This is definitely meant as more of an open invitation for discussion than a declaration or reporting of fact - just as a preface. This is my first Daily Kos diary, so go easy.
Am I the only person here bothered by the fact that Tea Party Republicans are free to call themselves such, openly identifying with what should be an entirely different faction that has sprouted up within the Republican Party? Should the Tea Party not be required to become its own separate political party within the US separate from and in opposition to all existing parties including the Republican Party? How is it that a party like the Republican Party can be hijacked from within by those who are openly spouting non-party beliefs?
This line of questioning really started with the Green Party. No politically literate American would put the Green Party closer to the Republican Party than the Democratic Party. In fact, they really are to the Democratic Party what the Tea Party is to the Republican Party. The Green Party is a further left iteration of the basic ideals that hold together the Democratic party, with more emphasis on key issues that they use to define themselves (generally revolving around the environment). The Tea Party is a further right iteration of the basic ideals that hold together the Republican party, with more emphasis on key issues that they use to define themselves (generally revolving around government regulation). How is it that the Green Party are not allowed to be an existing subsection of the Democratic Party, utilizing the "Environmental Movement" as a basis for removing themselves from the basic rules that define a party? Certainly not everyone in the Democratic Party agrees with the Green Party on all points of policy, and they certainly don't always agree when it comes to the ranking of importance of the issues of policy. Certainly not everyone in the Republican Party agrees with the Tea Party on all points of policy, and they certainly don't always agree when it comes to the ranking of importance of the issues of policy.
So, what differentiates the Tea Party from the Green Party? What makes the Tea Party so special?