Tempest In a Teapot

The first deserters were volunteers. They were followed by one of the big $50,000 sponsors, the American Liberty Alliance. Not to be left behind,  American Majority ran through the exit door. A total loss of $100,000. The Tea Party Nation (TPN) needed that just to cover "that woman's" fees.

So, who is going to show up for the TPN's grand get together at Nashville's Opryland Hotel next week? Scheduled speakers Reps. Michelle Blackman (R-Minn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have backed out. Politico was told that the two asked the Democrat controlled House Ethics Committee to re-examine their participation because of the recent Supreme Court decision.

In an email to TPN members, Sherry Phillips blamed "the left leaning" Committee for Bachman's and Blackburn's decision. The wife of founder Judson Phillips claimed they "were being told two different things by the House Ethics Committee in regard to their participation." A bit further Sherry said, "we have no doubt the Democrats would have found something in (the ethics) code to cause them problems once the convention was over."

It's always them thar lib'rals.

Actually, there's good reason to believe the ladies were just looking for an excuse. Campaign finance law experts told Politico "that the decision would not have any impact on the congresswomen's' planned appearances at the convention."

As sponsors and top speakers have withdrawn and the event has struggled to sell tickets – at $350 a pop – to Palin’s keynote speech, former allies and prominent conservatives have accused Phillips of trying to use the convention to turn a buck or vault him into a leadership role in the decentralized tea party movement.

“We never did this to make us rich or famous,” she wrote. “Quite the contrary, we are patriots. . . ."

Sherry Phillips also blasted two groups that withdrew as sponsors, the American Liberty Alliance and American Majority, for caving to “influential supporters” and prideful competiveness, respectively. And she ripped both American Majority and Campaign for Liberty, a group chaired by libertarian hero Paul, a Texas Congressman, for being disorganized and unresponsive.

Not content to alienate funders, Sherry went after the volunteers who had left TPN.

“Several former members were unanimously banned from our site for reasons running the gamut from antagonism to passing on confidential information,” Phillips wrote. “These members have been blogging, as well as discussing their association with liberal media outlets and conspiring with each other to, ‘Take TPN and this convention down.’”

Seems Sherry needs to go down to the Breakers to take a break before she breaks.