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Tea Party Patriots push nationwide anti-IRS rallies

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:03:00 +0000

The Tea Party Patriots are organizing nationwide rallies on Tuesday to protest against the IRS for its "complete abuse of power," related to the controversy over the agency's targeting of conservative groups.

In a posting on the TPP site, the group calls for "anyone and everyone to protest the IRS’ complete abuse of power" at noon on Tuesday. "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is out of control, and we need to stand up and let them know that we will not take their intimidation tactics!" the site says.

Tea Party Patriots also provide supporters with suggestions for protest signage, including, "Audit the IRS!", "No more cover-ups from IRS!", "Unfair and Un-Constitutional!" and "Abolish the IRS!"

Tea Party responds to ill-fated CPAC racism panel

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 15:09:00 +0000

K. Carl Smith, the speaker at the Tea Party Patriots' CPAC panel on how conservatives can defend themselves against charges of racism, responded to the way the panel devolved to become rather racist.

The panel, which took place Friday afternoon, broke down when a liberal black woman, a reporter for Voice of Russia, was shouted down and told that she's "not welcome here" when she objected to Smith's portrayal of Democrats as the ones who started the KKK and pushed to keep slavery in place. Another audience member, Scott Terry, bemoaned the "disenfranchised" white Southern demographic, and implied that slaves should not have to forgive slaveowners, as they were provided with "shelter and food."

In a statement put out through TPP, Smith called the woman "disruptive and coercive" and said she "rudely interrupted" his remarks.

Smith did allow that Terry, "made some racially insensitive comments," but noted that in the end Smith "further explained to him the Frederick Douglass Republican Message which [Terry] embraced, bought a book, and we left as friends."

Here's the full statement:

CPAC panel on racism goes awry

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:02:00 +0000

A panel hosted by the Tea Party Patriots, intended to teach CPAC attendees how to fight back against charges that they are racist, devolved quickly into the crowd shouting down a liberal black woman who repeatedly tried to ask questions.

The panel was run by K. Carl Smith, of the Frederick Douglass Republicans, who mostly advised the predominantly white audience that if they're "sick and tired of being called a racist and a sellout" they should join the Frederick Douglass Republicans. You "can't play the race card on him, you can't play the class warfare card on him," Smith said of Douglass.

"Race-baiting comes off the table" when you say you are a Frederick Douglass Republican, he said, noting that there are both black and white members of the group. "How are you going to call a Frederick Douglass Republican racist?"

One audience member, Scott Terry, a self-professed white Southerner, asked why members of "my demographic are systematically disenfranchised," and why it's "anathema" to be proud of Southern heritage. When Smith told him that Douglass forgave his slavemaster, Terry replied: “For giving him shelter? And food?”

Tea Party Patriots says Rove-as-Nazi email was a “mistake”

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:37:00 +0000

The Tea Party Patriots have apologized for an "unacceptable" and "inappropriate" picture attached to a fundraising email that depicted Karl Rove wearing a Nazi uniform. “We apologize to Mr. Rove. While we may have strong disagreements with him on the future of conservatism, we want to be clear this imagery is absolutely unacceptable and are working to ensure this type of mistake doesn't happen again," said Jenny Beth Martin, the co-founder of the group.

In a statement, Martin said that the image was added to an email "sent under the banner of Tea Party Patriots," but the group "did not know about or approve" of the image. It was added by Active Engagement, an outside vendor, according to the statement. Active Engagement reiterated in its own apology statement that the group selected the picture in error, and that "The email that included the image was not approved by Tea Party Patriots."

More battle lines drawn in Rove vs. Tea Party

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 22:32:00 +0000

Armed with a new super PAC, the Tea Party Patriots are lining up behind a potential Senate run by Rep. Steve King, in response to an American Crossroads initiative to crush super-conservative candidates.

King, R-Iowa, invited the group's co-founder Jenny Beth Martin to be his guest at the State of the Union on Tuesday. And, the Hill reports, "an official familiar with the plans of the new TPP super-PAC, Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund, says the group is looking to engage in the upcoming Iowa Senate race in favor of King."

Though King has not officially announced a run yet, he is an early front-runner in the race to replace retiring Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, in 2014.

The TPP super PAC was launched earlier this week as a counterweight to the Conservative Victory Fund, an effort by the Karl Rove-backed American Crossroads to enlist GOP mega-donors to help ensure that candidates like Todd Akin or King don't make it through the primaries.