You say you want a revolution...

The Tea Party movement is good for America and democracy worldwide.

I think that statement probably comes as a bit of a shock to some of my acquaintances, but I’d like to think people who have a rudimentary understanding of how my mind works would read this, think for two seconds and slowly begin nodding their heads as they piece together the reasoning.

For those of you not as in tune with my intellectual wrangling, let me explain:

For starters, let’s make a clear distinction between the Tea Party movement as a whole and various sub-sects (such as Glenn Beck’s 9.12 Project, which I’ve previously lambasted for co-opting the harrowing imagery of the Sept. 11 terror attacks). Every political cause will have its extremists, demagogues and “bomb-throwers.” For every Tax Day protesters waving an illustration of Barack Obama as a Nazi, there’s undoubtedly someone on the far left who thinks every single last Republican in Congress is a closet member of the Ku Klux Klan.

And I hold out no hope that I’ll ever find a political candidate or group with whom I agree 100 percent; suffice it to say, this is no endorsement of the specific tenets of the Tea Party movement’s platform.

What I wholeheartedly endorse is the sense of personal empowerment that these people have found and how the vast majority of them are operating within the proper channels to bring about real change.

Case in point: Joseph Andrew Stack flew a plane into a building, in part an act of protest. He took the life of an innocent person in the process. That is unjustifiable.

I’ve read his “suicide note.” Within his writing, you hear many of the same frustrations concerning the U.S. government and its tax code from myriad members of groups affiliated with the Tea Party movement. As far as I’m concerned, I’d rather not see taxpayer-owned federal buildings go up in a jet-fueled blaze. I’m for peace. I’m for life. As far as I’m concerned, Stack’s actions do constitute a terrorist attack. Stack is no hero for destroying property and taking lives (including his own) toward an ideological end.

I think I already met my quota of “nice things to say about right-wing politics” this year with the first sentence of this post, but I’ll go ahead and get next year’s out of the way with something Sean Hannity would certainly agree with: The United States of America is the greatest experiment in democracy our modern world has seen.

As untenable as reform may be in Washington, D.C., the power of the individual is often forgotten when incumbents, parties, corporations and other interests seem to dictate so much of how our government and our lives are run. We’re a nation where Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger, for better or worse, can be considered political heavyweights. We’re a nation where Ned Lamont can wreak as much havoc as he can in the political establishment on behalf of the progressive voices of Connecticut. Even you – yes, YOU – can make your case for why you’re the best person for whatever elected office you feel best-suited for (barring residency and age restrictions; no rain checks).

You get the picture.

If you pay any attention to politics or law in this country, you should be angry or frustrated – and that applies to people of every political persuasion. Where you go with those feelings and beliefs is what separates the true agents of change and the terrorists.

So let’s hear what you have to say, whatever it is. I’ll gladly take another Glenn Beck type on TV than another Timothy McVeigh at a Ryder truck rental.

Let’s flood the marketplace of ideas and let the people decide with their ballots, their petitions and, yes, even their pocketbooks. Is there anything more democratic than that?

It may be far too idealistic to be realistic, but as so many of these grassroots movements have proven, doing and saying nothing on your behalf does nothing to achieve your goals – and as far as I’m concerned, I don’t want the Joe Stacks of the world speaking on my behalf.