The column by David Brooks refers to the teapeople as Walmart hippies, and tries to compare the teabag troopers of 2010 to the new left radicals of the mid- to late 1960s. It's a reasonable comparison, but I'm old enough to have lived through the anti-war, anti-establishment sixties, and could probably trace many of my current opinions back to the lessons and experiences of that era. The difference between the movements that catches my attention, at least based on what I'm seeing in the media, is significant. The radical movement of the 1960s was made up primarily of young people, most under thirty --- one of their anthems was "My Generation" by the Who, which included the line, "Hope I die before I get old." Old at that time defined as over 30.
The teabag troupers, on the other hand, are already old judging from the pictures of their assemblies I've seen on television and the internet. Old people who don't have anything better to do than bitch about their taxes and get in the way. From what I've seen, for every teabagger under thirty there are five on the north end of middle age, and at least two of those are old and wrinkled. As they get older, people start tiring more easily, so my guess is that the teapeople should make whatever moves they plan to make really soon. In a few years Obama will be gone and there won't be any Ns in the White House to inflame teabag passion. A lot of the baggers will be too sleepy to demonstrate, and a significant number will have resigned from life. Eventually, young people will be asking each other, "Remember those old timers who used to hang teabags on their hats ? Whatever happened to them ?"
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