Mark Williams expelled from Tea Party for satirical letter

'"We, in the last 24 hours, have expelled Tea Party Express and Mark Williams from the Tea Party Federation because of the letter that he wrote," Webb said of Williams' blog post that satirized a fictional letter from what he called "colored people" to President Abraham Lincoln.

NAACP President Ben Jealous met Williams statement by telling CNN, "Good riddance, Mark Williams."'

Link
www.cnn.com...

Seriously TPM? You expelled someone for exercising his first amendment right?

The thing that makes me angry though is the NAACP's comments. They have no place in this.


Link to original thread about the letter-
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Tea Party Federation Ummm...is the Tea Party some sort of club that you can get kicked out of? Really?

At all levels of organization the acceptable response to bad press is to fire someone.

This is as bad as every other conspiracy discussed on ATS.

Fire and forget is the worst type of leadership.

Where did all the good leaders go?

reply to post by ~Lucidity


It's just another right wing, neocon hate group and nothing more.

Originally posted by kenton1234
reply to post by ~Lucidity

 

It's just another right wing, neocon hate group and nothing more.

Actually they are virtually the same makeup as the general public in terms of amount of Democrats, Republicans, and independent.

Its just the neocons are the most vocal portion of those. Firing him was the right action, it shows they still.care about public opinion.

Lucidity I'm assuming he was on the payroll and is no longer.

reply to post by Nosred

WRONG! The "Tea Party" did not "expel" anyone. The Tea Party Movement is a loose confederation of conservative activists fed up with overspending (even in the prior administration), expansionist policies that intrude on personal decisions, and the trampling of the Constitution and State's rights.

Misrepresentations in the MSM and on ATS seems to be the only way to attack them and their principles.

The TRUE story is this (your source):

The National Tea Party Federation, an organization that seeks to represent the Tea Party political movement around the country, has expelled Williams and his Tea Party Express ....

www.cnn.com...

Of course, you conveniently left out "the rest of the story" because it doesn't fit the agenda:

Some political leaders interviewed on Sunday talk shows also said the Tea Party movement itself wasn't racist, but needed to distance itself from any elements that bring prejudice and bigotry to its events.

"There are some members who have used the Tea Party -- whether it's the Tea Party itself, there are some individuals who have tried to exacerbate racial tensions in this country," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said on CNN's "State of the Union." "I have seen some virulent fliers that have been directed at our members, clearly referencing race, the president's race and race generally."

Contrary to others' contentions, it is not the TPM seeking to restrict 'free speech,' but "some political leaders."

When you post and interpret selected snippets, it is easy to create mis-perceptions, further distorted representations and claims, and support otherwise insupportable arguments.


Of course, that wouldn't fit your "headline" or agenda, would it?

Deny ignorance.

jw

reply to post by Nosred


This guy deserved to be booted and who ever booted him made a smart move. Whenever someone does something so stupid and racist as to write that letter, even if it was satire, they deserve the boot because they make themselves a liability. The only one this guy can blame is himself and his won stuidity and insensitivity and racism.

reply to post by jdub297


He was expelled from the Tea Party Federation, that's what I said.

Where exactly did I attack the TPM? I actually support the TPM I just think it was wrong that this man was kicked out of the TPF for expressing his opinion. If this had been a black man who wrote a letter about white people no one would have cared.

I believe it was a politically correct move, the GOP would have lost crucial minority voters if they let Williams stay after that blog post.

Yes, I said GOP because that is what the TPM really is.

reply to post by kenton1234


No, only parts of it. The parts that got co-opted and is being taken over by those you mention. For that reason alone it needs to die. Let's call a libertarian a libertarian and go from there, okay?

It's not clear to me that this guy worked FOR the party? Guess I missed something.

[edit on 7/19/2010 by ~Lucidity]

Originally posted by Nosred
Seriously TPM? You expelled someone for exercising his first amendment right?

Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences.

You have every right to join the Klan...just don't be surprised when you lose your job as a result. You have a right to speech - you don't have a right to a job.

Originally posted by Nosred
reply to post by jdub297

 

He was expelled from the Tea Party Federation, that's what I said.

Nope. Don't you even red what you post?
You know exactly what you posted.

Here's your title, not the story's or the author's:

Mark Williams expelled from Tea Party for satirical letter

YOU used the generic "Tea Party" when the subject of the story was some fringe group trying to create some hierarchy and "seeks to represent" the Tea Party Movement.

It would appear that you not only didn't read your own post, but you didn't even read the article you mis-quoted!

It would appear so, but we know that was no accident.

You know exactly what you posted.

I just think it was wrong that this man was kicked out of the TPF for expressing his opinion.

Which should have been your 1st clue that TPF is NOT legitimately referred to as the "Tea Party." That is an outright falsehood.

If this had been a black man who wrote a letter about white people no one would have cared.

THAT is racist.

Belief that a person, or people, act or would act in a certain way because of skin color is blatant racism.

Deny ignorance!

jw

To the best of my knowledge, the so-called "Tea Party" is NOT an organization, any more than "Conservatives" or "Liberals" are organizations. You can't be fired from a political ideology.

Now, granted, there are a number of small organizations that have sprung up in the last couple of years, attempting to capitalize on the Tea Party Movement by offering "membership," but those are the usual opportunists who make their living by affixing their hungry mouths to any movement of thought.

As for the NAACP attempting to demonize the Tea Party as "racist," I would suggest the NAACP examine itself for that particular cancer.

— Doc Velocity

Originally posted by whatukno
I believe it was a politically correct move, the GOP would have lost crucial minority voters if they let Williams stay after that blog post.

Yes, I said GOP because that is what the TPM really is.

Why? Because left wing MSM will lie to them and spin anything said about race from the right as racist? This is just getting ridiculous. People are just getting dumber and dumber.

Originally posted by Nosred
Seriously TPM? You expelled someone for exercising his first amendment right?

And, as if we were to think you didn't intentionally distort the source of the offensive comment and speech-quashing behavior, you eliminate ANY reference to the fringe "Federation" and call into question the entire "TPM (Tea Party Movement."

The thing that makes me angry though is the NAACP's comments.

Didn't you just post that "If this had been a black man who wrote a letter about white people," NO ONE would care?

Are you actively race-baiting or is it just second-nature for you?

You do not read what you post, or post only to further misperceptions and misinformation.

Deny ignorance!

jw

[edit on 19-7-2010 by jdub297]

Originally posted by whatukno
Yes, I said GOP because that is what the TPM really is.

Oh, on the contrary... The Tea Party Movement is opposed to UNCONSTITUTIONAL legislation and other actions by our elected officials, both Democrat AND Republican.

FYI, the Tea Party Movement was and is sharply opposed to outspoken Republican support of amnesty and instant citizenship for illegal aliens. Since 2007, the GOP has had to do backflips to distance itself from THAT political blunder, and they're not out of hot water yet.

Make no mistake, the Tea Party is about American citizens opposing the growth and tyranny of the central government. You're going to see Republicans kicked out of office in November right along with Democrats.

— Doc Velocity

Originally posted by zroth


At all levels of organization the acceptable response to bad press is to fire someone.

This is as bad as every other conspiracy discussed on ATS.

Fire and forget is the worst type of leadership.

Where did all the good leaders go?

They ran away from the Tea Party as soon as Palin and all the other establishment regulars adopted it as their own lol. As evidenced by whatukno's post, a lot of people think the Tea Party is just an extension of the Republican arm. Although as Doc Velocity has pointed out, that is not supposed to be the case. It was not the case when the Tea Party came into the national spotlight during the election, however it is the case now that the Party has been closely associated with and embraced by the Republican Party.

Watching this whole debacle play out reminds me of a scene from the movie "Braveheart". It is a scene where the Scottish King to be informs his father of the uprising and rebellion of Wallace's tribe. The Father says, "We will embrace this uprising with our Nobles from the South, while condemning it with our leaders from North. That will gain us favor from England"

reply to post by jdub297


It's true though. If a black man wrote a similar letter no one would dare chastise him out of fear of being called a racist. I wasn't race baiting at all.


If the term 'Tea Party' is generic like you said then wouldn't the Tea Party Federation be included? If not it's my mistake and I apologize.

Now where exactly did I misquote the article?

reply to post by mothershipzeta


Doesn't the Tea Party believe in the bill of rights though? That's like having a career in the klan and getting fired for believing in white supremacy.