From the Washington Times:



September 12, 2009. The Quincy Tea Party. Quincy, Illinois. A singer/songwriter from Los Angeles donned a baseball cap and sunglasses. What little one could see of his face was obscured by 4 or 5 days growth. He was completely out of his element…an outsider. He felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time: he felt safe.

Thousands of hard working patriots listened to Andrew Breitbart explain the dangers of being a conservative in the entertainment industry…the bias, the vitriol, the potential loss of work should the liberal power brokers of Hollywood discover one’s conservatism.

It was Breitbart who introduced this singer/songwriter to the tea party… and the tea party to living proof that conservatives do exist in Hollywood.

This was the first time I performed at a tea party. I didn’t use my real name.

I didn’t use my real name but I was hooked. I was hooked on a strain of patriotism I had not been privy to in Los Angeles but had always felt inside. Hooked on the beauty and power of the individual with a voice…and a collection of voices that could actually affect change unified by the message of freedom. The tea party was bigger than any one individual and its goals were bigger than anything I ever dreamed I’d be part of.

But to believe in something under the cloak of anonymity seemed hypocritical and convenient, so eventually I did use my real name and have performed at over 30 tea party events, 9/12 rallies, and conservative functions. I was, am, and will continue to be a tea partier…and that’s a liberating declaration.

…and here’s another one:

I support Governor Mitt Romney as the 2012 Republican nominee for President of the United States. So why is this important? On the surface, it’s not. It’s a personal choice. I have one vote and I’m giving it to the Governor. For the purposes of this piece, the reasons are irrelevant.

What is more relevant is that as a tea partier, I have been silent in my support of the Governor to this point. Why? Why do I find myself again believing in something under that very same cloak of anonymity? The answer saddens me and I believe it to be dangerous: It seems like there is a pattern of intolerance emerging within the grassroots movement that feels eerily similar to my experiences as a conservative in Hollywood.

It’s very simple. If you’re an artist in Hollywood, the assumption is that you’re a liberal. And with that assumption people speak freely and often viciously about the right. You’re out numbered. The volume is loud, and frankly, it’s intimidating…which is why thousands of conservatives in Hollywood stay under the radar.

And now, within the grassroots movement on the right, there is the concept of anybody but Romney. And there is an assumption that if you’re part of the movement, you subscribe to that concept. I know this because I have been in many circles recently where I’ve felt outnumbered, the volume has been loud, and frankly, it’s intimidating. And I wonder how many folks in the grassroots actually believe that Governor Romney is our best chance for victory but remain silent as it’s an unpopular stance.

And more importantly, can we afford to silence each other at a moment in time when the very concept of America is in jeopardy?

Read the full article here.