On Utah and the Tea Party

In case anyone thought that political ideas from Utah were limited to Utah, and that political conversations at BYU were completely different than discussions happening nationwide, several recent articles in the New York Times seem to prove that wrong. Whether or not you agree with the Tea Party or Glenn Beck, clearly some ideas about the constitution from both Utah and/or strands of Mormon conservatism are making an impact.

(Which isn't to say that other strands of Utah or Mormon political belief aren't good or valid, or that I agree with this particular strand of ideas.)

Here are the articles:

"Being Glenn Beck"
by Mark Leibovich, New York Times Magazine
29 September 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/magazine/03beck-t.html

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"Exploring the Meaning of "Constitutional Conservatism"
by Lincoln Caplan, New York Times
1 December 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/opinion/02thu4.html

"The anger felt by those who favor constitutional conservatism is potent. Call the slogan vague. Call it arrogant. It would be shortsighted to dismiss this increasingly used rallying cry."

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Radical Constitutionalism
by Jeffrey Rosen, New York Times Magazine
26 November 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/magazine/28FOB-idealab-t.html?scp=1&sq=utah%20tea%20party&st=cse

"Not all Tea Party enthusiasts, of course, are devotees of Skousen, and Lee is just one senator. But the sort of thinking Lee embodies, rooted in a radical suspicion of the powers of government, is resurgent."

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D.I.Y. Populism, Left and Right
by Matt Bai, New York Times Magazine
30 October 2010
(Reported from Provo, Utah)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/weekinreview/31bai.html

"Perhaps, then, we should expect the liberal bloggers of 2006 and the Tea Partiers of 2010 to be eclipsed in the years ahead by other grassroots insurrections. For politicians, the implications of this new world are unsettling, as they look for a way to withstand the battering from one side and then another.

"They might take a lesson from Utah, where one long-serving senator is packing up his office, while the other picnics with the Tea Party. You can try to reason with the David Kirkhams of the world, or adopt their rhetoric. The one thing you can’t do, it seems, is wish the new reality away."