Five hundred and fifty miles and two days apart, two political rituals with deep roots in American life unfolded last week: the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., and the tea-party convention in Nashville. It is tempting to contrast the two affairs as emblems of a divided nation: the Washington Hilton vs. the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, the establishment vs. the outsiders, the elitists vs. the populists. In Washington they were gathering for an event that first began under Dwight Eisenhower, with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama offering their broad views of faith and public life. In Nashville, the conservatives were hosting their first major event, with Sarah Palin and Roy Moore, but it was an experiment in an old and problematic political undertaking: the organization of anger.
展开▼
