Events Organizers Back FITS On Tea Party Story
S.C. Treasurer Converse Chellis was invited to – and then uninvited from – a Tax Day “Tea Party” event, according to sources close to its organizers.
“When the Tea Party organizers found out where Treasurer Chellis was on the use of the stimulus money, that’s when they decided to pull the plug on allowing him to speak,” the source told FITS.
Reached moments later by telephone, Britton Clark, one of the organizers of the event, confirmed that Chellis would not be speaking.
Clark simply referred to it as a “miscommunication” between event organizers and the Treasurer’s Office, though.
While the significance of this story escapes us, the website SC Hotline ran a story this afternoon accusing FITS of inaccurate reporting on this issue – complete with a four-year-old photoshopped picture of our founding editor’s mug shot.
“It would appear Will Folks does not care too much for our Treasurer Converse Chellis who by every measure is not only meeting but exceeding all expectations,” the Hotline story reads.
It then refers to our original report as “another political hack job” by our founding editor.
While it’s true that we think Chellis is a no-good RINO hack, that doesn’t change the facts of the story.
And as always, it’s good to know we were not only correct in our reporting … but that we also struck a nerve in the process.
So who will be speaking at the Tea Party? S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford and U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, for starters.
Which reminds us, the real winner in all this blog back-and-forth is the event itself – which will take place on the North Steps of the S.C. State House between 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.
It’s organizers are no doubt loving all the free publicity.
Comments
By Mab on April 14th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Bang Bang Jeff-y! Way to stick to your guns, FITS. Having Chellis speak at the Tea Party would be like having Spitz speak at the Fidelity Celebration…
By "It Kids" Current Issues DFHS on April 14th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
We hope you will also be covering the Fair Tax Rally tomorrow at 5:30 at the Richland Township Auditorium. Gov. Huckabee and Neil Boortz will be attending. Several of my classmates are speaking.
By Ricky on April 14th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Glad to see controversy over RINO’s speaking has hit the Midlands too. In Greenville it’s all about the Young Republicans inviting “Bailout Barrett” to speak at the Bi-Lo Center tea party on Friday. But unfortunately for us he’ll actually be speaking. The local talk radio station probably drew 60-70% of the 2,000 that attended the last tea party a few months ago in downtown Greenville, and those people are pissed now that Barrett is speaking. The hosts are telling people to turn their back to Barrett when he speaks!
By John M on April 14th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
I’d like Jim DeMint a hell of a lot more if he wasn’t a moral whack job. His economics is good, but the rest of him concerns me.
By ;) on April 14th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
John M,
Good grief. Conservative, Christian = moral whack job? Go whack yourself.
By Pres on April 14th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
So John, you are upset because DeMint is one of the few legislators that is conservative fiscally and socially
By Ol' Whip on April 14th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Let me get this straight….
You organized an obstensibly non partisan tax protest, Invite partisan speakers and then have to disinvite them once you found out that they are part and parcel to the very tax problem you are protesting?
This is turning out to be way more entertaining then this Independent could of ever hoped for.
(I must stock up on more popcorn before tommorow night’s newscast.)
By Talbert Black, Jr. on April 14th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
I was told by the event organizer that Joe Wilson was speaking at the state house on Wednesday too. Who in their right mind would invite him to speak. He voted for the original Bush bailout, even before the so called “sweeteners” were added. He is getting loud Boos from me.
By Broken Link on April 15th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Did SC Hotline pull that article? The link is broken.
By John M on April 15th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
If his morality begins to infringe on the rights of Americans, they should be left out. His support for a ban of gay teachers is an obvious example of this. Am I saying teachers should be flaunting their sexuality? No, in fact quite the opposite. Straight or gay, they should be discouraged (or fired depending on the severity infraction) for displaying preference aside from their title (such as Ms. vs Mrs). Calling out gay teachers specifically for this is when it crosses the line.
By RedBank Bar on April 15th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
All this skirts the real issue. DeMint is a dumb-arse. Intellectually challenged, a “mo”. Res ipsa loquitur