From The American Spectator:
The Tea Party and 'Tucker's Law' By William Tucker
Tucker's Law:
"The less support a group has for its agenda in the general population, the more intent it will be on centralizing authority so that its limited leverage will have the largest impact."
... Where does the Tea Party fit into this? Very simple. The Tea Party is made up of people who have no special interests but only a general interest in moving decision-making out of Washington so they can go back to living normal lives. They are the antithesis of all the hundreds and thousands of special interests that have migrated to Washington over the past half-century. Their only interest is not to be bothered by Washington and not to have federal bureaucrats interfering with their lives.
... Can such a movement succeed? Sadly, the career path of such reform efforts is drearily familiar. Time and time again, reformers from both parties have won election by preaching the virtues of small government, only to resume their place at the table and begin carving out their same portion. This has happened over and over.
... Yet this time it feels different. The Tea Party is steeped in the traditions of the Founding Fathers and the American Revolution. One of the most powerful myths of that era was of George Washington as Cincinnatus, the Roman farmer who abandoned his fields to lead a successful defense of his country, then renounced his authority and returned to his plow only sixteen days later.
... Can Tea Partiers save the Republic from bankruptcy and then return to their fields to resume their regular occupations? If they do the job right, they will find their ordinary lives waiting for them when they get back.
From The Spectator, another excellent article by David Warren.
Articulating freedom
... Inspired, somewhat, by the Tea Party phenomenon in the States, I want to write some columns in a positive spirit, on what needs doing and how to go about it. The political task I have in mind can be described in a single short phrase: "The dismantlement of the Nanny State." But since that sounds negative, let me add, "The restoration of the state to its normal function, as the chaste guarantor of peace and good order."
... the work of dismantling "nanny" is, of necessity, the work of more than one generation. It took more than a century to get from Bismarck's innovations in 19th-century Prussia to the bankrupt "welfare state" of today; and I cannot imagine it will take less time to undo this tragic error.
We need to support these efforts because when it comes down to it, what other choice do we have?
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