On the Record: Tea Party Board Members Take a Stand

 

President Nathan Boates and Vice President Lyleanne McClellan-Thee of the San Angelo Tea Party visited the LIVE! office on Tuesday to discuss the article posted on September 11 entitled “Radical Islam or Extreme Conservatism: San Angelo Tea Party Wants Muslims Out.”

Boates and McClellan-Thee expressed an interest in clarifying the Tea Party’s official stance, and in clearing up any misconceptions associated with the organization as a result of the article and specifically of the quote “There are four Muslim families in San Angelo…and that’s four too many,” made by Terry Campbell.

They were also concerned that the title may be misleading, as Campbell is not a current member of the board.

“We have individual members and they’re all entitled to their own beliefs…but at the same time, it doesn’t make it an official stance of the Tea Party,” McClellan-Thee said.

“I think if you’re going to make a statement like that, then I think that any statement like that should come from an official board member, not a past board member,” she continued.  

Terry Campbell is the previous President of the San Angelo Tea Party. His statements were made in the presence of other Tea Party members, none of which objected to or refuted his opinion at the time of interview.

Boates stated that Campbell has emphatically denied having said the second part of the quotation (“…and that’s four too many.”), although Campbell has made no effort to contact LIVE! to refute his statement.  Campbell was unavailable for comment at the time of the meeting on Tuesday and was not reachable by telephone prior to publication.

Addressing the overall message and tone of O’Brien’s presentation, Boates said, “One of the other things that I would like to distinguish between—and I’m not sure that Dorrie O’Brien did a good job of that, I think she could have maybe stated it a little bit better—is that we see a big difference between radical Islam and Muslims."

Boates explained that the estimated percentage of Muslims who practice radical Islam lies somewhere between two and ten percent.

“Our meeting there on Tuesday was to inform and educate people on the 2-10 percent on the Radical Islam, it was not on the Muslims as a whole…I know she didn’t make that distinction, like I think she should have.” Boates said.

“We wish that she had phrased some things differently…like the ‘moderate Muslim’ thing. We don’t think she did a good job delineating that,” McClellan-Thee added. “We obviously don’t think that they should all be lumped together."

Both Boates and McClellan-Thee emphasize that the Tea Party meetings are free and open to the public. There are 60-65 paying members, and membership may be obtained for $12 a year.

McClellan stated the Tea Party stands for limited government, fiscal responsibility and adhering to the U.S. Constitution. Meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month in the West Texas Convention Center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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If they want to clear their name, they need to call themselves Republicans or Libertarians or something else then. If you are a member of the Tea Party (also known as the American Taliban), then I am going to assume you hate women and muslims and just about anything else this country was really truly founded on. Don't try convince me it isn't a hate group. And don't give me any patriotic crap to try to make yourself look better.
Just what we need..more hate. Face it people..not everyone is white or prejudice so keep you hate to yourselves. Have your little hate meetings but keep your hate to yourselves cause the world is full already. Or better yet, move out of the country if you hate it.
You're going to assume they hate women?? So the VP of the San Angelo Tea Party who is a woman, hates women?? Matter of fact, a large percentage of tea partiers are women. But I know...that's just the liberal approach to an argument. If you can't win an argument, then change the language. What many tea partiers do hate is abortion. They also hate an of their tax dollars going to fund abortions. While there is an argument to be had on the topic, it's a hard one to win either way. So if we can't win, let's just change the narrative...tea partiers and republicans hate women. It's just silly to think that.
mizm, Thu, 09/19/2013 - 01:34
Assume? There is nothing to assume. The message, rhetoric and resulting policy has been crystal clear. This "fiscal responsiblity and adhering to the U.S. Constitution" is nothing but a lame attempt at a smokescreen. I'm sure many American taliban, i.e. tea party members don't even understand what the U.S. Constitution says. But it's okay, we understand there is not much appreciation for education. "Keep your socilised medicine out of my medicare" just for instance. Geez louise. Close the front door.

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