Saw This Coming

There is something about instantaneous uprisings. A kind of kinetic energy grips people to band together to accomplish things they use not to think were possible. There they are out on the barricades standing arm-in-arm and often staring down the police powers of the state. Leaders are born. People feel empowered. It can be euphoric when such efforts succeed.

Last week we saw such an occurrence in Tahrir Square in Egypt. Through nonviolent protest, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians toppled a 30-year dictator. They stared down oppression without blinking. Yet, for all the glory of their victory, the truly hard part begins in earnest now and, if we use history as our yardstick, it won't be a pretty picture.

You see, once the euphoric energy dissipates and the people start to establish long-term organizations, the backbiting and infighting will begin! Comrades -- who just weeks earlier were standing arm-in-arm -- will now begin the process of cannibalizing their own and past allies miraculously overnight will turn into bitter enemies.

That's the way these things go...whether one is talking about Egypt or the U.S. In this country, we're watching much the same process in regards to the Tea Party movement.

Two years ago, Tea Party Patriots got its start as a scrappy, ground-up conservative organization. Its rowdy activists demanded more transparency and less business-as-usual in the nation's capital, and they worked hard to elect candidates who they believed wouldn't succumb to the ways of Washington. But it didn't take long for the grassroots tea party organization to embrace the DC establishment—and some of its more questionable practices.

Lately, Tea Party Patriots (TPP) has started to resemble the Beltway lobbying operations its members have denounced. The group's leaders have cozied up to political insiders implicated in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and have paid themselves significant salaries. TPP accepted the use of a private jet and a large donation of anonymous cash right before a key election, and its top officials have refused to discuss how the money was spent. And recently, the group has hired several big-time fundraising and public relations firms that work for the who's who of the Republican political class, including some of the GOP's most secretive campaign operations.

As TPP's leaders entrench themselves in Washington, local activists the group represents have accused them of exploiting the grassroots for their own fame and fortune while failing to deliver any meaningful political results. "Tea Party Patriots? I can't attribute one victory to them at all," says Laura Boatright, a former TPP regional coordinator in Southern California who has become an outspoken critic. "Where's the success with what they've done with all this money? My view is that it's just a career plan" for its national leaders — namely Jenny Beth Martin, who in 2010 was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and Mark Meckler, now a regular commentator on Fox News...

This is one of those ubiquitous issues that impacts the right, center and left equally. Successful nascent grassroots efforts eventually turn into bureaucratic organizations. Money flows to the top and the little people, who made the movement what it was, feel left behind.

Even worse, this is the only way most movements can be sustained. You need leaders to direct, administrators to marshal materials and resources, AND a large fundraising apparatus to pay for the ever-growing list of goals and objectives. In time, most members become disenchanted at what began as an emotional call to action.

Disgruntled former TPP volunteers and activists say that rather than partners in a movement, they have increasingly come to feel like fundraising marks. TPP's fundraising appeals, they say, can be quite deceptive.

One sent out recently by TPP's Martin pleads with "patriots" to donate to pay for sound-stage equipment, event security, travel expenses for speakers, and other tea party rally trappings. She promises that the money will fund the group's efforts to meet with local tea party groups and "to give them the advice, direction, and the logistical support they need to get off the ground." Respondents can return a form pre-addressed to Martin that reads, "Dear Jenny Beth, Thank you for sacrificing your former way of life to fight for our liberty and for the core values and principles our great nation was founded on."

Some tea partiers point out that Martin's "way of life" has improved considerably since she started making a reported $6,000 a month as TPP's national coordinator. Before she became a tea party star, she was working as a maid, scrubbing toilets for Atlanta suburbanites after her husband's company went belly up...

The perceived betrayal of values has become glaring for many Tea Party backers. It will be interesting to watch the same scenario unfold in Egypt in the coming months.