Tea party reaction.

• Position: Letters to the Editor - Letter to the editor

Chip Berlet's "Taking Tea Partiers Seriously'" is right on target (February issue). Some progressives are impatient out of false class consciousness. This prevents us from reaching others who suffer under the same exploitation we do. We need patience to reach them rather than to instantly "refute" their repressive expressions.

Left democratic populists, socialists, and green groups have not sought public attention for nonviolent ways to get out of our second Great Depression. That means that some populist ideas are up for grabs. What if right populist leaders, such as Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sarah Palin, advocate these ideas first, however insincerely?

Robert Cogan

Edinboro, Pennsylvania

We need to take the tea partiers seriously. However, the Republicans and the extreme right have been quite successful lying to those who would listen. This is usually called propaganda. After enough repetition, lies become truth.

Let's face it: This movement is largely based upon passion, fear, and irrationality. It's dangerous. That's why we should pay attention.

It is quite nice of Berlet to say that the Republicans outorganized the Democrats. They outstrategized them and outsmarted them at every turn, and the Dems still don't seem to get it. The Republicans act as if they are still running the country, while the Democrats try to figure out how to appease them.

The Democrats should have done what the Republicans did when they were in power. Jam things through! Many Americans have a short attention span. They may be angry for a couple of days and then forget about it, until the next thing stirs...