Is Judson Phillips In Danger of Becoming Fred Phelps?

While it is clear that Tea Party Nation's Judson Phillips has been consciously and aggressively aiming to carve out a special place for himself amongst Tea Party leaders, given some of his recent comments, he may be in danger of becoming the Tea Party's Fred Phelps.

Phelps, the virulently anti-gay head of Topeka, Kansas' Westboro Baptist Church, responded to Jared Lee Loughner's attempted assassination of Arizona Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords -- and the murder of six people and the wounding of a number of others - by posting a 4 minute 13 second video on You Tube that has him declaring:

"Thank God for the violent shooter, one of your soldier heroes in Tucson. God appointed the Afghanistan veteran to avenge himself on this evil nation. However many are dead, Westboro Baptist Church will picket their funerals. We will remind the living that you can still repent and obey. This is ultimatum time with God."

Phillips response was less God-oriented, opting instead to go politically septic. On Sunday, he e-mailed Tea Party Nation members "warning them they would be called upon to fight leftists in the days ahead and defend their movement," Garance Franke-Ruta, a senior editor at The Atlantic who oversees politics coverage for TheAtlantic.com, reported.

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