Why are so many Tea Party leaders seemingly afraid of being interviewed by anyone other than their cheerleaders at Fox News?

Tea Party favorites like Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell have been ducking interviews with legitimate media in favor of Facebook posts and Fox News infomercials.

Now Virginia Thomas, a leader in the Tea Party movement and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has cancelled a long-scheduled NPR interview:

Ginni Thomas canceled her appearance on NPR's and WBUR's On Point — scheduled a week in advance — at the last minute. The interview would have lasted 20 minutes and aired nationally. Thomas' publicist said she had a “scheduling conflict.”

“I'm horribly, horribly sorry,” the publicist said in an e-mail.

The producers “worked tirelessly” to book Thomas for a conversation about her very public involvement in the Tea Party, said John Wihbey, a producer.

Thomas' cancellation comes in the wake of news of an embarrassing voicemail in which she demanded an apology from Anita Hill, the law professor who accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his 1991 Senate confirmation hearing:

A few days ago, Brandeis University professor Anita Hill received a message on her voice mail at work.

“Good morning, Anita Hill, it's Ginny Thomas,” said the voice. “I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. So give it some thought and certainly pray about this and come to understand why you did what you did. OK, have a good day.”

…

Mark Matthews of our affiliate KGO learned about this and reached out to Virginia Thomas.

Thomas e-mailed him, saying: “I did place a call to Ms. Hill at her office extending an olive branch to her after all these years, in hopes that we could ultimately get past what happened so long ago. That offer still stands, I would be very happy to meet and talk with her if she would be willing to do the same. Certainly no offense was ever intended.”

Maybe Thomas was afraid someone NPR would ask her if she knows what an “olive branch” is.