By James Sharp —— Bio and Archives January 13, 2012
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Dear Rep. Wasserman-Schultz: I have seen several clips on Fox News of your recent speech at the gathering in New Hampshire in which you equated the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords to Tea Party violence. Every decent, God-fearing American decries the horrific event that took place last year in Tucson. It was a tragedy of epic proportion and no one in their right mind would think otherwise. What is particularly troubling to me, however, is your statement that you,”…have noticed it take a very precipitous turn towards edginess and lack of civility with the growth of the Tea Party movement." Since April 2009, I have been a proud Tea Party participant. I do not know how many Tea Party events you have attended or where. But I have participated in at least a dozen such gatherings, including Representative Michele Bachmann’s “Kill the Bill” rally in Washington on November 5th, 2009 (the same day as the terrorist’s attack at Fort Hood). I can state unequivocally that you are wrong. The Tea Party does not espouse violence of any sort. Quite the contrary, as a matter of fact. If you were to actually attend a Tea Party rally, I believe that you would find the vast majority of the attendees to be religious and overwhelmingly disinclined to condone violence. On the other hand, the Occupy Wall Street movement has been marred by widespread acts of criminal mischief and sporadic violence. We have seen video clips of dozens of Occupy protesters being led away in handcuffs as protesters have blocked access to public spaces including the port at Oakland, CA. We have heard about the general lawlessness (i.e., drug use, illicit sex, etc.) that has taken place at Occupy protests nationwide. Your attempts to paint the Tea Party movement as a band of gun-toting marauders is grossly unfair and I, for one, am offended by your remarks. In my opinion, you owe all of us an apology. Sincerely, James M. Sharp cc: Rep. Allen West
James Sharp is a middle-aged, middle-class, middle-management salesman who believes in secure borders and fighting our enemies with a strong military. He also believes in limited government, free markets, and unlimited opportunity and personal liberties for all citizens of the U.S.