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Mark Williams Quits The Tea Party Express


Tea Party activist Mark Williams.

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One of the most prominent men in the tea party movement, Tea Party Express spokesperson and former chair Mark Williams, is abandoning the group he helped propel into the role of the tea party's public face.

"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," TPE spokesperson Levi Russell said in a statement to reporters today. "Today, he went further to completely cut his ties to the Tea Party Express."

In his resignation letter to the TPE, Williams says he left the group after the past week's public battle with the NAACP made him too hot to handle.

"I feel compelled to separate myself from any further involvement with the Tea Party Express so that I can pursue other interests," Williams wrote, "and to free the tea party movement from any more distraction based on my personal comments or blogs."

Williams became the subject of intense criticism from inside the tea party -- as well as serious scrutiny from the media -- after he published a "satirical" post about the NAACP on his personal blog mocking the organization for using the word "colored" in its name. Most -- including other tea party leaders -- viewed the post as racist and offensive.

In his resignation letter today. Williams refused to apologize for the blog post, claiming that the kerfuffle it caused came from a media-driven reaction, not what he 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," he wrote. "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."

But the blog post was not the only thing that caused Williams to face criticism from fellow tea partiers. The TPE itself -- founded by Republican consultants as a fundraising vehicle for conservatives -- has long been a source of frustration for some tea partiers, who view the group as something of a poseur on the tea party scene. Williams was the brash public face of the TPE, prone to public statements that were, at best, impolitic.

Following this month's NAACP resolution calling on tea party leaders to repudiate racism in the ranks of the movement, Williams took the group on, stating, among other things, that the NAACP's leaders "make more money off of race than any slave trader ever."

On July 18, the Tea Party Federation called on the Tea Party Express to reject Williams and apologize for his rhetoric. That began series of attacks on Williams by other tea party leaders that eventually, it seems, led to Williams' resignation from the TPE.

It's unclear if Williams' exit from the group will stop criticism of the TPE by other tea partiers. The group remains a top-down organization run by political consultants and, so far, has not apologized for Williams' racially-tinged speech.

But as the TPE's Joe Wierzbicki told me yesterday, the group isn't really concerned what other tea partiers think of it. Money talks, Wierzbicki says, and when it comes to putting resources in candidate hands, the TPE is still getting the job done.

"No, I don't think too many candidates are going to turn away our support when they know that our membership is the most actively engaged - politically - of any of the tea party groups," Wierzbicki told me.

Read Mark Williams' full resignation letter 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.

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. 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.

This nation is in crisis, and beyond the struggling economy and suffocating deficits, is what I consider to be the most troubling development recently: this nation's slide towards socialism and abandonment to the fundamental Constitutional principles that have made America great. I do not wish to be used as ammunition against our own cause so to that end I am removing myself from the equation and severing ties to the Tea Party Express.

Ronald Reagan so correctly and eloquently explained that America is truly mankind's best hope for freedom. Our respect for the individual rights and freedoms is unmatched around the globe yet our politicians in Washington seem determined to change this legacy of freedom. We are in a war for the future of this country and the Left and their allies in the news media have decided to use my personal comments and views as a weapon to injure the tea party movement and conservative activists. I will simply not allow them to do this.

I have so much respect and admiration for all of you at the Tea Party Express and the tea party activists I have gotten to know and work with across this great nation. I am going to continue to fight on the side of liberty but it is clear that doing so with any affiliation with the Tea Party Express is not the best way to do so.

I do however fully intend to continue to fight in the spirit of and for the causes of the Tea Party Movement.

We have a lot of work to do between now and November and I know that the Tea Party Express will continue to serve as a leading voice for the millions of Americans who are determined to take their country back."

Comments (22) | Join the Conversation!

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July 23, 2010 2:47 PM   

What's the infatuation with Reagan? He talked about spending less but it never materialized.

What's up with this fantasy land conservatives live in?

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July 24, 2010 1:16 AM    in reply to mike from Arlington

Dear St. Ronald was far more pragmatic that these folks. He struck his deals with Tip O'Neill and never looked back. The "Tea Party" could never support such a "sell out". Nevertheless, they're perfectly fine with overlooking St. Ronald's indiscretions in this area.

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July 23, 2010 3:17 PM   

Let's stop picking on teabaggers when they do such a good job on each other.

Just kidding! I think TPE is doing all it can to 'refudiate' Williams and let him know that he is wanted......somewhere else.

I doubt that Williams' resignation will be carried on Dumbart unless it also includes an attack on NAACP because Dumbart continues to try and blame people who don't have the same amount of melanin as he has, as villains and terrorists within our borders.
I wonder what Dumbart really thinks about Boehner and his current skin pigmentation. He doesn't look like Dumbart so I guess he is fair game.

Maybe Williams will join with Randal Terry and come up with an even more racist party, further to the right of teabaggers if that is possible.

Thank goodness B1 Bob is out of the picture or we could have a triumvirate of light skinned terrorists spewing forth.

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July 23, 2010 3:17 PM   

they don't like to read about real history stats, they get their fake-facts from right wing blogs and Faux news..

america the stooooopid

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July 23, 2010 3:21 PM   

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.

I don't know which is worse...the term 'domestic enemies' or the fact that he considers the Tea Party to be 'massively diverse'.

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July 24, 2010 3:45 AM    in reply to LisB

I love the tone of histrionic aggrievement, though.

The guy actually sees himself as the injured party here. A martyr.

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July 23, 2010 3:37 PM   

If Williams were Black like Michael Steele, he'd still have this gig!

How ironic...

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July 23, 2010 3:40 PM   

Dear Mr. Lincoln

We Whites have taken a vote and decided that we don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom for minorities means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and compete with a whole lot more people on a level playing field. That is just far too much to ask of us White People and we demand that it stop!

In fact we held a big meeting and took a vote in Teatardistan this week. We voted to condemn a political revival of that old freedom-loving spirit of equality promoted by the ‘civil rights movement’.

The civil rights movement position to “end oppression of minorities and the poor” for example is just silly. Oppression of minorities and the poor is just big money welfare and isn’t that what we want all Whites to strive for? What kind of racist would want to end big money welfare? What they need to do is start handing the bail outs directly to us Whites instead of making us wait for it to pass through our giant corporate monopolies and oligopolies! Of course, the Republican Party and its little brother, the Teatards, are the only responsible parties that should be granted the right to disperse the funds.

And the ridiculous idea of “reduce[ing] the size and intrusiveness of government.” What kind of massa would ever not want to control everyone else's life? As Whites we must have somebody to step on to prop ourselves up...otherwise we would be on our own, have to think for ourselves, make decisions and compete!

The racist civil rights movement also demands that the government “help those who have suffered centuries of historic oppression.” Again, they directly target Whites. That means we Whites would have to compete for jobs like everybody else and that is just not right. Perhaps the most racist point of all in the civil rights movement is their demand that government “use a progressive income tax to help those less fortunate.” That is outrageous! How will we Whites ever get a wide screen TV in every room if Coloreds get to keep what they earn? Totally racist! The civil rights movement expects Whites to be altruistic members of society?

Mr. Lincoln, you were the greatest racist ever. We had a great gig. Even though we had to provide three squares and room and board, all their decisions were made by us. Please repeal the 17th Amendments so we can redistrict state legislatures to pack them with conservatives who will appoint conservatives to the Senate and let us get back to where we belong.

Sincerely

Mark Williams, Teatard Grand Dragon

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July 23, 2010 3:50 PM   

We all should note that he is resigning without remorse. He doesn't feel like anything he has said or done was wrong, or injurious in any way.

If you would ask him, he probably wouldn't really know why he is resigning, other than he is being forced to by those in power.

"I'm sorry" or "I apologize" are not in the vocabulary of these self-righteous nutbars... the fact that they feel like victims is evidence enough that they have no clue about the world that they live in

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July 23, 2010 4:21 PM   

I'd not hesitate to say that the real head of the TPE, Sal Russo of the Republican PR firm Russo, Marsh, and Rogers saw diminishing returns from the cash cow he created and threw Williams overboard to reduce the jeopardy to future donations.

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July 23, 2010 4:47 PM   

Har har har. Don't let double-wide tattered screen door hit your ass. Har har har.

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July 23, 2010 4:55 PM    in reply to Ugg the Repug

Ugg. Please let your hammer hit him. Just once. Right in the glasses.

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July 23, 2010 5:00 PM   

Har har har. Rock break glasses. Glasses cut racist. Racist cut fart. Har har har.

(Ugg always like that game.)

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July 23, 2010 5:58 PM   

Aw, let's send him a nice fruit basket.

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July 24, 2010 3:05 AM   

Again TPM is letting this guy off easily by omitting his most insulting and racist remarks, and calling them merely "racially tinged."

Williams explicitly characterized NAACP leadership as grifters who want to provide lazy, nonproductive black people with "wide screen TVs in every room" paid for by the tax dollars of whites.

Why you are soft-pedaling this story is beyond me.

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July 24, 2010 1:22 PM   

I'm not a member of the media...I view Marc Williams statements and his "satirical" letter as racial and divisive to any and all Americans who want ONE Country that is indivisible for all.

Hey Marc....don't let the door hit you in the you know what on your way out. One favor, can you take that other wing nut Bachman with you - muchas gracias.

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July 24, 2010 5:08 PM   

Please - do not give any attention to the National Tea Party Federation (NTPFed). They are a group of nobodies that are trying to be somebodies. They have self-annointed themselves to be the voice for the Tea Party Movement. They are not only hateful, power hungry, control freaks they do NOT have OUR - we the people - permission to speak for us. We can speak for ourselves. This fit of jealousy on their part against the TPE and Mark Williams is just the icing on the cake as far as the venom that spews from that group. They threw their hissy fit when Williams was on air with Geraldo Rivera, the NAACP and other groups to discuss toning down the use of racism on both sides. They had achieved success and had built a foundation for further positive communications when the group at NTPFed could not stand the attention Williams was receiving and set about to further a vendetta they have against him. It was pure pettiness and hatefulness - both of which damaged a process that was going to benefit ALL of us. SHAME on those small minded, teeny people at NTPFed and shame on the media giving them any type of attention whatsoever.
Re: Tea Party Express (aka TPE)
The Tea Party Express is an on the road show that brings guest speakers to within easy reach of the people. They create and attend events that bring people together so they do not feel alone in their thoughts. They show that MANY of us are like minded. We are able to access positive resources, hear motivating speeches, know that we have some power hitters on our side. We are not just voices in the wind. One does not have to be a member of the Tea Party to attend these events. This group has brought a postive influence for the people on the whole and they have been able to get OUR - we the people - voices heard with a megaphone.
The TPE has been around since the beginning - the NTPFed only came on the scene far after the fact to make money, gain power, PRETEND to speak for us.

NO ONE speaks for us - we are a MOVEMENT not a party. We have Independents, Libertarians, Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives, Constitutionalists and non-affiliated voters. We have people who want to take our country back from the treacherous waters the three branches of government and their lapdog the media have been steering us toward.

Who am I? Just one of the People. I am active, I vote and I pay attention. Am I a Tea Party Member? No. I do not join groups. I am an American born and raised here and that is the closest I am to being affiliated with anyone.

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July 25, 2010 9:28 PM    in reply to Dolphie

The tea party is a bunch of redneck racists. Fuck them.

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July 25, 2010 9:28 PM    in reply to Dolphie

The tea party is a bunch of redneck racists. Fuck them.

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July 25, 2010 9:24 PM   

Mark Williams said that "freedom means having to work for real." These people have the nerve to compare Obama to Hitler? I think that there was something about that somewhere in Polan in the middle of the twentieth century. Where was that again?

http://davenewbold.com/images/2-Auschwitz.jpg

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July 25, 2010 9:25 PM    in reply to TheIronCage

Poland*

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