By now, you’ve probably heard that Mark Williams, the Tea Party guy I quoted back here, has been kicked out of the National Tea Party Federation for the satirical letter he wrote, which I will provide here in its entirety when I can find a link. Until then, here’s what several news organizations have reported of it:
In the voice of slaves, Williams wrote: “Mr. Lincoln, you were the greatest racist ever. We had a great gig. Three squares, room and board, all our decisions made by the massa in the house.“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!”He went on to say blacks don’t want taxes cut because “how will we Colored People ever get a wide screen TV in every room if non-coloreds get to keep what they earn?”
This, of course, raises a number of questions, beginning with “What? You can get kicked out of the Tea Party? How does that work?” I didn’t know there was anybody in Tea Party who had authority over anybody else in the Tea Party. And indeed, this seems to be a battle between different factions in the movement, which seems to have as many iterations as the competing bands of communists in the Russian revolution.
Interesting how, in the four days since a letter writer in The State said that the “millions” of Tea Partiers “never have been documented to have said or done anything racist,” one Tea Partier alone has provided us with two instances that might seem to call that assertion into just a tad of doubt.
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Maybe he and Maurice Bessinger can join forces and form the Piggie Park Party?
As you said in connection with a scandal last summer,”How can someone even *think* like that?”
Robert Byrd and Strom Thurmond. Nuff said. At least the Tea Party kicks them out.
Doug–
Strom Thurmond left the Democrats on his own, because of their support for the Civil Rights Act, and both he and Byrd were of another time when things were a lot different, and both refudiated [sic] their racism.
As Maya Angelou says, “When you know better, you do better.”
Nuff said.
I suspect Mr. Williams has made these kinds of comments to those around him, and they’ve always been met with appreciative laughter. Funny how when these things get beyond the inner circle, people who think don’t see the humor.
Ja, ven der obengruppenfuehrer makes vunny, all der true believers must laff.
Kathryn, I love your “Piggy Park Party” comment!
I’m willing to give the Tea Party this much credit, I don’t think the majority of it’s followers are overtly racists. It probably does have more racists than the population in general but probably still fewer than 20% of it’s adherents are racists.
That said, it’s time to move on to what really matters. The Tea Party movement is dangerous for being oppossed to all things that will actually help working class and middle class Americans. They oppose any type of stimulus that might help, even extending unemployment benefits. They oppose health care reforms that would provide valuable assistance to millions of Americans who currently can’t access the health care system in a way that will prevent serious health issues.
They also support huge tax cuts for the wealthy such as the elimination of the estate tax for billionaires. That money has to come from somewhere folks. Where does the $25,000/year school bus driver think that lost revenue is going to be made up?
Lastly, they support the insidious big spending military programs that waste money on foreign mis-adventurism that only gets us deeper into debt.
The Tea Party is a disaster for the middle class. Yet the gullible lemings follow along while they do the bidding of the elitist super wealthy who benefit from these misguided policies. And the gap between the rich and those of lessor means continues to grow.
Aber Burl–Zey really sink it’s funny!