at 11:30 with lunch serving at noon.”
The Union has been dubbed “The Tea Party Gazette” by some critics in town, citing its “softball” interviews with Mark Meckler and perceived favoritism. The publisher wrote an interview himself titled “Local attorney seeks return to founding principles in government.”
The Union also ran an article (apparently not fact checked) where Stan Meckler incorrectly claimed KVMR “refused” to interview him. KMVR responded by running a photo of Meckler being interviewed last summer by the news director. Whoops.
Neither The Union nor Meckler apologized for the egregious error, however. Neither did George Rebane, an avid tea partier who could have mentioned it during his commentary on KVMR, where he has a platform.
During the speaking engagement in March, I also wonder if the three-part investigation of the Tea Party and Meckler by Mother Jones will be discussed.
Part three, which ran on Wednesday, focuses on Lee Martin, who is identified in some corporate filings as the group’s assistant treasurer. “He’s better known to tea partiers as the husband of Jenny Beth Martin, a cofounder of TPP (along with Meckler),” as the article notes.
The article probes Lee Martin’s past: “He was busted by the IRS several years ago for failing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll taxes related to a failed business that pushed him into bankruptcy,” it reads, adding, “He also happens to be married to one of the group’s leaders.”
The other reports by Mother Jones are here and here.
The meeting would be a good opportunity for an open community dialogue about the “pros” and “cons” of the tea party — whose co-founder is based in our county.
But it also could be a good chance for a small-town newspaper publisher to exchange some friendly banter with a favored demographics — and maybe sign up some more subscriptions. Meeting in Nevada City, where the residents vote “blue,” not “red,” helps make the tea party appear more mainstream, too. In my mind, it’s no coincidence.
That’s OK — people can always express their opinions when they vote. We’re a “purple county” now. The victories of Terry Lamphier, Greg Diaz and Tina Vernon are all cases in point. From what I hear some longtime “R’s” are deeply concerned.
The lunch meetings at the Miner’s Foundry also help fill up one of our most picturesque venues, generating some money in town.
You can expect to see our hard right blogging contingent in the corner, cheering on the proceedings.
“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
Filed under: Uncategorized
Jeff: You sould go and do a story. That would be pretty cool. There are lots of people at the Tea Party luncheons. I went last week and met with about 150 people including Terry Lamphier. I like to see when people get out of the “comfort zone” and listen to the viewpoints of other with whom they may not agree.
Barry,
When was the last time you or Jeff Ackerman attended a meeting of the Peace Center of Nevada County and wrote a column or blogged about it? “After you Alphonse.”
We all need to read Stephen King’s “Under the Dome”. Same thing and the writing and speaking is so much better, Barry. Noone even has to leave the house…
Hey, and while you’re at it, could you ask them to help Defund Kentucky for us? It’d save the feds and California a lot of dough$. Thanks Barry in advance.
Jeff: I regularly meet with local Democrats on the central committee and consider them my friends. We have great lively discussions over dinner (and a little wine). We can discuss and be civil…without the snide comments. It would be nice if you joined in reaching out to those on the right instead of lobbing grenades from left.
Barry’s commet is a hoot for so many reasons!
Over on “right” blogs Barry tosses grenades, name calls, makes personal attacks and insults…. but here Pruett stakes out the lets be civil and respectful card?
What a hoot, maybe Barry’s mom will start posting here again in another attempt to protect Barry.
PS: Barry… have you ever posted on the “right” blogs for Juvinall to stop with all the insults and personal attacks?… no, you have not.
Why, Barry how very “progressive” of you. Tell me something, exactly what wine does one serve with crow and kool-aid?
Everyone here after reading your posts about the NCDCC that you have the market cornered on dishonsety and abusiveness. If challenging your views is a personal insult or tossing a grenade, then I am guilty as charged.
Barry,
I meet regularly with lots of people in the community, as well, including some on the hard right. We have dinner in Tahoe or here. They’re civil though, not like your vocal, nasty “wingnut” contingent.
As for my politics, I’m a moderate, not on the left. You’re so far to the right you don’t know what a moderate is. Never have. Our county is “purple” in a “blue” state. We’re not Kentucky.
I think you’ll find the friction lies when you purport that Tom McClintock’s politics somehow represent our community. He’s much less popular here than you think (just add his totals vs. the totals for his two opponents), and you use your connections to “leverage” your more extreme political beliefs and yourself, for that matter. But you got pretty roundly whooped in the last election. And you would again.
Jeff Ackerman just wants to sell newspapers to the tea party contingent, a good print demographic. That’s only part of his job, though. The rest of his job is representing other views. (He leaves money on the table as a result.)
The populist, grassroots movement in our community is on blogs like this, not at the tea party rallies. The internet is creating new channels of communication in a community like ours, where the local media has been a bottleneck.
Barry… have you ever posted on the “right” blogs for Juvinall to stop with all the insults and personal attacks?… no, you have not.
Barry?
As I said Jeff, I am reaching out…in fact I comment here engaging people with whom I may disagree on a few things in an effort to have wonderful discussions. Terry Lamphier is apparently doing the same thing. I am enjoying myself quite a bit. I am finding that while we disagree in some areas, we are finding areas upon which we can agree. The intellectual stimulation is fun (and a little addictive) and the conversation is fun (until it generates to “you lost every precinct in your race for clerk recorder…”)
I invite you to attend a tea party luncheon. In fact, I invite you to attend the one next month in your home of Nevada City. If you are truly a moderate, you will find that you agree with some (not all) of the fiscally conservative principles of the tea party.
Further, others have taken up my invitations for coffee or a beer. In such reaching out and meeting face-to-face, you will cheerfully find that such meetings have a tendency to tone down the rhetoric. It is difficult to throw grenades at someone whom you consider a friend.
Just a happy thought for today…
Barry,
Full Disclosure please, do you have any political inside influence? We know you wife works for Rep. McClintock. We know you made it a talking point during your non partisan campaign that you have no real involvement or backing in the Tea Party.
I find it a bit funny that you come on this blog giving examples of meeting a person at the gym and that you meet with local Democrats as some great political insider bridge building.
I slam the Democrats all the time and have worked the NC Democratic Party booth at the fair many times. I have friends in the local Libertarian Party and will start attending meetings as soon as my coaching schedule opens up. I have many friends who are republicans and belong to the NCTPP and we agree on many issues.
Why do I bring this up? We all have much more in common than the corporate media leads us to believe. They gain viewers or sell subscriptions by division and fear. I think Jeff’s post about Egypt is very telling who supports true democracy and who doesn’t. None of the major networks covered the (not one shot on the protester side) peaceful revolution to any extent.
I talk about common issues that bring us together
American Jobs – end our free trade agreements, reinstate selective import tariffs (especially on Green Technology)
Balanced Budgets – raise taxes on top margins, end redundant agencies in government, gain control over our money supply, end our military occupations around the world
Financial Reform – Reinstate Glass Steagall, Repeal the CFMA 2000 ending the out of control derivative market, and putting a 0.25% transaction tax to slow speculation
Social Security -Remove the cap of the $106k and either reduce payroll tax or increase benefits
Medicare – Open it up for all Americans to Buy Into the program making premiums less expensive and the program more solvent
Please give us some details of what you would like to see in our government and we’ll compare
Barry,
You never answered Steve Enos’ “friendly” question:
“Barry… have you ever posted on the “right” blogs for Juvinall to stop with all the insults and personal attacks?… no, you have not.”
It is really at the heart of why so many people distrust you.
Wow! Today must be change the subject and attack the meesenger day with irrelevancies! Although you and Steve are way off topic, I will placate you. I have in fact had such discussion with Todd, but he is his own man, much as Steve is his own man. Neither of them cares what others think of them…as they have nothing to lose.
But to get back to the subject and you can have the last word, as you will be having it anyway.
I invite you to attend a tea party luncheon. In fact, I invite you to attend the one next month in your home of Nevada City. If you are truly a moderate, you will find that you agree with some (not all) of the fiscally conservative principles of the tea party.
Further, others have taken up my invitations for coffee or a beer. In such reaching out and meeting face-to-face, you will cheerfully find that such meetings have a tendency to tone down the rhetoric. It is difficult to throw grenades at someone whom you consider a friend.
Just a happy (final) thought for today…
Barry cracks me up. Over on “right” blogs Barry tosses grenades, name calls, makes personal attacks and insults but here Pruett stakes out the lets be civil and respectful card?
Funny stuff.
PS: Barry… you failed to repsond to the issue I raised, you just tried to spin it.
Let’s try again…. I didn’t ask you if you have talked to Todd Juvinall about his endless personal attacks and insults
I asked you a very simple and very clear and specific question… can you answer it with a direct, simple, on topic response? I’ll bet the answer is again “no”.
So Barry… this is what I asked:
“have you ever posted on the “right” blogs for Juvinall to stop with all the insults and personal attacks?
Is this the same Barry Pruett who links to Todd Juvinall’s blog, entertains the nasty diatribes on his own blog, as well as lobs personal attacks at our county clerk-recorder long after the race is over — and even insults the clerk-recorder’s daughter in a campaign email. I could go on and on. It’s all a matter of public record. Yet he wants to be “civil.” You’ve got to be kidding me. LOL.
Jeff: Regular readers of my blog know that not to be the case.
Also, I read on Todd Juvinall’s blog that Jeff Ackerman will not be attending the tea party luncheon next month in Nevada City due to a prior committment. You probably should have confirmed the attendance with Ackerman.
Have a wonderful day, and I was glad to have this conversation with you. We really should get together for a beer or something. Pitchers and catchers report soon, and it is always fun to watch a ball game with a beer and chat.
Once again… barry I asked you a very simple and very clear and specific question… can you answer it with a direct, simple, on topic response? I’ll bet the answer is again “no”.
So Barry… this is what I asked:
“have you ever posted on the “right” blogs for Juvinall to stop with all the insults and personal attacks?
Barry,
First, regular readers of your blog are privy to that very sort of discussion.
Second, the tea party website (which I linked to in the blog post) still reads: “Our featured speaker will be Jeff Ackerman, Publisher of The Union. As always, get there early for a good seat. The doors open at 11:30 with lunch serving at noon.”
A “prior commitment”? Or backlash?
Then why is Ackerman’s attendance STILL being promoted on the tea party website RIGHT NOW? Somebody’s fibbing here.
http://nctpp.org/
Come on Barry, can’t you answer a simple question:
So Barry… this is what I asked:
“have you ever posted on the “right” blogs for Juvinall to stop with all the insults and personal attacks?
Jeff does quite well on his own…and with his purple voting counterparts. Oh, and he won’t be sending mom over to defend him on Steeles Blog or to The Union wingnuts either. Count on it.
If you think 150 is a lot, try 15,000 all up in your face like in Madison, WI., Barry. It looks like their “teabag Governor is experiencing his very own “Mubarak moment” as we speak. I think Madison, WI. middle and working classes are about to throw that “tea OVERBOARD”! Tell Meckler to have a good time wiggling in his KVMR seat today. Oh, and who is Stan? A twin brother or something?
Meanwhile, in our teeny, weeny, tiny neck of the woods in Plumas County, some ultra right minions and assorted tea peoply sychophants are busy embarrassing Plumas County some more. I’d like you Jeff, to come one, come all to the discriminating, racist circus that has come home to roost. Plumasnews.com has “written” about it on their website. The offroad vehicle issue aside, which I give not fig one about, and really is a red herring anyway, is here as well. Maybe the Chamber of Commerce should suggest we “re-name” our town. What was that Mississippi license plate name suggestion again? Thank God and gravy that the rest of California, including purple Nevada City remains positively sane in comparison. Except maybe Bakersfield or Fresno, but we know how republicans really feel about those too…
And the tale and legal defense of these plumas county “scholastic” activities? Well, lemme tell ya, Grisham and Morris Dees in “A Time To Kill” it ain’t…not even a handsome, shirtless Matthew McConauhey in the whole sorry defender bunch…
Meckler is a “pocket liner”, using the TPP to line his pockets.
Meckler doesn’t have his “Hayley Barbooor (oops, I just burped) for Grass Valley Representative Sticker on hic truck yet?
I’ll mark this on my calendar with a note, be sure and stay out of Nevada City on this day. Last time I had any contact with Tea Party people in Nevada City, I was marching with the Democrats, 4th of July, handing out little prizes to kids along the way (think they were little American flags). A small boy had his hand out, and I was reaching to give him the prize, and a man in a T P shirt, presumably his dad, said, “Don’t take it.” The boy quickly stepped back, and an older girl nearby took it. I will show Tea Party people the same friendliness and courtesy shown to me . Nothing like teaching your little kids to hate. I do not wish to spend my time in the company of louts such as that man.
I always knew you were discerning Pat…
Thanks, Kate. Love your comments. You’ve got style.
When I start hearing the Tea Party demanding that millionaires and billionaires and U.S based global corporations pay their fair share of taxes, then I might believe they are worth talking to. It seems they are fine with regular working people taking all the hits and suffer throught the budget cuts from the fall out of Wall Street’s financial shenanigans.
Personally, I say FORGET the Tea Party, they offer nothing.
Do take note of what the Middle East is doing and why. I notice the Brits are getting a little fed up. A year from now we are going to start hearing from candidates that are running for President, I think we may need to add a little of what the Brits are talking about now to our national debate. And this is not Republican or Democrat or left or right issue, its about economic fairness and salvaging this country from economic ruin.
“The Great British Corporate Tax Giveaway”
http://blogs.forbes.com/leesheppard/2011/02/10/the-great-british-corporate-tax-giveaway/
Amen to that Steve…anyone can see this mess. Even 16 year old Justin Beiber, who called our health care system “EVIL” and that excesses of it caused sick people to go broke in America. He also stated that he loves Canada–and their healthcare. Because its democratic. His mother is an evangelical, pro-life mother. So, people are tired of the Corporatocracy. Globally, it seems. The tea people got taken by corporations like Koch. And slitherers like Karl Rove…jigs up if even Justin Beiber knows…hello?
Well, he is Canadian, after all.
Barry–Do You Know Where You Are Dear? Call Todd…you left your wingnut meanstreak over there…
Marc Cuniberti will have Stan and Mark Meckler on his program on KVMR, tomorrow. Could be interesting?
Marc Cuniberti (whom I know very casually) just asked me to be his Facebook friend!
Well good, cuz there’s alot to talk about…Michelle Bachmann, the tea peoply princess has just announced that NO, there is no way to DEFUND President Obama’s healthcare laws unless Obama agrees to it. Uh, not likely. So she lied for millions during and right after her election it seems. Then, there is defunding Kentucky…the tea people want some savings and we like medicare and social security for our aged and poor and disabled here in Northern Califonia and that will do it. We’ll be happy to take it off their Kentucky hands. And, I just heard that Gov. Scott, the Florida ex insurance corporate honcho (he was found guilty of several hundred millions of dollars worth of insurance crime) that the tea people liked so much has announced he wants NO high speed rail stuff for his workers and old people in Florida! Not accepting 23 billion dollars, (maybe because its legal, ya think? weird)I would like our governor Brown to tell President O if he talks to him that on behalf of the good citizens of Florida we’d very much like to build a fast moving, innovative, hot little high speed rail system that Califonians can use here and all the tourists (even Floridians) can love and use. Like Germany, or Japan! So thanks tea people, I guess. Can’t wait to hear youall tommorrow on KVMR!
P.S. Ask Mark Meckler if he knew Chris Lee…and did you know he was at a Republican Convention of some kind when he tweeted shirtless to his craigslist gal that wasn’t his wife? There was a picture of the (alleged)woman online…she is beautiful and african american.
Kate, I just heard this morning that our governor did just that! It’s a little suspicious why the governor of Florida would refuse this funding – would he have accepted it if Bush II was president?
Exactly, Governor Brown knows green is green Michelle. Help is help. Florida’s Governor has a rap sheet of buttering his own bread and those of his cronies–not regular Floridians. I feel like they were taken over by a traveling salesman down there…sad really. Government brought to you by Dr. Snakeoil Insurance Salesman and assorted Fuller Brushmen…in the everglades no less.
Barrry Pruett, You keep referring to Terry Lamphier, whom you say will attend a Tea Party luncheon, with the implication he supports your cause. I know Terry well, worked in his campaign both times he ran for BOS, know where he stands on issues. My opinion, Terry takes his responsibilities as Supervisor of District 3 very seriously, which means he represents all the residents of his District, and though he won, and is regarded by most as a liberal, as am I, voters of District 3 are a mix of left, middle and right politically. This is exactly what I believe an elected official should do, and I hold our President as an exmple also, since he has consistently held out his hand to conservatives and always been ready to listen and consider their views. I wish I could say the same for conservative elected officials, and for some I can, but events and records show that in general the “Party of No,” with Tea Party being its far Right element, deserves that label.
If I appear biased against Tea Party members, and I am, it is because of behavior and methods employed by Tea Party members I have witnessed and been subjected to, as I reported here about the July 4 Parade incident, and there have been a number of others, working a booth at the county fair and such community events. This does not mean they do not have some valid points and the right to voice their views in public, so long as this is done with good will in a mannerly and respectful way. My advice to those I know in this group has repeatedly been, “If you want respect, clean up your act.” I think some T P leaders have realized this and taken a different tack from what it was at the early health care reform Congressional town halls where some showed up carrying guns and shouted down the opposing speakers, but it is not easy to change the bad impression many got of Tea party because of that, and certainly not in cases where it continues.