Last week's Porkopolis column examined the in-fighting among the various Tea Party factions after the spokesman of the Tea Party Express wrote a satirical blog item about a letter from “Coloreds” to President Abraham Lincoln.
The not very funny but very hateful item was written by conservative radio talk show host Mark Williams, who was angered by the NAACP's resolution asking the political movement to denounce and expel its racist elements.—-
On his blog, Williams wrote, “Dear Mr. Lincoln, We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing … Bailouts are just big money welfare and isn’t that what we want all Coloreds to strive for?” Williams wrote. “What kind of racist would want to end big money welfare? What they need to do is start handing the bailouts directly to us Coloreds!”
The item was roundly criticized as improper by the Tea Party Federation and Tea Party Nation, which called for Williams' ouster. The Express leadership refused and stood by the defiant Williams, who defended his remarks.
Less than two weeks later, however, Williams has reconsidered.
“Today, the Tea Party Express received a letter from Mark Williams expressing his desire to separate himself completely from the Tea Party Express,” the group's press release stated.
“Over a month ago, Williams stepped down as chairman of the organization to pursue other activities, but still offered to remain available as a spokesperson as needed in the future,” it continued. “Today, he went further to completely cut his ties to the Tea Party Express.”
The press release also included a copy of Williams' resignation, part of which is excerpted below.
“I feel compelled to separate myself from any further involvement with the Tea Party Express so that I can pursue other interests and to free the tea party movement from any more distraction based on my personal comments or blogs,” Williams wrote.
“The media coverage over a recent satirical posting on my personal MarkTalk.com blog risks injuring the Tea Party Express, the tea party movement as a whole, and the people in this movement who I respect and admire so much,” Williams added. “It has become increasingly unacceptable that the media and our domestic enemies continue to anoint me as the official voice of a massively diverse and broad-based movement.”
Hmm. Isn't a “spokesperson,” as Williams was deemed by the Express, by implication the “official voice of a massively diverse and broad-based movement?”
Don't feel sympathy for the Express, because it knew the type of vitriol to expect from Williams. In the past, he’s called President Obama “the former Barry Soetoro, Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug turned anointed,” and referred to President Carter as a “creepy little faggot.”
