tea party movement

The Tea Party movement started in the US in February last year with local, spontaneously-organised and internet-fuelled protests against what participants perceived as “big government” and its excessive spending (and, to some extent, I can understand where they’re coming from – even though the big spending had started under George W, largely as a result of greedy bankers). Having read various newspaper reports over recent months, I’m somewhat alarmed by the rapid growth of this group – which essentially appears to be to the right of the Republican party (and almost anti-Republican?) - and, from the radio interviews I’ve heard on the BBC’s World Service, by the extreme views of (at least) some of its supporters. If you’ve previously read my blog, you will have realised that I’m an Obama fan. I’ve been encouraged that, over the past year or so, the US has become a “world player” once more. Frighteningly, I think that the Tea Party Movement might well become a political force by the time of the next Presidential Election and, if the extreme/selfish opinions that I’ve been hearing take hold (they remind me of the early days of the Thatcher government), then we should all fear the worse.
PS: At present, there seems to be a fair amount of in-fighting regarding the Tea Party’s organisation/leadership…. but they’ll surely sort this out in due course.
PPS: I’m not sure if I was depressed or encouraged by the fact that Sarah Palin recently addressed a TP convention…. surely, any movement would realise the folly of lining up behind her (especially if she did reportedly charge a fee of $115,000)?

Photo: worst case scenario?