The biggest part of this story isn’t that Joe “Deadbeat Dad” Walsh was a late addition to the speakers’ list at the Illinois Tea Party Patriots’ “Teacon 2011” event in Schaumburg at the Renaissance Hotel.

It’s that attendance in this story was reported to be about 600 activists, where only yesterday they were expecting at least a thousand, a lot fewer than attended last year’s “Right Nation” thing. Even with Glenn Beck headlining – and this year’s Right Nation has been pushed back, probably into 2012 in order to not conflict with this shindig and to be closer to the dates of the first primaries and caucuses. Meanwhile, one of the organizers of “Teacon” was a no-show to his own event because Gawker.com dug up an old arrest for soliciting a prostitute last year. Which, predictably, has been dismissed as “old news” by the inevitable GOPer hack, in a local story that noted that the organizer, Steve Stevlic, skipped the event.

However, Deadbeat Dad Joe Walsh made sure not to skip the event, and at one point verified that someone was filming or taping while stumbled over dropping his big bombshell of a talking point:

“You sent — is this on film? — terrorists like me to Congress,” Walsh said. “You sent us there. We didn’t get there on our own. They sent us there to be bold.”

No, Joe. They sent you there because they were pissed off that they couldn’t stop the Obama juggernaut, and only the angriest old GOP farts in the 8th District of Illinois bothered to vote in the primary and you were the only Tea Partier they liked, and they got the vote out for you in the final in a squeaker. But what have you done for them? You spend all your time in makeup.

Lately, you’ve kind of been an embarassment to the district, and it’s clear you couldn’t care less about IL-08, because you’ll be running in IL-14 due to redistricting.

And now you’re running down the GOP leadership. Boy, for a guy who ended the campaign a few hundred thousand in the hole, you sure talk like you don’t need their money. I hope this comes back to haunt you when it counts.

Freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh used a convention of tea party activists Saturday to assail GOP leadership, contending House Speaker John Boehner is trying to quell dissent because of a mistaken fear that Americans believe Washington is dysfunctional.”

John Boehner is a great guy. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s a great guy. They’re good folk who have the best for this country. The problem is, they’ve been there too long and they’re afraid to fight for this country,” Walsh told more than 600 people attending TeaCon 2011 in Schaumburg.

Walsh said Boehner”pats us on our heads, and says, ‘Republicans, don’t make trouble. Don’t make waves. Let’s just be quiet, shhh, and we’ll get President Obama out of office in a year.’ “

And of course, it’s hilarious that there were a lot less than a thousand little people in the room, but maybe the important people skipped your lunch talk.

via Walsh: GOP leaders too afraid to fight in Washington – chicagotribune.com.