Some of those in conservative circles who were at first critical of Tea party Nation, the convention they organized and Sarah Palin for agreeing to keynote the event are backing off a bit now that the whole affair appears to be a success.
One of those was Red State's Erick Erickson, who -- though he still has some concerns -- decided to go to Nashville and see for himself what's going on. He discovered that "it turned out okay":
The best thing to happen to the tea party movement is Sarah Palin. It is very clear she did not know the circumstances involved in finding the money to get her to Nashville. It is also very clear that the money is not going to her — it is going to the cause. She’ll use this money as part of a war chest to help elect likeminded people.We think that it's great that Erick went down to Nashville. He's one of the good guys, and we believe that he's taken a big step toward putting an end to the conservative circular firing squad.
[...]
Sarah Palin’s governance shows she not only talks the talk, but walks the walk. As her voice grows, many of the voices of the alleged tea party leaders will diminish. Palin’s history is one of a woman who gets involved and leaves places better than she found them. The tea party movement will be left better off by Sarah Palin.
Some of the other critics still can't bring themselves to admit that they may have rushed to judgment. Melissa Crouthier is one of them:
"Sarah Palin is going to have to defend the moronic decision to invite Joseph Farrah who waxed eloquent about the Birther nonsense."No, Dr. Croutier, Sarah Palin does not have to defend anything or anybody. She was invited to speak at the convention, and so was Farrah. She didn't invite him. If Farrah and Tancredo say stupid things, then they are the ones who shoould be held responsible for their own words, and no one else.
Dan Riehl is another:
"On the one hand, she is said to have problems with CPAC for their allowing the John Birch Society to have a booth; but then she turns around and backs Rand Paul, who is about as aligned with the Birchers as any politician, save for his Father, right now. There is something terribly inconsistent there."No, Sarah Palin never said that her problem with CPAC was the John Birch Society. Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton said, "We support those who advance our core beliefs and lead by principle." It was Politico that quoted an anonymous source who claimed that the Birchers were behind Gov. Palin's decision not to attend CPAC. Politico has also cited an anonymous source who claims the Palin decision had something to do with the ACU-FedEx dust up. So who is being inconsistent here? Everything that comes from Politico has to be taken with at least a grain of salt. Props to Erick for taking the trouble to go to the convention and get the facts for himself, rather than just continue to hold opinions based on hearsay. Too bad about that "scammy" comment, though.
Sarah Palin will deliver an address tonight in Nashville which will be most the anticipated convention speech since her remarks to the Republican National Convention in 2008. she rose to that occasion, and we have no doubts that she will rise to this one as well.
- JP
I also take issue with Dan Riehl saying that supporting Rand Paul is akin to supporting the John Birch Society.
ReplyDeleteThat's lumping all libertarian minded people with a group that isn't all about libertarianism. As one myself (a libertarian minded person), I find that offensive.
Dan is smearing again, but what's new? He also said that by donating the money to candidates she beilieves she was doing nothing more than buying "political favors."
Dan is becoming an increasingly synical man.