Trying to Make Some Sense out of the Tea Party Movement

Is anyone else out there struggling a little with how to feel about the Tea Party Movement?  I have this feeling it's a bit natural to struggle with what appears to be an actual grass roots movement... It actually has no center and no leading authorities.  Anyone can go to a "Tea Party" but you can't really go to the Tea Party.  The Tea Partiers have certainly gotten some attention in the media so it's hard to miss that they exist, and I think they've presented the media outlets (all of whom seem to show a certain bias one way or the other) with a little bit of a problem-- they too appear to have no idea how they should address the movement.

I decided to do some research on the thing, and with me that means a quick jaunt over to wikipedia.  Their article indicates that it's a populist movement that arose early in 2009 in response to the 2008 bailouts and 2009 stimulus package.  In general, the article states, the movement appears to be focused on constitutionally limited government, fiscal responsibility, and free markets.  I am a very big fan of all three of these ideas.

On the other hand, the article goes on to discuss some of the controversy surrounding the movement.  They indicate that some believe the movement is actually an example of "astroturfing."  Other than the carpet that was put down in the Astrodome, I had no idea what that meant.  So, I went back to the wikipedian well and their article on astroturfing defines the practice as, "political, advertising, or public relations campaigns that are formally planned by an organization, but are disguised as spontaneous, popular "grassroots" behavior."  I'm worried that even if the movement isn't an example of astroturfing, that it could be easily co-opted and turned into an example of astroturfing.  The recent appearance of Sarah Palin (who I don't think believes in those things the movement is supposed to be focused on) in the town I live in, with a lot of "Tea Party" sentiment, has reinforced that particular fear.

In the end, I don't want the Tea Party Movement to turn out to be the crazy end of the Republic Party in disguise-- or other unsavory elements: homophobic, xenophobic, racist, or otherwise.  This is because I like the Tea Party rhetoric and am encouraged that apparently a lot of other Americans do too.