Two years ago, the Tea Party was a collection of racists in the liberal mind. Nowadays the epithet of choice, blessed by the vice president, seems to be “terrorist.” This is not progress: While we shun racists, we kill terrorists. But this evolution in perception is probably a testament to the tea parties’ political progress. Nobody these days is afraid of a bunch of racists.
It is not just political invective that clouds our understanding of the tea parties. They have been misunderstood not only by their foes, but by their friends and even their members. Liberals have sometimes portrayed them
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