The “Green Tea Party”? | The Week

The Tea Party movement, with its angry opposition to taxes and high government spending, tends toward the “hard libertarian right,” says Thomas Friedman in The New York Times. But if protesters really want to make a change, they should try to shake up the nation’s “radical middle.” How? By going green and making it their mission to end America’s dependence on foreign oil. Here’s an excerpt:

“I’ve been trying to understand the Tea Party movement. It sounds like a lot of angry people who want to get the government out of their lives and cut both taxes and the budget deficit. There’s nothing wrong with that – although you do wonder where they were during the Bush years. Whatever. I’m sure that the Tea Party, like all such protest movements, will get their 10 to 20 percent of the vote. But if the Tea Party really does aspire to break out of that range, to attract lots of young people and become more than just entertainment for Fox News, then I have a suggestion: