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Lenny –

I have seen you on numerous occasions on CNN and have read your stuff on the moderate black site Hip-HopRepublican. I’m a liberal, Democrat who wishes you much success and agree with many of your points. You are a bright and intelligent person; lets just hope the Conservative movement listens to you’re wise advice.

"The Tea Party is the party of rehabilitation??"

Brian you are hilarious

torn between

admiring this man's sense of being empowered to create change...

...and starting to become very scared that 20s and 30s German history is no longer part of the middle school mandatory curriculum.

I'm listening to the audio later, but I just want to say that this guy is the most thoughtful Tea Party associate I've ever heard. Maybe the ONLY thoughtful one I've ever heard. Fellow Tea-Partyers should listen. (And I am not one.)

What's ironic about McCalister's claim that "there are elements of fringe in every group" is that he believes the Tea Party is some kind of moderate movement. The Tea Party IS the fringe of the Republican party. It's as far right as you can get without getting into the territory of domestic terrorism. I believe it's a mistake for him to think he can change the cause from the inside out when so many of the extreme voices are much louder than his.

People in this country will never get over a black person at the helm until he is leaves the office.
The tea party is an example of White American Anger.
I don’t think we should be angry at this guy, he has lost his way.
African American is not one monolithic group.
We don’t lump whites as one group. Why do whites lump blacks all together?
White people need to look at us as they look at themselves as individuals.

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but it's kind of naive to belong to a group that's isn't open to every ethnic person.

This guy is not Hip-Hop. There are so many reasons why.

As the saying goes, "When you lie down with dogs, you wake with fleas". I don't mind that McCalister is a conservative, but to associate with the Tea Party is big mistake. Huge.

KKK was NOT a "minority" in either Christianity or USA.

In 1926, when we had 125 million people in the US, and its history of lynching and murder was well-established an ongoing, there were 3 million members of the KKK.

This has become such a joke. I work near MSG and when the RNC convention was here I heard the most vile, nasty, and violence advocating comments you could hear from anyone. All day, every day, you just had to walk by and hear them. Yet I've never once heard Brian, or any other liberal member of the media ask Dems to denounce those comments.

As with all the "Tea Party Patriots", there is no there there. It doesn't matter who is saying it, it is all hollow rhetoric. These people disgrace the actual, historical patriots.

Your ancestors would not be proud, you freaking hypocrite.

This guy is one step up from O'Reilley. Make some outrageous statement to draw attention to himself. He was the kid who ate paste in third grade.

Where was this guy on levels of dept and the Patriot Act intruding into his life during the Bush presidency? Yes, people were angry… Democrats and Independents were angry. That said, Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh and the like were not on the radio rallying the conservative troops against the free spending Republicans. Republicans were not holding up legislation because Congress was not paying for two wars or huge tax cuts. Members of Congress were not getting shouted down in public. No one was showing up armed to appearances by the President.
The guest mentions the Bush bailouts, the same bailouts most Tea Party members claim are Obama spending. How deep in the sand is this man’s head.
Lastly, can the guest explain the legitimacy of the name “tea party”; who’s being taxes without representation?

Yeah! A moderate Tea Party figure!
The Nazis had moderate voices too.
Think the comparison is exagerated? Well they don't have the level of rage generated by World War I nor the potential for takeover of the State but the mindset is the same: fear and distaste of enlightenment and progress.

As a Catholic of color, I wonder what alternatives to the health care bill he would propose to provide for the poor and middle class who were without medical insurance and constitute the very group that Christ teached we should be speaking up for?

Mr. McAllister...Do you realize when republican's like oh let's say sarah palin...refers to "Americans" she does not mean you?

Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion, but black conservatives are just clouded by "fuzzy thinking..."

I cannot for the life of me understand why a black person would want to join a racist and polarizing organization - unless some personal experience has lead them away from black values.

I don't agree with everything black people think, but I don't move far to the right to engage.

Who is this guy kidding? The "take America back" slogan clearly refers to blacks, women and progressive Democrats (who in turn are identified with minorities and Jews), all of whom are bunched together by tea partiers and embodied by President Obama and his policies.

The Republican spin is transparently racist, anti-Semitic (I'm not Jewish, by the way) and anti-feminist. Blagh!

Is this guy a Birther?

There is a lot of money in catering to the fears and racism of ignorant miscreants. These guys pay their cable bills and rent with their "politics". Do they believe what they say? Does Glen Beck make sense?

define "smaller government."

tea party = angry old white men

McAllister will never fit in, but nice window dressing

This guy reminds me of Clayton Bigsby from the Chappelle show - the blind black KKK member.

Who is this guy kidding? The "take America back" slogan clearly refers to blacks, women and progressive Democrats (who in turn are identified with minorities and Jews), all of whom are bunched together by tea partiers and embodied by President Obama and his policies.

The Republican spin is transparently racist, anti-Semitic (I'm not Jewish, by the way) and anti-feminist. Blagh!

I wonder why he feels it's necessary to mention that Nancy Pelosi is "very liberal -- from San Francisco"

San Francisco is still part of the US, yes? Just checking...

I would love to hear the guest's reaction to the correlation between ethnocentricism and conservativism: http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2010/03/ethnocentrism-and-small-government-hypocrisy.php

I like how McAllister talks about the bigoted fringe, then throws in the anti-gay code regarding Nancy Pelosi -- "very liberal from San Francisco"

This guy is sugarcoating the issues. Reminds me of the Log Cabin Republicans...

Please ask this guy if he is a birther.

I'm all for hearing different viewpoints, but this guy is not credible.

Racists are the fringe of the Tea Party movement? The WHOLE "movement" is on the fringe!

He must have some lame blog he's trying to promote.

How would the guest respond if the fringe elements of the tea party spit on him or yelled slurs at him during one of their more heated protests? Does he feel safe in the presence of these protesters?

So ignorant..doesn't even realize he is not accepted...i mean, if they spit on John Lewis.....

Where does he stand on gays in the military and equality? How does he feel about equal pay for women?

How could anyone align with a party that supports legal discrimination?

This guy is a shill.

This is not your history, dude. Hatred in the Tea-party movement is not the fringe - it is the norm.

please ask if he is receiving any money from the tea party

well he would be the first Black "tea party" person I have ever heard of...is he a plant?

Anybody who is apart of a group that spits on John Lewis needs to join Clarence Thomas to find their identity

is this left over from april fool's day?