via Pam's House Blend:
I was just mulling over the "logic" of how the purported economic basis for the tea party movement could somehow magically rule out an increased presence of racists when the following email arrived in my mailbox. It's from The Tea Party of Spokane (WA). I'll highlight the interesting part.
Subject: Tea Party ~ Obama coming to Seattle. Action Alert
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2010
Bothered by Patty Murrays Policies!
Date: August 17, 2010
Time: 10:00am - 2:00pm
Westin Hotel, 1900 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA
President Obama is coming to Seattle to fund raise for Patty Murray and "the People" will be there to protest Patty's re-election .Please remember this protest is against Patty and her economic policies so
keep your signs related. Don't give the media any reason to racially profile us. Do not engage hecklers, please ignore them. Above all be safe! Take pictures and video of any trouble for evidence! ...
For the sake of Liberty,
The Tea Party of Spokane
and Volunteers
Now David Weigel might respond by saying "see, they're weeding out the racists among them!". But I'm not so sure it's that simple. I think that if you have to remind your whole membership not to carry signs that are racist, it's a tacit admission that there's plenty of racist propensity in the ranks. I'm not saying that all tea partiers are racist, but what I have seen of the local t.p. tells me that the economic complaints are partly genuine, partly a proxy reason to rail away at the black man who has usurped the Office of President. But that's just my take on the local manifestations of the party. Maybe it's all interracial brotherhood where you are. You know, those local tea party groups whose black, Latino and Asian membership equals or exceeds the population percentage? Yeah. Right.
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/16994/if-the-tea-party-isnt-racist-why-warn-against-racist-behavior