TEA Party leaders to debate progressives on "Community Crossfire" with Norman Oliver

Greetings!
Founders Values leaders Evan Queitsch and Lee Tirado are proud to have been asked by Mr. Norman Oliver to appear on his television show "Community Crossfire" again this Sunday August 14th at 9PM. The show will be broadcast on Comcast Cable channel 22 (or perhaps 28 depending on where you live) and will stream live on www.witn22.org.

Norman Oliver (right) and his son Norman Oliver Jr.
FV on TV

Delaware Today has a great piece on Mr. Norman Oliver, a self made man in every sense of the word.

When he was in eighth grade, Norman and his younger brother, Alonzo, rounded the corner of their block in Southbridge one day to find their mother in the street, surrounded by their belongings. They had been evicted. "But we persevered," he says. "We were a strong-knit family."

Oliver has not only persevered, he has prevailed, overcoming a childhood of poverty and steering a precarious course through Wilmington politics to become a successful entrepreneur and leader in the black community. His years as a city councilman-from 1992 to 2003-were especially controversial. Back then, Oliver, a man who has an affinity for the spotlight, stopped taking calls from reporters after making headlines for the wrong reasons.

I urge you to read the entire story of "Stormin Norman". You'll see his ups and downs and his brush with corruption. I see Mr. Oliver as a triumph of conservatism and capitalism and as a stark reminder of how close corruption is to everyone in the government. A single bad choice or misjudgment can result in epic consequences.

Our last appearance on the show went a long way in beginning a dialogue in inner city communities about the true intentions of the TEA Party. There were callers concerned about TEA Party racism, about education in Delaware and about how we can improve America. We addressed all of those concerns and we showed that the TEA Party has nothing to do with race and is concerned about the long term welfare of both Delaware and the United States. This time, we hope that the debate will focus on specific steps that we can take to restore America and policy ideas from a TEA Party perspective. I hope you will all tune in as well to hear the dialogue and to get a better understanding of where we stand and what we can do to clear up misconceptions about the TEA Party - 9/12 - Patriot movement.

Time: 9PM
Date: Sunday 8/14/11
Channel: 22 - WITN in the city and surrounding area. The program MAY be available in other parts of NCC on channel 22 or it may not. If it is not, you can stream it live from www.witn22.org. Update: The show may also be broadcast on channel 28 on Comcast cable outside the city. In Newark for instance, the program can be seen on Local Channel 28.

Mr. Oliver has informed us that progressive Nancy Willing, author of The Delaware Way will be debating us and we are sure that Norman will be opening up the show to calls and he would like you to call in as well. Please call in and show support for our mission to return to Constitutional values! We hope to hear from all of you during the show. Thank you for your support!

Sincerely,

Evan Queitsch
Founders Values

Community Crossfire Welcomes the TEA Party to Wilmington

Stormin' Norman Oliver, a well respected man from Wilmington hosts as 9PM Sunday cable access TV show called "Community Crossfire".  He has had Governor's, Mayor's, Senator's and some of Delaware's most influential people on his show which is heavily watched especially in the city of Wilmington.  His shows are often controversial and always entertaining.  Last night's program was no different and if you missed it, you missed A LOT.

Oliver is not one to shy away from confrontation which is what made him a great Councilman for more than 10 years.  His callers are not afraid to mix it up either.  I joined Lee Tirado, a fellow member of Founders Values, on the show which was already recieiving plenty of attention.  In addition to blog posts asking people to "ask some wingnut related questions", Mr. Oliver recieved a number of emails and phone calls questioning him having on members of the "racist" TEA Party.  Needless to say, we understood what we were up against.  Lee and I were steeled in the fact that most of the people calling us "wingnuts" and "racists" had never met us, knew nothing about us and relied on a heavily biased media for their information.  This is the same media that has constantly and consistently demonized the TEA Party without substantive proof.  And yes, the issues of the "spitting" incident during the healthcare debate passage when Democrats mocked Dr. Martin Luther King's march by nearly skipping through the protestors with glee, which not one media outlet can produce proof of, was brought up. 

Mr. Olivers phone began ringing before the phone number came up on the screen and we knew that we were in for quite a ride.  There were so many calls in fact, to the live pick up show (there's no call screener) that it was difficult to expound on points being made.  We were able to dicuss who the TEA Party is, what it stands for and what it does.  While we were asked to define the number of African-Americans and militia members in our group, there was also thoughtful commentary on education, job creation and limiting the size of government.  Mr. Oliver was fair and in conversation before and after the show there was much common ground between us.  While both Lee and I wish we had a little more time to get our points across, I think that people realized we had a difficult task to overcome months of mainstream media angst. 

In the end we made our case for a voucher system that allows parents to control where their kids go to school and that includes vocational, private and public schools.  We talked about how to create jobs in the city and turn the economy around and we made our case for limited government.  We plugged our website, our meeting and our candidates for school board.  We also asked that people try coming to a meeting before they make a decision.  Response after the fact has been positive by and large and we're looking forward to going back on the show in the near future.  Also, a little bit of interesting information, Mr. Oliver is fair and and he has invited the NAACP on his show as well, to give their side.  They have so far declined or not taken his calls.  Lee and I thought it was interesting that the TEA Party went on a show that broadcasts to a large segment of the African-American community to discuss the media attacks against them and the outrageous claims of racism but the NAACP wouldn't appear.  That alone should prove that these allegations are completely baseless.

We discussed the reality that faith plays an important part in fixing much of what is wrong with our state and our nation. I am proud to be part of this enlightenment that I see happening around the country and I hope that more, across the spectrum, will come to realize that we can disagree on some things, but that there are certain basic truths and basic ideals, like freedom, liberty and opportunity that we all hold dear.  We're thankful for the opportunity to be on Mr. Oliver's show and we recommend that more of us watch Community Crossfire every Sunday night at 9PM to gain perspective.