The rise of the Tea Party?

Check out this great article about the "Tea Party" movement from the New Yorker: "The rise of the Tea Party movement." Frankly, I'm a little surprised to find that there is substance beyond the pageantry, but I suppose this is something to keep an eye on.

The Economist also ran a leader this week referencing the Tea Party's increasing political salience: "The man who fell to earth." Honestly, any topic that gets The Economist to run an explanation like this is worth reading about: "Hence the spectacular rise of the “tea-party” movement, an alliance of ordinary people who are spooked by the huge amount of debt that is being racked up on Mr Obama’s watch. For Democrats to deride such people as “tea-baggers”, a term referring to a sexual practice involving testicles, is political stupidity of a high order."

Update: Here's a link to the Richard Hofstadter article "The Paranoid Style in American Politics," which is referenced to such great effect in the New Yorker piece. (Sorry for the weird typos in the Hofstadter article, it's the best copy I could find online.)