The National Tea Party convention has been mired in controversy, starting with the creation of Presidents and corporate profit-taking, along with amateur organizing and snaring a big fish, Sarah Palin as a speaker.

Red State’s Erick Erickson, an early critic of the convention, offered this measured response:

[1] Thoughts on the Nashville Tea Party Convention and Sarah Palin- Red State

Overall though, I think a lot of the people — most of the people — involved in organizing this did in fact have the best of intentions but were the proverbial dog who caught the car. I hate to use the word “amateurs”, but that is in fact what it boils down to. These guys had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

I think branding this as a “national” tea party convention was and is a bit presumptuous given what the tea party movement is, but in my time walking around, talking to people, hearing people, and repeatedly having to defend Sarah Palin to a skeptical press, I think the convention turned out okay…..

[2] http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/02/06/thoughts-on-the-nashville-tea-party-convention-and-sarah-palin/

The Blogger, Nice Deb, gives a typical response to the National Tea Party Convention:

Did I ever mention that I was planning to go to the Nashville Tea Party? In fact My husband and I had reservations, and were planning to take a couple of kids, until I found out there was a $500.00 price tag to attend, and started [3] hearing  words, like “scammy” to describe  the event. I decided to stick with CPAC, and skip, the first annual Tea Party Convention in Nashville. But I’m paying close attention to see if anything positive comes out of the gathering. So far, I’ve been I’m hearing both [4] good things, and[5] not so good things.
[6] http://nicedeb.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/nashville-tea-party-convention/

Thanks to Sarah Palin’s appearance, the National Tea Party Convention garnered major media coverage from Fox News:

Here is an excerpt from a superb article at [7] http://deathby1000papercuts.com/2010/02/nashville-convention-is-not-the-tea-party-convention/
1- This is not “the” Tea Party convention. It is “a” tea party convention. One would hope that a non-profit organization holds a convention in the next year and has someone who doesn’t make last-minute changes in their media policies. Some of us are on a strict budget. Obviously, in contradiction to the email I received from Sherry Phillips, media was allowed in the convention area. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.2- The talk about this convention’s controversies meaning that there is dissension in the Tea Party movement is just that: talk; and mostly, it’s just talk from those who cover the Tea Party movement the least and with the most animus. You know, a lot of the press organizations that ended up in Nashville this weekend.

3- Though [8] others disagree, I don’t think speaking at the Nashville event will hurt Sarah Palin. She is a symbol of popular unrest with the political elites. One appearance at a controversial event likely won’t damage a reputation that’s been won standing up to entrenched, moneyed interests.

This convention may have been well-meaning, but it obviously was an attempt by a few people to ride the Tea Party ‘brand’ to the bank. Instead of drawing 300-600 people shelling out $549, why not try drawing 5000 who are able to participate for, say $50-100? As a veteran convention attendee, most have a lower price tier.

Please read the whole article for an excellent summary of the good, the bad. and the ugly in the national tea party convention

[7] http://deathby1000papercuts.com/2010/02/nashville-convention-is-not-the-tea-party-convention/

The National Tea Party Convention triggered protests, from fellow tea partiers trying to preserve the non-centralized, non-commercial, non-profit-driven core of the original movement now being co-opted by a low-rent lawyer (President Phillips of the National Tea Party Convention):

From instapundit:

 

February 6, 2010

A TEA PARTY CONVENTION TEA PARTY PROTEST: This is Antonio Hinton, one of the organizers of the Knoxville Tea Party, one of three folks from the Tennessee Tea Party Coalition who showed up to remind people that there’s more to the Tea Party movement than this convention. The press tried to get him to say something bad about Sarah Palin, but he called her a “breath of fresh air,” instead. It’ll be interesting to see how the story gets played.

[10] http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/93346/

The bottom line is that the National Tea Party Convention has lured some top luminaries, like Andrew Breitbart and Sarah Palin, who clearly know nothing about the heart and soul of what the tea party movement truly represents.  While President Phillips and his band of merry corporatists whore the movement out to the GOP and to attempt to win a fast buck (and they even failed at that), the rest of the heart and soul of tea party nation (not represented by those 600 gullible enough to spend $500 to hear Sarah Palin come close to ruining her outsider reputation) will continue to do what they have been doing, looking for Freedom-focused candidates, be they GOP, Independent, Libertatian, or even Democrat.

The real grassroots people will not fall lock step with Herr Judson Phillips and his pitiful attempt to take control of what cannot be taken control of, the freedom and spirit of the American people who still remember the Constitution.

If Sarah Palin apologizes soon enough for her incredible bad gaffe, she might yet be once again considered a leader amongst the heart and soul of free America, but until she does Freedom News recommends she be served notice.  Even Sarah Palin can be called to the carpet for making a mistake.

Either she really has no idea what the tea party really represents, or she simply (and this is more likely) has been ill adviced from the start about whether to accept this invitation or not.

Ivo Fisic

an american freedomist