At the Tea Party : the wing nuts, whack jobs and whitey-whiteness of the new Republican right-- and why we should take it seriously

Brand new 342-page trade softcover anthology of articles about the Tea Party Movement's ramifications. In the wake of the November elections, the Tea Party has gone from a well-funded, media-savvy, fringe group to become the new kids in the class of the 2011 Congress. Their presence is unpredictable and potentially explosive. Sarah Palin looks increasingly likely to mount a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. Tea partiers Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Dan Coats now sit in the Senate alongside the GOP’s new poster boy, Marco Rubio. In total some 30 Tea Party supporters won seats in Congress. Their party is evidently here to stay - but what exactly does that mean for the future of the country? Just published by OR Books, At the Tea Party presents a lively and informed expose of this explosive new force in American politics. It doesn’t paint a pretty picture. Read these pages and you will come to understand the coalition of anti-abortion, pro-gun advocates who comprise the tea parties’ shock troops. You will discover what MSNBC contributor Melissa Harris-Lacewell and Going Rouge editors Rich Kim and Betsy Reed have to say about the racism, homophobia and sexism that fuels the tea party fizz. You will follow the money that flowed from the shadowy organizations of the super rich to pay for the ads that won the races. You will learn about the unscrupulous gold-peddlers who are virtually the sole underwriters of Glenn Beck’s Fox News show. And you will get the up-close-and-personal scoop on movement’s biggest stars - Sarah from Wasilla and the mercurial, crying clown, Glenn Beck. With contributions from a wide range of leading experts, At the Tea Party sorts the facts from the frenzy. Most importantly, it looks forward. Will the tea partiers in Congress launch a civil war within the Republican Party? Could they take over the GOP and end up running the country? And what role can the Left play in preventing the tea partiers from remaking America in their own fervid image? Combining investigative zeal, smart, hard facts, and a leavening of sharp wit and political passion, At the Tea Party stands out among books on the Tea Party phenomenon as a must-read for anyone interested in the turbulent future of American politics. Contributors include: Chip Berlet, W. Kamau Bell, Max Blumenthal, Eric Boehlert, Joanna Brooks, Rachel Carroll, Veronica Cassidy, Alexander Cockburn, Lisa Duggan, Barry Eisler, Bill Fletcher Jr., Greg Grandin, Glenn Greenwald, Arun Gupta, Melissa Harris-Lacewell, Peter Hart, Chris Hedges, Jim Hightower, Jack Hitt, Julie Ingersoll, Sarah Jaffe, Michael Johns, Richard Kim, Sally Kohn, David A. Love, Mike Madden, Jonathan Meadows, Stephanie Mencimer, Shannyn Moore, Bob Moser, Scot Nakagawa, Ed Ott, Rick Perlstein, Suzanne Pharr, Katha Pollitt, Sarah Posner, Tarso Ramos, Betsy Reed, Steve Rendall, Ruth Rosen, Rick Rowley, Ken Silverstein, Michael Tomasky, Rebecca Traister, Eric Ward, Marcy Westerling, Tim Wise, Richard Wolff, Kai Wright, JoAnn Wypijewski, Gary Younge, Alexander Zaitchik and Deanna Zandt Behold the Becchanal! / Laura Flanders Dropping in on the Tea Party / Gary Younge Something new on the mall / Michael Tomasky 'On 9/11, I think they hit the wrong building' / Mike Madden Lobbyist money + right-wing extremists = Tea Party / David A. Love Mongrel politics and an American mind / JoAnn Wypijewski Texas hold 'em, Tea Party style / Bob Moser Labor and the Tea Parties / Laura Flanders, Ed Ott, and Michael Johns What's with the crying? / Laura Flanders, Alexander Zaitchik, and Rick Perlstein Putting the sheets on: the Tea Party shows its colors / Bill Fletcher Jr. Beck's incendiary angst is dangerously close to having a body count / Eric Boehlert White power USA / Laura Flanders, Rick Rowley, Chip Berlet, and Jonathan "J.D." Meadows Imagine: protest, insurgency, and the workings of white privilege / Tim Wise How Mormonism built Glenn Beck / Joanna Brooks Gun ownership: 'an obligation to God' / Sarah Posner and Julie Ingersoll Is this the birth of a nation? / Melissa Harris-Lacewell The mad Tea Party / Richard Kim Tea Partiers say slavery not race-related / Jule Ingersoll Progressives and 'bitter' white America / Kai Wright The pedagogy of shock (and grandiose lunacy) / Lisa Duggan Glenn Beck, America's historian laureate / Greg Grandin More poodle than panther: a review of Glenn Beck's 'The overton window' / Barry Eisler Beckonomics / Richard Wolff Republicans and the Tea Party of no / Arun Gupta Glenn Beck: out-organizing the organizers / Sally Kohn Tea Party tech / Deanna Zandt Sex and the GOP / Betsy Reed Is Sarah Palin porn? / Jack Hitt The Tea Party and the new right-wing Christian feminism / Ruth Rosen Last column about Sarah Palin ever / Katha Pollitt The inevitable rise and quasi liberation of Nikki Haley / Sarah Jaffe Alaskans hate quitters / Shannyn Moore At last a citizen movement the corporate media can love / Peter Hart and Steve Rendell Glenn Beck and left-right confusion / Glenn Greenwald Glenn Beck's golden fleece: the right wing's paranoid pitch for overpriced gold / Stephanie Mencimer Falling for the ACORN hoax: the strange 'journalism' of James O'Keefe / Veronica Cassidy Apologies to the Beckster / W. Kamau Bell Tea Party in the Sonora: for the future of GOP governance, look to Arizona / Ken Silverstein Democrats: remember the ladies! / Rebecca Traister This country needs a few good communists / Chris Hedges Obama, the fallen messiah / Max Blumenthal Downhill from Greensboro: the left, 1960-2010 / Alexander Cockburn The U.S. social forum: the anti-Tea Party experience / Bill Fletcher Jr. Populism is not about mobs / Jim Hightower Fight the right: looking forward, looking back / Suzanne Pharr, Eric Ward, Tarso Ramos, Rachel Carroll, Marcy Westerling, and Scot Nakagawa.