Peter Morrison on Straus...

Peter Morrison is a conservative activist who I believe was supportive of Debra Medina in the Republican primary... he is kind of out there in some ways but does brag that he has a large email list... I found this email in my spam folder...

Summary of this week's report:

Joe Straus, the liberal Republican Speaker of the Texas House of

Representatives, is on the ropes, lashing out at the grassroots and

bullying conservative Texas State House members in a desperate bid

to hold onto power.  Your representative needs to hear from you

today, demanding they support a conservative like Rep. Warren

Chisum or Rep. Ken Paxton for Speaker.  Please go to this site and

call or email your member today:

http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/

Just enter your address and call your member of the Texas House of

Representatives.  This is not your Congressman, but your Texas

State Representative.  Then, please visit this site and sign the

petition supporting a conservative Speaker:

http://conservativespeakermandate.com/

The full report:

In the history of The Peter Morrison Report, this may be the most

important message I've ever sent you.  After Election Day's

historic Republican gains in Texas, Republicans now hold 99 seats

out of 150 in the Texas House.  We can now push to remove Joe

Straus, the liberal, pro-abortion Speaker of the House, and replace

him with a true conservative.

Just as a reminder, here's why Joe Straus needs to go:

* As Speaker, Straus appointed liberal committee chairs Burt

Solomons and Brian McCall who effectively killed all immigration

enforcement legislation in the 2009 session.  Because the

Legislature only meets every two years, this means the ongoing

invasion of our state cannot be addressed until 2011 at the

earliest.

* Joe Straus is pro-abortion.  In fact, his rabbi sits on the board

of San Antonio Planned Parenthood.  I can tell you what I would do

if my pastor supported Planned Parenthood: I would find a new

church.  Joe Straus clearly lacks the moral compass to be Speaker,

the third most powerful office in the state.

* According to Heritage Alliance, in the last legislative session

in which he voted, Joe Straus voted with conservatives only 52% of

the time, which was the second worst voting record among

Republicans.  In fact, five Democrats were more conservative than

Straus!  His claim to be a conservative leader is laughable.  He

was elected in 2009 because of a coalition of turncoat Republicans

and every Democrat in the Texas House.

Both Rep. Warren Chisum and Rep. Ken Paxton, who are Christians and

true conservatives, have risen to the occasion to challenge Joe

Straus for leadership.

Now I'm about to tell you breaking news about Joe Straus that

should infuriate you.  He just released a letter yesterday

attacking Rep. Chisum.  I'm going to share the last paragraph with

you:

"If you truly believe that the Texas House of Representatives

should be protected from the kind of scorched earth campaign

unleashed by your allies, then I call on you to put a stop to it

for the sake of the membership. Stop the threatening letters,

mean-spirited emails, and angry phone calls. Let each member of the

House, elected to represent the views of their constituents, decide

this election free of such divisive hostility."

Let me translate for you: the election's over.  The grassroots

needs to sit down at the back of the bus while the insiders decide

who's in charge.  Straus has nothing but contempt for the thousands

of conservative Texans communicating with their legislator to try

and elect a conservative speaker.  You see, in Joe Straus' world,

legislators are supposed to represent their constituents' views,

but if a constituent actually shares their views then that's "mean

spirited."

Right now I believe the Republicans in the Texas House are ready

for a new Speaker.  However, they're also scared.  They know if

they come out for a conservative Speaker and Straus somehow

survives, they will be punished in the 2011 session.

In fact, one of Straus' bullying tactics just came to light as I

write this.  Rep. Brian Hughes released a letter saying he will not

support Straus, and among his reasons why: Straus' staff threatened

him with redistricting if he didn't cooperate.

Think about this: a Republican Speaker, threatening a Republican

member with the prospect of a gerrymandered district that would

disenfranchise his conservative constituents.  This tactic reveals

that Straus is truly a traitor, a man who would hurt conservatives

in order to hold on to power.

I think there is great hope right now, but you need to take action.

 Joe Straus has played "Mr. Nice Guy" for the last two years, but

cracks are starting to appear in that facade.  His contemptuous

dismissal of the grassroots and his bullying tactics reveal

desperation in a man who feels threatened by the conservative

victory of Election Day.

Now is the time to apply pressure.  Now is the time to demand your

representative support a true conservative for Speaker.

Your representative needs to hear from you today, demanding they

support a conservative like Warren Chisum or Ken Paxton for

Speaker.  Please go to this site and call or email your member

today:

http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/

Just enter your address and call your member of the Texas House of

Representatives.  This is not your Congressman, but your state

representative.  Then, please visit this site and sign the petition

supporting a conservative Speaker:

http://conservativespeakermandate.com/

The Peter Morrison Report

http://www.PeterMorrisonReport.com

http://www.facebook.com/morrisonreport

Sources:

http://www.heritagealliance.com/tcr/tcrhome.php?Year=2007

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-house-of-representatives/texas-house-speaker-politics/rep-berman-explains-why-he-wants-to-oust-straus/

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2010/06/12/former_party_leader_tries_to_r.html

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/05/straus-helps-democrat-with-gop.html

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2010/06/12/former_party_leader_tries_to_r.html

http://blogs.chron.com/texaspolitics/archives/2009/01/straus_on_the_a.html

http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/speaker-straus-other-horse-race

http://www.dallasvoice.com/instant-tea/2010/06/22/if-leo-berman-becomes-house-speaker-it-could-really-be-a-real-punishment-from-god/

http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/article_10409.php

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Anger_over_Arizona_law_unites_May_Day_marchers.html

http://open.salon.com/blog/robert_flynn/2008/10/15/interview_rabbi_barry_block

http://www.beth-elsa.org/bblockbio.htm

http://blogs.chron.com/texaspolitics/archives/2010/07/speaker_pressed.html

PO Box 8742, Lumberton, TX 77657, USA

The Dallas Morning News took issue with Morrison using the concept of Paxton and Chisum being Christians (link). Excerpt follows...

  AUSTIN – Some conservative Republican activists working to unseat House Speaker Joe Straus are circulating e-mails that emphasize his Judaism.

Several e-mails have surfaced in recent days that mention Straus' rabbi and underscore the Christian faith of his leading critics in the House Republican Caucus.

[SNIP]

"Straus is going down in Jesus' name," said one, whose origins were unclear.

Straus, R-San Antonio , "clearly lacks the moral compass to be speaker," said another, written by Southeast Texas conservative activist Peter Morrison.

"Both Rep. Warren Chisum and Rep. Ken Paxton, who are Christians and true conservatives, have risen to the occasion to challenge Joe Straus for leadership," Morrison wrote in his newsletter last Thursday, referring to two Republicans who are running against Straus for speaker.

Morrison, asked Tuesday if he intended to signal that Straus is unfit because he is Jewish, replied in an e-mail, "I was simply making factual statements about Rep. Chisum and Rep. Paxton."

Morrison said his opposition to Straus is driven by issues, not religion.     

  The Quorum Report, an online newsletter, reported extensively late Monday on e-mails that mentioned Straus' Judaism, his rabbi and the Christian faith of his House critics, who include Rep. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola.

Kaufman County Tea Party Chairman Ray Myers, a homebuilder and retired high school principal, sent an e-mail last week praising Hughes as "a Christian Conservative who decided not to be pushed around by the Joe Straus thugs."

On Tuesday, Myers said that "it never crossed my mind" that Straus is Jewish when he wrote the e-mail. Myers said many tea party supporters consider Straus a Republican in name only, or RINO.

"We're going after the RINOs," he said.     

I think if people are injecting religion in this race they are just giving newspapers something to write about and help people rally around Straus... and I think looking at the actual email the Morrison Report probably did in fact mean to inject Straus' Jewish faith as a negative... and I reject and denounce him and his attempt to be divisive there... but is the Morrison Report really that influential? If anything the Morrison report is so strident about so many things that he doesn't really have a lot of allies... he sort of alienates his own "friends" and "allies" by attacking first and asking questons later... I never hear people talking about the Morrison Report... oh no... the Morrison Report said something... we should react... nope... nobody does that...

As for Ray Myers, he did nothing wrong as I see it, and people are really stretching if they are trying to see anti-semitism in his comments... it is just a fact that Bryan Hughes is a well known Christian Conservative. Like a brand. Both capitalized... I would just guess that Myers didn't even know Straus was Jewish until he was contacted by the reporter...

Reiterating... I do agree that Peter Morrison crossed the line and did it intentionally... and I condemn that... but I still don't really see real evidence of an actual anti semitic campaign the way Harvey Kronberg and others have said exists... one crank who is trying to make a name for himself should not be seen as speaking for the opposition to Straus... certainly there are other Jewish Republicans who aren't fans of Straus... paging Leo Berman...