Is The Michigan Tea Party Movement About To Erupt In A Civil War?

Well if the posts on social media are any indication, the long simmering battle for control of the movement being waged by social conservatives and economic conservatives may very well be erupting into a full-fledged and public not-so-civil war of words.
The movement has been in a tizzy for weeks since word broke that Dave Agema, the Republican National Committeeman from Michigan, had posted a link to a white nationalist website. That link claimed to be a first-hand account of the court system by a public defender and the actions of black defendants.
It has been roundly condemned as racist, and led to the national committee leaders censuring Agema — a political term for slapping him on the wrist.
But a very vocal, exceedingly anti-gay cadre of loyalists and tea party movement voices have continued to defend Agema. For his part, Agema posted a defense of his post, claiming he was just reposting something former Florida Congressman Allen West posted. The implication being, "since the black guy in Florida posted it, and I posted it, I can't be racist."
That defense was enough for Bishop Ira Combs from Jackson to call for Agema's resignation. Combs, for those unaware, is a virulently anti-gay pastor from Jackson who, in the '90s, opposed the formation of a gay-straight alliance at the high school. When the school board, citing federal law, refused to disband the group, Combs recruited a kid to create a straight club. It didn't go very far, but he tried.
"Finally, please cease trying to hide behind Allen West, for posting what Mr. West correctly identified as the most racist article he had ever seen," Combs wrote in his Jan. 22 letter to Agema. "Allen West is a public figure who has no current official role in the Republican Party, but is more aptly considered a part of media. He can afford to take those risks. He has no official role; you, on the other hand, as National Committeeman do. That you decided to sacrifice our Party to seek attention is inexcusable."
That was followed by the scathing line, "Let us close this chapter of controversy with a final parcel of nobility which is your voluntary resignation."
That, of course, set off the Agema defenders — most of them white. Many accused him of putting his race over party politics.
Enter Combs's new right-hand man: convicted felon and pastor Stacy Swimp. Swimp, who does not shirk his hate of LGBT people, has purportedly emailed members of the tea party movement.
Mark Petzold, of Grand Rapids, posted the following to the Facebook page of Grassroots in Michigan, a tea party movement. He says the text is from an email from Swimp:
{ITALICS I asked you guys to stop pushing this race narrative.
To stop demeaning Black Americans to gain political capital
You refuse to do so.
Therefore, Every Black pastor I know and have stood with are going to come against this Michigan Tea Party war on Black people.
We will not stand idly and let you get away with it under the guise of standing with a handful of Black conservatives who do not repeat our perspective, but represent the stereotypical ideas of rigid ideolgues (sic)
We will defeat your war on our community.
– Stacy Swimp}
"Do not allow yourself to be consumed by this and develop the type of anger Stacy is apparently trying to find," Petzold writes in introducing Swimp's message. He says the movement has been accused of racism in the past, but always from "a person or organization removed from our circles and not considered a friend." The Swimp message, however, is "more troublesome and volatile."
It should be noted that Swimp has been instrumental in bringing together what he characterizes as a national coalition of black pastors and ministers to fight marriage equality. The groups have filed legal briefs with the 5th and 6th Circuit Courts of Appeals relating to marriage cases. And Swimp has gone so far as to accuse homosexuals of perpetrating a holocaust on black Americans.
Incidentally, the newly elected unholy trinity of Reps. Cindy Gamrat, R-Plainwell; Todd Courser, R-Lapeer; and Gary Glenn, R-Midland, have remained silent on the Agema controversy. All three accepted donations from Agema's political action committee.
Courser, for his part, said commentary on the Agema situation would have to wait a bit while he continued to draw attention to the "fraud" perpetrated on Michigan voters in delegating seating assignments by lottery in the Michigan House. He published a nearly 1,1400 word blog post on the situation, apologizing for his part in the fraud. He claims leadership had already pre-assigned seats and the lottery was for show.