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The tea party movement was a setback because it elevated extreme individualism over collective responsibilities and because it tapped into nativism and further undermined trust in American institutions.

"Trust in American institutions"? Oh, I understand he means trust in government. He thinks we should have faith in the very institution which the founders and the framers feared the most. At a time when the president United States is committing actions that exceeded his authority and actually verge on tyranny, it is skepticism of government which is warranted. At a time when the biggest wealth grab of all time, Obamacare, has proven to be a fiasco as well as unpopular of the "collective" will means that we should redouble our skepticism of government-and our skepticism of the collective.

it elevated extreme individualism

I don't understand this, I had learned in school that all men were created equal. Yet he thinks The Tea Party was a "setback" because it elevated extreme individualism over "collective responsibilities." I was not aware that we have a government based on collectives either economic, class, or race based. I thought we had a Bill of Rights to protect the individual from the collective will and from government and its "institutions."

I'm glad I read this column, now I know for sure that diversity is our strength just like it was 100 years ago this month for the Habsburg Empire.

The tea party movement was a setback because it elevated extreme individualism over collective responsibilities

The left is against "extreme individualism," which is its word for "human freedom."

If you are against human freedom, than you are in favor of slavery.

If you are in favor of slavery, then you lose all moral claim to being one of the good guys.

The truth is, Progressive Leftists are opposed to individual liberty as defined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The only real complaint they have about chattel slavery in America two hundred years ago is that the slaves were privately owned.

But they get orgasmic over the idea of slavery to the state.

Democrats never pass up on opportunity to tell us why enslavement by the state is for our own protection and our own safety, because life under the anarchy that conservatives want to impose is just too risky and dangerous. We can't have any of that inhumane "on-your-own economics" that conservatives advocate.

Thereby proving that you no longer have to be black to be an Uncle Tom.

“The tea party movement was a setback because it elevated extreme individualism over collective responsibilities...”

There’s the problem. Taking care of yourself and family is described as “extreme individualism” while handing out welfare benefits to a bunch of lazy bums is called “collective responsibilities”. As usual liberals focus on giving more to others while forgetting that each individual is responsible for NOT BEING A BURDEN ON SOCIETY. A just society does not allow a large portion of able bodied people to be supported by others. That should be a major Repub message.