An Open Letter to Jesse Benton from “P.A.U.L. Festival” Organizer

By Tracy Diaz


Dear Jesse Benton,

My name is Tracy Diaz. I am one of the organizers of “P.A.U.L. Festival”. I, along with thousands of other grassroots supporters, champion the cause of liberty. There is a great divide in our movement, and I have spent the better part of the last few months trying to bridge that divide.
All of us who organized the festival did. And while we took beatings from all sides, we still forged ahead knowing that this event was very important- it needed to be the springboard for the message to move forward.

It needed to be a place where great minds could come together and motivate, and continue our work, even after it became obvious to us that Ron Paul would not be the Republican nominee for President. So, that is what we did.

We assembled a “who’s who” of the liberty movement- musical acts, speakers, vendors. You name someone, they were most likely there. Well, everyone that is, except those you got your hands on. And interestingly enough, it appears even some you did get your hands on.

Jesse Benton, it seems you have done everything in your power to try to get this celebration to fail! And I can only wonder why? After some thought, I have my answer.You see Jesse, while you were busy using your father-in-laws presidential run to further your career, those of us you refer to as “fringe” were donating to pay your salary.

While you ostracized us and pushed us aside, the “fringe” out here were organizing sign waves, and GOTV education campaigns. The same way we did it in 2008. The same way we did it before we had your “help”. On our OWN.

While you were busy working to make sure you had a nice big house to live in, we were sacrificing our paychecks to travel to rally’s and speeches, and make super brochures and run for local office— all of our hopes hanging on the chance that we could have liberty in the White House and save our country.


All of our hopes hanging on the chance that Ron Paul could be president. We didn’t do this so we would have a job after November, we did it so that we could have our FUTURE. We didn’t do it so we could position ourselves for our next campaign, we did it so that our children could grow up in a free America.

You must know the platform by now, right?I brushed a lot that I have heard about you aside, but this is just a blatant smack in our collective faces. A light bulb went off recently, and now it has gotten brighter. YOU SIR are the reason for the divide.

You, and your “Republican” strategy, and the turning up of your nose at people who don’t look the way you want them to, and question the government at every turn. YOU are the reason.

You see, while you continue to play your party politics, and compromise OUR ideals over and over and over again to suit YOU, WE won’t compromise a THING. We are done compromising. We are done playing the game. We are not going anywhere, and you can NOT stop us.

If anything, you have at least now unwittingly proven your true colors. The message of liberty will live on, the two party paradigm can, and will, come to an end, and we will succeed. We will be stronger than ever now.

We are FIERCE, there are many of us, and we don’t need you and your stuffy suit, and nasty attitude. We will happily wear our t-shirts, and sandals, and continue the work the needs to be continued.

We aren’t doing it for you or your career Mr. Benton, we are doing it to save our country.We will not be disappointed, for you have just made our job easier and shown us exactly what type of a person you are and what your goal has been the entire time.

You have just tarred and feathered yourself sir, and I am glad you did it. It just makes us that much more credible, because we have been saying it all along. We are not the “fringe” Mr. Benton.

We are the many, and the strong, with liberty in our hearts, and our country to save. We are the “Ragamuffins” Mr. Benton, and we are NEVER going to “go away”. I stand with the “Ragamuffins”. For we are the REAL grassroots.

Sincerely,

Tracy Diaz