Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Politics / Woods Tempest in a Tea Party: Activists Denouncing Opryland Confab
Posted by Jeff Woods on Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 6:01 AM
Nashville is about to host what's billed as the first-ever national tea party convention with Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and our very own Marsha Blackburn in the starring roles. But tea party activists are all over the Internet denouncing the convention as a sham to trick salt-of-the-earth patriots out of their hard-earned cash. It's raising questions about whether the event could turn into an embarrassment for Palin and the conservative movement.
Tea Party Nation, the for-profit company putting on the convention next month at Gaylord Opryland Hotel, is charging delegates $549 a pop for the privilege of attending. Politico reports organizers are asking a whopping $50,000 for corporate sponsorships. According to one insider who's talked to Pith, Tea Party Nation hopes to clear $300,000--and he says that's after paying Palin's hefty $120,000 speaking fee. She doesn't come cheap.
"Sarah Palin should cancel," says Tony Shreeve, an activist from Dandridge who quit the convention steering committee in November to protest the high ticket prices. "She thinks she's coming to promote the tea party people there. But in reality, there won't be tea party people there. The tea party is made up of grassroots people, middle-class, normal, ordinary Americans. They can't afford this."
Shreeve tells Pith, "I'm just being honest with you. This is not a tea party event. It's a fundraiser."
Another activist, Mark Meckler, calls the convention the "usurpation of a grassroots movement." He tells Talking Points Memo "most people in our movement can't afford anything like that."
We tried to ask Tea Party Nation president Judson Phillips, a Williamson County DUI lawyer, about all this, but he refuses to talk to Pith. We thought it was something personal at first, then we noticed he doesn't seem to have much to say to anybody in the media.
Back in November, before he clammed up, Phillips told Politico that Tea Party Nation wanted to turn a profit on the convention so that it could "funnel money back into conservative causes." Shreeve questions the group's motives. According to him, Tea Party Nation hasn't yet set up a political action committee or nonprofit group to accept the cash, "so where's that money going?"
"The tea party movement is not a business," Shreeve says. "I understand if you want to make some money by selling 'Don't Tread on Me' flags or whatever. But when you start taking advantage of concerned Americans, that's wrong."
Maybe the risk of negative media coverage explains why organizers are basically closing the convention to reporters. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has been denied a media pass but apparently did manage to speak to the elusive Phillips:
If the secrecy sounds a little, well, un-American, Phillips has this explanation: It's not a political convention, but a "working convention." It appears that sometimes the right of the people to peaceably assemble is best conducted out of view.
Comments (22)
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"....Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and our very own Marsha Blackburn...."
With star power like that (wink, wink)I'm thinking about going. I'm going to wait and see what Phil Valentine thinks first though.
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I will back Tony Shreeve up on this article and the statements he makes. No one in the Tea Party Movement here in Tennessee supports this thing....or if they do, very few. Many of us have been royally screwed by this social network of thugs. Who does ban, banish, kick out, "fire," the volunteers who made up this so-called national network of TPN? You want more information on how they do this, you can contact me. This whole thing is ghastly and is not what it would appear. Palin, Bachmann, and the rest should know about what truly goes on here.
Palin, Bachmann, and Blackburn. Holy crap, that's just too good. Some of you creative types out there really need to be all over this. Something like 'The Three Stooges' is too obvious.
Palin's political aspirations and the Tea Party movement will self-destruct in 5, 4, 3, 2... Seriously, these guys are so radicalized they're protesting their own protest now? It's like an amoeba that eats itself.
michelle bachman is going to be in nashville for a jesus summitt feb 16. that's pricye also. palin wouldn't do cpac because they weren't going to pay her. the chik is only in the gane for money lots of money. $10.99 would be too much pay for palin know nothing but work my jaws and tongue for 130,000.
this is ll about profitting off the dumb and dumber portion ofour society.they purchased a nothing book so purshase a nothing ego fest and reline their pockets!
Frankly I think Sarah should donate her time to this if she wants to speak there...
That said, this is capitalism and these folks have the right to charge whatever they want to raise money to pay the fees for this event.
Most people are NOT going to it, there are thousands upon thousands of tea party groups in every state that have nothing to do with this small group.
We are autonomous and this does not affect us so I don't know what the big fuss is. It's a truly a tempest in a tea pot.
People should be more outraged at the coroporate money behind the Obama dictatorship fueling the new totalitarianism and IRS controlling your medical insurance -- thanks to Soros, Rockefeller and especially outraged that Obama STOLE $500B of our tax dollars and GAVE IT to his banker elite European TRASH controllers.
None of the woman are members of the tea party movement so if they want to use their star power then they should pay the going rate.
None of the woman are members of the tea party movement so if they want to use their star power then they should pay the going rate.
WTF is a TRASH controller?
"People should be more outraged at the coroporate money behind the Obama dictatorship fueling the new totalitarianism and IRS controlling your medical insurance -- thanks to Soros, Rockefeller and especially outraged that Obama STOLE $500B of our tax dollars and GAVE IT to his banker elite European TRASH controllers."
The convention is sold out and has an extensive waiting list. Delegates from Tennessee and all across the nation will be attending. We even have Tea Party delegates coming from Hawaii. This convention promises to be an historic event, despite the attempts of unanimously banned former TPN members trying to derail it.
Perhaps their time would be better utilized fighting for the cause they say the believe in, instead of feeding their petty jealousies.
This 'tea party' is just an arm of the Republican Neo-Con party!
Marsha Blackburn Voted FOR:
Omnibus Appropriations, Special Education, Global AIDS Initiative, Job Training, Unemployment Benefits, Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations, Agriculture Appropriations, U.S.-Singapore Trade, U.S.-Chile Trade, Supplemental Spending for Iraq & Afghanistan, Prescription Drug Benefit, Child Nutrition Programs, Surface Transportation, Job Training and Worker Services, Agriculture Appropriations, Foreign Aid, Vocational/Technical Training, Supplemental Appropriations, UN “Reforms.” Patriot Act Reauthorization, CAFTA, Katrina Hurricane-relief Appropriations, Head Start Funding, Line-item Rescission, Oman Trade Agreement, Military Tribunals, Electronic Surveillance, Head Start Funding, COPS Funding, Funding the REAL ID Act (National ID), Foreign Intelligence Surveillance, Thought Crimes “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, Peru Free Trade Agreement, Economic Stimulus, Farm Bill (Veto Override), Warrantless Searches, Employee Verification Program, Body Imaging Screening.
Marsha Blackburn Voted AGAINST:
Ban on UN Contributions, eliminate Millennium Challenge Account, WTO Withdrawal, UN Dues Decrease, Defunding the NAIS, Iran Military Operations defunding Iraq Troop Withdrawal, congress authorization of Iran Military Operations.
Marsha Blackburn is my Congressman.
See her unconstitutional votes at :
http://tinyurl.com/qhayna
Mickey
Now comes word from Talking Points Memo that the web designer and much of the staff has quit the Tea Party Nation. They feel Phillips took advantage of their volunteer work in attempting to profit from the group. He apparently told staff he made it a for-profit group only because Obama was planning to ban all non-profits.
Maybe the staff's first clue was when Phillips linked the PayPal for merchandise and ticket sales to his wife's personal bank account?
A key sponsor has already pulled out, even RedState is trashing the group, media are not invited to attend and Phillips has gone underground. Move along folks, nothing to see here....
I am disappointed that this is crashing though. I thought having the holy trinity of wing-nut crazies here (Palin, Bachman and Blackburn) could be enough to cause a rift in the space-time continuum that would cause spontaneous enactment of health care reform, cap-and-trade and the closing of Gitmo.
Awww, this is such a cute post! I am a coffee and tea drinker. I prefer coffee in the morning, Zen green tea in the afternoon and chamomile in the evening after dinner. Its amazing how well the chamomile tea can work.
Hi Mrs. Tami Kilmarx! Pilgrim here. I can vouch for Tami as she was with TPN like myself from the beginning. Tea Party Nation along Judson and Sherri Phillips and the other members of their advisory board didn't think I could pull it off when I told them I would expose their movement and take back the revolution for the people. This rift with the web designer was just the little nudge I had been praying for to bust this wide open. The revolution un-officially starts right now! Operation Pitchfork is breathing new signs of life.
What's wrong with charging money and making sure only the rich people go? Who wants a bunch of poor people who can't even afford $600 to attend? What kind of ideas would someone so poor have anyhow? Its a good way to separate the wheat from the shaft. If you can't afford to go, you don't have anything to offer.
Sarah Palin has every right to make as much money as she can, its the American way. Everyone else is just jealous.
PALIN: ...that I announce that I'm going to do. There's controversy involved in this one, because the Tea Party offered me a speaking fee. I will not financially be gaining anything from this.
O'REILLY: You should though. You have a family to support.
PALIN: I'm going to...
O'REILLY: Take the money.
PALIN: You know what's more important? More important than money in my pocket from an event like that is being able to turn it right back around and contribute to campaigns, candidates and issues that will help our country.
When will Mrs. WA-silliness realize she needs to stay in WAsilla and cook moose stew for the 'former first dude' and teach her two younger daughters not to pull a "Briston' and get preggers?
Good article...I will use some of these interesting principles myself...more good info please...
The president’s new Gallup Poll shows a new low for his job approval ratings -- 47% (down from 53% last month). The new CNN/Opinion Research Poll, on the other hand, says Palin is now at 46% favorable.
What happens when Palin passes the Prez? Do libs spontaneously ignite and burst into flames?
