Watch out world, because William Kristol is now a tea partier (link). After the memorable four words "my fellow Tea Partiers" he states that, in addition to the "the day-to-day work of a loyal opposition", he wants the Republican Party to:

be the party of the future as well as the present. It can be the party of fundamental reflection and radical choice as well as the party of day-to-day criticism and opposition. This isn’t easy. It can lead to mistakes and missteps, tensions and confusions. But it’s what the moment requires... So fear not the Tea Parties. Be open to fundamental reforms. Belt-tightening and program-trimming, more transparency and greater efficiency, are not enough. The danger for Republicans isn’t that they will address the current crisis too boldly. It’s that they won’t be bold enough.

The problem of course is that the tea parties - as outlined at the last link - have a vast array of fundamental issues. None that I've met are capable of governing much of anything. All they can come up with are childish and childlike ideas that don't acknowledge there are other people in the U.S. who might disagree. Of course, the tea partiers crank it up a notch, implying that those who disagree with them aren't real patriots when they aren't engaging in outright redbaiting. They're willing to be useful idiots for those who don't have their interests at heart, such as the Koch family and Dick Armey of FreedomWorks. Kristol references "a few eccentric proposals" at an event he attended, but Kristol isn't trying to show them how to do things in better ways; he's not pointing out that waving loopy signs, throwing tantrums at public meetings, and playing dress-up games aren't just stupid and childish, they also degrade the already-low level of debate in the U.S. He's not pointing out the negative impacts of the tea partiers' strong fiscal conservatism or that most Americans seem to appreciate a mixed economy rather than the "free" market that the partiers think they want.

And, it's telling that the partiers would invite Kristol to their event in Philadelphia as a featured guest rather than as someone who should be discredited for his links to the George W Bush administration, specifically their foreign policy.