While scholars question the legal principles espoused by the Tea Party, some are celebrating the organization's role in democratizing discussions of constitutional principles.
"The content of the movement's understanding of the Constitution is not always easy to nail down, and it is almost always arguable," writes Adam Liptak in The New York Times. "But it certainly includes particular attention to the Constitution's constraints on federal power (as reflected in the limited list of powers granted to Congress in Article I and reserved to the states and the people the 10th Amendment) and on government power generally (the Second Amendment's protection of gun rights, the Fifth Amendment's limits on the government's taking of private property)."
According to Liptak, by focusing on these elements of the Constitution, the Tea Party is helping bring our nation's sacred document to the forefront of national, political conversations. If that is a goal of the Tea Party, it may not hurt to have Virginia Thomas on board.
Thomas, a conservative activist and wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, is launching Liberty Central Inc. to organize citizens around what she calls "core principles." The 501(c)(4) non-profit group, which is linked to the national Tea Party movement, is planning advocacy around the 2010 congressional elections. Thomas says that Liberty Central will accept corporate contributions under finance rules recently loosened by the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC. Justice Thomas was in the majority of that 5-4 decision which partially struck down the bipartisan McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform and reversed two Supreme Court precedents on point.
"I am an ordinary citizen from Omaha, Neb., who just may have the chance to preserve liberty along with you and other people like you," Virginia Thomas declared, sitting on a panel of Tea Party leaders at the Conservative Political Action Committee's recent conference in Washington, D.C. Thomas told those in attendance that, just like them, she could not bear to sit by idly while President Obama enacted his "hard-left agenda."
Thomas' conservative credentials include a stint in George W. Bush's transition team while Justice Thomas was considering the election-deciding case of Bush v. Gore, in which he joined the five-justice majority that determined the 2000 presidential election in favor of then-Gov. Bush. She also worked at the Heritage Foundation and served in the office of one-time House Majority Leader Rep. Dick Armey.
[Image via sporks5000.]
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