I try to maintain a neutral stance personally and professionally when it comes to politics but sometimes someone does something so stupid that it is worth mentioning. I’m referring to recently ousted Tea Party Organizer, Mark Williams’ imaginary letter to Abraham Lincoln. For those of you who don’t know, Williams posted a blog pretending to be Benjamin Jealous, head of the NAACP writing a letter to Abe Lincoln in 1863 saying, in a nutshell (paraphrased) that:
“Colored people don’t want emancipation because freedom means having to work for real; think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!
And that “the tea parties demand to stop raising taxes is outrageous because “How will we coloreds ever get a wide screen TV in every room if non-coloreds get to keep what they earn?”
The media is being bombarded with commentators who agree that Mark William’s blog post was despicable and deserving of the consequences. While getting rid of him was the politically correct thing to do, I am left wondering how many of the Tea Party’s high ranking leaders agree with his stance and are silently patting him on the back for what they consider his rousing satire.
Like life in general, politics should not be black or white. I mean this not only with regard to race but with regard to political extremism. A true American needs to believe in compromise, not winner takes all. The Tea Party (the Tea Party Express, in particular) is an example of extremism. No matter how they candy coat it, the Tea Party is nothing more than a bunch of crazy Republican racists who want to abolish taxes. Like Ben Franklin said, “nothing in this world can be certain, except death and taxes.”
Mark Williams got what was coming to him and I hope the rest of them do too. Save the mad tea party for Alice in Wonderland and leave politics to people whose agenda is for a better life for ALL Americans.