Dear Tom Vincent:

I feel that had you communicated with me, by any other form, (such as via the email link in the sidebar or via the comments section) other than how you and the candidate you choose to support chose to do so this evening, this matter could have been handled in a more civilized manner.  I do not believe you ever read the blogs that I wrote, but rather were led to believe that they said one thing, when in fact they said something else entirely.  

This is a screen shot of the blog in question and the specific section you referenced.  This is the only time I’ve brought up religion in regards to the campaign: 

As you can tell, that section references one specific group of people, by referencing language referred to in this blog, in which the candidate you support’s (unpaid) Communictions Director directly attacked the candidate I support on an issue said blogger and (unpaid) Communications Director has personally been contacted about on four separate occassions and which Mr. Carreno has responded to on three other occassions on a very public email distribution list sent out by Carl Whitmarsh.  

The blogs in question, in which I have written about the candidate you have chosen to support are:

Here

Here

Here

Oh, and not really, but I guess technically here, too 

I said that I would issue a retraction of calling you an atheist, however, upon review, I never did such thing.  If you feel I did, I apologize.  You are not an atheist.  

In fact, my comments were actually, far more pro-religion than they were given credit for: the candidate you support has aligned herself with bloggers who openly mock the Christian faith, by calling the most Christian day of the year, “Zombie Jesus Day”.   Where is your outrage at that? I was wondering how that candidate was prepared to cross the divide, so to speak, if she won the primary, with the person that is her de facto mouth piece ridiculing the faith in such a horrific manner.  

I have never once attacked, criticized, or mocked the Christian faith, nor attacked anyone for their faith.  I feel to attack any faith is horrendous, as it is deeply felt and extremely personal.  As a matter of fact, I even keep my grandfather’s bible, with his name inscribed in the cover, for sentimental reasons, and any Christian should know that my name is not only Aramaic, but is a village in the bible.  Look under Matthew 26:6.  

Again, if you feel I called you an atheist, I deeply regret that.  As I said, I feel it is morally reprehensible to do that to someone.  I would, however, prefer it if you read the blogs themselves, in their entirety, before accosting me in an environment in which I was having a professional discussion with the President of the organization I am a member of.  Neither Lissa’s supporters as a whole nor you, sir, on your own, were ever labeled “atheists”, but the way you went about your conversation and the people you did so in front of, very much so, meant that my reputation could have been damaged.  

I would appreciate an apology on your behalf for the attack that I suffered, due to your overreaction from not reading the blogs in their entirety or from not requesting a conversation in a polite and courteous fashion.  I would be more than happy to sit down with you, sir, should you have any further questions on this matter, but that will have to be done so at your request and via my email or in the comments below.  We can even have a public meeting in a public place, but give me the consideration of being prepared for our conversation, as you would give anyone, and also have the courtesy of reading the blogs on your own, before you jump to conclusions about what they say.  

Thank you, 

- Bethany 

Lesson Learned Of the Week: If You Dare Question Lissa “Misdirection” Squires, Be Prepared To Be Lied About

Less than a week or so ago, I wrote a blog that offered a defense of James Cargas, candidate for U.S. Congress in Texas’s 7th district.  I wrote it because I had gotten to know the candidate, because I volunteered for his campaign, and because I felt that Lissa’s flying monkeys had pretty much had free reign in the blogging world for a bit too long, especially one monkey in particular.  For those of you that know what I’m talking about, great.  For those that don’t, I’m sorry, I will not be linking to his blog, and risk him getting far more publicity from me than I did from him.  (Really, dude?  Like less than five clicks onto my site and I know where two of them came from.)  

It’s very apparent that Lissa is attempting to use bloggers and claim that they are a part of the regular, main stream and credible media.  Unfortunately, this is not true.  As a blogger myself, I have never taken myself serious enough to even consider myself in the same league as those that write for traditional news outlets.  I like to write, simple as that.  I don’t have a goal in mind, I just share my world the way that’s easiest and in which most people agree I have some kind of talent at.   Bloggers that do take themselves too seriously actually are kind of obnoxious because they think they can blur the journalistic lines while not being held under the same microscope.  It’s important that this distinction is made and now. 

It’s also apparent that Lissa’s goal is to discredit James Cargas by linking him to Hector Carreno repeatedly and negatively.  She also desires to call James Cargas out as an “oil and gas schill”, while avoiding one of the biggest holes in this story: James Cargas could, undoubtedly, choose to work for an Oil and Gas firm.  He could make a high six-figure salary and run as the “Golden Boy” replacement for John Culberson.  There’s only one reason he doesn’t:  he has chosen not to.  He has chosen his integrity above his desire to be a U.S. Congressman.  He has chosen his love of the environment, over selling out for power.  Can Lissa say the same thing?  One wonders. 

Very little is known about Lissa Squiers.  This is absolute fact.  What is known is troubling.  Right now, she seeks to publicly grasp at straws, both in one on one conversations on her own in meetings like last night’s CEC gathering and by having her mouthpiece try to cover up the fact that they’ve been openly telling lies about Dr. Dorina Papageourgio (Cargas) for months.  Add to the fact that now, Lissa is seeking to play the victim when she’s tried to instigate a fight these many months, and you have a real three-ringed circus being played out in full view of the voters.  

Ms. Squiers and those she aligns herself with only have themselves to blame for going to great lengths to show that they are not accepting of others.  This exclusive group considers everyone that doesn’t honestly agree with every little thing they have to say a “Republican” or to have “Republican leanings”, including yours truly (and laughably so).  Apparently, even having a Republican friend, is so traitorous that it means that you have to surrender your Democrat card at the gate, despite putting in hard work, time, and effort into getting Democrats elected, both locally, at the state level, and nationally.

Ask yourself here and now: who is a delegate at the Texas Democratic Party’s State Convention set to take place in the next few days.  James Cargas or Lissa Squiers?  Those in Democratic circles know.   What’s more, they’ll see the answer when they show up this weekend.  

And don’t even get me started on religion.  Apparently, this little group has a hatred of religion that runs deep.  ”Zombie Jesus Day”?  Really?  Gee, one wonders how Lissa is going to win this district and find supporters by being anti-Christian or aligning herself closely with anti-Christians.  Apparently tolerance is just a word to preach to those that disagree with her, but never to practice on her own. 

There are a few other rules she feels she’s above, too, which gets us back to asking some difficult questions that Ms. Squiers still has not answered.  So, let me pose them to her:

Since you and your personal blogger have insisted that Hector Carreno is running this campaign, please produce the FEC reports that show him receiving money from the campaign, even as an “advisor”.  Until you do, I must kindly ask you to refrain from lying about it further.  The truth is, that this campaign is being run by Frank, not Hector.  So, it seems that as much as you want to scream and cry and shout and have your blogger friends try to misdirect the conversation back to Hector, it’s not going to work.  We’re still going to ask the voters to ask the hard questions of you, such as:

Where are YOUR donations coming from, since you seem to think it’s a crime to have personal friends and family donate to a political campaign

Who do you work for or on behalf of?  Who are your clients?  What do you do all day besides run for office? 

Why does a woman who is advocating on behalf of issues that are best answered at the state level seek a position in the U.S. Congress?  Is it because the U.S. Congress is glitz and glamour, in your mind, or because being in the Texas House would mean a lot of hard work for very little reward.  Is it the six-figure government salary at the national level that you’re intrigued by over the five-figure state-level one?  I mean, why else would someone who routinely touts how “Texan” they are, seek to run away from the very state that she professes to love. 

Where are your deep political roots?  How many Congressman have you worked for, on behalf of?  How many people have you campaigned for?  Where is your political background?  Since these questions seem to be in play, not only for James Cargas, but his supporters, as well, shouldn’t you be answering them, too?  Or, is your Green Party devotee blogger a big part of the answers we should be inferring?  

And finally, why do you consider only winning 40% of the vote a “win”, if you’ve been campaigning for three years for this one office?  40% of the vote after that many years, is actually pretty disappointing.  

Yes, there are some unanswered questions about Lissa “Misdirection” Squires and her campaign.  Too many, in fact.  However, with Lissa’s past history, one wonders if she knows she’s playing a dangerous game of misdirection?  The answer is: probably not.