Friday, May 22, 2009

Tea Party FAIL

Troubled Tea Party activist/TCOT co-founder Michael Patrick Leahy was a no-show at yesterday’s Rutherford County Tea Party. The Rutherford County Democrats report:
Barely 20 people showed up today for an anti-government protest organized by Rutherford County Republicans. The protest took place on a short stretch of sidewalk in Murfreesboro, TN.

Michael Patrick Leahy, a prominent Williamson County Republican and national tea party organizer, was scheduled to speak at the protest but was a no show just as we predicted he would be.

Leahy was recently exposed by a blogger for having over $100,000 in unpaid tax liens and civil judgments against him over the past 16 years. Leahy has virtually disappeared since our reporting. Leahy is now suing the blogger.

I wrote about the lawsuit here. I’m no lawyer but friends who are tell me that a lawsuit filed in Williamson Co. General Sessions Court has dubious jurisdiction over a blogger who lives and works in California.

The suit also looks like a do-it-yourself job lacking any sound basis in actual law.

It also bears remembering this story from earlier this month:

A Message from TCOT Co-Founder Rob Neppell

I’m sorry to have to do this, but effective immediately, I am shutting down Top Conservatives on Twitter.

TCOT as a group and as a ranking system is the work of two people: Mike Leahy, and myself, and we have agreed from the beginning that it was an equal, 50-50 partnership and would be run as such. Unfortunately, over the past week, Mike has reneged on that agreement.

One week ago today, I sent Mike my thoughts on how TCOT should be run and how we should work together in the near future. This is particularly important, as due to his inability to work in a group decision-making environment, Mike was recently asked to leave the leadership team of Tea Party Patriots, a group that I remain a part of, and I felt it very important to reach clear and mutual agreement on how TCOT should operate. Mike responded that my plan sounded “reasonable”, but that he “may have a few tweaks on it”. Since then, I have asked him repeatedly to follow through and respond with his “tweaks” so that we could resolve any differences and go forward. He has refused to do so, citing other priorities and demands on his time. I asked one final time for his input yesterday, stressing the importance of the matter, but was again ignored.

Sounds like someone doesn’t get along well with others.

Let me play armchair psychologist here and urge Mike Leahy to seek professional help. Filing frivolous lawsuits and alienating your friends and colleagues are cries from a troubled soul.