Christian Civic League (ME) and Massachusetts Family Institute Assist Tea Party in Support of Free Speech

When Carroll Conley heard the Mid-Coast Tea Party was desirous of serving Chick-fil-A at their next meeting, he called Tea Party organizer Gordon Colby to offer to deliver the poultry snacks.

“This seemed like a great opportunity to celebrate freedom of speech and have a little fun. Certainly the Tea Party and the Christian Civic League would have the common interest of supporting Chick-fil-A in light of recent events.”
“Since Maine does not have any Chick-fil-A’s, I thought many of our members would like to make a symbolic gesture to support Mr. Cathy’s freedom to exercise his right to share his opinion,” said Colby.

Conley would enlist the help of his counterpart in Massachusetts, Kris Mineau, President of the Massachusetts Family Institute, to get the coveted chicken safely into Maine.  Mineau, a retired Air Force colonel and decorated fighter pilot, quickly offered to transport the goods from the Chick-fil-A in Peabody, Mass up to Warren, Maine, “We ‘ve got magnetic signs for our vehicle with the Freedom Torch and the Chick-fil-A logo. This is our way of showing solidarity for Mr. Cathy and the Tea Party who certainly share our commitment to freedom of speech.”

“It’s one thing for citizens and celebrities to offer support or criticism on public policy issues, but when the mayors of cities like Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and D.C. say they will keep someone who disagrees with them from doing business… that’s the epitome of intolerance,” said Conley.  The trek will take about three hours for the Freedom Torch and Chick-fil-A goodies to reach the Tea Party members of Knox and Lincoln Counties. The Tea Party event takes place on Thursday August 16 at 6:00 p.m. (doors open at 5:45) at 105 Camden Road in Warren.

Mineau will address the gathering along with a number of Republican candidates who have been invited to the event, “I’m very concerned about sitting officials trying to suppress the opinions and speech of others. I didn’t fly over 100 combat missions so politicians like Tom Menino and Raum Emanuel could trample our first amendment rights.”