In the beginning, there was something called the…Solid Surface Alliance (SSA), designed, its founder said, to reveal the dangers of radon poisoning from granite countertops. Opponents said the SSA was designed to enrich its founder.
It was the first effort (that can be found) at building a coalition he could control.
He is the now-infamous Al “The Great Offender” Gerhart, self-proclaimed leader of the Sooner Tea Party and coordinator of the Ron Paul presidential campaign in Oklahoma. The nickname comes from Paul campaign volunteers, who say Gerhart appears determined to offend anyone in sight.
Gerhart’s Solid Surface Alliance appears to have fizzled after it, and he, were challenged four years ago by national experts on granite countertops who said Gerhart’s “alliance” was designed to enrich him, with “membership fees” ranging from $100 to $500. They also challenged Gerhart’s expertise in the field; they said his work as a carpenter and countertop installer wasn’t solid enough.
And then, as now, Gerhart primarily was known for the often irrational “diatribes” he issued against opponents, both in emails and on his SSA website. One opponent says Gerhart threatened him.
Gerhart’s attempt to build a coalition through the SSA is noteworthy since, after forming the Sooner Tea Party, he formed a group to help promote his views. That group, the Oklahoma Constitutional Alliance, fell apart as other leaders recoiled at Gerhart’s tactics, extreme beliefs and demeanor.
Gerhart’s SSA appears to have been formed because of his belief there’s a link between granite and terrorists. He has claimed the family of Osama bin Laden is heavily invested in the granite industry.
One who disagreed with Gerhart, granite expert “Joe C,” claims Gerhart issued a death threat when his motives were questioned.
Gerhart now is known primarily for his efforts to terrorize Oklahoma Republican legislators, defined by him as “RINOs,” or “Republicans In Name Only.” At one point, Gerhart had targeted 53 House members as RINOs and urged Sooner Tea Party members to try to defeat them. Gerhart also has backed opponents for some of them; thus far, his candidates have been mostly unsuccessful.
As one House member said, “If you don’t bow down to him, he labels you a RINO. He’s a bully.”
Gerhart’s tactics have become so bizarre that those who once supported him now say he’s a loose cannon who is hurting the Tea Party and Paul campaign images.
Kaye Beach, the conservative blogger, longtime Paul supporter and onetime Gerhart advocate, said she is writing the Paul national campaign office to complain about Gerhart. She said Gerhart “doesn’t speak for the Ron Paul people I work with.”
Gerhart’s willingness to attack anyone who questions him is evident in this 2008 post, from countertop expert Tom Cordova: “(The latest Al Gerhart diatribe from the Solid Surface Alliance as email to Tom Cordova): ‘Tom, I laughed my ass off reading your description of the SSA re sure is a lot of talk these days about radiation from granite countertops!'”
Added Cordova: “The Solid Surface Alliance seems to be spending a lot of time investigating the matter; however, their data will always be questioned due to the obvious self-enrichment gained by discrediting the natural stone industry.”
Another national countertop industry expert, Bud Cline, wrote: “Who is Al Gerhart? Is there a Bio or some background information about you somewhere Al? So far all I know about you is that you are ‘down on stone’ and it appears in favor of solid surfacing. So…Who are you? What/who are your legitimate associations? What qualifies you to be a specialist on the charges you have been making? Do you have any particular academic studies in this field in your background? What’s the reason for your persistence? Why do you only supply ‘hot’ samples to media outlets? (When there apparently are plenty of “not so hot” samples available to play with.) Where did you find a station wagon these days? You know(?) Stuff like that! Why should anyone listen to you? Help me out here please. What are your credentials? I know of another website where a regular participant posts endless drab on various subjects. If you ask him for the time…he builds you a clock, every time. When a question arises he obviously researches it on the Internet then returns to post (copy and paste) endless information on the subject and takes credit for the words himself. Thereby expecting people to think HE has all this knowledge stored in his little brain. When his comments are countered or proven to be incorrect he then continues to argue supplying even more mucus in an attempt to save face and support his earlier comments. I kind of get this same feeling with this ‘granite thing’ of yours.”
It’s a shame someone would stir up concern over something that isn’t a threat. Granite countertops are perfectly safe.
Great post. As I recall, the Oklahoma Tea Party opposed tort reform which is out of line with the national Tea Party movement. Do you think that Mr. Gerhart had his own agenda which included threatening lawsuits and partnering with democrat trial lawyers to enrich himself at the expense of the granite industry?