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Democrat Patti of a Western / Cowboy Boots Boutique (Boot Store Name & Location Withheld) - rant

By Bob & Leilani Souza

Real Estate Broker/Owner with Souza Realty 916.408.5500 California DRE #01262541

November 30, 2009 07:40 AM

Democrat Patti of a Western / Cowboy Boots Boutique (Boot Store Name & Location Withheld) - rant

***NOTE: This is a re-post because the previous title edit did not change the original URL.***

I always wanted a pair of red cowboy boots, but after my experience with Patti of ________ Boot in ______, __, I will definitely NOT be purchasing boots from her or her store. Patti insinuated that my blog post was "critical" of her "political leanings" but it was rather to demonstrate that I think that NO self-respecting American President (Democrat or Republican) would bow to ANY human being...period.

This is a photo I posted in my previous blog post Bowing in Japan - Japanese Etiquette Explained:

Obama bows to the Japanese Emperor (AFP/File/Mandel Ngan)

Disgruntled Democrat Patti of ________ Boot in ______, __ sent me the following message:

You've received a contact message from your Contact Form on the ActiveRain network.

Message details:
From: Patti
Email: patti@______boot.com
Subject: obama bowing (Sent via Activerain)

Obviously, you think that Obama's bowing was horrible. Why else would you be so critical? Nixon bowed to Hirohito. George W. Bush held hands with King Abdulla. If you have a business, why would you want to infuriate people who are democrats? Don't you want our business? I would never hire a real estate agent who was so critical of my political leanings.

Patti seems to be the one who is "critical" of MY opinion, which in this case has to do with my American pride and heritage, not political views. I would feel the same about ANY U.S. President who bowed in the same fashion as Obama did, regardless of the party they belonged to. In my opinion, a U.S. President showing inferiority to another world leader is a disgrace to any true patriotic American.

No U.S. President has ever bowed the way Obama has...period. Above is a photo (courtesy LIFE) of Hirohito and Nixon that demonstrates both men bowing mutually to each other (nowhere near the extreme angle like Obama's solitary bow) which is the correct way that equals show respect in Japan.

My blog post was not meant to "infuriate" anyone, it was simply an expression of my personal opinion. I stand true to what I believe in and if this "infuriates" people like Patti simply because she doesn't agree with me, I would not want to do business with her anyway.

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Melissa Anderson

Be My Neighbor Mortgage - San Antonio, TX

Your Texas Lender

With all due respect, it is my opinion that you should let this go. I'm very sorry about what happened with that person, but let's put our best foot forward and move on.

I agree that Obama's behavior is an embarrassment to our great country. I doubt he will ever learn.

Nov 30, 2009 09:46 AM

Bonnie Vaughan

Scranton, PA

CNE SFR - Buyers/Sellers - Lackawanna & Surroundin

Leilani - JFK said in a speech to the Press Corps in 1961 - "No Country can survive without debate and dissent."

Any politician who tries to stifle free speech by threatening your livelihood is part of the problem - not part of the solution.
This is no longer America - it's become a Socialist society. This is the kind of reaction you would except in Cuba or Communist Russia.

When any American is restricted from expressing their opinion for fear of retribution - especially by a politician - we have lost our most important right - FREE SPEECH.

Is there any doubt in your mind who the enemy of the people really is?

Nov 30, 2009 10:36 AM

Bob & Leilani Souza

Souza Realty 916.408.5500 - Roseville, CA

Greater Sacramento Area Homes, Land & Investments

Thanks for your opinion, Melissa...and my only intention is to exercise my right to free speech by re-posting instead of letting the entire post disappear due to the URL issue. :)

Leilani

Nov 30, 2009 10:38 AM

Bob & Leilani Souza

Souza Realty 916.408.5500 - Roseville, CA

Greater Sacramento Area Homes, Land & Investments

Bonnie, the right to freedom of speech is something I will relentlessly stand up for, no matter who threatens or harasses me. This experience is living proof of it! :)

I also just wrote a related blog post entitled:

Freedom of Speech, Truth and Taking Responsibility For Your Actions

Leilani

Nov 30, 2009 10:42 AM

Bob Cumiskey

A1 Connection Realty, Inc. - Sun City Center, FL

US Army Retired, Your Sun City Center, Florida ~ Realtor

Leilani, Always remember free speech is a two way street. It amazes me that the liberals all think it only works for them. Good for you in posting this, and I do hope you sent a link to Patti. She just may see her sales drop because of her "political leanings".

Nov 30, 2009 10:59 AM

Bob & Leilani Souza

Souza Realty 916.408.5500 - Roseville, CA

Greater Sacramento Area Homes, Land & Investments

Bob, it is so self-centered of some people to think that free speech means you have to agree with their views! The ability to "agree to disagree" is a sign of maturity and intelligence. :)

Leilani

Nov 30, 2009 11:04 AM

Melissa Anderson

Be My Neighbor Mortgage - San Antonio, TX

Your Texas Lender

Be careful what you wish for folks. If someone who disagreed with my political opinion went to war against my business, I'd be pissed.

I'm not defending the boot store owner, I'm defending my freedom from my business being attacked because of something I may or may not say on AR.

Bob- it is a 2 way street

Nov 30, 2009 11:06 AM

Bob Cumiskey

A1 Connection Realty, Inc. - Sun City Center, FL

US Army Retired, Your Sun City Center, Florida ~ Realtor

Leilani, I have several good "friends" who agree to disagree with me quite often. We are still good friends and never revert to namecalling. Have a great day.

Nov 30, 2009 11:10 AM

Bob & Leilani Souza

Souza Realty 916.408.5500 - Roseville, CA

Greater Sacramento Area Homes, Land & Investments

Melissa, you raise a good point...but in this particular case, I am not going to war against her business as I have stated absolutely nothing derogatory about it in my post or anywhere else on the internet. In fact, I left her original message intact (which happened to contain her last name and company name and email address) when I copied and pasted it into the original post.

What I would consider to be a war is, for example:

Going to online review sites and posting negative reviews about someone's business because you don't share the same political views...especially if your review is not substantiated by an actual transaction with the business.

That would be a war against a business and completely unacceptable and intolerable. However, if anyone were to state my opinion, have at it. I stand behind what I say and I take full responsibility for it.

Leilani

Nov 30, 2009 11:20 AM

Melissa Anderson

Be My Neighbor Mortgage - San Antonio, TX

Your Texas Lender

Bob- I agree with you on that. I just am thinking of the same situation in reverse. Say I owned a flower shop and because of my opinion on AR folks wanted to tarnish my business. It has nothing to do with the quality of my flowers or my work.

I see this type of thing happening to Conservative folks.

Luv you man!

Nov 30, 2009 11:20 AM

Melissa Anderson

Be My Neighbor Mortgage - San Antonio, TX

Your Texas Lender

Leilani- I'm just pointing out that it can be observed both ways. I think you are good people.

Please don't get me wrong on this.

Take Care

Nov 30, 2009 11:30 AM

Broker Nick

South Florida Real Estate & Development, Inc. - Coconut Creek, FL

Broker Nick Relocation Broker Service

Leilani - The reason why you are getting some flack here is because you used the name of the store owner and her actions to make a point.

While we agree with the conservative message, we don't agree to hurt or damage anyone's livelihood or place of business in the name of pointing out how someone tried to stop you from posting your free speech in a public forum.

We agree with you, but drop the name and place of business, just because you don't mention the full name of the place of business, you mentioned Austin, Texas.

People who live there will know who you are referring to....

Nov 30, 2009 11:32 AM

Simon Conway

Orlando Area Real Estate Services - Orlando, FL

Coming late to this particular party. For me it's real simple. While the First Amendment is a right, it must be used responsibly. Just as you can't shout "fire" in a crowded movie theatre if there is no fire, then attacking someone's business because you don't agree with them politically is - I'm sorry to say - irresponsible. If this was the other way round we'd all be on the phone to the AR Gods. And that would just be the start of it. The story is equally powerful without the identification of the individual and business.

Your right to post your opinion or anything else you choose to is not in question at all. Damage to someone else is the problem here.

Nov 30, 2009 11:45 AM

Bob & Leilani Souza

Souza Realty 916.408.5500 - Roseville, CA

Greater Sacramento Area Homes, Land & Investments

Bob, you and your friends must be mature and intelligent! :)

Melissa, I have heard of people looking online at names of business owners who have contributed to political campaigns and in those cases, I see that it falls both ways. Some people don't support the business because of it and other people support the business because of it. Don't worry, I am not taking what you say the wrong way. :)

Nicholas, Patti did ask me to remove the name of the business (which I did in my edit and this re-post) and until you mentioned it, I never would have suspected that a place like ______, __ would have anything but a plethora of western/cowboy boots stores! Since my edit and re-post was intended to remove the identifying information, I have no problem removing "______, __" from this post either. I just didn't think it was relevant and would make a difference, so pardon me for that. :)

Simon, I don't see my post as being an attack on her business, but we can agree to disagree. The reason of the edit and re-post was intended to remove the indentifying information, as I just stated above. I shouted "Fire" because there was a fire, it wasn't as if I created a message on my own and put her name on it. :)

Leilani

Nov 30, 2009 12:01 PM

Bob & Leilani Souza

Souza Realty 916.408.5500 - Roseville, CA

Greater Sacramento Area Homes, Land & Investments

The above comment was deleted because of the questionable identity used. After having the experience with Ross/Robert (the one who harassed me that had an AR profile claiming his name was "Ross" and his e-mail address and caller ID showed the name "Robert") and two e-mails that came within minutes of each other from a nancyanne415 (who has a similar twitter name and follows/is followed by Patti) and Kris (who claimed to be an AR member, but wasn't...or is it Mary Jane, a "brand new" member of AR.)

I have no problems responding to any comments made on any of my blog posts...but I choose to deal with real people who have the courage to stand behind their name, not cowards who hide behind aliases.

Remember, this whole controversy started because Patti sent me a message stating her opinion, which I responded to publicly and addressed the Nixon bow that she mentioned...then for whatever reason, she panicked that her opinion of the Obama bow was made public. She follows @barak_obama on twitter, so wouldn't anyone looking at her twitter page (which also is her boot store page, with a link to her boot store website) know she is a fan of his anyway? Why hide it now? I'm just sayin'.

Leilani

Dec 03, 2009 04:43 AM