By: earlgrey (Diary)  |  April 11th at 04:08 PM  | 

Recently Hollywood announced a movie planned about the Catholic church sex scandals as uncovered by the Boston Globe in a January 2002 article. (http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories/013102_priests.htm) These scandals were highly publicized with the first story to reach national news in 1985 and more stories breaking in the 1990s. Ever since, there has been a steady stream of bad publicity and bad jokes about the scandals and the | Read More »

By: earlgrey (Diary)  |  March 14th at 04:19 PM  | 

Education is often cited as one of the biggest factors in predicting a person’s future success. A strong work ethic, while often overlooked is also an important factor and deserves a mention. When I first moved to the Memphis area 13 years ago, I chose to live outside the city of Memphis so my kids could attend Shelby County Schools instead of Memphis City Schools. | Read More »

By: earlgrey (Diary)  |  January 18th at 04:19 PM  | 

After what was for me, the stunning re-election of Barack Obama, I was tempted to retreat like a turtle into its’ shell and declare an end to my short career as a political activist. I was sucked back into activism through my local tea party, the Mid-South Tea Party, and the friends I have made there. Our tea party focuses on local, state and federal | Read More »

By: earlgrey (Diary)  |  June 12th at 05:46 PM  | 

One of the biggest takeaways from the recent unsuccessful recall effort in Wisconsin was that the politicians making tough decisions for the good of the people they serve can and do get rewarded for their courage. In 2011, Republicans in Wisconsin made bold decisions in the face of protests and threats to pass legislation that turned the state’s deficit into a surplus. Unfortunately a few | Read More »

By: earlgrey (Diary)  |  October 28th at 05:14 PM  | 

Posted on my office bulletin board is a page torn from a copy of Memphis magazine showing one of their covers from 1978.  It is titled “The Federal Express Flop”.  I keep it here to remind me about determination and how great ideas need a committed champion.   Anyone traveling to the Memphis airport on a Sunday can see a huge fleet of Federal Express airplanes, | Read More »

By: earlgrey (Diary)  |  May 9th at 11:30 AM  | 

Just weeks into the Obama Presidency I expected everyone to be coming out with pitchforks to knock this conceited joker out of office.  I couldn’t believe people didn’t see him the way I did.   I am a slow learner.   After the tea party events on April 15, 2009, I watched on Keith Olbermann’s show how he and J. Garafalo went after the tea partiers as | Read More »

By: earlgrey (Diary)  |  March 21st at 10:51 AM  | 

I am still dipping my toe in the pool of local party politics.  I have done a lot of volunteering and joined the party and a local GOP club.  Last month we had our precinct caucuses to select delegates for the GOP county convention.  We were allowed to send 10 delegates, but only had 2 of us at the caucus.  I was the only one | Read More »

By: earlgrey (Diary)  |  January 5th at 11:22 AM  | 

I got engaged in the fight to save America’s health care system early on.  After attending the tax day protests, I was inspired to join tea party groups and we mobilized early.  One such event was a counter-protest at Senator Corker’s office as we had heard word that some Move-On astroturf would be flooding Senate offices that day.  A large group of us (outnumbering the | Read More »

By: earlgrey (Diary)  |  December 13th at 12:57 PM  | 

The older I get the more conservative I become, and these past few years have reinforced in me more than ever the values of conservative principles, and how they really do stand for freedom.   It is no longer merely an intellectual exercise for me, but my strong conservative beliefs have almost become a rhythm beating inside me. Still, I must say that my life experiences | Read More »

By: earlgrey (Diary)  |  July 14th at 10:08 AM  | 

This summer is a particularly hard one for me.  My little boy will start kindergarten in less than a month.  Of course I know he’ll do well in school, family genetics have definitely made an impact I can already see, and sometimes lament when he outsmarts me.   In fairness, he probably won’t be the greatest athlete of all time, but that probably points back to | Read More »

By: earlgrey (Diary)  |  June 30th at 02:08 PM  | 

  I took to heart Erick’s message earlier this year that it is time to put down our signs and work within the Republican party and our own communities to make 2010 a real victory for conservatives and show the Republican party that Hope and Change is coming for them.  I joined the Shelby County GOP, went to some local meetings (yes I have been | Read More »

By: earlgrey (Diary)  |  May 21st at 10:02 AM  | 

While putting together my essay, I ran across a quote that summed up my thoughts and it came from a surprising source.  This was taken from an article by Cord Jefferson of The Root titled “Is the Tea Party the New Black Panther Party”  Please see quote below.   “In 1986, two decades after the founding of the Black Panther Party, Eldridge Cleaver turned away | Read More »

By: earlgrey (Diary)  |  April 22nd at 10:17 PM  | 

One year ago today I attended my first ever protest.  It was the tax day tea party held at this very site.  I carried a sign with a picture of my than infant daughter and told all who would listen that I was there to protect her future.   That seems like a lifetime ago, and for my daughter it almost is a lifetime.  Since that | Read More »