Does Hallmark Card Bash Tea Party?

By Todd Starnes

Lennie Jarratt’s children had gone to Walmart over the weekend in search of a gradation card for a family friend. But instead they found a Hallmark card that has generated outrage within the Tea Party community – along with calls for a national boycott.

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The card, published by Hallmark, features an image of President Obama on the cover declaring, “You graduated! Time to go to a lot of parties!”

The inside of the card reads, “But avoid those tea parties if you can. Trust me.”

“It’s offensive,” said Jarratt, the founder of the Lake County Tea Party in Illinois. “Why is Hallmark getting political? What’s the point of this? Why would they want to bash a whole group of people?”

Jarratt said his children returned home from the store and told him about the card – so he decided to go to the store and purchase a copy of the card.

“My kids didn’t like it because it was bashing tea parties,” he said. “I got the same reaction.”

So the Tea Party activist wrote about the card and posted images on his website. He also decided to fire off an email to Hallmark – but so far – the company has not responded.

Hallmark issued a written statement Wednesday to Fox News Radio acknowledging that people have expressed concerns about one of their cards.

“That line of cards has successfully poked fun at both sides of the political debate for many years,” the statement read. “It is never our intent to offend anyone. We apologize if anyone was offended.”

Jarratt said the card shows Hallmark may have a lack of understanding over what the Tea Party is about.

“What made it more offensive is because the president has bashed Tea Parties before and a lot of people have bashed the Tea Parties,” he said.

And Jarratt isn’t the only person bothered by the card.

“This card is in very bad taste,” wrote a reader on Champion News. “I guess Hallmark has no idea just how many Americans are (in) the Tea Party.”

Others took their complaints to Hallmark’s Facebook page – calling the card tacky and threatening to take their business elsewhere.

“How about a card ridiculing the Democrat Party?” one writer asked.

But some customers believe there’s nothing wrong with the card.

“It’s a joke,” one reader wrote to Champion News. “People need to just get a grip. Americans are so out of touch with basic humor.”

“The Tea Party card is hilarious,” wrote another reader. “People need to lighten up.”

Todd is the author of “Dispatches From Bitter America” — endorsed by Sarah Palin, Mark Levin and Sean Hannity. Click here to get your copy!