"So much for an intellectual basis for one's arguments," said National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director Michael Mitchell. "Tea Party leader Judson Phillips’ comments regarding Rep. Barney Frank and defense spending simply go too far. When language shoots past political commentary and lands squarely in incendiary, yet juvenile, personal attacks, it says much more about the maturity of the perpetrator than it does the victim – and it drastically lowers the level of political discourse. Phillips has a First Amendment right to be as nasty as he wants to be, but true leadership means knowing when and how to finesse one’s language and still get one's point across. Phillips proves that he neither has the skills nor the leadership to accomplish such a task. Such language poisons the rest of what he has to say and reflects poorly on the Tea Party movement that looks more and more like a band of foul-mouthed, homophobic ruffians concerned above all else with their own wallets, and not the common good.
"What's more, once you take out the despicable attacks on Rep. Frank, Phillips' convoluted logic just doesn't pass muster. The Tea Party consistently claims that government spending doesn't create jobs and that such suggestions to the contrary are abject socialism. Yet when the conversation turns to defense spending - something Tea Partiers support - he claims those dollars will create jobs and is exactly what America needs.
"You can't have it both ways, Mr. Phillips, and the personal attacks against Rep. Frank can't cover up the holes in your twisted logic.
"On all counts, America deserves much better than this."
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