7mesh.com

Eric Odom, the self-proclaimed creator of the Tax Day Tea Parties, wrote a letter to his followers today. According to the letter, he finds the Tea Parties in a very disconcerted state at the moment. Additionally, he recognized the national organizing parties trying to take over the theme and the message of the protests. Interestingly, Mr. Odom makes a curious statement at the end regarding what he termed the “top-down format”, a seemingly innocuous jab at Fox News and FreedomWorks, who sponsored the events (here, here and here):

[…]And as a side note, we at some point need to understand the VITAL importance of regaining control of our LOCAL government. I get that fighting Federal battles is sexy and everyone is doing it, but I also get that we’re losing our asses in our own back yards!

So I cringe when I see people claiming to be “leaders” in this movement make statements about the Federal government and how that is where all of our energy needs to be spent.

[…]So, I think a part of what I’m trying to say here is that I never personally left the Tea Party Movement. In fact, I would suggest quite the opposite. I would, however, admit that I lost interest in being a part of a national “brand” that centers around planned protests in a top down format.

Mr. Odom’s good intentions aside in attempting to activate locals to local issues, the mega-corporations organizing in unison didn’t appear synergistic nor genuine to the true spirit behind the protests.