[bane]

OK, so I have to ask who here went to the Convention today??? I know someone from this board did b/c I recognized him as one of the member's of this board (I've seen his photo here before somewhere) but don't recall who it is... I wanted to introduce myself and talk to you but when I saw you I couldn't place where I knew you from... until later on, at which point I think you'd already left. I am referring to the member who was standing at a booth with Senator Waddoups T-shirts and OC'ing.

So the Convention went well and Senator Waddoups defeated his opponent with something like a 66% vote!!! arty3:

I approached the UEA booth and complained to them that I don't appreciate their strong opposition to our gun rights... the lady was, IMHO, rude and dismissive, and said that while it was obvious that gun rights are important to me they aren't important to her. And that was the whole context of her argument. I tried to appeal to reason and statistics but she said, rather up-front, that her argument might indeed be irrational and contrary to statistics but that she just didn't like guns and that was that. I couldn't believe it. So I asked her what she would do if a student brought a gun to school and started shooting up the place and she said "well, I personally don't think I could shoot that student". To which I asked her well what about SOMEONE ELSE, wouldn't it be ok if someone other than you shot that student to stop them from killing dozens of other innocent students to which she bluntly replied, "no I don't -- I think introducing another gun into the situation increases the problem". I then deferred to Police and she cited the recent unlawful shooting of a student by a LEO (suggesting she did not think LEO's should have guns either). I said, so that student should just be allowed to keep shooting and killing other innocent students, and she said "well the point here is that you care about gun rights and I don't".

So, there you go... a formal State Rep of the UEA demonstrating exactly how much she cares about our kids... outside of TEACHING our kids, she doesn't much care about them or whether or not some psycho is killing them. Now, certainly not all teachers in Utah think this way... but the point I'm making is that at least some in the UEA LEADERSHIP DO... and they think it's totally fine to be irrational, unrealistic, and uncaring of our children's welfare.

I was shocked, and expressed as much. It disgusted me.
That's not education, it's repression.

 

[apollosmith]

A perfect case of someone hating guns more than they love the children they are supposed to be serving. It's pathetic and cowardly, really.

 

[Ruger Collector]

Thank you Bane for being there, I couldn't go because of work...

 

[GeneticsDave]

The ignorance of people never ceases to amaze me.

 

[rdoggsilva]

Bane were you packing while there, that poor misguided UEA rep would have messed herself if you were. :lol2: I go to the state Convention next sat the 10th. Well be looking for the UEA booth. Also will be CC.

 

[Cinhil]

I would have been present however, I was previously engaged to assist a family with 6 Autistic children as a work project for the University of Utah Health Plans.
I was not an elected official/Delegate this year, though I had been invited to at least attend, unfortunately this project had already captured my attention. I will say though, that this was an excellent opportunity to help give to the community.
Now that the convention is over I shall see what is going on in my district and see if my assistance may be of use in helping to elect someone who can communicate with the people they represent, as well as to defeat a 25 year Democratic Party stranglehold in my district.
I thank Bane, as well as any others who were present at the convention in Delegate roles, for their service and offer my gratitude and thanks for that service.

 

[bane]

Bane were you packing while there, that poor misguided UEA rep would have messed herself if you were. :lol2: I go to the state Convention next sat the 10th. Well be looking for the UEA booth. Also will be CC.

Well, I was CC'ing... I haven't yet OC'd... I'm sure I will someday b/c I support the political/social reasons people choose to OC but I just haven't done it yet.

 

[divegeek]

Now, certainly not all teachers in Utah think this way... but the point I'm making is that at least some in the UEA LEADERSHIP DO... and they think it's totally fine to be irrational, unrealistic, and uncaring of our children's welfare.

Before our children were born, my wife taught seventh grade science at Morgan Middle School. Every year, she found herself under intense pressure to join the MEA, UEA and NEA.

While she liked the MEA (Morgan Education Association) and felt that they did a lot of valuable work for the teachers in the district, she very much did not want to support the UEA or the NEA, precisely because of issues like this. The things that bothered here were mostly their agendas on gay rights, gun rights, abortion rights and lots of similar issues that had absolutely nothing to do with education.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to join just the MEA. It was a kind of package deal. Most of the other teachers around her also disagreed with these education-irrelevant positions, but all joined due to the intense pressure to get 100% membership in the district. The other big factor was the idea that if a student made an accusation against a teacher who was a member, the UEA would support the teacher publicly and financially, but if the teacher was not a member, the UEA would not get involved.

The state and national education association leaderships are very much liberal statist activists, and they rely heavily on the political influence given them by the "fact" that they represent thousands of hard-working teachers -- regardless of the fact that plenty of those teachers don't agree with them and have been browbeaten into joining and paying their dues.

I'm proud to say that my wife joined the first year, but after seeing who they were and what they stood for, thereafter refused. She was the only holdout in the district, breaking Morgan's tradition of 100% membership.

 

[bane]

I'm curious... with so many teachers in the state similar to your wife (and I'm sure there are many), why don't they band together and form an alternative union to provide opposition... after all, it would absolutely be in the spirit of a true educational environment (the idea of promoting opposing viewpoints)!

:huh:

 

[GeneticsDave]

Probably just apathy. It's so hard to get people to do things unless they are outraged. When people merely disagree, they tend to just keep it to themselves thinking they are the only one with an opposing viewpoint. It isn't until someone gets outraged and starts speaking out that others realize they aren't alone.

 

[Kevin Jensen]

OK, so I have to ask who here went to the Convention today??? I know someone from this board did b/c I recognized him as one of the member's of this board (I've seen his photo here before somewhere) but don't recall who it is... I wanted to introduce myself and talk to you but when I saw you I couldn't place where I knew you from... until later on, at which point I think you'd already left. I am referring to the member who was standing at a booth with Senator Waddoups T-shirts and OC'ing.

That was probably me! Travis and I showed up early to help Senator Waddoups set up his booth. We were wearing his T-shirts, but took them off later to mingle. The full story and a few more photos can be found here.

 

[bane]

Oh, yeah, that WAS you guys! Sorry I didn't figure it out before you were already gone... so you were the guy in the "Glock Protected" shirt, right? Darn, I wish I would've waited for the "throngs" to go away and step up and talk to you.

My wife is curious... the guy I recognized was TJ (I think that's his name)... the one dressed up in the cowboy gear... she's curious if that's his normal attire or he just does that for kicks.. ???

I thought it was pretty kewl you guys were OC'ing... I asked her what she thought about it... she's still mixed...

 

[Kevin Jensen]

Yes, I was wearing the Glock polo, and TJ (UTOC-45-44) was the cowboy. :sheriff: That is how he normally dresses. The other Travis is b1ack5mith from opencarry.org. We were there from 7 A.M. to Noon, so you have no excuse as to why you didn't say hello. :raisedbrow: :bat:

 

[UTOC-45-44]

Yes, I was wearing the Glock polo, and TJ (UTOC-45-44) was the cowboy. :sheriff: That is how he normally dresses. The other Travis is b1ack5mith from opencarry.org. We were there from 7 A.M. to Noon, so you have no excuse as to why you didn't say hello. :raisedbrow: :bat:

:sheriff: Howdy Pardner :sheriff:

Yep, that was me. I dress like that all that time. Guilty as charged.

We had the TOTALLY AWESOME opportunity to talk to Governor Candidate Dell Schanze, and let me tell you. He was VERY relaxing to "hang" with and VERY humorous. I felt very confident with him to be the next Governor of Utah. Is absolutely opposite to what the Press wants him to be. We talked about so stuff that he had been thru and as ALWAYS the press ONLY gives us what they want to make him look like a "NUTCASE". I stand by him and WILL vote for Schanze 2008. We got some good Pics too.

We had the chance to "hang" with Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. A very WARM and GENTLE giant. Feel VERY comfortable in his presence. Vote Shurtleff 2008. SGTJensen got some good pics too.

At one point we unvoluntarily had a booth there. We stood infront of an empty booth and all of a sudden we were asked questions about OCing and had some very good and healthy discussions. I believe thru-out the day we spoke possibly with 30-40 people. A Great day.

TJ :crown:

 

[rdoggsilva]

Man, I hope I have that much fun at the State Convention.

 

[bane]

We were there from 7 A.M. to Noon, so you have no excuse as to why you didn't say hello. :raisedbrow: :bat:

Actually, I do.

I showed up at 8:30 to register and visit with some of the candidates... that's when I saw you but there were throngs around you and I didn't realize where I knew you guys from (actually it was TJ I recognized). Then I went and got a seat for the conv. start... at which point I realized where I knew you from. Then I had to go to the different Leg, and Sen meetings... by the time we had a break, it was just after noon and you guys were gone!

 

[bane]

Yep, that was me. I dress like that all that time. Guilty as charged.

Just to be clear, it was my wife who was curious... personally, *I* like it! I'm a big individualist and your cowboy outfit definitely doesn't look like all the others! Plus, I could pick you out of a crowd!

As for Schanze... what you say I'm sure is true... but one has to admit that it seems like he goes out of his way to give the media ammo... I mean, his commercials alone are an invite to indict! :ROFL:

Anyways, it was kewl seeing you guys... I really wish I would've stopped to say "hi"!

 

[bane]

I went to our OC sister-site today to read the thread with UTOC and SGT Jensen's photos and saw this tid-bit (which I'm commenting here on b/c I just don't have time and energy to participate in both boards):

I must warn you all though, one of the few things I've found as much fun and as addicting as shooting, is political involvment. Stick with it and you will be AMAZED at how much impact a very small number of highly dedicated people can have. The world really is run by the tiny number who bother to show up. And there is nothing like a little new blood in the ranks to really get everyone excited.

This reminded me of something I commented on to my wife at the convention. We were sitting in the general meeting and I took a minute to look across the crowd... now, I don't know how many were there and I'm a bad estimator, but I'm GUESSING there were only maybe 300 people there. And that caused me to pause. In SL County there are about 1 million people. The convention delegates numbered only about 300.

That amounts to that group of delegates being only 0.0003% of the population and each delegate there was speaking on behalf of 3,333 people in the community.

So, while 1 MILLION people were out last saturday going about their daily lives and doing the things they like to do, almost none of them realized that their very lifestyles were being, in part, determined by such a microscopic group of people... it was amazing... and a real wake-up to me!

This is nothing short of amazing to me. This is a clear indicator to me that if we want even more protection and expansion of our rights we really need to get involved... as the moderator of the OC forum correctly said, practicing your right isn't good enough, and voting in the general election is good but insufficient. Flyering and posting signage is pretty good too, but insufficient. Really the best thing we can do to support those who support us is to show up at these conventions since it is at these conventions where we have the ability for our voices to be heard louder than perhaps at any other time... I mean, seriously, where can you speak as though you have the volume and authority of 3,333 other people???

For those here who can't/didn't make it to your respective County Convention, I strongly urge you to plan on attending the State Convention this Saturday.
Even if you aren't a delegate, you can still go (my wife went with me!) and participate, you just can't vote. But you can talk to people about our gun rights and about supporting the right candidates and you can shake the hands of your candidates and thank them for their help and ask them what you can do -- they will know what they need.

I know life happens. But I also know that we ALWAYS have something else important going on. Consider your priorities in life carefully.

 

[Paul]

You open carry guys are STUDS! That picture is AWESOME!!!!!!

 

[Mazellan]

:agree: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: