"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 tells Mother Jones. "At this point, I don't want to get into the details. I just want to go on with my life."

In the email, Armey indicated that he wants nothing to do with FreedomWorks anymore. He asked that all user names, passwords, and security-related data created in his name be emailed to him by the close of business on December 4. He even insisted that FreedomWorks—"effective immediately"—was "prohibited" from using a booklet he authored. Was Armey's resignation a reaction to the recent election results? "Obviously I was not happy with the election results," he says. "We might've gotten better results if we had gone in a different direction. But it isn't that I got my nose out of line because we should've done better."

Armey declined to specify his disagreements with FreedomWorks. Asked if they were ideological or tactical, he replies, "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."

I would love to ask Mr. Armey what he meant by "it's how you do business as opposed to what you do." Is he suggesting FreedomWorks engaged in activities or tactics counter to his particular ethical framework (and I use the term loosely).

In the last FreedomWorks email blast, there was no mention of anything other than a weekend "fly-in" to Washington DC for activists to strategize. Oddly enough, that email blast linked to an article about the Obama organizing efforts. Perhaps Mr. Armey did not appreciate what they settled upon for their strategy, or he objected to the marketing arm which is selling books intended to help members profit from the upcoming Wall Street Armageddon, or something.

Maybe it's just their insistence on digging in to make sure no deal is done on the tax and budget issues, which will, of course, cause a result they least want: higher tax rates for everyone on January 1, 2013. Whatever it is, it sounds like there was a lot of acrimony around it.