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SALT LAKE CITY -- The Tea Party movement isn't unique to American history, but it is coming at a time when people are fed up.
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The Tea Party Express has rolled into Utah, and hundreds of people have jumped on board.The country's history is full of grassroots movements and anti-government attitudes, going back to before the revolution. But Bob Goldberg, director of the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah, says this does seem different.
"I think people are upset, and the upsetedness (sic) has been growing for 30, 40, 50 years," he said.
Goldberg says Gallup has done a regular poll since 1964, asking if people trust the government to do what is right. In the ‘60s, 75 percent of Americans answered ‘yes' all or most of the time. But that number has been dropping, and now only 25 percent have the same answer.
Goldberg said, "Twenty-five percent of Americans say, ‘We trust the government to do what is right all or most of the time,' meaning 75 percent are pretty angry and upset."
Goldberg says tea partiers include people on the left and the right -- as well as conspiracy theorists on the left and the right. He says it's disconcerting to see politicians and the media exploit the crowds.
"I think they are exploiting them for political power, I think they are exploiting them for rhetorical power," he said. "That is something that concerns me, when leadership becomes a tool for bringing fear into the mainstream."
Goldberg doesn't think the Tea Party will become a viable third political party. He thinks Republicans and Democrats will adopt some of the ideas as their own as they have over the years with similar movements.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
