They're angry, they're overwhelmingly white, and they're getting a lot of mainstream media coverage. They are, of course, the Tea Party people.

They're angry about a lot of things. They hate the economy. They hate the bailout of the banks. They hate the federal stimulus program. They hate taxes, government, and President Obama.

The Tea Party movement can be said to have begun as a spontaneous protest against the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which was used by President Bush and his Secretary of the Treasury to prop up the giant banks in 2008, when it looked as if they might go down like a stack of cards and take the whole country with them.

And so, $700 billion of taxpayer money was shoveled into the banks to prevent that from happening. It worked. The banks are still there, and so is the United States.

This outraged many people, who thought the banks should have been allowed to collapse. Whether that would have leveled the American economy or not, the principle was clear — the banks had run amok and the taxpayer should not have to bail them out.

Harking back to 1775 and the Boston Tea Party, the idea of sending tea bags to legislators went viral on the internet. It was championed by Fox News in early 2009, already on its crusade against President Obama. The first Tea Party rallies broke out in the spring of 2009. By the summer, things had devolved into scenes of angry people being boisterous at Town Hall meetings called by Democratic legislators to discuss health care issues in their districts.

Recently, Sarah Palin hitched her wagon to the Tea Party train, addressing a national convention in Nashville that drew about 600 stalwart tea partiers. Rarely in American history has a group that small received so much media attention. Against a dull background of bad economic news, faraway wars, and hard-to-sound-bite foreign issues, the Tea Party is as vibrant a story as Tiger Woods's marital problems, and longer lasting too.

Americans have never been known for being overly humble, but among the Tea Partiers there's a new and breathtaking style of arrogance. There are people who freely admit that before Barack Obama won the presidency, they took no interest at all in national politics or economics. As long as they were employed, and their families were okay, they ignored what was going on around them.

That the economy had become a casino for big banks over the past decade was something they missed. That the country had stumbled into wars that have cost about $1 trillion by this point, wasn't something they felt strongly about.

And then they awoke — often because they or a loved one lost their job and couldn't get another one. For others, it was the disconcerting sight of a black man as president. Now they're angry, and they want to "take the country back."

To what? Or where?

At which point all you hear is a confused roar of "no taxes"— "no immigration" — "states' rights" — "obey the constitution" — "guns for everyone" — "less government" — etc.

A lot of folks have gone from deep sleep to hyperactivity. What they missed along the way was the opportunity to do a little reading. There are reasons why the original constitution was amended 27 times. There are disagreements about many articles and amendments of the constitution. There are a lot of elements in everyday life that we all depend on, that are only there because of government. You want a place where there really is small, very limited government? Try Haiti.

You want roads, schools, libraries, sewer systems, bridges, and airports? Then you want government. There are a great many aspects of life that the private sector will not supply, or, conversely, that most citizens would not want the private sector to control. Think of roads, and paying a turnpike company $100 every time you wanted to drive to New York City. Think of maintaining the road you live on, just you and your neighbors. Think of the cost of blacktop, and the machine you'd need to hire to lay it. And what if some of your neighbors wouldn't cough up their share? Think of a rutted, muddy, mediaeval track.

Becoming active and aware is a good thing, but the best kinds of opinions are considered ones, backed up by a thorough understanding of the issues. That's what we need in this country today, not a lot of angry hot air.