The Netroots should be about pushing the Democratic Party to the left. It should be about agitating for real change. When incrementalism occasionally is necessary, there should be no backing off, as if an incremental step is acceptable. The next step is at least as important as the previous one. And we never should accept incrementalism when there is no time for it. But more than anything, it is the job of the Netroots to push for bold action. The internet provides us with an unprecedented opportunity to speak truth to power, to challenge both the traditional media and entrenched political and economic structures, and to make of the American experiment a truly democratic ideal. If we in the Netroots accept less than the ideal, there will be no one left on the left to define the ideal.

But it's hard for me to think of important policy disputes between, say, John Boehner & Paul Ryan and tea party leaders.

And that defines the issue. The Left and its cheerleaders in the press cannot grasp the fact that the Tea Party's members don't really care what the party "leaders" think, much less if they agree with John Boehner.

So there is really no one to "debate."

It would be helpful if someone who writes about the Tea Party actually attended a meeting.

I have.

It is a county group and there were about 60 people in attendance. There were no protest signs, no threats of leaving the country and no disrespect shown to Obama. In fact his name never came up during the formal part of the meeting. As I drifted from group to group before and after the meeting he did receive some lumps over Obamacare and his foreign policy but more in sorrow than anger.

The foreign policy issues that resonated like a tuning fork was our dependence on OPEC, Obama apologizing to every tin pot dictator and country that exists, radical Islam and our immigration policy. Arizona was strongly supported.

Out of control spending and an unresponsive government, at all levels, was the burning issue.

The demographics ran from "seasoned citizens" to middle age to college students. The societal structure ran from retired military to factory workers to small business owners to teachers to farmers. From the comfortable niche to the scared edge.

I asked why there were no blacks in attendance and was told that many had been invited but, evidently, the Tea Party is seen as too conservative. Hope was expressed that blacks would attend. As one man put it, "All anyone has to do is show up. Everyone is welcome."

I find the "too conservative" funny in that several people echoed such libertarian concepts as illegal drug legalization and school vouchers.

I never heard anyone speak about abortion or gay rights. I think that is because no one is all that concerned with where things are "now."

We were addressed by one state Senatorial candidate plus about 6 county assemblymen candidates and one running for county mayor. The speeches and questions/answers were about streamlining government, saving money and reducing taxes. Side meetings were planned on how to get people registered and how to get them to the polls.

The speeches were necessarily short and the Q&A's lengthy. Almost every question resulted in open floor discussions between attendees. The speakers had to be patient and act as facilitators rather than lecturers. It would have been hard for anyone there who knew anything about our country's history to not come away with the feeling that this is the way it happened in 1776.

I cannot imagine a Reid or Franken lecturing these people as was done in the Netroots meeting. It just would not have been tolerated.

Free people discussing events and ideas and guiding those who would be leaders. What a concept.

I think the Tea Party has grown past shouting at Congress people and waving signs, although some of that will always be done. It is great sport and wonderful theater but not particularly productive. The people I met are interested in issues and electing candidates they think will vote the "right" way.

The Tea Partiers represent a new resource. They are a new 10% and as such they can make the difference in election after election. If Republicans can meet the requirements and get this support they can win. If some incumbents don't measure up they will be replaced. Gay rights and drug policies will be debated and, perhaps, changed.

If they do and win and then don't deliver, a third party is the next logical and unavoidable step.

The choice was made early on, and was fueled in part by the Obama campaign, which made it about him - about the change he would bring, the hope he represented - and not too much about doing the work - the down-in-the-trenches stuff - that would acualize that change.  Time and again, the signals fron the Obama camp, and later from the cult that grew around it, were that listening to the left flank was going to get in the way of this "united," bipartisan, approach he wanted to take to the WH - and which he has continued since he took office; he wanted the left's votes, and he wanted their money, but he didn't really want their input.

The "Left Flank," as represented by the A-list blogs, has allowed Obama to set and then drive the agenda, refusing to do much, if any pushback as policy moved ever-rightward.  "Not to worry," we were told, "there's a larger plan at work here, and Obama is so brilliant that we just can't see it yet."  "It's okay," they said, we don't want to scare people off, so we have to get to our liberal agenda in increments - so be patient."  Policies that were identical to Bush's were deemed to be "not really as bad," because they were coming from Obama, and he would handle them differently - "you'll see," we were told.

And who can forget "11-dimensional chess?"

Even though they knew - we all did - where we wanted to go, and how we thought we should best go about getting there, Obama's constant deviations from that route were treated as "recalculations" designed to get us there in the end, even though it seemed like we were moving farther away from where we wanted to be.

Cult of personality, sudden and exciting access to the center of power, invites to be part of strategy sessions, TV appearances - it was - and still is for many - seductive and impossible to resist because questioning authority, pushing back against the BS pulpit might mean being left out in the cold.

It's Not Safe, by Aimee Mann

All you want to do is something good
So get ready to be ridiculed and misunderstood
'cause don't you know that you're a <f-word> freak in this world
In which everybody's willing to choose swine over pearls

And maybe everything is all for nothing
Still you'd better keep it to yourself
'cause God knows it's not safe with anybody else

You can take your own advice and try again
But a thousand compromises don't add up to a win
And they'd be happy if you'd only cover your tracks
But the trail of crumbs you've left won't help you find your way back