I wanted to read up on the john birch society, so I went to wikipedia in search of some brief background. And while wiki is not a solid source of information, I found this quote that was somewhat interesting:

Ayn Rand said in a Playboy interview that “What is wrong with them (the john birch society) is that they don’t seem to have any specific, clearly defined political philosophy. … I consider the Birch Society futile, because they are not for Capitalism but merely against Communism.”

Doesn’t that lack of a specific, clearly defined political philosophy sound like the tea party movement itself?