Pages

▼

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Bigfoot, Shreveport-Bossier Tea Party and The Huffington Post

Shreveport-Bossier Tea Party organizer Rob Gaudet received some attention from The Huffington Post this week in an article by Jason Linkins. Mr. Linkins seems to be upset that Mr. Gaudet apparently has a hobby – Sasquatch, or, in our part of the world, Bigfoot. He also is ‘outing’ Mr. Gaudet for being opposed to Cap and Trade legislation.
Linkins says: But this is where it gets more interesting. According to his registered address, he lists his business as "Discover Bigfoot." It seems that Mr. Gaudet is also an active member of a community of people searching for the whereabouts of Bigfoot (aka, the Sasquatch). Yes folks. THAT Bigfoot.
Okay, aha! He is interested in Bigfoot, so he’s a nut. He opposes Cap and Trade so that makes anyone who opposes Cap and Trade a nut. AND – he organized the Shreveport-Bossier Tea Party, so that make the Tea Party people nuts.
So Bigfoot is a hobby of his? So what. I went to his YouTube channel and found it entertaining.
Big woop. I had my concerns about the local Tea Party movement and expressed them here, along with my endorsement of what they are doing. My concern was that the local movement not turn into a cheering squad for one party over the other, that it truly remain non-partisan, and that it not turn into a forum for local politicians to gain votes. Gaudet has done a great job of keeping it party-neutral and has a policy of not inviting elected officials to speak. A lot of local Tea Party organizations have marginalized themselves by having politicians speak at their events. Gaudet has not made this mistake, and that is to his credit.
True, at the Shreveport-Bossier Tea Party website you can find some blogs containing some pretty extreme views. Again, so what? It is an open forum and members are free to post their views and opinions, and yes, even write blogs. I expressed my thoughts on the forum, as others have. The important point is that the direction of the local Tea Party events has been, so far, exemplary.
You will continue to find a link to Shreveport-Bossier Tea Party in my sidebar.
Sorry Mr. Linkins, to use a great southern expression, that dog don’t hunt.
at

1 comment:

Rules of the road:
1. No personal attacks or insults.
2. No accustory statements about wrongdoing or criminal acts against anyone.
3. Say all you want about the pros and cons concerning the candidates and the issues, or the general subject of the blog post, just follow Rule #1 and Rule #2.