Poor teabaggers feel used and abused

[sasha031]

Tea Party Patriots Investigated: "They Use You and Abuse You
Two years ago, Tea Party Patriots got its start as a scrappy, ground-up conservative organization. Its rowdy activists demanded more transparency and less business-as-usual in the nation's capital, and they worked hard to elect candidates who they believed wouldn't succumb to the ways of Washington. But it didn't take long for the grassroots tea party organization to embrace the DC establishment—and some of its more questionable practices.
Lately, Tea Party Patriots (TPP) has started to resemble the Beltway lobbying operations its members have denounced. The group's leaders have cozied up to political insiders implicated in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and have paid themselves significant salaries. TPP accepted the use of a private jet and a large donation of anonymous cash right before a key election, and its top officials have refused to discuss how the money was spent. And recently, the group has hired several big-time fundraising and public relations firms that work for the who's who of the Republican political class, including some of the GOP's most secretive campaign operations.
As TPP's leaders entrench themselves in Washington, local activists the group represents have accused them of exploiting the grassroots for their own fame and fortune while failing to deliver any meaningful political results. "Tea Party Patriots? I can't attribute one victory to them at all," says Laura Boatright, a former TPP regional coordinator in Southern California who has become an outspoken critic. "Where's the success with what they've done with all this money? My view is that it's just a career plan" for its national leaders—namely Jenny Beth Martin, who in 2010 was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and Mark Meckler, now a regular commentator on Fox News. (Meckler and Martin did not respond to a request to comment for this story.)
http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/149937/tea_party_patriots_investigated:_"they_use_you_and_abuse_you"?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Monique1]

1. Too bad

they got punked by the RNC

[arbusto_baboso]

3. And not for the first time, either.

You'd think that demographic would learn. But that would require a little self-awareness, wouldn't it?

[SharonAnn]

2. They started as a "ground-up" organization and now they're a "ground-up" organization.

Seems right to me.

Anyone who hasn't figured out that there are a lot of people in this kind of thing for the money, hasn't been paying attention.

[old mark]

4. K&R- It took them this long to start to figure it all out? They deserve what they got.

:rofl:


mark

[arbusto_baboso]

5. Keep in mind that most of them loved Dumbya until mid-2008.

They aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.

[old mark]

8. Quite a few of them ain't even IN the drawer at all....nt

[arbusto_baboso]

9. Truer words were never spoke.

[Matariki]

6. Two years ago the Tea Party got it's start via Fox News.

"scrappy, ground-up conservative organization" my ass.

[damntexdem]

7. Well, that's the fate of tea bags. I thought they knew.

;-)
and LOL