The Upcountry Coalition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—The Coalition thanks the SCGOP Chairwoman Karen Floyd for making it crystal clear where the problems lie in South Carolina politics.

At the quarterly meeting of the Executive Committee on Saturday there was no mention of the racist comments made by Senator Jake Knotts, comments which drew negative national attention.

The GOP platform clearly states: “We ask all to join us in rejecting the forces of hatred and bigotry and in denouncing all who practice or promote racism, anti-Semitism, ethnic prejudice, or religious intolerance.” Instead, there were numerous calls for Party unity.

“Although the SCGOP cannot sponsor or enact legislation, they do have an obligation to uphold the Party Platform,” said Harry Kibler, founder of the RINO HUNT.

The Coalition hoped action would be taken to reject the racist remarks of Senator Knotts and possibly expel him from the SCGOP. Instead, a wall of protection was built around Knotts during a closed sub-committee meeting prior to the general meeting.

Coalition Chairman Jonathon Hill described what happened as being “all too similar to the backroom deals of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Barack Obama.”

Ronald Reagan was a great conservative and did not need to take a poll in order to decide what was right and wrong. If Chairwoman Floyd is not capable of making a decision on an issue as simple as blatant racism, she should step down from her position and allow someone with true grit and superior character to lead the South Carolina Republican Party.
Contacts:

Jonathon Hill
864-245-5885
jhill@upcountrycoalition.com

Harry Kibler
864-313-8615
harrykibler@yahoo.com

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Agenda:

• De-brief on 2010 primary election cycle, prepare for 2010 general election
• Outreach and advertising
• GOP re-organization

Frank Anderson, the founder of Independence Caucus will be in the Upstate on July 29th and would like the opportunity to talk with the TEA Party organizations in the Upstate, and specifically the Upcountry Coalition about starting now to prepare for the 2012 election cycle.

RSVP: Wayne Middleton (864-569-4063)

Please make plans to attend this event. If you’re unfamiliar with Independence Caucus, you may want to go to www.icaucus.org and review detail of this national organization which was responsible for putting Jason Chaffetz in the US House in 2008. They also endorsed Jeff Duncan and Jim Lee for US House and have been organizing in SC since late October.

We are on a fact-finding mission to determine why Patrick Haddon did not make his motion to expel Jake Knotts.

I do not know what the next step is yet, but we aren’t finished with this thing yet. WYFF4 had a good write-up, so rather than doing my own here is theirs.

Thank your for your support!

Jonathon Hill
Chairman, Upcountry Coalition

“I have not yet begun to fight.” — Capt. John Paul Jones

No Talk Of Senator’s Remark At GOP Meeting

http://www.wyff4.com/news/24055523/detail.html

COLUMBIA, S.C. — At its quarterly meeting, the South Carolina Republican Party did not discuss ethnic remarks made by Sen. Jake Knotts, as some had expected. Continue reading »

Fellow Patriots,

We’re all sick and tired of Republicans who aren’t conservatives. Since none of us in the TEA Party movement are interested in setting up a third party, we do have a vested interest in what goes on in the Republican Party.

Tomorrow, we have a chance to support a badly-needed house cleaning as first vice chair Patrick Haddon introduces a motion to expel Sen. Jake Knotts from the SCGOP.

Sen. Knotts is a RINO in the State Senate who several weeks ago called a fellow legislator an “f-ing raghead” not once, but multiple times. Knotts also said on an internet talk show that “we already got one raghead in the White House, we don’t need another one in the Governor’s Mansion.” (“Raghead” is a racial slur which refers to traditional Indian headdress.)

While expulsion from the party would not remove him from office, it would mean that Knotts would not be able to run for any local or state office on the Republican ticket in the future, hence ensuring his defeat–which would otherwise be difficult due to his incumbency, funding, and gerrymandered district.

The Upcountry Coalition has joined ranks with Rep. Joe Wilson, the Lexington County GOP, and SCGOP 1st Vice Chair Patrick Haddon calling for serious action on this matter. But we need your help:

1) Show your support by attending the SCGOP quarterly meeting tomorrow (6/26) in Columbia at 10AM.

SCGOP Quarterly Executive Committee Meeting
Saturday, 6/26 at 10AM
Location: Hilton Hotel, 924 Senate St, Columbia, SC (click here for directions)

Your presence in support will have an impact!

2) Call your County GOP Executive Committeman and County GOP Chairman and urge them to support the motion to expel Jake Knotts.

Here is a spreadsheet with their contact information.
Keep up the fight!

Jonathon Hill
Anderson TEA Party
864-245-5885