The Story Behind Tea Party Nation’s Dishonest Beginnings

Something was bothering me. The more Judson talked about Tea Party Nation internally and publicly (I want TPN to be bigger than Facebook!), the more I began to realize that he’d taken a sort of back door approach to accomplishing the big idea he’d asked me about many months before at Fido. With an overwhelming amount of tiny requests, along with the volunteer efforts of a few other gracious people, he’d managed to have me create the conservative version of Facebook that he dreamed about. Then I remembered: Judson wanted income from Tea Party Nation to replace his income from the law practice. Everything clicked, and I was steamed. The following Monday, Judson went on air for a radio interview with Ralph Bristol, the talk radio host slotted before DelGiorno in the schedule. Bristol asked Judson about the donation box on the website; I assume in order to help boost donations. If people knew how the money was being used, they would be more likely to contribute. The host also asked in a leading manner, This is set up as a non-profit, of course. Judson’s answer was that he’d decided to set it up as a for-profit corporation, and that the majority of the donations would be for “paying our web designer.” I didn’t find out about this train wreck of an interview until the following Wednesday night, but this certainly explained why donations slowed to a trickle on Monday. For-profit, are you kidding me?! This was not what our group planned, and in talking with other members of the leadership, this is not what we wanted to happen...read more