The linked article is about the START Treaty specifically, but it lays out the argument that Tea Party Activists will go after GOP members who vote for the START Treaty. This raises an interesting question about why that is the case, but it also suggests a bigger question for the rest of us: who do we want to be running our government?

START ought to be a no-brainer. It returns the US to having verifiable Arms controls, and that is a good thing. So why is the Tea Party so up in arms about START? They claim their big deal is smaller government, less spending and being fiscally responsible. START doesn’t conflict with any of those goals at all. So, who do you want to be running our government?

Among those nine are likely to be five Republicans who face reelection in 2012–a handful of them who are already in the electoral crosshairs of Tea Party activists.

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) announced his support for the treaty Monday. Brown, who is running for a full six-year term in 2012, has already been talked about as a Tea Party target given his centrism on a handful key Senate votes.

But Brown was just elected and held up as a Tea Party victory, wasn’t he? Now they want to target him?

The truth of the matter is that the Tea Partymay represent a real anger at the failure of government, it is really just a mask that tries to make the GOP look grass roots and populist. It is fueled and financially backed by Rich Old White Guys who want to move the GOP farther and farther to the right. Issues like START, the destruction of the Constitution, and the elimination of social programs are the real goal. The rhetoric around smaller government and fiscal responsibility are just the empty words used to invigorate the voters and create a media spectacle.

via GOP senators up in ’12 ready to back START Treaty – The Hill’s Ballot Box.