Between five and six hundred enthusiastic patriots showed up on a Monday night when King Street Patriots unveiled their new location. It was a gathering of who’s who in the local political arena. At least three current congressmen, state Senator Dan Patrick, newly elected state Representative Sarah Davis, Judge Clinton, CFISD board member Larry Youngblood and wife, HCDE Trustee Mike Wolf and precinct chairs of untold numbers. Joe Dotson was excited to inform us that he is the campaign manager for Chris Carmona running for Houston city council. Carl Pittman, who is seeking to become our new Harris County Sheriff in 2012, was there. Bill Tofte let everyone know he is seeking the yet unnamed congressional district in west Harris County. Also present was one of the favorites for U.S. Senate, Ted Cruz.
The other group seen that night was protesters. Only four on my arrival but by opening time there may have been close to twenty. They appeared to be trying to look intimidating, but just couldn’t pull it off. All in all they were rather amusing in their own little way. They tried “yes we can” in Spanish and then in English all to no avail. One young lady had a sign that read “I’m prochoice and I vote” someone in line joked it was a good thing her Momma wasn’t prochoice or she might not be here. I found this at “ Mary Benton on the beat” from a local Democrat group “The odious King Street Patriots are having the grand opening of their brand new headquarters up on 290 just south of I-610 ( 7232 Wynnwood Lane) on Monday, May 16, 2011. It’s from 7-9 p.m.” It goes on to say “Bring FUNNY but NOT VULGAR SIGNS and PLEASE WEAR RED.” Did anyone see any red? Mary Benton can help get the word out about a protest but can’t cover a visit by the Governor of Texas? So on a Monday night hundreds of people show up including elected officials of all positions plus the Governor of our great state and no one from the MSM shows up? You know you’ve got their attention when they call you “odious.” Kudos to the King Street Patriots, you know you’re doing well when you get your own groupies— I mean protesters.
The new facility is much larger with a number of smaller offices/meeting rooms. They even have a small library in the back complete with some very comfortable chairs. The crowd grew quickly to full capacity. The one thing many admire about King Street is their ability to embrace politicians yet to maintain their independence. Maybe this is why time after time we see a packed house at King Street events. A few more events like this and they will need even more space.
Catherine Engelbrecht thanked all the volunteers she says made King Street so successful. She received a well deserved standing ovation. Senator Dan Patrick and Representative Sarah Davis presented Catherine with a Texas flag that had flown over the capital on the day King Street had moved into their new facility. She seemed genuinely grateful. No doubt this will become a treasured item at the facility.
Governor Rick Perry really knows how to fire up the crowd. The Governor gave Ms. Engelbrecht high praise as a Texas leader. He said that great people like Jim Bowie and Sam Houston were know as trouble makers and didn’t always go along with the politics of their day. He believes it takes true courage to stand up for what you know is right, and she has done just that. Governor Perry was truly inspirational. He and the crowd were in perfect harmony. Never have I seen this Governor in such an exciting and yet intimate exchange with a crowd. He spoke about how strong freedom is in Texas and how the King Street base is what helps keep that freedom strong. He went on to talk about how in 2010 we sent a message to the progressives that their agenda is not ours. We have a simple message; you don’t have to spend all the money. It seems that Washington thinks they know what’s best for Texas, Govenor Perry thinks not. One thing that clearly is of great concern to our Governor involves the Feds suing Boeing over wanting to move to a right to work state. This is a overstepping of power like of which has never been seen before. One of the reasons so many people move to Texas is because we uphold the tenth amendment. Another thing the Governor believes will make Texas grow like never before would be the passage of a bill to make the loser pay in lawsuits. The Governor left us with the thought that what we need are folks to come into a warm building and leave on fire! One more time the King Street Patriots delivered on doing just that. Thanks to Catherine Engelbrecht and all the people at King Street Patriots Monday night hundreds and hundreds of people went into a warm building and came out on fire!
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