“Tea party protests” on The Daily Caller

Tea Partiers have brought their watchful eyes to Washington and are riling things up as Congress returns for its lame duck session and newly elected representatives come to the district for freshman orientation. (more)

If Michele Bachmann edited Time magazine, the Republican Minnesota congresswoman would put the Tea Party on the publication’s annual Person of the Year cover. (more)

Republicans, who were expected to be overwhelmed by internal divisions and Tea Party discord, have navigated the first set of rapids with surprising ease following the midterm elections, while Democrats have suffered a level of chaos that most did not foresee. (more)

Republican Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who’s up against Jeb Hensarling of Texas for the GOP Conference chair in the House, said she’s running for the position because she thinks leadership should reflect Tuesday’s elections results. (more)

House Republicans Thursday reacted strongly against Rep. Michele Bachmann’s decision to run for a top leadership post in the new majority, looking to nip in the bud any chance that she might attract support from the substantially large group of incoming freshman lawmakers. (more)

Kentucky’s new Senator-elect Rand Paul is already questioning whether establishment Republicans will take him and his fellow Tea Partiers seriously. (more)

Why don’t politicians pay more attention to the town hall meetings and the Tea Party members? Can’t they see the grassroots resistance to the direction they are taking the country? Is it so hard for them to comprehend that a significant number of citizens might rise up on their own in opposition to out-of-control government spending, unimaginably huge federal deficits, promised increases in taxes, a weak approach to terrorism and defense, and government takeovers of significant parts of the private sector? (more)

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Liberal organizations are one-upping the Tea Party’s “Don’t tread on me” slogan with a new “You can’t stomp on me” campaign. Liberal organizations MoveOn.org, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and CREDO are uniting in reaction to the incident on Monday when a volunteer for Republican Rand Paul’s campaign for U.S. Senate in Kentucky literally stomped his foot on activist Laura Valle, leaving her with a concussion. (more)

With only days left before the midterm elections, the question in many people’s minds is whether the elections will produce change that matters or change what matters. This may sound like a semantics game but it really goes much deeper. You see, the BarackObama.com website boasts that Obama will bring us “change that matters.” Yet it seems to this writer that the Obama administration, along with the Democrat-controlled Congress, actually “changed what matters.” I believe this is why the tea party movement was born. Many organizing these grassroots movements feared that Congress had been quickly changing what matters to the average American. (more)

Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips explained why he sent out an e-mail that included the Muslim faith of Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison on a list of reasons not to support him, claiming that Tea Party members ought to “seriously consider” whether they should vote for a candidate who adheres to Islam. (more)

Keith Olbermann has promised a 20-minute long special comment on the Tea Party on Wednesday night’s “Countdown.” The Daily Caller was able to obtain a partial copy of it early: (more)

If you haven’t read Judicial Watch‘s latest article concerning its investigation into the misuse of U.S. Air Force transportation by Madam Speaker Pelosi, you should. But to be fair, Her Majesty’s abuse of military travel is nothing new for bureaucrats from either party; that’s at least how it’s justified after each election. My father, a deceased former Air Force major general, used to complain about how his branch of the service was required to maintain and pay for a fleet of aircraft of dubious military value; a fleet for our royal members of Congress to utilize at their every whim and whistle. And this includes all the maintenance and support personnel, as well as the crews. (I’m assuming the political elites feel it essential to practice should they ever reach the pinnacle of their art form, thereby being compelled to fly Air Force One. It’s important to know just how to jog majestically up and down the stairs, or pirouette and wave effusively from the door. The fate of world governance might hinge on such talents. And if you’re a liberal, you might even have to learn how to return a salute or two, if you know where to look for one.) (more)

The stage is set for the forthcoming elections, and the orchestra’s engaged. Now it’s time to see if the Tea Party can actually dance. (more)

One of the great curiosities of this year is the number of ways people are explaining America’s rage. (more)

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor said it is President Obama and his political agenda that is out of the mainstream, not the Tea Party movement. (more)

One of the most prominent Tea Party groups says a new report about extremism and racism in the movement is a politically motivated “smear.” (more)

The class of Republican candidates fighting to come to Congress for the first time are vowing aggressive measures to cut government spending and to repeal the president’s health care law. (more)

The Tea Party movement has been one of the most fascinating phenomena of modern politics.  In November of 2008, Barack Obama rode the hope and change wave into the White House and Democrats racked up huge margins in the House and Senate.  Democrats talked about a permanent political realignment, talking heads across the spectrum delivered the eulogies for the modern conservative movement and insiders talked about Republicans being in the political wilderness for decades.  Against this backdrop, a grassroots movement was born. (more)

Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton says he “was Tea Party when Tea Party wasn’t cool.” (more)