An Article in Politico, titled Latest tea party target: Its own convention, suggests that the tea party movement is falling apart, as evidenced by ‘its own’ turning on what is billed as its own convention.

We don’t quite read it like that, rather, we see the way the tea party people have rallied in opposition to one man, Judson Phillips, attempting to take over the tea party movement by flashing big dollars around as a sign that the tea party movement is coming together under clearly defined principles, that, above all else, they WILL NOT allow the movement of the people, for the people, by the people, to be co-opted by the so-called professionals, the political class that has locked THE PEOPLE out of the public square for long enough.  Here are some excerpts from the article:

Billed as a pivot point to transition the tea party movement from a chaotic uprising to an organized and sustainable political force and featuring [1] Sarah Palin as its star attraction, the first-ever convention in Nashville from Feb. 6 to Feb. 8 is insead shaping up as a reminder of the problems inherent in holding together a fractious coalition of local groups resistant to authority and pursuing often-conflicting agendas.

Red State blogger Erick Erickson made it clear recently what [2] he thinks of the coming event — pronouncing that it “smells scammy” and is inconsistent with the grass-roots energy behind the tea party movement.

“I’m hoping for the best, but I’m prepared for the worst — that it descends into infighting and that the passionate activists who attend end up leaving disenchanted,” he told POLITICO.

Read more: [3] http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31816.html#ixzz0dLnydQLO

Erickson worries that by associating herself [Palin] with Phillips and the convention, Palin “might be ruining herself unintentionally……

After she was criticized for the fee, [4] Palin told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly that she “will not financially be gaining anything from this.” Instead, she suggested she would “turn it right back around and contribute to campaigns, candidates and issues.”

But the only way she could do that [5] under federal election law would be to make maximum contributions of $2,400 to candidates, $5,000 to political action committees or $30,400 to national party committees (she could make larger contributions to independent 527 groups, but those are barred from directly supporting or opposing candidacies).

Read more: [6] http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31816_Page3.html#ixzz0dLoBqU1O

Update:  With the death of Mccain-Feingold, Palin may now easily contribute her fee to any individual or party she desires.