Okay, I have some ‘splaining to do since I posted this. Yes, it is real.
No, I did not make it up. Yes, I can prove it.
Second Baptist is one of those mega-churches. You know about the
Baptist Church that excommunicated their Democratic members? Apparently,
this church is even more fun than that!
Yes, this really is the chairman of the County GOP and a honcho
at the Christian Coalition - both Sunday School teachers and both living in
Tom DeLay’s district - calling each other liars and spitting at each other.
This is what passes for entertainment around here.
I have a new
best friend named Tumbleweed Jones. Tumbleweed sent me a treasure, and I will
always be appreciative of his kindness. Tumbleweed spends his spare time
monitoring our local Republicans just for the pure-dee delight and charm of it
all. Tumbleweed, you see, is a Republican, but not one of “those” kind of
Republicans.
They say that
there’s this place in Arkansas where you can find a diamond if you look long
enough. We ought to send Tumbleweed there, because he can look long enough. He
found a local Republican spitting match on one of the Internets with some of our
local grown men-folks shaking their butts at each other far nastier than a Texas
cheerleader ever attempted even when that fine Billy Joe Hackett was watching
her from the stands.
Sadly, the
owner of the blog took it all down in horror that he might have to take sides in
the matter. The owner of the blog, Chris Elam, ideologically supports the
Republican extremists, but the almost-moderates pay him to publish their
newsletter. That’s a Republican dilemma these days – hummmm….. my belief system
or lotsa money and fame. Tom DeLay has made this a hard choice for them, bless
their hearts. They’re kinda like the moneychangers at the Temple – sorta like,
“Hey Jesus, I’m at the Temple so what are you so upset about? I mean, a man’s
gotta make a livin’ and, let me remind you again, I am at the Temple like a good
person. Hey, quit turning over my table, my money is going everywhere.” I
kinda feel bad about it for them, but not all that much.
So anyway, my
new best friend Tumbleweed made a copy of the blog before Chris burned it. The
fight covers three separate blog entries, which I will spare you because Chris’
idea of wit is to add “ie” to the name of anyone he disfavors, as in, for
example, Chrisie. And he’s even more long-winded than I am, which is saying
something.
The first
exchange concerns, much to Tumbleweed’s delight, who is the Best Mean and
Hateful Baptist. But, before I can cut to the chase, and a dandy chase it is!,
I need to tell people from foreign states who the characters are:
Chris Elam
you already know. He’s fresh out of A&M from homeschooling.
Bev
Carter is a Republican precinct chair who owns the Fort Bend Star newspaper
and is not a big fan of Tom DeLay’s. She’s been getting national media coverage
about it. She doesn’t join in this fray, thank goodness, but the men are
obsessed with her. They treat her like she’s the goalie for a dart team. I
don’t think she gives a big bear’s butt.
Brian
Gaston (or bg) is middle-aged former Sugar Land city councilman and not much
else. He’s one of those chubby, prissy, balding Republican men who think Tom
DeLay is a piece o’ fineness.
Eric Thode
is Brian Gaston minus 20 years. He’s a former spokesman for Enron. He’s
also the local Republican party chairman. His opinion of Tom DeLay changes in
inverse ratio to the economy.
Sam Raia
is Brian and Eric with a domineering mother.
I do not know
who Mark and Jason are, but I’m sure they are Sam, Brian, and Eric
on a stick.
The first
discussion centers on an excellent article in The
New Republic about Tom DeLay facing some Republican displeasure with the
locals. In it, Eric Thode refers to the “wackos” in his own party. The fight
begins:
Jason wrote:
Regarding
the "wacko wing"...
As you've pointed out before Chris, Norm Mason is Eric Thode's predecessor as
Chairman of the Republican Party of Fort Bend and is also the Chairman of the
Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority.
Tom DeLay is a die-hard supporter of the Fort Bend Christian Coalition.
The Executive Director of the Texas Christian Coalition is Mike Hannesschlager
- a former DeLay staffer.
05/05/05 -
03:39 PM
Chris Elam wrote:
Well... I'm
hoping Eric was speaking tongue-in-cheek to this reporter. Things often look
worse in black and white than they were originally meant to be.
The rest of the article is a hoot and where the fun comes from.
05/05/05 -
03:52 PM
Eric Thode wrote:
As a
strongly pro-Life Republican who is a deacon at Second Baptist Church, former
Sunday School teacher and current Sunday School Director, I would very clearly
and correctly be labeled religious right. However, there is a militant sect of
the Religious Right who quite correctly are labeled the "wacko wing."
05/05/05 -
04:57 PM
Brian Gaston wrote:
Unfortunately, I as a strong pro-life Republican, deacon at Second Baptist
Church, cofounder of the Taxpayer's Coalition of Fort Bend County, and Sunday
School teacher, who has consistently supported and fought for conservative
causes, I have consistently observed that Mr. Thode, along with B.K. Carter
have targeted the "religious right" as anyone they could not control including
those who have had nothing to do with the "religious right".
Tags are easy to apply, but one's actions define them and Mr. Thode's words
and actions are not consistent, certainly not in his attacks on Christian
conservatives which date back for years.
05/05/05 -
05:48 PM
Sam Raia wrote:
Talk about
wacko's, Eric Thode and Bev(RINO) Carter invented this behavior. Both of their
discriptions of the real conservative and highly respected leaders of our
party in Ft. Bend County is pathetic.
05/05/05 -
10:28 PM
Mark wrote:
Congressman
DeLay's call for prayer and humility is on target and could perhaps even help
Republicans in Fort Bend get along with one another if practiced. Fact is, we
GOPers have far more in common than we have differences. How 'bout we find
some liberals to beat up on instead of each other. Rush is right...you always
need to keep a few libs around to remind you who the real enemy is...and to
beat up on when you are in a bad mood. :-)
05/05/05 -
11:15 PM
bg wrote:
Mark, I
agree with you.
Our County Chair has thrown the first stones in this current controversy.
Unfortunately, the County Chairman goes out of his way to attack Christian
Conservatives including Commissioner Meyers. SREC reps and even recruited
Precinct Chair candidates in collusion with Bev Carter(she adimitted it in a
column in her paper) to run against conservative chairs in the last election.
He is doing nothing to build consensus but is extremely divisive.
05/06/05 -
12:42 AM
Eric Thode wrote:
My support
of candidates opposing some existing Precinct Chairs occurred in 2004. Those
same Precinct Chairs opposed me in 2002. Additionally, Commissioner Meyers'
attacked me in 2002, which is also prior to my support for his opponent in
2004.
The truth is I did not shoot first.
Mr. Raia and Mrs. Gaston should get their facts straight.
05/06/05 -
12:29 PM
bg wrote:
What Thode
means by "opposing" is that they were demanding accountability in the Party on
finances and organization. Any challenger was tagged as a troublemaker.
05/06/05 -
01:02 PM
Yep, these
guys are both deacons at The Second Baptist Church. Boy howdy, you’d have to
grid up your loins to go to a deacon’s meeting. Maybe that’s why Baptists don’t
let women be deacons.
Gaston got
the last word on that one, but there’s some other brutally snippy exchanges
between the Republican men-folks.
The next
exchange concerns two women running for city counsel and school board – both
non-partisan races. The extremists on the far right supported one and the
extremists who have no core values supported the other.
05/05/05 -
12:09 PM
bg wrote:
I love the
hairsplitting by Thode on the issues of voting records.
If Felicia had voted for Republicans and supported Republicans, shouldn't she
get some credit?
And, if one of Thode's endorsements had a Kerry yard sign and her neighbors
verified she supported Kerry in the last election, shouldn't that be a little
concerning to Thode for endorsements.
I would love to go back to the Precinct 1 Commmissioner's race wherein Thode
supported Dem who was going to change parties and see some of his
justifications on that one.
Guess the rules change depending on who he wants to win. Spinmeister at work.
05/05/05 -
12:41 PM
Eric Thode wrote:
As someone
who prefers to deal in facts and truth, I just got off the telephone with
Cynthia Knox, who assures me that she did NOT have a Kerry sign in her yard
and says that anyone who claims otherwise is either mistaken or lying. She
would love to know which neighbor "verified" that she supported Kerry. Brian?
05/05/05 -
05:08 PM
bg wrote:
Well Eric,
two of us walked the neighborhood and were in front of the house and talked to
several neighbors who said that was the case.
That is what the info is based on.
You know, these boys need a
quilting bee and could teach Advanced Techniques on Bitchy 101. And now you
know what kind of people support Tom DeLay. These are the people who elect
him.
Tumbleweed promises that
he’ll keep monitoring local Republican sites. This might turn into more fun
than recess in Heaven.
