The Tea Party Federation has dismissed a tea party commentator named Mark Williams from the Federation over a fictional letter he wrote on behalf of ‘colored people.’ It went something like this:
“Dear Mr. Lincoln,” began Williams’ letter. “We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!”
Federation spokesman Mark Webb said the letter on the blog was clearly offensive.
Mark Webb squares off with Ben Jealous of the NAACP to discuss the 2 groups differences. The video shows a far more productive conversation.
We keep getting told that there is no national leadership for the Tea Party and then someone keeps trotting out a spokesman/person. I find this confusing. Is there a leader or is there not a leader? Leaders seem to come and go.
This silliness had gotten more time than it deserves.
There sure are a lot of bigots in the Tea Party movement.
The “Tea Party Federation” makes me laugh out loud, just as did that so-called convention in Nashville. Nobody leads the Tea Party. There will always be some characters who think they can make personal hay in any situation by trying to pass themselves off as leaders. This so-called “federation” is not part of my Tea Party consciousness nor of the consciousness of anyone in my entire family. Probably a couple of guys in a bar with a laptop pretending they are “leaders.” Explusion, hah! Expulsion from what? Show me the Tea Party membership lists, the Tea Party flyers, the Tea Party donation requests, yada , yada, yada. I’ve never received a single piece of mail or a phone call of any kind purporting to be from some “official” aspect of the Tea Party.
As for the Williams blog post. I have heard of him running the Tea Party Express bus tours, although I haven’t a clue how that works or whether it still exists. Anyway, that blog post was the dumbest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Dumb, dumb, dimb. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
You will not see the real “Tea Party” until 2 November 2010, when they file one by one into the polling places.
But Wolverine, do you understand why the rest of us who aren’t of the Tea Party Mind set might be confused by all the different leaders being trotted out? Do you understand why something like that letter throws people for a loop and gives them the racist perception?
I agree….many stupids and many dumbs. But fools doing that is exactly where the racist perception comes from. Perception becomes reality.
10-4 there Wolverine. The left is never going to get it, even after the Nov elections, because in their screwy, historically ignorant or quick to forgetful politically correct world, we are good/right and you conservatives are bad/wrong. And so it will be until its too late. They do not want to get it.
Actually, no one is saying that TP. Stick to the facts here. Do you even know what letter to Lincoln was being referenced? Is that kind of crap ok in your world?
It’s important to separate the wheat from the chaff on the topic of the “tea party”.
Thomas Jefferson called dissent against one’s government “the highest form of patriotism”. Another Democrat, Bobby Kennedy, said “we not only must tolerate dissent, we must demand it”. The right of the people to associate, assemble and voice dissent over what their government is doing is sacrosanct.
What is truly disturbing about the “tea party” populous movement, to the degree that it is a legitimate one, is the manner in which hard right Republicans and fringe racist groups are latching onto it and, unfortunately for sincere protestors, getting welcomed and encouraged to be associated with it by the unidentified/identified leaders of the “tea party”. This aspect makes the NAACP resolution entirely justified. It also will doom the “tea party” to marginal status.
They did the right thing divorcing this guy.
Good column here by Stanley Crouch about the NAACP and the Nation of Islam – http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/07/19/2010-07-19_is_naacp_blind_to_farrakhan__co.html
He also removed it from his website and apologized. Before being removed.
Why would a person ever put something so stupid like that up? Why would anyone put up a ‘joke’ about Obama as a lawn jockey?
I don’t care if he was removed or not. It isn’t my organization. However, it is crap like that gives a bad reputation. Surely you saw the dark screen about 2 weeks ago. That was taken down also. The question is, why would anyone think for an instant that ‘jokes’ like that are appropriate?
The lawn jockey thing is past any type of reasonable rationalization. Putting that up is indication of pathological troubles.
Totally agree re lawn jockey.
There was also more to that letter ‘to Mr. Lincoln’ that was put up on Williams’ website. Williams had signed it as Ben Jealous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83X6T8T5JQA&NR=1&feature=fvwp
Here is the letter:
Strange, the similarities between the Tea Party and the No Nothing Party
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_Nothing
If History repeats itsself, the Tea Party will break up shortly before the second civil war.
@rod2155
Or I sould say “Know Nothing Party” or is it “No, Nothing! party?” hmmmmm
@Rick Bentley
That was a good article. It also had some excellent historical information in it.
This is worth seeing too. A black government official openly talking at an NAACP function about not helping a white farmer as much as black ones. She concludes by saying she should have helped him, but it’s interesting that the discussion is even taking place.
I’l trying to imagine any function, much less a Tea Party rally, where some official admits not using government resources to help a black person because he/she acted too “ghetto’ for them or something.
http://www.thefoxnation.com/culture/2010/07/19/caught-tape-obama-official-discriminates-against-white-farmer
Hello posted a similar video earlier. This woman is a guest speaker, not an NAACP member. (or if she is, she is not there in that capacity.) Oh hell, I have sat in meetings and nodded …when I have wanted to say sit down and SYFU.
This should not be a news flash to any of us. Racism exists, regardless of race. This woman should lose her job. She was stupid to make public statements regarding something she did that is for all intent and purpose, illegal.
We will never be able to control what is in people’s hearts. We should be able to call out people whose behavior is unacceptable.
Rod2155 — The “Tea Party” will disappear just like the “Sons of Liberty” disappeared: when the job is done.
Moon — Agreed on the confusing part. Do like I do when somebody claims to be a “leader” of the Tea Party movement. That old stand-by: “Hey, pal. Who elected you?”
@Rick Bentley
The woman has been fired and rightfully so. re Newt Gingrich said so.
I simply don’t understand why the NAACP and the Tea Parties all are at war with each other. Enough!!
@Wolverine
Now there is a Tea Party Caucus, I guess a leader will have to be elected, at least for the Congressional caucus.
I don’t trust things that don’t have someone who is serving in a leadership capacity, but that’s just me.
Smart of Dept. of Ag to fire her. But this story needs to resonate a bit. Minorities need to understand that reverse discrimination is against the law, even if Eric Holder might deign to prosecute it, and whites need some confidence that it is as well.
Rick, I agree with much of what you have said. I still don’t know what more you want Eric Holder to do? When looking at the surface, I agree. When you start digging into the facts I feel his handling of the case was appropriate. Cannon, fly situation.
No voter complained. Frankly, I am questioning what Mr. Bull was even doing there. It was a very heavily black polling place. It seems that there were certainly a lot of poll watchers there. Makes me wonder why is all. And the panthers are racist jerks. They always have been. New or old.
Rick, Glenn Beck is now on defending Ms. Sherrod because she said it happened 24 years ago and she was talking about class. 🙄 And Beck is also saying that she didn’t get due process.
This is becoming real obvious. It is political theater to destroy a presidency. Beck and Faux news were leading the charge against this woman yesterday. The current admin fired her over the tape. Now he is trying to stir the blacks up against Obama.
Beck really is contemptible. It seems that Obama didn’t talk to her.
How come she didn’t look younger if this happened 24 years ago?
I have mixed feelings on Sherrod. In the end she’s getting fired because she was so injudicious at a public event, and Dept. of Ag. doesn’t want this story to prolong itself. It’s pretty cold-blooded the way they handled her without and conference; I don’t understand why she would resign so quickly rather than fight. Maybe there are more things she doesn’t want discussed.
the NAACP sure turned against her quickly, for speaking at one of their own events! Last thing the NAACP wants to do is engage in any lengthy self-reflection.
On the other hand, there are hundreds of different NAACP events going on around the country. I know what I think it happening. In fact, I would bet money on it.
If you or I went and spoke at a gathering and told stories about how we ripped someone off on the job and it became public, then we would get fired. No employer wants to be embarrassed.
People should be fired for being injudicious.
At least she wasn’t taken out and shot.
Stay tuned to this one. It is all political theater and I expect Ms. Sherrod is just a sacrificial lamb in the whole thing. I smell huge rats now. They all go back to the same source.
I am dead wrong in statements about Ms Sherrod. She was used, abused, and I stupidly believed it. Andrew Breitbart and Faux News strike again. I have posted Ms. Sherrod’s full speech. The film we saw apparently was altered.
I need to apologize to Shirley Sherrod for any comments I made about her guilt. I believed a deliberate lie. That lie was totally evil.