i disagree with all the points made by dunedan except one--dismantling the national security state.
but they are an answer to dippin's question and they are a set of proposals, and you have to grant that...
at the same time, the problem with making concrete proposals is that they can be debated.
this seems to me a pretty reasonable explanation for why it is that there's nothing particularly coherent being advanced through the tea party astroturf movement.
but there's another aspect of this that's kind of alarming. what exactly is the fragments of the conservative movement flirting with here? this seems like an exercise in populist coalition building--the right no longer knows what it's constituency is, so it's willing to hit the ground and see what flies up. in a sense, this is not that different from the nra-sponsored run on guns--a little vignette:
Americans stick to their guns as firearms sales surge | World news | The Guardian
this seems to me a dangerous game, mobilizing people around nothing but anger and paranoia.
i keep thinking about films like face in the crowd.
it ain't pretty.