First, I am proud to be part of the Tea Party movement generally and the leader of our group here in Madison County. I have never witnessed any sign, action, or statement at any of our events that was racist in any way. For that I am grateful. If I did see such a thing, I would quickly take care of the issue as such things have no place at any of our events. Our group is a wonderful bunch of people who love their country and love the constitution. In any national group there are bound to be a few people who act irresponsibly, but that doesn’t make them representative of the group as a whole.

To paraphrase the statement issued by the Covington County, AL Tea Party “… there is no top down organization above our local group. Most Tea Party groups are totally autonomous with no connection other than a like-mindedness pertaining to the belief that our government and its officials (both elected and appointed) have strayed from the Constitutional path set forth by our Founding Fathers. A total and utter disregard for the will of We The People has led to TARP, (so-called) stimulus, bailouts, takeovers, worthless dollars, and debt being increased exponentially to the eventual harm of our nation. While we hold some of the same opinions we are independent of each other. This is our greatest strength and our greatest weakness.

While the "Tea Party leaders" are for the most part just other concerned American patriots albeit on a bigger stage, they are in no way connected to or nor speak for the Huntsville Tea Party …this accusation of racism is a favorite tactic of those who cannot win a discussion with facts. Discrediting those with whom they disagree by character assassination only shows the weakness of their opinion. This strategy should be repudiated by all as it weakens the definition of racism and numbs the populace to those accusations which have truth as a basis.

As for the Huntsville Tea Party, we strive to reach out to ALL local citizens. Racism would be self-defeating as we are a multi-racial organization. Allowing racism in our midst would cause our group to rightfully self-destruct. I am proud to say that I've never seen any evidence of racism in our group.”

I see this whole thing as a tempest in a teapot. Certain people and groups love to stir people up to anger and most of the media is happy to help. Rest assured that this fine group and our principles and activities will always be ones that anyone could be proud to be a part of. I don’t want to dwell on negatives that simply aren’t generally true. It distracts us from paying attention to our representatives and what they are doing. Let’s focus on our country, our leaders, and the election in November.

As a certain movie character would say, “That’s all I have to say about that.”