Tea Party Federation kicks out Williams over blog post
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/19/art.mwilliams0619.gi.jpg caption="The National Tea Party Federation, an organization that represents the Tea Party political movement around the country, has expelled conservative commentator Mark Williams and his Tea Party Express."]
(CNN) - The National Tea Party Federation, an organization that represents the Tea Party political movement around the country, has expelled conservative commentator Mark Williams and his Tea Party Express because of an inflammatory blog post he wrote, federation spokesman David Webb said Sunday.
Appearing on the CBS program "Face the Nation," Webb said that Williams and the Tea Party Express - which has held a series of events across the country to generate support for the movement - no longer were part of the National Tea Party Federation.
"We, in the last 24 hours, have expelled Tea Party Express and Mark Williams from the National Tea Party Federation because of the letter that he wrote," Webb said of the blog post by Williams that satirized a fictional letter from what he called "Colored People" to President Abraham Lincoln.
Related: Satirical letter meant to spark discussion, Williams says
Webb called the blog post "clearly offensive."
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This is a GREAT Day in America !
Williams' letter proved the NAACP and like-minded people's case – there are obvious and definite 'racist elements' within the tea party. And I am so glad that Mark Williams & the Tea Party Express has been expelled. This speaks volumes towards positive progress in America. I pray that ALL of the others with the same heart & mind-set as Williams will experience the same fate.
One down and about 50% of the Tea Wingers to go...
The tea party name is irrevocably damaged.
Maybe they should start calling themselves "Xe".
At least the Tea Party acts to remove someone for what was clearly offensive and out of line. More than we can say for the leftist scum who continue to inflame the political debate and even some who serve in the Obama administration. The double standard lives on.
Reminder – the original Boston Tea Party wasn't about race. It was about taxation and the economies of the colonies. .
It's the economy stupid – remember? If you don't come November you will be reminded, the left's constant race card playing notwithstanding.
GOOD!
The Charter of the Tea Party does NOT allow racism. Anyone saying the tea party is racist is either incorrect or a liar. There was a $100,000 reward for anyone that could produce a video of anyone at the Health care rally that had acted in racist manner. Even though there were 1000s of camera phones every where and police, no one claimed the reward and the police said they did not see any racism.
The National Tea Party Federation via David Webb should be applauded for this significant position of disavowing the Tea Party Express and Mark Williams for their racist position. The NTPF, in this instance, stood up for what is the right US sentiment. The Tea Party Express will, no doubt, continue its national media attracting sentiment, but it and any candidate it supports will carry a deserved blemish.
According to an April 20, 2009 Rasmussen poll, 51% of Americans polled viewed the Tea Party protests favorably and 32% of these viewed them "very favorably." About one in four people polled knew someone who had attended a Tea Party protest.
tea party is starting to show it's true colors!!!
That was long overdue! While I don't doubt that the vast majority of Tea Party people are decent folk with no biases, it was horrifying to watch that repeatedly the Tea Party leadership REFUSED to condemn and eliminate racist elements in their movement. Instead, they kept issuing the same non-apologetic statement over and over that the racists are not 'really' their movement, while not ONCE condemning their presence. And the presence of Williams just further encouraged more and more racists to join them, to the point where you could hardly find a single picutre of a Tea Party rally without at least one very obviously racist sign! Enough is enough!
Yes, I'm sure Tea Partiers are just decent American folks with all good intention in their heart who want small government and want to bring about real change... that's why 90% of their endorsements go to republicans, many of whom were the same old incumbent republicans from the Bush Jr. days that created this recession, not to mention increased the federal government and the national derficit. Yes, that's 'real' change...
This is the first and only thing that I respect from the Tea Party. They need to be more vocal in opposing the many other acts of racism within their ranks and at their rallies as well (for example, that ugly women at a rally holding up a monkey which was supposed to be the President looked very welcome, in the news footage I saw).
I'm glad more Americans are beginning to see that many elements of the Tea Party are not about "lowering taxes" (which only includes the rich- those dumb-dumbs) and ending so-called "Big government" but they are mainly about opposing this black President . They are just a bunch of loud, annoying disgruntled McCain and Palin voters who can't get over the fact that the majority of us voted in a black President.
the Republicans really make me sick with this stuff. They are afraid to call out this element of the Tea Party movement because it "might upset their base"! So they allow it to happen UNTIL a group like the NAACP makes a public statement to point it out, then what do they try to do? Vilify the NAACP of course. Folks like Sarah Palin, guilty herself of allowing a racist fringe at her rallies chose to pretend it doesn't exist. They allow GOP leader Rush Limbaugh to get away with saying stupid racist stuff all the time..once again afraid to upset his millions of ditto-heads if they call him out on it. The ONLY one I give credit for and respect for stopping such foolishness was Senator McCain when he corrected that woman at his rally for calling Obama an Arab-Muslim. And even then he was BOOED by the folks there for doing so. Why try to kill the messenger when the message has a bit of truth to it?
What took them so long? This crackpot has a history of inflammatory screeds.
He is why many see racial undertones to the tp "movement". When the adults in a room don't call a stop to things that the majority would think are offensive, they're just as guilty as if they were holding the sign or writing the post themselves.
The tp have no one but themselves to blame for their racist reputation. They allowed those folks in their rallies – and they did nothing to condemn them. They are just as guilty for their inaction.
The tp's earned the claims of racism all by themselves by failing to disown and condemn this type of behavior from the star. Also, being a virtually all white organization in conjunction with the offensive signage and postings just makes the picture all the more clear.
I think what we tend to forget is that in every movement there are crazies and bigots. It is not just in the tea party but in the republican party and the democrat party. We have such a need to stereotype and label people. It is untrue and separates us from each other in a time when we should quit the name calling and find actual solutions to the issues that confront us.
I applaud the Tea Party Federation for expelling Mark Willialms and his supporters. It is definitely a small step in the right direction.
And we really need to remember that Republicans are not all elitist, wealthy right wing narrow minded extremists and Democrats are not lazy, welfare dependent slobs. Get to know your neighbors and don't allow others to spread anger and hate. It solves nothing and harms us all.
Label food and consumer products.... not people!
You can't have a spokeperson saying what the party believes when it is so far out of the mainstream. You hire the guy to make the rest believe there is something different going on then the rest of know. Think Gibbs lately.
This is a good start, but its only a start. A recent survey reveals that racial resentment is wide spread in the Tea Party, with supporters 25% more likely to express resentment of that sort to pollsters.
This is what you get with "take our country back" rhetoric. "Our" implies a "we" who oppose a "they". When the leader of the "theys" is America's first black president, code language like that is going to attract white racists like a bed sheet sail at Walmart.