Tea Party Activist's Invitation to Morgan Freeman Gets National Attention

I am so pleased that a good friend of mine, Ali Akbar, has been garnering a lot of new media attention for inviting actor Morgan Freeman to attend a Tea Party event.  Morgan, the oscar-winning star of "Driving Miss Daisy," "Shawshank Redemption,"  and several other fine films, recently created headlines when he told CNN's Piers Morgan that he believes the Tea Party is racist in its opposition to President Obama.

Ali is an African American business owner, blogger, political strategist, and publisher of the new website Tea Party Brew.  I first met Ali in 2006 when he moved from Texas to Georgia to work on a congressional race.  In 2010, Ali and I worked together for the Ray McKinney for Congress campaign, and I've written for several of Ali's websites. Below is a photo from the 2011 state GOP convention in Macon, GA:

Quoting now from his invitation:

I’ve attended dozens of tea party events. I’ve helped organize them, and I’ve even spoken at a few. The tea party is not what is often depicted in the news. It is people of all colors who are terribly concerned about the direction that America is heading. We don’t trust big government to make decisions for us. And we fear that the present administration’s spending is going to lead our country down a path to insolvency, much like what Greece is currently facing.

Your comments about the tea party have caused me physical pain. You’ve rekindled the old painful paradigm of Uncle Tom – that any black man who votes Republican is some kind of sellout. It’s not true. I work hard, pay my taxes, love Jesus, and I’m good to my family and community. In effect, your comments have stereotyped an entire group of people. And I know in my soul that you must regret that on some level.

Ali ended his article by inviting Freeman to attend a Tea Party event in Tennessee, the state where the actor was born.

As blogger Stacy McCain points out, Ali's invitation has gone viral on the web:

Ali Akbar’s open letter to Morgan Freeman is now a Memeorandum thread, linked by Big Hollywood, Pundette, Ed Driscoll, Underground Conservative and Kat McKinley at the Houston Chronicle.

Way to go, Ali. I wouldn't at all be surprized if Fox News also picks up  on this...

Cutty

Tea Party Refusal to Cave Has Driven Liberals Out of Their Minds

That's the subject of an article I've written for the new excellent roundup of Tea Party issues and activities on a new, excellent website called Tea Party Brew.  You can read it here, and bookmark the website to keep up to date in the future.

 

Tonight's Fox/Google GOP Debate

I'll be watching tonight's Fox News/Google GOP presidential debate from Orlando with heightened interest because at least a dozen of the questions will come from oridinary "Joes" and "Janes." So far, over 18,000 questions have been submitted, and some samples can be viewed here. 

Two of the hottest topics are immigration and government spending, which have been virtually ignored in past debates. These issues have been virtually ignored in past debates, where panelists were more concerned with generating conflict among the candidates or lobbying "gotcha" questions. (Even Fox was guilty of this in its previous debate.) 

So finally, we should find out which of the GOP candidates have the best answers to those and other questions important to the electorate, not to pundits and reporters.


I also hope questions will be asked about the Solyndra, Fast and Furious, and Light Squared scandals which deserve much more media attention than they have been receiving.  Undoubtedly, if these scandals had happened under Bush, they would have drowned out all other news in the mainstream media for weeks.


Tonight's debate is at 9 p.m. on Fox News Channel.  (Thank goodness it comes on after The Big Bang Theory!)

Introducing Cutty's Corner

Greetings and welcome to Cutty's Corner. 

You're probably asking, "Just who is this Cutty?"

I grew up in Iowa and Nebraska, served in the U.S. Navy for four years, and  graduated from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. After living and working in Washington State for 30 years, I moved to Georgia in 2004.  

My views are mostly conservative with a touch of libertarian. 

My career includes stints as a radio news director and anchor, legislative public information officer, campaign consultant, and aide to two members of Congress.  

I've been involved in Republican politics since 1976, when I was a county coordinator for the Reagan presidential campaign.  Since then, I have worked on over 35 campaigns as a communications strategist, campaign press secretary, and graphics designer. My clients have included candidates for city council, judge, state legislature, U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. 

So, what can Cutty's Corner offer that's different from most other conservative blogs?  Well, I strongly believe my experience provides me with a unique perspective on politics, government, the media, and culture. I've been writing blogs anonymously for other sites for some time now, but now at the urging of family and friends, I've decided it's time to put my opinions and observations out there on my own blog.  

So, here we go... 

 Cutty