John Moore / Getty Images
A major Tea Party is without its dear leader. Dick Armey, the longtime conservative leader and former congressman, resigned as chairman of FreedomWorks Friday, in a split that appears to be less than amicable. FreedomWorks was a key organization in the rise of the Tea Party in 2010, owing much to Armey’s leadership. "The top management team of FreedomWorks was taking a direction I thought was unproductive, and I thought it was time to move on with my life," Armey told Mother Jones. Declining to go into specifics of what caused the rift with the organization he was so instrumental in fostering, Armey only said, "They were matters of principle. It's how you do business as opposed to what you do. But I don't want to be the guy to create problems."