Legislators speak at state’s rights event
Jim Lembke
Brian Nieves
A rally Thursday evening in Washington, Mo., calling for more state’s rights and less government drew State Sen. Jim Lembke, R-south St. Louis County, and State Rep. Brian Nieves, R-Washington, as speakers.
A group, I Heard the People Say, sponsored the event in Rennick Riverfront Park. The group’s website said that its mission statement is “As one nation under God, to restore our Republic by educating, informing, and empowering citizens to take action under the freedoms of the U.S. Constitution.”
Annette Read of Chesterfield, the group’s co-founder, said Thursday people “are frustrated with politicians. The government is way too large; taxes are out of control.”
But, she said, her group is not is promoting candidates. “We support ‘tea parties,’” she said. “We want public awareness about what the government is up to. We want to engage the government.”
A flier announcing the rally said Nieves’s favorite quote is “Where the people fear the government there is tyranny and where the government fears the people there is liberty.”
Where were these groups when Bush was enlarging the federal government and pushing through legislation like the Patriot Act and spying on US citizens? Suddenly we have a President who wants to expand access to affordable healthcare and THAT is a breach of the constitution?
These groups are intellectually dishonest or just stupid. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say it is the former.
The core of the group was always there, Richard. Whether or not a bunch of new recruits suddenly joins does not de-legitimize their argument. Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, Obama. All are up to the same hijinks. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and say you are just in a phase
thanks phil sutton for coverage of the rally in washington missouri! The local news papers refuse to cover any of the patriot uprising type rallys in franklin county. they and a handful of the local elected officials want the taxpayers to shrivel up, shut up and go away but keep feeding their coffers and pensions and projects! they accuse us of being a rag tag bunch of radicals for demanding things like fair tax assessments and not to mention real representation! Thank God for men and women who do have the courage to stand for and with the people they are sworn to represent such as Nieves, Lembke, Akin, Paul, and their are more but especially the up and coming candidate patriots in 2010!!!!!!
The guy on the left looks crazy and insane.
Is he on probation or something?
Oh..wait a minute. That’s just Jim Lembke.
Never mind.
Mr Ferguson,
I must disagree that this group has always been there. People like Louise show me to be correct by including Representative Akin in a list of ‘patriots’ when he supported to Patriot Act, which is the actual greatest threat to the constitution in the last 10 years. You could disagree and say that Cheney’s assertion of powers as Vice President was the greatest threat, which I might concede.
When I tried organizing a group of people to oppose the patriot act on constitutional grounds the only folks who I could find on the right to help was the Eagle Forum of Physllis Schlafly. While I disagree with her on most things, I can give her credit for being intellectually consistent.
These ‘patriot’ teabaggers do not deserve such credit. They try to cloak their hatred of President Obama as ‘patiotic defenders of the constitution’. But then they will line up and vote Republican like they always do, ignoring that their party has done more to destroy the constitution then anyone.
I don’t like that this group is promoting their agenda using the phrase “state’s rights”. That used to be codeSpeak for various racist policies that were legislated and enforced by state and local governments.
I’m not saying this movement is racist, I’m saying they should know the history of that phrase in political rhetoric before using it in their press releases.
Susyjax if you want to know about racism for real…read Kevin Jacksons’ book The Big Black Lie, he was one of the guest speakers at the states rights rally/10th amendment rally on sept 10th in washington mo. AND he is a black man, http://www.theblacksphere.net. Look on utube/states rights rally washington mo to hear him and the others. Look at http://www.franklincoutypatriots.org or http://www.iheardthepeoplesay.org for more live coverage of Kevin Jackson and Brian Nieves and Jamie Allman and the 1000 people standing together for big government to get off our backs and out of our pockets and READ the U.S. Constitution they have sworn to uphold. I could name a few more courageous men and women in office who do uphold the constitution and represent the people they are sworn to serve, who have been in the trenches all along Richard but fighting an uphill battle with the moderates in their very party. And now Claire McCaskill states clearly she is a moderate, only because the people are coming out of the woodwork making their voices heard does she have to try and seem a little more toward the middle??? what politics! This states rights issue will be one this next session in missouri that all brave and i say brave senators and state reps will stand for! Who are they? We have seen and heard two of them stand out already. Will a Congressman who claims to have courage to lead stand in the U. S. House of Representatives stand before the rest of them and say “We cannot do that…the states will not allow it.” as the tenth amendment clearly gives the right and rule to do? We shall see.
Was this rally in Missouri? Sure sounded like Idaho to me…
Did Rep Cynthia Davis miss this?
Code words all over the place.
Oooooh, stop! That Brian Nieves is kinda cute!
Mmmmmm!