This originally appeared on our sister site, RedState.com
I have been biting my tongue so hard for so long that I'm surprised I haven't developed gangrene, but the time has come to open my mouth, or at least put fingers to the keyboard. I have for years been shouting into the wind about those I believe are conservative charlatans abusing the money of donors, burning bridges, and making it all the more difficult for solid conservative activists to gain the trust of large conservative donors. As I told Ken Vogel a few weeks ago, “Every movement — left, right, center or no political affiliation whatsoever — attracts its contingent of scammers and con artists and charlatans, and it takes a while for that to sort itself out . . . . And that’s why a lot of the money is still sitting on the sidelines.” And now there is this.
Launching under the umbrella of the group Americans for New Leadership, Liberty.com will be led by tea party organizer Eric Odom and begin its venture with $700,000 and 70,000 members, according to a spokesman. Odom previously built conservative coalitions under the American Liberty Alliance and The Patriot Caucus. [Emphasis added]
Yes, it is another conservative organization purporting to be the next MoveOn.org for the right. These things come and go like objects best flushed down the toilet. Along the way they consume large amounts of money, burn the goodwill of donors, and leave a wake of destruction in the online conservative movement behind them. God knows the Vanguard, no, not this Vanguard and not this Vanguard, has been selling itself as the next MoveOn.org since around 2006. Any group selling itself as the next MoveOn.org for the right needs to keep moving on. We shouldn't be trying to be them, but be better than them. But I digress. There is more here that particularly troubles me about this one and it all goes back to a lot of unanswered questions not from me or anyone else other than the Federal Election Commission related to ventures previously set up by Eric Odom — questions so far unanswered despite multiple letters from the Federal Election Commission seeking additional information and filings.
