Back when our telephone messages used to come on little pink slips of paper instead from an answering machine, I once received one that said: “Man called. He’s really mad.“ And a phone number.

“Did he leave his name?“ I asked the clerk who took the message.

“Nope.“

“Did he say what he was really mad about?“

“He sure didn’t.“

Needless to say, that was a return call I chose not to make. But I was reminded of it by all the recent turmoil sparked by the national Tea Party and its followers. They have become the political version of that Louisiana oil rig spill, spewing discontent into the political waters and making them even murkier.

Like my mystery caller, the Tea Party people are really mad—but I’m having trouble figuring out exactly why. Is this about specific issues like TARP (the Troubled Asset Relief Program) or NAFTA, or is it just generic discontent?

Sure, things aren’t great right now in the U.S. Our budget deficit is going up like a Fourth of July skyrocket. The economy is still struggling. We’re engaged in a couple of wars that seem to be stuck in the Middle Eastern sand. Nobody can agree on what sort of national health care plan we should have, or even if we need one.

On the other hand, you don’t see a lot of Americans trying to sneak into Mexico.

I have two problems with the Tea Party’s take on all of this. First, they seem more interested in repeating unfocused rants (“They’re taking away the Constitution!“) than offering any solutions beyond “Throw the rascals out!“

Six and four years ago, the voters threw the Republicans out. Now, they seem determined to do the same with the Democrats. But could it be that the problem isn’t the individuals in Congress, but the system under which the congresspeople operate? Constantly voting out incumbents is a little like changing the spark plugs on a blown engine—it might seem like you’re doing something, but it doesn’t really help.

One of the Central Virginia Republicans hoping to become Tom Perriello’s opponent this fall has a TV ad that says, and I may be paraphrasing slightly: “Send me to Congress and I will balance the budget and eliminate the Internal Revenue Service.“

All by himself? What planet is he on?

What this gentleman will discover, in the unlikely event that he arrives in Washington, is that no one is going to listen to him. He’ll only be a freshman.

I remain unclear as to how the Constitution is being threatened any more now than it has been for the past century or so.
If that’s really the case, though, the remedy isn’t going to come just at the polls. Perhaps we need another Constitutional Convention to determine exactly what isn’t working and what needs to be more rigidly protected.

To me, one of the problems with government on the federal level is that there seem to be no guidelines or templates for most policy decisions—minor stuff, like whether to hand over billions to a faltering corporation or invade another country. Every new administration makes it up as they go along.

So go ahead and vote Tom Perriello, for instance, out of office if it will make you feel any better. Just don’t expect anything to change unless you offer something besides “I don’t like being taxed” and general, unfocused grumpiness.

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