ALBANY, NY - They've been called Oreos, traitors and Uncle Toms, and are used to having to defend their values. Now black conservatives are really taking heat for their involvement in the mostly white Tea Party movement -- and for having the audacity to oppose the policies of the nation's first black president.

"I've been told I hate myself. I've been called an Uncle Tom. I've been told I'm a spook at the door," said Timothy F. Johnson, chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, a group of black conservatives who support free market principles and limited government.

"Black Republicans find themselves always having to prove who they are. Because the assumption is the Republican Party is for whites and the Democratic Party is for blacks," he said....

Racists. Nutbags. Radicals. Extremists. The Tea Party movement has been slammed as all these and more in the mainstream media, particularly since fringe elements of the group went screaming after members of Congress in the run-up to the health care vote.

But even as Tea Party "fury" has become all the rage in popular accounts of their protests, some observers say the rallies are nothing compared to the anti-Bush frenzy at Iraq War protests in years past — outbursts that the press generally ignored.

"What's interesting about the media's latest freak-out is that there were radicals aplenty under President Bush [who] protested in the streets [and] talked openly about revolution and killing," said Evan Coyne Maloney, a documentary filmmaker who has followed anti-war protests since 2003...

Tea Party activists from across the country rallied outside Democratic congressional offices in Washington on Tuesday to protest the $875 billion health care bill and demand meetings with their respective members of Congress.

And by all appearances, their arrival is not being taken lightly.

House Democrats received a formal memo from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, listing tips for how targeted representatives should handle the crowds of activists....

Republicans in North Dakota are planning one of the party's first organized efforts to capture some of the energy and enthusiasm of the "tea party" movement, an experiment that nervous party officials around the country will be watching with hopeful anticipation.

North Dakota Republican Chairman Gary Emineth is one of the organizers of what is being billed as a "Take Back Washington" rally and town hall meeting on Feb. 12 in Bismarck, N.D., with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, an outspoken conservative, as the keynote speaker.

"The role the tea party could play in the future of the Republican Party is significant and critical," Mr. Emineth said. "It is how we speak and reach out to the tea party activists that speaks volumes to the movement. The 'Take Back Washington' event is designed to have the Republican Party leadership and elected officials listen to activists within this movement."...

An author and Tea Party activist believes that if the current healthcare reform legislation is signed into law, the financial drain on taxpayers could bankrupt the country.

Ed Holliday, a dentist in Tupelo, Mississippi, has just released his new book, Walk with Me: A Patriot's Guide from the Boston Tea Party to Today's Tea Party Revolution. He says the efforts of President Barack Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress to totally revamp the nation's healthcare system led him to get involved with the Tea Party movement in his state. He also adds that the current healthcare legislation scares him...

Democrats are looking for someone to blame for their electoral woes — and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Robert Menendez is working hard to make sure it’s not him.

Showing that they’ve learned the lesson of Massachusetts, Menendez and his staff will distribute a memo Tuesday advising Democratic campaign managers to frame their opponents early — and to drive a wedge between moderate voters and tea-party-style conservatives.

“Given the pressure Republican candidates feel from the extreme right in their party, there is a critical — yet time-sensitive — opportunity for Democratic candidates,” the DSCC writes. “We have a finite window when Republicans candidates will feel susceptible to the extremists in their party. read more »

On Saturday thousands of citizens opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants will take part in special "Tea Party" events in more than 50 cities across the U.S. to make their opinions known.

Recently Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-Illinois) announced that he intends to introduce amnesty legislation by the end of November. His "pathway to legalization for undocumented workers," he says, offers a "practical approach to dealing with the 12 million undocumented immigrants living, working, and raising families in the United States."

Given an opportunity to earn their citizenship, he argues, those illegal aliens will submit to background checks, pay their fair share of taxes, and learn English. Gutierrez, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, does not agree with President Obama and Senate Democrats, who prefer not to tackle the amnesty issue until after the 2010 elections...