Well that didn’t take so long. On CBS Face the Nation this morning a leader of the National Tea Party Federation announced that Mark Williams and the Tea Party Express have been kicked out of the movement. Here is a link to the clip (which because of FYWP I can not place in this post).
Over at CNN.com they have a story up about about the racist Mark Williams and his Tea Party faction getting the boot:
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.
No word yet from CNN if Williams will still be a regular quest on the network. My bet is yes. And there is no word from the racist of the hour Mr. Williams on his web site. It will be interesting to see how accepting Williams is of the news that the National Tea Party Federation has kicked him and his group out of the movement. I think it is a safe bet that Mark will not take it well (especially as the NTPF spokesman delivering the news is black).
Somehow I think the only thing the Mark Williams and his Tea Party followers will hate more than President Obama will be the <s>National Tea Party Federation</s> Judean People’s Front. Splitters!
Cheers
dengre
Update: When one goes to the <a href=”http://www.teapartyexpress.org/”>Tea Party Express website</a> the first thing you see is a way to contribute to Sharron Angle. Same thing with the rarely updated <a href=”http://teapartyexpressblog.blogspot.com/”>Tea Party Express blog</a>.
Mind you, there is no tea party leadership; every tea partier is a tea party leader. But something happens when the stronger egos and personalities in a movement begin to fee a sense of ownership. It is not long before they act to claim and defend that fictitious ownership. [snip]
I am refusing all media requests on this. The careless individual tea partier who assumed the mantel of “leadership” did so long enough to turn a critical and serious movement and delicate peace with skeptical groups, into a World Wrestling style personality conflict with me at the center. There are internal political dramas amongst the various self-anointed tea party “leaders” and some of the minor players on the fringes see the Tea Party Express and Mark Williams as tickets to a booking on Fact the Nation. [snip]
My disappointment was a grandstanding statement on national television about expelling an individual (me) and my 34 other staff and performers from a grassroots movement that does nothing more than support the Constitution of theses United States because of the Constitutionally guaranteed exercise of the Creator’s endowed freedom to thought and expression is at least as damaging as the rest of the rhetoric that Morial, Sharpton, Dorelli and Shelton hammered such a delicate end.
I am afraid that David Webb of the National Tea Party Federation not only misunderstands why the Federation was formed in the first place and with a few ill-advised words aimed at the tea party itself has endangered the peace and potential fro progress that we saw unfold on national television last night.
This is going to wingnuteriffic.
dmsilev
Wow, so it *is* possible to say something so offensive that you get drummed out of the Tea Party. Bit of a surprise, actually.
dms
licensed to kill time
Hey Dave Weigel, I guess that NAACP ‘stunt’ didn’t really backfire after all, huh?
c u n d gulag
No, no, there’s no racism here!
Every once in awhile, ‘All’s well, that ends well…”
I’m wondering if, in his own mind, Lincoln answered him and told him he was right.
Bill E Pilgrim
Oh good. Get the popcorn. Finally a circular firing squad where it can do some good. The film version can be a remake of High Noon renamed “High Tea”.
kommrade reproductive vigor
I expect a Letter from a Birmingham Tanning Salon by Dr. Mark Williams. In it he will he chide his fellow Teabaggers for their failure to join him in the fight against the injustice of black people who don’t know their place.
demkat620
Oh yeah, this could be a lot of fun. Mark Williams is a self aggrandizing little creep who will take this personally.
I can’t wait to see these clowns asked if they stand with Mark.
:Are you with us or agin’ us?”
And that’s the thing, there is no National Tea Party, its just a bunch of different groups of clowns with wacky signs. Nobody can reel them back in.
Janet S
This won’t be the end of Mark Williams, but it is a start in the right direction by the Tea Party movement to rid itself of a divisive leader who has spewed racist rhetoric about President Obama. I saw him on Geraldo Rivera’s show Saturday and I wanted to puke just looking at him.
burnspbesq
One wonders, though, how many tea partiers saw that video clip and said to themselves or their friends, “that nigra don’t speak for me. Mark Williams crossed a line, but he’s got a point.”
In large parts of this country, racism is as natural as breathing.
Remember the story from the 2008 campaign? There was a canvasser in western Pennsylvania who knocked on a door in a small town on a Saturday afternoon not long before the election. A woman answered, and the canvasser asked who she was planning to vote for for President. The woman turned into the house and said, “Hon, who we votin’ for? The voice from inside the house replied, “we’re votin’ for the nigger.”
cleek
grifter puts foot in mouth, shoots self in foot.
yay!
Midnight Marauder
Uh oh. Shit just got real.
Dennis G.
@burnspbesq:
The test will be if Republican candidates and Conservative media celebrities support the National Tea Party Federation or support the Tea Party Express. I suspect that they will try very, very, very hard to avoid saying anything about it.
They should be asked. They would be ask if the media could be counted on to do their job. I suspect that we will see a lot of bobbing and weaving this week.
It should be informative and who knows, we might get an accidental breakout of journalism.
Well, a lad can dream.
Cheers
encephalopath
The racists won’t like getting thrown out of their own movement. They will protest and make lots of noise and say more crazy racist things.
John Cole
I thought there were no racists in the tea party…
Dennis G.
@licensed to kill time:
Yep. Dave needs to reconsider his first take. I’ll stick with TNC on this one.
Cheers
beltane
@kommrade reproductive vigor: :”Letter from a Birmingham Tanning Salon” should win a prize. Also, too.
kdaug
@John Cole: In fact, “it’s impossible” for there to be racists in the tea party.
Bill E Pilgrim
This must become about the GOP and the tea baggers if the Democrats want to reverse some of this momentum. “Do you refudiate(tm) the Tea Party and its racism?” should be a gauntlet for any Republican candidate.
There’s no good answer, that’s the thing.
Martin
@dmsilev: Offensive had nothing to do with it – it was a political albatross. The teatards had no real political responsibilities until a few months ago – now they have two senate candidates and they need to get their shit together and start looking just like the GOP.
Cacti
NAACP – 1
Teatards – 0
matoko_chan
wallah…..the War of the Teatards.
i can’t wait.
schnooten
@Martin: Yeah, I haven’t seen any evidence that they knew why it was offensive, just that they thought it was “clearly offensive,” and worth booting Williams for it. Signs point to expediency, not understanding, remorse, responsibility, etc.
kommrade reproductive vigor
25% would answer “Yes, of course I do,” and StFu.
30% would answer “Yes, of course I do” and proceed to make some follow up comment that Serious People will call a “gaffe.”
10% would dodge the question because they aren’t yet sure how potential voters feel about it.
15% would dodge the question and whine that it is unfair that they’re being asked when the Democrat Party is the one with all the racists.
15% would shout into the megaphone instead of blowing on the dog whistle.
5% would blame Obama.
Bruce (formerly Steve S.)
He’ll feel much better when his revenues quadruple because of this. I mentioned the other day in another thread that he pimps a 63 page book for $19.95 on his website. Now that the mainstream Tea Party has been infiltrated by Kenyan socialists his screeds will be more timely than ever.
Corner Stone
And this is why people like Clarence Page should not be allowed to speak on a national program (and exactly why he keeps getting invited back):
Fucking asshole.
sacrablue
Isn’t the Tea Party Express the Sarah Palin wing of the organized Tea Party? Wasn’t she their keynote speaker at a rally in Boston a few months ago? When is some enterprising reporter going to ask Saint Sarah of Wasilla about Mark Williams and the Tea Party Express astroturfers?
Corner Stone
@Bruce (formerly Steve S.):
Exactly. The Grift: It Is On!
Long live The Grift!
Corner Stone
Damn. Didn’t even notice the WP naughty word I just quoted and am now in the moderately moderated section of FYWP.
licensed to kill time
Mitch McConnell on State of the Union today:
Move along, nothing to see here folks.
Corner Stone
@demkat620:
I thought that was the key to how Real American the TP was? Just a bunch of like minded but unconnected organic groups of patriots who had been taxed enough already.
Ash Can
Tomorrow could be a very interesting day for the Tea Party movement. Some fairly big names (to politics junkies, at least) have already sided with Williams and against the NAACP, and have been hung out to dry by this announcement, so I expect to see a flurry of challenges to the legitimacy of the Tea Party Federation in general and this spokesman in particular.
ETA: Or we may just see a stampede of elephants away from microphones and video cameras.
asdf
I wonder what Mark Williams is doing today?
It probably involves bourbon and… more bourbon.
Dennis G.
@sacrablue:
Yes. This is the Palin wing of the TeaBaggers that the NTPF has kicked out.
I expect that many, most, will dispute the standing of the NTPF to kick anybody out at all. It should be interesting. I suspect that the quitta from Wassilla will toss Williams under the bus and defend the TPE. I suspect that will be game plan for all of em. The wild card will be how quietly Williams will be willing to fall on his sword for Saint Sarah.
sal
My bet is he gets his own show.
joe from Lowell
@licensed to kill time:
And to think, this was the guy who was so biased and mean to the teabaggers that the WaPo had to fire him.
Scott
Well, now the Teabaggers will proclaim that they’ve gotten all the racists out of the Tea Party… but Williams wouldn’t have said what he did unless he was expecting the rest of the ‘baggers to support him…
Corner Stone
@asdf:
I disagree, and have a comment in moderation about this. I agree with Bruce that this will most likely be the best thing to ever happen to Williams.
It’s not like he’s being kicked out of a legitimate organization. This will be hard rightwing conservative victimization at its very best. Just wait for the fringiest of the fringe to flock to this dude.
Davis X. Machina
@Corner Stone: I’m so old, I remember when Clarence Page was black.
Bill Murray
How could Williams be racist, he isn’t black
Allison W.
Not buying it.
Davis X. Machina
@Bill Murray: Mitch, or Juan? Wait a second…neither of them is black.
joe from Lowell
@Ash Can:
Bingo.
Enough time has elapsed that the teabagging hordes had internalized Williams’ line as the party line: There are no racists in the tea party, the real racists are in the NAACP, there is absolutely no need to call out anyone in the tea party for racism ever, it is an unfair smear planted by the anti-white commie nazis to claim that the tea party needs to repudiate racism.
And now, this. The Tea Party leadership gives in to the NAACP and calls out not just anybody, but the guy who had taken the lead in pushing back against the NAACP.
These are people who are already freaking out about Scott Brown being an apostate. We’re talking civil war here. We’re talking about a whole lot of sign-carrying morons forced to come to terms with the fact that they’ve been used by a an astroturf campaign that isn’t really about them.
I’m not content to just get my popcorn. Quick, Robin! To the ratfuckmobile!
Frank
@John Cole:
Exactly. I wonder if Weigel regrets his column where he criticized the NAACP for its resolution. It looks like the NCAAP was right and Weigel way wrong.
Mark S.
@sacrablue:
Sarah is under contract with Fox and isn’t allowed to answer any questions from non-Fox reporters, or so her publicist claims.
matoko_chan
@Dennis G.:
licensed to kill time
@Mark S.:
How conveeeeeeeeenient. /Church Lady
asdf
“Just wait for the fringiest of the fringe to flock to this dude.”
I hope so. I’d like to see this story in the media every day.
Corner Stone
@Davis X. Machina: I’ve only ever known him as a centrist/center-right commentator with a distinctive mushy characteristic.
Anyone who not only doesn’t make an exasperated grunt at what Will said but goes further and agrees with him, I don’t want that person on TV ever again.
kommrade reproductive vigor
@Corner Stone: This.
I don’t think he’ll get a gig on CNN. But it’ll be interesting to see how quickly Regnery gets his first book on the market and how often he appears on Flush Limpball’s show. Not sure if Beck will go through with his March on Washington this August but I expect Williams will be a guest speaker.
Maybe he’ll give his version of Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech!
Corner Stone
@asdf: IMO, he may not have gamed it out this way but he will certainly recognize there is no grift left for him if he capitulates and apologizes or gives in.
He will be despised by the people he’s been leading and shunned by the people who won’t want him around any further.
He’s a grifter like all of them and he doesn’t give a shit about TPM or TPE.
I believe he’ll go for it and play the victimization card.
Frank
@Corner Stone:
Just appalling. Perhaps Mr Page could give us examples of all the times people protesting Bush spat at Republican congress people, or called black Republican congress people the N-word or called gay Republican congress people the F-word.
What I will never forget is that anti-Bush people attending Bush’s town hall meetings were handcuffed and escorted out from his meetings (meetings that were paid for by tax payer money). This, eventhough they were quiet and behaved and their only crime was wearing an anti-Bush T-shirt.
It is rather sad that influential people such as Mr Page has such an astonishingly short memory. He is an example of the media trying its idiotic balancing act of claiming “both sides do it”.
gocart mozart
Hannity says he can’t find any racist teabag signs. This begs the question, is Hannity a liar or a retard.
http://bijenkorf.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/photos-912-d-c-protest-signs/
LesGS
@matoko_chan: Heh. But Sarah doesn’t have anything like the sense of honor or principles that the Operative has. He at least knew he was a monster.
Ash Can
@joe from Lowell: What could very well make for additional high hilarity is the fact that this spokesguy is black, and therefore in somewhat of a Michael Steele position. How are they going to say that one of the extremely few Tea Partiers of color — let alone one who’s in a prominent position in the movement — does not actually represent the movement?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@licensed to kill time:
Heh. My first thought, too. I’m sure Weigel has an explanation as to why the NAACP is still wrong that will get him hired back by the Kaplan Daily Broder.
dmsilev
@Frank: Not to mention, the one high-profile incident of left-wing Hitler-calling was the time that MoveOn had a contest for commercials and some random person sent in a Hitler one. Despite the fact that MoveOn never actually had anything to do with the creation of said commercial, the wailing and gnashing of teeth extended across the entire political spectrum.
dms
auntieeminaz
@gocart mozart: Both.
batgirl
@gocart mozart: Hannity is both, a retarded liar.
gocart mozart
@kommrade reproductive vigor:
Congratulations, please pick up your free internet at the WILCO desk and remember, friends don’t let friends blog drunk.
licensed to kill time
@gocart mozart:
In all fairness, it is pretty hard to see anything with those smeary FOXBlinkers on your eyes.
Corner Stone
@kommrade reproductive vigor:
Maybe if he follows this up and calls Ben Jealous a goatfucking child molester?
KG
@matoko_chan: does that make the Tea Party the Reavers or the Alliance? And more importantly, can I be a Browncoat?
Svensker
OK, so the NAACP says that some people in the T.P. are occasionally racist and that the T.P. should discourage that by kicking those folks out. T.P. peeps have incredible shrieking freak out. Then T.P.E. guy says incredibly racist thing. T.P. responds by kicking that guy out.
So remind me what was wrong about the NAACP statement in the first place?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Corner Stone: Good lord. Five, six, seven years later, you can’t bring up MoveOn without some ‘winger mentioning the fact that somebody submitted a Godwin’s-law-breaking video, so the whole organization and everybody in it is guilty by association. Page seems like a nice enough guy, but he’s a Villager’s Villager.
gocart mozart
@kommrade reproductive vigor:
Sorry Komrade. We seem to only have copies of the dead tree version left. A convoy of trucks will arrive at your house shortly. We hope this is not a problem. Have a nice day;)
Corner Stone
@Svensker:
I’m a little surprised there wasn’t a bill introduced in Congress to denounce and defund the NAACP for their actions here.
joe from Lowell
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
…a Godwin’s-Law-breaking video that they refused to accept into the contest, and took down.
joe from Lowell
Exactly.
But now, the tea baggers have all internalized the NAACP-is-the-enemy theory.
They’re not going to be able to admit that the NAACP was right, which means they’re never going to be able to make peace with the National Tea Party again.
pablo
There is NO racism in America!
kommrade reproductive vigor
@gocart mozart: Can I just have the chapters with the nekkid people? I need those for … um … research. Yeah.
GregB
According to the modern GOP there is no racism in America except among anti-White Blacks and among white leftists who are the real racists who are keeping Blacks on the liberal plantation.
Therefore anyone who accuses another of racism is a race hustler who wants to stifle free speech by enforcing PC language codes.
Unless you are a rightwinger accusing the left or Democrats of racism, then it is legitimate.
Davis X. Machina
Ebonics? Just a guess.
drkrick
To be fair, it’s hard to see how you can’t take this personally. Cosign on the self aggrandizing little creep part, though.
joe from Lowell
Yeah, right. This was an astroturf stunt from Day One. Williams isn’t going to last ten minutes when he doesn’t have access to the email lists, the buses, and the pre-made signs, and other Tea Party groups do.
BC
@Frank: Hell, I remember resolutions in the House passed with Democratic support condemning any criticism of Bush (particularly that Move-On ad that had Bush with the Hitler moustache that Will is so fond of talking about).
kay
@joe from Lowell:
he says this:
And then he goes on to say this:
They’re amazing. He can’t be consistent through two paragraphs. You wonder if they read this stuff before they release it.
Oh, and 34 staff members?
General Stuck
One of the wingnut strengths in electoral politics is the ability to coalesce in lockstep around either a particular leader, or the gnawing hunger they all share to regain power. So they don’t often do daily circular firing squads like liberals. But when they do form them, their weapons of choice are something along the lines of Hellfire missiles, and generally nothing is left but charred remains. This oughta be a doozy, fer sure.
Comrade Kevin
@kay:
Of course not. Reading’s for fags! Real men watch the TeeVee!
Tom Betz
@sacrablue: The Tea Party Express is the FreedomWorks/Dick Armey wing of the Tea Party. Unless Armey changes his allegiance, the National Tea Party Federation (formed two months after the February Tea Party Convention, also largely financed by Armey) may have cut itself off from the Winger Welfare money spigot by dumping on Tea Party Express.
kay
@Comrade Kevin:
I was laughing at “staff and performers” because he probably means “proven performers” or something manly and free market like that, but I read it and thought “performers” like….clowns, maybe.
gocart mozart
@kommrade reproductive vigor:
Said dead tree internet is organized according to blogger/poster hat size. This was not my decision. Sorry and good luck with it.
Hint: Penis comes between Pantload and Ayn Rand and after boobies.
Alan in SF
So it’s come to that — The Tea Party movement has more integrity than CNN.
Paris
God bless the NAACP.
Brachiator
@Ash Can:
As is so often the case, these people will look to Rush Limbaugh to pull their butts out of the fire. He takes to racebaiting like a duck to water.
@Mark S.:
I expect Palin to use this excuse in 2012 when she becomes the first presidential candidate to be officially sponsored by a major corporation.
kommrade reproductive vigor
@gocart mozart: Gah! The thought of a penis between Pantload and Rand has put me right off my research project.
Feedom isn’t fee!
OK, I know “fro” is a legitimate typo but since Williams is talking about one of the four African-American teabaggers on the planet I did pause a moment.
JWL
If Joe Biden and Barack Obama say the tea bagger movement isn’t racist, that’s that.
Lest We Forget: They speak for all democrats, everywhere.
kommrade reproductive vigor
@gocart mozart: Gah! The thought of a pen1s between Pantload and Rand has put me right off my research project.
(And how come your pen1s didn’t get stuck in moderation?)
Feedom isn’t fee!
OK, I know “fro” is a legitimate typo but since Williams is talking about one of the four African-American teabaggers on the planet I did pause a moment.
God this is going to be wingnutteriffic AND fReichtardtastic.
Cain
@sacrablue:
Yes, but first they have to find her in order to ask the question. Otherwise all they can do is follow her on twitter. I have never seen a politican be given so many passes as Palin; that she can get away with just weighing in on an issue by twittering blows my mind.
cain
QuaintIrene
Hey, hey, hey! That sounds dangerously close to Socialism, Comrade!!
JGabriel
So let’s get this straight: going forward, all teabaggers must choose whether they belong to the pro-racist teabagger faction, or the faction with the black spokesman?
Cool.
I wonder which faction will win?
.
Thegoodnewsisyourefired
We can’t forget the whole “general betrayus” dustup, which also required Congressional action to deal with. FU GWill.
Redshirt
@JGabriel: Whoever wins, we lose.
b-psycho
@kommrade reproductive vigor:
I can only assume the moderation is looser than we thought.
goatchowder
“theses”? Either he’s been reading Crooked Timber and grading term papers for the summer session, or he meant to say “these United States of ours”, which, is CONFEDERACY DOG-WHISTLE language, big-time.
The United States, since 1865, is ONE country, not a confederation of sovereign states. THIS, is our country, not THESE (or “theses”).
THIS United States, not THESE.
The Confederate Party, there they go again. Someone should ask him how he feels about secession. That should be an interesting answer, if he gives it.
Xopher
Hey, at least he apologized to Hindus for calling Allah a “Monkey God.” Hindus have a real monkey god, you see.
I sure hope all our gloating over this mess won’t make the TP wake up in time to patch it up.
The Main Gauche of Mild Reason
Wait, when did the teabaggers become Spartacans?
bago
You should go with “Totally wingular”. It works how radical they are, charging into the wingularity.
Kyle
And they call Obama a Maoist.
asiangrrlMN
@kommrade reproductive vigor: Thanks for the laugh. I’m envisioning a pen is stuck in moderation, and it’s cracking me up.
I’m feeling fatalistic today, so I’m going to say it won’t make a lick of difference. Williams will continue to make mad monies for being a racist prick and on and on and on.
Uriel
@Cain:
But really, that’s the whole attraction with her- is there any doubt that, had it existed at the time, Saint Ronnie of Archer Able (or whatever twisted accolades are now in vogue with the right wing amnesio-pundetry at the moment) would have been the most prolific twitter on the planet?
I mean, rule by meaningless sound-bites and empty photo-ops is the stuff that haunts these people’s dreams. It’s the holy grail. The non plus ultra of meaningful debate. It’s the entire foundation of the fucking tea party movement.
Cripes- right now, I’m looking at an ad at the bottom of this page who’s entire message is “we can put the words ‘homosexuals” and ‘Barney Frank’ in a bright purple, curly-cue girly font. Vote for us.”
That’s what passes for reasoned, thoughtful political commentary on the right nowadays.
IM
my 34 other staff and performers
Performers? Sounds like the producer of a canceled show.
Remember November
“Every tea partier is a tea party leader”-shorter: Communism! Where the Tea Partiers control the means of tea partying!
jomo
That letter was really, really offensive. It was so offensive, it refutes Poe’s law (could not possibly be mistake for satire). To his credit David Webb has refudiated it. So, probably will a number of Tea Party leaders (and most politicians). But Mark Williams seems not inclined to go quietly. His continued presence could sap the Tea Party of its most fanatical adherents. This could be a game changer if they don’t control the message.