Posts Tagged → Tuscaloosa
Press Release: National Media Spotlight Focuses on Alabama RLC Members
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shana Kluck
shanajk@gmail.com
(205) 586-5751
National Media Spotlight Focuses on Alabama RLC Members
Members of new Alabama organization send Homeland Security Report viral, participate in Tea Party activities across state, interviewed on national television
(BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – April 20, 2009) For an organization which has been operational for less than two weeks, members of the Alabama Chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus have received significant national and state attention over the past few days.
ALRLC Media Director Stephen Gordon received considerable media attention for exposing the Department of Homeland Security report “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Environment Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” which went viral on the Internet.
“Considering that several of our RLC members provide Web 2.0 services for a living, we felt it was our civic responsibility to ensure that the story went immediately viral on the Internet,” said ALRLC Media Coordinator Stephen Gordon. “It’s critically important that believers in small government are made aware that they are being targeted by the current administration.”
“The Bush administration’s creation of the new DHS was not simply another instance of poor administration and leadership,” wrote ALRLC Chairman Scott Boykin on the organization’s website. “Rather, it established a new tool for political leaders seeking to demonize their opponents. Bush’s intentions in creating DHS don’t matter now, because it’s no longer his department. The more power government has, the greater is its potential threat to our freedom. The DHS report is a startling reminder that big government is dangerous.”
Members of the Alabama Liberty Caucus also assisted with the coordination of three Tax Day Tea Parties held in Alabama. ALRLC Secretary Shana Kluck and Gordon helped secure speakers, provide professional advice and assisted with other logistical concerns for the Tuscaloosa and Birmingham Tea Parties, respectively. RLC supporter Matthew Givens was a coordinator for the Montgomery event. While crowd estimates vary, approximately ten thousand people attended these three events. The Birmingham event received national television attention on Fox News.
On Thursday, Gordon spent an hour as an in-studio guest along with national political journalist Robert Stacy McCain on WYDE’s Lee Davis Show. Discussing the topic of recent Alabama Tea Parties, McCain stressed a point which Gordon had made to him during Ron Paul’s recent presidential bid: “The Ron Paul movement wasn’t about Ron Paul. It was about a movement.”
Additionally, Gordon appeared on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show on Tuesday. According to HotAir.com’s Green Room, Gordon took “hard shots at Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee and Alan Keyes” which “should suffice to dispel any notion that the Tea Party movement is a ‘neocon/Republican/Fox News’ conspiracy.”
Gordon also discussed the role of FreedomWorks/CSE during the campaign to defeat Governor Riley’s tax increase proposal in 2003.
The ALRLC’s organizational mission is to recruit and endorse candidates who support the RLC’s agenda, elect small-government Republicans to political office, and change the direction of the Republican Party to reflect our vision of peace and prosperity.
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Birmingham and Tuscaloosa Tax Day Tea Party reports
Two Ron Paul supporters at the Tuscaloosa Tea Party (photo credit: Forward Focus Media)
In both the Tuscaloosa and the Shelby County/Birmingham Tea Parties held on April 15th, Alabama RLC members played vital roles in the successes of these events. In Tuscaloosa, 500 to 600 people were reported in attendance. Crowd estimates ranged between 5,000 and 10,000 for the Birmingham event. Because of extreme event-related traffic congestion, it is very difficult to determine the actual total amount of people who showed at this event.
One contribution to Tea Party success provided by our RLC members led to certainly the funniest and perhaps one of the best speeches delivered at any Tea Party event across the country.
In Tuscaloosa, ALRLC Secretary Shana Kluck secured a speaking spot for former Washington Times assistant national editor and current freelance journalist Robert Stacy McCain. In Birmingham, ALRLC Media Director Stephen Gordon did the same. Poking fun at the Department of Homeland Security report we helped make available to the public, McCain wowed the crowd with his Jeff Foxworthy-like rendition of “You might be a right-wing extremist, if…”
Here’s the video of the speech McCain delivered in Hoover:
Shana Kluck, Robert Stacy McCain and Stephen Gordon have all provided reports from both the Tuscaloosa and Birmingham Tea Parties. Additional reports and photographs come from Ken Pritchett, Cathy Reisenwitz, Rhoda, Ed, and WYDE. Birmingham News coverage is here and dominant front page Tuscaloosa News coverage is here. For a special treat, here’s a YouTube of Rick and Bubba on Sean Hannity’s nationally televised feed from Birmingham.
