"Tea Party" Revolution, Ronan Style

-- By Lee Banville

The goals of the “tea party” movement are much discussed among the punditry – reform the Republican Party, take on President Obama’s healthcare plan, elect Ron Paul president. But for some tea partyers on the Western front of the movement, the mission is clear: Restore the Constitution.

Here in the “Tractor Country” community of Ronan, Mont., a group known as Calling All Conservatives is ramping up. A monthly meeting on Tuesday brought out more than 300 people.

Inside the Ronan Community Center, a couple of things are clear – mainly, it’s packed. People mill about tables stacked with books to help you plan for a failure of the electrical grid. There’s a sign-up sheet for the “10th Amendment Working Group” (named for the amendment reserving to the states all rights not explicitly outlined in the Constitution).

Along the far wall, folding tables crowded with dozens of potluck dishes abut a display selling the book “The Gun Laws of Montana.” The people who’ve come out range from their late 70s to their teens and, although they chat as musicians play acoustic guitar and mandolin, they’re not here just to socialize. They want to talk serious politics and debate constitutional theory.

Read more at the Patchwork Nation site at the Christian Science Monitor.